A quaint church before the water tower, Pahokee, “Welcome Home,” JTLNegronBraynon
Senate President Joe Negron’s District 25 includes the Treasure Coast south to Palm Beach County, and inland to the City of Pahokee in the Glades. Pahokee will be hosting President Negron and Senate Democratic leader Oscar Braynon tomorrow, March 17th at 5p.m. to talk about Senate Bill 10, and the future of the area.
This is a good opportunity to meet our neighbors and learn what they, the people, have to say about Senate Bill 10, and what they want for the future of their historic community. I encourage coastal residents to attend.
The people we support; the environmental destruction of our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, we cannot. The waters of the great Lake Okeechobee flowed south for thousands of years before the rich soils it created were discovered, and our environment was put at risk.
Isn’t there a way more water can flow south as God and Nature intended while enhancing the economics and life style for the people of this area? Can’t we let the people speak for themselves?
Let us try.
Thank you.
Jacqui
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Press Release: Glades County Democrat Newspaper
Area residents invited to hear Senator Joe Negron Mar 15th, 2017 · by Special to the Glades County Democrat PAHOKEE — Florida Senate President Senator Joe Negron and Florida Senate Democratic Leader Senator Oscar Braynon will be at the Glades Community Discussion on Friday, March 17, at 5 p.m. to discuss the future of our historic communities.
This discussion is open to all communities of Pahokee, Belle Glade, Clewiston, South Bay, Canal Point, LaBelle, Okeechobee and Moore Haven.
The Glades Community Discussion will take place at the Pahokee High School located at 900 Larrimore Road.
Free locally grown food for Glades residents will be served. There will be chicken dinners, corn boil and corn giveaway for Glades families.
Photos of beautiful, historic, Pahokee
Hanging in the Presidient Negron’s office if this historic photo from Pahokee of the corn harvest.Pahokee is famous for its streets lined with stately royal palms. JTL…Pahokee’s rich muck soils yield tremendous produce.Black gold up closeA home in Pahokee.Homes in the Glades are built on multiple stilts in the mucky soils. Soil subsidence is an issue.The sugar mill nearby-there are concerns about job loss if land in the EAA is purchased for a reservoir. The area already has a high unemployment rate. The question is, is the present situation the situation Glades residents want for their future?Number sticker on a car in the GladesSenate Districts Florida
Sunset over Lake Okeechobee at Canal Point, neighbor to Pahokee, by Todd Thurlow
Today we look back in history….but you have to look….
These historic photographs are marked “Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc.”
According to Mr. John H. Canada, president, Ocean Naval Architects, the year was 1925. You may recognize one of the images as it was used in a former blog post discussing the piled up sand of the C-44 canal. From 1915 to 1925 the government was connecting the canal from Lake Okeechobee to the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. A big mistake!
These photos below were originally sent to my mother, historian, Sandra Thurlow, by Mr John Whiticar. In their discussion, it is noted that one can see farming where Indian River Plantation is today (The Marriott); one cannot see an Intercostal Waterway–no spoil islands off Sewall’s Point; there was no development on Rocky Point; and most interesting for me, looking at the photo this time: today’s Martin County Golf Course, part of yesteryear’s “Sunrise Inn,” sits right there “in the middle of no where” in 1925. Those were the days!
Early rendition of a portion of the “Everglades” (Painting in my parents home, Tom and Sandra Thurlow.)Cover of book, 1910 by Walter Waldin.…..…..…….
This past Friday, I attended a Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council meeting and was treated to a wonderful presentation entitled: “A Brief History of Florida Water Management 1800-2000 Ponce to CERP.” The talk was given by Mr Bob Ulevich, president of Polymath Consulting Services, L.L.C. ” (http://polymathconsultingservices.com). Bob” is a beloved man who has a long history himself as senior water resources project manager for the South Florida Water Management District. Bob is considered the “father of water farming.”
His presentation left me speechless, once again being reminded of the history of agriculture in the state of Florida and its deep intertwinement with the state’s government and politicians….basically they are one in the same. This is how it is….St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and every inch of the rest of the state. “We” may not like this, but we must accept this…
With rumor that Adam Putnam, the Commissioner of Agriculture, could be our next governor, it is critical to refresh our memory on this historic relationship. Today I will share a book a from my historian mother’s shelf and also post the raw iPhone footage of Bob speaking before the council. It is my belief that we have got to learn to understand this historic relationship along with the power agriculture yields and “work with it,” in our quest for better water quality. They too are “naturalist” at heart….they are. Some of them in our South Floirda region have just “morphed,” and need some help getting back to their roots. 🙂 They hold the key to Florida’s water future.
The first page of the booklet talks about “getting back to nature” as farming is deeply intertwined with nature. Unfortunately today many of the intense practices of farming destroy nature and our water resources.
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This is an another excerpt from the book:
….the independent countryman’s life must appeal, for he is a free man, master of himself, is conversant with nature in its many moods, enjoys the first fruits of the earth with the gleam still on them, and all its first impulses and pleasures….”
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“No wonder, then, the cry of today is, “Back to the back and nature.” And back we must and will go, for this threatening catastrophe is too appalling to be passed by unchallenged.”
The catastrophe Mr Waldin is speaking of is that so many people were leaving America’s lands to go to the cities, that the “vitality of our nation was being drained proportionately…” Mr Waldin feared the lands would be empty and all would move to the cities…..It basically has happened, hasn’t it!
Below are the links to Mr Ulevich’s presentation, his presentation does not encompass the little book. I added that. Bob speaks on “A Brief History of Water Management 1800-2000 and although my “Jacqui home videos” are poor quality, you can hear the message. I had to break the videos up into 15 minutes sections as my You Tube account is not set to post anything over 15 minutes…Bob’s presentation is excellent. For those of you who have time to listen, you will enjoy it very much and learn a ton! Bob will finish his presentation next month covering approximately from 1910 to today.——– And that’s where we get to hear “the rest of the story….” 🙂
