>Home Tour Hosts Needed!

Inviting neighbors into my home during the 2022 Home Tour was one of the most valuable experiences I've ever had, and it's time again that we're looking for you to volunteer your home for next year's home tour—which, unlike in previous years, will be held on Sunday, February 15 .

Feel like your home isn't fancy or remarkable! You're wrong! Some of the most-loved homes from tours in the past were ones that most reflected being lived in .

We'd love to have you share your home with your neighbors. Email the home tour committee to nominate your home (or someone else's that doesn't get this email!)

Use the same link if you're unable to host but want to contribute in another way as a volunteer — February will be here before we know it! And stay tuned as tickets are about to go on sale!

Quarterly General Membership Meeting

Our next general membership meeting is on Tuesday, October 28th. We'll be holding our annual election of members to our board of trustees & talking about what's next with our murals, streets, development, and more.

When: Tuesday, October 28th, 6:30 p.m.

Where: American Legion Seminole Post 111 Annex, 6918 N. Florida Ave.

Bus & Brew Crawl: Putting the Pub in Public Transportation TONIGHT!

Visit any/all locations between 4PM and 9PM tonight, October 17, for discounts & deals with the $10 cash ticket you purchase that evening (at any venue). Bring friends or make new ones. Choose your own adventure on where to start then use the FREE Route 1 bus to get between locations. All proceeds go back to transit advocacy and more events like this!

Participating Venues:

Velvet Gypsy

Ology Brewing Co.

Jug & Bottle Dept.

Front Porch/Bart's Tavern

Independent Bar and Cafe

Common Dialect Beerworks

For just $10 a year—or $25 for businesses—you help your neighborhood association represent neighbors' interests with the city, provide outreach to local businesses and organizations, and keep these newsletters flowing!

This Month In OSHNA History

50 years ago this month, a gangland murder in Seminole Heights sparked an inferno that caught local police, federal law enforcement, state attorney E.J. Salcines, and the infamous Trafficante organized crime family each in the blaze. Competing county and federal grand juries debated the cleanliness of the Tampa Police Department while, in the end, a list of characters you'll recognize from The Godfather Part II got indicted—most convicted—thanks in part to an increase of federal organized crime investigation efforts ramped up after an incident you might remember from Goodfellas .

(For more on all this, read Cigar City Mafia or go on author Scott M. Deitche's Tampa Mafia tour .)

The full story on Cloud's assassination didn't come out until 2021 :

Starting in June 1975, there were three attempts to blow up the cars — and their occupants. There were multiple drive-by shooting attempts. In every case, there were only minor injuries reported. Then, in September 1975, the crime syndicate broke Benjamin Gilford out from the DeSoto Correctional Institution, where he was serving a sentence for robbery. He climbed a wall at the minimum security center and escaped in a waiting getaway car. Investigators said Acosta paid Gilford $15,000 to assassinate Cloud and that Gispert supplied the 32-caliber pistol. Gilford hid the weapon inside a box, pretended to be a delivery man and shot Cloud dead when he answered the door.

Hosting the monthly OSHNA Porch Party is one of the easiest and most fun ways to get involved in the neighborhood. With the Neighborhood Involvement Committee volunteers handling most of the arrangements, they aren't much work, either! To sign up to host, check out the link to the form in the button below.

As always, check our events calendar on Facebook or OldSeminoleHeights.org .