Greetings Members, happy holidays and Merry Christmas to you all, this year has been a historical year, we have all grown, laughed, faught and cried and yet still the same feelings , passion and perserverance, perhaps 2009 will be better for all. This weeks Showcases one who has done all of that and more, she is there when you least expect it and goes beyond the call of helping when she can. Lorraine Smith, she hails from ST. Petersburg. FLA.
The city was co-founded by John C. Williams, formerly of Detroit, Michigan, who purchased the land in 1876, and by Peter Demens, who was instrumental in bringing the terminus of a railroad there in 1888. St. Petersburg was incorporated on February 29, 1892, when it had a population of only some 300 people. 
Philadelphia publisher F. A. Davis turned on St. Petersburg's first electrical service in 1897 and its first trolley service in 1904.The city's first major industry was born in 1899 when Henry W. Hibbs, 1862-1942, a native of Newport, North Carolina, established his wholesale fish business at the end of the railroad pier, which extended out to the shipping channel. Within a year, Hibbs Fish Company was shipping more than a thousand pounds (454 kg) of fish each day.
Dredging of a deeper shipping channel from 1906 to 1908 opened St. Petersburg to larger shipping. Further dredging improved the port facilities through the 1910s. By then the city's population had quadrupled to 4,127.
In 1914, airplane service across Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg to Tampa and back was initiated, generally considered the first commercial airline. The company name was the "St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line" and the pilot was Tony Jannus, flying a Benoist XIV flying boat. Jannis Landing Presented annually for outstanding achievement in the airline industry. Jannus Landing, a local music/entertainment venue on Central Avenue in Downtown, is named after aviation pioneer Tony Jannus.
The city population continued to multiply during the twentieth century. Booming in the 1940's and 50's with the advent of air-conditioning and through the 1970s as the town became a popular retirement destination for Americans from midwestern cities, reaching 238,647 in the 1980 census. By the 1980s, however, the population had levelled off, and has grown by only 10,000 since then, primarily as a result of being "built-out".
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 133.1 square miles (344.7 km²)— 59.6 square miles (154.4 km²) of it is land and 73.4 square miles (190.2 km²) of it (55.19%) is water.
St. Petersburg has a humid subtropical climate with a definite rainy season from June through September. St Petersburg like the rest of the Tampa Bay Area is occasionally visited by tropical storms and hurricanes. The last time a hurricane directly struck the city was in 1921. Many portions of St. Petersburg, especially along the bay and in south St. Petersburg have tropical microclimates. Royal palms and coconut palms, as well as other tropicals, grow to maturity and fruit.
There were 109,665 households out of which 23.85% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.295% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no adult living partner present, and 43.8% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.865.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.24 years. For every 100 females there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,597, and the median income for a family was $43,198. Males had a median income of $30,794 versus $27,860 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,107. About 9.2% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.
Downtown waterfront (2005) — the barriers in the foreground mark the border of the Honda Grand Prix racetrack.
The city has a children's museum (Great Explorations), Museum of Fine Arts, a History Museum (which has a full-size replica of the Benoist seaplane and is located near the approximate spot by the St. Petersburg Pier where the first flight took place), a Holocaust Museum, and the Salvador Dalí Museum, which houses the largest collection of Dalí's in the world, including a number of famous and large-scale paintings such as The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. There are also various other smaller art galleries and entertainment venues, such as: The Midtown Royal Theater, The Arts Center, Florida Craftsmen Gallery, Mahaffey Theater complex, The Coliseum, and Palladium Theatre, especially in the Downtown area, which has seen a boom in development since the mid 1990s.
The St. Petersburg Pier is a popular tourist attraction. It contains a small aquarium open to the public, retail shopping, adventure activities, and both casual and fine dining restaurants. Various sightseeing boat rides are also offered. Frequently docked at The Pier is the replica of the HMS Bounty used in the 1962 MGM movie starring Marlon Brando. The Bounty charges a fee for tours, and has recently returned from filming the sequels to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. Downtown is the location of the BayWalk shopping complex which contains an IMAX Muvico 20 screen movie theater, as well as many chain restaurants and retail shops, catering to more of a middle and upper class audience. Baywalk is also a nightlife destination. North of downtown is Great Explorations, The Children's Museum, an interactive museum featuring a children's village with giant pretend stores, Fire House and Pet Vet Clinic, and preschool, science, music, art, and water exhibits. The museum is located next to the Sunken Gardens. Nearby restaurants on 4th Street include local specialties. Every Saturday morning, from October to May, the downtown area holds a farmers market, of sorts. Local produce farmers can be found selling their fruits up and down the downtown region, as well as live bands, barbecue vendors, and artists of all kinds. Several nightlife hotspots include Jannus Landing; the surrounding restaurants and bars; and the Central Avenue district. Several ethnic and domestic culinary specialties can be found throughout the downtown area. 
Boyd Hill Nature Park located on Lake Maggiore is a 245-acre (0.99 km2) preserve where you can see many of the endangered plants and rare wildlife of tampa bay. There is a bird exhibit which houses bald eagles, owls, hawks, and other species.
St. Petersburg is well regarded for its beaches. In 2005, Fort Desoto was rated the number one beach in America by the annual Dr. Beach rankings. TripAdvisor also has the beach ranked number one in the nation for 2008.
Also noted for its arts community, St. Petersburg regularly places top 25 in the nation among arts destinations.
Recently, St. Petersburg has become known and regarded as one of America's most livable cities.
Downtown St. Petersburg is the Central Business District, containing high rises for office use, most notably the Bank of America Tower. The St. Petersburg Times newspaper is headquartered in the Downtown area. The Poynter Institute, which owns the paper, is located on 3rd St. S.
Downtown contains the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and a downtown branch of St. Petersburg College. The downtown perimeter also houses several parks, most of which are waterfront or lakefront. Straub Park is nearly a half mile long, boasts a waterfront location, and is home of the Museum of Fine Arts. The Vinoy Hotel has a waterfront location, a spot on the National Historic Register, and a AAA Four-Diamond rating. Most of the dining downtown can be found on Central Avenue. Central also contains most of the nightlife; Jannus Landing and the State Theatre. Both Jannus Landing and the State Theatre hold concerts. However, Baywalk is an exception. All of these landmarks are connected via the Looper Trolley. In addition, a recent demographic change has brought more nightlife options to the downtown corridor.
Tropicana Field, home of MLB's Tampa Bay Rays is located in the western part of downtown. Until 2008, the team played its spring training games at Progress Energy Park, right down the road. This setup was unique, making St. Petersburg the first city that played host to its baseball team during spring training as well as the regular season since the 1919 Philadelphia Athletics. At the end of 2007, there was a debate over a new stadium to be built on the downtown waterfront at the current Progress Energy Park site. This new ballpark would have an overhead sail to cool game-time temperatures and catch rain. Tropicana Field would be demolished and replaced with prime residential and retail space. Completion of the stadium was planned for 2012; however, the proposal has been tabled indefinitely while a community-based organization investigates all alternatives for new stadium construction.
Jutting a half mile into the Bay is the St. Petersburg Pier, a major tourist attraction with various activities. Due to its livability and myriad amenities, St. Petersburg's downtown has been rated among the best in the South.. Also worth noting, the area's ranking beaches are a 10-mile (16 km) drive away from downtown.
Saint Petersburg boasts the largest dedicated public waterfront park system of any city in North America, with a waterfront park system that stretches seven miles and is used year round for public events, festivals and other activities. In the early 1900's the citizens and city leaders of St. Petersburg engaged in a long and boisterous debate over the future of the young city's waterfront space with one side advocating for commercial, port and industrial development and the other side advocating for a long-term commitment to parks and public access to the waterfront. The public access and park contingent won the debate when, on Christmas Eve 1909, the city announced the acquisition of the waterfront land that is encompassed by the waterfront park system. Lorraine WE LOVE YOU :) 
Hello, glad to meet you! Let me introduce myself........
My name is Lorraine Smith and I make my home in FL with my cat Rags, a part Persian laid back male. Rags adopted me because I think he got tired of being an alley cat!
I am a retired RN. I became disabled some years ago and I am unable to tolerate the stresses of the normal working world so I volunteer at a Hospice thrift store. Although I get great satisfaction from that, I needed something to keep me busy (and out of trouble!) as well as something to supplement my income. So here I am, working on the internet and getting my fingers into all sorts of things!
Let's see, my interests......what am I not interested in? I love suspense/horror novels, current events, good movies, the beaches (that's a no brainer!), container gardening, riding my bicycle through our gorgeous parks, and I have a passion for sailing (though I don't get out on the water as much as I'd like).
I am assuming you are reading this because you got curious and clicked on my site for advertising ideas, business opps, etc. Everything you find is either free or almost free, tailored to us low budget people who want to be involved with internet business without breaking our piggybanks. I hope you find something on my sites that will be helpful to you!
Free List Building Course
My Toolbox
Biz Opps
Good luck in your endeavors, and thanks for stopping in to say "hi"!
Lorraine Smith http://community.adlandpro.com/go/smithworkshere/default.aspx