By Peter Roos
ST PETE BEACH
Pass-a-Grille Woman’s Club Celebrates Centennial
The Woman’s Club took their centennial photo November 8th and held a gala Nov. 8th at the Sirata Beach Resort. More about that next issue. Renee Roos, longtime active member and Paradise News founder, second row, fourth from right, did not want to miss being in the Woman’s Club’s Centennial photo. Prior to starting Paradise News in 1995, Renee published Grille Bits Newsletter for the Pass-a-Grille Community Association for eight years. Copies may be found at the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum.
Outer Banks Boil Company Now Steams Seafood
To OrderThey were our cover story last November, just months after they opened at Dolphin Village Shopping Center in St. Pete Beach, the only Florida branch of a small but iconic North Carolina company. Until recently they were selling a cook it yourself pot of seafood, corn, potatoes and spices, or catering parties. The company took a big step forward recently as they added a steamer and can now offer some of the best seafood in town, ready to eat wherever you wish. “This adds another huge dimension to our brand. With our delicious sides and dessert, people can take the entire meal to go. We even have our popular North Carolina barbeque for landlubbers. If they want something we don’t offer, Publix is in the plaza. We still love our caterings though,” says Logan Berlin, managing partner of the local franchise. 4615 Gulf Blvd #111, St. Pete Beach. Open 11-7 daily www.stpetebeach.outerbanksboilcompany.com 727-357-2645
St. Pete Beach Creates Beach Manager Position
The new position is serving as a liaison between one of the city’s most valuable assets and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, code enforcement, hoteliers, vendors, residents, and visitors. The Beach Manager, Ayoko Ruckdeschel, also is overseeing the dune system, maintenance of the beach and the adjacent waterways. St. Pete Beach is one of the first beach communities in the area to designate a specific job to protect and enhance the beach / dune system along the Gulf of Mexico coastline. “There are so many policies that are in place to protect the wildlife, preserve the dune system which is very important for sand retention and over all beach experience.” Ayoko works a 10-hour day, Friday-Monday, the most active time on the beaches, so this is when she will have her feet in the sand to help inform and monitor for code infringement.
TREASURE ISLAND
The Treasure Islettes hold Bingo Thursdays at 6:30pm at the Treasure Island Community Center, 106 154th Ave., Treasure Island. Come for an evening of great fun, food and friendly people. Jackpot $200- $250! Free parking, free coffee, and tea. Great snack bar. Any proceeds go to charity and college scholarships. Doors open at 6pm. Questions? Call 727-270-3178
Alligator and Wildlife Discovery Center
There is another amazing animal rescue at John’s Pass. It used to be only an alligator attraction, but under Sonny Flynn’s management it has evolved into a 10,000 square foot pet and wildlife rescue center, with an affiliated farm and petting zoo, butterfly garden and more. They were the cover story in January and are planning a Cajun low country boil fun and fundraiser at the Bilmar Beach Resort on Feb. 10, 2023. Save the date.
PINELLAS COUNTY
FREE FILM CREW Training Program Launched Partnering with Clearwater based Bluewater Media to provide free training for thelocal production industry, the St. Pete/Clearwater Film Commission is launching a free education program to provide training for the practical skills that are needed in the film, TV, commercial and digital video industry. The goal of the program is to train people in the skills needed to be hired on a wide variety of productions. Those skills include, but are not limited to, grip and electric, location sound, location management, assistant camera, production design and art department. Pinellas County residents are eligible to sign up for the training program, which starts on Jan. 14th with Production 101. All participants must take Production 101 before they can take any of the other classes. Interested participants can sign up for the Jan. 14th Production 101 class online.
Injured Shorebird Help Line 727-391-6211 The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, 18328 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores, is a local treasure. Open 8am-4pm daily, they have a small parking lot on the beach side of Gulf Blvd. just south of the Park Boulevard bridge. Parking and visitation are free to the public, but donations are needed from anyone who can afford to share. They are a hospital and recovery center for injured birds with a cool little gift shop. One of the valuable services they offer is coordination of injured seabird rescues. We needed their services recently for the second time in the past 30 years. Our neighborhood blue heron, Gertrude, had gotten her right foot badly tangled in fishing line. My neighbor called 727-391-6211 persistentlyto ask for help. A retired female physician from Iowa named Mickey responded. She has an amazing capture device, a large clamshell type net that, in the hands of an experienced user, can catch a big bird like Gertrude without injury. She said her large 8-foot net was one of only five in the world. Mickey is a volunteer who says she sometimes performs six rescues in a day and said she has performed over 3,000 in total. She really wanted to be a veterinarian. She said to tell you to “please not try and catch injured birds yourself.” It makes her job much harder when unsuccessful captures have been tried prior to a volunteer’s arrival. Gertrude was an easy catch, and we helped Mickey hold her while she cut the string off her foot and happily found the foot uninjured, so she was released, rather than hospitalized. You can visit www.seasideseabirdsanctuary.org.
They have 1,350 Google reviews with a 4.7 out of 5-star average. Go anytime 8am-4pm to see what has evolved into an aviary for a huge variety of recovering birds. It’s not-for-profit. Donations are appreciated and well deserved.
The Pearl re-opens in Gulfport
The pride of Treasure Island, The Pearl, an “upscale yet casual” Mediterranean restaurant, that serves a sophisticated seafood-focused and prime meats menu alongside wine & specialty drinks, is now the pride of Gulfport. Chef Karim and Catherine’s restaurant moved to its prior location south of the TI clock tower 10 years ago. That location is now at the east end of a planned redevelopment and they and their neighbors were reportedly given two years to relocate. Rather than see what the future would bring, they moved into the restaurant space in the Town Shores plaza with a view of the park. The Pearl is now open at 5802 28th Ave. S in Gulfport. 727-360-9151.
Piano man Carl Fuerstman has been the Billy Joel of St. Pete Beach and Tierra Verde even before he used to pack them in the back room at Max and Sam’s years ago. More recently at Billy’s then Chill, where Carl celebrated hitting 65 with a restaurant and bar packed with fans singing Happy Birthday Carl. Carl’s best friend for the past 35 years wrote recently asking us to let everyone know that their next chance to sing along with Carl will be in heaven.
