Hard Work and Mother Nature Build Award-Winning Yard
By Tom Nguyen
Otis Blair and his hands are big and heavy—capable of snapping tree branches into bits—but soft enough to tend his wife's rose garden without hurting a petal. He is the father of four and the grandfather of five, but his sporty physique would suggest a man half his age and experience, a man half his spirit. Every day for the past 10 years, he has awakened at 4 a.m., arriving an hour later at St. Petersburg High School to put his hands to work.
He is neither the principal nor a faculty member. He is a 59-year-old plant operator at the school, who provides a safe, clean and attractive environment for students and faculty.
"Most of the things I plant, they take off," said Otis, a landscaper who tends 18 private gardens in addition to his job at the school. "The older people say you have a green thumb when you have it like that."
It is not surprising, then, that he received this month's Greater Pinellas Point Beautification Award for his house and front yard. Actually, it's one of his many accomplishments.
"They've created a beautiful oasis," said Beth Connor, 39, beautification chair of the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association. "It has a beautiful and tropical feel to it."
His home is planted on 5901 Martin Luther King Jr. St. S., directly across from Bay Vista Elementary School. If visitors somehow are unable to see the large beautification award sign in the front yard, then surely they will see the orange sherbet trim streaking across and wrapping around his three-bedroom, two-bath white house.
In the front yard are three Christmas palms, equally spaced to greet pedestrians walking by, while a colorful path—dotted with lights, crotons and ixora—stretches from the sidewalk, winds pass the wide open and well-manicured lawn, and leads up to the Blair family front porch. A small wooden bench sits right next to a small water fountain, in stark contrast to the orange trim and the 2004 beautification award. It's also there that you realize what Otis' work has meant over time.
The house wasn't always a tropical oasis.
Loretha, Otis' wife of 38 years, said the house resembled a jungle when they first bought it for $27,000 in March 1978. "We've had to put a lot of work into it," said Loretha, 56, who originally wanted a two-story home for their children but couldn't afford it. "We did the best with what we had."
That meant having to remove decrepit trees, to put in a new lawn and water sprinkler system, to cut down the nasty hedges that had climbed against the walls of the house, not to mention having to remodel the house, room by room, year by year.
The house is now worth $165,000.
"It took 10 years to get it looking like this," Otis said. He didn't want to hire anyone for help nor did he take out loans to accelerate his home makeover. His family couldn't afford it, and he didn't want to land himself into impossible financial debt. And so Otis and his family went to work—on the weekends, through the summer months, whatever it took. "It didn't matter the amount of work. Most of the time, I get what I want—it just takes time."
And time he could always afford.
Connor said the selection process for the beautification award typically takes a month, but the civic association considered the Blair home for three months before finally granting them the distinction. She said members were just waiting for the flowers in the front yard to bloom, just waiting for the "right time".
"We give the award to build community pride," said Connor, who later explained the criteria for the award. "There's a wide spectrum for our criteria. Sometimes we pick a house that has been remodeled radically. But this house has been well-kept over the years...it was time."
Connor has lived in Pinellas Point for 38 years and said that it was one of the nicest houses she has ever seen in that area. "It's a yard that needs a lot of maintenance—not something you can just let go. We can see all the hard work and planning that goes into it."
They saw a beautiful front yard and house, but what they didn't see was the family's struggle to create a sense of community there early on.
When the Blairs first moved into the neighborhood, it was predominantly white, with older people living there. Otis said the Blairs were the first black family on the block.
According to his wife, what motivated Otis most to revamp their home was his pride. Otis agreed: "I wanted to let the neighborhood know black people could have nice things, too."
But it took time to build those "nice things"—particularly respect and acceptance.
He recounted the story of a white family who lived across the street from their home. "They thought we were rowdy," Otis said. They told Otis they were leaving the neighborhood because his family was black. But Otis challenged their racial prejudice with his patience and determination. "We weren't rowdy and they eventually saw that. We became good friends later on, and they would ask me questions on how to take care of their yard."
"He takes a lot of pride in what he does and it's great for the block," said Javen Turner, 36, who for the past 10 years has lived four houses away from the Blairs. "Everyone in the neighborhood comes to him for advice on taking care of their lawn." Sometimes Otis even gives his neighbors free plants, added Turner.
Otis understands the significance of time. He appreciates its magnitude. But he understands how to grab it and shape it, and when he needs help, he knows who to turn to for guidance.
"Anything I do for my yard or anyone's yard, I always put God first," he said. "Every time I wake up in the morning, I thank God. I tell my friends, 'Today's great!' And then they say, 'What's so great about it?' Man, waking up is just great."
He is a deacon, treasurer and bus driver for the Greater Faith Temple Holiness church in Largo, a 45-minute drive from his home. "My parents helped built the church in the '60s, so it's important that I stay involved." And of course, he tends the garden there, as well.
"I feel the Lord is with me most the time," Otis said. "When I'm in the garden, I tell the Lord, 'I don't know how it'll turn out. But you do. So help me out.'"
When asked what was her favorite thing about the front yard, Loretha said she enjoyed sitting on the bench next to the water fountain. "It's so peaceful and relaxing to sit on the porch and hear the water run," she said.
While most people will only see a house with orange trim, a well-kept yard and the award that finally endorses its beauty, only by sitting on the bench can Otis' work be truly appreciated and understood.
"It doesn't matter if I get dirty," he said. "Soap and water will wash it right off. Gloves get in the way. I like to use my naked hands."
His hands are even more beautiful than his garden.
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