Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 4-25-17

Local
Local Veteran Writes First Book
Air Force Veteran, Odie Jones, Jr. recently wrote and self-pub- lished his first book entitled, Saving the Lake at Bobby Hicks Park.
The book chronicles the efforts made by the citizens of the Sun Bay South community, located in south Tampa, come together to restore Bobby Hicks Park to its prime. This proud neighborhood banded to- gether and took the lead through manual labor to restore the park when water hyacinths overran their treasured lake.
Read how individuals, along with the assistance of city, county and state officials sought to better their community. Readers can also follow the process through photo- graphs. Jones and many members of the South Tampa community spent many hours researching and meeting with officials about the hy- acinths that plagued the lake.
This book is meant to be infor-
ODIE JONES, JR.
mational, educational and enter- taining. Jones says he hopes “to in- spire every citizen to be alert to situations they think might be detri- mental to our natural resources and take actions to solve the problem.”
Saving the Lake at Bobby Hicks Park
“Saving the Lake at Bobby Hicks Park will prove that through team- work, any task can be successfully accomplished,” he said.
Jones is a native of Aliceville, Alabama and retired in Tampa after
serving 28 years in the United States Air Force, where he received 21 prestigious awards and medals. He had numerous assignments in both the U. S. and overseas; includ- ing a year in the Vietnam War. He is a charter member of the Bay Area Brotherhood, Life Member of Joint Communications Support Element JCSE) Veterans Association and Vice President of the Gandy Civic Association. He has five children and has been married to Dorothy Jones for 61 years.
Mr. Jones has always had a penchant for writing and is ecstatic about finally fulfilling one of his life- long goals. He is currently working on publishing 3 additional books.
Saving the Lake at Bobby Hicks Park is available now at Create- SpaceeStore, Amazon.com and Amazon Europe. Additional distri- bution sites will be available in a few weeks.
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