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Letter to the editor

Anniversary party has beach motif

Fifty years have passed and it's time for a celebration.

By NICK JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

ST. PETE BEACH- It may be too cool for swimming the azure waters of the gulf but there will be plenty of other options this weekend.

Three days of festivities are lined up as the city celebrates its 50th anniversary.

A free concert on Upham Beach Friday night will kick off the weekend, complete with beer, wine, food vendors and fireworks.

After an accident this summer, the city has decided to launch the fireworks from a barge offshore.

This added safety precaution is the result of the ground-level explosion during the city's Fourth of July display, injuring a number of people and damaging nearby buildings.

The city chose a different company and the new method, allowing for what may be the city's largest display yet.

"We're able to use larger shells, so it should be much more spectacular," said Wayne MacDowell, vice chairman of the St. Pete Beach 50th Anniversary Committee.

Saturday morning districts 1 and 2 will square off against 3 and 4 in an exhibition softball game, followed by a soldout gala event at the TradeWinds Resortthat evening.

The weekend will finish with a free carnival for the kids at the community center, with classic carnival fare, games and music. The pool will be open, too.

The celebration comes after more than a year's worth of planning and fundraising by the anniversary committee.

MacDowell said despite that St. Pete Beach's current political division, everyone worked well together in preparation of the event.

"Right from the very get-go, the committee decided that this is our 50th anniversary celebration and we're not going to have any politics on the committee," he said.

The road leading up to the city's conception 50 years ago was not quite as smooth.

The city of St. Pete Beach sits on the island of Long Key. Prior to 1957 the island consisted of the towns of St. Petersburg Beach, Belle Vista Beach, Don Cesar Place and Pass-a-Grille Beach.

With more people moving to the towns, and more demands on what little infrastructure was in place, talks about consolidation began.

But the idea was not without detractors.

"It was very hotly contested," said Sally Yoder, a volunteer historian at the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum. "They tried to do it by petition first but it didn't work."

And so in the summer of '57, residents cast their ballots in a referendum vote that would decide to consolidate the four towns.

It passed by about five votes.

The towns had sprung up over a period of several decades as more and more visitors built houses and resorts on the island.

Yoder said Pass-a-Grille was the first to incorporate, in 1911.

"The area of Pass-a-Grille was really the first resort area on the barrier islands," she said.

"The fishing was great. The beach was beautiful. It was a great place to go. ... It still is."

Nick Johnson can be reached at nickjohnson@sptimes.com or 893-8361.

If you go

Friday

Free concert on Upham Beach from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., followed by fireworks.

Saturday

Softball exhibition at Egan Field starting at 10:30 a.m. Districts 1 and 2 vs. 3 and 4.

92nd Avenue and Blind Pass Road

Sunday

Free carnival at the St. Pete Beach Community Center from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

7701 Boca Ciega Drive

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 21:06:37]