GB Historical Society learns about historical hospital

GB Historical

The Gulf Breeze Historical Society met October 17 at 7 p.m. at the Gulf Breeze Library. The program was "History of the Original Sacred Heart Hospital" with guest speaker, Aaron Vincent Ritz, local historian. Ritz describes himself as a rare bird. He is a native Floridian. He can trace his Pensacola roots back to when the flag of Spain flew over the city. In 1980, the historic Sacred Heart Hospital was largely an abandoned local landmark. Yet he has been privileged to witness its revival.

His father along with B. N e a l Armstrong, and Frank C r a w f o r d bought the building that year and initiated the restoration of the 65 year-old facility. Aaron sincerely enjoys spreading the story of the building and collecting new stories for future historians.

In 1914 the Pensacola Hospital was built by the Daughters of Charity. The area was considered in the country because it was built above Cervantes Street. The view from the top floor stretched to the coast because the hospital stood alone. The hospital opened in 1917 and the nuns had a small farm with chickens, cows and other domestic animals. As the land around the hospital began to be developed it was written in the leases that the "Sisters" would not allow their animals to graze on neighbors' land.

AllenThe hospital had two operating rooms and was the only major hospital between New Orleans and Jacksonville. People came by train from as far away as Montgomery, Ala. and areas in Georgia to use this modern facility. The hospital had large sunrooms on every floor where patients were wheeled or walked in fresh air to recuperate from an illness. Ritz said, "Hospitals in that age were places for patients to get well rather than to die."

The hospital environment was a community of patients, doctors, nurses, nursing, students, nuns and support staff. The hospital was basically powered by steam with a large boiler system. It had a large chapel, huge kitchen, sterilization system, pharmacy and a sewer system with pipes that were connected to the City of Pensacola. There was an elevator but it was sometimes unreliable. There were 30 private rooms, several large wards, a children's clinic and a children's ward. It boasted of an x-ray system that could only be used six or seven times an hour because it became very hot and had to be cooled for hours. The hospital had no cold storage capability and therefore never had a morgue. The hospital closed in 1964 and opened in its present location on 9th Avenue.

Betty Archer Allen/Gulf Breeze News Gordon Sprague, Gulf Breeze Historical Society President, with Bette Sprague and Thelma Wenning during last month's meeting. Aaron Vincent Ritz is an articulate humorous speaker who loves his subject. He has promised to conduct a tour for the Gulf Breeze Historical society of this historical landmark next year.

Emerald Coast Women's Club

The Emerald Coast Women's Club's (ECWC) November 2 meeting will host entertaining speaker, Don Ware, long time Bird Count Coordinator for the Choctawhatchee Audubon Society and renowned "birder." Ware's worldwide adventures in birding will enthrall and inform luncheon attendees. He manages the Choctawhatchee Bay Christmas bird and migration counts, spring and fall, for Oskaloosa and Walton Counties. He recently joined the volunteer research team for the elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Choctawhatchee River Basin.

Ritz ECWC luncheons and meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at 11:30 .a.m. at Soundside Officer's Club, across from Hurlburt Field.

Those interested in attending may contact Verona Ellis at 939-3222 or Publicity Chair: Connie Jones, 939-7964.

Gulf Coast Friends

The Gulf Coast (CGF) Friends will have their annual craft fair and luncheon at New World Landing on Thursday November 9. GCF originated this annual craft fair in 1991 and has consistently given all earned proceeds to charity. Over 21 crafters are showing their wares. Included in the craft tables are pet jewelry, wall decor, collector's corner, designers showcase and much more. Gulf Coast Friends members live in the Gulf Breeze, Midway area, Navarre and Pensacola Beach. For more information call 932-8162, Joan Strange, Publicity Chairman.

Emerald Coast Bead Society holds holiday show

The Emerald Coast Bead Society presents their annual holiday show at Scottish Rite, 2 East Wright Street, Pensacola December 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come and experience the Societies' exciting new works from the simple to the sublime. A variety of jewelry, handcrafted silver and gold with gemstones, beaded, polymer and lamp work jewelry; bead embroidery; batik clothing and artwork; macramé items; lamp work beads; artwork; decorated gourds; ornaments and soft sculpture creations handmade by society members will be available. Beads and findings too! Don't miss out on this chance to find wonderful, unique, one-of-a-kind creations made by Society members. For further information please contact Mary Jordan at 455-6109 or email Nona2kylie@cox.net.

Betty Archer Allen/Gulf Breeze News Ron and Barbara Gurta of the Navarre Lions Club. Gulf Breeze Rotary

Mr. Sunshine Jim Reeves had a heavy fine day for Auburn's win over Florida. Birthday honorees were Jim Reeves, Jeff Sauer and John Covington.

Stephen Pitre presented perfect attendance awards to those achieving 20 plus years of perfect attendance. They included: Dan Windham, 21 years; George Bailey, 23 years; Jerry Kuenn, 25 years; Jack Green, 26 years; Tom Bosworth, 27 years; Jeff Sauer, 27 years; Bill Zimmern, 27 years; Jim Reeves, 28 years; Phil Sandfort, 28 years; Bob Moulton, 29 years; Scott Brodie, 33 years total; and at the top of them all Jim Lee, 33 years of consecutive perfect attendance. Congratulations were given to all of these members for setting such a high standard for others to emulate.

The program featured Tyler Cole, who recently returned from service in Afghanistan. He gave an interesting presentation comparing Afghanistan and Iraq. The life expectancy in Afghanistan is 43 while in Iraq it's 69. The literacy rate in Afghanistan is ten to twenty percent. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Afghanistan is $8 billion and about $80 billion in Iraq. The majority of the GDP for Afghanistan is donations and opium production; for Iraq it's oil.

The Taliban in Afghanistan wants to keep the populace uneducated and targets destruction of schools and intimidates teachers. The Coalition has started from scratch forming a new military in Afghanistan and is progressing well. The target is an Army of 50,000. Tyler was optimistic about the prospects for a favorable outcome and it was refreshing to get a non-media side of the story.

Navarre Lions golf fundraiser soars

Sporting the Navarre Lions Club (NLC) international motto of "We Serve" the club served up a winner on Columbus Day with their first annual golf tournament. The outing began just before noon on the lovely links at Hidden Creek Country Club. Participants began signing in at 11 a.m. and the fun never stopped.

The tournament boasted a shotgun start, best ball format, free lunch from the grill of Lion Denny Hufstader and a table full of raffle prizes donated by a host of supporters from the local community.

"The support we received from the community was outstanding," noted club president Ron Gurta. "We had raffle prizes ranging in value form $25 to over $300. We had sponsors for 14 of the 18 holes. The only reason we did not have all 18 sponsored was we ran out of time."

The participants ranged from some very accomplished players to those commonly referred to as "hackers." Whatever the skill level, people turned out to support this golf outing and helped the Lions Club help the community. Mr. Mark Harrison drove in from Pensacola to play on Lion J.D. Rudman's team. Harrison said, "I had a great time and would love to do it again sometime. If you hear of another opportunity, let me know." Mr. Howie Triebold of Navarre who formed his own team of friends and associates said, "I sucked more than a Hoover, but we had a great time. Got to see some 'local' friends and meet some new good Navarre people."

"Without a doubt this was a successful first tournament for the Navarre Lions," said Ron Gurta "A success like this doesn't just happen, it takes planning and preparation. Lions Rick Alex, Shari Bauer and Denny Hufstader put in a lot a work to pull this off. Special thanks also go to the Hidden Creek staff and those Lions members who volunteered to work while others were playing golf. It certainly takes a lot of teamwork to make a big event like this successful."

For those of you who missed this years tournament, not to worry. The Lions will be back again next year, promising an even bigger and better outing. For those community sponsors who want to make sure they don't miss out on supporting this great organization, they can contact Lion Ron Gurta at rgurta@hotmail.com.

The Navarre Lions Club was chartered earlier this year and is focused on being a force to help the local community. For the current year, the club expects to support its premier Sight First program, the North Florida Eye Bank, the Conklin Center for the multi-handicapped blind and eye exams and glasses for those in need. There are 1.3 million Lions members in 200 countries and geographic areas. They answer the needs that challenge the communities of the world. Lions tackle tough problems like blindness, drug abuse prevention and diabetes awareness. The proceeds from this tournament are expected to fund almost 25 percent of the Navarre Lions Club community activities over the next year. Send emails to Betty Archer Allen at betty@gulfbreezenews.com or write to Talk of the Town at Gulf Breeze News P.O. Box 1414, Gulf Breeze, FL32562, subject: "Talk of the Town"