By B.C. Manion
It’s an annual occurrence that doesn’t happen on a particular day or last a specific amount of time, but it has an undeniable impact on Zephyrhills.
Each year, typically starting near the end of October, thousands of winter residents begin trickling into the city near the eastern edge of Pasco County.
The part-time residents make the trek largely because of the promise of Florida’s sunshine and warmth. They head south to escape the bone-chilling winter they would experience if they remained in such places as New York, Connecticut and Canada.
Once they arrive, the winter residents typically stay for months.
They make their presence known through increased traffic on area roads, longer lines at grocery stores, crowded restaurants and swelling congregations at churches.
Many live in the scores of recreational vehicle and mobile home parks that straddle US 301 and SR 54.
Bob Winters, of Winters Mobile Home Park, said the first influx of residents to Zephyrhills came after the Civil War when soldiers were looking for a place to settle.
The soldiers became farmers, and friends and family from other locales came to visit, eventually leading to seasonal residents.
Madonna Jervis Wise, a local historian, said Zephyrhills has attracted seasonal tourists since its inception.
An early promotional flyer described Zephyrhills as “The colony that made good” and called it “The land of flowers and cool breezes.”
In 1910, the visitors were known as “Tin Can Tourists,” according to an excerpt of a local history book called “Zephyrhills,” written by Wise.
The development of railroad lines and automobiles boosted area tourism, said Winters, whose family has owned the city’s oldest mobile home park since its establishment in 1950.
The number of winter tourists has ebbed and flowed during the years, Winters said, noting, “just prior to the Depression, there was quite the tourist boom.”
Wise also noted another boom time in her book: “The 1950s brought a significant and steady influx of seasonal folks that established an increasingly stronger service industry identity to accommodate the seasonal visitors.”
Among the city’s scores of mobile home parks, Betmar is the largest.
Folks living at Betmar, which opened in 1966, hail from such northern places as Michigan, Maine and Massachusetts. Some show their loyalty to their native state by posting license plates beneath their mailboxes outside their homes or displaying decorations, such as a lighthouse or a plaque.
Audrey Acciard and Marian Head, who work in Betmar’s office, said people who move to Betmar offer lots of reasons.
Many have heard about it from word of mouth or have been there to visit friends or relatives.
Acciard said her neighbor chose to move to Zephyrhills after studying weather maps and surmising that the area was least likely to be hit by a hurricane.
Acciard and Head said Betmar is well managed and offers a broad array of activities for its residents that range from shuffleboard to square dancing, golf to card games, Bible study to bingo, coffee hour to computer class.
Besides being entertained by activities, the residents also enjoy the friendships they form, the ladies said.
Throughout Zephyrhills, businesses and organizations feel the impacts of the city’s winter residents.
More items are checked out of the two local libraries serving Zephyrhills, said Pasco County libraries’ administrator Nancy Fredericks. Last year, 30,356 items were checked out in February, noticeably higher than the 26,266 items in April after winter residents have gone home.
The congregation at First United Methodist Church of Zephyrhills grows by roughly 50 percent when winter residents are in town, said the Rev. Ken Minton, the church’s pastor.
During the dead of summer, he estimates attendance ranges from 375 to 425. At the height of the winter season, though, it ranges from about 725 to 800.
Leading a seasonal church was an adjustment, Minton said.
During winter months, more people receive communion. There are also church ministries that operate only when winter residents are there, Minton said.
There are special activities related to the winter residents, Minton said.
“We do a lot of picnics for the different states,” he said. The Michigan folks, for instance, have a big going-away picnic each year.
Minton said having a congregation that comes from so many places has been a blessing, too: “We are strengthened by the energy and all of the ideas.”
