Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family

 

After what has happened in Newtown, Conn it is with a heavy heart that I enter the new year coming in. I just can not imagine how the parents and families feel, it just breaks my heart.

 

I sit an wonder what can we do to prevent this from occurring again. I can not come up with any logical ideas other than prayer. We must, must pray that our Lord provides us with a solution. We must pray that our leaders in this country help, some how. We must cuddle our children and grandchildren each day and show the our love and Gods love.

 

Prayer must be put back in the schools, in some families this may be the only place Gods name will be mentioned. There is no doubt in my mind that the devil is creating these issues. We must pray that all our children and parents let God into their hearts to guide and direct them. Jesus can and will help if we let him into our hearts and lives.

 

I pray that Gods love will be in everything you say,see,hear and do. "God Bless all of you.

 





 

Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Thanksgiving 2012

Downtown Blue Ridge Georgia on a beautiful sunny day. The girls shopped and the boys walked around. We had some great Bar B Q while we were there.

While walking around we ran into half of Bradenton. We met Brenda Routh and Leigh Hollins family, all in the candy store, where else?

One day we went to Murphy NC and ate lunch at ShooBooties and shopped. I found three Bass plugs that they don't make anymore. Of course I bought all of them. We stopped at a small flea market and just looked around.

Today we had our traditional Thanksgiving brunch and preparing to eat the bird tonight. I have already made tomato gravy and will make sausage gravy on Saturday.

Here's hopping that all of you have a Blessed Thanksgiving and remember those who will not.

2 Corinthians 4:15-16 (NIV)

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

"Just Saying"

The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all perfect democracies throughout all histories. A perfect democracy, a ‘warm body’ democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally, has no internal feedback for self-correction. It depends solely on the wisdom and self-restraint of citizens… which is opposed by the folly and lack of self-restraint of other citizens. What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it… which for the majority translates as ‘Bread and Circuses.’

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

Have a Blessed day!


 The wise advice received from Spirit-anointed Daniel made clear how the king’s error could be healed. God has been speaking to the Gentile nations ever since he gave them dominion, but a deaf ear has been turned to divine entreaties. In the face of appalling perils Gentile monarchy is crumbling today.

Why Vote?

Freedom comes with responsibility, and only the people can be responsible for fixing things in their own government. Refusing to get organized or work with-in the system, because of the belief that the system is hopelessly rigged and broken, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and only leads to further control by powerful limited interests.

In Washington, the U.S. House is the most important governing body, because the people are supposed to directly elect their 435 representatives every two years (the constitution does not ask people to directly elect the President). In addition to legislative powers, the U.S. House has control over the money in the U.S. Treasury, they have the final approval of executive branch appointments, and they have the sole power to impeach the president.

Have a Blessed day and be a Big Blessing to someone else!

 

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

Psalms 147:

Now you Know the rest of the story!

This is the entire letter that was sent to the Bradenton Herald. The letter was cut by 170 words due to their restrictions.

“OH MY”, as The University of Florida’s Mick Hubert would say! I was drinking my coffee this morning when I began to read the rebuttal written by Richard O’Brien. Good lord, where did he come up with that bunk?
First of all Mayor Poston did not close City Hall on Fridays. The City Council took that action; we had many reasons to do that. It was explained at a Council meeting which you have never attended. If you wish to have the answers to that please contact me.
As for the city accepting grant money from The Mosaic Company, again the Mayor did not vote to do that. It was passed 3-2 by the city council. I would assume that you dislike the money that has been given to United Way, Meals on Wheels, South Florida Museum, Manatee Chamber, Manatee Education Foundation, Red Cross and the American Cancer Society, just to name a few.
Yes we did decline getting involved with the receiving money for reparation from BP. I made the motion and it was passed by the entire city council. My motion was based on the fact that we could not prove that the City of Bradenton was injured by the oil spill. It would not be honest just to put our hat in the ring because we could. I have to assume that you would have done that!
Blaming the Mayor for the worst commercial market exodus since the depression, good lord! Nobody understands what you mean by that. I can tell you that the biggest exodus we had in that area happened in the 70’s and 60’s. I know, I lived here and it was caused by the Mall and Westside Shopping Center.
The Council and Mayor’s term were extended one year. It was not done un-democratically. We had a public hearing on it and only three people spoke against it. The reason we did it was to change the cycle and save the taxpayers roughly about $80,000.
I have been on the City council for over 20 years, in that time we have never, and I repeat NEVER borrowed massively from our surplus. That is just not the truth and you know it.
We were rated 9th by the National Homeless Coalition because years ago we pass a “No Camping” ordinance in the City of Bradenton, Duh! Just ask the folks at the Bill Galvano One Stop Center if we are mean?
Here is another one of your comments that is not true. We are not rated 405^th in pension-plan security by Leroy Collins Institute. They do not rate pension plans, our Fire and Police plans are rated C and above. There are many cities rated below that.
 Mr. O’Brien remember the Dragnet show…Just The Facts Ma'am!      


Have a Blessed day and be a Blessing to someone!

Psalms 37: 3 - 5

God wants all of us to be blessed. But we need to know what God has said in his word on how we can be b-l-e-s-s-e-d.

                 

Mosaic, yes or no!

Recently our city has made a decision to accept money from The Mosaic people for naming rights in our new waterfront park. Their name will be listed for the Amphitheater. We have had a few people complain about us doing it so I thought I would place my thoughts in my Blog.
First of all I want people to know what the real problem is in the city. We, as most city have been hit very hard by the economic situation that plagues our country. The biggest problem is re-estate values have plunged to an all out bottom. That has cause the evaluations to drop quickly and drastically. We (the city council) have the responsibility to continue to run the city and provide the services that our citizens expect and deserve. Keeping in mind that our tax revenues keep dropping but our expenses have increased. That is a hard scale to balance, we do not take enough tax dollars to cover the expense of the Fire and Police depts. Tax revenue is the only real area that we can control....raise taxes....! Our budget is over $95 million and our tax revenue is a little over $12 million.

We look hard to get funding for everything that we feel needs to be done. We try very hard to keep the burden off the tax payers. The Mosaic people have stepped up in the community to help. After careful consideration the council and Mayor voted 3-2 to accept funding from them. You will see by the list below we are not the only people. Thank goodness we have an organization who is willing to help.

Meals On Wheels PLUS (Including Food Bank of Manatee) – Annual Corporate Sponsor & Grant Recipient (they also try to volunteer stocking shelves in the fall)

Downtown Bradenton Farmer’s Market – Annual Sponsor

Downtown Winter Wonderland – Sponsor & Participant (with our Fossil Fun Zone)

United Way of Manatee County – Annual Corporate Sponsor (Next Friday a group of volunteers will also help rehab the Downtown office..with landscaping, repaired sprinkler system & pressure washing the building so Publix can come in behind us and paint.)

South Florida Museum – Annual Corporate Sponsor

Manatee EDC – Sponsor

Manatee Chamber – Annual Sponsor

 

Manatee Education Foundation – Annual Corporate Sponsor ($10,000 in teacher scholarships)

----as a side note:  In the last year partnerships with several organizations have made it possible for them to treat EVERY 4^th grader in Manatee County to a field trip to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, all expenses paid,  PLUS a live-conversation with folks at Mote through it’s Sea Trek program.

----This year they are also treating 4^th graders at Tillman & another school to a field trip to our Coastal Ed Center on Tampa Bay.

They also offered to cover the transportation costs for Bayshore Elementary to travel to Selby Gardens.

 

Manatee Fairgrounds – Annual Sponsor (Mosaic Arena)(note..this is not a contract but rather an annual sponsorship of $15,000 – raised to $15,000 from $10,000 just this year)

Manatee County Youth Livestock Sale

Manatee 4H – Sponsor

Manatee FFA - Sponsor

Red Cross – Corporate Sponsor

American Cancer Society – Participant & Sponsor for Myakka City Relay

Myakka Elementary School – Business Partner

Myakka City Community Center – Business Partner & Grant Recipient

Duette Elementary School – Business Partner (our staff at Four Corners regularly helps staff with repairs & materials)

Duette Fire Department – Community Business Partner

North Manatee Storm – Grant Recipient

Lakewood Ranch Rotary Club Annual Winefest – Sponsor

Manatee Animal Services – No Kill Donor

Sheriff PAL Classic – Sponsor

Suncoast Foundation – Event Sponsor

Parrish Chili Cook-Off – Event Sponsor

 

Have a Blessed week and be a Blessing to someone.

 

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” -Romans 5:3-4

 

 

 

 

 

Okeecobee Fishing

Some time ago several of my retired fireman friends and I decided to start fishing together. We kept seeing each other at our friends funerals and we decided to start going the the lake once a month. These pictures are of some bass that me and my partner (Joe Rogers) caught last week.

We always have a good time even if we don't catch any fish. we each put in $5 into a pot and the biggest fish takes the pot. I have never won it, until this week and finally the ole man came through.

We eat kind of conservatively, one night we had Rump Roast. The next night we had Hamburgers and the last night we had steaks.

 I can not begin to tell you how much I enjoy this trip, I really look forward to it each month. I hope some of the pictures you see will tell the story.

I hope that you have a Blessed week and that you are a Blessing to some one!

“When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” -Psalm 94:18-19

50th Year Of Marriage

Pat and I just celebrated our 50th year of marriage. We were married August 2nd 1962 in Bradenton Florida.(The love of my life)

We spent three days in New York City and had a wonderful time. We saw two Broadway plays and visited Ground Zero. We also visited Ellis Island, I was able to get all the info on my dad.

When we returned we had another celebration with our family. My oldest daughter Sandy and her husband James came down from Georgia. Darenda and Sandy planned a dinner cruise for us on Marina Jacks. So for the first time in a long time we had our entire family together. Pat, me, Sandy, James, Darenda, Doug, Tyler and Luke. We had a very nice evening on the cruise and it was a memorable time for Pat and I.

My life has been Blessed and I hope yours has also.

“I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.” -Psalm 119:14

Memories

I wanted to share this typical Florida day with you and also the words of a song that should hit home. The picture was taken in front of our home looking east in the afternoon....

Yesterday when I was young
the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue.
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game,
the way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame.
The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned
I always built alas on weak and shifting sand.
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of the day
and only now I see how the years ran away.

Yesterday when I was young
so many drinking songs were waiting to be sung,
so many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
and so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see.
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out,
I never stopped to think what life was all about
and every conversation I can now recall
concerned itself with me and nothing else at all.

Yesterday the moon was blue
and every crazy day brought something new to do.
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
and never saw the waste and emptiness beyond.
The game of love I played with arrogance and pride
and every flame I lit too quickly quickly died.
The friend's I made all seemed somehow to drift away
and only I am left on stage to end the play.
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung,
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue.
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young.
God Bless you and have a Blessed day!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” -Hebrews 12:1

4th of July 2012

Fishing was the name of the game this week.

Sandy and James visited us for the fourth of July. We had a great time, we visited Thomas Edison's home in Ft. Myers. Of course we went to the Bass Pro Shop while we were down there and had a great lunch there.

We also went fishing a couple of days and had a great time, and caught fish. We finally ate supper at Jose's Cuban restaurant on Cortez Road. We could not get in there this winter but it was worth the wait.

Thursday Pat,Sandy and Darenda had lunch together over in Palmetto.

James has a great time at "one Eyed jacks", I went one night with him and enjoyed it very much. That is my yearly visit and it went well for "One Eyed Jacks".

This is one on Edison's Labs.

This is "Ole Edison" himself, he still watches over the place.

Either his friend Henry Ford or his car.

 jack fish, one of many that were caught.

 James caught this lady fish, it gave him a real battle and was fun to catch.

Pat had the catch of the day, this was about a three foot Hammerhead Shark.

All in all we just had a great time while they were here. They will be coming back in a couple of weeks as we will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with our family here in Bradenton.

I hope all of you had as Blessed 4th as Pat and I did.

“As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” -Psalm 18:30



Yep, we are nuts!

We knew that Tropical storm Debby was coming and we knew that Lake Okeechobee would get some of the weather. But my buddy Wil Newsome and I had planned a fishing trip and no girl storm was going to stop us.

After church this past Sunday we headed for the lake. We fished that evening and caught fish. As you can see we caught some nice bass and we fished every morning and evening. We fished in the rain, we fish is 40 mile per hour winds, you name it.

I did mention to Wil that this was the first time that I have been on the lake alone. We did not see a soul in a boat until late Tuesday afternoon. What do you think that tells us...ha ha.

We were checked by the Fresh Game Warden, his first question was..." what the heck are you guys doing out in the lake"?

We always have a great time and this trip was no different, well maybe....check out the video. Please excuse the poor video taking but after watching you will understand. Let the video run for atleast 30 seconds before you get mad and shut it off. It takes that much time to be clear.



Wil and one of his bass that he caught.

Play  the video but remember wait atleast 30 seconds and it will start...enjoy the New Swamp People episode.

May God Bless you and all your family!

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” -2 Peter 3:9

"My Dad" Gone But Not Forgotten!

I remember my dad in many different ways, Father, Family Leader, Mentor and someone who would discipline you.

My dad was born August 27^th 1906 in Sicily; his given name was Ignatius Diecidue. He came to the USA in 1921 to go to school at Columbia University. At 15 yrs. of age he had graduated from high school and wanted to go to college in the USA.

He arrived on Ellis Island in 1921, he could not speak English. He was frightened and looking for relatives which he found. For two years he worked to make money for college and went to school to learn English. During that time he assisted his parents to come to America also.

He did attend Columbia University and was a graduate of the school of Pharmacy. He was 27 years old when he met my mom (who was 18) at a prearranged supper by their families. It was that night that my mom was told, “this is who you are going to marry”, which she did.

They owned their own drug store on Brooklyn NY on Mayberry St. They lost their store during the depression and my dad got sick and had to move to Florida to a warm climate. He then went into the citrus business with his father in law. He never practiced his medical profession again.

He was a hard working honest man; he did everything he could to provide for his family. I once ask him his he regretted his life as a citrus person. He said he did not, and told me that his knowledge that he gained in life and college could never be taken from him. He said that a man or woman could achieve anything in life if they really wanted to. One thing that has stayed with me is this; “Son, be man enough to stand up for what you believe and also man enough to admit it when you are wrong”. I have tried to live up to that in my life time.

Dad, I love you and will never forget you…..Thanks for being the dad that you were.

May all of you fathers ahve a Blessed day.

“Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds— his name is the LORD— and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” -Psalm 68:4-5

The Basketball Champions!

Coach Doug coached his first team in the Anna Marie Youth league. Yep' you guessed it, they were the Champions with only one loss.

The first picture of course is his son, my grandson Luke receiving his Trophy. The middle picture is "The Coach" and his team waiting to be called up.

The next picture is his team, starting from the left; Franklin, Luke, Jack, Jackie and Ava. One player Antonio was hurt and could not be there.

Great season for the kids. we all enjoyed them playing.

May all of you have a Blessed week!

“[Psalm 19] For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” -Psalm 19:1-2

Memorial Day Week End

This past memorial day we visited my daughter Sandy and her husband James. They live in this beautiful town in Georgia (Newnan), the elevation in their driveway is 900 ft Above sea level.

 This was a fun work week for all of us. James and I tore up the flooring and railing on their deck. We did get the floor down and the post up prior to our leaving to head back home. We also did some electrical wiring for the installation of a new Kilm, it took a 220 circuit for it to run.

Pat and Sandy worked in Sandy's beautiful yard. They planted plants, pulled weeds and kept James and I well fed. Sandy made the best meat loaf that I have ever eaten, I hope next time she makes two and puts one in the freezer for me. Look at how beautiful her back yard looks, part of the woods belongs to them. I have built them a deer feeder to put corn in and James buys a mineral block. Every night you see Gods beautiful animals come and feed.

When we got home "farmer Pat" checked her cherry tomato plants. As you can see they are loaded and we will enjoy eating them up until they are all gone.

Well I hope that all of you had a Blessed memorial day, especially those family's who have lost love ones....May God Bless you all!

“Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” -1 Chronicles 29:11

"One Mile race at School"

Luke was picked out of his school as one of  35 to run the one mile race. Luke is a member of the runners club at his school and enjoys running. This day he completed the mile in 6min + time, which is a lot better than I ever did. Atta Boy Luke go get them!

It is just great how they stress physical fitness in school these days. I wish they would have in my day, maybe I would not be so out of shape and lazy.

In one of the pictures Luke looks like he is telling us, I am tired and glad it's over or he is saying I can do better and should have.....you go Luke we are all proud of you. Last month he ran in a 5K race with adults and beat many of them....so.

God Bless all of you and I hope you Bless someone this week.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Romans 15:5-6

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2012 for the Gallo family!

I think of my mom who passed away in 1999, she raised me and my brother in times when it was a struggle. I am so Blessed that she was a stay at home mother and was there when you needed her to be.

I am double Blessed that my wife Pat was a stay at home mom. She had a very close relationship

with both our daughters. She was their friend, playmate , teacher and loving mom. To see my daughters today I can see that it paid off.

But not to be forgotten are our grandsons who are still active in sports. Tyler is still playing Lacrosse and Luke has gone to basketball and a little track. Sports are very good for kids their age, Tyler 16, and Luke 9.

I hope all moms have a Blessed week.

Today's Bible Verse:

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” -Proverbs 31:30 

55 Years of Greatness!

With all the excitement in recent years regarding the current success of Tampa’s Plant High School football team including  their defeat of Manatee several years ago for a state championship, we think it’s important for us, that is, our own class, specifically, to take a second and remember some very special moments for us but not for our then-arch rival Plant!

It was 1954, and there we were, all sophomores and just as new to Manatee as was the recently-formed huge Western Conference loaded with high school football teams from all over the Tampa Bay area.

We played very well that first year, well enough to give Plant their first real scare late in November when we were trailing very late in the game, 19-14. However, while only 6 points from victory the Panthers prevailed  and won that inaugural conference championship.

Such was clearly not the case the next year in 1955 as our guys, now juniors  and seriously ready to “take it to’em,” took the field at Plant’s Dad’s Stadium to shouts and jeers from the overflow crowd.  Why, even The Tampa Morning Tribune had been extolling the enormous capability and size of one Panther named Shields Gay, who was sure to put the huge hurt on our Canes. Unfortunately, Mr. Gay met up with someone named Tommy McEachern and spent much of the evening looking up into the stars – the real ones as well as those provided by a much-tougher, Tommy! Right from the gate, Manatee ruled that night, 13 to 0, while suffering Plant their only loss of the season as our proud Hurricanes marched on to win the Western Conference as well as finish the season undefeated!

1956, our senior year, saw our great Hurricanes continue on with one victory after another; however, once again, it was “us and Plant” doing battle at Hawkins Stadium for conference dominance.  With Tony Strickland and Jimmy Lawson assisting George Henderson and Blake Logue, the Canes led after the first quarter, 6 to 0, although Plant battled back with two touchdowns and were leading through three quarters, 12 to 6.

Very late in the game, however, and with a second consecutive undefeated season hanging in the balance,  from the 14 yard line, George hit Blake with a pass at the 4 who then scored and our Canes had drawn even at 12. George split the uprights moments later giving us the 13 to 12 victory sending the Panthers back to Tampa with their second loss to us in consecutive years  PLUS another lost opportunity in the Western Conference Championship battle. And, of course, we shared the championship with Tampa Hillsborough NOT Plant!!

WAIT A MINUTE !!!  WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE??!!

LOOK! LOOK! IT’S GEORGE THROWING THAT GAME-WINNING PASS TO BLAKE AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s have ALL of our former Hurricanes stand for a very well-deserved applause all these many decades later for all they did to give us those two very special and consecutive, undefeated seasons in a row, something Manatee  has never repeated in spite of capturing 5 state championships….!

 May God Bless All of you!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Happy 16th Birthday Tyler

Well, I know it has been sometime since I have Blogged. I have been doing Facebook, it is faster and I have a lot more people reading it. Anyway I will still Blog just not that much. Monday is my grandson Tyler's 16th birthday. The pictures are of his first car that his mom and dad have presented to him. What a neat thing to do, I pray for safety and happiness for him.

God Bless of of you and may Bless someone this week.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” -James 5:16

" LET'S MAKE A DEAL" AUG 2ND 1962..

Almost 50 years ago Pat and I made a deal that we have kept. First: we would love each other until death do us part. Second: We would make beautiful babies. Third: We would educate them to the best of our ability.(both went to college) Fourth: I would take her fishing. Finally the important one; Pat would do most of the yard work, and that my friends is what the pictures are all about. She is a champ when it comes to her yard work.

May all of you have a Blessed Easter and Praise Our Lord!

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” -1 John 3:16