EVENTS
Get on board for 2008!
Yulee Railroad Days consists of a number of events put on by different organizers, including historical organizations, rail fans, sporting groups, and municipalities. Over the course of eight years beginning in 2004, it will grow across North Florida to become Florida’s first “linear festival.” The sweep of the event from Fernandina to Cedar Key echoes the track of David Levy Yulee’s Florida Railroad and includes many of the towns that came to life because of it or other rail lines. Each and every one is an important part of our history and deserves to celebrate!
There is no limit on the number of events in any area, so feel free to start your own, even if something is already going on in your town. Events may take place at any time during
Yulee Railroad Days 2008: Friday, May 30 - Saturday, June 7. Choose the time that works best for you.
2008 Yulee Railroad Days Events:
- 9am Parade Float Contest @ Rec Field
- 10am Patriotic Parade
- 12pm The Old Depot: Dedication & Speeches
- 12 noon, 1pm Cannon Blasts at the Civil War re-enactors’ camp
- 4pm Archer Idol Contest
Be sure to visit The Old Depot Railroad Museum,
the WWII Museum and the antique locomotive!
Baldwin
Sat, June 7, 7am
Baldwin Rail Trail @ 1 Center Street by the Trinity Rescue Mission of Jacksonville:
The Rescue Ride offers three fully supported options (All rides start and finish at the Baldwin Visitor Center.):
- Metric Century Plus: 64 mile route starting at 7:30am. Metric riders will have motorcycle escorts while on public roads.
- The Power Ride - 28 mile route entirely on the beautiful Jacksonville - Baldwin Rail Trail starting at 8:30am.
- The Fun Ride - a 14 mile route on the beautiful Jacksonville - Baldwin Trail starting at 9:00am.
EARLY REGISTRATION IS ONLY $15.00 per adult and includes a t-shirt and water bottle. After May 19th, registration is $25 per adult and $10 for each child under 12. There will be refreshments, emergency assistance and mechanical support throughout the ride, and a delicious lunch provided afterwards. Helmets are required. THE RESCUE RIDE MAKES A GREAT FUNDRAISER FOR YOUR GROUP OR ORGANIZATION! IT'S FUN AND IT'S EASY! Call 355-1205, ext. 11, for more information, or visit:
www.trinityrescue.org
RAIN DATE: JUNE 14, 2008
Fees: $15.00 early; $25.00 late
Online Registration Closes: 06/06/08 11:59pm
Registration:
http://www.active.com/page/
Event_Details.htm?event_id=1567737&assetId
=f693eed9-a260-43c0-9900-4584e4258ac0
Callahan
3rd Annual Railroad Days Festival at the Historic Train Depot (1800s) & Mickler St. County Building, hosted by the West Nassau Historical Society. Yulee's train first came through Callahan in 1856.
Sat, May 24, 1:00pm
Miss Railroad Days Beauty Pageant @ the West Nassau High School Auditorium:
Four age groups, with the young ladies in the 16-18 age group competing for a $250 scholarship.
All four winners will receive trophies and participate in the Railroad Days Parade the following Saturday, as well as portions of the program at the Depot.
Info: 904-879-1441 or at the Callahan Depot, Greater Nassau County Chamber of Commerce
Fri, May 30, 12:00 noon
Opening ceremonies, followed by the new historical marker dedication ceremony. The marker, the first erected on the western half of Nassau County in decades, tells of David Yulee and the major impact his cross peninsular railroad had to development of the inland portion of the state.
Trains of all shapes and sizes, food and craft vendors inside and around the depot.
Inside the depot, the artwork of Amelia Island artist, William Maurer will be on display, along with photo entries of the Railroad Days Photo Contest sponsored by the Nassau County Record.
- 3:00-10:00pm Live entertainment from the front deck of the depot, including a street dance in the depot parking lot.
Sat, May 31
8am:Presenting of the colors at 8:00AM as the craft and food vendors open.
10:00am the County Building on Mickler Street opens up with model train layouts inside and a car show outside.
11:00am The 3rd annual Railroad Days Parade begins its trek through Callahan. After the parade, the Town of Callahan hosts children’s games and family fun at the newly expanded Ewing Park until 4:00 PM.
Info: Janet Shaw at 904-879-3801
12:00 Noon The West Nassau High School Booster Club celebrates 40 years of Warrior athletics by holding a bed race at the high school track. Groups of five will race a custom made bed around the track.
Info: Richard Hern at 904-879-5922
Back at the depot, the Nassau County Sheriff’s office with set up their Children’s ID program at the Chamber of Commerce inside the depot. Opening festivities will commence on the front deck, including Sponsor Recognition and a Candidate’s Stump. Since David Yulee was a politician as well as a railroader (he was the first Jewish Senator elected to serve in Washington), those running for office and who are in the Railroad Days parade will be allowed to speak for 3 minutes exactly from the front deck of the Depot.
3:00-8:00pm Live entertainment resumes: The vendor area will close but there will be a street dance in the parking lot between 8:00-10:00pm.
Info: John Hendricks at 904-879-6651
Visit the website at:
http://www.wnhsfl.org/
e-mail:
Rrdays@aol.com
Gainesville
Matheson Museum Train Show
by the Ocala Model Railroaders,
featuring two large operating modular railroads in N and HO Scale, a demonstration layout with 6 popular Model Railroad scales: Unit Trains and Historic Passenger Trains of the
1830s to the present.
Admission: $4, Children 12 and under, free with adult
Wed, May 28 – Fri, May 30: 9:30am - 4:30pm
Sat, May 31, 10am - 5pm
Sunday, June 1, 1 - 5pm
Thurs, May 29: 7pm - 8:30pm: Free Admission
Special railroad history event:
Railroads of North Central Florida
www.ocalamodelrailroaders.com/yulee.html
Historic Haile Homestead
Sat, May 31, 10am - 2pm
Sun, June 1, noon - 4pm
Sat, June 7, 10am - 2pm
- Reduced admission to inside of house:
$3 person, under 12 free.
Special railroad-focused tours will include information on the importance of the railroad to planters and farmers in Florida.
- On June 1st & 7th, at the above times, a group of Civil War re-enactors will be setting up camp in the back yard. These outside shows are free. There will also be some African-American re-enactors who will talk about the Confederate soldiers of color - a most interesting and not very well known aspect of the war.
www.hailehomestead.org
The Cotton Club
- Sat, May 31, 10am - 2pm
Yulee Days Fish Fry
De Lions of Jah (Reggae)
- Fri, June 6, 8-10pm
At Gainesville's Downtown Plaza
Homosassa
Yulee Sugar Mills Ruins Historic State Park
- Saturday, May 31 2008: 9am-4pm
Location: County Road 490 (Yulee Drive)
Getting the Goods to the Rails: Yulee’s Sugar Cane Mill and Margarita Plantation in Homosassa:
See how sugar cane was grown, harvested, and
processed into sugar in pre-Civil War Florida
See the art of 19th Century Stone Masons!
Take a tour of the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins —
the oldest standing building in Citrus County
Sweet and Sour presentations at 11am, 1pm & 3pm
Directions: Take US Highway 19 to the Town of Homosassa. Take CR 490 (Yulee Road) west 2.5 miles to the Park. Entrance to this Park is FREE! Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Info: 352-795-0208
What Can We Do?
Railroads, local and Florida history, children’s events, how the area was settled and developed, what it was like in the 1800s. Yulee Railroad Days is about all this and more. If your organization wants to get involved, but doesn’t know how, here are some ideas that you could try:
Event with a local history or cultural theme
Natural attractions of the area
Event on use of Rails-to-Trails parkways
Exhibit on genealogy, inviting people to learn about their local history
Model railroad exhibit
Art project with a railroad theme, program at a community center or library, which could gather oral histories related to railroad themes. Contact senior centers, etc.
Exhibit on native plants to show what train passengers would have seen as they crossed the state
Tour of historic buildings
Prepare a display of books with railroad themes.
Feature story hours for youngsters with railroad books, songs. photo exhibit of trains or an exhibit of railroad-related collections. Businesses could feature railroad toys (Thomas the Tank Engine, for instance) in their store windows and display space.
Railroad Honor Roll: In a central location in the community, ask people to list the names of family members who have worked for a railroad, along with dates, type of job, name of railroad companies, and contact information
Day care center, plan a little parade with tricycles and scooters pretending to be a choo-choo.
“Railroad Picture Treasure hunt.” Distribute disposable cameras and ask youngsters to take pictures of railroad tracks, railroad signs, buildings, etc. (This could work in neighborhoods near an old train station or in small towns.) Display the photos in the library or town hall. Theaters could feature a railroad film that weekend.
Grocery store to sponsor a coloring contest. Print up a page with a train to color, and give each kid a sticker with a train image on it when they turn in their picture. Have a display area for pictures with a poster about the event at the front of the store.
Docents pose outside the Historic Haile Homestead in Gainesville, which conducted special tours highlighting excerpts from Serena Haile's journal describing the effect the railroad had on the family.
Historian Harold McGee, right, poses with a member of the Ocala Model Railroaders and Historic Preservation Society, which exhibited its impressive model RR display at the Matheson Museum in Gainesville. The Matheson featured its own railroad exhibits and conducted tours of the Matheson House during the weekend, as well as hosting the YRRD Opening Reception.
Santa Fe Community College's David Campus in Archer was the site of the opening reception for Yulee Railroad Days in Archer on Friday. Designs created by the SFCC Graphic Design Technology Students were displayed. Adam Booth and Brandy Hall portrayed the title characters in a reading of Sarah Bewley's play "David and Nancy Yulee" during the Archer Opening.
Saturday, visitors at the Cotton Club/Blue Note Restoration Project enjoyed barbecued chicken and ribs in the shade of a magnificent oak tree that sits next to the former venue for "Chitlin Circuit" blues and jazz musicians.
Friends of the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail and the Florida Track Club hosted a 10k run out and back from Boulware Springs on Saturday morning. There were 250 runners from as far away as Norway who participated in the Grand Prix event.
The Yulee Days in Archer Festival on Saturday attracted vendors, reenactors, and lots of political candidates who were eager to enjoy the oldest celebration of David Levy Yulee and his Florida Railroad. The Archer Historical Society Museum in the Old Depot was open and served as the state for music acts all day. The Walk Through Time featured demonstrations of how early settlers and Native Americans live in 19th Century North Florida. "Mrs. Yulee" and her husband were on hand to chat with visitors. The Horse Power Parade lived up to its name. Reeactors from the Civil War Encampment fired the cannon three times in front of the historic Kasicky house.
TO TOP OF PAGE
Copyright © 2006 Archer Historical Society, Inc.
|
