Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 7-19-16 Online Edition

Features
Retired Pastor Reflects On Life Of Service
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Reverend Beverly Hills Lane recalls being ac- tive in the African Methodist Episcopal Church as a small child. In fact, she sang in the Youth Choirs Ushered, and participated in special pro- grams at Allen Temple AME Church. And that activity was the beginning of a life of serv- ice.
In reflecting over her life of service, Reverend Lane served in the dual role of pas- tor and educator.
A Tampa native, she at- tended the public schools of Hillsborough County. She continued her education and graduated from Bethune- Cookman University.
Reverend Lane re- turned to Tampa and launched her career as an ed- ucator. She retired from the Hillsborough County School District after 39 years of serv- ice as a classroom teacher and principal.
She recalls first being called into the ministry at the age of 22. She resisted, but less than two years later, “I received my calling and I was touched and filled with the Holy Ghost. I then began to dedicate my life to the church as well as the education of our children.”
The first church she was assigned to the Keystone AME Church, in Keystone, FL in 1982. During more than 30 years as an active minister, Reverend Lane has been instrumental in having the mortgages paid off at two churches and having a cor- nerstone laid at the First Mt. Carmel AME Church.
However, Reverend Lane recently relinquished the role of senior pastor at Bethel AME Church. She ex- plained, “In the AME church,
REVEREND BEVERLY HILLS LANE
when you reach a certain age, you superannuate which means you retire from active pastoral responsibilities.
“I have met many wonder- ful and devoted Christians that I have pastured within these churches and many of them will remain close to my heart until death do me part.”
But, that does not mean she is idle these days. Rev- erend Lane is the State President of One Church One Child. The organization advo- cates finding permanent homes for children in the state dependency system.
“There are so many African American children in need of good homes,” she said.
Reverend Lane recalls having visited Greater Mount Carmel AME Church pas- tured by Reverend Ricky Polk and that visit made a lasting impression. “There is fire in that church,” she said.
And, after surrendering her pastoral duties, she re- membered that fire and be- came a member of the church.
Reverend Lane is mar- ried to Curtis Lane and is the mother of two sons and a daughter. The couple has sev- eral grand and great grand- children.
In her spare time, she en- joys shopping.
Proposed Roundabouts Not Favored By 34th Street Businesses, Church
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
At last Thursday’s City Council meeting, Jean Duncan, City of Tampa Di- rector of Transportation and Stormwater Services, made a presentation to announce the 34th Street Safety Improve- ment Project.
Although businesses along the 34th Street corridor said they knew about the pro- posed project, they all said they knew nothing about roundabouts being a part of the project.
The proposed $3.8 million project involves the installa- tion of three roundabouts: one at 34th Street and 21st Av- enue, a second at 34th Street and Lake Avenue, and a third at 34th Street and Osborne Avenue. The project will also involve putting sidewalks along the corridor, along with other safety devices.
Rev. Thomas Scott, whose church, 34th Street Church of God sits on the northwest corner of 34th Street and 21st Avenue, said he doesn’t like roundabouts.
“I know there will have to be some right-of-way pur- chases, but because our buildings are so close to the roadway, that won’t impact us. The roundabout will have
JEAN DUNCAN .....feels the project will make 34th Street safer.
an impact on our school.” Ms. Maxine Woodside, who is Director of King’s Kids School, said she first heard about the project while attending an East Tampa Community Revitalization
Partnership meeting. “During that meeting, the
project was mentioned as part of the progress coming to East Tampa. I asked ques- tions, and wanted to know who I could talk to about the project.
“I met with East Tampa Development Manager, Ed Johnson and some city managers for an hour. At that time, we said the round- abouts wouldn’t work on 34th Street and 21st Avenue. They also said there had been sev- eral public hearings held on
the proposed project, but as far as I know that never hap- pened.”
Mrs. Annette Jackson, whose family owns and oper- ates Jackson’s Funeral Home and Jackson’s Store at 34th Street and Osborne Avenue, said “I don’t like round- abouts.
“I don’t understand why they would do that at 34th and Osborne. I’m sure it would hurt the business at the store, and complicate ac- cess in and out of our parking lot.”
Hopeton Virgo, who owns a business complex on the northeast corner of 34th Street and Lake Avenue, said he doesn’t know if he should move ahead with his façade improvements.
“I don’t think that would work at this intersection, be- cause it would close off ac- cess to too many places. It would affect the gas station across the street, and the NFL YET Center on the other corner.
“I’m going to have to put my façade improvements on hold to see what’s going to happen to that intersection.”
Duncan said a series of public hearings will begin in September.
“We will be sending let- ters out to everyone in the af- fected area. We will work with the East Tampa Com- munity Revitalization Part- nership (ETCRP) led by Van Best, to make sure everyone is notified. We will get the word out through the com- munity organizations.”
Duncan said the city is designing the project now.
“We held concept meet- ings in 2014, and a lot of de- tails were revealed. We know everyone isn’t going to be happy with the project, but we feel it will make 34th Street a lot safer.
“We had analyzed the cor- ridor after we were asked to improve the roadway by the ETCRP. That was in 2014, and a needs assessment was done and presented to the public at that time.”
Duncan said construc- tion will begin in the Spring of 2019, and the project is ex- pected to take 12-to-18 months to complete.
“As part of the project, the road lanes will be narrower in an effort to slow down traffic. We think the aesthetic changes will make the area look better.”
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