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On T he Riviera“It’s Another Great Day in Riviera Bay!”

54th YEAR • JANUARY / FEBRUARY, 2014 ISSUE www.rbcanews.com

HAPPYEREST NEW YEAR TO ALL!

We had a fantastically successful 2013 and I’m looking forward to another year of being the

“BESTEST NEIGHBORHOOD IN ALL OF ST PETE.”

Our property values are on the rise and even with breaking in a new Mayor, rest assured that your association will schmooze… I mean work together with the city, county, state, local companies, and the Fire and Police depts to make the RBCA an even BETTERER place for you and your family again in 2014.

We have many improvement projects in the works this year (see article inside) and we’re also making a few changes. Our meetings will now be the 3rd Tues of every other month starting Tues, Jan 21 (see schedule inside) and we are finally going to get everybody that wants to be included on a neighborhood e-mail “blast” to pass along any real important info as quickly as possible.

With our new

park/exercise/walking/tennis/play area opening this year, my New Year’s resolution that I plan on keeping is to lose some weight. One day I was home alone…. and it was still crowded. Anyway, here’s hoping that everyone is successful sticking to their resolutions, especially the one where you want to get more involved in your neighborhood association. (As luck would have it, a very convenient membership form is on the back page, and we also need Board members.) Check out our list of events on page 2 and please let us know if you have an idea for an event or an idea to improve your quality of life here

in Riviera Bay, or want to offer your help, or want to know what I want for my birthday. Shoot me an email, give me a call, or attend one of our general meetings, and I’ll try my best to get back to you asap.

Please check us out by joining us Tues, Jan 21st at 6:30pm for

some great Paisano’s pizza, and let’s discuss “wuz happen’in” in 2014.

Seeee yaaa, Prez Dave

NEWSLETTER OF THE RIVIERA BAY CIVIC ASSOCIATION SINCE 1960

NEXT GENERAL MEETING TUES, JANUARY 21stSt Pete Presbyterian Hall, 600 83rd Ave NE

(east of 4th St to church at corner of 83rd Ave & Macoma Drive)Free Pizza Social at 6:30pm, Meeting starts 7pm Sharp.

Elections, New Park, Police & Fire Updates, 2014 events, Open forum

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Unless posted otherwise, all general meetings are held at St Pete Presbyterian Hall, 600 83rd Ave NE. Social starting at 6:30pm, meeting at 7pm.(East of 4th St to hall at corner of 83rd Ave NE & Macoma Dr NE)

2014 RBCA EVENTS

Offering the Yummiest Citrus Scents

Sandi Roper727-455-3539

email: info@citrusblossombrand.comweb: www.citrusblossombrand.com

Free consultation and deliveryin the Riviera Bay area

Scented Soy CandlesCitrus Blossom Brand

TUES, JAN 21 - RBCA General MeetingElections, Pizza, 2014 Planning, more pizza

SAT, FEB 8 - Adopt-A-Mile83rd Ave N/NE Clean-up

NEED VOLUNTEERS

MARCH 7, 8, 9 Neighborhood Yard Sale

Map deadline March 4

TUES, MARCH 18 - RBCA General Meeting

SAT, MARCH 29Neighborhood/Canal Clean-up

NEED VOLUNTEERS

THURS, MARCH 27? - Parade Float ?????

THURS, APRIL 17Easter Egg Hunt/Ice Cream Social

SAT, MAY 10

Adopt-A-Mile - 83rd Ave N/NE Clean-upNEED VOLUNTEERS

TUES, MAY 20 - RBCA General Meeting

TUES, JULY 15 - RBCA General Meeting

SAT, AUGUST 9 - Adopt-A-Mile

83rd Ave N/NE Clean-up - NEED VOLUNTEERS

SAT, SEPT ?? - Carefest ProjectNEED VOLUNTEERS

TUES, SEPT 16 - RBCA General Meeting

OCT 3, 4, 5 - Fall Yard Sale

SAT, NOV 8 - Adopt-A-Mile

83rd Ave N/NE Clean-up - NEED VOLUNTEERS

THURS, NOV 20 - Thanksgiving Dinner

WED, DEC 24 - Candle Luminaries& Boat Parade

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Adopt-A-Mile83rd Ave CleanupSaturday, Feb 8th

Volunteers Needed! On Satur-day, February 8th from 8AM

– 10AM, we will be walking 83rd Avenue N, NE from 4th Street N to San Martin Bridge picking up trash for the 1st of our 2nd 2-year com-mitment to Keep Pinellas Beautiful’ s Adopt-A-Mile Program. We will

meet at St Pete Presbyterian Church parking Lot 600 83rd Ave NE and the RBCA will supply trash bags, gloves, pickers and water. This normally takes about an hour or 2, depending on the number of volunteers we get that

day. Come join us, meet some more of your neighbors, get a little bit of ex-ercise and help us Keep our Neighborhood Beautiful. Any questions, please call Donna Hoover at 727-579-3644.

If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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Your Neighborhood Church

Welcomes You!

600 83rd Ave. NE,St. Petersburg, FL 33702

727-329-6346www.stpetepca.org

Pastor Dave Harding

Worship on Sunday mornings at 10:15 a.m. Classes for all ages begin at 9:00 a.m.

Childcare provided in our excellent nursery facility for infants and toddlers.

RBCA SPRING YARD SALEFri, March 7th Thru Sun, March 9th

Deadline To Have Your Location On MapIs Tuesday, March 4th

It’s time once again to trade your unused stuff taking

up your space for somebody else’s unused stuff that takes up even more of your space.

To have your location marked on the 500+ maps we distribute and have your street marked with a sign on 4th St and/or 83rd Ave, , ei-ther email Donna Hoover at daybugme2@yahoo.com or call 579-3644 before March 4th and leave your name, contact number and address of sale, and since RBCA funds are being spent to advertise & print, you must be a current RBCA member to get marked on the map. Membership is only $10 per household and runs from Jan-Dec. A convenient membership form is printed on

the back page of this newsletter for you to mail in with your $10 check, made out to the RBCA.

We advertise all 3 days, 8am-2pm in the Tampa Bay Times, St Pete Patch, The Flyer and our Face book

page, but you are welcome to set your own days and hours for that weekend. If we get rained out 2 of the 3 days we will put the signs out for the following weekend, but we won’t have time for the adver-tising. We also have a few smaller signs that we can place inside the neighbor-hood if we have time, but all other signage directing people to your location is up to you. Be a good neighbor and remove any

signs that you have posted when your sale is finished. We will pick-up all of the RBCA signs by Sun night, and remember, junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away just before you need it.

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STATUS OF NEW PARK (Woooo Hoo!!!!!)

By Raul QuintanaAIA LEED® Accredited Professional City Architect, Engineering & Capital Improvements (727) 893-7913

We anticipate all concrete to be completely poured by the end

of January. All underground utilities should be complete by early Janu-ary. We expect to complete the site irrigation, underground electric and set the new light poles by early February. The play equipment and outdoor fitness equipment has been ordered and should be delivered by end of February with installation by early March. Final finish grading, setting of picnic shelters, landscap-ing and sod should be complete by

end of March. Baring any unfore-seen situations or weather delays, we should be complete sometime in April. I am hesitant at this point to provide an exact date for comple-tion, however, the work is progress-ing well and I don’t foresee any major complications. Please let me know if you have any other ques-tions. RIVIERA BAY IMPROVEMENTS

DUE FOR 20141. New Riviera Bay Park installation at 83rd Ave NE & Macoma Drive.2. Adopt-a-park program started by the RBCA.3. Nine underground stormwa-ter vaults installed to help allevi-ate road flooding on 89th Ave and around Riverside Drive.

4. Canal & land area clean-up.5. Rio Vista Park crumbling asphalt trail to be replaced by concrete.6. Possible kayak/canoe launch in-stalled at west end of Rio Vista park.7. Some roads repaved.8. Four 83rd Ave Adopt-a-mile clean-ups.

RIVIERA BAY EVENTSFOR 2014

1. Six general meetings2. Spring and Fall neighborhood yard sales3. Easter egg hunt/Ice Cream social4. Participating in parades with dec-orated floats. (& winning money)5. Thanksgiving dinner/party6. Christmas Eve boat parade & candle luminaries.

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateurbuilt the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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POSSIBLE RBCA EVENTS(We Could Use Help Organizing)

1. We are going to have a car/truck show in 2014 with prizes.2. Derby Lane dinner night?3. Two Canal Clean-ups a year?4. Fossil Park pool swim day(s)?5. More Carefest-like neighborhood projects?

It’s time to break out the winter clothes in Florida…

wear socks with your sandals.

mmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmmmm

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by Donna HooverWe had another well attended successful event -

great food, and friendly neighbors brought some great side dishes.

This year the turkey, gravy, potatoes, stuffing and rolls came from Luckie B’s Restaurant at 4351 4th Street N. Chip Pitts’ famous sliced Ham came from Babalu Restaurant at 9246 4th Street N. It was hard to decide what to choose for dessert since everybody brought so many great items.

I want to thank Jenny Healey and Lynn Killian for helping in the kitchen again this year and everybody

RBCA THANKSGIVING DINNERelse that helped us clean up afterwards. Without you guys, Lucky B’s and Babalu’s, we couldn’t have pulled off such a great event.

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CHRISTMAS EVE BOAT PARADEBeautiful Night! Beautiful Parade!

Thank you very much to Jim Williams for leading/organizing the parade this year, and to everybody else that participated in the parade, even if it was just to ride along and yell Merry Christmas to people on shore. We

saw everything from a 6 ft. snow globe on top of one boat, to a pontoon boat that appeared to be totally covered in lights. Everybody did a wonderful job, including our Santa and all of Santa’s helpers. How lucky and fortunate are we to live here where the residents work so hard decorating their boats just for all of us to enjoy? A special BIG thanks goes out to Sweet Pea Jones for a great job filming the Boat Parade. You can see it in 3 segments on YouTube: Riviera Bay Christmas Boat Parade.

I don’t know if they started a little earlier than usual this year, or some people waited to join the parade until it went by their location, but it seemed like there was about 10 boats at first that went around Sunlit Cove this year, with 1 or 2 boats rushing to catch up with the last boat in line. After the parade went by, Donna and I went up along 90th Ave NE and counted over 20 boats participating.

(One point of discussion this year: suggestions have been made to change the boat parade to the week before Christmas Eve.)

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We had another beautiful, but windy night this year. 6 of my candles were still lit

after 11am Christmas Day. I’d like to thank all the people who distributed candles this year. They are all volunteers and work very hard to continue the RBCA’s longest standing tradi-tion. Thank you very much to Marc & Carrie Plotnick, Nancy Haines, Michelle Joseph and Kirsten, Terri Hammer, Debby & Lance Obst, Matt Spencer, Karen Smith, Kenny Turcotte, Kim Triplette, Sandy Mitchell, Mark & Judy O’Brien, Sean & Lizz Singh, Wayne & Ingrid Busselle, Denise Spornraft & Diane Croft, Mike & Mary Reed, Dave & Bill, Don Steer, Kathy Crow and Randy Frisco, who not only volunteered for a route, he also came in at the last minute and helped Dave and Donna Hoover deliver a route that was missed on the evening before Christmas Eve.

Prez Dave adds: After the boat parade went by, we

rode and walked around the neighborhood and it almost felt spiritual on the streets where we had a lot of par-ticipation/luminaries. A lot of people bought candles, us included, to line any vacant spots along their road. If you didn’t get a chance to ride around and experience this, check it out next year. It’s the bestest.

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLE THANK YOUBy Jean Tyack

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Thank you to all RBCA neighbors who con-tributed to the Joshua House Toy Drive this

year. The toys were delivered Saturday Dec. 21st to appreciative Joshua House staff, ready to be wrapped and put under the Christmas tree waiting for 32 girls and boys to run to. A special thank you to RBCA Marissa Moomaw, Girl Scout troop 570 for collecting toys for JH!

Please remember that we collect for Joshua House all year long and the older teens are al-ways in need of housewares/kitchen utensils and house goods for when they age out of the care of the foster program. For more informa-tion, call 578-9718, or email dobst@verizon.net

Thank you again for charitable giving and have a wonderful 2014!

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn’t zigzag?mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

TOY DRIVEby Debby Obst

Curb Side Recycling

Waste Pro, Inc. is now offering recycling services for residents of St. Petersburg at a cost of $3.75 per

month, paid annually ($45). Residents who sign up will be able to place newspapers, cardboard, metal and aluminum cans, glass and plastic at the curb for weekly recycling. Containers will be supplied by Waste Pro. For information, call Waste Pro at 727-873-0800.

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Donna and I drove around the entire neighborhood the night

of Dec 23rd, and I have to say we have a lot of talented people with tons and tons of Christmas spirit (and big Dec electric bills) living here. We saw truly wonderful dis-plays from a hula dancing, helicop-ter & plane flying, fishing Santa to a 6 ft tall Santa egghead, to a 7 ft

tall Santa dog, to a 20 ft tall Santa, to a team of Huskies pulling Santa around on his sled. We also saw more than a few tall snowmen. After looking all around Riviera Bay that night, we both thought the light dis-play coordinated to holiday music at 209 89thAve N took top honors. You can easily tell that Brenda Padot, Dave Bohnn and Randy Gains put

a lot of time and effort into getting everything just perfect. They even had “snow” blowing. There isn’t enough space to list all the great displays in the neigh-borhood, but we are going to start a new tradition this year and award the winning homeowner, Brenda Padot, a $50 gift certificate for all their hard work putting that togeth-er for all our residents to enjoy. I’ll see if I can get them to pick next year’s winner.

HOLIDAY LIGHTDISPLAYS

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This is not a new scam, but it DOES exist.

Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.

The scam works like this: Per-son calling says - ‘This is (name) and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, your card has been flagged for an un-usual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you pur-chase an Anti-Telemarketing De-vice for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona?’ When you say ‘No’, the caller contin-ues with, ‘Then we will be issuing

a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching, and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address). Is that correct?’ You say ‘yes’. The caller continues - ‘I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1-800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Se-curity. You will need to refer to this Control Number.’ The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. ‘Do you need me to read it again?’ Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works — The caller then says, ‘I need to verify you are in possession

of your card’. He’ll ask you to ‘turn your card over and look for some numbers’. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet pur-chases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the

last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, ‘That is correct, I just needed

to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?’ After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, ‘Don’t hesitate to call back if you do’, and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number.

What the Scammer wants is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don’t give it to them. In-stead, tell them you’ll call VISA or

Master Card directly for verifica-tion of their conversation. The real VISA will NEVER ask for anything on the card, as they already know the information, since they issued the card.

If you want to see Snopes dis-cussion on this: www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp

Credit Card Scam

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EAST-WEST SHRINE GAME - Jan 18. The East-West Shrine Game is the longest running college all-star game in the country and is one of the NFL’s pri-mary sources for eligible players. A fun family event and helps Shriners Hospitals for Children provide state-of-the-art medical care to children in need. Tropicana Field.

SUNSHINE MUSIc AND BlUES FESTIVAl - Jan 19. Line-Up: Tedeschi Trucks Band, Galactic, Leon Russell, Hot Tuna, Stanley Clarke, The Ringers feat. Jimmy Herring, Bobby Lee Rodgers, Oli Brown.Music starts at noon. Vinoy Park.

PINEllAS FOlk FESTIVAl - Jan 25. Doz-ens of Tampa Bay area’s premier folk musicians will be playing traditional folk, gospel and country music throughout Heritage Village. There will be historical demonstrations and activities. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free to children under 12; Donation of $5 per adult requested. Heritage Village, 11909 125th St. N. Largo. Shuttle to event entrance located from free parking on 119th

St. between Ulmerton and Walsingham Roads; handi-capped parking and drop-off located at 12211 Walsing-ham Rd. Heritage Village, Largo.

lARGO TOUcH-A-TRUck - Jan 25 Bring the whole family out from 11am-4pm to climb, honk and play around in every vehicle you can imagine, includ-ing fire trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, buses, and more. Kids of all ages can enjoy inflatables, train rides along Largo Central Railroad, Rocketship Car rides around the block, and a food court in the middle of the park. Largo Central Park, Largo.

For what’s happening in Tampa Bay and beyond, visit www.AccentOnTampaBay.com

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I WIll REMOVE ANYTHING MET-Al YOU HAVE FOR FREE. Appli-ances, old car parts, window frames, any kind of wire, cans, anything metal. Email Prez Dave at daybugme2@yahoo.com or leave message at 727-579-3644.

Member Classified

JOIN RBcA FAcEBOOk!Make sure you lIkE us on

FaceBook!You can see what your neighbors are

up to, post pictures, events, etc. You can find us going to FaceBook and typing in:Riviera Bay civic Association,

Saint Petersburg, Flw Site maintained by Debby Obst

Recently it was reported that a neighbor witnessed a woman walk-ing house to house but not leaving anything. Another neighbor report-ed a delivered package that was opened, but nothing taken since it was a personalized item. A sugges-tion was made to have packages sent to your workplace if possible, or to have a signature required to leave a package.

Please be on the look out for suspicious people in the neighborhood, especially strangers going up to the door and walking away with a package. Get as good a de-scription as possible; clothing, approx height, weight, type of vehicle if any, (tag # if safely possible), and call the Non-emergency telephone number for the St Peters-burg Police Dept: 727-893-7780

Stolen:4 rods and reels were stolen on the night of Dec 30th from the back patio of 9600 block of 2nd St N. Please re-member to remove or secure anything of value from around your home at night, especially if you live on a canal where it allows thieves easy access and escape.

Also car break in on 200 block of 94th Ave. Please lock your cars and lets all keep an eye out for this person who is invading our neighborhood.

If you would like to receive alerts when we hear of any suspicious activity in our neighborhood, please send us your email address to: rbcanews@aol.com...and don’t forget to keep checking out our Facebook page for current notices and events: Riviera Bay Civic Association, Saint Petersburg, Fl

RBCA Neighborhood Security Alert

Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety one?

mmmmmmmmm

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OFFIcERSPRESIDENT: David Hoover ............................. 579-3644 / daybugme2@yahoo.comVIcE PRESIDENT: VacantSEcRETARY: Lori Intravichit ......................................................................576-2903TREASURER: Donna Hoover .............................579-3644 / donna.rbca@yahoo.comcHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDSean Singh .................................570-8458 - seanbsingh@gmail.comBOARD MEMBERS:Pauline Foster ........................................................................576-1468Jenny Healy ...........................................................................576-2765 Dave Kandz ......................................... 642-8567 / dave@rbdigital.bizAndrew Smith ............. 813-453-3407 / andrewacs@tampabay.rr.comMEMBERSHIP: Donna Hoover .............................579-3644 / donna.rbca@yahoo.comNEWSlETTER EDITOR: Missy Martino ............................... 577-5500 / RBCAnews@aol.comNEWSlETTER ADVERTISING:Al Martino ...................................... 577-5500 / RBCAnews@aol.comNEWSlETTER DElIVERY: David Hoover .............................579-3644 / daybugme2@yahoo.comcONA REP: David & Donna Hoover .............579-3644 / daybugme2@yahoo.com

cOMMITTEES83rd AVE/SAN MARTIN BRIDGE: Lance Obst .......................................... 578-9718 - dobst@verizon.netAndrew Smith ................ 813-453-3407 / andrewacs@tapabay.rr.comRoy O’Neil ......................................576-8754 / royoneil@verizon.netGRANTS: Donna & David Hoover ..............579-3644 / donna.rbca@yahoo.comDebby Obst ......................................... 578-9718 - dobst@verizon.netDREDGING:Dave Kandz ......................................... 642-8567 / dave@rbdigital.bizRoy O'Neil ......................................576-8754 / royoneil@verizon.netAndrew Smith ......................... 813-453-3407 / andrewacs@msn.com

ENTERTAINMENT:Pauline Foster .......................................................................576-1468Jenny Healy ..........................................................................576-2765

Donna & David Hoover .............579-3644 / daybugme2@yahoo.comcHRISTMAS EVE lUMINARIES:Jean Tyack, Chairperson ......................................................576-9300 cHRISTMAS EVE BOAT PARADE:Hal Hammer ................................ 576-5257 / hammer8314@aol.com

USEFUl PHONE NUMBERSMAYOR'S AcTION lINE .................................................893-7111(locate any dept and phone number in the city)NON-EMERGENcY POlIcE ..........................................893-7780cOMMUNITY POlIcE SERVIcE SQUAD ..................551-3182(For ongoing problems and response within 24 hours)Mayor Rick kriseman ...................... Mayor@stpete.org / 893-7201District 2 Councilman Jim Kennedy .....................................893-7117council@stpete.orgPublic Service Rep Debbie larson ....................................893-4138deborah.larson@stpete.orgPOlIcE cONFIDENTIAl TIP lINE .............................893-4138ST PETE MARINE PATROl ............................................892-5247Fl STATE MARINE PATROl ................................. 888-404-3922Animal Control ....................................................................582-2600Chamber of Commerce ........................................................821-4069cODES INSPEcTOR: Thaddeus (Thad) Mitchell ............551-3171Codes Compliance ................................................................893-7373Curb, Street, Sidewalk Repair ...............................................551-3151Neighborhood Partnership ....................................................892-5141Public Utilities ......................................................................893-7761Reclaimed Water ...................................................................892-5111Sanitation ..............................................................................893-7398Sewer Repair .........................................................................893-7261Street Light Outage ....................................................... 800-228-8485Street Signs/Traffic Signals ...................................................893-7421Water Resources: ext. 0 ........................................................893-7261Water and Navigation ...........................................................453-3385(Dock permits, report Mangrove cutting, etc.)Weedon Island Preserve ........................................................453-6500

The Riviera Bay Civic Association is not responsible for any dissatisfaction with any work or experiences

with any of our newsletter advertisers.website:www.RBCAnews.com

Membership Renewal InfoWe are your neighborhood civic association and we work for you to maintain and improve your neighborhood. If

you have not joined or renewed your membership in the Riviera Bay Civic Association, please take a moment to fill out this membership form and bring it to the next meeting or send your dues to the address below. Please show your support by sending in at least $10.00. (A larger amount would be appreciated!) One association membership per household includes your spouse and children, to be purchased each calendar year.

I would like to join/rejoin the Riviera Bay Civic Association. Enclosed please find at least $10.00 (more is always appreciated) association dues for our family for January through December.Name: ______________________________________________________________________________________Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Phone: ___________________________________ Email: _____________________________________________Please make checks payable to: Riviera Bay Civic AssociationMail to: Riviera Bay Civic Association, 163 87th Ave. North, St Pete, FL 33702 (727) 579-3644