2017 Year in Review Part One

The headless dinosaur on 476 turned 50

On a turn of State Road 476 between Lake Lindsey and Nobleton, a headless dinosaur stands on the side of the road. It has become a landmark and merchandise for the area bears its likeness. The dinosaur is extremely realistic, the cement has been textured to resemble a leathery skin. On a foggy day you could imagine you are seeing a real live Brontosaurus as they existed 150 million years ago.

The headless dinosaur was built in 1967 by August Herwede who lived in the little white house behind it. August had worked as a painter and interior decorator. After his wife passed in 1964 August began to build concrete animals in his yard surrounding the house. He built an elephant, wooly mammoth, a pair of lions, fighting dinosaurs and was working on his biggest creation a brontosaurus. In two years he built more than 30 animals around the house. He would have liked to have started earlier, but apparently there were complications. “I wanted to build an elephant but Mama wouldn’t let me.” The St Petersburg Times quoted August as having told his daughter-in-law. We have tracked down a few of August Herwede other creations.

Remembering Rosenquist and his Aripeka Love

A world-famous artist by the name of James Rosenquist fell in love with the still waters and wild landscape of Aripeka, a rustic fishing village on the border of Hernando and Pasco Counties. While his sleek, sophisticated boldly vibrant brush stroke left an indelible mark on the international art world, Aripeka made an indelible mark on him.

From his Biography, “His work is included in major public and private institutions, and has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, The Menil Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Denver Art Museum, Tretiakov Gallery, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, and other international institutions.”

Rosenquist was at the center of a small artist’s community in Aripeka. He attracted high caliber artists to work as studio assistants as well as artist friends who enjoyed his camaraderie and Aripeka’s unique landscape. These artists in turn became part of the community and also left their unique marks on the area. They include Arline Erdrich, Daniel Stack, Tony Caparello, Leslie Neumann and Steve McCallum. “Jim’s sphere of influence on the local level was very significant,” said Neumann. He moved away from Aripeka in 2009 when his studio and house burned down. He died March 31, 2017 in New York City.

Spring Hill’s 50th anniversary of their grand opening

The 50th anniversary of the grand opening of Deltona Corp’s Spring Hill community was on April 30, 2017. The actual celebration of this event did not take place until July 27 at The Lake House, which was once Spring Hill’s community center. It was at the same building where early residents gathered for community picnics and celebrations.

Spring Hill’s original grand opening was held at the waterfall on April 30, 1967. The developers of Spring Hill, the three Mackle Brothers: Frank Jr., Elliot and Robert cut the ribbon. On the three flag poles at the waterfall, the flags of the United States, Florida, and the Mackle Brothers were raised.

Spring Hill has grown rapidly in the later half of those 50 years. There is a census-designated place (CDP) that is used to monitor Spring Hill’s growth. In 1980, the census listed the population of Spring Hill as 6,468 residents. In 2010, the latest census listed the population of the Spring Hill area as 98,621 people, this marked 43% growth from even the 2000 census. Spring Hill now contains more than half of the county’s population and many of the businesses.

Florida Blueberry Festival leaves Brooksville

The Florida Blueberry Festival notified the City of Brooksville that they are suspending the festival in downtown Brooksville, that they will not be entering into the lease for the Quarry Golf Course, and they will be vacating their City Hall office space by July 17, 2017. This has left the community abuzz with ideas on what a future festival could be and what should become of the quarry golf course. Out of the fray of ideas in regards to a festival, John Lee, owner of Coney Island, is taking the reigns and moving forward confidently with a continuation of a blueberry festival.

The new festival is called the Brooksville Blueberry Festival. The festival is scheduled for April 28 and 29 in 2018. They are looking for local vendors and already have a number of local vendors who have expressed interest. They also have 5 Local Music acts Plus 2 Feature acts.

Chatman among 8 inducted into Hall of Fame

On Monday June 5, 2017 the Florida High School Athletic Association announced the eight- member FHSAA Hall of Fame Class of 2017. Among the names on the class list is Coach Ernie Chatman. In an article on Coach Chatman’s passing on July 24, 2016, Hernando Sun Sportswriter Chris Bernhardt Jr. wrote, “Ernie Chatman ran for 8,814 straight days and compiled more than 700 coaching victories. But the amount of lives he touched? That number is countless. Well, perhaps only he could recall the exact total, as he seemingly could every single detail of the past six decades of Hernando County athletics.”

The FHSAA press release announcing the Hall of Fame Class of 2017 describes Chatman as “ a legendary coach who found success in five sports over five decades in Hernando County. The 1997 FHSAA State Championship winner was named the St. Petersburg Times Coach of the Year 19 times.”

Later in the year, Chatman was chosen as the 2017 Great Brooksvillian by the City of Brooksville.

Two Hernando High baseball players face off in the Majors

On Friday, Cinco De Mayo, a rare occurrence took place during the game that pitted the San Francisco Giants against the Cincinnati Reds. Two players from the same small high school played against each other in a Major League Baseball game. The pitcher for the Reds was Bronson Arroyo and the third baseman for the San Francisco Giant was Christian Arroyo. Both of these players graduated from Hernando High School and even though they share the same last name and hometown, they are unrelated.

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough: 173 days in space

The Kimbroughs are a prominent Hernando County family. Their Hernando County origins trace back to the early 1900’s with Spring Lake cattle and citrus farmer James Walt Kimbrough. James’ grandson Pierce Kimbrough served on the Hernando County School Board in the 1950’s. James’ great grandson, Jim Kimbrough, is currently the Chairman of SunTrust Bank, Nature Coast region. James’ great great grandson Shane Kimbrough became an astronaut.

Shane lifted off to the International Space Station on October 19, 2016. (The Soyuz MS-O2 spacecraft was scheduled to take off on September 23, 2016 for the International Space Station, but it was postponed for technical difficulties on September 16.)

During this mission, which lasted 173 days, he served as Expedition 50 Commander. Shane returned to Earth on April 10, 2017. He gave an interview to the Hernando Sun where he explained, “Being the Commander of the Space Station, I was not just interested in what I was doing, but what the entire crew was doing.” He also sent us some photos of Hernando County that he took from the International Space Station.These were just a few of the local stories that happened in the first half of 2017. The stories cover the gamut from art to sports to astronauts. It has us looking forward to the stories that 2018 will bring. We will be here with you to enjoy them.

Read 2017: A Year in Review Part Two