A baby boom (of one) hits Belleair Shore

The birth of Severyn Niewiarowski Scott marks the first native son the town has seen in decades - at least.

[Times photo: Jamie Francis] Dorothy Niewiarowski holds her son Sevy, who was born April 7. Birth announcements are rare in Belleair Shore, and Sevy may be the first boy ever born in the tiny town.

By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 27, 2002

BELLEAIR SHORE -- The town of Belleair Shore is pleased to announce the birth of Severyn Niewiarowski Scott.

That's right, the whole town. Indulge them. This doesn't happen very often.

Sevy, as his parents call their three-week-old baby boy, is believed to be the first new native son of Belleair Shore since the days of Eisenhower and Elvis.

In this tiny town, a stretch of about 50 comfortable beachfront homes lined up along Gulf Boulevard, the birth of a baby increases the population by a full percentage point.

"There's not a lot of babies around here," said Sevy's father, Chris Scott, 33.

In fact, Sevy might be the first native son, period.

Scott and his wife, Dorothy Niewiarowski, 32, lost their first child, Grace, after she was born prematurely in November 2000 and lived just nine hours. Before that, the last locally born child Belleair Shore residents can recollect was also a girl, Jeanne Grizzle, born in 1957.

"It's kind of hard to keep up with things," said Mary R. Grizzle, Jeanne Grizzle's mother and a former state legislator. "I think my youngest was the last born here, or maybe one of Dr. Lasley's children."

In Belleair Shore, residents refer to their neighbors by which spot they occupy on Gulf Boulevard. Sevy's family lives in "the fourth house."

Scott and Niewiarowski say they think they will find Sevy plenty of playmates despite the lack of babies in the neighborhood. Scott says he has seen several children in neighboring Belleair Beach, and the latest U.S. Census shows more young families are moving onto the Pinellas beaches.

Belleair Shore is so small that the same census overlooked it and counted the town as part of Belleair Beach. It is so exclusive that the police once ticketed two women for drinking iced coffee on the beach.

"We thought about there not being many kids around," Niewiarowski said. "But I think with school and play groups and things, there shouldn't be a problem."

After all, in exclusive Belleair Shore, which has 84 registered voters, the back yard is a private beach.

Said little Sevy's mom: "That will probably be the kids' first choice, to come to Sevy's house."

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