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Article
and Video Courtesy of Bay News 9
By Kristy
Wolski
Published
May 14, 2011
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 Watch
VIDEO
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BRANDON -- Steven Paul
moved to Providence Lakes in Brandon two years ago and in a flash he
became a Lightning fan.
"Basically one of the first things I did when I
moved down here was get season tickets," said Steven Paul. "I've
been a hockey fan for awhile, but never really lived in a place where I
could go have season tickets."
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Paul was thrilled when his team made the playoffs.
"As soon as the Lightning clenched the
playoffs," said Paul "they gave away the sign and T-shirts and
basically a big goody bag full of stuff. I got home, put the sign in the
yard and a few days later got a letter from the H.O.A."
The violation notice from the Providence Lakes
Homeowner's Association stated that "absolutely no signs are allowed
except security company signs."
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That gave Paul an idea. He used a permanent marker
to turn the "Go Bolts" sign into "Protected by: Go Bolts
security."
"It kind of made me mad," said Paul.
"I pay H.O.A. fees and I kind of hoped the money would go to
something better than that."
Frustrated Paul then decided to see what else he
could do to support his team within H.O.A. guidelines.
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"I looked in the bylaws," said Paul.
"And saw that flags are allowed."
So, Paul took a large blue Lightning flag, that had
also been in the goody bag, and hung it from his garage.
Paul said he responded to the letter he received
from the homeowner's association, questioning their community support. He
said they offered to review his case, but he hasn't received a final
decision.
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Calls to the homeowner's association from Bay
News 9 were not returned.
Meanwhile, Paul is also growing a playoff beard for
a good cause. He's raising money for pediatric cancer research through the
Tampa Bay Lightning's Beard-a-Thon.
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