“Over 100 years ago, on April 8, 1917, a rainy Easter Sunday morning, “Sarasota’s Sailor Lads,” a well trained Naval militia, gathered at a downtown movie theater for religious services. They were leaving that day bound for Europe and World War I” …”To honor them, a flagpole was erected at the center of Five Points, flying a large 12-by-20 Stars and Stripes donated by

winter resident Bertha Palmer.
This, Sarasota’s first war memorial, was dedicated on Saturday, June 23, 1917, in a ceremony that was described as “Simple but very impressive and patriotic.”

“…the balmy July day in 1922 when the trees, then mere seedlings were dedicated and that stretch of Main Street was renamed Victory Avenue. They reminded people how Woman’s Club president Mrs. Frederick H. Guenther had spoken at the dedication, promising Sarasota’s soldiers that their memorial was “an avenue of living trees, whose beauty and grateful shade would delight and bless generations long after you had passed on.”

And, from a past Conversation at the Crocker, Jeff Lahurd said “I’m going to discuss the elements of Sarasota, which form that wonderful place we think of as yesterday’s Sarasota,” said LaHurd. “I’ll probably start with the removal of the American War Memorial in the center of Five Points in 1954, the removal of the Memorial Oaks along east Main Street…

If you miss our Conversations at the Crocker, not only do you miss some great stories and explanations of local history, but you miss the opportunity to discuss, in person, with our experts, the aspects of our huistory which most interest you. What better way to spend a Tuesday evening than with like-minded neighbors?

Happy Veterans Day to all our veterans, and our gratitude… even without past respectfully-placed monuments and monumental oak trees.