It's a two-way love affair

Everyone around Dade City calls him Radio. He calls them all his friends.

By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS, Times Staff Writer
Published December 2, 2007

Tyrone Lovett, 19, works the room after the City Commission meeting Tuesday. He said he attends meetings because he likes knowing what's going on, and the staff members are his friends.
	[David Degner | Times]

DADE CITY - The teenager walks down the brick street in a bright-red baseball cap, black dress pants and a blue button-down shirt, the pocket full of business cards: city commissioners, teachers, the owner of the Cuban cafe.

The names on these cards, he says, are his friends.

He walks fast, toward downtown.

A red pickup truck waiting at a stoplight rolls down a tinted window.

Someone says "Hey, Radio!" before disappearing when the light changes.

A lot of people around here call him that, Radio. They say he's just like Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character in the movie - slower, sweeter and more into sports than most people.

He doesn't mind the nickname. He introduces himself as Radio.

"It suits me," he said.

Laura Beagles, the city's administrative services director, spots the red hat from the second floor of City Hall.

"There's Tyrone," she says.

The city staff calls him by his real name, Tyrone Lovett.

He comes here to chat with the commissioners and visit with the staff. Everywhere, he's greeted with the same patient but genuine smile.

"Tyrone functions so well because he doesn't know anything's wrong with him," said his teacher, Regina Clemmons. "He's got this strange thing going for him. You know those people who you meet and you like them immediately? Tyrone's like that."

***

He doesn't drive, he walks. He knows people like him because they wave at him from behind their windshields and sometimes offer him rides.

He's 19, a Wesley Chapel High School student enrolled in a program that lets special education students stay in high school until they're 22. When he's not at school, he's downtown.

"During summer he used to come every day and eat leftover donuts," said Chris Dious, owner of Olga's Bakery and Deli.

"He's here all day on weekends," said Katie Mueller, a waitress at Beef O'Brady's. "We all talk to him."

A teenager, constantly underfoot. He doesn't always order food. Sometimes he sits by himself for hours. That might annoy some restaurant owners.

"You could tell he was special; we didn't bother him," said Blanca Acevedo, a waitress at the Tropical Breeze Cafe.

"It's not like he's bugging anyone. He's always polite," Dious said.

"He's harmless and as sweet as can be," said Marlene Buchanan, who works at Beef O'Brady's.

During the summer he's at Beef's, as the locals call it, at 9 a.m. He helps clean and move tables. At night, he makes a motion like he's drinking out of an invisible glass. A moment later, a waitress brings a Styrofoam cup of pink fruit punch and ice.

It's on the house.

***

Last summer he asked Laura Beagles how to access the commission's meeting schedule online. She showed him how to navigate the city's Web site.

A few days later, he went to City Hall and pointed out a faulty link. "We got that taken care of," Beagles said.

About a year ago, a tree fell on a road near his house. Neighbors went to a commission meeting to try to get the limbs removed from the street. Someone offered Tyrone a ride and he's come to the meetings ever since.

He pops into City Hall for copies of the agendas.

"I'll have a report this thick," said city employee Karen Traenkner, holding her fingers an inch apart. "And he'll ask for a copy."

She wonders what he does with the notes.

"I throw them in the trash can, but I make an opinion on some things," Tyrone said.

Ask him why he willingly sits through talk of zoning and budgets and his response is thoughtful. He likes knowing what's going on in the city, he says. The city staff members are his friends.

"He has a good time. People are nice to him," said his friend, Josh Johnson.

Karen Traenkner always waves at him. "He seems like he likes to see someone who recognizes him," she said.

On the mornings of city festivals and events, he comes into the office of Phyllis Smith, executive director of the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce.

"He comes in here and says 'I'll help you,'" Smith said. "He does any kind of leg work that we need."

"He likes to stay busy. I really think he's the type of young man who feels like he has to be useful," said Beagles. "When I see him walking around, he picks up trash."

One day at a round table in a Wesley Chapel High classroom, Tyrone turned to his teacher, Patty Linard, and said, "I love Dade City."

"Tyrone, I think the city loves you," Linard said.

"I call Tyrone the neighborhood kid. If it's starting to get dark, a wino at the corner will tell him to go home," said Clemmons. "I have never seen anyone take advantage of him."

"I feel we've adopted him," said Beagles.

***

Tyrone lives in a squat, light-blue cement block home across the railroad tracks from downtown.

His mother smokes cigarettes with neighbors under the dusty carport.

Little kids play with balls on the uneven street, and a man with missing teeth rides his bike and waves at passers-by.

Tyrone comes home for dinner and then leaves for chicken tenders and punch at Beef O'Brady's. He's always home by 9:30 p.m.

"I tell him don't stay out too late," said his mother, Carletha Hamilton.

"He's a good boy," she said.

Someone usually drives him home.

***

At school, he always knows when the next fire drill will be and why so-and-so's absent.

He tells his teachers about house fires and traffic accidents before they see them on the news.

"I'm going to ask him about our budget cuts," said teacher Patty Linard.

How does he know all this stuff?

"I have my ears open," he said.

The teachers say he also reads whatever's on their desks.

In Dade City, he talks with the shopkeepers.

He calls the commissioners on their cell phones.

"A lot of times I wonder how much he hears and knows, because people forget that he's there," said Edna Gonzalez, who owns a restaurant downtown.

When he grows up, Tyrone wants to be a teacher or a football coach.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him working for the city," said Commissioner Steve Van Gorden.

Tyrone wouldn't mind being a commissioner.

"I'm going to tell you what I think," said his mother. "I think he'll be a preacher."

Next year his teachers want to get him a job at the school. Maybe he can be a janitor, they said.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at 352 521-6518 or htravis@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 1, 2007, 20:07:42]