Terry’s Camp
New Terry Tomalin Campground Opens at Boyd Hill Nature Park A new campground at Boyd Hill Nature Park will honor Terry Tomalin, the popular outdoors editor for the Tampa Bay Times and adjunct professor at USF St. Petersburg, who died of a heart attack in 2016. At the St. Petersburg City Council meeting on June 3, council celebrated completion of the new Terry Tomalin Campground, the first campground in the city open to individuals. Friends and family members were on hand to speak about Tomalin, and his dedication to getting everyone, especially kids, involved with nature and the outdoors. “I grew up with stories of his adventures,” said Kai Tomalin, remembering his dad’s tales of backpacking across the Australian deserts, mountain climbing and kayaking the turbulent South Pacific Ocean. But with all the faraway, exotic travels, Kai said his father always stressed that there were great adventures right here in our own backyard. “By Odin’s beard, I hear my father every day and I will continue to hear him,” said Kai, “He would be proud to be part of a community that’s making adventure accessible in our city.” Others remembered Tomalin fondly as a friend and his dedication to his Boy Scout troop. Mayor Rick
CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG
By Nano Riley
Kriseman spoke from the public podium to praise Tomalin’s writing craft, adding that he is proud to be part of a city that cares about the outdoors. Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin tearfully recalled her late husband as “fearless,” who kayaked the Ten Thousand Islands alone, and she said his Scout troop “was an Eagle Scout factory.” She added it was ”an honor to have the city’s first campground named for him.”
Enhancements at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve The new Terry Tomalin Campground includes 12 individual primitive sites for a public camping area on the 245-acre nature preserve, plus a “recreation and education center will help serve the city’s vision to educate and inspire youth and adults to become advocates for nature, sustainable practices and conservation.”
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theGabber.com | June 24, 2021 - June 30, 2021
