‘Vintage St. Pete and Pinellas Volume 4’ is now available

History is a passion for author Bill DeYoung. It all started with a love of music. 

Growing up in St. Petersburg, he learned about many of the events, places, attractions and people that shaped the community over the years. DeYoung remembers some clearly and fondly from his own youth. 

This sparked an epiphany for the veteran journalist. 

He realized that there was an opportunity to preserve local history. DeYoung launched the Vintage St. Pete and Vintage Pinellas series in 2019. 

The fourth volume of collected stories, published by St. Petersburg Press, was released last week. 

Bill DeYoung

A launch event will take place June 29 (Monday) at Tombolo Books, at 2153 1st Avenue S., from 7 to 8 p.m. DeYoung will be in conversation with Tampa Bay Times culture and nostalgia reporter Gabrielle Calise. Visit this link to RSVP. 

Vintage St. Pete and Vintage Pinellas Volume 4 features 23 pieces that were originally published in the St. Pete Catalyst. DeYoung said that ideas are plentiful “because the city’s history is so rich.” 

“Something will catch my eye or attention,” he explained. “It started out more like I would read something and I would think to myself ‘I’d like to know more about that,’ especially because this is my hometown.” 

For the journalist, it’s all about “preserving the real story for anyone who wants to read it.” 

DeYoung explores a variety of topics in depth, including St. Petersburg’s first tourist attraction, the St. Petersburg Alligator Farm; the Belleview Biltmore hotel; the Fountain of Youth; the Derby Lane greyhound track; the President Barack Obama Main Library and the Thunderbird Beach Resort in Treasure Island. 

Multiple historical figures who left a lasting impact on Pinellas County are brought to life. 

Readers can learn about Captain Wilson Hubbard, the founder of Hubbard’s Marina in Madeira Beach and St. Petersburg resident Mary Reeser, whose death was once believed to be a case of spontaneous human combustion. 

Additionally, they can “meet” Evening Independent publisher Lew B. Brown, who created the Sunshine Offer. 

For over 75 years, the St. Petersburg afternoon newspaper was given away for free if the sun did not come out by press time. This was a marketing effort to convince people to visit the area. Interestingly, it was Brown who coined the term “the Sunshine City.” 

Tampa Bay area news anchor Gayle Sierens, who became nationally recognized as the first woman do play-by-play for an NFL game (in 1987, for NBC), spoke candidly about her life and career in an exclusive interview with DeYoung for the Vintage series.  

“Those are some of my favorite stories to do,” he said. “I enjoy profiling people in the media because people like Gayle were in our homes every day.” 

Convincing Sierens to participate was an adventure in itself. DeYoung was persistent and the former TV personality eventually agreed. “She’s a very humble person,” he explained. 

In 1973, four elderly widows from Canada were driving on the Treasure Island drawbridge and got stuck 35 feet over the road. The women were Norah Bennett, Madeleine Dow, Olive Bond and Margaret Strype. Fortunately, the Treasure Island and St. Petersburg fire departments were able to rescue the travelers in under two hours. 

The incident would become a media sensation and the ladies would speak with reporters from New York, Miami, San Francisco, London and their hometown of Toronto. 

“I never forgot the story and those photographs,” DeYoung said. This led him to explore the complete narrative for a Vintage piece.

In 1973, four widows from Canada were driving on the Treasure Island drawbridge and got stuck 35 feet over the road. The women were Norah Bennett, Madeleine Dow, Olive Bond, and Margaret Strype. Photo: Tony Lopez/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Press Wire.

DeYoung also discusses the impact of the St. Petersburg Science Center and its Walk of States public art piece. From 1966 to 2014, the facility welcomed children of all ages and featured its own notable characters, including Hammie the pig, Oogie the opossum and Monty the python. 

Currently, the dilapidated property is being revitalized by St. Pete for STEAM, a division of the St. Petersburg Group. The company also owns the St. Pete Catalyst. 

Music is a core element of Volume 4. It’s not surprising. A musician himself, DeYoung initially pursued a journalism career to write about the arts. 

“It took awhile for rock ‘n’ roll to make its way to the big stages in St. Petersburg,” he explained. “There was nowhere for kids to go.” 

Eventually, the youth market became a “big business.” The city’s venues would bring in some of radio’s most recognizable stars. 

Readers can learn about the former Bayfront Center Arena, which hosted acts such as Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Eric Clapton, the Everly Brothers, Tom Jones and many others. 

Tropicana Field, once known as the Florida Suncoast Dome and the ThunderDome, also has had its fair share of musical guests including David Bowie, AC/DC, Billy Joel, the Eagles, Van Halen, Chicago and Rod Stewart.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at the Bayfront Center Arena July 29, 1978. Photo: Cherie Diez/St. Petersburg Times/ZUMA Press.

Another place DeYoung explores is the St. Petersburg Coliseum. Since opening its doors in 1924, the facility has welcomed Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and bandleaders such as Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Guy Lombardo and Tommy Dorsey. 

From 1959 to 2003, Joyland was a fixture on U.S. 19. DeYoung discusses the No. 11225 building and the site’s evolution from an amusement park to a popular country-themed nightclub. 

During its heyday, the space hosted the likes of Willie Nelson (likely his first Tampa Bay area appearance), George Jones, Duane Eddy, Ernest Tubb, Waylon Jennings, Tex Ritter, Little Jimmy Dickens, Carl Smith, the Osborne Brothers, Roy Drusky, Tommy Cash and Johnny Paycheck. 

“My brother was I think 13 and somehow got all the way up there and snuck under the tent to hear Duane Eddy, who is one of his heroes,” he reminisced.

Some of Volume 4’s “venue” pieces feature comprehensive concert lists. Compiling them was a painstaking process. However, DeYoung found it to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of the project.

“You have to check all kinds of different sources and then cross reference them,” he explained. “But, it’s fascinating at the same time knowing that you’re going to put something together that’s going to be real.” 

The Mad Beach Band, which was a popular Tampa Bay area group in the 1970s and 1980s, also gets its due. They often played bars in Madeira Beach. Even Jimmy Buffett joined the band for a concert at the Keg & Cork Pub on Johns Pass. Some of the founding members are still performing shows today. 

Additionally, Vintage St. Pete and Vintage Pinellas Volume 4 covers the short-lived Suncoast Playboy Club, the Soreno Hotel, the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club renaissance, the annual Fishathon children’s competition and St. Pete’s connection to the 1990s NBC SeaQuest DSV  TV show. 

“Like everywhere else, St. Petersburg is a city in transition,” DeYoung explained. “This is a view of what it was like, and I like the idea of people looking at these stories and thinking ‘oh, if we lived here then, this is what we would have been doing.’” 

“While the past can’t last,” he added, ”I think it’s nice to have it written down somewhere if anybody is interested in finding out what this stuff was all about.”

Vintage St. Pete and Vintage Pinellas Volume 4 is available through the St. Petersburg Press website, on Amazon and at Tombolo Books. 

Bill DeYoung is the St. Pete Catalyst’s Senior Writer and Editor.