MUSEUM HOURS

Monday – Friday

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

1st Saturday

10:00 am – 2:00 pm

CURATOR

Richard “Ted” Waterfall

TRUSTEES

Charlie Bagg

Louise Carter

Jim Gillies

Melanie Blankenship

Kim Winn

OFFICERS

Timothy Totten

President

Bob Marks

Vice-President

Cindy Satur

2nd Vice-President

Danyel Moulden

Recording Secretary

Anita Ezelle

Corresponding Secretary

John Blankenship

Treasurer

APPOINTED

Louise Carter - Historian

Regina Heffington - Website

JoAnn Bobbitt - Refreshments

Eustis Reflections

A Monthly Publication of the

Eustis Historical Museum & Preservation Society, Inc.

Volume VII, Number 3 – March 2011 www.eustishistoricalmuseum.com

EVENTS CALENDAR

May 26 Monthly Meeting

Thursday at 7:00 pm - The Clifford House

Special Guest: Porter Family

Officer & Trustee Installation Ceremony

May 30 Memorial Day Service

11:00 am (Curator Ted Waterfall is a speaker)

Lakes at Leesburg Clubhouse

June 3 First Friday Street Party

6:00 – 10:00 pm

Downtown Eustis

Friends,

Things are moving right along here. So busy, in fact, that this newsletter

almost didn’t get done!

We are especially grateful to the folks who have stepped forward to be

officers and trustees for the 2011-2012 year at the museum. Working

with those who have stayed on the governing board, these new

members are going to help us continue moving this museum and

preservation society to new heights.

In a few weeks, we’ll have the first of several organizational meetings to

chart out the next year of the organization, both in terms of budget and

exhibits. If you have any questions or need to raise any specific issues

for our consideration, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Timothy B. Totten, President

CURATOR’S CORNER by Ted Waterfall

Since the Civil War display opened, Karen LeHeup Smith has loaned a very old model 1795, .69

caliber smoothbore Springfield flintlock musket that was converted into a caplock and was in the

private collection of her ancestor, Mr Eben Phillips, when the war began. He enlisted in the 186th

New York in 1864. Thanks, Karen, for the loan of that musket.

Speaking of this exhibit, it has brought to this museum many visitors who have told me that they

have come expressly to see this display. So it seems to have received quite a good response from

the spread in the Daily Commercial last month. We have also been featured in a nice little article

recently in the Orlando Sentinel. Let the word continue to spread.

Eustis Elementary School visited our museum recently. Well over 60 children and eight to ten

adults were present. It was no problem splitting them into three groups as they were already

represented by three different classes. One class started on the first floor, one on the second

floor, and one in the Citrus Museum and then simply rotated. A special thanks to Louise Carter.

Ethyl Ryan, and Charlie Bagg for helping with the tour. I also wish to thank Tim Totten for

arranging for a fire truck to be here. The kids really enjoyed that addition to their experience.

Eustis Heights was scheduled to tour with similar numbers shortly after I submitted this

Curator’s Corner.

The first batch of their essays have been submitted for grading. The quality of research spans the

entire spectrum and one might expect and, in most cases, it is fairly easy to see which ones have

had way too much parental input, which ones have been simply downloaded from the internet,

and which ones have actually seen a lot of student work put into them. It will be an interesting

read for the graders. Another batch was forthcoming after this newsletter was put to bed.

Our recent Mother’s Day Tea Party was a rousing success. The house and front yard was filled

with guests and this Clifford House setting was just perfect as a backdrop. Group tours of the

house also resulted and hopefully, by word of mouth, more guests will be forthcoming. We look

forward to many more in the years to come.

Well, that’s it for this month, so until next time…

Keep you powder dry.*

Ted

* Keep your power dry was an expression wishing good luck when black powder was the major propellant in hunting rifles. Wet or moist powder = no food.

OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST Visit our friends at these other museums

for more history of Lake County.

Please call the specific location

for hours of operation and directions.

Groveland Historical Society Museum 243 S. Lake Avenue Groveland, FL 34736 (352) 429-0771 www.grovelandhistory.org

Historical Society of Tavares 121 Alfred Street Tavares, FL 32778 (352) 343-7252

Lady Lake Historical Society Museum 107 S. Old Dixie Highway Lady Lake, FL 32159 (352) 259-4359 www.ladylake.org

Lake County Historical Museum 317 W. Main Street Tavares, FL 32778 (352) 343-9890 www.lakecountyfl.gov

Leesburg Historical Museum 111 S. Sixth Street Leesburg, FL 34749 (352) 315-1800 www.leesburgflorida.gov Mote-Morris House 1195 W. Magnolia Street Leesburg, FL 34788 (352) 728-9898 www.leesburgflorida.gov

Mount Dora History Museum 450 Royellou Lane Mount Dora, FL 37257 (352) 383-0006 http://www.mountdorahistoricalsociety.com

South Lake County Historical Society Village 480 West Avenue Clermont, FL 34711 (352) 394-6611 www.southlakehistoricalsociety.com

Held Saturday, May 7th on the grounds of

the Eustis Historical Museum.

We had 80+ visitors who enjoyed tea, lunch

and a tour of the museum.

Click here for more photos.

EUSTIS HISTORICAL MUSEUM & PRESERVATION SOCIETY 536 N. Bay Street, Eustis, FL 32726 (352) 483-0046

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION / RENEWAL

Date: [ ] New Membership [ ] Renewal [ ] Other Donation

Student $10 Individual $20 Family $25

Business $55 Life Member $500 Other Donation

Name / Business Name:

Address: City, State, Zip:

Email Address:

Newsletters are delivered by email unless you check this box [ ] for postal delivery

PHONE: ALTERNATE PHONE:

Areas of Volunteer Interest:

The Eustis Historical Museum & Preservation Society is a non-profit 501c3 organization. All donations are tax deductable.

Membership News: It’s Time to Renew Your Membership!

The 2011-2012 Eustis Historical Museum & Preservation Society Membership year starts June 1st. This

means it is membership renewal time! Please complete the membership renewal form on this page and

use the enclosed envelope to mail the form back with your membership dues.

Change in address or new phone number? Please be sure to include these updates on your renewal!

The Museum’s membership year ends May 31, 2011 and so don’t delay in sending in your membership

renewal. We appreciate your support of the museum as we strive to collect, preserve, and display our

local history!

Sincerely,

Cindy L. Satur

2nd Vice President, Membership

The Museum appreciates the kind support of Don and Penny at PARTY SOURCE in Eustis.

A Business Member of the Museum since 2010, Party Source is Eustis’ go-to place for

party supplies. If you’ve been to one of our tea parties, you’ve seen their stuff!

Visit them at the corner of Kurt Street and Highway 441 in Eustis, just behind

Sobik’s Subs and Haystax Restaurant, next to U.S. Public Storage.

MEM

BER

SPO

TLIG

HT

MOTHER’S DAY TEA

We had a lovely time on Saturday, May 7th, with more than 80 visitors joining us for Mother’s Day.

Special Thanks to Nan Cobb from CLASSIC TENTS AND EVENTS for the lace tablecloths for the tea party!

We inherited the old piano when grandmother Gonga died in Bartow. I remember it's being brought into the living room of our Barnes Avenue home. I was so proud of myself when with my index finger I could pick out the tune to the Call to Worship "The Lord is in His Holy Temple" on that old piano. Sister Miriam took a few lessons and could play a little. Mama could play quite well. We were a singing family. All 5 of us could carry a tune and participated in the music programs of our two churches. But my remembrance just now is the fun that Miriam and I had singing duets at that old piano. Actually we sounded pretty good if I must say so myself. One I recall was "I was lookin' Back to See." After we grew up and went our various ways, wife Sylvia, and our two children would visit Miriam and her family in Mississippi, and again we would sing around her piano. When Daddy died in 1987 and Mama became a member of our household in North Carolina, that old piano on Barnes Avenue was passed on to another grateful family. I hope that happy singing still takes place around it.

MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAM

Our curator, Ted Waterfall, will be speaking at the Memorial Day Ceremony at Lakes of Leesburg at 11:00am on Monday, May 30th. For more information or directions, please call Ted at 352-483-0046.

SCHOOLKIDS EVERYWHERE!

We’ve hosted several classes of school children at the museum during the past few weeks. Special thanks to all of our volunteers who came and helped teach the kids our local history!

CIVIL WAR IN FLORIDA EXHIBIT

The exhibit continues through September. Come see the roomful of great artifacts and displays. Many of the items on display were either loaned or donated by local Civil War collectors. We appreciate their contributions!

BUSINESS MEMBERS Please consider supporting those businesses which support the work of your Preservation Society.

Bay Pharmacy (352) 357-4341

Forever Ballroom (352)742-9461

Merry Jewelers (352) 589-4321

Bronson Ace Hardware

(352) 357-2366

Harden – Pauli Funeral Home (352) 357-4126

Rick Howe’s Auto Repair (352)357-9991

Coldwell Banker

Tyre & Taylor Realty, Inc. (352) 357-4100

Premier Pet Solutions by Dana Ellerby (352) 460-7409

Paulhamus Produce, Inc. (And catering service)

(352)357-6284

Inspired Designs by Sue Hooper (352) 589-0867

Beautifying Floors by De Vere

(352)638-3202

Steve’s Heating & A/C (352) 636-2064

www.stevetheacguy.com

Double Take Pizza (352) 483-0222

Jack & Andy’s Electric (352) 357-4459

Tom’s Color Bar (352)483-4247

Bills Prestige Printing

(352) 589-5833 Ronald E. Holman, DDS PA

(352) 735-2211 United Southern Bank

(352) 589-2121

Eustis Historical Museum

& Preservation Society

536 North Bay Street

Eustis, Florida 32726

Phone: 352-483-0046

eustismuseum@gmail.com