Retired land use & zoning attorney Ron Weaver (with mic in above photo), formerly with the Tampa-based firm of Stearns Weaver Miller, was the featured speaker at the Aug. 5 North Tampa Bay Chamber Business Breakfast held at Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch. 

Weaver, showed off his encyclopedic knowledge of how both Hillsborough and Pasco counties developed. He began his presentation with an attention-grabbing look at some of the famous Tampa Bay-area “nudists,” because, he said, “Since 1941, we have been the nudist capital of the world.” He mentioned actress Lauren Hutton, actor Channing Tatum and pro wrestler/ actor John Cena, all of whom have done nude scenes on film, as among our area’s nudists. 

Weaver also talked about how both Hillsborough and Pasco counties were named for British citizens. Wills Hill, the 1st Earl of (or “Lord”) Hillsborough, who was the Secretary of State for the Colonies prior to the American Revolution, which Weaver said Lord Hillsborough caused by ignoring the protests of the Colonists. 

More than 100 years later, Samuel Pasco, who also was born in London but attended Harvard University across the pond, was recruited to help expand education opportunities in north Florida and ended up having a county spun off from Hernando County named for him after he served as Florida’s Speaker of the House. — GN 

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