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Make Sarasota County Smell Sweet Again

It’s official: citrus is back for the home landscape!

As Florida Master Gardeners writes: Since the introduction of citrus greening to Florida in 2005, homeowners have been discouraged from growing citrus at home. However, UF/IFAS is now recommending the planting of citrus trees again and has provided a new line of support for those who are interested.

UF/IFAS is piloting an initiative called “Citrus in the Home Landscape” this spring, and it includes a new website and an email address dedicated solely for scientists to answer your citrus care questions.

Read the full article on the initiative on UF/IFAS News: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/…/uf-ifas-launches-new…/

Many thanks to Deb Benedict of Benhaven Haven for alerting us to this wonderful development!

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Did the future turn out as expected 100 years ago?

I don’t know about you, but I remember figuring out, in grade school, how OLD I’d be in the year 2000.

I think imagining the year 2022 was beyond my capacity (then and quite possibly now.)

I never dreamed flowers would be emancipated. Or that we’d all have to wear glasses because skyscapers ruin our sight. These predictions of life 100 years hence are fascinating and believe it or not, many points are quite accurate!

Please note: OCR (optical character recognition) even now in 2022, isn’t perfect and your Esteemed Editor got tired half-way through of correcting all but the most grievous errors. Lordy, now I’m even talking 1922 style!)

From the New York herald (New York, N.Y.), May 7, 1922

By W. L. George
THERE is a good old rule which bids us never prophesy unless we know, but, all the same, when one cannot prophesy one may guess, especially if one is sure of being out of the way when the reckoning comes. Therefore it is without anxiety, that I suggest a picture of this world a hundred years hence, and venture as my first guess that the world at that time would be remarkable to one of our ghosts, not so much because it was so different as because it was so similar.

In the main the changes which we may expect must be brought about by science. It is easier to bring about a revolutionary scientific discovery such as that of the X-ray than to alter in the least degree the quality of emotion that arises between a man and a maid. There will probably be many new

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Watching history being made, Christmas-style.

Don’t you love getting those photographic Christmas cards from family and friends? To cherish the ability to watch history being made as the kids grow? Remember, history isn’t in dusty old books. Sometimes it arrives in a red envelope with a Santa postage stamp. Today we share with you a Sarasota memory…

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The Day of Infamy. And its consequences.

This Day in History: December 7, 1941, of course, The Day of Infamy, as FDR called it.

When the US went to war, it shaped the future development of our entire county.

Sarasota County was slowly emerging from the Great Depression at the beginning of 1940. The city’s new

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Have a drink. It’s legal again.

This Day in History: On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment of January 16, 1919, commonly called the Volstead Act ending the increasingly unpopular nationwide prohibition of alcohol.

[Source.]

Why did Prohibition start?

By the turn of the 20th century, temperance societies were prevalent in the United States. Concerned citizens had begun warning others about

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Sarasota Honoring its Veterans

“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

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Lookin’ good!

Our pretty campus in Pioneer Park got some extra lovin’ recently. Linda Garcia, our Site Manager, writes:

We stacked up 32 bags during our few hours’ work on Saturday and they were all picked up on Monday!  There will be a wedding in the Crocker Memorial Church on Saturday, so we made an all-hands-on-deck effort to clear out the storm debris. Sue Padden is working on the flower boxes on the front porch.  What a CREW and what great work we accomplished.  Thanks so much.  Linda

Take a look at these avid volunteers:

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Read Florida History for Free

Is your house overwhelmed with books? You just can’t resist the opportunity to learn more… but there are books “stacked on the floor, books kept in baskets” and so on? Well, we’re here to help you save some space.

We’ve found some digital books that we think you’ll like, and all they occupy are some gently-used electrons that are infinitely recyclable… in other words…

Here’s some PDFs available for the low low cost of FREE!

If you know of more free reading about Florida and its history, please add them in the comments.

The Digital Library of the Caribbean offers:

The Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida by Jerald T. Milanich
The African American Heritage of Florida
The Architecture of Leisure, about the Flagler and Plant Hotels and how they formed a large part of our history.

The above books are also available in hard copy at University Press of Florida and would make wonderful gifts for Florida lover friends.

And another free book that will absorb you for hours, if not days, is available at The Artists of Old Florida by Fred Frankel (and be sure to dabble in the separate articles and artists listings on that site as well.)

From the Art Gallery section of ArtistsofOldFlorida.com
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What’s a penny, after all?

“Your penny at work.” That’s the slogan of the campaign asking voters to approve, on Election Day 2022, a continuation of the county 1% sales tax. Many wonderful things have been financed by this income since it was first authorized in 1989, but never before has the history of our county been addressed. 

And what’s a penny after all? Pennies in the US have been around since the 18th century… although, of course just like us, a penny isn’t what it used to be. Did you know Benjamin Franklin designed the first penny, seen here? (Wasn’t he the BUSIEST man you’ve ever imagined!)

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Hidden Treasures of Local History

It’s always a treat for anyone who loves local history to find a new artifact.

And that’s just what happened during an engagement of a member of our Speakers’ Bureau this last spring.

A member of the host club came up and said “My mother painted

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You might not be a native, but your landscaping can be!

We all want our gardens, whether we have a multi-acre spread or a pot on the balcony, to scream FLORIDA!
Well, here’s local folks to help, and to get native plants from. And their advice is wise, easy to get, and free. It’s available one day only, though.

Courtesy gulfcoasthomeguide,com
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First Conversation @ The Crocker!

We’re so excited about the October 11 2022 Conversation at the Crocker coming up as a kick-off to our 2022-2023 season.

You've seen him on Youtube, you might have met him at History is Fun back in the spring: Dr. Josh Goodman is our new enthusiastic Historical Resources manager.
You’ve seen him on Youtube, you might have met him at History is Fun back in the spring: Dr. Josh Goodman is our new enthusiastic Historical Resources manager.

Our speaker will be Dr. Josh Goodman, Sarasota County’s new

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This Day in History: September 19, 1559

Just a little something to ponder as we enter the peak of the hurricane season, here in 2022.

Pensacola was the scene of a massive hurricane that changed the history of North America forever, illustrating the pivotal role that such storms played and continue to play in human affairs. A weeks-old settlement of over 1000 people, who had begun to clear land and even plat out residential lots, lost

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