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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2002
Melodye Pizarro is a wife, mother of three and a middle school band teacher. Now, the St. Petersburg woman can say she's an inventor as well.
Pizarro, 30, got a patent last year for the sponge glove, a rubber glove with a sponge attached. Next, she'll look for a manufacturer.
In 1996, Pizarro, a newlywed, was cleaning her kitchen counter when she thought, "I could really clean this up if I had the sponge on my fingers. I thought that would be pretty good in the bathroom cleaning the toilet too."
Pizarro didn't move on the idea. She fell asleep with the TV on and woke up to hear a pitch from television pastor Fred Price, a favorite of hers, about achieving prosperity to spread God's word.
"His first example was through inventions. I said, 'Oh my God,' " she recalled. Pizarro took her idea to Largo lawyer James E. Larson and applied for a design patent in 2000. The United States Patent & Trademark Office granted it in August 2001.
Now, she won't see someone else's sponge glove in stores and wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?"