After groundskeepers had trimmed trees at the Seminole Finance Corporation, a worker in the building noticed Mary’s head hidden behind the palms. As it would turn out, the Holy Mother does windows.

News spread quickly of the heavenly silhouette. The intersection of 34th Street and US 19 became hell to get through as an influx of the faithful decided to make pilgrimages to see the apparition. The discovery became a segment on most every news program. Before long the miracle would start costing the city of Clearwater $40,000 a day in Police man power along with rental costs on a row of eight portable potties.

One devoted window watcher was Felix Avalos from Texas. The spirit moved him so much that he set up camp in the parking lot for three years. During that time, acting on the advice of God, he carved a 21-foot crucifix to pair with the biblical building.

The hullabaloo over the window would soon be cracked as more and more proof pointed to the fact that the image was the work of mineral deposits from a broken sprinkler head. Some even proposed oil from the palm tree mixed with spray from a neighboring car wash led to the window corrosion. To make matters worse, state photos showed Mary being on the building years before she was first noticed. It led to the Catholic diocese becoming a bit more skeptical of the hallowed office building.

Amid the rejection of the apparition by religious leaders, ABC 28 decided the window would make for a good promotional piece for their Tampa news station. The spots, which were the brainchild of Managing Editor David Mays, ran numerous times throughout the day. They spoke of a "Miracle on 34th Street" filmed with the image of the window and concluding with the station logo. The spots infuriated the clergy and station reporters who were trying to defuse the situation.

There's just something about Mary...

By this time Seminole Finance had hopped a mule clear out of Clearwater and Shepherds of Christ Ministries from Ohio moved in. It’s not every day you have Mary hanging out on a window and much less have so much traffic flowing by the breadbasket.

The ground floor of the office was converted to a gift shop. What sacred place is complete without one? Inside copied stacks of the Kodak moment lined folding tables. The same photos were framed, sown into handbags, and haphazardly glued onto night-lights. All the items bore the marks of a catechism art project gone all-wrong.

On one table stood a plaster statue of Mary in front of a purple curtain. From behind it, taped messages of a soft female voice played. “I am seen.” “Help me.” (slight pause) “Help me.” Although you were looking clear into the eyes of one of the most famous single parents in history, it was hard not to think of the final scene from "The Fly."

Things have quieted down considerably at the Clearwater intersection since 1996. Gray headed women baking in the Florida sun and looking to drum up converts watch over the roadside shrine. They pass out literature and answer questions from behind Panama Jack hats. The rosary is performed daily and the gift shop is always open. The core of visitors seems to fluctuate between Spanish Catholic and barely alive. In small streams they drop a buck in the collection box, kneel on the tar top and say their prayers to a window.

This would not be Mary’s last visit to Florida. In 2000 she was once again spotted - this time in the Miami home of Lazaro Gonzalez. Her face, reportedly video taped by a news crew in one of the homes mirrors, was proof enough for some that Elian Gonzalez should remain in the United States.

Mary Window
21649 US 19 North
Clearwater, FL
More Florida signs donated to Roadside Peek