The people make Fernandina Beach special.

FOpinions_051312Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm

Reporter – News Analyst

Volunteers stock the Barnabas Center pantry.
Volunteers stock the Barnabas Center pantry.

As we approach the start of another new year here in our beloved home–or adopted home–town, let us pause and reflect a while on what makes Fernandina Beach so special.  At the top of anyone’s list must be The People.  Our community is home to some of the kindest, most generous and friendly folks that you can find anywhere.  Regardless of differences in faith, ethnicity, politics, income or education levels, there is no difference when it comes to helping people in need.  Generous with their time, ability and resources, our friends and neighbors will pull together to assist families struck by tragedy, local causes that benefit the elderly, children and the needy, animals, and strangers who wander into our midst trying to find Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, or a bridge to Georgia.

City life guards at Main Beach
City life guards at Main Beach

Our community is served by public employees who embody these same traits.  The outstanding response time we receive from our public safety and fire/rescue personnel makes our community the envy of neighboring communities.  Our school system wins high rankings so routinely that people take it as a given that we score at the top of statewide measures.  We are located within a short commuting distance of the Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Nassau Center in Yulee, where degree or certificate seekers and lifelong learners can broaden their horizons without having to fight Jacksonville traffic.  For a city of roughly 12,000 souls, our Parks and Recreation Department runs a wide variety of programs that appeal to all ages and all levels of athleticism in addition to covering something like 40 beach accesses to our world famous beaches, ball fields and parks, multiple recreation centers and a greenway that stretches along Egans Creek.  Despite some hiccups of late, we continue to enjoy the benefits of a public marina, a public golf course, and a general aviation airport.

Architect John Cotner explains restoration of the historic train depot to a Museum audience.
Architect John Cotner explains restoration of the historic train depot to a Museum audience.

We enjoy a rich cultural life, thanks to the creative efforts of both professionals and volunteers and the generous financial support of local benefactors.  Amelia Community Theatre and Fernandina Little Theater will be joined in 2014 by the Amelia Musical Playhouse.  Fort Clinch re-enactors take visitors back in time to Civil War days.  The Amelia Island Museum of History, located in the former Nassau County Jail, offers an abundance of programs highlighting local and state history in addition to routinely telling visitors the real story of the island’s eight flags.  The Fernandina Beach branch library is about to undergo a major expansion, with the help of many private citizens who stepped up to match public monies committed by both the city and Nassau County.  Our spanking new, heavily used Boys and Girls Club exists today due to the generosity of community residents.

The 2013 Blues Festival kicks off on Centre Street.
The 2013 Blues Festival kicks off on Centre Street.

And we can’t forget the festivals that add so much to our life on the island and bring so many visitors to enjoy what we often take for granted.  In addition to the long running Shrimp Festival that celebrates Fernandina’s pivotal role in the shrimping industry the first weekend of May each year, we now host music festivals that run the gamut from chamber music to blues and jazz, a book festival, a garden show, barbecue cook-offs, car shows, fishing tournaments, golf tournaments, an international petanque tournament and others that I’m sure I have missed.  And is there any community in the state that holds as many parades as Fernandina Beach?

2006 Veterans Day Parade unit representing local Veterans History Project.
2006 Veterans Day Parade unit representing local Veterans History Project.
Viva Florida! event in Old Town with Arva Butler and Michael Harrison portraying the Clarkes.
2013 Viva Florida! event in Old Town with Arva Butler and Michael Harrison portraying the early surveyor George Clarke and his wife.

Our National Register-listed Historic Districts in Old Town and Downtown Fernandina Beach are a source of pride to those who have invested in restoring and rehabilitating historic structures to live and work in.  The downtown district draws many visitors who enjoy walking the tree-canopied streets, shopping in unique stores, and dining in an area that dates to 1857 and the arrival of the Florida Railroad Company.  Old Town, with its surviving Spanish grid, draws visitors who want to seek out the earliest location of Fernandina surveyed by the Spanish in 1811.

Florida photo archives, Florida Memory Project
Florida photo archives, Florida Memory Project

Fernandina has managed to survive where other communities have failed thanks to the indomitable spirit of its people and the vision of others.  It started with people like David Yulee and Samuel Swann, who brought the railroad here in the 1850’s.  The shipping, lumber and phosphate industries capitalized on our naturally deep-water port.   The boat builders and the pioneers of the shrimping industry at the turn of the 19th century brought another period of prosperity to be followed by the pulp mills that brought the community out of the Great Depression. Tourism, spurred on by the advent of the south island resorts in the late 1970’s, created additional opportunities for city entrepreneurs in hospitality, food and retail commerce.  While early settlers battled the yellow fever epidemics that seemed to strike with severe regularity and the problems inherent with Civil War occupation and Reconstruction, later generations contended with hardship resulting from economic cycles, the rise of Jacksonville as a port city, and the problems of both racial segregation and integration.  In all cases, the citizens needed to adapt to changing circumstances to ensure their future and that of this community.  As one wag once said, Fernandina should borrow a motto from the Timex Watch Company:  takes a lickin’, but keeps on tickin’.

Residents gather at the Veterans Memorial for Memorial Day Commemoration.
Residents gather at the Veterans Memorial for Memorial Day Commemoration.

We hear a lot today about fragile ecosystems.  We know that while fertilizer can be a good thing for our lawns and gardens, it can be a bad thing when it washes into our streams and rivers.  Fishing brings us delights from the sea to savor, but overfishing upsets the balance in the marine food chain.  So it is with communities.  The interrelationship of people, private enterprise and public institutions is also a fragile one.  Too much reliance on one aspect, be it government support, private generosity or a single industry, places the survival of the community at risk.  As Fernandina’s forbearers understood, the balancing point for all these systems is tricky to achieve.  But the one factor that that has allowed Fernandina to prosper despite national economic trends, wars and social upheaval has been the ability of its people to change and adapt to new circumstances.

City marina
City marina

As we approach a new year with a new city commission at the helm of the good ship Fernandina, we cross our fingers and hope that since our little craft has survived the perils of the past years, we can try to pull our oars in the same direction on a true course to a future with greater economic opportunity, more tolerance for considering change in all its forms, and a willingness to leave past controversies to history.  Our good people deserve at least this much from our elected leaders.

 

 

Suanne ThammEditor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.

December 27, 2013 1:33 p.m.

6 Comments
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Genece Minshew
Genece Minshew (@guest_16371)
10 years ago

Very well said. Thanks for helping us all remember why we love this place so much!

wilma allen
wilma allen(@wilmaa65gmail-com)
10 years ago

I agree. Thanks for the thoughtful commentary throughout the year. Wilma

Dickie Anderson
Dickie Anderson(@dickie-andersongmail-com)
10 years ago

Hard to capture the essence and many facets of our amazing “home” island……..you did it!

Peggy Bulger
Peggy Bulger(@peggy-bulger1949gmail-com)
10 years ago

Thank you for a wonderful recap of our community assets and especially for giving us the exhortation to move forward in tolerance and unity in 2014. I have renewed hope that the last election has given us a balance on the City Commission to provide a voice for all of us, but we, as citizens of this beautiful island, need to do our part . . . we need to care enough to inform ourselves and vote on the issues that will shape Fernandina in the future. Finally, many thanks to Suanne for her consistantly excellent writing!

Betsie Huben
Betsie Huben(@betsie-huben)
10 years ago

Great article especially the bit about getting our oars going in the same direction. Many hands make light work and there is much work to be done to secure a great future for our little island idyll.

Rose Bennett
Rose Bennett (@guest_16623)
10 years ago

Thanks for the memories, reminders and realities of our home, sweet island, home!