Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page A5

FLORIDA TODAY 5A Wickham Road 1.2 Mile east of I-95 MV-93147 259-2000 www.2000auto.com SERVICE QUALITY INTEGRITY WE HAVE IT ALL Conventional Oil Change 19 95 REGULAR $34.95 Valvoline Full Synthetic with Technology Oil Change 54 95 REGULAR $69.95 15 OFF ANY OIL CHANGE Includes: New Filter, Up to 6 qts of 5W30 Valvoline Oil, Check Air Filter, Lubricate Chassis Door Hinges, Check All Fluids. Check Tire Pressure, Plus $3.00 Disposal Fee. Expires FT Includes: New Filter, Up to 6 qts of 5W30 Full Synthetic with Maxlife Valvoline Oil, Check Air Filter, Lubricate Chassis Door Hinges, Check All Fluids. Check Tire Pressure, Plus $3.00 Disposal Fee. Expires FT Valvoline Synthetic Blend Oil Change 39 95 REGULAR $54.95 Includes: New Filter, Up to 6 qts of 5W30 Maxlife Synthetic Valvoline Oil, Check Air Filter, Lubricate Chassis Door Hinges, Check All Fluids.

Check Tire Pressure, Plus $3.00 Disposal Fee. Expires FT FREE Valvoline Surge Wiper Blades With the Valvoline full synthetic, Maxlife or Valvoline MaxLife synthetic blend $19.90 Value FT-0000556574 2780N.U.S.One,Melbourne259.6663 2780N.U.S.One,Melbourne259.6663 WWW CarpetHardwoodLaminateTileRugsVinylPlank Since 1979 2013-2014-2015 M-F SAT SUN 9-7 9-5 11-4 M-F SAT SUN 9-6 9-5 11-4 ByBetter BusinessBureau RATED 2015 OnitsMostBeautifulStylesandWeArePassing TheSavingsAlongtoYou! FREE RoombaVacuumCleaningRobot $375VALUE 1866 2016 CELEBRATINGYEARS 150 MASLANDCARPETSALE FACTORY AUTHORIZED BONUSSAVINGS FREE CARPETINSTALLATION StdCarpetInstallation.SeeStoreforDetails SPACE COAST March 15, when visitors reserve vacation accommodations or other short- erm rentals through the Airbnb webs ite, 5 percent Tourist Devel- pment Tax on rentals of six months or less is automatically collected and sent to the tax collector. Garvey also cited work in andling the field audits, background inv estigations and evaluations of financial i nformation related to the tourism tax, and enabling tourism officials to better analyze the data. Cullen said there are 1,744 entities now collecting the Tourist Development ax, which is up about 125 in the past two ears. The county collected $11.29 million in tourism tax during its latest budget year that ended Sept.

30, and is about 9 percent ahead of that pace so far this budget year. The Office of Tourism uses the tax oney to market the Space Coast to tourists. The Tourist Development Tax also helps pay for beach renourishment, tour- i sm-focused facilities, cultural events marketing, visitor information centers, and Brevard Zoo and Space Coast Stadium upgrades. he Solomon Portrait of Excellence Award is presented each year to a person organization for contributing time and effort in building tourism for the Space Coast. was just so to receive the a ward, Cullen said.

was nice to know hat the effort was he award is a replica of the genie bottle featured on the Dream of television series that was set in Cocoa Beach but not filmed there. The Dream of bottle is art of our Garvey said. ottle set the groundwork for a pop culture icon. And this bottle and the genie in it put Cocoa Beach on the Addressing Cullen, Garvey said: your diligence and attention to col- ecting our tourism tax, helping n-bottle all the Space Coast has to offer. We thank The Solomon Award is named for the late Bill Solomon, who was general manager of several local hotels.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/dave. erman.54 Collector Continued from Page 3A World War II provided Florida with nprecedented economic growth and evived areas that had been crippled uring the Great Depression. Defense contracts led to construction jobs, and then other civilian employment opportunities after military facilities were built. Rural landowners often benefited financially from the construction of military installations through government purchase of their property. The impact of military facilities coming to an area was not always posit ive.

Sometimes entire communities ere lost. The impact on African-Ameri can neighborhoods was usually negative. communities became prized targets to build military bases, because they were the cheapest lands that were Hutchinson said. African Americans have any real political strength in terms of resisting this, they often found themselves wiped off the Starkeis about 50 miles southwest of Jacksonville. Today, Starke is best known as the home of the Florida State Prison.

In 1940, Starke was a rural community of about 1,400. Starke changed radically when the town was chosen as the site of Camp Blanding. During World War II, Camp Blanding became fourth-largest city. was a call for construction workers to come build the Hutchinson said. Starke was deluged with people.

Some 32,000 migrants arrived to the community looking for a job. This is still the Great Depression, so the opportunity for a government job at a government pay scale was incredibly People came from as far away as the Midwest seeking construction jobs at amp Blanding. was in some ways both a benefit and a thorn in the side of Hutchinson said. benefited remendously, economically, from the a rrival of these soldiers, but Starke had a difficult time with its limited infrastructure, processing and dealing with thousands of new Other Florida communities were ignificantly impacted by the expan- ion of existing military installations. Pensacola, for example, was a community with a longstanding military presence, but World War II really eightened the demand for labor Hutchinson said.

Pensacola Naval Air Station hired 15,000 civilian workers to run its facilities. You have thousands of Floridians leaving he fields and going to work in the cities ear these military uring World War II, population exploded. Key West had 13,000 residents in 1940 and 45,000 by end five years later. Miami almost dou- led to more than 325,000. One of the lasting impacts these ilitary bases have is it brings in millions of non-Floridians to the state for the first time, who see beaches, climate, and many of the oldiers that are stationed in Florida uring the war are going to come back Florida after the war as permanent Hutchinson said.

Military Continued from Page 1A FLORIDA MEMORY During World War II, Camp Blanding became the fourth-largest city in Florida. After the war, many of the soldiers who trained there would eturn with their families as permanent residents of the state. Through the years in Brevard The World War II military buildup in Florida had a major impact on Brevard County. In 1939, the Navy bought 1,900 acres of scrub land south of Cocoa Beach to build the Banana River Naval Air Station, now known as Patrick Air Force Base. Planes from the base flew coastal patrols during the war.

Besides buying the land, the federal government also poured millions of dollars in building what is now State Road A1A and replacing wooden bridges to the barrier islands with concrete spans. In 1942, the tiny Melbourne-Eau Gallie airport was converted to Melbourne Naval Air Station. Within months, more than $5 million in improvements were made to the airfield. Now it is Orlando Melbourne International Airport. hat is now known as Space Coast Regional Airport was opened in 1944 as the Titusville Gunnery Range, under the control of Sanford Naval Air Station.

ust west of Brevard County, a small civilian airport was leased by the Army and was designated rlando Army Airfield and later Pinecastle Army Airfield. In 1958, it was renamed McCoy Air Force Base, named for a pilot killed in a crash. Which is why when you fly into the Orlando I nternational Airport today, your luggage stickers read About the author Dr. Ben Brotemarkle is executive director of the Florida Historical Society. also host of the weekly public radio program broadcast locally on 90.7 WMFE and 89.5 WFIT.

The public television series can be seen locally on WUCF-TV. ore information is at www.myfloridahisto- ry.org.