BRADENTON — Ray Omlor looked on as his wife, Roberta, made lemonade the old fashioned way, a homemaker’s ritual she’s performed in that cozy kitchen for a long, long time.
Try 50 years.
She used a juicer for their children and their friends.
Now she uses one for their grandchildren and guests who keep coming back for more.
Her secret?
“Sugar, water and lots of lemons,” said Omlor, 72.
Homegrown lemons, that is.
Grown in her backyard along with grapefruit, peaches and pineapples, as well as celery, lettuce and tomatoes.
“It’s fun to go out and pick your own,” Omlor said. “You know where they came from.”
Right there in Bayshore Gardens, where most of the streets were named by the developers after colleges and universities — i.e., Auburn, Dartmouth, Emory, Harvard, Rollins, Tulane, Wellesley. It is part of the old neighborhood charm that surrounds the Omlors, one of 1,400-plus families who live in the working-class community south of 60th Avenue West between U.S. 41 and Sarasota Bay.
Lying on their dining room table nearby was a brochure, yellowed with age, that offered a fascinating glimpse back into another time:
“Bayshore Gardens. On Sarasota Bay. The Utmost in Florida Living.”
It was from the late 1950s and depicted scenes of families boating, golfing and fishing — like something straight out of the old “Ozzie and Harriet Show.”
Especially the price of a ranch-style home back then.
There were several models offered, and the Bird of Paradise was the priciest at $15,490.
The Omlors’ three-bedroom home, the Century, cost $11,590.
“We splurged and paid another $250 for terrazzo floors,” she said with a laugh.
After life in Philadelphia, Bayshore Gardens was paradise.
“To me it was awesome to see these houses with bright colors and big windows and lots of grass,” Omlor said. “In Philly you didn’t have the beauty of nature coming into your house like here. Wherever you look you can see plant life here.”
Suzanna Young shares the Omlors’ affinity for the community.
She’s the acting homeowners association president and is on the board of trustees for Bayshore Gardens, where she and husband Richard have lived since 1993.
Young said friends of hers call the community “Mayberry,” while she prefers “Brigadoon.”
“We’re like a small town smack in the middle of everything going on in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, and we’re on Sarasota Bay,” she said. “It’s unheard of for the median income here.”
According to City-Data.com, that was $38,197 in 2007.
“That kind of stuff is reserved for only the millionaires,” Young said. “If we were developed today? We wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
It’s still reasonable, given the sluggish real estate market, of course.
Of 43 homes listed in the community’s Bayshore Banner March issue, 30 were selling between $99,000 and $179,000.
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