Some 50 years ago, boys rushed after school to a club on N MacDill Avenue to learn about everything from archery to crafts. Although the building will be demolished, the new Boys & Girls club will continue shaping the lives of area youngsters.
By DENISE WATSON BATTS
Published October 31, 2003
WEST TAMPA - Martha James sits behind the desk in the homework room, holding the sign-in sheet steady while little ones write their names.
"You got homework, Xavier?" she prods the first in line.
He shakes his head no.
"You got homework, Ashley?" she asks the next in line.
"Nope."
Around them, the daily life of the West Tampa Boys & Girls Club buzzes as it has for decades. Children fly off buses into the two-story building on N MacDill Avenue. They scamper to find the coach for a quick word. They line up for hugs from James, whom they call "Grandma," and sprawl at the feet of staffer Corvette Walker, whom they call "Auntie," ready to show off a school award and get an approving smile.
As the West Tampa community surrounding the club has evolved over the years, the 50-year-old Boys & Girls Club has remained a constant.
But change is coming. The old structure will be razed to make way for widening of Interstate 275. Club directors hope for a spot in MacFarlane Park, a couple of blocks away. They're negotiating with the city to have a new building by January 2005.
It will house computer labs and a gleaming kitchen and dining hall for its 300 kids. Branch director Mike Jenrette dreams of a theater arts room.
The mission won't change but the building's demolition will signal the end of an era.
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The Rotary Club opened the club - then for boys only - in in 1926, making the branch Hillsborough's oldest. The club eventually moved to a cluster of barracks on W Laurel Street, site of the current building.
In 1945, the Rotary Club handed over operations to the city, which opened a second location in Ybor City.
But the Optimist Club looked at the ramshackle state of the West Tampa club and approached it about constructing something new. The boys club would have to provide the labor. No problem. West Tampa businessman George Guida signed on as supervisor, and work began in January 1951.
"He got all the community involved," said Richard Someillan, director of facilities and events for Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay. "Everybody helped build that building."
Someillan, who grew up in West Tampa, watched neighbors and parents install windows and timbers. His dad helped configure the plumbing.
Someillan started going to the club at age 5, somewhat surreptitiously.
"You were supposed to be 6 to go," he says.
"The club was everything to us," he says. "It was our home away from home."
Kids walked or rode their bikes. They tried their aim at archery, shot BB guns on the rifle range, and, reluctantly for some, submitted to arts and crafts.
The goal was to create a well-rounded child. Coaches preached sportsmanship and respect along with skill, producing athletes who later made it to the pros. Devil Rays manager Lou Piniellaplayed ball at the club in the 1950s. So did Tony LaRussa, now manager with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Gaston Fernandez grew up on Spruce Street. By age 9, he had joined the daily herd.
"We were boys club brats," says Fernandez, now a judge for the 13th Judicial Circuit.
The brats' routine included getting to the club after school and making it home in time for dinner. Summertime meant all day playing baseball, football, basketball and track.
"You learned how to build bird cages, how to use a hammer without hurting yourself," Fernandez says. "I made a lot of good things that I still have today."
As times changed, the club adapted.
In 1966, it started admitting black children. When busing for integration began in the early 1970s, the club supplied buses to bring in kids for after school care.
In 1978, day care for girls arrived, and by 1983, girls could become members, a change reflected in the club name. With the girls came cheerleading, choirs and sewing.
The 1980s brought computers.
Now the club hires foster grandparents to help kindergarteners learn their ABCs and bolster their self-esteem.
It hosts drug prevention programs and Girl Scouts, and serves a hot meal every afternoon, just in case kids don't get dinner at home.
The club houses a teen center with a television, VCR and PlayStation, a game room with pool tables, and a computer education room.
After school care runs $100 to $150 per semester but is free for needy families. More than 80 percent of the families pay nothing.
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Jenrette, the director, has worked at the West Tampa branch for 15 years. He grew up in the Ybor City club and honed his football skills against the famed West Tampa Spartans.
As a kid, he saw his future in football and went to college on scholarship. But a family illness brought him back to Tampa, where friends suggested he work with kids.
It led him to his old haunt: the clubs. Working at West Tampa, with its stuffed trophy cases and alumni volunteers, has been a treat.
"It all worked out for the better," Jenrette says. "It was a chance to give something back to the kids, something I received."
