On August 16, 1986, the Zephyrhills C.I. Jaycee
chapter sponsored the Jerry Lewis M.D.A. Walkathon, as we did every year. Over
200 prisoners and close to 100 outside “free people” participated in the prison
walkathon, from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Two very determined and athletic prisoners
logged 51 and 54 miles, walking and jogging. As part of my contribution, I
provided cases of Gatorade for the walkers, as documented in the above photo.
The sign says, “Florida (Gator) Aid Station,
Guaranteed to get you another 10 MILES.”
Times have changed. That’s me with the cap and
sunglasses, no shirt, with my arm around the guard, who is holding up his
fingers behind my head. If officials saw such a photo taken today, the guard
would be fired, and I would be locked up and transferred. Officer/prisoner
relations were much more relaxed in those days, with mutual respect. When we
formed the first prison chapter, #195, of the Vietnam Veterans of America
(VVA), in 1985, over a dozen correctional officers signed up and attended the
meetings. That would never happen today, either.
Women and children participated in the Walkathon
that year, and the Zephyrhills Jaycees proudly presented $3,000 in pledges to
the M.D.A.
My friend, Mike Riding, worked with me on various
projects over the years. Here we are in front of a “rock garden,” a large rock
with a variety of flowers and plants growing in niches in the rock, surrounded
by two rows of coleus, all rooted from cuttings from two plants.
After we left, other prisoners kept the flower
gardens growing until a new warden took over, who didn’t like or believe in the
beneficial effects of flowers and horticulture, and ordered all the flower
gardens pulled up and destroyed. So much for “enlightened corrections.”
In January, 1987, a few months before my transfer
to DeSoto C.I., four friends posed in front of a palm tree beside the
double-wide trailer that served as the Z.C.I. chapel. Rusty York, in the blue
shirt, was released from prison shortly thereafter.
That’s me in an undated photo in my office in
Graphic Arts, where I worked in many art and printing projects for the state,
including “Save The Manatee” posters
and business cards for then-governor, Bob Graham.
Charles Patrick Norman
November 20, 2014
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