Wisteria Island Cleanup

Kudos to Theo Glorie and the Coffee Plantation crew of volunteers who helped with the cleanup on Wisteria Island this past Sunday. Kudos as well to Amoud Girad's Key West Water Taxi; and to Waste Management who donated the dumpster. This cleanup is a fine example of Key West's "Do-it-for-ourselves" philosophy. Or as Grandpa used to say, "If you want it done right, do it yourself."

Our only questions are where were the owners and developers of Wisteria Island all this time before the cleanup? And why did it take an army of volunteers to do their work? If the Wisteria Island development ever comes up again before the City Commission and / or the voters (and you know it will) these questions should be at the top of the list before any yes vote on potential development.

Happy Anniversary!

Yes, can you believe it? One year ago today, we welcomed you to this blog. Ten days later Tropical Storm Alberto was forming in the Gulf, and we blogged about it. We also talked about the looming increase in TAMPOA assessments of then 25%. Who at that time would have thought that the 25% increase would become only a drop in the bucket and end up to be a 250% plus increase. Who would have thought that assessments might go up even more? Who would have believed then that the controversy over the Truman Annex gates would continue for so long without an end in sight?

Now we turn the page and look forward to the future. We expect that there will be many changes to this blog in the coming months. While we can't say yet what they will be, we can say that our effort will be to bring you something new. We will be changing, but we will also stay the course of creating interesting discussion. We have had a challenging first year.

We thank our loyal readers for all their information and support this past year. We also thank our haters. Without your nastiness and hateful (unpublished) comments, we would not have had the energy to keep plugging away. In an unwitting way, you too have been drawn into the discussion, even though you didn't want to be. That means you have had to listen and possibly learn something you may not have known. So even though you don't like us, we thank you for sharing your point of view.

As we celebrate our one year anniversary, we'll be thinking about the future and the news and commentary we will continue to bring to you. Stay tuned.

Hug A Mom Day

Today is Mothers' Day. We like to think of it as a time to honor all moms. They really do have the weight of the world on their shoulders. If you are a mom, you know what we mean.

Have you hugged your mom today? Is she in your thoughts? We owe moms more than we can possibly know. We just haven't figured it out yet.

We wish all moms out there a very Happy Mothers' Day

Congratulations Are In Order

While we were watching Ohio State squeak by, the Red Cross was handing out Awards. the My Key West Emergency Relief Fund committee received the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award for helping victims of Hurricane Wilma. Two members of that committee, TAMPOA Attorney, Bill Andersen, and Chris Belland of Historic Tours of America, who has lived in Truman Annex, shared that well deserved award. Also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work and charitable contributions to the Key West community was Edith Amsterdam. Congratulations to all of you!

When Key West residents who don't live in Truman Annex start thinking people associated with Truman Annex don't care about anyone or anything except their property, they should think again and remember the good community work these folks are doing.