Pictured from left: (me) Matthew S. Lindsay, Chris (Christian) V. Schmidt, (my mother) Wilma Schmidt, (two of my sisters), Naomi R. Lindsay (on our mother's knee) and Tammy E. Lindsay. This was at our home in Bradenton, Florida at 5604 43rd St. E. (Gateway East). Dated: July 1969
You reached this page to know me a little bit more! Hopefully you won't be disappointed.
I moved to Bradenton, (Manatee Co.), Florida, from Miami, (Dade Co.), Florida when I was 8 years old in the summer of 1969. When my sisters and I first came here we lived in Gateway East off of S.R. 70. We came here to live with my mother, Wilma and step-father, Chris Schmidt, who was a Florida Marine Patrolman.
My sister's, Tammy, Naomi and myself attended Gateway
Baptist Church not far from where we lived. Our Pastor was Rev. Jack Shy. He was
great pastor!! We also went to school at Oneco Elementary, until our new home
was completed in West Bradenton. It was finished in 1971, in a sub-division that
was fairly new, called Cape Vista. We were then students at Robert H. Prine
Elementary School which used to be located in Windsor Park which is no longer
known as Windsor Park. I also attended Bradenton Elementary which was strictly a
6th grade school back in 1972. Bradenton Middle (aka as 1st Street) was next
door to our school. Bradenton Middle was for the 7th and 8th graders. These two
schools no longer exist. The buildings remain and are used for the Police
Athletic League. When I started 7th grade, it was at Bayshore Middle School
which became a high school the following year. I went to Bayshore Middle School
in part of the 8th grade until our new school, W. D. Sugg Middle School was
opened immediately after Christmas vacation. We were going split sessions at
Bayshore Middle/High School until the school was opened in January, 1974. My
classmates and I were the first students to attend W. D. Sugg Middle School. Now
the school is 31 years old.
I went to Manatee High School for part of my Freshmen year. I moved to West Palm Beach to go live with my real father, Jessie Lindsay, Jr., his wife Lydia and their two children, Becky and Jon. While I was in West Palm Beach I attended Forrest Hills High School for 3 months.
I came back to Bradenton just before Christmas. My
Mother, Wilma and Chris decided to sell our home in Cape Vista to Jerry Camp.
Jerry had plans to turn our home into a Day Care Center which he did. It became
known as Cape Vista Day Care Center but is now known as Bundles which is owned
by different owners. The house was located next door to Moody Elementary. At the
time we were living there, Chris Schmidt had been working working for the
Bradenton Police Department as a patrolman. He left the PD to find a new start
doing something else.
My mother saw a license plate on a vehicle that was from Arkansas and the slogan on the plate read "Land Of Opportunity". Wilma said, "that's where I want to go", so we moved to Ozone, Arkansas. It was February, 1976 and we bought 3.5 acres of land in the Ozark National Forest. I'd never seen snow until the year we moved there, but only in the trees. We went to Russellville, AR to see Magazine Mountain which is the highest elevation in the State at 2,753'. There was no snow on the ground but it clung to the branches of the trees.
The spring came and everything turned so green. We
worked on the land clearing out the land. Some of the property had been used as
a dump. We had a creek that ran through the property that had had a car that was
junked right in the middle of it. I took the car apart piece by piece and buried
it. There were also refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, mattresses, box
springs, cans and jars which were among some of the items that were dumped. I
got rid of the trash by digging monstrous holes with a shovel and burying it
under ground. We left beautiful Cedar, Sweet gum, Maple and Pine trees but
cleared out the rock and junk shrubs. Grass began to grow and fill in all along
the property to where it began to look like a park. It was hard to believe how
beautiful it became.
While I lived in Arkansas I attended Lamar High School which was 24 miles from our home. We saw the leaves change which was another beautiful site. We had our first snow of the season toward the end of October in 1976. We'd been at school that day but no snow was seen until on the way home. Our school bus was going up the mountain road when I noticed a few snowflakes falling. They were so neat to see fall. It was the first time we'd ever seen snow fall. The higher we got up the mountain and closer to home the heavier the snow was. It had covered all the ground very heavily. I tried to make a snowball and throw it at my sisters as soon as we got off the bus, but it never made it to them. It was so light. The snowball had no weight to it. I found out that the snow is called a dry snow so you had to really pack it to get any distance out of it. It seemed to snow every Sunday night. We'd wake up Monday morning to a fresh blanket of snow. I'd walk up to the bus stop waiting for the bus and the bus wouldn't show. The other children wouldn't show either. I learned to listen to the radio before leaving home to go wait for the school bus. I lived in Johnson County and it would be announced that due to the snow school would be closed. The first day of deer season was an optional school day. The boys were allowed to stay home to go hunting. We had had enough of the snow so we sold our property before the end of the winter. We were all given a chance to vote so we voted to come back to Florida.
Instead of coming back to Bradenton we moved to
Hollywood, (Broward Co.), Florida where we bought a brand new duplex. I went to
Hollywood Hills High School for part of my Sophomore year until the summer. I
left home when I was 16 years old to come back to Bradenton. I had a friend
named Mason Heflin that had been my best friend since we were in the 6th grade.
His father, Dudley Heflin let me stay with them as long as I worked and went to
school. He was the Agriculture teacher at Southeast High School. While I stayed
with Mason, his twin-sister Minianne and their father Dudley, I'd gone to
Bayshore High School and Palmetto High School.
I joined the United States Navy in 1977 and left for boot camp the day after Thanksgiving from the AFEES station in Coral Gables, FL. I embarked on an AMTRAK train ride to Orlando, FL. where I'd begin 8 weeks of military training. My Training Unit was designated #056 and graduation day was on Jan. 20, 1978. Our Company Commander's were Senior Chief Petty Officer Andress and Chief Petty Officer Zetterholm. I've been looking for some of my old Navy buddies. I was then sent to San Diego, CA. for my "A" School where I went through Mess Specialist courses and then graduated on Apr. 7, 1978. I was Honorably Discharged in San Diego, CA. on Aug. 9, 1978 and my certificate was signed by Lt. Junior grade, Patricia May.
MATTHEW WORKS AT AIR & ENERGY.
7 of our employees have been with us between 10 and 20 years.
l-r: Dale Smallwood, Steven Hatfield, Bonnie Wilson, Amy Wallace, Brooks
Griffin, Matthew Lindsay, (not pictured) Terry Wagner.
I've been working in the air conditioning-refrigeration trade since 1983 and
for the most part it's been very rewarding. I've been employed with a great
company called Air & Energy Inc. since 1993.
The company is mostly known for their quality, honesty, reliability and fairness
to their customers and to their employees.
Air & Energy Inc. was been named/voted the #1 Air Conditioning Company in
Manatee County from the readers of "The Bradenton Herald" for 8 consecutive years in a row.
Thanks so much!!
1977 - Matthew Lindsay & Arlene Larsson -
Just Before We Left For Hollywood
Hills High Schools Band Banquet.
April 6th, 2002 at Temple Beth El - Bradenton,
Florida.
On Our Wedding Day.
