It certainly doesn’t seem that long ago, but on September 1st , Colorful Clearwater turns 1 year old!
Although the first post, Clearwater Celebrates America, was actually written in July, the public announcement wasn’t made until September 2019.
Since that time, Colorful Clearwater achieved ranking of #22 in the Top 40 Blogs to Follow in Florida and #16 in the Top 30 Blogs to Follow in Tampa Bay by ranking experts FeedSpot.
The idea for a blog first occurred to founder Kelly Kelly back in 2018 when her husband started a radio show – The Kelly Kelly Show. The show airs on six stations – three AM and three FM on the WTAN radio network at a radio studio based in Clearwater owned by Lola Wagenvoord. The show can also be viewed on Facebook at The Kelly Kelly Show page.
Radio show guests have included more than 200 celebrities and notable people throughout Tampa Bay and Florida, including nine city mayors, a Hollywood director, two Congressmen and many more. The radio show is publicized each day by world-renowned marine artist Dr. Guy Harvey, Super Bowl Champion Coach Jimmy Johnson and MLB Hall-of-Famer Wade Boggs.
Despite the name – chosen because of both of our last names and not solely named after the better looking of the pair – the radio show was definitely still Doug Kelly’s brainchild. Wife and co-host Kelly Kelly felt a little left out and – being more of a visual person – wanted to start a blog all about their hometown of Clearwater, Florida. Kelly had previously run a blog that gained national and local notoriety on television news channels and in newspapers and felt the call to do it again.
Colorful Clearwater now contains nearly 200 posts filled with lively content, photos and videos.
Articles come from writers Kelly, her husband Doug – who was roped into her project (turnabout is fair play!), John Lawrence, Sean Schrader and more.
The site held several contests – including photos contests and a treasure hunt in which winners won prizes from $25 – $100.
Guest posts have been written by former Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos and local government candidates.
Articles featured businesses such as the Clearwater Bait Shop, The Healthy Hive, Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber, Gold’s Gym and Oddities & Antiques – to name just a very few.
Specialized articles included restaurants open for takeout during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order – complete with menus and ordering links, and pet-friendly restaurants.
City government news such as from Clearwater Citizen’s Academy, the Clearwater library system, fire and police departments were shared.
Event coverage included the Ultimate Guide to Spring Break, Clearwater Beach Taste Fest, Miracle on Cleveland Street, a food truck rally, the Festival of Trees and the Clearwater Garden Club’s annual plant sale.
Other posts were shared on how to cope with the coronavirus pandemic such as where to buy masks in Clearwater or one of Kelly’s personal favorites – how Clearwater Rocks! Yet another showed viewers how to explore Clearwater without actually being here.
City art was promoted with a series of articles on colorful murals.
Artists such as license plate art creator Dan Brooks and muralist Matt McAllister were featured.
Videos have been shared – not only from Kelly – but from well-known aerial videographers such as Wayne Cathel, Jobin Joseph, Platinum Drone Productions and GoPro videographer Josue Cordero. A novel biking video was commissioned which explored every bike trail in Clearwater from the Courtney Campbell Causeway to Clearwater Beach – after all, Clearwater’s motto is Bright and Beautiful – Bay to Beach. Also, filmed from the back of a dog – the Amber Cam made its debut.
A recent video interview was made of current Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard.
Numerous videos have been shared with permission from the City of Clearwater, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, Zack Perry of Taste and See Tampa Bay, and Clearwater Beach is Awesome on Facebook. Businesses such as Nature’s Food Patch, Rumba Island Grill, Yacht StarShip, the Clearwater Ferry – to name just a few – have also given permission to share their videos.
One particular video featuring the downtown merchants and the mayor and his wife has gone viral! Video interviews of business owners and city council candidates have been promoted.
When folks were shut in, Colorful Clearwater shared videos of a drive along the empty beach and tours of local parks.
The sky’s the limit on what can be shared on Colorful Clearwater. Businesses, artists, musicians, videographers and interesting people from all walks of life can be highlighted – as long as they are in Clearwater, Florida.
Colorful Clearwater will continue to highlight the best of our city. Specialized articles included restaurants open for takeout during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order – complete with menus and ordering links, where to buy masks in Clearwater, and pet-friendly restaurants.
Colorful Clearwater will continue to highlight the best of our city – for residents and visitors alike.
Sharing posts can definitely help – the more people visit Colorful Clearwater, the better. We all can help promote our city and businesses – especially in these hard times when so many are struggling.
If you are interested in being featured for free in Colorful Clearwater, contact Kelly Kelly at kellyshannonkelly@yahoo.com.
Stay tuned for what next year has to offer…
(P.S. Birthday presents are welcome!)
Feature photo by Lidya Nada on UnSplash
