Apopka Art & Foliage Festival, DeBary Hall Spring Festival, Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival, Daytona 500, and Eldora House Restoration Designated as Local Legacies by Library of Congress
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative John L. Mica (R-Winter Park) today announced that the Apopka Art & Foliage Festival has been selected as a national Local Legacy as part of the Library of Congress’ Bicentennial celebration. Also named were the DeBary Hall Spring Festival, the Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival, the Daytona 500 and the Restoration of Eldora House.
"I’m pleased that the Library of Congress recognizes the historical and cultural significance of these activities, not only to our Central Florida community but also to the country," Mica stated. "Visitors to the Library, and its vast audiences throughout the world, will now have access to the rich history and current status of each of these outstanding local legacies."
The Local Legacies program recognizes outstanding local cultural and historic activities and includes designees in the Library’s permanent collection of the American Folklife Center. The Library of Congress, celebrating its Bicentennial in 2000, implemented the program to document and pay tribute to America’s cultural and historical heritage in every state, trust and territory of the United States.
"The Local Legacies initiative seeks to chronicle aspects of our nation’s diverse cultural heritage and will provide our future generations with a ‘snapshot’ of our traditions, folklore and everyday life," Mica continued.
This Spring marked the 39th Apopka Art & Foliage Festival which now attracts between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors each year. The event, organized each year by the Apopka Woman’s Club, was held this past April 29th and 30th and featured the talents of 150 top artists and craftsmen from across the country. Begun as a small club activity, the event has grown into a major community festival.
With over 3,000 participants, the DeBary Hall Spring Festival is generally held every year between March and April at the historic DeBary Mansion, built in 1871 and currently undergoing renovations. The Spring Festival was begun in the late 1980s to celebrate its heritage and includes an arts and crafts show, a silent auction on mini quilts, an exhibit of Indian artifacts and culture, and a display of steam engines, flywheelers and vintage automobiles. Because of renovations at the Mansion, this year’s festival was canceled until the first weekend of March next year.
The Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival occurs annually during the fourth weekend of January. In addition to providing habitat for the endangered manatee, the area was also home to the Timucuan Indians for hundreds of years and later to pioneer settlers. Begun in 1985 as a collaborative effort to highlight the natural resources and history of the Blue Spring State Park, over 10,000 people attended this year’s event. Funds raised at the festival are used to sponsor college scholarships, the DARE program, summer reading programs at the local library, equipment for the fire department and other items beneficial to the surrounding community.
Although the first Daytona 500 was held in 1959, its rich history of automotive competition can be traced back to 1903, when a race was held to determine who had the fastest, horseless carriage. Since then the wide, hard-packed sands of Daytona Beach became known as the Birthplace of Speed and have become home to the world’s foremost speedracing facility.
"The Daytona 500 has become known as the Great American Race, and is a source of entertainment for countless Americans. In addition, our community has worked hard to restore and preserve Eldora House, a unique treasure which was an important landmark for shippers and travelers at the turn of the century," Mica said. "Their designation as Local Legacies will help ensure that our future generations continue to appreciate their signficance."
Eldora House, located at Canaveral National Seashore near Oak Hill, was built in the 19th century, served as a stop-over point for riverboat shippers and travelers and is one of the last original homes remaining from the period. The area was also once home to Native American Indians, and later during the Reconstruction Era in 1877, became home to many Civil War veterans and their families. With the creation of the Canaveral National Seashore in January 1975, Eldora and its properties were acquired by the Federal government. Recently, Congressman Mica joined the Friends of Canaveral organization in leading a community effort to restore Eldora House and make the site, its history and legacy available for public enjoyment. In May 1999, renovations were completed and the National Park Service’s Eldora History Museum opened to park visitors.
Selected materials about each Local Legacy are being added to the Library’s collections and made available at http://lcweb.loc.gov/bicentennial/legacies.html on the World Wide Web.
"The Library’s designation of these community activities as Local Legacies will help ensure that our future generations appreciate their significance to our lives and traditions," Mica said.