Melrose Heritage Park and HMI hosted wonderful volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 146 (Keystone United Methodist Church). Each boy provided four hours of hard work at the park. They are earning their Citizenship in the Community merit badge where eight hours of volunteer service are required. We offer a...
Trinity Episcopal Church unveiled its historic marker on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Sponsors include Historic Melrose, Inc., Trinity Episcopal Church, and the Florida Dept. of State. Al Burt was past president of HMI and a celebrated author. He loved Melrose and especially events like the marker dedication held at...
At the annual meeting, Ronnie Carnes provided a wonderful history of Florahome, Florida. Some entertaining stories and rare pictures were shared: The historic Florahome clubhouse is being restored and HMI encourages your generous donations to help with this important work.
We thank all the wonderful volunteers who helped clean up the historic grist mill and grounds at Banana, Florida (just south of Melrose). We readied the lot for a good bush-hog cutting. The kids enjoyed finding various animal bones while cleaning along Mill Creek, the old Orange Springs-to-Starke...
Dick Franz gave a terrific talk about Florida history, geologic and hydrologic events, and fossils found in the local area. Dick brought fascinating fossils from the Pleistocene epoch (10,000 years to 1.9 million years ago) including manatee, whale, alligator, tortoise, pond turtles, giant armadillo, mastodon, mammoth, smilodon (sabre cat),...
Speaker program by Dick Franz, Sunday 15 Nov. 2020, 2pm. Homemakers Club. Melrose Christmas parade, Saturday 6pm, Dec. 19, 2020. Sponsored by Melrose Patriots. Banana mill site cleanup, Saturday Jan 16, 2021 at 9am. Annual meeting with speaker, Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 2pm. History field trips, TBD.
Project list as of July 2020: Plant approximately 3 live oak trees to replace the dying water oaks, subject to consultation with Mr. Berry, County, and HMI board. County arborist inspection of one oak near pavilion. Ms. P. Fletcher. Done. County will monitor. Replace Daurer Center roof. Remove...
A sincere thank you to HMI board member Sara Hebert and her friend Sarah Mixon for cleaning the jewel of Heritage Park! With the help of money raised for engraved bricks, HMI purchased, installed, and maintains the fountain. Bob Bird has been vigilant keeping the water level high and...
HMI enjoyed a field trip to the UF Ordway-Swisher biological station just south of Melrose, east of SR 21 and south of SR100. Richard (Dick) Franz is a UF Emeritus Associate Scientist and hosted the wonderful historical tour of the 9,370 acre research property. The tour included a stop...
The HMI annual meeting was held on Sunday, February 16, 2020, 2:00 – 3:30 pm, at the Homemakers’ Club. Experts from the UF Sam Proctor Oral History program led an enthusiastic workshop on collecting oral histories. HMI wishes to thank the presenters as well as express gratitude to...
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