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5th Annual Patrick Smith Day at Forever Florida

By WARREN RESEN, member Florida Outdoor Writers Assoc.

Saturday, November 5, 2005, on the grounds of Forever Florida’s 4700-acre ranch and nature preserve north of Yeehaw Junction, the 5th Annual Patrick Smith Day will be celebrated. In addition to honoring this famous author, voted “Greatest Living Floridian” by the Florida Historical Society, this will also be a celebration of Florida’s ranching heritage.

The event begins at 10 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m., and will feature a keynote address by Judge Nelson Bailey, the Florida Cracker Storyteller Judge. Cracker cowhunter Billy Davis will demonstrate the handling of Cracker cattle on horseback. Other Cracker storytellers and entertainers will include Nancy Platt, Earl Evans, Butch Harrison, Jerry Loll and a wildlife slide show by Jim Angy. A special 2 hour Eco-Safari will be available as well as food and live music.

The guest of honor, Patrick Smith author of the famous “A Land Remembered,” will be on hand to sign all nine of his published books. Also available will be the new award-winning DVD: Patrick Smith’s Florida: A Sense of Place, by Patrick Smith’s son, Rick.

The body of work by Patrick Smith, the most beloved of Florida’s contemporary writers, has earned him honors and recognition undreamed of by most writers: three nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1999 he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in Tallahassee, the highest honor that can be bestowed on any Floridian in he arts. He is only the second writer ever to receive this award while living. The other inductee while still alive was Marjorie Stoneman Douglas author of the legendary “River of Grass.”

Forever Florida was founded by Dr. Bill Broussard as a living monument to his son Allen, a devoted ecologist. The attraction combines Dr. Broussard’s ranch, also known as the Crescent J Ranch (he’s a tenth generation rancher as well as an ophthalmologist) with a swampy wilderness tract next door. This event is sponsored by the (Florida NPO) Allen Broussard Conservancy. The special admission price to Forever Florida and the Fifth Annual Patrick Smith Day and celebration of Florida’s ranching heritage is $5.00 per person or $10.00 per car and a barbecue lunch is available for $9.95.

Forever Florida is located at 4755 N. Kenansville Road, St. Cloud, FL. From east or west, take US 192 to Holopaw, and turn south on US 441. Drive seven and one-half miles, and Forever Florida will be on the east (left) side of the highway. From south, take the Florida Turnpike to the Yeehaw Junction exit, and proceed north on US 441 for twenty-six miles. Forever Florida will be on the east (right) side of the highway.

For more information call 888-957-9794, or go to Forever Florida’s extensive and informative web page www.floridaeco-safaris.com