Fly on the Wall, Edition No. 26, Final Buzz

The Fly buzzes around town one last time to see what's up.

Warm welcome for once

The Fly arrived for the Tourist Development Council meeting at the Crosley Mansion on Monday, and soon realized that Mr. Crosley really knew how to live. It's a nice place with some awesome views.

Best of all, and unlike so many other meetings, the hall was not frigid. In fact, for the first time we were experiencing weather in which a coat or sweater was not required to venture outside. Try that in February in New York, Chicago or Philadelphia.

Or, for that matter, here in this area in the past few days.

At a previous TDC meeting, the place was so cold people were getting ready to break out the gloves. There's nothing like a warm breeze during a meeting, though, to make life good. They should have all the meetings at the Crosley.

Fly, then swim

Jessica Grace said at the TDC meeting that the German airline Condor might come to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, and that the airline would be flying Boeing 757s non-stop from Frankfurt to SRQ.

Anyone with an aviation bent will tell you that the maximum range of a Boeing 757 is 3,900 miles, and the distance from Frankfurt to SRQ is about 5,025 miles. So passengers will either need a really, really strong tailwind or they'll be swimming the rest of the way.

Well, actually, they'll be flying on extended-range 767s than can go 7,500 miles between fill-ups, members were later told. That's good news all around.

The Parrot, unmasked!

It was an accident. The Fly got a glimpse of the Pirate Parrot on Wednesday at G.D. Rogers Garden Elementary School, and he was unfeathered. The person was fully dressed, but apparently thought that after one session with the kindergartners and first-graders that he was finished in the suit.

The Fly was talking with some Pirates staffers between groups when a young person came out hauling a large bag. "There's two more groups," the person was told, and he quickly went to get changed back into the suit.

For the Fly's generation, it's somewhat akin to finding out what the members of the rock band KISS really looked like underneath that makeup.

Let's hope the Parrot is still bringing the message of the Pirates after this. He's a fun mascot and always good for a lot of laughs.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

The Fly is a stickler for spelling, so it really stands out that two signs at Rogers Garden Elementary inform drivers that a driveway is also an entrance for "Busses" (sic). Buses is spelled right elsewhere, though.

Love those short meetings

Wednesday night's Bradenton City Council meeting must have set some sort of record for brevity. It took about 20 minutes, though the Fly hung around to get some interviews for another story.

The Fly loves to leave while it's still light outside.

Farewell to the Fly

This is the final column for the Fly, who's moving on to other endeavors. It's been a great experience writing the many stories that went into The Bradenton Times, and the Fly will miss being recognized and even fled from, in some cases.

Local government is where things really happen that affect lives, and the Fly was happy to watch the sausage being made.

In journalism, there's a rush to being on the inside track. The Fly's past experience as a copy editor at various newspapers in Florida was fun, but hanging around the county and city admin buildings and getting the scoop, plus getting it out to the people, is really why the Fly got into the news biz.

Best wishes to everyone who called, wrote or talked for attribution. The Fly will miss you all.

That's all.