President's Message

It's a great time here at the Bartram Trail Society of Florida! We're preparing to host our 9th annual St. Johns River Bartram Frolic on April 12, 2025. It has evolved into an event that draws thousands to Palatka. It has also become part of the Putnam County School District's second-grade curriculum.

This year, we will have educated over 5,000 Putnam County students on our Bartram legacy.

We have been busy again this year representing at local events. In February, we enjoyed our visit to the Florida Trail Fest at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Centre State Park. We enjoyed meeting hundreds of trail users. The Florida Trail Association. I will be leading a hike from Bartram Trail site #3, Greys Creek (Rice Creek), during the Bartram Frolic on April 12.

Our last event was the Lullaby of the Rivers in February at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. We were surprised by the large number of visitors. Billy Bartram (Mike Adams) and Trader Job Wiggens (Robert Wilson) delighted the visitors with their living history stories. Bartram Troubadour Lee Pinkerson and Bill Snyder entertained singing their river songs.

We will be having our 2025 Membership Annual meeting in St. Augustine on August 1, 2025. You will want to be there because it is also the first day of the 2025 Bartram Trail Conference!

The event will take place at Flagler College from August 1 to 3, 2025. That means that hundreds of Bartramites will be gathering to visit Florida's Bartram Trail Heritage City. On Friday, we will be holding our Annual Meeting, followed by a statewide Bartram Trail workshop in Florida, where representatives from Putnam County, Nassau County, Duval County, Clay County, ad Alachua County will discuss their plans for the Bartram Trail. Please make plans to attend! Official details will come soon.

Speaking of membership, we need your help with the Frolic and the Conference. If you'd like to have fun and enjoy doing worthwhile things, please visit our website and send us an email to express your interest in volunteering.

There is a job for you, and we would be so appreciative.

As Billy says "…peace and love…"

Sam Carr, President

London, England: Bartram Art Mission

By Carole and Mike Adams

On or about April 16, 2025, we will embark on a William Bartram art recovery mission to the Museum of Natural History (MNH) in London, England. We will be serving as emissaries of the Bartram Trail Society of Florida (BTSF). In 2013, spearheaded by BTSF board members Ken and Janice Mahaffey, following meetings with museum curators, the MNH was kind enough to provide the BTSF with 21 high-resolution scans of select prints, many of which were published in his book, Travels, 1791.

We've made advanced arrangements to visit Mrs. Andrea Hart, Library Special Collections Manager, to inquire about additional Bartram art pieces. We hope to secure as many scanned copies as possible on a thumb drive and share these with various appropriate organizations back home.

We will provide an update about this mission in our summer or fall Puc-puggy Press newsletter!

The Bartram Trail Society of Florida Attends the Lullaby of the Rivers Festival

By Dean Campbell

The annual Lullaby of the Rivers Festival was held this year at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre on Anastasia Island, an official St. Johns County Bartram Site. Lullaby of the Rivers is a nonprofit organization that uses songs, stories, exhibits, and activities to raise awareness of rivers and our relationship with them, a perfect fit with the mission of the Bartram Trail Society. The festival is a free community event with live music, a Kid Zone, vendors, and food trucks. Among the Environmental organizations offering learning activities for people of all ages was our Society, and this was the first year the Society has been invited to participate.

Society members Sam Carr, Mike and Carole Adams, Larry Mikelson, Robert Wilson, and Dean Campbell staffed the booth from almost sunrise to sunset.

William Bartram (Mike Adams) and Job Wiggins (Robert Wilson) were present in costume to engage festival attendees of all ages. Bartram Troubadour Lee Pinkerson and Bill Snyder (The Harri Buffalo Band) delighted audiences with original Bartram songs. At the same time, Mike Adams took the stage as Billy Bartram and shared stories of his time spent on the shores of the St. Johns River, in keeping with the festival's theme.

The festival was attended by over 3,600 people, many of whom came from outside St. Augustine. Although we were there nearly 10 hours, the time was both busy and productive as we engaged with people from all walks of life as well as with other agency and organization staff who were working the event.

We're already looking forward to next year's event, which promises to be even bigger and better!