Welcome to the new year edition of the Paradise News!
While the barrier islands and low-lying coastal areas are working to recover from the devastating damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton, on the mainland, just a mile or two away, life is largely unchanged.
The next few issues of our 30-year-old monthly publication will be a blend of the usual community news you have come to love, with a generous helping of ideas to help hurricane victims move on with their lives. At this point it appears that recovery could still take many months, if not years.
There are local fresh markets in the area at least four days each week. Visiting one or more is a great way to get a bit of fresh air and exercise, pick up some fresh picked fruits and vegetables, as well as many locally made items. There is a listing towards the end of our Arts and Leisure section with market locations, days and times. Gulfport is Tuesdays, Treasure Island Fridays, downtown St. Pete on Saturdays and multiple locations including Corey Avenue at St. Pete Beach on Sundays.
Arts organizations are reeling, not from storm damage as much as from budget slashing at the state level. Still, the second half of each edition of Paradise News is full of fun and interesting things to do. On our website, www.paradisenewsfl.com all the links are active, meaning that you can often just click through to obtain tickets. While online, you can have the print edition mailed to you for under $2 a copy. You can also subscribe for free to our weekly digital newsletter, sent each Thursday with links to the five top events going on each weekend.
The 2025 St. Petersburg Boat Show takes place Thursday, Jan. 16-Sunday, Jan. 19 at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts, Mahaffey Theater Yacht Basin, and Albert Whitted Park in downtown St. Petersburg. This boating event is the largest boat show on the Gulf Coast and will feature luxury motor yachts and sportfish, to center consoles and much more!
Hot Works bi-annual art shows will be held a few blocks west on that same weekend, Jan. 18 & 19 and again on March 8 & 9, outdoors in a spacious, clean, paved parking area, at the Imagine Museum, an ideal venue for a high-quality, juried, boutique-size art show featuring just 75 artists. Plans are also underway to convert the streets of downtown St. Petersburg into a road race circuit for the 2025 running of the Firestone Grand Prix the first Indy-style race of the season, returning to St. Petersburg from Feb. 28-March 2.
Remember that many people in our area are suffering in ways they never have before, so please be kind and thoughtful, especially to people you know whose homes were flooded for the very first time. Reach out and ask what you can do to help. There likely is not anything to be done, but the thought goes a long way.
Thank you for reading Paradise News, in print and online. If you contact or visit any of our advertisers, please let them know you saw them in Paradise News. Here’s wishing all a very happy recovery and a great new year.