`Old Florida` in Ruskin

"-,6,Ê 7-ÊUÊ,6,67Ê
1,, /ÊUÊ-
Ê"-,6,s
JUNE 14, 2012
3
‘Old Florida’ in Ruskin
! œ˜Ìˆ˜Õi`ÊvÀœ“Ê«>}iÊ£
Gus’ Adventures” a few years
ago. In between harvesting the
prized seafood from his 300 or
so traps and selling the catch in
bulk, Muench would take a half
dozen guests at a time out on one
of his crab boats to share his river,
his environmental philosophy,
his understanding of the sea life
and avian life so long a part of his
world, while pulling a few traps.
In time, he created a website.
Strangers with a taste for the
different sometimes booked crabby
tours and even high profile folks
like Gov. Bob Martinez, another
Tampa native, would drop by to
appreciate the neat and peaceful
Muench home site on the Little
Manatee’s south shore.
That’s how Esther Winter, a
Swiss journalist, along with her
German videographer, George
Dender, and sound technician,
Marcel Kohn, found their way
from Tampa, down U.S. 41 along
Tampa Bay’s eastern side, through
Ruskin, to the river. “We wanted
‘Old Florida’,” she said in her
accented English Sunday afternoon
(June 3), trying her first crispyon-the-outside, soft- on-the-inside
hush puppy as a soft southern voice
drawled an answer to the inevitable
question.
Comfortable in cut-offs and
sneakers, the blonde Winter sat in
dappled sunlight at a Muench-made
picnic table beside his cook shack
and explained the crew was filming
for a new travel documentary titled
“The HolidayChecker” designed
for Swiss and German travelers.
The film also may be shown on
Edelweiss Air flights, she added,
one of which recently became a
regular at Tampa International
Airport.
Zeroing in on destinations
anywhere in the world, the travel
program’s presenters “check
out” the best activities, the best
accommodations, the hottest
attractions, paving the way for
travelers in the audience eager
to arrange a memorable holiday,
Winter said. She had stumbled
across Crabby Gus while
researching aspects of the Tampa
Bay area, she added. What she
read promised to demonstrate “Old
Florida” as they imagined it.
And they were not disappointed.
The crew spent several hours on
the river — after all a designated
“Outstanding Florida Waterway”
— filming close up the crabbing
process and from a distance the
crab boat plying smooth waters
between small islands. They ate
with enthusiasm what had been
harvested and cooked without
preservatives or freezing or delay.
Satiated, they settled on the
wide Muench dock to record an
unhurried interview with a river
man now in his mid-70s who began
cast netting and crabbing as a child,
with his dad as guide.
They left late in the day, headed
to Tampa to complete a week’s
worth of filming, capturing other
types of attractions in the area,
including Busch Gardens. They
were still getting used to air
conditioning, in their hotel rooms
and in restaurants, they said;
something that is not particularly
popular in their native habitats.
And the distances that Americans
take in stride amazed them, they
noted, because in their Europe,
walking and bicycling trumps the
automobile. But, they agreed, they
gladly will come back at the first
opportunity.
MELODY JAMESON PHOTOS
With the aplomb of a Florida Cracker who knows his business, Gus
Muench (right) was interviewed at length on camera by journalist
Esther Winter (seated center) for a new Swiss television travelogue.
George Dender (left) recorded the video. The Swiss film crew was in
the Tampa area to obtain footage on several subjects including “Old
Florida” for a European audience interested in unusual experiences
highlighting their travel holidays.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Magazine
piece featuring Crabby Gus and the
river and Ruskin and the Tampa
Bay area is due out in August, just
in time for conventioneers aboard
incoming Southwest flights to
get a taste of what’s cool as they
encounter sub-tropical August
humidity.
And Muench is pondering how to
host not a half dozen, but perhaps
visitors by the dozens, all after a
new experience, something that can
be described to brother Kiwanian in
Minneapolis or fellow councilmen
in Cleveland or PTA mothers in
Kansas City. The website that
normally gets 40 to 50 hits a day,
Muench said this week, has been
racking up five times that number.
Then, just to keep things
interesting, producers in
Hollywood — California, that
is — currently have underway
not one, but two feature length
films on the life and relationships
of John Ruskin, according to
internet reports. The English social
critic, outspoken writer, dabbling
artist and namesake of the local
community he never saw managed,
it seems, to generate a sensual
tale with a totally and wholly
non-sensual marriage. Producers
are promising that the rebellious
woman in question – Effie Gray —
and Ruskin will become household
names. The film releases are slated
for later this year.
So, when traffic on U.S. 41
begins to pick up...
Copyright 2012 Melody Jameson
Swiss television film makers
mixed duty with pleasure recently when they spent a day experiencing and recording events
of “Crabby Gus! Adventures,” a
sideline created by Gus Muench.
Marcel Kohn (standing) handled
the sound boom as George
Dender (seated) captured hours
of video.
=8:KFIP9LPFLK
J8C<
Jg\Z`Xc=`eXeZ`e^8mX`cXYc\
›-&*+#&)($$&++"&'$'!0
EfnXmX`cXYc\n`k_
›)'/$,*#'&*))&+0
!#&*+$$ ''-)!*+#&*1
›,+*+&#&!,)#$#+0&
$'&!.)() ')%&
›'#$)*#*+&
›'$')$#!"+ *+&**
J\\jkfi\]fi[\kX`cj%
',$$$'-+"*&.)(+*
I\j`jkXek%
JXm`e^j%
JkfgYpXe[j\\k_\e\n\jk`eHunterDouglas
n`e[fn]Xj_`fej%:\c\YiXk`fef]C`^_kefn`e]lcc
jn`e^I\YXk\jlgkf(''g\in`e[fn
!
#!20%4\(!2$7//$\6).9,\4),%\,!-).!4%\",).$3\3(544%23\7%2%0!)2",).$3
DOVE INTERIORS CARPET ONE
#OLLEGE!VE%s2USKIN&, (1 mile west of I-75 Exit 240-B) 813-645-8660
www.doveinteriorscarpetone.com
We are the oldest family-owned window treatment/flooring store in SouthShore
®
STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. • Sat. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. • Closed Sunday • Evenings by appointment
8kgXik`Z`gXk`e^jkfi\jfecp#efkXccgif[lZkjXkXcccfZXk`fej%G_fkfj]fi`ccljkiXk`m\gligfj\jfecp%Efki\jgfej`Yc\]fikpgf^iXg_`ZXc\iifij%F]]\ijZXeefkY\ZfdY`e\[n`k_fk_\i[`jZflekjfigifdfk`feXcf]]\ijXe[Xi\efkmXc`[fegi\m`fljgliZ_Xj\j%
–J\\XZklXcnXiiXekpXkjkfi\]fi[\kX`cj%Ÿ:Xig\kFe\=cffi?fd\ž%!JlYa\ZkkfZi\[`kXggifmXc%J\\jkfi\]fi[\kX`cj%