Paw Paws Place

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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:

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...

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 bu...

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 ...

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

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 cra...

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 batt...

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 befo...

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...

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

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" che...

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

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  

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 th...

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

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