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Beekeeper in Wewahitchka
Sally Watt
Sally Watt reports from Wewahitchka, in the Florida Panhandle, on the Lanier family, which has tended bees and gathered Tupelo honey for over 100 years. Ben Lanier discusses the brief two-week period in which Tupelo honey is gathered, and his father, L.L. Lanier, Jr., reminisces about his rural childhood in the area. Date is a guesstimate.
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Cracker horses and cattle
Sally Watt
Sally Watt spends time at Lake Kissimmee State Park with Park Manager Tony Morel. Morel discusses the history of Spanish cattle and horses in Florida. They were brought over in the 1500s when Spanish missions were established in Florida. When the missions were abandoned, the horses and cattle were left to roam free. Early homesteaders in Florida, called Crackers, domesticated the horses and herded the cattle. Thus, the animals became known as Cracker horses and Cracker cattle. Today, Lake Kissimmee State Park has an area set aside to replicate an 1876 cow camp and a dozen Cracker cattle and a few Cracker horses are kept in pens there. Date is a guesstimate.
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Fishermen in Cortez
Sally Watt
Sally Watt reports from Cortez, in Manatee County on the Florida Gulf Coast. Cortez was once a thrving community with 200 fishermen and five fish houses making a livng off fishing. A statewide ban on the use of gill nets, enacted in 1995, severly cut the ranks of commercial fishermen. Now only six fishermen and one fish house are still in business in Cortez. Thomas "Blue" Fulford, a Cortez resident who was a local leader in the efforts to stop the net ban from being enacted, talks about the old days in Cortez and the hardships the net ban has imposed. Date is a guesstimate.
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Historic Spanish Point
Sally Watt
In 1867, John and Eliza Webb movied from upstate New York to Florida, homesteading 147 acres on Sarasota Bay. Although the original Webb family home is gone, the home of daughter Lizzie and her husband Frnak Guptill has been renovated and is open to the public. Sally Watt gets information about the house, called Historic Spanish Point, from its executive director, Linda Mansberger. Mansberger talks about life in the house and the surrounding area. Date is a guesstimate.
Sally Watt is a freelance radio reporter based in St.Petersburg, FL. She reported for National Public Radio on Florida stories, filed reports for NPR from Cuba, was also heard on Florida Public Radio. She began working in public radio in 1993 at WUSF - Tampa. Watt has received more than 14 national, regional, and state awards and has received several grants from the Florida Humanities Council to report on Florida history and culture.
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