Meet Our Volunteers -- Mary Jane!

What brought you to the Old Davie School Historical Museum?

My Father's family homesteaded a farm in Alachua, Florida. They are original "Florida Crackers". Since childhood, Florida history has always been extremely interesting to me.

Appropriately, I consider the book, "A Land Remembered" by Patrick Smith, as my favorite book!

Although we continued to visit the farm, my Father had to move our family to Miami for a particular job.

However, my Father loved Davie.  I think the farming, orange groves and animals reminded him of his home.  Every Sunday we used to drive to the Orange Groves of Davie.   Occasionally, we would ride our horses to the Davie area and camp out.  Our overnight rides included going to the "Hitching Post" restaurant!  I also loved Davie.

In 1981, to be near my new job, my husband and I moved our family to Cooper City, then in 2002, we moved to Davie.  Three years ago, after teaching for 35 years, I retired.

I was excited to discover the volunteer teaching opportunity at ODSHM!

Now, I am able to teach what I love, in a town I have loved my whole life!

What’s your background and other interests?

I taught at a high school in Dade County for a few years but spent the majority of my teaching career at Pioneer Middle School in Cooper City.

I received my Associate's Degree in Education from Florida International University.  I have a Master's Degree in Computer Science and an Educational Specialist's Degree in Media from Nova University.

During the course of my career, I taught Physical Education, Computer Programming and Computer Applications. I was also a Media Specialist for a number of years and I coached many different sports. Additional responsibilities I had for years included being the Technology Coordinator and the New Educator Coordinator.

Today, besides volunteering at ODSHM, I help with my four grandchildren, travel, exercise, cook, play golf, and enjoy life!

What’s your favorite part of volunteering?

Being able to enjoy teaching without having to grade papers, or test the students.

Do you have a favorite memory of volunteering?

I have a very recent memory that just makes me laugh!

I was talking to a group about student discipline in the early days of ODSHM. I explained that if students didn't behave properly, their punishment could include "spanking".  I noticed perplexed looks on the students' faces.  One student raised his little hand and said "what does spanking mean?"  His question is such a reminder to me of how much things have changed!

THANK YOU MARY JANE FOR ALL YOU DO!

5 Things You May Not Know about the Town of Davie Logo

You might see it on the signs welcoming folks to Davie or maybe you’ve visited the town website or taken a closer look at the logo on the new recycling bins, but you may not have noticed all the little pieces of our history in the Davie logo. Here’s 5 things you may not have known about our Town of Davie logo!

1. Recognize the building in the back? It’s the Old Davie School Historical Museum! Built in 1918, the Davie School was the first school built in the Everglades and also had the first indoor plumbing in town. The building served as a meeting place for dances, dinners, elections and as a shelter during hurricanes and floods. Now operating as a museum of local Davie and Broward history, the Davie School was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988!

   

   (Davie School 1926)

    

2. The dates at the bottom denote when Davie was first established in 1925, and when it was again officially incorporated in 1961. An election was held in the auditorium of the Davie School in 1925 with 45 residents voting for incorporation and electing Frank Stirling (namesake of Stirling Road) as the first mayor. The charter lapsed in 1926 and it wasn’t until 1961 that the Town of Davie was again officially incorporated.

   

   (Caricature of Frank Stirling, 1942) 

3.  Davie has long been recognized for as a town of ranching, horses and rodeo. Did you know that in the 1930s, James Bright brought, bred and trained the first thoroughbred horses in the state to Davie? He was also a partner in opening the Hialeah Race Track. Many people often remember their first visit to Davie was on horseback.  You can still visit the McDonald’s on Davie Road and tie up your horse at the corral!

   

   (Horse races at Hialeah Park)

4. The flowers on the bottom right are orange blossoms and represent the orange groves that made the agricultural community of Davie famous. The prosperity of the groves inspired the Orange Festival (now called the Orange Blossom Festival) that will celebrate its 77^th year in 2014! Griffin Road is still home to New River and Spyke’s Groves!

   

   (Aerial view of the Viele Groves)

5. The mortarboard and diploma signifies Davie’s commitment to education. The Forman family leased and eventually sold their land to the government for use as an airfield during World War II. The family added a provision that the land be used only for education. The former location of the Forman Field is now the South Florida Education Center, hosting Nova Southeastern University, Broward College, McFatter Technical Center and other university satellite campuses as well as primary and secondary schools. Davie has grown as an educational hub in the 20^th century and continues to contribute to the growing community!

   

   (Forman Field was primarily a grassy landing strip before the wheel shaped runways were paved)

Mayor Judy Paul : Broward County Pioneer

The Davie Historical Society nominated Mayor Judy Paul as a Broward County Pioneer for the 41st Annual Pioneer Day in Coral Springs. Pioneers from throughout the county will be recognized fortheir contributions at a reception on October 19.

Judy Paul was born in Hackensack, New Jersey to Lillian and Louis Weiss in 1940. After graduating with a Bachelors degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University, she taught American History at Fair Lawn High School in New Jersey and pursued a Masters from Montclair College. She began an illustrious career in social studies education, spanning three decades and included special advisory positions, such as Economics Teacher On Task, Coordinator for the Pre-Law and Public Affairs Magnet programs at Ft. Lauderdale High School and Social Studies Curriculum Specialist for Broward County.

It was her love of horses that brought her to Davie in March 1972 and she has since been a dedicated advocate for preserving the natural environment that defines the town’s character.  When a proposed construction threatened a local green space, she jumped in and crawled through the thick brush in search for owl pellets to prove the area was a refuge for wildlife. She serves as a Master Gardener and works with the Broward County 4H Foundation as well as the Davie Area Land Trust, Friends of the Davie Farm Park, Inc., and is a member of the South Florida Trail Riders. She recognizes the valuable role of open space as an opportunity to encourage environmental awareness, preserve Davie’s unique spirit, and promote economic development. With a background in teaching economics, she played a part in establishing BizTown with the Junior Achievement of South Florida.

As a social studies teacher, she understood and taught her students the role of municipal government. This keen passion for education and public service fueled her successful run for a seat on the Davie Town Council in 1997. After serving three consecutive terms, she took a short hiatus before running for mayor. In 2009, she was elected and has since been reelected for another term. She continues to contribute to the community—visiting schools and reading to children, initiating a high school internship program called the Davie Public Affairs Academy, spearheading Davie as a Purple Heart community that honors local veterans, preserving the town’s agricultural roots and serving on the board for organizations such as the Broward County Farm Bureau, Project Stable, Area Agency on Aging and Disability Resource Center, Old Davie School, Davie Merchants and Industrial Association, and Wings of Gold Motorcycle Club.

She considers her position as the Town of Davie Mayor to be both a full-time job and a hobby.  She raises horses and chickens and enjoys watching the community that she loves grow.

Interested in Sharing your Story?

“A recorded oral history is more than just a quote on a page in a book. 

It is a meaningful story expressed by the person who owns that story.”

-Doug Boyd, University of Kentucky’s Louis B. Nunn Center for Oral History

The Old Davie School Historical Museum is working to collect the stories of Davie residents in order to better understand our past. We are lucky enough to have the written histories from the families of the early pioneers, but that only tells us part of the story. Every memory is important! Residents for 5, 10, or 20+ years, or maybe you rode horses through Davie before the new construction, or visited the short-lived Pioneer City attraction? We are looking to share the heritage of west Broward County and all contributions are valuable to linking together our past!

By participating in a recorded Oral History Interview, you would contribute to our exhibitions, programming, and most essentially, to broadening our town’s history! In return, we will provide a digital copy and transcript of the interview for you to share with your family--something important to pass on as the holidays are coming up!

Please let us know if you would be interested in sharing your story! Contact Kim Stansell at education@olddavieschool.org or (954)797-1044. 

Note from the Education Assistant -- Kim!

Phew! I have had a busy week at the Florida Association of Museums conference in Ft. Lauderdale. I am very excited to bring back the great information and networking opportunities to the Old Davie School Historical Museum!

We are getting ready to revamp our exhibits and programming and hope to provide a new and exciting experience in the schoolhouse. It’s important to us to offer a museum that has value for the community—historically, culturally and as an active member in the community today. In order for us to meet that challenge, we need to hear from you!

-          Have you visited the Old Davie Schoolhouse before? What was your favorite part of your visit?

-          If you haven’t visited, what activities or events would draw you to the museum?

-          What would you like to see at the museum? More of a specific topic or something entirely new?

Any thoughts or contributions would be very helpful!

We are also getting ready to start collecting oral histories from Davie residents—past or present— in order to better understand our history. To gather these stories, we can schedule a time and date most convenient for you and record your memories on a digital recorder right here at the museum. Your story would contribute to our new exhibitions, programming, and most essentially, to broadening our town’s history! To thank you for your participation, we will also provide a digital copy and transcript of the interview for you to share with your family. We are looking to tell the whole story of Davie and every memory is important! If you’re interested in scheduling an interview, please contact Kim at the Old Davie School Historical Museum by email at education@olddavieschool.org or call (954)797-1044.

If you haven't visited the museum yet, or would like to hear more about our upcoming changes, or are looking for something fun on a Saturday morning, we are having a Flea Market this Saturday, September 14 from 8am to noon! The museum will also be open with FREE ADMISSION during that time, so come take a look around!

We look forward to seeing you around the museum soon!

 

Happy Labor Day from the Old Davie School!

Here's the first Labor Day BBQ at the Davie American Legion in 1955!

Do you recognize anyone? What are your Labor Day plans?

We hope everyone enjoys a safe and relaxing holiday!

Welcome!

“We accept and thank you for this splendid building, a building no matter how large and important this community may grow, will ever be the center of its social action and the main cause of any progress we may make. The citizens of Davie will take pride in it, maintain it, and cherish it”

-        Charles A. Walsh at the commemoration for the Davie School in 1918

            Charles Walsh built his home in the western frontier of South Florida in 1914, in the area known as Zona. In May 1918, he commemorated the first schoolhouse in the newly renamed settlement of Davie. Today, his family home can be found just behind that same building—a schoolhouse that has grown to encompass the history of the town that flourished from the black muck of the Everglades. Eighty years after the school welcomed its first students, the Davie School Foundation successfully rallied to protect the invaluable community building from destruction and additionally preserved two of the earliest residences, relocating them to the campus to avoid the imminent threat of development. The ‘splendid building’ that is now the Old Davie School Historical Museum amplifies and embodies Walsh’s counsel to ‘take pride, maintain, and cherish’

            In the 95 years since its construction, the schoolhouse has functioned as a classroom, town hall, dance hall, a refuge from floods and hurricanes, an architectural triumph (with some of the first indoor plumbing around!), Broward County School Board office space—almost a bus depot—and now a museum. As students fill the hall and classrooms here once again, education remains at the heart of the schoolhouse’s mission. The Old Davie School is not a dusty bookshelf for the facts and figures of history, instead it is a vibrant and dynamic mosaic of the contributions from those before us, present and still to come.  It provides a moment of understanding that while our world continues to change, the values of our community are still very much the same. It is a unique opportunity to identify with our place in history as the school nears its first century and continues finding purpose in our lives.

            This blog will work to illuminate the rich legacy of community in Davie by highlighting the objects and stories contributed to and maintained by the museum. My hope is to encourage conversation, ask questions, and invite new interpretations of our past. So now it’s your turn—how have you experienced the town and the Old Davie School?