CELEBRATIONS
PAST MEETS THE PRESENT AT
ANNUAL HISTORY FESTIVAL
An all-day festival featuring reenactors, ghost tours,
60
trolley rides and sessions on historical topics will
highlight this year’s Treasure Coast History Festival in
downtown Fort Pierce Saturday Jan. 13.
The free Saturday event will also feature historical
presentations in the Sunrise Theatre Black Box. The first
session, on the history of the Adams Ranch, will begin at 10:30
a.m., and feature brothers Lee, Mike and Robbie Adams. They
will talk about how the ranch began with its purchase by their
grandfather in 1937 and lead up to the present.
At 12:30 p.m., students from Indian River Charter High
School will present excerpts from American Jazz, a musical
based on the discovery of recent letters between Waldo
Sexton and author Zora Neale Hurston. A session at 1:30 p.m.
will feature a discussion by experts on the establishment
of Fort Pierce as a military base in 1838 during the Second
Seminole War.
In addition, the festival has been expanded to include a
session in Vero Beach on Jan. 11. The Thursday presentation,
free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. at the Emerson
Center, 1590 27th Ave., and focus on the legacy of Vero Beach
visionary Waldo Sexton, who created Vero Beach landmarks
such as McKee Botanical Gardens, the Driftwood Inn, the
Ocean Grill, Patio Restaurant and Szechuan Palace Restaurant.
Sexton grandchildren, Sean Sexton, Mark Tripson, Jenz
Tripson, Bonnie Schwey, Randy Sexton and many others will
share insights of their legendary grandfather. The presentation
will also reveal the many and creative entrepreneurial paths >>
ADVERTISING FEATURE
ED DRONDOSKI
Attendees at last year’s History Festival pack the Sunrise Theatre Black Box for one of the historical presentations.