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Sunday Favorites: The Legacy of Pat Glass

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Patricia "Pat" Glass, the first woman commissioner in Manatee County, leaves behind a long legacy. We were practically neighbors but I only met her once. We sat on the porch of her Snead Island stilt house, sipped sweet tea and admired the mangroves in Terra Ceia Bay.
As a child, I always admired a stilt house on Snead Island with giant windows and an interesting architectural design. It was located on a small peninsula overlooking Champlain Bayou. My family passed it often while we were out fishing.
"That's where Pat Glass lives," my parents would tell me.
I could tell by their tone that she was someone of importance and someone they respected. To me, it was the house of someone famous. As I grew older I understood their admiration. Pat Glass' legacy is one that has not only benefited Manatee County residents, but will continue to do so for generations. My childish interpretations her being someone famous weren't wrong, she is famous in the eyes of most local folks.
I was in my 30s before I ever got to go inside her house. I was invited there to interview her for a story I was working on. I actually felt nervous when I knocked on the door but it only took a few minutes of conversation for me to be completely at ease. She gave me a tour of the house and took me to her favorite spot, a widow's walk off the master bedroom where I could see all of Terra Ceia Bay.
"I want to show you something," she said.
I followed her to a stairwell that lead to her garage. There was an electric stair lift that had just been installed.
"My kids think I need this to get around," she said. At the time, she must have been in her late 80s.
She jumped on enthusiastically as if it were a carnival ride.
"Can you believe this thing?" she exclaimed.
I followed her down the steps to a room off the garage. Inside was a lifetime of accomplishments in the form of framed newspaper articles, awards and plaques, all in piled in neat little stacks around the perimeter. She showed me some of her favorites, but there was so just so much to take in.
Glass was elected as Manatee County Commissioner in 1978 and served until 2006. She was the first female commissioner.
While sifting through materials, she described how there was no bathroom she could use in commissioner chambers when she first started. After tiring of rushing to a different floor to use the restroom during meetings, she just started using the men's room. The act creating quite the stir among her male colleagues. She chuckled at the memory. Needless to say it wasn't long before a women's restroom was installed.
While visiting her home overlooking the bayou, her appreciation for the environment was very apparent. Glass served on the Board of Governors for the Southwest Florida Water Management District and as Chair of the Environmental Action Commission, building coalitions that became instrumental to ensuring responsible stewardship of water resources and natural systems.
When I asked what she was most proud of during her career, she said it forming the AIDS Council of Manatee County in the 1990's.
"People were dying," she said. "It was such as scary time."
Glass was also instrumental in the authorization and funding of major public assets such as the Manatee County Administrative Center, the Manatee County Public Safety Center, the Manatee County Jail and Port Manatee. She served as the Chair of the Tourist Development Council five times and led the community effort to purchase and preserve the Powel Crosley Estate.
I stayed and chatted with her for several hours that day. She told me many things, some about her career and some personal. She described her childhood in Cleveland (interesting fact, her father was a professional boxer), her marriage to longtime partner Hank and her experience as a mother of four children.
I stroked my growing belly, expressing some of my own concerns about motherhood.
She ran to the kitchen and brought back a decorative bag that she insisted I take with me.
"Take this." She said. "It's some strange new thing for a bottle that my daughter picked up for some baby shower I'm supposed to go to. I want you to have it."
Anyone who knew Pat Glass knows she doesn't like to be told "no." I took the gift and thanked her for everything.
I came to her house that day for an interview. I left feeling like I'd gained a mentor and friend. Since that day, I thought about Pat Glass often. My mom provided me with updates on her well being. When I heard of her passing on September 1, I felt sad, but also grateful for the opportunity to have met such an amazing woman.

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