William Jeffries

Long time resident William Jeffries passed away quietly on June 16, 2009, just ten days after his 89th birthday.

He is survived by wife, Marjorie, who currently resides in a nursing home in Indiana, 3 daughters and a son, and one step-daughter. Bill and Marjorie lived here in the park as snowbirds for several years, and moved down here permanently in '95.

Bill's passion was fishing, and for years he and Bill Hilliard would go fishing almost every day.

Condolences can be sent to Ron and Anna Jeffries, 4851 W Gandy, 11-23,Tampa FL 33611.

As per his wishes, there will be no memorial service. Feel free to leave comments here for the family.

Garden Update (Revised)

Thought the people away from the park would like to see Blvd 7 in full bloom. The magniolias bloomed last month, and may still continue. This week the crape myrtle blossomed. The ixora that hugs the pathways have been blooming for several weeks, and should continue til you get back. Even the fountain grass is gorgeous.

A question came up at the board meeting regarding the cost of this project, including the labor of our maintenance crew. We never totalled the hours that our maintenance men put in. I did however maintain a work log of the volunteers who helped. There were well over 200 volunteers hours put into this project. The list of volunteers was close to 30 people! Some supplied cold water, and some worked their asses off with rakes and shovels, or on hands and knees.

We never spent over the $1500 grant award, combined with the $1550 Malmquist fund. Club Regency's generous $1,000 donation just put us over the top!!

Other than the generosity of people of the this park, this project didn't cost our budget anything.

Thank you for donating your time working on the garden, thanks for your dollars, thanks for supporting Club Regency Dinners. Thank you, maintenance men , for all your hard work, and wheeling and dealing and negotiating work from our contractors for the handicapped crosswalk, and whatever else you did.

Board Meeting Monday at 2 pm

Very recently, a request went out by the HORC Vice-President to the Board of Directors to cancel the June and July meetings. When I was personally contacted by her, I informed her that I have 3 agenda items for the next June meeting. I was hoping the meeting would not be cancelled.

Apparently my three items didn't count, because the vote went through, and, much to my dismay, the board voted to cancel the June and July meetings.

Since that time, there has been an amazing turn of events. A quorem of the Board has voted to have a board meeting on Monday June 15 at 2 pm. An agenda of summer items has been proposed, and will be voted upon.

Evacuation Forms

Residents will soon be receiving a Disaster packet from their block captain. Evacuation forms will be included in this packet. If you wish to register for the usual Comfort Inn at 820 E Busch Blvd., please fill out the appropriate form. The prices remain the same as in the past...$69 for a queen single or a double. Please register immediately. Pets are allowed at this motel.

Bring your recommended Disaster Kit with you. There is always the possibility of water contamination (no potable water), and power outages (no restaurant food and limited electricity in your room). Refrain from candles and use flashlights instead. Many fires have been reported through candle usage. Bring your medicines, your important paperwork, and your portable radio for storm information. Many TV sets intended for storm use, will no longer work after the digital transition occurs this month. Check to see if your "Storm TV" is analog or digital. Analogs will soon be history. The radio component, if there is one, will continue to be useful.


If you plan to evacuate to family or friends, please let us know, by filling out the "Evacuate On Your Own" form. It is important that the association knows how to contact every resident in the event of a disaster. If you know ahead of time where you will go, please fill out that form and give it to Peggy in the Office. Important information will be disseminated, i.e. where you should mail your maintenance check, how you will pick your mail. Pre-recorded telephone messages may be used to contact all residents and shareholders of a necessary vote or just basic storm information. We do need a phone number to contact you all.

The Special Needs Folks are required to register ahead of time ( early June). A bus will come to your home and remove you to a facility served by medical staff. Since we are a Class A Evacuation site, you will be given top priority. The Office can provide a form or a phone number for you to register. There are decals for you to place in your window for pickup. Elsa Gorr is the board member assigned to Neighborhood Assistance. She will be happy to assist you or answer questions about forms and phone numbers. Check our directory for her phone number.

The majority of our Block Captains attended this important meeting today. Please check the June issue of the Outlook for your captain. There may be a few subtle changes coming as we tweak the list. These people are the volunteers who bring the message directly to the membership. We applaud their service.



We do need your immediate reponse to our forms. Your safety is our goal. We are in this together.

Summer Block Captains Meet

Wednesday June 3, 2009 at 1 pm, the summer replacement block captains, along with the year-round captains, will meet with Ruth Paruszkiewicz and Sandy Ross to establish the first Disaster Meeting for Regency Cove this year. Elsa Gorr, the new board member, will discuss some strategies for Special Needs Evacuation. Marie Avant is joining the Communication Committee team, and will assist.

The video "It Could Happen Tommorrow" produced by the Weather Channel, will be shown. It depicts the results of a Category 3, 4, or worse case scenario category 5 hurricane hitting Tampa Bay. The outcome is devastating! We need to alert all of our residents to evacuate when the order is given.

All residents are invited to attend, but Block Captains are strongly urged to be present for this important meeting.

Pool Repairs Completed

The repairs to our pool to meet state codes have been impending, and finally this week, the pool was drained and repairs were completed. The drain at the bottom of the pool now meets state code requirements, and the railing on the stairs which was becoming loose and wobbley, has been tightened. The pool is being filled as we speak. A large fire hose is being utilized from the corner hydrant near the A frame house on Blvd 8 Lot 01. All afternoon, the hose pumped hundreds of gallons of water, but unfortunately blocked the street in front of the Office to car traffic.

I returned home tonight after 9 pm from my CERT training to find Ed Scobee still in position, watching over the Fire Dept hose, waiting for the pool to fill. "Just a few more feet" were his words.

The photos show what was happening earlier this afternoon. The water is rusty, coming from the Tampa water lines, not Regency Cove's. The pool filter will clean this up in no time.

Snowbirds should be happy that the pool was not disturbed while they were here. Unfortunately, summer residents were not-so-happy that repairs tied up the pool during our hot season this week. Thanks goodness its almost over!!

Thanks, Ed, for your diligence.

By the way, the solar heating panels are being assembled on the shuffleboard roof. This project should be finalized in a few more days. Winter residents rejoice! The pool temperature should now be 14 degrees warmer than the Gulf waters all year round. If it gets too warm, the system can be reversed to cool off the pool water. This is going to be interesting!!!

Fire Extinguishers in Regency Cove

Several Tampa officials have been contacted regarding our impending need for fire extinguishers on posts along the streets. The officials have all agreed that if fire extinguishers are present in every house, there is no need to mount them on the street. It is the responsibility of each and every resident to own and have access to a fire extinguisher in their own homes. It is also the responsibility of each and every resident to have their fire extinguisher inspected annually.

Fires are categorized into classes based on the type of fuel that is burning.

Class A fires: Ordinary combustibles such as paper, cloth, wood, rubber, and many plastics
Class B fires: Flammable liquids ( such as oils and gasoline) and combustible liquids (charcoal lighter fluid and kerosene). This could be in your shed, or near your BBQ.
t ( wiring, motors). When the electricity is turned off, the fire becomes a Class A fire.
Class D fires: Include combustible metals (aluminun, magnesium, and titanium). This is not a typical Regency Cove fire unless you are storing commercial chemicals on your property. (Lets hope not!)


A good extinguisher to invest in would be an ABC extinguisher. That is what we were trained on in CERT training, and is pretty universal. You can buy this at Lowes or Home Depot.

A new type of fire extinguisher is now on the market labeled K for kitchen fires. Most home fires are centered around the stove. The classification K extinguisher is a heavy foam that will suffocate a grease fire on your stove. If you ever do have a grease fire, CERT training teaches you to turn off the heat, and cover the fire with a larger pan to suffocate it. Don't attempt to move a grease fire outside, most burns occur that way. (Just a suggestion.)

Contact the office if you have any questions.

Gaspar Gets a Makeover

Yesterday, on a quiet Sunday afternoon, a lone visitor to the park positioned himself in front of our beloved Garpar, and gave him a pedicure, manicure, and a major makeover. Much of the statue base was painted in gold, with complimentary shades of gray and black. Actually the statue himself was not touched, just the base was painted.

What do YOU think? I think the gold is a bit garish, but what the heck, we're talking PIRATE here. This is the only statue of Gasparilla in Florida, to our knowledge. Maybe he needs a little gold booty at his feet.