AWARDS
10
R.L. Lewis Jr. an original Highwayman artist, shows his work at the Sandy
Shoes Festival at Veterans Memorial Park.
Fest, historical trolley tours, weekly motorcycle evening,
occasional concerts in the park, and other festivals like Sandy
Shoes, the OysterFest in the spring, and holiday events.
Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson talks about the many physical
changes in Fort Pierce that have brightened up the city.
New parks have been created and old ones spruced up, she
says. The city’s marina, nearly destroyed in the back-to-back
hurricanes of 2004, is in the last phase of restoration with the
replacement of docks that the storms took out. New storm
protection islands were built in a unique project to protect the
entire downtown waterfront from the wrath of future storms.
Two historical trails were created, one for author Zora
Neale Hurston, and the other for the Highwaymen artists
who were named to the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. There
are two marine research institutions and a museum honoring
A.E. “Bean” Backus, the dean of American landscape artists
who is also in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
Popular trolley tours, with a guide narrating the history of
the city, run during the winter season. Then there’s Halloween.
Ghost walks began as a simple tour with stories of the
past, and now the event requires nearly 100 volunteers, many
of whom dress in costumes representing events in the city’s
history. The walking tours are always filled.
Mayor Hudson also mentions these anecdotes:
• A new resident chose Fort Pierce to retire because of its
cultural diversity and its arts community, as well as its smalltown
feel and beautiful beaches.
• “A St. Lucie West resident told me he heads to his condo
every weekend and as soon as he heads east on the South
Bridge in Fort Pierce, he begins to relax and be happy. He
loves the ‘shorts and flip-flop’ atmosphere that you can find
on South Beach, the kind of life that Archie’s promotes: ‘No
shoes, no shirt, no problem.’ “
• At Coffee With the Mayor, on Friday, Jan. 16, several
new business owners in town attended. “One of them told
me that Fort Pierce needed to be marketed and promoted
because it is so wonderful. He said something like, ‘millions
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