Learning Center at Weedon Island Preserve
Groundbreaking Ceremony
On February 16th the ground was blessed and the first soil was turned for the long awaited Learning Center at the Weedon Island Preserve. Pinellas County Commission Chairman Barbara Sheen Todd presided over the groundbreaking ceremony celebrating Tampa Bay's Native Peoples at the Preserve. Guest speakers included Robert B. Stewart, Pinellas County Commissioner; Ronnie Duncan, Chairman of the Southwest Florida Water Management District; Kathleen T. Schwallie, great granddaughter of Dr. Leslie Washington Weedon; and Duane Blue Spruce, special Native American consultant to the project.

In appreciation for contributions to the outstanding building design, the Friends of Weedon Island gave three specially framed commemorative posters with etched plaques to Duane Blue Spruce, Billy Cypress, Executive Director of the Seminole Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and Ken Rhyne, a member of the architectural design team. When receiving the award, Ken Rhyne, a Tuscarora Indian, spoke of the colors and forms of the Preserve and the beautiful designs etched into the native pottery on the poster that inspired the team to incorporate native perception into the building.

Billy Cypress, his son William Cypress and Seminole Elder Bobby Henry led the officials and participants from the stage onto the building site with the lilting tones from William's flute. A red post marked the area, which will be the center of the building. Bobby Henry gave the blessing in his native tongue as Indian and non-Indian alike reflected on the meaning of this special place and the exciting possibilities that await the citizens of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.
To honor the Native People of the Tampa Bay Estuary, replicas of the whelk tools fashioned by the first Weedon Islanders were used to turn the earth at the center of the building. On Barbara Sheen Todd's count of three, the group broke the ground and a spontaneous laugher emanated as they made a new use of an old tool. Breaking the ground with laughter was a wonderful way to prepare for the Learning Center at the Weedon Island Preserve--A Place to Remember.