today this is going to be a bit different simply because i'm going to be interviewed having i met judy earlier and they idea came along and we decided that this would be the way for us to flow today judy thank you for coming in and welcome home day i am in any way assist you in the work that i have to do and truly i want to thank you for being here with me today thank you for ha commissioner commission and i'm working on a project for the university of south florida we're talking about what home means to each of us how you identi home when you're away from home and how you know you're at home when you're at home where is home for you come from is newtown so you sarasota was the most beautiful city on the west coast of the state of florida of course we know that don't we yes we do why is newtown why didn't townhome my family has been in this area over one hundred fifteen years  so the railroad got here before the city was incorporated and when and that would have been your great grandfather yes i can pat the three brothers with possibly a willie in the end all railroad men distinguished and stopped in tampa so and it was after they came here that they brought their wives and children or yes the tracks were laid the until i got to the military command many many years ago and what branch did you think the united states air force for your veteran of the vietnam era and say era because i' merchant military vessel in captivity and that was in north korea with the commander a lot bowker and his i remember crew guess when when you went into the service yes base to downtown san antonio and the difference in people and you had a great number of hispanics and you had also a great influence of the retired military person because this was an area that and it was very very  remember at that time we were in constant heightened alert and the korean peninsula and so you learned to gravitate towards those the visuals that you were stationed with the bond and i still hold that bond with several of those individuals today after all of these years did you consider yourself a southerner father when you were very quickly told i don't see color everybody hears green and that was you know phone that you were in did you see color when you came home i was reminded of color when i came home  not to be negative anything but i did know where i was when i came home again my understanding is that you've never really left the area other than when you were in the military that's true that i love sarah so i have such a great passion for this area for several sort of period there's so much to reflect upon in the way of our lives ever changing i constantly remind us that we are circus city and everybody likes to come to the circus some come the state some come to play and others as come in so sarasota has been so rich to me and offerings i have bonds you to a warm there's a different there's a certain warmth in sarasota when you get to know sarasota and the people that live here there's a warmth here that goes beyond  the moment people still yet speak on the streets i can pass you and i will say good afternoon good morning where we haven't gotten that so laws that we're no longer able to speak to one another and then there's still yet family family is very big here in the city of sarasota in that you know each other by the family mean you know what that family did to enhance the city itself so what did your family do to enhance the city of sarasota and even enhanced newtown my family has been family friendly and that's extended if you were to travel with me into the community you will hear quite a few we have that identifying there about this family more than anything culture is a tradition rather tradition and is a major part of our culture yes and we all grow up with the traditions traditions of what we do want to sunday afternoon or sitting at the kitchen table doing homework as children what types of traditions do you remember as a child that you still honor today i mean how you know maybe respect for elders oh well definitely definitely there is the respect for the elder you remember who you are because of who you passed those are things that stand out in that culturally things as traditional rather we knew that when the sunset we had to be in the house oh i have trained my children that very same that my gran's the same way when and when the sun sets were you supposed to be in the house and because supper was being prepare you we always sat at the tree they would set up and there were kids there my dad worked for a lumber company walk hall well we would share christmas with both families and then we had christmas at home so christmas was always very very special the tree had a tree every year it was always very special it was family thanksgiving thanksgiving the same thing my mother would bake the turkey ham and the family would come together my home was always like a gathering place my dad drove truck and other truckers would stop because even they have hotels and motels during that time in the area that they could stay and they couldn't stay and all city streets or whatever and so many times we would have somebody who was passing through come in we have a group called the purina come out of tampa and there were people get to know any of those travelers oh down from out and what i'm curious we learn a lot from our family we do but we also learn a lot from the individual person who comes into our life even briefly as a child and we see them as adults they come to visit our parents and we learn something from them overhearing a conversation here or there or i don't chat did you learn randolph when they were ramsay rather when they would come through they would be delivering food south of us and they would come back up and you know that they have a place to stop and so you learn from them their life experiences how they came about how your children are local yes yes yes we have just as we have atlanta jacksonville fort area similar to what i grew up in where everybody was of the same segregated mix and if i were to say that newtown is probably how did they impact the community well many of them were the merchants and so we interacted with the exchange families know each other and it was it was more of a growing concept they were very very good to the community and the community was good to them in return tell me about going to church going to school well was i'm assuming that you went to church in the neighborhood for you shane internet just earlier this morning i was having a conversation with a young man and we were discussing my family has we're big churches ok my family being a church the black church is in our community  didn't have parking areas simply because and i was explaining to a young person today we walk to church so there wasn't that many cause and so there was a name reason to have a big parking lot parking my great grandmother was a charter member of the mount tabor missionary baptist church in tallahassee under and years ago before they came  laugh when i tell people this hour is as close to the school as we are to each other i was late every day for school but i never  and it just didn't rush me to get there but the proximity with my home being as close as it was to the school i met every generation above me and below me had to pass to get to school if they didn't come by bus and many of our students in south county were bused to several service book or miss all ins was a bus driver that would bring them out of the johnson camp and out of venice sheehan is johnson the bus driver was and they brought these people to school here quite frequently oh well his driving father was very good with the man who he was a father father for my cousins who didn't have a father dad had died and he was their father he played with us out on the on the baseball field softball because it was a big deal and front of our house and the kids gathered there that's where we gather we played football my dad was right out there with as a matter of fact he would shoot marbles so my cousin my cousin who was older than me and my dad came from world war two faces the from me the conversations i mean able to see progress made in progress stagnant i know that when i met you  one of the first places we ventured to the cemetery and i use that always as a point of reference to show that part of the identity of this community  that we live in and on as i was so when i leave here i boast of what a beautiful city we have i boast on the building over relationships and extending those relations beyond the media to the extended as we walk through this summit here they're going out different gravesites and who the individual were and it seemed like you were boasting of your community of course of people that were leaders to you yes and you mentioned that coming visiting the cemetery is something that you do and it rejuvenates you it does that tell me about that but so much of our story is barrett so where better to go and find that story and when i'm in that setting i'm in a comfort zone simply because these are voices that i've heard people that i've known in my seventy plus years here there are traits in trends there are lessons that we're learn and that i can reflect upon when i look out and see a family of you know who that family was and the impact that they had on this community and raring and their teachers that were there and to be able to tell their story it's always something good for me personally when i when i visit that place it seems like home people home is people home is each and every  day i live to exchange or engage someone in some way that will make us both better when we leave the conversation of the moment i want to leave a lasting impression upon whom member i meet and hopefully take away the same thing from the person on the other side and maybe if you can just tell me how newtown is still doing that you every day there's news of somebody from within the community have a grandson a granddaughter a great grandchild moving on to hi part of that story so when ever we get that opportunity you want to make it as visible as valuable as you possibly can i truly enjoy perception of your elected you meet the person you know them a bit better differences and then you've learned a bit of what newtown is all home the great passion i have for the city itself so if i were to take you and show you some of those i'd show you family members that went through the spanish american war jerry him feel world war