They Live Among Us Irv and Ethel Tautkus Imagine bicycling around the entire circumference of our planet. One of us here in Pine Island Cove has done the equivalent of that, riding over 25,000 miles. Irv Tautkus is on his third bike now and he just keeps pedaling and pedaling, sort of like the energizer bunny. Irv brought his old 2 wheeler down here from Connecticut years ago. He put several thousand miles on it. Then, about 10 years ago, he acquired first three-wheeler. It had over 16,000 miles when he got rid of it in October, 2016. He has 7000 miles on his new threewheeler. Typically, he does three miles on every outing, riding on every street in the Cove. Irv averages about six miles per hour on his circuits of the park. If there was a nice smooth road around the equator, circling the globe, those 25,000 miles would have taken him a full two 1
years, riding for 40 hours every week, with no time off for vacations. He starts about 5:00 to 5:30 am after reading the paper. He goes out again about 7:45 am. Irv goes out again in the afternoon. He usually makes his circuit of the Cove at least four times per day, covering 12 miles. He used to do 20 miles per day, but when one is 87 years old it doesn t hurt to take it a little easier. The dogs in the park all love Irv because he carries with him a good supply of treats. Thanks to Irv, our dog Spunky learned that three wheeled bikes were a reliable source of treats. He always stopped and waited for his treat when he saw a tricycle. He seemed confused when three-wheelers went on by without giving him anything. Dogs know who their friends are. He eventually learned not all three wheelers carried Irv. When one has ridden the equivalent to the circumference of the planet one would expect to have some adventures along the way. Irv remembers one morning, before light, when he came across a full sized alligator laying in the 2
middle of the road on Cobiac. The alligator paid him no attention and was not aggressive. He has also encountered coyotes, which were always anxious to get away from his three-wheeled contraption. He has seen plenty of the usual Pine Island Cove birds, such as egrets, ibis, and night herons. In addition to the exercise Irv gets from his riding, almost every day he does 1/2 hour exercise at the pool. Born in Connecticut, Ethel and Irv met in high school, about 70 years ago. After dating for five years they married, and have been married for 65 years in May, 2019. Oil painting by Irv. Irv worked in a manufacturing plant for two years before getting a part-time job with the Post Office. After two years as a substitute he became a clerk working in the money order room. He worked there for the next 15 years. Then he managed to get a transfer to Vernon, Connecticut, to a small post office where he was the only employee. He was there for another 15 years, retiring in October 1987. Ethel graduated from high school in 1953. She then went to work at Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance, as secretary to one of the underwriters in Hartford until 1956. 3
Ethel shows her Christmas quilt Around 1987 Irv and Ethel attended a retirement seminar. The man giving the seminar told the folks about a small community located in southwest Florida, where the weather was always a pleasant 80 degrees or so, and was the closest thing to paradise one could find on earth. It was located on a place called Pine Island, out in the country a little north of a beautiful little town called St. James City. It turns out the people giving the seminar were owners of a new development named Pinewood Cove, which would later merge with Pine Island Cove. The developers would give each couple $50 and a place to stay in the park if they came down for a look. As part of the sales pitch couples were taken out to dinner and taken for a boat ride on Pine Island Sound. They would sell you a lot or lease one to you. Irv and Ethel decided to buy and had a manufactured home built on their lot. There was almost nothing standing on Cobiac at 4
that time, just a few homes on the cul-de-sac. There were several model homes on Drum. Irv worked for an additional four years after coming down to Florida. He had the rather unique job of delivering nuclear medicine to hospitals. Radioactive substances used in research, diagnosis, and treatment are widely used for medical purposes these days. Ethel started a quilt group here in 1988. Of the six original members only two are left, in addition to her. Ethel is in charge of the Nimble Thimbles Quilters and Needlework Club. They meet every Monday from 10 am to 3 pm. There are now 32 members. Ethel does it all, knitting, crocheting, quilting, and Swedish weaving. Many of the ladies here in the park know about knitting, crocheting and quilting, but Swedish weaving is less widely known. Ethel and Swedish weaving. Swedish weaving is a simple technique that can be used to embellish plain white linens like towels, table runners, or pillow cases. This type of weaving is worked completely on the top of the fabric so the thread never appears on the back. This distinguishes it from other similar weaving styles. The technique has been found in linens dating back to the 1600 s. Sweden may have gotten the credit because many of the surviving linens and clothes came from there. Swedish weaving was at its height of popularity in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States. 5
Ethel and Irv like to play dominoes. Their favorite card game is called Hand & Foot. It is a game related to Canasta. They usually play with four friends from the park. At one time Irv had a very large garden behind their home on Catfish. It included cabbage, tomatoes, and 50 pineapples, which are mostly all gone now. Ethel and Irv used to feed the egrets at their home until one of them followed Irv into his kitchen one day. He managed to lure it outside with no damage to him or the bird. They have a small pond that used to contain goldfish until the egrets ate them all. For many years while living in Connecticut, Ethel and Irv were foster parents for the state of Connecticut. Over the years they provided a home for 21 children, usually for just a couple months at a time. They would be given the babies directly from the hospital from which the children were born and would care for them until they were adopted. One time they had a baby for five months when Social Services forgot where it was.they had one child, Wendy, who was 15-20 months old when she first arrived. She was cared for by Ethel and Irv for 17 years. Her mother never gave her up for adoption. 6
If all of that was not enough, Ethel also took care of her own two children. In addition, Ethel took care of some of the neighbor kids. Ethel and Irv have two grown children, Keith and Teena. They have five grandkids. Their son, Keith, teaches high school. Teena manages five medical clinics. Their home in Connecticut had a large yard and they raised chickens, ducks, turkeys, and pigs. They had a very large garden. Every year Ethel would can about 100 quarts of tomatoes, lots of corn, string beans, squash, apple sauce, peaches, and pears. Quiet, hard working, New England stock, Ethel and Irv Tautkus are good folks, they have made their mark here, and they live among us. Steve Russell 7