Rain-soaked fields and lack of power force the decision, which puts its host in a budgetary
By CHASE SQUIRES
Published September 10, 2004
DADE CITY - Rainfall from Frances and dire warnings of Hurricane Ivan have dealt a serious blow to the financial future of the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village.
The museum's board of directors on Thursday announced the annual Pioneer Days festival, postponed from last weekend to this weekend, is canceled. The cancellation is only the second one in the festival's 30-year history.
Museum curator Donna Swart said the festival generates about $40,000 to $50,000 of its annual $100,000 budget from the three-day festival.
"I might make a plea to anyone who would like to make a donation to us," Swart said.
"We would have a huge defict if we don't make this up in some way," said museum board member Ray Battle.
Battle said the first cancellation came in the late 1970s under the threat of a hurricane.
Swart said the decision to cancel the festival - an annual showcase of pioneer skills, demonstrations, art and Civil War re-enactments - was made Wednesday night. The museum grounds are soaked, the re-enactment battleground is half flooded, and vendors and residents from around the state still are coping with cleanup from Frances.
The museum was still without power Thursday. And because the museum uses a private well, no power meant no water. Conditions at the grounds were left just like they might have been in the days of Florida's pioneers.
Except, of course, for the generator that buzzed away, running freezers containing meat that had been brought in for the festival's barbecue.
Swart said the pioneers didn't have any secrets for keeping cool or surviving without air conditioning. They were just used to the conditions.
"They sat on the porch, or out in the yard," she said. "They didn't know any different."
Battle said board members have scheduled a meeting for next week to discuss adding a fall festival to recoup some of the losses.
"It's a real shame to lose this," Swart said. "We plan for this all year. This isn't just the board members' museum, this is everybody's museum."
