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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 17, 2001
On behalf of St. Petersburg Association of Firefighters Local 747, which encompasses the fire departments of St. Petersburg, Lealman, Gulfport, South Pasadena, Madeira Beach and Treasure Island, we would like to thank all of the citizens of our great community who came forth with love and support during the recent tragedy in New York City.
We are humbled by the people who have stopped at fire stations with signs of appreciation, and we are deeply grateful to our community for the more than $250,000 dropped into firefighter boots on street corners and in proceeds from businesses.
We have heard stories of children breaking open piggy banks and donating their allowances; others have stopped in offices and fire stations all over the community with checks and cash donations ranging from $20 to $1,000.
You are our heroes, and the heroes of the firefighters and their families of New York City. Be assured, all of the money collected is being forwarded to New York, and 100 percent of the money collected will go to firefighters and their families.
-- Pete Grasso Jr., president, St. Petersburg Association of Firefighters, Local 747 International Association of Firefighters
My wife and I, along with our friends and thousands of others, were guests at the recent concert at the Vinoy Park. First, I would like to express our thanks to the sponsors and the Florida Orchestra for having provided the community with such fine and welcome entertainment.
That said, I also have to express some concern that the concert was directly below the landing pattern for Albert Whitted Airport. Several small private aircraft flew low and directly over the thousands of people who had gathered there. I have no reason to believe anything unusual occurred that night, but it would have seemed prudent for small private aircraft to have been temporarily restricted from flying low over this crowd. Unfortunately, in our free and open society, it is difficult, if not impossible, to take all the measures necessary to ensure immunity against attacks by terrorists.
I do not wish to be an alarmist. However, with the recent terrorist activities, I would hope that for future large public gatherings, appropriate government agencies would see that precautionary measures are taken.
-- Clack Nelms, Seminole
Accolades to Helen Torres, Thomas Wilkins, the Florida Orchestra and all who gave us a fabulous evening in Vinoy Park during these troubled times. We enjoyed our beautiful waterfront while listening to our most talented musicians, and even stood and joined hands while singing America the Beautiful. We have many blessings to count.
-- Betty Shamas, St. Petersburg
I called Mahaffey Theater this week to order my tickets for The Nutcracker. We have looked forward to and have thoroughly enjoyed this holiday show, regardless of who performed it, for the 14 years we have been here and really needed something beautiful in our lives after the events of Sept. 11.
I was told that there would be no performance of The Nutcracker this year.
How sad, since I'm sure there must have been some group and some time slot available to allow such a traditional delight to continue.
Scrooge must have been waiting in the wings.
-- Phyllis A. Hammond, St. Petersburg