The amazing story of Teka Village, founded in 1989
by: Beth Heavener
as told by Dolly Large and Ron & Bobbie Bartfai
Once upon a time in the late 1980’s, there was a mobile home community in Orlando named Gulf Stream. Everyone was living happily until one day Gulf Stream decided to place a “pass through tax” on the residents. A man named John Branca said ” we are not going to put up with this. We will move our homes and make our own community.” Another of Gulf Stream’s residents named Hal Swartz searched for land and decided to buy 47 acres of swampy cow pasture located in St. Cloud.
Eventually, 61 brave people from Gulf Stream decided they would build their own 55+ community where they would own their own piece of land to put their manufactured homes on. It would have a clubhouse, pool and other amenities. They would undertake the huge task of building their own special community from that boggy cow pasture. Some of the originals still held jobs and some were already retired, but the common denominator was “we want a place of our own.” These pioneers moved their homes and lives to a new place and made a wonderful community that more than 30 years later is still a desirable place to live. It took a village to build this “Village” and a lot of sweat and back breaking work went into building what is now known as Teka Village, a 55+ Community.
One of the masterminds behind the project was Ed Large, President of what was Teka Village, Inc. Ed, John Branca and an Engineer worked to plan the layout. A banker was brought in to finance the project (at 18% interest, which was the interest rate back in the late 1980’s.) John Branca obtained a commercial credit card which was used to the fullest to buy building materials.
The original 61 residents were the members of the corporation that founded Teka Village. Newcomers bought lots and that money went to the corporation. New residents were members of the HOA but not the corporation at that time because the 61 were trying to recoup some of their very large investment. The intention of this group was not to make money but to actually break even.
Each of them put up $5,000 to move their homes from Orlando to St. Cloud, but that included their concrete work and basic set up. A man from Ocala helped move all their homes from Orlando to their new location: Teka Village, St. Cloud, Florida. It took more than two months for most of the former Gulf Stream residents to move their homes to their new lots in Teka Village after the sites had been developed.
Bob Wellman and others dug the trenches for the pipes and electrical lines in the Village. The residents volunteered wherever they could be useful. Those who were able built the carports and screen rooms. Rose St. Peter and Jim Leany painted the inside of the clubhouse and others volunteered in other areas of their expertise. Ron Bartfai and Bill Davis would come after a full day of work on their jobs and do whatever needed to be done. It was a team effort for these new owners of Teka Village.
In my interview with Dolly Large, she recalled the efforts of Teka Village men who built porches for new residents in the community. The money the new residents paid them was returned to Teka Village so they could purchase a pool table for the clubhouse. Teka Village ladies held bake sales to raise money for the furniture. Bud Wilson built the shelves and cabinets in the clubhouse. Every able-bodied man and woman worked toward building the clubhouse in some capacity. It was mostly all volunteer. “ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE” they said.
John Branca, a retired builder from Pennsylvania, would set up a booth at the St. Cloud flea market on weekends and give sales pitches to people to come buy unoccupied lots in this great new 55+ community. The residents pitched in and funded spec homes so they would have models to show, and when those sold, they would build more.
Upon completion, the finished community boasted a beautiful clubhouse with a ballroom and dance floor, a big screen TV room with a library, workout equipment, a pool table room, a very large screened-in heated pool and patio area, shuffleboard courts, horseshoe pits, and several duck/fish ponds. Many events and parties were held in the clubhouse back then and we can still enjoy all the amenities that they built for those of us who now reside here. Those 61 pioneers had the fortitude and backbone to be “rebels of their time” and fulfill their dreams. We thank them ALL for their efforts and hard work.
To conclude this article, I will tell you that I researched many old local newspaper articles and very old Smoke Signals as well as actual interviews with some of the remaining 61 originals. However, this author’s story would not have been possible without my personal interview with Dolly Large. It was very difficult to put 30+ years of the history into a 2-page article. I hope I did their story justice.
In a nutshell, here are some facts about Teka Village’s history that I think you will find interesting:
- As with most building projects in the city of St. Cloud, much resistance was met when it came time to construct the clubhouse. However, in the end, the city admitted that our clubhouse was the strongest structure in the city at that time. (and remember, it was mostly built by Teka Village Volunteers)
- Teka Village donated the land to the right of our gate to the City of St. Cloud to build a fire station which is located on Old Canoe Creek Rd. It was donated with the understanding that they would always be available to assist our residents of Teka Village if needed. I think that they have made good on that promise for 30+ years.
- Brave Lane was once named Director’s Row, as that was the street that all the “original” directors lived on.
- Ownership of lots in Teka Village for the 61 originals was determined by a lottery.
- The name for Lanca Lane came about by combining two names: La (for Ed Large) and (nca) for John Branca. Thus, they had their street name: Lanca Lane.
- The early HOA meetings were held on the 2nd floor of the St. Cloud Library.
- Bobbie Bartfai was the first President of the Home Owners Association.
- Teka Village’s name comes from an Indian word, OHITEKAS, which means BRAVE. Two of the original ladies, Alice Nilsen and Marilyn Hammock, worked on coming up with a name for their new community. They chose part of an Indian name using TEKA, (for Brave) and since Indians lived in villages, they decided it would be called Teka Village. Yes, how very fitting: Teka Village, Home of the Brave.
- Our Teka bird emblem also originated from Alice Nilsen and her son Craig who was an artist. He drew a bird that had a unique Indian look which became our Teka Village logo and is still used today on letter head, the Smoke Signal and other documents. Next time you are in the clubhouse ballroom, look above the stage. That is our Teka Village logo drawn so long ago by an original Teka Village’s family member and that we’ve cherished for so many years.