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An essay and her 3.9 grade-point average at St. Petersburg High School helped her win a $1,000 scholarship from Meadowlawn neighbors.
By ANDREW MEACHAM
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 10, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- For years, Melissa Karshner wrestled with the notion that hers was not a "normal" family. She searched for the right words when peers would ask about her parents, who had never married and drifted apart after she was born.
Recently she wrote an essay about learning to accept her background.
The essay, not to mention her 3.9 grade-point average at St. Petersburg High School's International Baccalaureate program, helped win Melissa a $1,000 scholarship from her Meadowlawn neighbors.
"She was not a whiner or a complainer," recalled Dot Petry, 77. "She more or less just stated the facts."
Petry and other committee members reviewed four qualified applicants from the neighborhood's approximately 220 homes. Meadowlawn started the scholarship last year.
Melissa grew up as an only child living with her mother. Elizabeth Karshner creates maps on the computer for a Clearwater company. Melissa's father, Clearwater substance abuse counselor John Fuller, helped Melissa understand that "there were not those kinds of feelings anymore."
"I could see that it wasn't meant to be," Melissa said. "But that they still love each other and care for each other."
Melissa served as president of the Keyettes service club at St. Petersburg High. She was a member of the Thespians, the National Honor Society, and the Spanish Honor Society.
She expects to major in business and finance as a student at Florida State University. Eventually, she would like to earn a master's degree in business administration. She likes her job at Raymond James & Associates helping clients with their retirement plans.
"I'd like to work for a financial brokerage firm, or maybe international business," she said. "I'm pretty wide open."
Meadowlawn Neighborhood Association will honor Melissa at its meeting Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at Bethel Lutheran Church, 1801 62nd Ave. N. Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, and City Council member John Bryan are expected to attend.
Neighborhood Times recently published a story about a bracelet that had sat in a jewelry store safe for 11 years. Edith Sessions, 71, had dropped off the bracelet the day before Mother's Day 1990, but not returned to pick it up until the day before Mother's Day 2001. A&A Jewelry had re-plated the gold bracelet, as requested. They could not solder on a safety chain, owner Russ Atwood explained, because the bracelet was costume metal.
By the time Sessions finally got around to picking up the bracelet -- events including her husband's death, a move out of state, and the $32 cost had prevented her from doing so earlier -- she decided she could live without the safety chain.
When Dale Fisher read the May 27 story, he called a Times correspondent and offered to pay for whatever Mrs. Sessions still wanted done with the bracelet, which her parents had given to her on her 10th birthday. He then picked it up at her apartment and took it back to A&A Jewelry at 143 107th Ave. on Treasure Island. The store agreed to apply a small hook in lieu of a chain, and Fisher has paid for the repair.
"It was just such a precious thing," said Fisher, 43, who runs a plastics fabrication business. "All the troubles she had gone through, to get something back that meant so much to her. It was the right thing to do."
Mrs. Sessions said she was "thrilled" to accept the offer.
Lake Maggiore Shores has begun the action phase of its neighborhood plan. New sidewalks already line most of the neighborhood, which lies between Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) Street S and 22nd Street, between 22nd Avenue S and Lake Maggiore. A picnic kicked off Operation Commitment, the city's effort to jump-start as many of the items in Lake Maggiore Shores' $100,000 neighborhood plan as possible during the first 90 days.
North Kenwood neighbors won't want to miss Saturday's picnic from noon to 3 p.m. at Booker Creek Park on 13th Avenue N and 22nd Street. North Kenwood runs from Interstate 275 to 34th Street, between Ninth Avenue N and 22nd Avenue N.
CAMPBELL PARK: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Campbell Park Neighborhood Association office, 1525 16th St. S. Representative from Juvenile Welfare Board.
CHILDS PARK: 7 p.m. Monday. Childs Park Recreation Center, 4301 13th Ave. S. Topic: Pool and football field at the recreation center.
DISSTON HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Tuesday. Gladden Park Center, 3901 30th Ave. N. Topic: traffic calming. Police Officer Joann Lindsay on 34th Street prostitution. Neighborhood Partnership director Susan Ajoc.
EAGLE CREST: 7 p.m. Tuesday. St. Petersburg Catholic High School cafeteria, 6333 Ninth Ave. N. Open forum.
MEL-TAN HEIGHTS: 6 p.m. Tuesday. Brister Temple Church of God, 2901 18th Ave. S. Neighborhood plan.
MELROSE-MERCY/PINE ACRES: 7 p.m. Tuesday. 20th Street Church of Christ, 820 20th St. S. Traffic calming.
NORTHEAST PARK: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Masonic Home, 3201 First St. N. Julie Rivard, St. Petersburg Fire Department. CPR demonstration by Emergency Medical Services.
NORTH KENWOOD: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Edward White Hospital auditorium, 2299 Ninth Ave. N, Room 1-G. Kellie Chickos, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
OLD SOUTHEAST: 7 p.m. Thursday. 130 19th Ave. SE. Open forum.
WILDWOOD HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Thursday. Juvenile Justice Building, 955 26th St. S. YMCA representative.
MLK (NINTH STREET) BUSINESS DISTRICT: 8 a.m. Wednesday. Sir Walter Building, Unit B, 689 Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) St. N. Two-way traffic, open discussion.