The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 147

Opinion SEi The Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, July 3, 1994 K-t1 a Oviedo's street name game is poor sportsmanship Redevelopment fund good for county image 1A." V- mjf Don Boyett OUR COUNTY tory, the act would deserve little official notice. But what of public convenience? The public knows not and cares less that one section of a street is in one city, the next block in a next-door town. What the motorist wants is convenience. Street markers identify State Road 436 as Semoran Boulevard, then Altamonte Drive, then Semoran Boulevard though across the street other nameplates read S.R. 436.

That's just one of many examples of Small Town practices. Such inconsistencies lead to the absurdity of side-by-side businesses listed in telephone directories as being on different streets. Come to think of it, the Oviedo council's pitiful attempt at provincial hijinks ought to be a starting point to bringing sanity to Seminole street names, countywide. Redeem yourselves, oh council! Take the lead in removing this Small Town trait from all of cops that they would chase their prey into downtown Oviedo, not a welcome sight for Oviedoans, particularly council members. Forget speed limits; Oviedo's turf had been invaded.

There were other instances that Oviedo viewed as less than cooperative. Then came the proposed Oviedo Crossings mall. Tuscawilla residents, since backed by the Winter Springs City Commission, insisted that an easement, designed to prevent a connector road from the boulevard to A. Duda Sons lands to the south, be held inviolate. The mall developer says the connector road is essential for the mall.

Oviedo folks, eager for the big-city status a huge mall would bring, are incensed. They'll show those spoilsports; no longer will that city's name be emblazoned on an Oviedo street sign. Except for the fact that such schoolboy behavior sullies Oviedo's otherwise distinguished his fj viedo, by most measure-ments, is a small town. And by the looks of its City Council agenda for Tuesday, it is also a Small Town. The council has scheduled a vote on renaming that portion of Winter Springs Boulevard within Oviedo to Oviedo Crossings Boulevard.

That is spiteful, provincial and tacky. Definitely, it is Small Town. Winter Springs Boulevard starts in Winter Springs at Tuskawilla Road, winds its way through the sprawling, posh Tuscawilla subdivision and connects with Aloma in Oviedo. Time was, it dead-ended in Tuscawilla; Oviedo didn't even reach out to Aloma. The two towns were near but far apart unconnected.

Then, as Tuscawilla grew, the boulevard was pushed on to Aloma as Oviedo expanded its city boundary westward. Oviedo residents found a handy shortcut to the northwest and Tuscawilla resi- dents, without nearby stores and many of them working at Westing-house or UCF, found a new convenience. Now Tuscawilla residents are proud and defensive of their neighborhood, thanks much to the fiery Moti Khemlani, self-appointed general of the Tuscawilla Army. Pressure from the army brought strict enforcement of speed laws on their main drag. So diligent were Winter Springs continues to attract new development.

By contrast, Sanford, with a history of decay, at best remains stagnant. Image is important. County redevelopment grants of up to $10,000 are restricted to commercial properties, in and out of cities, in high visibility areas where several properties are showing signs of decline. They can be used only on public rights of way for sidewalks, landscaping, stormwater control, lighting, or for permit fees when property is brought up to code. The hope is that one improved property will infect a neighborhood and reverse a trend toward decline.

The investment will be repaid through increased taxes the improvements generate. It is not bad theory. Money for the grants comes from savings made in the current year's budget, and commissioners are looking for a dedicated source of funds to keep the program going past this year. The program fits nicely with other efforts to improve the county's image. These include the near eradication of snipe signs along county roads, roadway trash removal through volunteer road adoptions, highway median landscaping, also primarily through voluntary business contributions.

They are making a difference. Renewal can lead to the impression that this is a county of caring people, a good place in which to invest. In the realm of economic development, image can be critical. There is a lot of talk across this county about economic development. It is said more jobs are needed; more commercial property would shift a tax base heavily weighted on the homeowner.

Until now, though, it has been mostly talk. Credit the Seminole County Commission with taking some small steps toward doing something" about creating new businesses. The most recent was to put $250,000 into a redevelopment fund, seed money, if you please, to help reverse the effect of blight pockets eat-ing away at this county's im- age and vibrancy. Image is important. Who 'wants to sink money into a community that appears to be dying? Indeed, what bank will money for investment in a neighborhood going to seed? And just look about; over I much of this county there are growing pockets of blight.

It is not an image to attract new business investment. The commission recognizes, rightly so, that economic development must be earned, and one of the best routes is through redevelopment. Reversed decay can be a plus in its own right, and renewal is if new investments are to be lured. A case in point: Altamonte Springs began talking redevelopment more than a decade ago when that city was ap-' proaching build-out. A plan was produced that included incentives to replace worn-out property with new, and to lend a generally good appearance to the community.

The city has an appearance of vibrance and Ltiiir -Hito I Acknowledgement of Francke's contribution long overdue By Jim Robison OF THE SENTINEL STAFF r- Seminole's past LINK TO THE PAST If lAr-s -y4tu wfrVi- Band director's resignation not due to hasty judgment A RECENT Orlando Sentinel article led readers to believe that parents and the Seminole County School Board had acted hastily to force an unwarranted res-; ignation of the Lake Howell band director. As a former high school teacher and coach, I can assure you a single complaint over an incident as in- significant as signing "love" to a congratulatory card would not prompt a school system's full-scale investi-; gation, nor a teacher's resignation. Unfortunately, the Sentinel did an extreme injustice to its readers by not researching the issue involved in the case. The facts are not hard to find. While the Sentinel's description of signing "love" to a card was an extreme understatement of an actual happening, it was not the issue brought to the atten- tion of the School Board.

I applaud the resolve displayed by those parents 'who have stepped forward to uncover this situation. Their efforts were not self-motivated; they were in the interest of future band players at Lake Howell High School. Colin Hornsby WINTER SPRINGS A white man in the Swamps of Florida, than Die in Arkansas. f- a' -WO Later this summer, after Seminole County commissioners and members of the county's historical commission settle on just the right phrases to string together between the "whereas" and "therefore be it resolved," Arthur E. Francke Jr.

will make a little history. Seems fair. Even overdue. A little fanfare and recognition for his more than two decades as Seminole County historian is deserved. Francke, 82, has done more than anyone I can think of to dig through old letters, diaries and military records and other accounts for the details about Seminole County's history, especially its role in the four decades of the Seminole and the steamboat and railroad years that followed.

Through six years of columns for "Seminole's Past," I have looked to Francke as my mentor, often quoting from his research or seeking his guidance on where to look for documents. Writing and studying history started as a pastime for Franke, who retired to DeBary after 33 years with Bethlehem Steel. He has published as least nine books and pamphlets about the history of Central Florida, mostly about Seminole and Volusia counties. His first book, Fort Mellon 1837-42, A Microcosm of the Second Seminole War, was published in 1972. It uncovered the importance of Fort Mellon (Mellon-ville became Sanford) when the Seminoles resisted the federal government's efforts to force them to reservations west of the Mississippi.

From Francke I learned more than just the dates and events. His book brought to life the people behind the names on historic plaques. They ranged from Capt. Charles Mellon, who was killed by a Seminole who crept up to a gap in a Lake Monroe camp's breastwork during a February 1837 raid, to Gen. Thomas Sidney Jesup, the commander frustrated by the swamp-fighting Seminoles.

Jesup earned the dubious distinction of being the one who ordered the capture of Osceola when he came to truce talks under a white flag. I learned about the misery of life as a soldier in Florida during the "sickly season," because of the heat, rain and disease-carrying mosquitoes. More soldiers died from fevers and other swamp illnesses than in battle. New recruits were always in demand, Francke wrote, though not all were soldiers. A Florida officer was once sent to New York to recruit musicians after the Fort Mellon band broke up.

In a rage, one tempermental musician deserted after tearing up a valuable set of music books and vowing never to play another note. And I learned of Coacoochee, the Seminole warrior who led the attack on Fort Mellon. Coacoochee: Made of the Sands of Florida, Francke's 1986 book, described one of the feistiest of the Seminoles who resisted the U.S. Army and encroaching settlers. After seven years of research into the life of the Seminole known as Wild Cat, Francke used free verse to preserve the imagery of Coacoo-chee's speech and tre his adventures, including his Have a complaint about public officials or government policy? Got a concern about a burning issue in your community? Seminole Extra wants to hear from readers.

Keep letters brief and limited to a single topic. They must be signed and include the writer's name, address and phone number. Mail letters to The Orlando Sentinel, 4580 S. U.S. Highway 17-92, Casselberry 32707.

Letters may be edited for space and legal considerations. PHOTOGOHOON WILLIAMSON In a later book, Secondary Scenarios of the Second Seminole War, Francke created a fictionalized romance at Fort Mellon. It took liberty with historical characters "but without seriously bending the facts," he wrote. He painted a picture of life at Fort Mellon during a lull in the Indian fighting campaign, including a romance between a 19-year-old dragoon lieutenant, Lt. Winfield Scott McNeil, and the 17-year-old daughter of a steamboat captain, Polly Poinsett.

Francke imagined the young lieutenant, wjio months before had been stationed at St. Augustine where he attended grand balls and danced with Miri-orcan ladies, looking for a some lighthearted diversion from the idleness at the fort. His matchmaker would be an officer's wife chaperoning two "fair visitors" whose West Point fathers had arranged their summer jaunt to St. Augustine and a side trip to Lake Monroe. Polly would ride double with McNeil on a 15-mile horseback outing to a sulfur spring lodge and bath.

The ladies would stay overnight at the lodge while the men pitched tents outside. In the evening, the ladies joined the men around a campfire to hear tales of their Florida campaign. The next day, they enjoyed a sulfur bath and picnic at the Lake Ashby lodge before a return trip Jo the fort. McNeil would later offer Polly a ferryboat excu)'-sion across Lake Monroe to an officers' retreat and health spa near Enterprise, where the fare included gopher soup, alligator steaks, turtle and snake egg's, snails by the bushel, oranges, salted salmon anjl chocolate milk. Polly would return to St.

Augustine, where sKe hoped once again to enjoy the company of the young lieutenant. Col. William S. Harney, though, would soon end the vacation season and break up the post. i In September, near Dunlawton sugar mill (Port Orange), the real-life McNeil became the youngest dragoon officer killed in the war.

Jim Robison is assistant Seminole County editor for The Orlando Sentinel. The Orlando Sentinel LISA F. LOCHRIDGE, County Editor JIM ROBISON, County Editor Arthur E. Francke county historian, thumbs through an Indian history book he has written. dramatic escape from an Army prison at St.

Augustine. Here's an excerpt: My Father, King Philip, told me I was made of the sands of Florida, And when buried, the Seminoles Would dance and sing around my grave I asked but for a small piece of these lands, Enough to plant and to live on, Far south, a spot where I could Lay my wife and child. This was not granted me. Francke went on to use Coacoochee's life story to show the parallels between the fate of the Seminoles and the Cherokees' "trail of tears" during their forced march to the West. EDITORIAL OFFICES CASSELBERRY 4580 S.

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