BrandonTimes: I Live Here

I Live Here

In Ruskin, you can enjoy the benefits of country living: fishing, friendly neighbors and community pride.

By BRIAN THORNTON

Ruskin is a unique little town that sits on the east edge of Tampa Bay near the mouth of the Little Manatee River. With only a few stoplights in town, you can get anywhere in the immediate area in just a couple of minutes.

The fishing is fantastic, which is what drew me here in the first place. The flats and backcountry are beautiful and are home to quality fish such as snook, redfish, trout and tarpon. The bay offers a chance to catch grouper, snapper, mackerel, cobia and many other varieties, and the Gulf of Mexico is close enough to spend many hours offshore.

I first experienced the Ruskin area while teaching at East Bay High School. I was living in Temple Terrace and commuting to East Bay when a colleague of mine offered me his condo for a weekend. My wife thought we were visiting a tropical paradise. It was like a vacation and it seemed so far away from the city. I bought a boat and started making trips to Ruskin every weekend. Then we decided it was time to move closer to the water.

We moved to Ruskin in 1991 and started to enjoy the simpler way of life, no traffic and a lot of country living.

My oldest son left all his friends up in Temple Terrace but they would spend weekends with us; his friends thought we were so lucky to be living in the country. My youngest was 6 years old when we moved so he doesn't know anything but Ruskin and south Hillsborough County.

We bought a nice home on almost half an acre on a main street, and whenever I am in the garage or in the yard, people will go by and honk their horn or yell (nice things) to me. It's a place where you wave when someone honks, whether you know them or not.

Ruskin is not far from nightlife or restaurants; it sits on the Interstate 75 corridor, 25 minutes north is Brandon or Tampa and 25 minutes south is Bradenton. It's great that we are able to enjoy all the major sporting events and other activities the city has to offer.

Ruskin has a strong chamber of commerce that celebrated it's 75th anniversary this year. Many members of the community are involved in different projects such as choosing an honorary mayor, Ruskin beautification, Habitat for Humanity, the Ruskin Inlet Boardwalk, hanging banners for the holidays and flags for the fourth of July and Memorial Day as well as in memory of 9/11.

The Ruskin Tomato Festival and the Famous Ruskin Seafood Festival each year are major attractions.

Ruskin is full of history, and its longtime local residents have many stories to tell. Some of the local families date back several generations. I like to see the generations of family members in the stands on Friday night at the local high school football games.

My wife is the manager at the local SunTrust bank and loves to see her customers in church, local restaurants, the grocery store and post office.

There is a sense of community pride in Ruskin.

In summing it all up, the reason I enjoy living in Ruskin is, a flats and offshore boat, a house without your neighbor looking into your kitchen window, three traffic lights, convenient restaurants, shopping and community pride.

I am afraid I have just let the best kept secrets of Ruskin out the bag.

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Brian Thornton lives on College Avenue in Ruskin. We're looking for readers to tell us, in 400 words or less, why you live where you live. Please include things you like and dislike. Send essays to brandon@sptimes.com and please include a daytime phone number.