On Saturday April 13 2024 , scores of Historical Society of Sarasota County gathered to celebrate another successful year, to vote in new board members to honor award recipients, to cheer on the supporters of the Giving Challenge 2024, and to enjoy refreshments and our door prize raffle. We hope you were able to join us!
Here’s just a small sampling of the event in photos:
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Imagine Pioneer Park, the site of Hog Creek which #onceuponatime led to Sarasota’s harbor, without the Bidwell-Wood House and the Crocker Memorial Church.
Remember when we raised the funds to move our buildings?
The Historical Society of Sarasota County cares for and is proud to use our two reminders of Sarasota’s picturesque past. And our campus isn’t JUST
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The Historical Society is proud to have been one of the original charities invited to join the Giving Challenge in 2012, its first year, and happy to join the over 700 area nonprofits participating in this year’s Giving Challenge, a 24-hour online event between noon Tuesday April 9 and noon Wednesday April 10, 2024. During this time, your gift of $25 to $100 will be doubled by The Patterson Foundation. (Here’s our FAQs on the Giving Challenge.)
Now, the Historical Society is unique amongst most local nonprofits in that it is 100% responsible for the upkeep and daily maintenance of two historic buildings: The Bidwell-Wood House built in 1882, and the Crocker Memorial Church, dating from the early years of the 20th century.
Here’s just the highlights of what donations,
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The Historical Society is proud to have been one of the original 107 charities invited to join the Giving Challenge in 2012, its first year, and happy to join the over 700 area nonprofits participating in this year’s Giving Challenge, a 24-hour online event between noon Tuesday April 9 and noon Wednesday April 10. During this time, your gift of $25 to $100 will be doubled by The Patterson Foundation.
Click here at noon Tuesday April 9 until noon Weds. April 10 to donate to HSoSC and have your donation DOUBLED.
Since 2012, eight Giving Challenges hosted by the Community Foundation and strengthened by The Patterson Foundation have collectively provided more than $75 million in unrestricted funding for area nonprofits to respond to community needs with flexibility and innovation. A hallmark of the Giving Challenge is its “Be The One” philosophy, which reflects the Community Foundation’s belief that everyone can be a philanthropist and have the potential to impact a person, cause, and community. With their help, we’ve collected these FAQs.
Q. What is the Giving Challenge?
The Giving Challenge is an online giving event that allows people who care about our region to come together to raise as much money as possible for local nonprofits.
Q. When is the Giving Challenge?
Giving Challenge will take place on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 12:00 PM through Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 11:59:59 AM. During those hours, our link will be operational, but you can bookmark it now!
Q. Where can I donate online?
The link to go directly the HSoSC’s page in the Giving Challenge is here. It will only be operational between noon Tuesday April 9 and noon Weds April 10, but you can bookmark it now!
Q. How can I maximize the doubling of my donation?
Your donation will be automatically doubled by the Patterson Foundation if it is between $25 (the required minimum online) and $100. You can choose any amount between those 2 numbers (your lucky number of 91, maybe?) at any time during those 24 hours and the amount will be doubled. But if you can donate more, and want to maximize the benefit, grab your spouse, your fishing buddy, your Gen Z family member, and ask them to use their credit card in their name, to receive the doubling factor. And to introduce them to the Giving Challenge as well!
Q. What payments are accepted by the Giving Challenge?
Anyone with a credit card or debit card and access to the internet may donate. Donations through the Giving Challenge online portal to charitable nonprofit organizations are 100% tax-deductible. The description on your statement will be “GIVINGCHALLENGE2024.”
Q. Can I use my phone or tablet to donate to the Historical Society of Sarasota County during the Giving Challenge?
Of course! Simply visit our page on your mobile device during the 24 hours of the Giving Challenge.
Q. Will I get a receipt?
Yes. You will automatically receive an emailed receipt acknowledging your gift after you make an online donation. The email will come from “Notifications@GiveGab.com.”
Rather send a check? That’s lovely too, and will free you up from the time restrictions. Perfect solution if you care to donate less that the $25 minimum, if you’ll be traveling or otherwise occupied on those dates, or have decided to never to use your credit card online no matter how safe this event is. The Society’s mailing address is PO Box 1632, Sarasota FL 34230.
As usual, our charming Site Manager, Linda, can help you participate in the Giving Challenge! Just call our office at 941-364-9076 on Tuesday April 9 and Wednesday April 10, or email Linda directly 24/7 at HSoSC1@gmail.com and she can help you help us!
The complete FAQs for Giving Challenge 2024 are here.
Read more about the Patterson Foundation here and here.
The saying is perennial, as is the duty of the Historical Society. Ongoing maintenance of our two historic buildings is, well, ongoing. The Florida climate may be sublime for beach-goers, but it’s a bear on wooden structures. This multi-building fumigation was last done in 2016, and it was time, again, to wage the never-ending and costly battle against the bugs.
We love our task of stewardship of these pieces of Bygone Sarasota, but it takes all of us, you included, to keep our material past in good shape. That’s what the upcoming Giving Challenge is all about. All of us pulling together, to preserve and protect our past.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County will host a concert performed by members of the Sarasota Earlye Musicke Consort, a group that performs music from Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras in the Crocker Memorial Church, located in Pioneer Park, at 1260 12th Street, on Tuesday, April 2 at 2:00 PM.
This musical group has been filling the church with their delightful music, every Tuesday during their rehearsals. The concert is free and open to the public. Donations are always greatly appreciated, of course.
The historical complex is on 12th Street, between N. Trail and Cocoanut Ave.
Back in 1903, there were things you just couldn’t do in Sarasota, lest you end up spending some time in the pokey. Pokey pictured here:
(And remember. No A/C. No mosquito abatement program. And, I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing no cheerful jailer’s wife to bring you homemade meals either.)
Here’s the article, from our history peer Larry Kelleher, creator of Sarasotahistoryalive.com. We reproduce it here for your delight.
Presented by actor/real estate expert Tom Aposporos and organized
by the Historical Society of Sarasota County
A Conversation about architecture and historic homes in Sarasota that link to one of our most influential architects, Ralph Twitchell (1890-1978). Presenter Tom Aposporos charts the early career of Twitchell, who came to Sarasota in 1925 to manage the final stages of Ca d’Zan for Dwight Baum. Twitchell stayed to become architect and contractor of a collection of Mediterranean Revival homes, many of which remain preserved today as icons of a specific style.
Later in his career Twitchell became the bridge from Mediterranean Revival to the modern. When he hired the young Paul Rudolph, the collaboration embraced new materials, a new look and a new way of building with glass and reinforced concrete. Some say the culmination of Twitchell’s move to modernism reached its zenith with
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February 29 is a leap day, an intercalary* date added periodically to create leap years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the 60th day of a leap year in both calendars, and 306 days remain until the end of the leap year. It is also the last day of February in leap years with the exception of 1712 in Sweden.
Wikipedia
Yada yada, Leap Day’s when women get to propose marriage, red petticoats, a dozen pairs of gloves and so on. A French newspaper that only publishes on Leap Day. Eating pigs’ feet if you’re old. Pretty boring traditions, you ask me.
Leaplings, those folks born on February 29. There’s even a League of Leaplings. Well, they don’t call it that, but they COULD.
Hey! Sadie Hawkins! Now there’s a tradition to enjoy. My high school had a Sadie Hawkins Dance. Maybe yours did too. Girls asked boys. Problem is, Sadie Hawkins Day isn’t February 29. It’s November 26, a date set by Al Capp himself.
And there’s the Anthony Texas Leap Year Festival coming up, too. Don’t ask me why it’s on March 1 and 2, 2024.
Oh, that thing in Sweden in 1712? Yeh.
Note from your Olde Correspondent: I started this post thinking it’d be interesting and maybe even amazing. I learned otherwise. So spend your extra day doing something extra, something you normally wouldn’t. I think I’ll sleep in.
* _ Such a cool word.
Our February 18, 2024 Conversation at the Crocker will be all about the ladies. (Note: Emma Booker has graciously declined; Bertha Palmer has graciously agreed to take her place.) Hope to see you there!
Presenting will be three Board members: author-educator Dr. Frank Cassell, actor-playwright Kathryn Chesley and archivist-historian Deborah Walk.
Sunday, February 18 at the Crocker Memorial Church (1260 12th Street in Pioneer Park) at 2 p.m. As always, this Conversation is free to members of HSOSC and $10 at the door for guests.
But the science of “6-more-weeks-of-winter” is: While animals obviously can’t predict the weather, hibernating males traditionally emerge sometime in February to gauge if they can start waking up their female counterparts to mate.
As the story goes,
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We’re thrilled to partner with our historic peers, the Friends of the History Center, to present two special programs this season.
How Florida Got Its Shape – Of the fifty states, Florida has one of the most distinctive and widely recognized shapes. But how did that familiar shape come to exist? Obviously the state’s 1,350-mile coastline defines the majority of it, but what about its borders to the north and west? It might surprise you to learn that “Florida” has at various times stretched as far north as present-day Virginia and as far west as the Mississippi River. The current shape of Florida was settled during a fascinating era before the region was a U.S. state. In those days, Florida was actually an international borderland. Join the staff of the Sarasota County History Center for a brief journey into that era–illustrated with maps and records explaining exactly how and why Florida acquired its well-known shape.
The Tamiami Trail and the Development of Florida’s Gulf Coast in the 1920s – The 275-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 41 between Tampa and Miami is called the Tamiami Trail. To the casual observer it looks like every other major highway in the area, but this strip of pavement played a big role in the development of Florida’s Gulf coast. Because of its route through the Everglades, it was in many ways an engineering marvel of its time, and it even resulted in the creation of a new county! Join the staff of the Sarasota County History Center for a closer look at the fascinating history of this iconic scenic Florida byway and its impact on the Gulf coast.
Curious abut the history and development of Pinecraft? It’s an unusual neighborhood in Sarasota, first settled by Mennonites in the 1920s. Many Mennonites still live there. As a religious group Mennonites are members of a small denomination, with some 300,000 members in the United States. Sarasota’s Mennonite community is composed of about 2,000 regular worshippers in the summer and twice that during the Pinecraft season.
Pinecraft has about 500 tiny homes in a planned grid at the intersection of Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street. The bustling neighborhood is home to many authentic restaurants and is a popular destination for snow-bird Amish as well as Mennonites escaping the harsh winters of the midwest. Find out why the commuity exists, and how it came to be.
J.B. Miller is an authority on the history of the Mennonite community in Sarasota and on the history and development of Pinecraft. We are pleased to host this expert on Sunday, January 14 at 2 p.m. at the Historical Society’s Crocker Memorial Church at 1260 12th Street, between Tamiami Trail and Cocoanut Avenue in Pioneer Park, Sarasota.
A confluence, today, of an historic happening and how artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing our potential modes of learning.
I read an article (in between all the ads) about The Christmas Tree Boat Wreck of Chicago in 1912. Then I thought, well maybe our HSoSC fans don’t want to work their way through this piece, so I decided to try and see if AI could help.
First, here’s the article on the history, the shipwreck, and the new tradition of the Christmas Tree Boat.
Here’s AI recapping the article for you. There’s a weird little glitch in the middle where the female “narrator” reads the all caps message LOST HOPE FOR SHIP. SANTA CLAUS BOAT LOST letter by letter, but see what you think.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 