2009 Biennial Meeting
DeLand, Florida
October 23-25, 2009

Friday Evening, October 23

5:00 p.m., Museum of Florida Art, DeLand, Florida

Registration and welcome reception.

We will assemble at 5:00 to talk and renew friendships and meet new folks.  We’ll be treated to a walking tour of the “Liquid Muse” art exhibit and then enjoy a delightful seated dinner.  After dinner, Dr. Daniel Schafer,  a leading authority on early Florida history and the author of “Florida History Online,” will discuss eighteenth-century Florida plantations.

Saturday, October 24

8:30 Museum of Florida Art, DeLand Florida

8:30 – 9:00: Registration

9:00 – 9:15: Welcome and Intros

9:15 – 9:45: Chuck Spornick: Bartram’s Trip along the St Johns

9:45 – 10:15: Kathryn Braund: The Deerskin Trade in British East Florida

10:15 – 10:45: Charlotte Porter: The Archaeology of Spaldings Lower Store

10:45 – 11:00:BREAK

11:00 – 11:30: William Bartram’s Art: Slide Presentation and Panel Discussion by Bartram scholars

11:30 - 11:45: Q & A

11:45 - 12:45: Catered lunch at the Museum

1:00 - 2:00: Walking tour of “Legendary Florida” exhibition

2:00: Drive to Blue Spring State Park for a visit to the “vast fountain of warm or rather hot mineral water” before boarding the boat

3:30 - 5:30: Chartered Boat cruise on the St Johns River to view wildlife and habitat along part of the St. Johns explored by WB.  Libations included.

Saturday Night: On your own.  We’ll provide a list of suggestions for dinner in the registration packet.

Sunday, October 25 

8:00 - 1:30

We head for the Alachua Savannah (aka modern Paynes Prairie) near Gainesville. We’ll organize a caravan and depart DeLand at 8:00 and make the Prairie by 10:00. George Edwards, the President of the Friends of Paynes Prairie will lead us on a short hike out the La Chua Trail from the North Rim, which provides a real flavor of what Bartram saw in the Spring of 1774. This is a three mile round trip, on an easy, flat trail.  Along the way we will get a good view of the Alachua Sink, where the waters of the Prairie go back down into the Earth. We’re likely to see some of the wild horses that roam the prairie, perhaps a few bison, and certainly a community of large alligators.  There will certainly be many water birds. And if you don’t care to hike, there is plenty to see near the visitors’ center.  A boxed lunch will be provided and we’ll hear from the Friends of Paynes Prairie about their work.