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Published by former Mayor George Gardner                        June 5 2013
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George Gardner 57 Fullerwood Drive St. Augustine FL 32084
 
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$2.7 million Mumford concert

promises $25,000 for city

    The City of St. Augustine will get $25,000 from $2.7 million in ticket sales to the September 13-14 
Mumford & Sons concert here, $1 of the $109 ticket price on 25,000 sold-out tickets, for a "...
city project or non-profit of the city's choosing."
Mumford tour logo

This is in a "term sheet" the city executed in February. According to City Attorney Ron Brown, "The staff hopes to present (a final contract) to the Commission in late June. ... The final terms will depend on the plans for crowd control, life safety and parking and transportation."

Read the full Term Sheet here

Under the preliminary terms, the Gentleman of the Road (GOTR) concert will pay $300 a day for a festival footprint including "Francis Field, utilizing the adjacent gymnasium, tennis courts, basketball courts, school parking lots, playground, West Castillo Drive, Ribera Street, Orange Street, Cordova Street and Visitor Information Center Parking Facility as part of the main festival footprint.

"GOTR will also look to utilize other venues throughout St. Augustine including but not limited to the Visitors Center, Saint Augustine Amphitheater and more."

Among benefits promised by its promoter, Knoxville, Tennessee-based AC Entertainment: "a 20x20 tent "in a highly visible area" for city promotion, support for city creation of "a video to promote St. Augustine," and "concessions opportunities where non-profits or city selected organizations can work a booth in exchange for percentage of concessions profits."

St. Augustine is one of three US stopovers for the popular British band's 2013 Gentleman of the Road tour. City Manager John Regan said, "They want to use their superstar status to shine a light on our community because we have something to say."

Stopover image from gentlemenoftheroad.com 

Jaguars logo

Jaguars dive into pool 

 Mayor Joe Boles, City Manager John Regan and Mark Bailey cannonballed into Galimore pool for its opening two weeks ago, but the Jacksonville Jaguars made the biggest splash, contributing nearly $50,000 to provide free swimming for the year and swim lessons twice a week.

Jaguars President Mark Lamping and Foundation President Peter Racine made the announcement during opening ceremonies.

Arlene Dennison, executive director of the YMCA managing the pool for the city, said the extra funds will provide swim lessons Wednesdays and Fridays 8-11 am and 5:30-6:15 pm, and waive swimming fees of $2 for adults and $1 for kids.

Open swimming is noon to 8 pm Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 8 am to 8 pm Wednesday and Friday, and 1-5:30 pm Sunday.

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Interest in history

covers Gale�n cost

   Ticket sales have covered "just about all of the cost" of the current visit by Nao Victoria Foundation's El Gale�n to St. Augustine, Tourist Development Council Director Glenn Hastings says.

   In just under two weeks since its arrival May 21, total ticket sales are near 6,000, Hastings says. "We had a $50,000 guarantee to the ship plus an additional $50,000 if tickets covered that much. We did more than that in the first week."   

   At $15 for adults and $8 for children, "Adults are outselling children 4-1," Hastings says. The county and city are co-hosting El Gale�n's visit, which Tuesday was extended from June 9 to June 23. 

   Hastings was negotiating with the Spanish foundation for that extension and continues working on making St. Augustine El Gale�n's North American home port for the next five years.  

Galeon crewmen dress for Drake and dinner aboard ship
Galeon crewmen dress for Drake, and dinner aboard ship.
Photos by Rhonda Parker
El Gale�n Crewmen 

endorse community 

   The extension of El Gale�n's current visit to June 23, and
hoped-for North American  home porting here in the future, would likely get a thumbs up from El 
Gale�n's crew, which has been exploring the city's Spanish roots, exchanging meals and lessons in leather belt stitching and monkey knot rope tying with leatherworker Dan Holiday and his Espiritu (shrimp boat conversion) crew, and last weekend, getting suited out to join the Drake's raid reenactment   

Hankerson weekend photos

St. Augustinian Derek Hankerson of TravelHost Magazine and Freedom Road Productions had a full weekend, hosting a 16th century filming at El Galeon and Bahamian minister of tourism and Miss Universe Bahamas at Fort Mose. From left, Ponce de Leon descendant Chandler Ponce, filmmaker Thomas Fortin, and Hankerson with Celeste Marshall. Hankerson is promoting Bahamian and Florida roots, and filming Ponce family history.

Non-stop summer gets under way

   Just a sampling fills the calendar as summer gets underway hereabouts:

First Friday Art Walk, Music By The Sea (Wednesday St. Augustine Beach Pier) and Concerts in the Plaza (Thursday), Movies By The Bay (Wednesday and Friday, bayfront mini golf course), World Oceans Day Celebration (weekend, Marineland) and Kayak Tour (Saturday, Municipal Marina), The Dance Company Jubilee! 20 Years of Dance (Saturday, Sunday, Lewis Auditorium).

   Greek Food Fair (Saturday, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church), Unveiling of Corazon de Madre caravel and St. Augustine Mariner's Ball (Saturday, Fort Menendez), Musket Firing at Fort Matanzas (Saturday), St. Augustine Maritime Heritage Foundation Family Fun Day (Saturday, Fountain of Youth Park), Lincolnville Farmers Market (Sunday, Riberia Pointe), Sunday Solarium Tea (Flagler College).

    Weather could be a factor. the Lighthouse's Low country boil Thursday was rescheduled Tuesday for June 13 due to weather concerns.  

   Check out floridashistoriccoast.com for details.

Commentary

   Small town is going big

   Set aside a jammed St. George Street - and during the Mumford weekend getting staff to and from work in those busy shops, restaurants and attractions - a major concert gets St. Augustine on the big world stage, to bring more visitors to get the business.

   While there's no direct defraying of some $1.5 million city taxpayers provide annually for visitor services, that additional business can raise property values, which can raise property taxes, which can go toward future taxpayer support of visitors.

   As retiree Pam Nauss told USA Today for its story Tuesday, 5 great (unknown) places to retire, "It's got that charm and appeal that a lot of other areas lack."

   We are after all just a small town, not like we're a national historic treasure or anything.

 

History's Highlight 
Survival a tribute to Spanish endurance

2 years, 3 months, 4 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary

   

Excerpts from The governorship of Spanish Florida, 1700-1763 by John Jay TePaske (1929-2007), a leading scholar of colonial Latin America, Duke University Press, 1964, recounted in Historic City News.

   Sole means of support for Florida came from an annual subsidy which before 1702 was paid from the royal treasury in Mexico City. That situado was variously late or never sent from New Spain (Mexico), and embroiled in politics. TePaske

   In 1702 the persistent complaints of the governor of Florida finally brought about a change. Philip V ordered that the annual Florida grant be paid from the sales taxes of Puebla de los Angeles, situated southeast of Mexico City.

   Half of every subsidy had to be in specie. Arrangements were also made to remit annually twenty-five percent in specie over and above the regular subsidy to retire debts owed from past subsidies.

   It did not take long for other abuses to reappear. In 1716 and 1717, a delay of twenty-one months in remitting the subsidy cut the daily ration to less than two pounds of flour - this for soldiers with large families.

   In 1735 Governor Francisco del Moral Sanchez pointed out that merchants in Puebla made a fifty percent profit on all goods shipped to Florida. In 1735 and again in 1736 Governor Moral advocated that the entire subsidy be remitted to Florida in hard money. This would enable him to bargain for supplies more advantageously in Havana, Yucatan, or Vera Cruz.

   On the surface, the proposal appeared sound, but Moral's motives were less than noble. Under his rule Saint Augustine had become a center of illicit trade with the English, an almost unpardonable Spanish colonial offense.

   Governor Manuel de Montiano, who succeeded to the governorship in 1737, shocked the king and the Council of the Indies with the news that the Bishop in Puebla owed his colony 530,140 pesos.

   In 1744 Montiano advocated that the plight of those serving under him could only be alleviated by free trade with English colonies in America. He was, of course, aware of the laws against such a trade, but in his opinion, the only salvation for Florida lay in such a plan.

   To circumvent the religious damage which might result from trade with English heretics, the governor suggested that all exchanges be made on Santa Anastasia Island across the river from Saint Augustine. In this way he could insure the residents of the town against contamination by Protestant sailors.

   In the end, too much depended upon the annual grant from New Spain. The most outstanding fact of all, however, is that the Spaniards were able to maintain their foothold in Florida in the face of these almost insurmountable economic difficulties.

   Perennially short of food and money and without an income from trade, mining, or farming to supplement aid from Cuba and New Spain, the Spanish governor and his soldiers managed to withstand two attacks by superior forces (1702 and 1740) and ultimately to retain their precarious position in Florida. It is a tribute to Spanish enterprise and endurance that the colony survived at all.

    
   St. Augustine Bedtime Stories - Dramatic accounts of famous people and events in St. Augustine's history - in booklets designed for quick reads before bed. Information here.

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   The St. Augustine Report is published weekly, with additional Reports previewing City Commission meetings as well as Special Reports. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a former newspaper reporter and editor.  Contact the Report at [email protected]