Herons Glen

Herons Glen BY DAVID SHRIVER

Today I rode the Harley to the northern tip of Lee County to a development called Herons Glen.
Indirectly Herons Glen and I have a long history.
Back in 1984 I was working Real Estate selling one acre parcels on metro parkway, and Youngquist road, and some pieces of raw land here and there. I approached Mr. Kanavos at Deltura about buying a piece of land that I had for sale. Mr Kanavas In his special way told me he wasn’t interested in that piece however if I could get another piece (that he identified) listed he would be interested in buying it.He told me how much he would pay and I told him what if I can get it for less? He said if you can get it for less there will be more business for you down the road I take care of those who take care of me.
So I went to work on a parcel owned by a lady who was just down forty one and on the other side from DelTura. I worked with her as a buyer, offering her a dollar figure much lower than my top price and worked and chewed and spit and finally got it bought twenty thousand less than what Mr. Kanavas said he would pay. I brought the contract to Mr Kanavas and told him if he would pay the ten percent commission, I would assign it over. He was happy to do that and that started a seven year affiliation with the DelTura group.That piece by the way became one of the key parcels for the Plaza.
Mr Kanovas brought me in his office and showed me a map and said he wanted me to start assembling these parcels one by one until I had all of them bought. As I put one under contract I would assign each piece over to the DelTura droup and they would pay me the commission when the parcel closed.In retrospect that right there was not so good for me because I devoted a year totally on putting these pieces of the puzzle together, and then had to wait another year for my money. Made for some skimpy times for a couple years.
I moved a brand new doublewide back on the first 20 acre piece I bought. I then began buying my neabors out one by one until I was the only one back there at the end of Vernon Dee’s Tap Rd. our official address.
We had a mailbox out on forty one and my daughters would ride a four wheeler out to forty one to catch the school bus then after school ride it the two miles back our road home. We had a stable back there and at one time had five horses. We would ride down the old abandoned Rail Road grade. Which went from our place clear down to the back of Suncoast.We got a couple hogs Porky and Petunia and had a hog pen and fed them culled produce we got from the produce stand. We usually just let them wander around and eat palmetto roots and whatever. One day my oldest was washing our car and Porky wanted to play in the water, When Tracy kicked at him to get him away ole Porky hooked her on the leg with one of his fangs, so she is now probably the only surgical coordinator in Tampa who has been gored by a wild hog. We got rid of them directly after that.
I went on to work as a land buyer for Flag Development Company a partnership with the Kanovas family
Key employees (including me) and Swiss investers. That took me to Dade City where with the commission money made I bought a little ranch which backed up to the Bellamy Bros(country Music Stars)--on the Del Vera deal---Later the name was changed to Herons Glen after I told Mr. Kanovas about how every morning as I was making my way down the two miles of sand road out to forty one --A heron would fly in front of my pickup seemingly leading me down the road. In The evening as I was coming home a Heron would lead me flying in front of me down the road to home.