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Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 110

Publication:
Tampa Bay Timesi
Location:
St. Petersburg, Florida
Issue Date:
Page:
110
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

TIMES FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1997 NTP 7 Quad 1 1BORHOOB The communities north of Tampa Neigi OdMM Report Wetchaa IN LAND O'LAKES Hone if UrtfOUkaa Point. Hillsborouih-Pasco county line A 1 IwyP 33ff A Par Ml-. 1 ,.1 i i i i.i. r-nunni hvh i nfcJ 3 i -Mrr--J i WeS stossses paGirMDSDini of EnoDodlay KEYSTONE Students roll up their sleeves, clean up wetland Spending Saturdays on a 50-acre site, they're returning a former dump to its natural inhabitants cypress and fern, snakes and deer. On Independence Day, he wants his grandchildren to know what he fought for and remembers so vividly.

I I Awoaif-WnirsfrShJ -1 Jgjj i I 5 i' 4 6 I I I I ft f1 i I 4. i ft --sw -jr I II 111 v- I etMHaWKm -t. if i i i 1 --ytfwwt i i i 11 TO ZZ I "Zj 'Vr1 II I I I'S hm, 11 1 i t-' I I (W) I 'fc s. By JACKIE RIPLEY Times Staff Writer KEYSTONE About 50 area high school students have taken on the task of restoring an environmentally sensitive parcel of property to good health. Barring spraying for medflies, the students, who come from Leto, Plant and King high schools, will spend the next several Saturday mornings pulling weeds, removing rubbish and planting foliage native to wetlands at the parcel, which is a half-mile south of Tarpon Springs Road on Patterson Road.

"We had to cancel the first weekend because they were spraying for medflies," said Mindy Lawyer, project coordina Tima photo TONI SANDYS Harold Smith, 79, joined the Navy when he was 18. He served in the Pacific on a destroyer, the USS Jobb, during World War II. He keeps a model of the ship in a room filled with memorabilia. tor. The students, many of whom belong to high school ecology clubs, are participating in the Wetland Restoration project sponsored by the Tampa Bay Sierra Club and the South West Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud.

"(Hillsborough County) Parks and Recre 7 Dr. iaiTollwx)dran Village Village Lowell Rd. rt Jl. Mill Valley dumi sjfcT 4 7 I ur. ci (0- i Times art By JENNIFER BRETT Ttmas Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES In his dreams, Harold Smith sometimes sees the planes coming for him and his mates.

"You know they know you're there," said Smith, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. "You knew they were trying to sink you. Where are the planes coming from? You can't see them." During his 18-month tour aboard the USS Jobb, sailors downed three kamikaze Japanese planes. They came up with a way to ward off gunboats loaded with explosives that would try to ram huge ships.

"The gunnery officer and I went over to the Philippine air base," recalled Smith, now 72. "We swapped two cases of fresh butter for two 50-caliber machine guns." They mounted those on the ship's deck so they could spray the water and prevent a ramming. Smith keeps his memorabilia, including a gray plastic model of the USS Jobb, in a room in his Eagle Island home. He opened a closet in the room to reveal a cardboard box full of firecrackers and sparklers his daughter and two grandchildren were coming down to celebrate the Fourth of July. But to Smith, today means more than just hot dogs and fireworks.

"The Fourth of July means a lot to me and my family," he said. "You don't have to live during a war to be patriotic, to love your country." Smith was 18 when he enlisted. He grew up in Yonkers, N.Y., and took a course in welding after school. He was 17 when he graduated from high school. Afterward, he and some friends took their welders' masks with them to Baltimore, where they worked in the shipyards.

"Some of the ships I helped build, I later sailed on," he said. During his tour his ship destroyed a floating mine, took part in six invasions and survived a hurricane and two typhoons. "Very, very frightening," he said, remembering the storms. "It's pitching and rolling at the same time. If you're at your gun, you're getting wet, and if you're in your bunk, you're right next to FT? Harold Smith credits the Navy with helping him grow up.

"You don't have a normal late-teen life," he said. "Having a mix of career military men, academy-trained officers, sometimes-illiterate shipmates, you have to balance your life in a very confined space. Hi, li'. 4 7 pointed legislative officer and deputy chairman and worked for the board 10 more years. After his political tour of duty, he opened a lobbying firm.

He and his wife, Evelyn, moved to Land O'Lakes in 1986. They've been married 49 years. The room with the plastic model of the USS Jobb is also home to political plaques, certificates and photographs. There are pictures of JFK, Bill Clinton and Mario Cuomo among others. Although he spent more of his life in politics than the military, Smith credits the Navy with helping him grow up.

"You don't have a normal late-teen life," he said. "Having a mix of career military men, academy-trained officers, sometimes-illiterate shipmates, you have to balance your life in a very confined space." Among the photos in Smith's memorabilia room is one of his grandchildren wearing his Navy caps. He says his family will go to the Land O'Lakes festival at the Community Center on U.S. 41, then come back home for their own celebration. And he wants the little ones to know what Independence Day means.

"The country's birthday that's the first thing that's important," he said. "I want them to learn and understand how important this country is to them." you hav a story about Land OXakM, can (800) 333-7506, axt 8241. 2 ation said they have a parcel that needs work, and we've got kids raring to go," said the Sierra Club's CarJ Mullisjr. The property, which was used as a sludge dump, is home to wild turkeys, coyote, snakes, deer and fox, and was purchased by the county's ELAPP preservation program with the goal of "creating a new pristine habitat for the animals," Lawyer said. "The more we can fix it up and teach stewardship for the land, the more we have protected the future for wildlife and for human habitat." There are three wetlands on the 500-acre parcel, known as the Clearwater tract.

One of them, which was used as a dump site, is "just filled with tires and cement," Mullis said. "No one can save it." To the north, another wetland is filled with ant beds and maples, has no Cypress trees and is not "going to be savable," Mullis said. The work, which began June 14 and ends September 13, is being done in four phases. During the first few weeks, students, who usually number about 15, will remove foliage foreign to wetlands, such as saltbush and cattails, from the 150-by-130-foot site. 'I "By the time we got finished last weekend, we had such a feeling of camaraderie," Mullis said.

"Boy, we're doing something good." When the clearing is complete, the students will grade the land, test the soil and water, and design and layout new landscaping using wetland plants such as cypress and ferns. "After planting, we'll follow up and make sure they're taking," Mullis said. "Hopefully, the watef level will come up as rainy season starts." If you have a story about Odessa, call Jackie Ripley at 226-3468. the hull with only three quarters of an inch between you and the Atlantic Ocean." Smith got out of the Navy in 1946 and stayed in the reserves until 1952. He was chief gunners mate upon discharge.

Afterward, he got into politics, working on John F. Kennedy's senatorial campaign before running for office himself. He was elected to Westchester (N.Y.) County's Board of Supervisors in 1961 and held a seat for 10 years. He was then ap If. A 20-year-old Smith poses on the deck of the Jobb during World War II.

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