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Bayshore invasion

For the denizens of Bayshore Boulevard, the raucous annual fest is BYOB: Bring your own barricades.

By BRADY DENNIS
Published January 28, 2005

SOUTH TAMPA - It is the devil they made a deal with, the penance they pay for 364 days a year of living by the sparkling bay.

One Saturday each year, those lucky enough to live along the Gasparilla parade route must share their streets and their views (and sometimes their bushes) with the reveling masses who flock to Bayshore Boulevard.

"It is an invasion in every sense of the word," said Dan Greenwald, who lives with his wife and two children steps off the parade route on Newport Avenue.

He has seen hostile drunks puke on the lawn, pee in the pool and generally overrun the property. These days, the Greenwalds partner with their neighbors to hire a handful of private security guards to patrol their block. They also hand out colored bracelets to those they invite to their home.

Despite the headaches, they manage to join in the Gasparilla celebration each year rather than fight it.

"Over the years, we have embraced it," Greenwald said. "You might as well stay and enjoy it."

That's the prevailing mind-set up and down Bayshore, where gearing up for Gasparilla means more than just buying extra groceries, stocking the cooler and inviting friends. It can mean installing a temporary fence, hiring extra security and preparing to defend your home from wayward revelers.

It also means gridlocked streets, portable toilets at the edge of your lawn and a day full of noise. So homeowners learn the art of celebrating while also defending their turf.

"I think most people like to be here. There's no better view of the parade," said Elizabeth DeConti, president of the condominium association at 345 Bayshore. "We all look forward to it once we have our system in place."

That system includes a temporary fence outside, extra security and special wristbands for the building's residents and their guests. Such measures help prevent scenes from past years, such as spilled food and drinks, broken planters out front and walls that needed repainting.

Down the road, at Tampa Bay Orthopaedics on Magnolia Avenue, practice manager Suellen Taylor has had to run off people who get into fights, flash passers-by and threaten to knock down signs. She has seen as many as 40 people at a time in the parking lot, all trying to find a place to relieve themselves. Last year, several made it inside and urinated in the hallway.

"I am the enforcer. I'm mean," said the usually mild-mannered Taylor, who this year ordered a temporary fence put up around the parking lot. "We try to protect our property. It's a lot of work that day."

Still, she comes year after year to enforce and to raise money for charity by charging for parking.

And then, of course, are those who simply lock their doors and leave, hoping to find peace far away from the raucous crowds. Leigh Ann Hoffman, who lives on Bayshore Boulevard near Bay View Avenue with her boyfriend and two dogs, plans to escape to Longboat Key.

"Once you've been to a few, it's all the same," Hoffman said of Gasparilla. She plans to block her driveway with cones and yellow caution tape and hope the place doesn't turn into "a trash pit."

After that, she's heading south.

"A much quieter weekend, do a little fishing instead," Hoffman said. "Hopefully, we'll catch some fish."

She hopes to return to find her street and her view back to normal again. Until next year.

[Last modified January 27, 2005, 09:34:05]