This past weekend was the 69th Annual “Fiesta Days Celebration” Hosted by the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce. To Celebrate All the Diversity that made Ybor City. If only that was true. Every year groups are left out. The Asians. At one time there was a Little China District in Ybor. It was between 14th & 12th streets 5th ave & 8th Ave. Then there were the blacks. Did you know that there were 2 Cuban Centers, one for the whites and the other for the black Cubans. Both are still in Ybor today. Then the group that is never included “THE GAYS.” There were Spanish, Cuban, Germans, Italians, Jews all in Ybor. From all those groups were “THE BACHELORS”. These single men lived on the second floors above the stores. Working hard and sending their money back home to family. Some would actually sleep together in the same bed to save money. This is what was written in the history books !!

  LMAO  During the 1st great fire the Hotel Havana (era 1890’s) burned to the ground. It was re built and on the 1st floor was the Las Novedades  http://www.tampapix.com/lasnovedades.htm.

   It quickly became the favorite bar for “The Bachelors” Ybor City 1st Gay Bar. During the 2nd Great Fire  “The Bachelors” became firemen who tossed buckets on water it and prevented it burning the second time.  Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders came to Ybor City before invading Cuba. Teddy & the top officers stayed at the Plant Hotel (Today the University of Tampa) The officers stayed at The Hotel Havana. The enlisted men shared the beds with… you guessed it… “The Bachelors!!!”

   One of these enlisted men was so grateful for the hospitality he received from “The Bachelor” that…. IT ACTUALLY SAYS THIS ON THE HISTORICAL MARKER!!!!  He Gayly Galloped his horse into Las Novedades!! This then became know as “The Charge of the Yellow Rice Brigade.” Form many years later the slang word for a Gay person (told to us by a very distinguished Tampa leader) in Ybor City was “Yellow rice”. History has tried to rewrite this story, but we all know what actually happened.

    In the 1970’s the Las Novedades closed and became one of the largest Gay Bars in Florida and throughout the United States. The El Goya (before it burned by the underworld) The El Goya after the Fire, Tracks, Pleasure Dome then Czars. Today its an empty building waiting for redevelopment.

   Maybe in some years the “Fiesta Day Celebration” will include all the diversity that has made Ybor City so great.