Residents in their own words: 'It's the only place in Florida that's like this'
By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published October 18, 2006
Editor's note: For this project to mark Brooksville's 150th anniversary, the Times talked to 19 people, most of them in their 70s and 80s, and recorded what they had to say. But staff writer Michael Kruse also talked to dozens of others, of all ages, in more informal interviews. This is some of what those folks said about the city.
"This county became a county before Florida was even a state."
Virginia Jackson
"Brooksville was important when St. Pete was some fishing huts."
Roger Landers
"You develop a sense of historical connection. Your DNA, your genes - their molecular roots are in the soils of the land. We don't just talk about our cousins. We talk about our third cousins twice-removed."
Bruce Snow
"Tom Browning married into the Lingle family and became shirttail kin to half of Hernando County."
Mark Browning
"The police department? That was Bill Cobb. He was it. That's what I call Old Brooksville."
Derrill McAteer
"It's probably a figure of speech to say everybody knew everybody. But you felt like you did. Now I walk into places and don't know anybody."
Steve Manuel
"Used to be, you went into a restaurant, you knew everybody in there. The other day, Steve and I were sitting in a restaurant and Steve said, 'You know, there's not a lot of people in here that I know.' It was an interesting feeling."
Barbara Manuel
"The impact Spring Hill had on Brooksville? More congestion. Higher taxes. The cost of living is more."
Freddy Law
"The thought on Spring Hill around here was: Why in the world would anyone want to live out there? It just shows what a little vision and a lot of money will do. Almost 100,000 people later, we now have the rest of the story."
Steve Manuel
"The politics changed. We were used to good ol' boys. They wanted to do it the way they did it up North."
Martha Steen Lambert
"Here at the Sheriff's Office, for as long as I can remember, you knew everybody, by name or face. But now there are some deputies and employees we have and I don't really know who they are."
Alan Arick
"We still hunt, run hounds, beagles. But we have to go further and further north to do it."
Bob Barnett
"Has it lost its roots? No. It has not. But it is different and it is getting more and more different every day. The typical resident of Hernando County today is incredibly different than the typical resident of Hernando County in the '50s and '60s. I'm talking about a difference in attitude and a difference in approach."
Joe Mason
"I think it's closer than a lot of people think. I think the people who probably say that are the people who are opposed to any change or just don't get out into the community like they used to."
Tricia Bechtelheimer
"When I walk into Pronto Cleaners, I don't have to have my stub. They ask me how my kids are doing."
Jeanne Gavish
"If we don't understand where we're coming from, how in the world will we know where we're going?"
Roger Landers
"Brooksville isn't just some little old town in the wilderness."
Bruce Snow
"It's the only place in Florida that's like this. No place has the hills and the aura and the atmosphere. You're 15 minutes from the water and it doesn't feel like you're in Florida."
Blair Hensley
"It's that feeling you get when you're relaxed and you feel like you're home. I'm home. It gives you a little definition. I don't want to blend into the masses."
Barbara Manuel
"Brooksville, Hernando County, it's home sweet home, and when the good master taps me on the shoulder, I'll be right here, or close to it."
Jim Kimbrough
"What are we going to be about? What's important? How are we going to tell the world about Brooksville? First we have to figure that out for ourselves."
Brian Brijbag
WHO'S WHO
Virginia Jackson, director of the Hernando Historical Museum Association
Roger Landers, former Hernando High School principal, local historian
Bruce Snow, attorney
Mark Browning, Browning Insurance
Derrill McAteer, banker, developer, former chairman of Swiftmud's governing board
Steve Manuel, director of radio station WWJB
Barbara Manuel, community relations, account executive, WWJB
Freddy Law, retired
Martha Steen Lambert, Realtor
Alan Arick, Hernando County sheriff's major
Bob Barnett, banker
Joe Mason, attorney
Bert Snow, baseball player
Tricia Bechtelheimer, florist
Jeanne Gavish, Realtor
Blair Hensley, Coney Island owner
Jim Kimbrough, SunTrust Bank/Nature Coast chairman and CEO
Brian Brijbag, Brooksville redevelopment coordinator
Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1434.