The Tampa Tribune from Tampa, Florida • 53

a mi IS THE TAMPA TRIBUNE Friday, May 7, 1993 vV. ass I'm Steve Otto 1 Tbl I iin. 'ot I Isvetf needed for 'Principle of the Year' The principle of the thing. Big John and no studs for Bebe. Harvard and giicivas.

and other Friday ottographs: "If you're coming to Florida, remember your suntan lotion and a 9mm pistol." The Frau was sitting on the couch, going over the lesson plans for her third-grade class. It was getting near the end of the school year, and she was trying to put together a test while trying to remember what it was they talked about back in September. "I'm sorry," she said. "Did you say something about bringing a gun to GREG FIGHTTribune photos CATS has covered the feline world from its inception in 1945 through the inauguration of first cat Socks. a century of cat tales -j Russell.

"There are more of them, and they can write checks." Russell is executive editor of Folio: a Connecticut magazine that covers the magazine business. She says the country has one other major cat publication. Cat Fancy Magazine, published by Fancy Publications in Mission Viejo, Calif. Fancy Publications owns a menagerie of magazines, including Dog Fancy Magazine, Aquarium Fish Magazine, Bird Talk and Horse Illustrated, FELINE according to the Gale FEATURES Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media. The nation's oldest cat magazine has purred along for half a century with the help of a committed family.

By SUZIE SIEGEL Tribune Staff Writer SOUTH DAYTONA They no longer have a cat on staff, and the CEO owns a dog. But the family that publishes CATS Magazine has not lost its commitment to the country's most popular pet. The magazine answers common questions (Why do cats spray, refuse to use a litter box, scratch furniture or bite?) and the offbeat (Why would a cat lick a fireplace? What kind of toothpaste do they The current cover promises: "Fighting Those Ferocious Fleas" and "Massage Therapy for Felines." The $2.50 monthly magazine has advertisements for everything a cat lover could want: a plastic shield to keep cats from unrolling toilet paper, a T-shirt depicting cats in cowboy hats, window shelves where cats can sleep, wind chimes shaped like cats, tartar control cat treats and the Socks Newsletter. CATS Magazine covers its subjects from many angles Company officials Page 5 say they do not talk to reporters. A cat got their tongues, no doubt.

Cat Fancy has double the circulation of CATS. Rov savs. noting that his family has not i i alwavs been aeeressive in marketing. Charles Kenny founded CATS in 1945 in Pittsburgh, and it merged with Our Cats Magazine four years later. The magazine had only 1,500 subscribers when Raymond D.

Smith bought it in 1951. Roy Copeland holds Mittens and his wife Tracey editor of holds Sylvie in their South Daytona home. CATS Smith loved cats but had no clue they would become so popular, Roy says. "He wasn't a businessman. He didn't think, 'In 15 years, we'll have zillions of A few years later.

Smith married a cat show judge who bred blue-eyed white Persians. "Cats brought them together," Roy says. Everyone pitches in And this just scratches the surface. The country's oldest cat periodical has nine employees, seven of whom are family. "I've been at the office since I was 2 weeks old," says Roy Copeland, art director and production manager.

His 3'2-year-old niece plays in the office now. "She's the fourth generation. While I grew up playing on the old IBM Selectric, she's playing on the Macintosh." The magazine once was published out of a farmhouse where cats roamed freely, sleeping on desks and the publisher's lap. But times change, and the office cats were phased out. The last one, Willie, wasn't replaced when he died of old age.

"He was the only one who made it onto the masthead as 'office Roy says. Tracey, his wife, adds: "When you spend tens of thousands of dollars on computer equipment, you can't have it ruined by cat hair." The couple prefer to keep the hair at home, where they have nine cats. A kitchen magnet, a soap dispenser and other odds and ends also take feline form. They have no children. "We have cats," Roy says.

"Sometimes I carry them around like a baby," says Tracey, editor of CATS. "It fulfills the maternal longing, at this point." Everyone in the family has cats except the chief executive officer, who has developed a bad allergy. Despite their devotion, they cannot count any cats among their 150,000 readers. "I think it's still better to aim at humans," jokes Anne Raymond and Blanche Smith moved to nearby Washington, Pa. He published the magazine out of their home, a farmhouse built during the American Revolution.

Charles Copeland, Blanche Smith's son by her first husband, joined the business. His sons are Ray and Roy. Roy recalls Raymond Smith's sense of adventure: See MAGAZINE, Page "I'm trying to come up with a principle," I said. "Some people called me up and wondered if I would help judge the Tampa Crossroads 'Principle of the Year' contest, and I have to go over there tonight. "I asked them if I could pick any principle I wanted, and they said sure so that's what I'm doing." "So I was trying to come up with a principle or two before the meeting.

How about this one? 'If you build it, they might "What are you talking about?" she said. "If they build what?" "The arena," I said. "That seems to be a principle around here. You know, it doesn't matter if you can pay for something. Just build it." I could see she didn't understand.

"OK," 1 said. "How about 'Storm? What storm? They don't have storms in Florida in "I think you're nuts," she said. "Are you sure they don't want you to help pick the school principal of the year?" I thought about it. She's probably right. I still think having a "Principle of the Year" contest is a better idea.

How about "Carrollwood you can't get there from here." Big John and Sparky A lot of you apparently are older than I thought. Thanks for telling me that the name of the radio show with that little elf was "No School Today" and the theme music was "The Teddy Bears Picnic." More than one of you even recalled "Gilhooley Mahoney and his Leprechaun Marching Band." There also have been a few calls telling me there are some other "real" soda fountains in the area. I'll check them out, including the one that Steve called me about if he'll call me back and leave his number this time. "It's not the soda fountains you miss," writes Art Wilson, who says that he started off life in Lakeland but that his memory reaches only as far back as when he moved to Tampa at age 7. "It's the way of life back when we paid more attention to each other than to some electronic box.

I think we had a better appreciation of simple pleasures, and to come in out of the heat to an air-conditioned building and drink a so-da was pure heaven." Hey, Stud! My friend Bebe Gallagher was down at Burdines looking for some studs for her husband (Judge Dan's) tux. "The clerk looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about," says Bebe. "Finally he said they didn't have any studs, but he showed me a nice selection of men's earrings." She didn't say if she bought any for the judge. I suppose they would have to be in basic black to fit the demeanor of the courtroom, although a simple diamond is always in fashion. Guavas at Harvard For those of you who didn't appreciate how close to the cutting edge of medicine we are down here in the Big Guava comes this item from the May issue of the "Harvard Heart Letter." I've been to Massachusetts and it's a wonderful state, although I doubt that any of the natives have ever tasted a guava.

"A study from India, where researchers found that guavas, tasty fruits rich in potassium and fiber, significantly lowered cholesterol and blood pressure levels. The people in the 'guava group' were asked to eat one to two pounds of the fruit per day. After 12 weeks, the patients eating guavas had a 12 percent drop in total cholesterol. "Although most Americans would not know how to find guavas even if they wanted to begin following this diet, the principle of eating more fruit as a way to reduce cardiac risk seems likely to be a valid strategy anywhere." See. And you don't even have to wait for Guavaween in October.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm immediately going to begin supplementing my meals with ir a iiiii i.iiiiiiii,ii.ijii.iii.iLi.ii.ia.uiiiiii.iiiu!iiin.ii...imli ujjjjiu. mini -I- -uu um. liuhuuiui mi J' if i 'I rs. In costume for '93-'94 are David Bier and Peggy Petteway, "The "Reflections" dancers; and Kirsten Bloom and Peggy Petteway, "Coppelia." Dancing into a second season Bay Ballet Theatre looks ahead to an ambitious schedule presented in the area in March, when the Royal New Zealand Ballet brought its acclaimed production to Clearwater. One of the enduring "white" ballets, with ballerinas traditionally in long skirts, "Coppelia" features a pair of young lovers, the mechanical doll of the title and a wizard named Dr.

Coppelius. From Mozart to Connick The season's second work, "From Mozart to Modern," will take a more personal spin. "I liked the idea of going from Mozart to Harry Connick said Fleming. Etudes by Mozart i See FLEDGLING, Page 5 Juliet." A charming Christmas program consisting mostly of Fleming originals was the group's first show in December 1992. Fleming and the Bay area's only professional dance company are out to prove that there's a local audience for classical ballet with a fresh slant.

"When I was working in Colombia, I ended up doing 20 ballets in four years," says Fleming, who choreographed nine of the works for BBT's second season. "My wife says I work too much, but it all comes pretty fast to me." The season begins Oct. 16 with the full-length Romantic ballet "Coppelia" at Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, followed by dates at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Leo Delibes' 1870 classic was last By MAGGIE HALL Tribune Correspondent TAMPA With its premiere season ending today, the Bay Ballet Theatre (BBT) already is pointing toward a second year that will test the promise the group showed in its first three productions.

In 1993-'94, expect to see four productions and three special performances from the company led by artistic director Christopher Fleming. The former director of Colombia's National Ballet, Fleming was recruited to serve as the BBT's founding artistic director. In just months, he prepared three programs for its debut season, including the full-length "Romep and y. Ballet master Richard Geiger, left, and artistic director Christopher Flemng some guava turnovers..