PAGE 4 August 6, 2008
The Newscaster/Nature Coast News
The Inverness Twins
Real Estate Today
By Newscaster Correspondent Mike Moore
A Guest Commentary by Darryl Diamond
“A Four Bat Night”
As a vegetarian, you’ll be really sorry if you walk in to George’s Sports Bar in
cies here in Florida. If you get them in your
Vicki and I live on a small pond with
Inverness, Scotland and ask Debbie the waitress the simple question “what’s this on the
attic you will be have to hire a special com-
a canal connection to Lake Rousseau. Being
menu called “Haggis”? She’ll tell you in a thick Scottish brogue, “oh, aye, ‘tis chopped up
pany to "Exclude" them from
situated at the end of the pond gives us a
lamb inners stooffed in ‘is stomach, then sewn up, smoked, ‘an threwn ‘an a plate.” At
George’s Inverness, Scotland sports bar, Haggis is a best seller. There’s plenty of raw material
your home.
view down the whole length. Every night at
around for George’s Haggis too; Inverness and Scotland in general seems to be home to
For some more "fun
dusk the bats start flying over the pond,
people and sheep in a ratio of about 100 to 1.
facts" on bats you can try
through our back yard, then back to the pond.
Scotland’s Inverness is Inverness, Florida’s twin city across the Atlantic. They claim
www.flybynightinc.com, or you
It is Sunday night with what appears
on their website that Inverness is possibly “Europe’s cleanest and greenest city”. The cleanest
can find info on almost any
to be four bats flying. Of course they fly back
city claim is dubious, but green lush pastures are all around. Excepting the Haggis, there is an
Florida resident animal at
and forth so fast, you never know for sure. I
uncanny similarity between the two towns; they truly are twinned cities. In the front room of
www.myfwc,com/critters.
want to communicate to them my thanks for
The Town House (city hall) on the corner of High and Church Streets, a Gothic Victorian
If you wish to buy a home on Lake
eating most of the mosquitoes from my back
styled structure built in 1882, Public Relations Officer Gordon Fyfe is officially speaking about
Rousseau, two fantastic homes just came up
yard every night.
the town and outlying areas.
for sale on this very special pond at the low-
To watch them having dinner in their
The name ‘Inverness’ describes the city that lies at the ‘mouth’ of the river Ness. The
est prices in years. If you have any interest in
"flight of fancy" is truly awesome. They can
river Ness flows east from the Lake or ‘Loch’ Ness (of considerable fame) through the Muray
a waterfront home (with very few bugs) in a
change direction several times a second, uti-
Firth and out to the North Sea. Mr. Fyfe says “Ness” was probably a family’s name, but the
great neighborhood, have your agent call me
lizing "echo location" which allows them to
actual date when people first inhabited the Inverness area is unclear, probably sometime
for a showing, If you do not have an agent
control every move flawlessly. Echo location
before the fifth century. The first documented charter dates from the 1200’s. In Scottish Gaelic,
just call for an exclusive preview. However, if
starts with the bat emitting short pulses of
Inverness is spelled Inbhir Nis.
you just want to come over to view a true
ultra sound through its mouth, and complex
The story from the Citrus County Historical Society is that in the late 1870s, a lonely
miracle of nature, give me a call anyway. I'd
nose.
Scotsman, far from home, gazed upon the crystal clear waters of the Tsala Apopka lake chain
love to have you over to watch the only fly-
This sound emulates outward then
and over his shoulder at the highlands and claimed the spot “as beautiful as home”, and it
bounces back to the bats ears. After inter-
ing mammal. Diamond Investments Inc.
shall be called “Inverness”. Like Citrus County’s seat, Inverness, Scotland is the capital and
Darryl, Vicki, and Shirley are your "The Dia-
preting these sound echoes the bats can find
administration city of “The Highland Council”, a ten thousand square mile area that includes
mond Team" We are seasoned professionals
prey and avoid obstacles. Each bat can eat
the Isle of Skye. The Scottish Highlands are mountains and elevated plains in the 800-2400ft
that are available for your real estate needs 7
up to 3,000 insects a night. I love these guys,
range, a little higher and steeper than the sand dune hills in Citrus County. Both Highlands
days a week. If you are a buyer, or know a
and it is true, Lake Rousseau has very few
look down on waterfront Inverness towns. Mr. Fyfe scoffs at the idea the Inverness, Scotland
buyer we want the opportunity to serve them.
flying bugs, very few no see ums, and very
is “possibly the cleanest and greenest’ city in Europe. ‘An outrageous claim’”, he says. But
Please call us at 352-447-4442. I'll see you
few mosquitoes most of the time. It is illegal
the Highlands Council does promote ‘green’ as in providing green public spaces. Called the “
around "The Campus"
to kill or harm any of the 13 resident bat spe-
Greenspace Strategy and Action Plan” of 2008-09 the city is dedicated to keeping the city “a
Yankeetown Coucilman Resigns
place to play.”
Traveling across Ireland and the UK, it is painfully obvious is the importance of
During the July 21, 08 Yankeetown Town Council meeting Councilman Ed Candela
greenspace planning in cities that are 500 years or older. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland,
was apparently out of sorts with the other members present. The first item of disagreement
for example, has been building on top of itself since medieval times, with the resulting urban
was the hiring of Chris Fineout as Zoning Official. Candela argued that the salary increase was
sprawl having virtually no greenspace and laced with voids and wasted space labyrinths.
too much and the town would be paying Fineout five dollars more an hour than the zoning
Equally ancient, Inverness’s urban sprawl is checked by the sea on one side and The High-
official in Inglis. After much discussion, Fineout was hired by a three to one vote of the
lands on the other; attention to planning for the growing city is taken seriously by the local
council. Candela was the only one who opposed Fineout’s hiring.
planning commission and the town supervisors. Especially critical is planning for the down-
Later, Candela presented a draft regarding routine maintenance of town rights of
town area that is subject to flooding by overflow from Loch Ness. Despite flood controlling
way. He noted that residents should be able to voice their opinions about maintenance since
with a lock and dam system, the downtown area was substantially flooded in 2006. “Our
the property does belong to the residents of Yankeetown. One councilman used the term,
plans’, says Mr. Fyfe, ‘are to make Inverness safe for our citizens”. Although the topography
“micromanaging” another questioned the need for the policy at all since the Mayor super-
bears resemblance, life in the two towns is very different. As the “administration centre” for
vises employees. Councilwoman Drew questioned if it was really necessary to have a special
The Highlands, Inverness’s workforce is devoted to civil service with between 17-30 percent
meeting to remove a one inch tree from the right of way since this is usually routine mainte-
of the population engaged in administration related employment.
nance. Candela’s response to her inquiry was, “do you know any tree that didn’t start at one
The largest private industry employer in the area is a former subsidiary of Johnson
inch?” After many questions and comments the last being from the Mayor, Candela became
and Johnson and produces diabetic monitoring strips. The balance of jobs is service and light
agitated and withdrew his motion with a resounding, “Screw it, I’m done”. “I rescind the
manufacturing industries.
policy”. When contacted by The Newscaster Candela declined comment. See Yankeetown
Inverness and Inverness; The Highlands have the Loch Ness “monster”, Citrus
mayor's report, page 11.
County has the “Cooter”; The Highlands has “Haggis and tatties” Citrus County has “Bacon
and grits”; there, “peat” here, “sand” Scotland: “sheep” Florida: “retirees”. Around town, if
you ask, you’ll hear over and over that folks dream about visiting the U.S. and are interested
Served Daily
in Inverness, Florida much the same way local folks are interested in Scotland.
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Life is the same all over really; administrative jobs or retired life goes on in each its
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own way. There is one huge difference between the two cities however; a difference so big it
almost goes without saying; a difference that brings a wistful look into the eyes of the many
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people of Scotland who talked about it; Inverness, Florida is WARM, all the time. With bright
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Inverness, Scotland. Inverness, Scotland is a beautiful place in summer, some of the time, and
a great place to visit but bring a sweater, or better yet buy one locally; Inverness may be
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