Category: Video

Song Contest Winner and Finishers in the 2023 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest

To hear all the Top Ten Songs scroll down past the Top Three Winners Singer/songwriter Daniel Childs calls the Florida Gulf Coast home, performing roughly 250 live shows per year.  Originally from Tennessee, Childs says he began writing and performing music at a young age, and by 30, he had traveled the breadth of the continental … Continue reading Song Contest Winner and Finishers in the 2023 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest



Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings: Video Highlights of Events at the MKR Historic State Park

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is best known for her novel The Yearling which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 and was made into a major motion picture. She penned many other books including Cross Creek, South Moon Under, Golden Apples, The Sojourner and Blood of My Blood. Rawlings died on December 14th, 1953 but her legacy lives on and continues to inspire writers around … Continue reading Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings: Video Highlights of Events at the MKR Historic State Park



Elaine Carson Spencer: Reflecting on the Artistic Ties between MKR and Her Parents, Robert E. and Estelle Carson

Robert E. Carson was a professor of Humanities at the University of Florida from 1946-1971. In his youth, he worked as a professional musician playing the saxophone and clarinet in dance orchestras, theaters, hotels and for a brief time, vaudeville.   His first love was the violin which he started playing at the age of … Continue reading Elaine Carson Spencer: Reflecting on the Artistic Ties between MKR and Her Parents, Robert E. and Estelle Carson



A lost tourist’s letter home video pokes fun at FL visitors who end up in Central FL rather than the beach

The late singer-songwriter Ann Thomas captured just what a lost tourist might feel if he or she was heading for a typical vacation on a Florida beach, but ended up in Florida’s scrub land in her song, “A Lost Tourist’s Letter Home.”  Ann was the other half of the famous couple Ann and Frank Thomas … Continue reading A lost tourist’s letter home video pokes fun at FL visitors who end up in Central FL rather than the beach



A conversation with Margaret Longhill about Will McLean

President Emeritus of the Will McLean Foundation, Margaret Longhill, is credited for her work helping to get the late Will McLean into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. McLean (1919-1990), considered the “Father of Florida Folk,” was inducted in 1996. Shortly before his death, Longhill and some of McLean’s closest friends were instrumental in establishing … Continue reading A conversation with Margaret Longhill about Will McLean



Archival material: Florida folk musicians and Vassar Clements record “Old Folks At Home”

In 1997 fiddler Vassar Clements and a variety of musicians and singers gathered in a mobile studio at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs to record Florida’s state song, “Old Folks At Home” by Stephen Foster. The recording engineer in the mobile studio was Jim Bickerstaff. Florida Artists Hall of Fame winner, Frank Thomas, … Continue reading Archival material: Florida folk musicians and Vassar Clements record “Old Folks At Home”



Fostering Baby Squirrels

It’s that time of year again…when hundreds of baby squirrels begin to venture out from their nests. Unfortunately, many end up falling from trees and become easy prey when encountering the jaws of cats and dogs. Many also are lucky enough to be rescued by willing volunteers who either take care of the furry critters … Continue reading Fostering Baby Squirrels