 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
St. Petersburg to dispatch feathered emissary to world
By JANEL STEPHENS ST. PETERSBURG -- He used to pop up at community events at The Pier and downtown. He was at the groundbreaking ceremony for what's now Tropicana Field in 1986. But since then, the city's mascot Pelican Pete has kept a pretty low profile. City officials hope to change that with a year-long campaign that will send the bird across the globe and into the homes of friends and relatives of St. Petersburg residents. The campaign will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the city's incorporation on June 6, 1903. The idea is to have St. Petersburg residents color a drawing of the smiling pelican and take it on vacation, or mail it to other cities, where residents or their friends could take a photograph with Pete at familiar landmarks in their communities. The photos would then be sent back to the city for display. Mayor Rick Baker, along with council members James Bennett and John Bryant, unveiled the campaign Friday at the Willis Johns Recreation Center. At 9 a.m., 35 children enrolled in the center's Winter Play Camp were busy coloring pictures of Pelican Pete. The same picture will be distributed as an advertising supplement in the Times on Sunday for subscribers in South Pinellas and at area schools. The picture can also be downloaded from the city's Web site at www.stpete.org. After Pelican Pete is colored in, mailed away and photographed, the photos can be mailed back to: Pelican Pete, P.O. Box 2842, St. Petersburg, 33731. The photo should include your name and address and should identify who is in the picture and where it was taken. By sending St. Petersburg's name and mascot all over the country and the world, "it's going to remind people what a great tourist destination St. Pete is," Bryant said. "This little project can have a definite impact for the city's economy if it's played out well." The campaign is modeled after the Flat Stanley Project, which was created in 1995 by a third-grade Canadian teacher to encourage students to write. While Bennett was on a trip to Washington, D.C., in March, a family approached and asked him to take their picture in front of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. They planned on mailing the photo with them holding the drawing of children's book character Flat Stanley to their younger relative in Miami. "I thought, 'Gee, this will work for Pelican Pete,' " Bennett said. "Why not use our mascot, put him on paper and carry him across the globe?" Once back in St. Petersburg, the photos will be placed on 10 4-by-8-foot display boards stationed at City Hall, various city facilities and designated sites that will host the city's anniversary events.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
