Image by The Gabber Newspaper.
CreaSirene Egan Romanelli is one of 22 nominees for 2025 Gulfportian of the Year.
Vote now!Meet CreaSirene Egan Romanelli
“When I first moved back to Gulfport in 2015 (I lived here in 1977-80), there was a Fairy Fest in Clymer Park. Walking into the Fairy Fest I discovered a labyrinth made of Spanish moss. I was so excited to know that another labyrinth enthusiast was in the area and proceeded to reach out to Crea.
“Since then, we’ve collaborated on the annual World Labyrinth Day celebrations, I’ve promoted many of her events through social media, and I’ve gotten my hands dirty and muscles sore working in the Food Forest.
“Now that I’m the Tampa Bay Regional Rep for the international Labyrinth Society, it is wonderful to have another Gulfportian who is equally passionate about the labyrinth as a tool for personal, relational, and spiritual evolution. I admire Crea’s creativity, generous heart, and courageous grit. While her vision sometimes exceeds her capacity, she has consistently invited and encouraged people to contribute their time, talents, and treasure in support of a shared vision for a sustainable and vibrant community through the Food Forest and other endeavors,” nominator Ingrid Bredenberg wrote in her nomination.
“Of course, there is much more to the story of Crea’s accomplishments, character, and dimensions. I only know what I’ve experienced and observed,” she added.
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CreaSirene Egan Romanelli in her own words:
I was born in St. Pete and grew up for first seven years on Shore Acres of the Venetian Isles, while some of my family lived on the south side of Clam Bayou/Coquina Key area, thus my spirit is full of this area. I love the flora, fauna, and waterways of Florida, and worked door-to-door for Florida Public Interest Group to protect it in the late ’80s.
I am a swimmer and love to sing. I graduated high school from Antilles in Puerto Rico, and then UF with a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture — and indulgence in sculpture in fine arts college. I got a masters degree from the Tree of Life Institute in Patagonia, AZ. Vegan live nutrition, creative, conscious eating and living was part of the focus. There, I cultivated a vision to live off of what was freely given; though my goal was to become a breatharian, I became a fruitarian and birthed a business called Peaceful Plate, thus my love affair with fruit trees and spiritual gardening took root.
I joined the Peace Corps out of college, yet failed to launch because my partner had a stroke. Yet somehow I still managed to travel the world mostly in service as an artist, labyrinth maker, vegan raw food chef, herbalist, and therapeutic touch and yoga practitioner.
I touched down in Gulfport on my way home to Boulder, CO after living in Panama for six months, fasting on water for 40 days to experience a frontier of my masters degree. Once back in Colorado, it was too cold to live on raw fruit alone. Because of the connections I made looking for fruit on that brief visit, I started working for Savannah’s nursery/flower shop remotely back in Boulder, and then got offered a job and hired by Leafy Greens Cafe as a prep chef.
Decided to give Florida a go to be near family and rented an apartment — sight unseen — from Bryan Tree. His web site spelling out his utopian vision for living harmoniously in community in ways which were mindful and caring for the earth and each other seemed kindred. He offered me gardening space… I remember cutting his front yard with oversized scissors as a meditation, got serious blisters and my wrist swelled. This led me to be healed by the departed Leta of the Urban Gypsies and Dragonfly Massage. I longed to have an inspired beautiful fruitful loving partnership like she and Barney.
Secretly I fantasized about being in their band as a singer. Deep truth is, my time in Gulfport was meant to be an intentional pit stop on my way to Peru with my best friend Robert, yet Gulfport became a vortex that held me strong. After two years here in Gulfport producing my first series of events and working with local business owners and political figures of the time such as Jennifer Salmon— some of whom, like Mayor Mike Yakes — are departed, and some are still living strong, like Jennifer Webb, who greeted me with a kiss and hug in front of Sumitra today.
All that said, Robert went to Peru ahead of me. Time passed as I got more involved with growing myself with the spirit of Gulfport, and he died just before I bought my ticket to go. I do have a tough love relationship to Gulfport. I have lived through epic love stories, tragedies, dramas, and inspiring seasonal events and monumental art experiments I curated, such as Fallen Tree City Memorial.
I have worked passionately here in love and super high on Gulfport as my home ground, and so many people from all walks of life converging. It was a turning point, and deeper rooting when the City required me to create a nonprofit so I could plant fruit trees in Clymer Park. I called it Eat Be Grow because cultivating peace in a free-food-for-all, art-inspired, fence-free, community garden was a deeply seated dream. Gulfport Food Forest was the NPO’s first project over 10 years ago.
In the 16 or so years I have lived in Gulfport, I have produced many community events through the Food Forest. For the past few years, I have been hosting a 49th Street first Sunday Makers and Growers Market at my art studio, properly called Red Feather Studios. I am now pregnant with another project that is a cooperative, collab with quite a few visionary, humanitarian artists: herbal, culinary, visual, audio, literary, textile, ritual, and theatrical midwifes as I see it. We aim for monumental acts that heal and inspire the heart of humanity to open, play, and thrive in a Great Mystery, Oracle, Spirit and Mastery uptown; Fusion 49th Gulfport sort of fashion.
Stay tuned and please keep showing up in my life.
By all means forgive me in advance for I am often misunderstood, maybe outlandish and forthright, yet truly mean well.
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