The small-town spirit that first attracted the Brandon High coach still can be found amid the sprawl and traffic.
By WAYNE WILLIAMSON
Published May 14, 2004
A small community with a "downtown" that extended from Kings Avenue to just past Nativity Catholic Church on two-lane State Road 60 - this was the Brandon I found when I became a teacher, coach and athletic director at Brandon High School some 40 years ago. Brandon High (in the building that is now McLane Middle School) was the only high school in the area, which included Mango, Seffner, Valrico, Clair Mel and part of Riverview as I recall.
At that time I lived in Tampa, and with no interstate highway or crosstown expressway, it was a much different commute than it is today.
As I became involved with the community and the people who lived here I became aware of the pride and love these people felt for this laid-back community, and of the proud heritage that had been passed down through the generations. I soon decided that this was where I wanted to raise my children.
We left the state for three years, but always felt that Brandon was where we wanted to be. In August, 1970, I became director of athletics for the Hillsborough County school district. Pati and I and our daughter, Karen, and sons, Ken and Jim, moved here permanently. Our children were enrolled at Brooker Elementary School and we became active members of First Baptist Church.
Our children and their families (including our nine grandchildren) all live in the area, and the grandchildren attend Brooker, Buckhorn and Valrico elementary schools, Burns Middle School and Bloomingdale High School. With Pati teaching at Brooker and both our children and grandchildren attending school there, our family has been continually involved at Brooker Elementary School for 34 years!
The explosion of growth in the 34 years that we have lived here has truly been phenomenal. Even as the community has sprawled in every direction, it has managed to keep its small-town spirit.
Pati and I are retired now, and we feel truly blessed that we and our children and their families all live here, and are becoming a part of the history and heritage of Brandon.
