Two of our board members, Ron McCarty and Kathryn Chesley, portrayed the famous couple “John & Mable Ringling” in the 2017 22nd Annual Sarasota Holiday Parade : “The Greatest Parade on Earth” Circus Tribute on Saturday December 2, 2017. The parade was honoring the 65th anniversary of the release of the film “The Greatest Show on Earth” that was filmed here in 1951. We hope your were able to attend and enjoy the spectacular costumes and clowns!
Join the conversation when three experts on water and how Floridians have used waterways in the past have a lively Conversation at The Crocker.
Presented by the Historical Society of Sarasota County, the first of this season’s Conversations at the Crocker takes place on Tuesday, October 10 starting at 7 p.m. at the historic Crocker Memorial Church at 1260 12th Street (Pioneer Park). The topic is Sarasota Waters – Changes in our Lifetimes and leading the Conversation is John Ryan, a water expert and founding member of Sarasota Bay Watch.
This lively interactive community conversation (with PowerPoint presentation) is free to Historical Society members and $10 for guests at the door. Joining Ryan on the stage of the Crocker for in this timely conversation about Sarasota’s waterways and how they’ve changed are Rodney Potter and Rob Wright.
Organized six years ago, the Conversations at The Crocker series highlights specific aspects of Sarasota’s past and examines pivotal events and people who have influenced today’s Sarasota.
John Ryan is an Environmental Manager with Sarasota County Stormwater where he handles water quality monitoring and pollution regulatory matters. He is a 30-year resident of Sarasota who has had a long career with the County after a short stint with Mote Marine Lab. Ryan helped start the oral history project with New College of Florida that can be seen on the Sarasota Water Atlas website. He was a founding member of Sarasota Bay Watch.
Rob Wright, who grew up in Nokomis, is currently the Conservation Chair for Sarasota Audubon Society (SAS) and a leading voice on environmental issues. Previously he was the Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Team (NEST) Coordinator for Sarasota County from 2003 – 2016. Wright has been involved in the administration and implementation of environmental management programs in the public and private sector for more than 34 years.
A lifelong resident of Manatee County, Rodney Potter has worked in the timber industry and in agriculture. He has constructed greenhouses for nurseries and he owned and operated a lettuce farm in the 1950s. He has been a member of the Manatee County Historical Commission for more than 20 years and is an active in hunter and fisherman. As an outdoorsman, his connection with the area’s waterways, is thus both personal and professional and his insights and memories promise to be impressive.
All Conversations take place at The Crocker Memorial Church and proceeds help to maintain the Historical Society’s two heritage properties at Pioneer Park – the Bidwell-Wood House (1882) and the Crocker Memorial Church (1901). Docent-led tours of both buildings are available an hour before each of the Conversations at The Crocker events. The Historical Society is a membership organization ($35 annually) led by a volunteer board of directors. Co-chairs of Conversations at The Crocker are Lynn Harding and Marsha Fottler. For more information contact Linda Garcia, Site Manager, 941-364-9076.
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Grant to Historical Society from William G. and Marie Selby Foundation means a replacement roof for the historic Bidwell-Wood House (1882)
The historic Bidwell-Wood House built in 1882 by Alfred and Mary Bidwell and now located at Pioneer Park in Sarasota is getting a replacement shingle roof thanks to a $15,000 grant from the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation to the Historical Society of Sarasota County (HSOSC). Work begins this summer.
The two-story wood frame vernacular house with its detached kitchen, deep front and back porches and heart pine floors is the oldest private residence in the city of Sarasota. The house has been under the care of the Historical Society of Sarasota County (HSOSC) since the structure was moved for the third and last time in 2006 to Pioneer Park at 1260 12th street. The home originally stood at what is now the corner of US 41 and Wood Street.
“This has definitely been the year of the roof,” said HSOSC treasurer Deborah Bowers, who was at the Bidwell-Wood House along with board member Jeff LaHurd to receive the Selby Foundation check from its president, Sarah Pappas. “Through the Historical Society’s annual appeal which was a dedicated roof campaign and from other donations, we were able to raise $11,500. Now with the Selby Foundation grant, we have the funding for the replacement roof project. Our thanks to HSOSC members and community friends of history who generously donated to the roof campaign and, of course, to the William G and Marie Selby Foundation which makes the roof replacement a reality.”
On the porch steps of the Bidwell-Wood House, Sarah Pappas (center) President of the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation presents a check for $15,00 that is a grant to the Historical Society of Sarasota County for the organization’s project to replace the shingle roof of the 1882 Bidwell-Wood House at Pioneer Park. Accepting the grant funding is Deborah Bowers, treasurer of the Historical Society and author/historian Jeff LaHurd who is a board member of the Historical Society of Sarasota County
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Marsha Fottler, HSOSC Vice President with representatives of the Parks & Rec and Forestry Divisions
Manatee Village Courthouse
This community event, organized by the Historical Society of Sarasota County, takes place on Tuesday, April 11 starting at 7 p.m. at the Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street (Pioneer Park), Sarasota. The event is free to students and to members of the Historical Society; $10 for guests. Proceeds help to maintain the Bidwell-Wood House (1882) and the Crocker Memorial Church (1901). Tours of both vintage structures are available an hour before the start of the program.
Participants in the small museums program are: Cathy Slusser, Director of Historical Resources, Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court; Diane Ingram, Museum Supervisor, Manatee County Agricultural Museum; Mandy Polson, Museum Supervisor, Palmetto Historical Park; Phaedra Carter, Museum Supervisor, Manatee Village Historical Park and Kristin Sweeting, Museum Supervisor, Florida Maritime Museum, which is in Cortez. Sarasota was originally part of Manatee County, which extended from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee, was 60 miles wide north and south, and contained 5,000 square miles. Sarasota County was created in 1921.
The conversation among these museum professionals about their museums and the impact they have on community residents and Florida tourism will be augmented by a PowerPoint program that will transport the audience to each of these heritage sites. Question and answer period too.
For more information about this Historical Society outreach program, contact Linda Garcia, Site Manager at 941-364-9076.
Join us at the Sainer Pavilion at New College on Thursday February 2m 2016 at 6:30 for a Reception and Screening of the Oral History Project.
Norma Kwenski, Volunteer Extraordinaire, grabs the catbird seat on LeBarge, next to our commentator, always-captivating John McCarthy, one of Sarasota’s leading historians.
Our 29th Historical LeBarge Cruise was postponed two weeks due to mechanical repairs being done to the boat. We are rescheduled for Sunday November 20 – same time same station!! Sunday morning cruise from 11a – 1p. We had to do some rearrangements for guests that could not make the date change and we now have a few more spaces available. The VIP tickets are $75 (includes early boarding with two drink coupons and a thank you gift) and regular tickets are $50. Please call the office at 941-364-9076 if you would like to join us for our fall LeBarge cruise.
Our new pop-up History Book Swap* will be an added attraction at our Conversations at the Crocker meetings (we all love to expand our knowledge of history!)
And thanks to our never-say-die volunteers, the Designer Tag Sale* returns on Saturday Nov. 12: all sorts of wonderful home and garden embellishments, just in time to refresh your home for the holidays.
Plus, on Thanksgiving weekend, a great shopping opportunity: Sparkling Saturday*, featuring gently-used, unique, and estate costume jewelry for your browsing and gifting pleasure. Starting at $3, these treasures will be here for just one day, Saturday November 26. So gather your Thanksgiving visitors, and come on down!
Now, I’m sure you know that pretty darn soon we’ll be asking you to participate in #GivingChallenge16 where your online monetary donation to us will be doubled or even tripled (trebled? I think that’s the historic word!) during the 24-hour window Sept 20-21.
Here’s what we can turn into income for ongoing expenses: (And remember, you can ask Linda for a tax receipt if you need one.)
*All three events need volunteer help before and during. Give Linda a call or an email about your availability and what you’d have fun doing. 941-364-9076 or hsosc1@gmail.com
Founder of Guitar Sarasota, Thomas Koch
At 7:30pm on the second Monday of the month in our Crocker Memorial Church, November through April, professional musicians from Sarasota/Bradenton, Miami, Tallahassee, and beyond, will perform, educate, and promote the appreciation and cultural significance of the classical guitar as a solo and chamber music instrument.
GuitarSarasota’s performances at Crocker Memorial Church are open to the public and free of charge. Seating is open so come early!
This series, with its goal to perform and to engage the audience in an enlightening conversation with the artists, is a perfect fit with our Conversations at the Crocker, which is on the second Tuesday of the month. For the schedule of Conversations at the Crocker, see our Events Page.
Guitar Sarasota also hosts the 2016-2017 International Classical Guitar Season with four events. Tickets may be purchased for these starting on November 5. Read more.
What did the little birdie say to the other little birdie? Come to the Annual Meeting on May 14 2016 to find out!
For the Society’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, May 14, there will be fun, festivities, awards and great food… what else could we want on a beautiful May Saturday? A beautiful, freshly-groomed garden? Check! Voting for the Board of Directors? Check! Delicious pot luck goodies from talented cooks? Of course!
Who will be this year’s award winners? Come and see… and applaud their service to Sarasota County history. (Here’s last year’s winners.)
Will your smiling face be in this year’s video review of all we did? Come see! Member Peter Piazza puts together a great show for us!
Want to hear what we have planned for 2016-2017? Maybe even take part in the planning and execution? Come volunteer?
Want to brag on your cooking skills? Bring a dish to share and get ready to taste an incredible variety of yummy stuff.
No one is more aware of the importance of a great house museum to a specific community and to the wider world than Ron McCarty, the Keeper and Curator of Ca’ d’Zan, the fabulous American palace John and Mable Ringling built on Sarasota’s bayfront in the late 1920s. McCarty has been employed by the Ringling Museum longer than anyone in the history of the museum and will share Continue reading
These two experts will share facts and stories and rare Continue reading
In many ways the history of Sarasota, and indeed all of Florida, is the history of real estate. And playing a major role in that long saga of boom, bust, progress and preservation are the great developers of the past, recent past and present.
Are developers visionaries who shape the land for progress, or villains who rape the land for profit? “Nothing so absolute or dramatic,” says Harold Bubil, Real Estate Editor at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He will lead a conversation about the influence of great developers who have come to Florida to realize personal ambitions and specific visions of towns and communities rising from the sand.
This conversation takes place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street in Sarasota’s Pioneer Park. The event is free to Historical Society members and students and $10 for guests who may pay at the door.
Joining the conversation Continue reading
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 