Senate Bill 2740

    Florida Senate - 1999        (NP)                      SR 2740

    By Senators Lee, Hargrett, Grant and Sebesta





    23-2226-99

  1                    Senate Resolution No.     

  2         A resolution honoring Roland Manteiga and

  3         recognizing September 25, 1999, as "Roland

  4         Manteiga Day."

  5

  6         WHEREAS, Roland Marcelo Manteiga was born January 16,

  7  1920, in Tampa, Florida, and

  8         WHEREAS, Roland's father, Victoriano Manteiga,

  9  emigrated from Cuba in 1913 and began publishing a daily

10  Spanish-language newspaper, La Gaceta, in Tampa in 1922, and

11         WHEREAS, young Roland learned journalism and publishing

12  from the ground up, beginning by delivering La Gaceta on his

13  bicycle, and later by mastering advertising, circulation,

14  writing, and editing while in his teens, and

15         WHEREAS, Roland Manteiga took a more active role in La

16  Gaceta after serving in the Pacific Theater during World War

17  II, and

18         WHEREAS, La Gaceta became a weekly publication in 1953

19  and added Italian-language features in addition to its Spanish

20  and English, making it the only such trilingual newspaper in

21  the United States, and

22         WHEREAS, Roland Manteiga was committed to his political

23  ideology, often opinionated, but never dull, and his column of

24  political commentary and speculation "As We Heard It" was

25  required reading for Tampa Bay-area politicians and

26  journalists for over 44 years, and

27         WHEREAS, Roland Manteiga, a champion of the underdog

28  and a secret benefactor to people in need, was a modest man,

29  honored many times for his civic and journalistic

30  accomplishments, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999        (NP)                      SR 2740
    23-2226-99




  1         WHEREAS, Roland Manteiga loved Ybor City and has been

  2  recognized by community leaders as a gentleman devoted to his

  3  community, who sought to make a difference by reporting its

  4  history and celebrating its people, making them come alive for

  5  posterity, and

  6         WHEREAS, although Roland Manteiga departed this life

  7  September 25, 1998, at the age of 78, his spirit lives on in

  8  Ybor City, and his legacy shall live on in the community he

  9  loved so much, and

10         WHEREAS, Roland Manteiga, pioneer journalist and

11  editor, historian and chronicler of the rich traditions of

12  Ybor City, a voice of conscience in the community, and a true

13  friend to the powerful and the powerless alike, was a man who

14  exemplified the virtues of hard work, insightful reporting,

15  dedication to his community, modesty, and humanitarianism, and

16         WHEREAS, for over 40 years, Roland Manteiga served as

17  owner and publisher of La Gaceta, a newspaper of unique

18  significance in our nation, which portrays the multicultural

19  diversity and spirit of our state and, through expressive and

20  informative writing, draws together into one community people

21  of many various backgrounds, NOW, THEREFORE,

22

23  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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25         That the Florida Senate pauses in its deliberations to

26  pay honor to the memory of Roland Manteiga and to recognize

27  Saturday, September 25, 1999, as "Roland Manteiga Day" in

28  Hillsborough County, Florida.

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