Oldsmar’s longstanding partnership with neighboring city Safety Harbor includes the annual Mayor’s Breakfast as well as officials’ participation in the traditional Safety Harbor Holiday Parade.
Oldsmar has enjoyed a longstanding partnership with its neighboring city Safety Harbor, dating back to collaborations between then mayor Jim Ronecker and current Safety Harbor Mayor Andy Steingold that include participation in the annual Mayor’s Breakfast as well as their joint efforts to help clean up Old Tampa Bay.
In addition to those partnerships, officials from the sister cities have also extended invitations to various
events and functions in each other’s towns, such as Oldsmar’s annual Oldsmar Days festival parade and Safety Harbor’s annual Holiday Parade.
That tradition continued this year, as Oldsmar Mayor Doug Bevis and City Council member Dan Saracki rode in the Safety Harbor Holiday Parade on Saturday, further strengthening the bonds between the two communities that sit at the top of bay.
“Jim and I worked on the muck study, along with Clearwater, and the relationship between the cities stemmed from that,” Mayor Steingold said after this year’s parade.
“I’ve always had good relationships with the opposing mayors, Jim and Jerry (Beverland) and Doug, and our city manager (Matt Spoor) has a good working relationship with theirs (Bruce Haddock),” he added.
“Oldsmar has always been a very good neighbor.”
Prior to the parade, which typically lasts two hours as dozens of vehicles, performers and organizations stream down Main Street, Bevis and Saracki spoke about participating in the event.
“I’ve been doing this since I was elected in 2013, and I think it’s pretty neat,” Bevis said as he climbed into his eye-catching three-wheeled motorcycle. “Plus I get to drive these cool cars!”
“We’re sister cities, and we try to come together as a community,” Saracki added. “It’s pretty cool.”
Here’s a look at some of the many colorful sights from the 2016 Safety Harbor Holiday Parade:
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