Thomas, WV and Tarpon Springs, FL - Similar Communities and Similar Enchantments

When I was growing up near my hometown of Hendricks, WV, there was an interesting community about 12 miles north called Thomas which always fascinated me.  Meandering up US 219 as it ascends Backbone Mountain, the high-elevation town of Thomas was a bit different than many towns in West Virginia.  Years later, when I moved to the Tampa Bay area, I discovered another similar community on the sea about 15 miles north of St. Petersburg called Tarpon Springs which evoked a similar enchantment.  Reason is, despite some differences in landscape and climate, both towns shared a similar history.  Let me share that with you now.

Thomas was founded in the 1880's as a center for the coal, lumber, and railroad industries, and when many immigrants started coming into Ellis Island at around the same period, many of them settled there leaving their mark on the architecture and culture of the region.  Even today, Thomas is basically an Italian community in the middle of the West Virginia highlands, and its old-world charm still enchants people who visit it from all across the US.

Top:  A view of Thomas from Backbone Mountain

Bottom:  An arial view of Thomas looking northwest  with the Blackwater River in the foreground

Tarpon Springs also came into being at around the same time, and it had a slightly different story as a number of Greek immigrants found the area an attractive and lucrative location for one major commodity - sea sponges.   Today the majority of the residents of Tarpon are still Greeks, and they are still proud of their heritage and have created a new commodity today called tourism.   Since living here, Tarpon has become almost like a second home to us.

Top:  The famed Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs

Middle:  Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Tarpon Springs

Bottom:  Greek boys diving for the blessed Cross on the Feast of the Epiphany in Spring Bayou, Tarpon Springs.  This is a yearly tradition.

Now that I gave you some background on both communities, let me reflect a little.  Whenever I visited Thomas as a kid, I always imagined it as a pretend-trip to Europe, as from the streets if you stopped to shop you could smell fresh-baking Italian bread, the tangy smell of a homemade pizza cooking (the secret was truly in the sauce - authentic Thomas Italian cooking used oftentimes a very special local ingredient, ramps, in their sauce, and it was delicious!), or even the sounds of opera floating out of the local shops.  Names over the businesses also gave them away - groceries owned by the DePollos and Colabrese families, a garage owned by the Genovese Brothers, etc.   It made you feel proud, although most of us from Hendricks were not Italians ourselves, because Thomas was not just Italian-American, but it belonged to us as a county, and it was uniquely Tucker County.  That is what made it more exciting.

Tarpon Springs is a little more tied to its traditions even than Thomas, because the Greeks there are still very much Greeks, although they too have made their contribution to Florida's history and heritage.  Whether it is the Santorinis or Papas families and their restaurants, or a prominent Florida Congressman who is a native son by the name of Gus Bilirakis, any visitor from Greece to America will feel right at home.  And the food...my goodness!!  Fresh baqlawa or souvlaki on a stick - delicious stuff!  I like going up there during Easter to get ingredients for our Paschal dinner, as it is one of the few places you can find the authentic stuff.  And, let it be said here - Greeks make much better pizzas than even Italians do (sorry to my Italian friends, as it's nothing personal).  Of course, mention must be made of what draws people there on January 6th every year too.  January 6 is the Greek Epiphany feast, and in Tarpon it is celebrated in a special way.  A visiting Orthodox bishop will celebrate the Liturgy (which is very beautiful) in St. Nicholas Cathedral, and at its conclusion he leads a procession that includes a number of adolescent boys in swimgear, down about 5 blocks to Spring Bayou.  Taking a large gold-painted porcelain cross, the bishop blesses it and tosses it into the water, at which time the boys dive in and scramble to retrieve it.  Once the lucky kid gets the cross, he is blessed by the bishop with a special blessing, and becomes sort of a hometown hero for that year.   I have yet to see that event, as it always falls when we have to work, but one year soon we will make it, I promise that!  That is more worth coming to Florida to see than Disney is, in my humble opinion.  In March, another big event happens too as a Greek Independence Day parade is organized and that too is something to see - I still have a set of blue-and-white beads, as well as two Greek flags, from our observance of that (to make the day perfect, having some souvlaki or roast lamb at Santorini's on the Docks is a good climax).

Being I am a bit tired today, I am unable to really get into this as much as I wanted to, but wanted to just share a thought because I saw some interesting perspective on these two diverse communities.   Will be back to visit you soon again, and my best to you for a good week and many blessings.