Re: Parents, get ready for rezoning | story, Nov. 6

Families are the key to transition

Parents need to settle down. Children will adapt to change.

We were a military family and made frequent moves. Our children attended schools in New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Germany and North Carolina, and all four graduated from Clearwater High School after attending Belleair Elementary, Clearwater Junior High on Greenwood Avenue and Kennedy Middle School.

Two finished college in Pensacola and one in Indiana. All four have successful careers.

The web that held them together and led to successful lives was the family they came home to every night. That never changed.

Doris Carroza, Clearwater

Let PTEC build portables

Over 20 years ago when I was starting my teaching career with Pinellas County, I went on a required field trip that showed different types of schools in the area. One of the most interesting was PTEC (Pinellas Technical Education Center), which had many wonderful programs.

When visiting the carpentry program, I saw the students building the portable classrooms for other schools in the district. I remember thinking how thrifty this was. The carpentry students got the experience and the county saved money by having them built at the school.

I was surprised to read in the article on school rezoning that the portables are now being rented at a price that seems very high. Why are the portables not being made at PTEC or other technical programs?

Mary Beth Gillingham, Clearwater

Re: Man, 79, is killed crossing the street | story, Nov. 12

Article only gave small slice of life

Staff writer Drew Harwell's article on the tragic death of Robert Groening did not describe the man I knew as a friend and fellow Knight of Columbus and parishioner of Espiritu Santo Catholic Church.

Bob was a past grand knight and volunteered his time and expertise to years of charitable works for the church and Pinellas County charities. Printing just the events of his last few years of life was not only unfair, but disrespectful of a man who had to deal with the tragic loss of his wife during a supposedly routine outpatient procedure at a local hospital.

I think Mr. Harwell and the St. Petersburg Times owe the Groening family an apology for printing just a small slice of a good man's life. Both he and his wife, Doris, were assets to our community and too much emphasis was placed on how Bob dealt with the last years of his life.

Christopher C. Garill, Safety Harbor

Thanks to school for Veterans Day

To say we were humbled by the veterans service at Cypress Woods Elementary School would be an understatement. That special service could have humbled anyone.

We were invited to the school by teacher Deanna Tsetsekas to join them as they honored our veterans and their families.

The principal and all the teachers at Cypress Woods should be congratulated for keeping Veterans Day alive in the hearts of their children. It's our veterans and their families who have made this great country free, and all children everywhere should be taught what freedom means and why we are free.

Fran Glaros-Sharp, Clearwater

Band students deserve attention

On weekend mornings, I can find the scores of any of our high school football games — great information and commitment by these student athletes. Yet there is another story at these games that is always missed: the dedicated high school band students who put in equal if not more hours of practice representing their school.

Last night, the Florida Band Master Assessment was at Clearwater High School. I opened the paper and there was not a peep about an event where every high school in our district was represented. Nothing about how many earned superior ratings, nothing about a band in Tarpon Springs that is now considered the best at field presentation in the Southeast United States. It was missed.

Shame on our local media outlets that are missing the stories of these dedicated students in our district that are fundraising, volunteering and perfecting their craft in the arts to represent our community. I would hope someone would start telling their story!

Carla Stralow, Clearwater

Re: Smith wins testy Largo vote | story, Nov. 9

A nod to diversity in government

Incumbent Largo City Commissioner Mary Gray Black found out the hard way that it isn't nice to bad-mouth your opponent. I'm pleased to see that Largo voters are willing to give openly gay Michael Smith a chance and voted him in with 53.97 percent. Being that our culture is constantly changing along with the rest of the world, we need more diversity in our government — city, state and federal. Hurray for Largo for allowing change.

JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater

Re: Crafting art from nature story, Nov. 10

Sculptures are waste of money

We visited Wall Springs Park about two months ago. We were looking for the observation tower.

On the way, we came upon what looked like maybe the remains of the tower or remains of a building of some kind that was damaged by a storm. We could not make out what this eyesore was and wondered why it was left standing. It looked dangerous to anyone walking under it.

I also tried sitting on these weird park benches. They were awful. You could not use the back rests because they were too far back.

I was shocked to learn in the St. Petersburg Times that the county wasted $90,000 on this garbage as some kind of art work. In these economically stressful times, with layoffs and cutbacks, how could the county do this? What kind of corruption or insanity inspired this? Who is responsible?

I urge that whoever wasted those badly needed funds be punished and the eyesore torn down. Next time there is a vote for the Penny for Pinellas sales tax, I am going to think twice.

Ronald Baltrunas, Clearwater

Re: Crafting art from nature story, Nov. 10

hed hed

We visited Wall Springs Park about two months ago. We were looking for the observation tower.

On the way, we came upon what looked like maybe the remains of the tower or remains of a building of some kind that was damaged by a storm. We could not make out what this eyesore was and wondered why it was left standing. It looked dangerous to anyone walking under it.

I also tried sitting on these weird park benches. They were awful. You could not use the back rests because they were too far back.

I was shocked to learn in the St. Petersburg Times that the county wasted $90,000 on this garbage as some kind of art work. In these economically stressful times, with layoffs and cutbacks, how could the county do this? What kind of corruption or insanity inspired this? Who is responsible?

I urge that whoever wasted those badly needed funds be punished and the eyesore torn down. Next time there is a vote for the Penny for Pinellas sales tax, I am going to think twice.

Ronald Baltrunas, Clearwater