West Tampa Shopper - September 14, 2005

WOMEN LAUNCH CIGAR MAGAZINE
Publication a Labor of Love

By Derek Maul - Correspondent

West Tampa residents Marilyn L. Figueredo, Lisa M. Figueredo and Vienna LoCicero Santisteban are passionate about the colorful history that helps define their city.

"That's one thing about all three of us," Santisteban said. "We're very passionate about our heritage. We're very proud."

So proud, they are launching a new publication. Glossy and in full color, Cigar City Magazine will feature 56 pages of history, old photographs and stories.

"It's the voices of our ancestors," Marilyn Figueredo said. "Their memories; their stories; their day-to-day life. Getting up and drinking café con leche; putting on their work clothes and having their Cuban bread before going off to work. We're honoring their lives."

She wants the magazine to be a catalyst for the preservation of local history, to inspire Tampanians to digout old photographs and artifacts. "Write us, call us, email us," she said. "Share your memories."

"We'll feature old photos," Lisa Figueredo said. "All the ads will be agency quality; conservative, very simple, to the point. We want to emphasize the stories and the photographs. But of course we'll have to have advertisers."

The magazine emerged from Lisa Figueredo's love affair with the collective past.

"Growing up listening to my aunt's stories sparked interest," she said. "I was thinking about how it used to be when I was little. My grandparents would take me to Ybor.

"Grandmother would make my grandfather his thermos of Cuban coffee – sweet and light – and we'd ride his old Ford truck to collect the cigar stems and waste products, to spread on lawns, to fertilize and keep out bugs.

"I remember going down Howard and Armenia, smelling the Olympia bakery – the fresh Cuban bread, and smelling the coffee, and seeing the men playing dominoes," she said.

Lisa Figueredo wants to preserve the memories. She intends to share them, too.

"It meant a lot to me, and I thought I'd like to do something that could bring that back," she said. "People think about those times and they miss it. So many people must have stories and photographs they want to share."

She confesses to being a huge dreamer. "But my family always dreams with me," she said. "The first thing I did was call my aunt (Marilyn Figueredo). She thought it was a great idea. So we got Vienna involved and got going."

The three friends share responsibilities.

"I work on genealogy and history," Santisteban said. "My skill is in sales, I know people. I like to write and we're all doing a little bit of everything."

"Vienna is excellent at talking with people," Marilyn Figueredo said. "Lisa is a graphic artist – she's been in the business over 20 years. I retired from Delta Air Lines three years ago after 30 years of sales, marketing and customer service. All these skills I can use in this project."

Lisa Figueredo runs an advertising agency, MediaTex. She will be coordinating the technical and production aspects of the project. Designer Cory Seymour lends graphic design expertise and is developing the Web site at www.CigarCityMagazine.com.

All three women grew up in Tampa. Between them they represent history and heritage from Spain, Cuba, Italy and Sicily.

Born in 1948, Marilyn Figueredo traces her father's family from Spain, through Cuba, Key West in 1868, then Tampa and Ybor City.

"My mother's family, were all performers," she said.

"Actors, opera singers, comedians, composers, music teachers. Grandmother and her siblings traveled all over the world. She performed in Ybor City for the opening of the new Centro Espanol in 1912. She fell in love with Ybor and the various nationalities living there. She continued to perform, raising money for the mutual aid societies. She performed under 'Carmen Ramirez,' but her married name was Esperante."

Carmen Ramirez Esperante baby-sat for West Tampa icon E. J. Salcines when he was a child in the 1940s. Salcines is a judge with the 2nd District Court of Appeal and a former state attorney. "He credits her to this day for all his speaking skills and stage presence," Marilyn Figueredo said.

Lisa Figueredo (born 1961) shares much the same heritage. "My great-grandparents were both born in Spain," she said. "He fought in the Spanish American war – on the Spanish side, of course. My great-grandmother was a cigar roller at age 13. I remember her rolling cigars for my great-grandfather. My grandmother was a garment maker with Tropical Garments for 30 some years.

Vienna Santisteban's family emigrated from Sicily (Santa Stefano and Alesandria della Rocca) and northern Spain. Born in Ybor City (1956), she moved to West Tampa in 1968.

With their love of "Cigar City" history finding a voice, the friends needed to address distribution. A solution emerged through The Tampa Tribune. "(The Tribune) is putting out a new Hispanic newspaper called Centro," Lisa Figueredo said. "It's coming out in October. They will print the magazine and insert it in Centro."

Initially, Cigar City Magazine will be printed every two months and distributed in South Tampa, West Tampa, downtown and Ybor City. "We're going to do 20,000 inserts," she said. "The other 5,000 issues are going to different merchants in Ybor City, West Tampa and South Tampa."

"We will put each issue on the Web site when the next new one comes out in print," Lisa Figueredo said. "The Web site will be interactive. We'll be doing things like 'Name this Landmark.' We'll also develop a shop featuring promotional items like hats, postcards of covers, T-shirts, etc."

"People will want to put the magazine on their coffee table," Marilyn Figueredo said.

All three women are optimistic about economic and social revival in West Tampa. Lisa Figueredo had the last word. "I'm just hoping to get that Cuban coffee and Cuban bread smell back," she said. "To walk down the streets and smell that again."

The first issue of Cigar City Magazine will come out Nov 1.