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News Sun photo by ED BALDRIDGE Wally Randall receives the Community Leader of the Year Award from Wendell ÒWinkieÓ Williams, Vice-president of the Avon Park Historical Society during the annual banquet on Saturday.

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published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

History served up in Avon Park

By ED BALDRIDGE

ed.baldridge@newssun.com

AVON PARK -- The Avon Park Historical Society introduced new board members and handed out several awards during its annual dinner Saturday at the Jacaranda Hotel.

"I can't explain it, but something funny's going on around here," said president Larry Levey at the start of the meeting.

"Look at the size of this crowd. The largest I've ever seen at our annual banquet. Not only that, in past years, many folks waited to the last few days before getting banquet tickets. Not this year," Levey said.

Board Member of the Year was shared between Nancy Weber and Jean Jordan, for their hard work in co-chairing public events including the Pioneer Homecoming Picnics and annual banquet.

Levey also discussed some unique happenings around town that made 2009 a special year for the society, including the addition of a 1925 picture of downtown Avon Park donated by Fred Mett from New York.

"The guy has no connections with Avon Park, and even drove out of his way to deliver the picture.

" It's been sitting in his family's attics for decades, and he could have thrown it away," Levey told the crowd of about 100.

Levey suggested that his view of the future included adding the title of "City of History" to the nicknames of "City of Charm" and "City of Champions" already held by the rural community.

"Promoting ourselves as the "City of History" has the potential to turn our community into a tourist destination ... and tourism, as you know, means dollars and cents," he added.

Levey praised the efforts put forth in the oral history project spearheaded by the society in collaboration with South Florida Community College.

According to Levey, the project attempts to reflect all the cultures that make up the community, and includes interviews of several individuals from both the white and black communities in Avon Park.

Dr. Donald Geldart spoke briefly on the progression of the healthcare industry in Avon Park, and covered his direct involvement in serving as one of the early doctors recruited to serve the local community.

Geldart also spoke of the training programs, research, and addition of AeroMed, a helicopter ambulance service based in Sebring.

Florida Hospital Heartland Division provided a historical look at the now demolished Walker Memorial Hospital, the first hospital in Avon Park.

The hotel, which became the Walker Memorial Sanitarium in 1948s, and the adjoining casino, which was converted into a Seventh-Day Adventist Church, both played a historical role in the health care in Highlands County, according to Geldart.