TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Historical Group To Honor Mesa

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSE PATINO GIRONA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

TAMPA - The decades of preserving his family's history, collecting antiques and spreading generosity haven't gone unnoticed.

Over the years, Fernando Rodriguez Mesa has received honors and awards, including having a Tampa Heights park named for him. He was the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce's Man of the Year in 2000 and was awarded the 2003 St. Jude the Apostle Medal by the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

At age 94, Mesa isn't being forgotten.

The Tampa Historical Society will present him with its annual D.B. McKay Award for his contributions to local history. The event will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Tampa Yacht & Country Club, 5320 Interbay Blvd.

"The number of people who have exhaustive memories and artifacts from pioneer Tampa is dwindling," said Maureen Patrick, the society's president. "He himself is an artifact. He is a living resource."

Past recipients include Gary Mormino, a University of South Florida history professor, and Leland Hawes Jr., historian and former staff writer for The Tampa Tribune.

"My heart is full of gratitude," Mesa said.

His longtime home on Ross Avenue in Tampa Heights was maintained like a museum. He had photographs, china, figurines and mementos throughout the two-story house, including items from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

There was a wig worn by silent movie star Rudolph Valentino in "Monsieur Beaucaire," a love seat and settee that once belonged to Vicente Martinez Ybor's family, and hand-carved end tables from the former Tampa Bay Hotel, which is now the University of Tampa's Plant Hall.

"I like to save things," Mesa said.

He donated most of his collection to the historical society, Ybor City State Museum and Centro Asturiano.

Last year, Mesa sold his 1903 home. He lives in a retirement home near USF.

Mesa's grandparents, Frank and Antonia Rodriguez, came from Key West. He was a wholesale tobacco broker; she was a concert pianist.

Mesa's mother, Stella, also was a pianist, and his father, Eladio, sold cars.

Mesa, a former interior designer and civil servant, was popular in social circles. He created the Let's Be Happy Club, a social club for young men and women, in the 1930s.

He began the annual Christmas Card Lane, which brought displays of Christmas decorations and biblical scenes to Bayshore Boulevard in the 1950s and 1960s.

Patrick said it's one thing to see items of local history at a museum and another to talk to someone who lived it.

"When they are gone they are gone forever, and Tampa's history will be less rich because of their absence," she said.

HISTORICAL HONOR

WHAT: Tampa Historical Society honors Fernando Rodriguez Mesa with the D.B. McKay Award

WHEN: Thursday; cocktails at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7:30

WHERE: Tampa Yacht & Country Club, 5320 Interbay Blvd.

COST: $60

INFORMATION: Call Maureen Patrick at (813) 831-5214 or e-mail info@historicguides .com

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 835-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT