Throngs watch Lutz's small-town parade

A brass band plays at the new train depot, barbecue chicken dinners sell out quickly and the cake auction is a success.

By BILL COATS

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

LUTZ -- While trying to remain a small town, Lutz happily staged its biggest July Fourth celebration ever.

"I don't remember seeing a bigger one," said Jerry Goins, president of the Lutz Volunteer Fire Association. "This is my 39th year."

Goins watched as 1,300 barbecued chicken dinners sold out early in the fire department's annual fund-raiser. "We ran out of chicken about two o'clock."

And no wonder. Lutz's 90-unit July Fourth parade coursed past crowds that were 3-4-people deep under the shadiest trees. They witnessed local history in the dedication of a rebuilt train depot and listened to a brass band on the depot platform.

"We had more booths than we've ever had," said Auralee Buckingham, the longtime chairwoman of the festivities. "We had more entries in the parade than we ever had."

Even the cake-baking contest had a banner day; a crowd of sweet tooths paid a total of $430 as the entries were auctioned off.

Jan Smith, who was chairwoman of the parade for several years, walked in it this year. "When we came around that curve near the fire station, I could not believe all the people," she said.

The big turnout was a welcome change from last year, when the celebration was moved to Saturday, July 3, to avoid interfering with services at three churches on the parade route. The crowd was thinner than expected, and confusion about the date was blamed.

This year, publicity was heightened as a replica of Lutz's original train depot took shape in the community's old downtown, the focal point of the celebration. A sign on the depot announced the July Fourth celebration.

"The train depot had a tremendous impact on the community," Buckingham said. "I talked to two or three people who stopped by every day on the way home from work to see how it was going."

She also attributed the throngs to the area's growth, citing interest she received from residents in new developments such as VillaRosa and Carpenter's Run.

The event was so crowded that it captured friends Lynn Gray and Kat Able, who ran in the 8 a.m. 5K race, then found their exit blocked when they tried to drive home. But they enjoyed the parade.

"We chose to stay trapped," said Able, 42, a cross-country coach at Sickles High School.

"There's so much patriotism," said Gray, 48, who teaches government at Jefferson High School. "It's so important that the Fourth of July is more than fireworks."

Another first-time paradegoer was Jane Lowry, 51, a finance-company office manager, who recently moved to Carrollwood from Brandon, where she previously celebrated the Fourth.

"This is on a smaller scale, more hometown," she said.

Such words are poetry to the builders of the train depot, which was dedicated Tuesday as a monument to Lutz's small-town past and local leaders' modern-day determination not to let that character be bulldozed.

"We want to differentiate ourselves from our more urbanized areas," Ron Stoy, chairman of the effort, said during dedication ceremonies. "We're just a little bit different out here in many ways, and we just like a little more space than they do."

The depot rebuilding was so popular that the Lutz Civic Association, which launched the project, had to announce widely that funding goals were reached in efforts to stop the inflow of money.

"It was overwhelming, really, how quickly the resources and the time and the materials came together here," said Stoy.

Besides its symbolism, the depot functioned nicely as a stage. The 23-member Sunshine Brass Band filled the open platform and performed throughout Tuesday morning.

A railroad crossing symbol, donated on the spur of the moment by CSX Transportation, rang its bell feebly at key moments during the ceremony.

"The bell works," boasted Jay Muffly, one of the five key builders of the depot. "The rest of it ain't hooked up, but I can ring the bell."

Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 226-3469 or coats@sptimes.com.

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