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Ybor's friendly face

Ybor City is all about besotted revelry, right? This ambassador and two others will tell you: Absolutely not. They emphasize: This is a place of history and integrity thick as a brick.

By SHERRI DAY
Published March 24, 2006

By SHERRI DAY

Times Staff Writer

YBOR CITY

Gerry Valdes stared at a gaggle of 16-year-olds on a recent Friday morning and began his spiel.

"I'll be guiding you through Ybor City today," Valdes said to 49 Clearwater High School students. "If you have any questions at any time, feel free to ask. That's what I'm here for. Our first stop is going to be a couple of blocks away."

Valdes smiled and quickened his pace. As Ybor City's senior ambassador, there are miles to cover and more than 100 years of history to unearth.

Valdes knows Ybor City. It's where he lived until he was 5, where his mother brought him to eat ice cream at a department store soda fountain counter, where his parents picked up the catch of the day from S. Agliano & Sons Fish Co.

Still, Valdes said he missed some of Ybor's most colorful days: the bustling cigar factories, the 5-cent movies, the seeds of revolution.

"I always felt cheated out of Ybor's glory days," Valdes said. "And I always used to hear the stories that my mom and her friends would tell. Now, I get to talk about it."

Valdes is the supervisor and inaugural member of Ybor City's Historic District Ambassador Program. Started at Mayor Pam Iorio's prompting last June, the program employs three ambassadors who seek to promote the joys and gems of Ybor City. Initially, they were responsible for little more than greeting Ybor's visitors and answering questions. But their proficiency soon bred new duties, said Vince Pardo, president of the Ybor City Development Corp., which oversees the program.

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Dressed in navy guayaberas, khaki slacks and straw hats, the ambassadors have become part concierge and part walking kiosk. They lead tour groups, help with neighborhood cleanup, greet visitors and serve as liaisons between the Ybor City Development Corp. and area business owners.

"They're going to be the first ones to know if the merchants are upset about something or about that special event that happened last weekend," said Pardo, who has also instructed the ambassadors to phone for help for stranded motorists and to make change for drivers who need money to feed meters.

"Whatever is a hassle to come here, that's what I want (them) to do," Pardo said.

The ambassadors' efforts have garnered praise from around the world.

Valdes so impressed Missouri cattle farmer Butch Garrett during his visit in October that the tourist wrote Valdes a letter expressing his thanks.

"Not only did he take me to a super cigar shop, he took me in and introduced me to the owner of the place," Garrett said last week in a telephone interview. "I felt like a dignitary when actually I was a tourist. We've traveled all over this country and parts of others, and this guy was outstanding."

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Thanks to Valdes, Garrett would love to revisit Ybor City. He appreciates its rich history and offerings.

For Pardo, spreading that kind of sentiment to bay area locals has proven much more difficult.

For nearly three years, Pardo and members of the development corporation's marketing team have been hard at work fashioning lures for locals. Led by executives from Roberts Communications, the corporation debuted its new marketing campaign to the City Council last week.

Using the slogan "A Flavor to Suit Any Taste" and a logo that features an Ybor City banner and historic-looking street lights, the campaign targets adults 25 and older and promotes Ybor City beyond nighttime entertainment. The committee wants to entice potential visitors in the afternoon and early evening.

"The Ybor City brand is unfortunately what happens here after 11 o'clock two or three nights a week," Pardo said. "It's not fair to the rest of the population here that's paying their taxes, so that needs to be the focus."

The committee buttressed its new slogan with tag lines such as "Classic," in which ads show a pile of cigars and a pair of weathered hands playing the piano. The "Fresh" design juxtaposes a disc jockey with fruit from the Ybor City Fresh Market.

The "Spicy" concept displays a plate of paella and a flamenco dancer. Other campaign platforms highlight the area's family appeal, architecture and office community.

Funded by the city, the $350,000 campaign is scheduled to begin April 1 with newspaper advertisements, endorsements by radio personalities and billboards.

So far, business leaders have great expectations.

"It's a great investment for the community," said Tom Keating, president and chief executive of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce. "They don't make any more historic districts. We have to do the best we can with the one we got. I think we can't help but get some good results out of it."

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Valdes and his team try to reach youth and Ybor newcomers before they start to associate the area solely with clubs and bars in the hopes of developing lifelong supporters.

Early in his tour, Valdes had at least one new believer.

"We will never come back over here and just think of having dinner or passing through," said Jan Gerber, director of Clearwater High's Career Academy for International Culture and Commerce. "Now (we) know the history, and it just puts it all into perspective."

Valdes' teen tourists would prove harder to convince. As they strolled through Ybor City, some students pointed out their favorite nighttime haunts. Others looked longingly at Starbucks.

At Parque Amigos De Jose Marti (Friends of Jose Marti Park), the students listened to Valdes spin tales.

"Is this a cemetery?" one student asked.

"No it's a memorial park," said Valdes, launching into a history lesson about Jose Marti, Afro-Cubans, Jim Crow laws and the Spanish-American War.

"The soil that you're standing on right now is actually Cuban soil," he said.

"Didn't (the soil) get washed away by now?" one student wondered aloud.

"Does it still belong to Cuba?" another student questioned. "I thought we don't like Cuba."

Valdes handled the queries with the skill of a seasoned lecturer.

Then, like the pied piper, he led his charges to the next stop, the V.M. Ybor Cigar Factory. There, he spoke about cigar workers, their highly respected wages and el lectors, the men who read novels and newspapers to cigar rollers as they worked.

"Do we have any questions?" Valdes asked.

Silence.

"Any comments?" he pressed.

Blank stares.

"Is anybody hungry?'' he asked. About a dozen hands shot up.

The group would have lunch at the Columbia Restaurant. Flamenco dancers would dance. Valdes would show the students the way.

Sherri Day can be reached sday@sptimes.com or 226-3405.

[Last modified March 24, 2006, 08:42:59]