"One Man's Art Is Another's Trailer Trash" (Tampa Tribune, January 9, 2008: "Evoking the spirit of kitschy Americana like giant balls of string or alligator wrestling, seven aluminum-plated travel trailers once destined for the junkyard have gotten unexpected mileage as a roadside curiosity along eastbound Interstate 4."
"A Florida state song makeover you can dance to" (St. Petersburg Times, January 8, 2008: "Dance strong. Dance proud.")
"New South Florida" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel: " ABOUT THE SERIES: The New South Florida: exploring how shifts in demographics, immigration, culture, our economy and mobility have changed the way we live.")
"'Colored Beach' gets recognition" (Miami Herald, January 19, 2008: "As James D. Bradley Jr. scans the milelong strip of sand once known as 'Colored Beach,' he recalls boarding a ferry at Port Everglades 50 years ago, or riding across the sand in his father's jeep, to join hundreds at the only place in Broward where they could swim in the ocean.")
"Makinson Island in Osceola County emerging as eco-tourism site" (Orlando Sentinel, January 19, 2008: "Although it's owned by the public, few have seen Makinson up close in recent years because it's accessible only by boat. In times past, however, it has been home to citrus and cattle farms, a sanitarium for alcoholics and an exotic-animal attraction.")
"War re-enactors to put on show at Okeechobee battlefield" (TCPalm.com, January 26, 2008: "The public will get its first glimpse next week of what is to become of Okeechobee Battlefield State Park.")
"Project aims to unlock Pleasant City's history" (Palm Beach Post, January 26, 2008: " 'Wait. Go back,' Carlton Cartwright said as a grainy black and white photo of three smiling members of the city's 1940 Negro League baseball team flashed on the screen. 'One of those guys is my cousin.'")
"Preservationists facing tough, ongoing struggle" (Miami Herald, January 22, 2008: "Historic preservationists gained a trifecta of victories in Miami Beach last week.")
"Chalet Suzanne Faces New Challenges" (The Ledger, January 20, 2008)
"Uncertain future awaits Sanibel lighthouse" (Fort Myers Florida Weekly, January 10, 2008: "The U.S. Coast Guard oversees the tower and Bailey, who is chairman of the Sanibel Historic Committee, said he hopes they won't decide to let that light slowly extinguish, as more up-to-date technologies take the place of this old fashioned beacon for seamen.")
Showing posts with label state song. Show all posts
Showing posts with label state song. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
State Song Finalists Announced
The three finalists in the Just Sing Florida contest to select a new state song have been announced, and you can vote for your favorite online.
Tampa Tribune Special Report "Florida's State Song"
Tampa Tribune Special Report "Florida's State Song"
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Florida State Song Contest
Yesterday Katherine Mason of RB Oppenheim Associates, on behalf of the Florida Music Educators' Association, sent me an email about the "Just Sing! Florida" contest and the search for a new state song. With her kind permission, I'm copying her message here, as an update to my previous postings about the song.
*****
Lucy,
In case you haven’t heard, Florida is holding a contest for a new state song.
Since your post, “Florida’s State Song,” on January 9, a lot has developed towards an official initiative to adopt a new state song. I thought you might be interested in learning more about current efforts and perhaps updating your readers with a follow-up to your last post on the issue.
As of May 15, a contest, titled “Just Sing, Florida!,” has been launched, and it is being coordinated by the Florida Music Educators’ Association (FMEA). The FMEA is managing the process as experts in the field of music and is currently collecting and culling song submissions. The contest runs from May 15 – October 1, 2007.
Additionally, Sen. Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville) and Rep. Ed Homan (R-Temple Terrace) plan to pre-file a bill for the 2008 Florida Legislative Session in order to begin the political process for adopting a new state song.
The top three finalists the contest’s judging panel selects will be announced to the media and public by December 2007, and the songs will then be posted on the contest’s Web site, www.justsingflorida.org. Thereafter, Floridians will have the opportunity to cast their vote online.
The winning song with the most votes will be included in the bill for the 2008 Legislative Session.
Ultimately, the decision to change the state song is up to Florida’s Legislature.
We agree with your posting, “Updates on State Song and Mini Golf” on January 20, you wrote:
“Whether or not the song ever changes is not as important as getting people talking about what it means to be a Floridian.”
It is FMEA’s hope that Floridians will seize this opportunity to engage in music and the arts and appreciate the unity it can bring to Florida’s communities.
Our goal now is to raise awareness about “Just Sing, Florida!” and to encourage musicians of all ages and levels of experience to submit an entry.
The state song hasn’t changes since “Old Folks at Home” was adopted in 1935. This is an exciting opportunity for Floridians to participate in making Florida’s history and for musicians to potentially be the writer of Florida’s new state song.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact the FMEA at (850) 878-6844, or visit www.justsingflorida.org. Additionally, you can visit our MySpace page www.myspace.com/justsingflorida.
On behalf of the Florida Music Educators’ Association,
Katherine Mason
Account Manager
RB Oppenheim Associates
*****
Lucy,
In case you haven’t heard, Florida is holding a contest for a new state song.
Since your post, “Florida’s State Song,” on January 9, a lot has developed towards an official initiative to adopt a new state song. I thought you might be interested in learning more about current efforts and perhaps updating your readers with a follow-up to your last post on the issue.
As of May 15, a contest, titled “Just Sing, Florida!,” has been launched, and it is being coordinated by the Florida Music Educators’ Association (FMEA). The FMEA is managing the process as experts in the field of music and is currently collecting and culling song submissions. The contest runs from May 15 – October 1, 2007.
Additionally, Sen. Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville) and Rep. Ed Homan (R-Temple Terrace) plan to pre-file a bill for the 2008 Florida Legislative Session in order to begin the political process for adopting a new state song.
The top three finalists the contest’s judging panel selects will be announced to the media and public by December 2007, and the songs will then be posted on the contest’s Web site, www.justsingflorida.org. Thereafter, Floridians will have the opportunity to cast their vote online.
The winning song with the most votes will be included in the bill for the 2008 Legislative Session.
Ultimately, the decision to change the state song is up to Florida’s Legislature.
We agree with your posting, “Updates on State Song and Mini Golf” on January 20, you wrote:
“Whether or not the song ever changes is not as important as getting people talking about what it means to be a Floridian.”
It is FMEA’s hope that Floridians will seize this opportunity to engage in music and the arts and appreciate the unity it can bring to Florida’s communities.
Our goal now is to raise awareness about “Just Sing, Florida!” and to encourage musicians of all ages and levels of experience to submit an entry.
The state song hasn’t changes since “Old Folks at Home” was adopted in 1935. This is an exciting opportunity for Floridians to participate in making Florida’s history and for musicians to potentially be the writer of Florida’s new state song.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact the FMEA at (850) 878-6844, or visit www.justsingflorida.org. Additionally, you can visit our MySpace page www.myspace.com/justsingflorida.
On behalf of the Florida Music Educators’ Association,
Katherine Mason
Account Manager
RB Oppenheim Associates
Saturday, March 17, 2007
State Song Question Keeps Humming Along
Tommy over at Sticks of Fire gives an update on ideas for a new Florida state song.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Updates on State Song and Mini Golf
Today's Tampa Tribune is running a story about the state song ("Racist Screed or Enlightened Work?") that y'all should check out, and perhaps leave a comment in the accompanying forum. (I was interviewed for the Tribune article, but got left on the cutting room floor!) Whether or not the song ever changes is not as important as getting people talking about what it means to be a Floridian.
One of the other controversial state songs mentioned in the article, Maryland, My Maryland, has a vague Florida connection. They lyrics are a poem written by James Ryder Randall, who before the Civil War spent some time on Atsena Otie (Cedar Key) as Augusta Steele's tutor. Augusta was the daughter of Augustus Steele, an early settler of both Tampa and Cedar Key, and later married James Matheson of Gainesville.
(Original post: Florida's State Song)
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Yesterday Tim Hollis sent me a nice email. He has a new book coming out later this spring, The Land of the Smokies: Great Mountain Memories. And yes, I have started reading his previous books, Florida's Miracle Strip and Dixie Before Disneyland!
(Original post: Miniature Golf)
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Update to the Update:
February 28, 2007
There's more talk of changing the state song...
"Famous or Infamous?" (from the St. Petersburg Times)
"New State Song?" (from Q: The Florida Politics Blog, on Palm Beach Post)
One of the other controversial state songs mentioned in the article, Maryland, My Maryland, has a vague Florida connection. They lyrics are a poem written by James Ryder Randall, who before the Civil War spent some time on Atsena Otie (Cedar Key) as Augusta Steele's tutor. Augusta was the daughter of Augustus Steele, an early settler of both Tampa and Cedar Key, and later married James Matheson of Gainesville.
(Original post: Florida's State Song)
-----
Yesterday Tim Hollis sent me a nice email. He has a new book coming out later this spring, The Land of the Smokies: Great Mountain Memories. And yes, I have started reading his previous books, Florida's Miracle Strip and Dixie Before Disneyland!
(Original post: Miniature Golf)
-----
Update to the Update:
February 28, 2007
There's more talk of changing the state song...
"Famous or Infamous?" (from the St. Petersburg Times)
"New State Song?" (from Q: The Florida Politics Blog, on Palm Beach Post)
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Florida's State Song
Why didn't Gov. Charlie Crist play the official state song at his inauguration? Well, the state song is "Old Folks at Home," by Stephen Collins Foster. Most people sing the first line -- "Way down upon the Swanee River..." -- then just hum the rest. It's not the misspelling of the Suwannee River that causes the fuss, it's the part that everyone hums. The song's lyrics include gems like the first chorus: All de world am sad and dreary / Ebry where I roam / Oh! darkeys how my heart grows weary / Far from de old folks at home.
"Old Folks at Home" became the Florida state song in 1935, and implies a connection to the Old South. While northern Florida has a historical, social, and political connection to the southern United States, the same does not hold for southern Florida. As Florida's population and political centers drift further south, the song becomes less and less relevant (although we should not forget that slavery and plantations are very definitely part of our state's heritage).
But if the state song isn't to be played at inaugurations, what should take its place? Crist opted for "The Florida Song" (links to mp3 file) by blues musician Charles Atkins. Atkins is black, a native of Daytona Beach, a former student of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, and most of all, a talented artist.
Up in north Florida is the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park on the Suwannee River. Stephen Foster never even visited Florida, and chose the name Suwannee because it fit the cadence of the music. The song originally refered to the PeeDee River in South Carolina. So why does Foster get all this attention from Florida? On the state park's website, we read that the idea of the park came from Josiah K. Lilly, an Indiana pharmaceutical manufacturer (perhaps you've heard of his family's business, Eli Lilly and Company). Lilly was a scholar and collector of Foster's music. The Florida park was not the only memorial to Foster instigated by Lilly -- he was also directly responsible for establishing the Foster Hall Collection (the largest collection of Stephen Foster's work), housed in the Stephen Foster Memorial building on the University of Pittsburgh campus. (Foster was born in Pittsburgh, and wrote many of his songs there, including "Old Folks at Home.")
The Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park hosts the Florida Folk Festival each year, where Charles Atkins has been a featured artist.
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Update on State Song
"Old Folks at Home" became the Florida state song in 1935, and implies a connection to the Old South. While northern Florida has a historical, social, and political connection to the southern United States, the same does not hold for southern Florida. As Florida's population and political centers drift further south, the song becomes less and less relevant (although we should not forget that slavery and plantations are very definitely part of our state's heritage).
But if the state song isn't to be played at inaugurations, what should take its place? Crist opted for "The Florida Song" (links to mp3 file) by blues musician Charles Atkins. Atkins is black, a native of Daytona Beach, a former student of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, and most of all, a talented artist.
Up in north Florida is the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park on the Suwannee River. Stephen Foster never even visited Florida, and chose the name Suwannee because it fit the cadence of the music. The song originally refered to the PeeDee River in South Carolina. So why does Foster get all this attention from Florida? On the state park's website, we read that the idea of the park came from Josiah K. Lilly, an Indiana pharmaceutical manufacturer (perhaps you've heard of his family's business, Eli Lilly and Company). Lilly was a scholar and collector of Foster's music. The Florida park was not the only memorial to Foster instigated by Lilly -- he was also directly responsible for establishing the Foster Hall Collection (the largest collection of Stephen Foster's work), housed in the Stephen Foster Memorial building on the University of Pittsburgh campus. (Foster was born in Pittsburgh, and wrote many of his songs there, including "Old Folks at Home.")
The Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park hosts the Florida Folk Festival each year, where Charles Atkins has been a featured artist.
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Update on State Song
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