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DATELINE: FUN Show Follow Up -The Treasure Coast, Florida

1715 Fleet Society

As a supplement to my last newsletter posting of January 19, 2015, what follows is a FUN Show follow up and a summary of action taken by me to finalize events scheduled for the 300th Anniversary Commemoration during the week of July 26, 2015 to August 2, 2015.

On Monday, January 19, 2015, I went to the Vero Beach Museum of Art to meet with Lucinda Gedeon who is the Executive Director/CEO of the museum. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss the upcoming FUN Show in Orlando, Florida scheduled to take place on July 28-29, 2015 at the museum. We discussed the agenda which is scheduled to be completed by March 1, 2015. It was decided that a fee (yet to be determined) will be charged to attend the Symposium. The fee will include a catered lunch or a box lunch, depending on the price. Also, a one-day exhibit of fleet related artifacts is being discussed. This display would be in conjunction with a program that the museum has for children.

After the meeting with museum officials, I went to the Mel Fisher Museum in Sebastian, Florida and met with Nicole Abt and Taffi Fisher to finalize their presentation scheduled for Monday, July 26, 2015 at 1:00 pm. The plan is for three lectures to be presented in the afternoon from 1 pm – 4 pm followed by a self guided tour of the museum from 4 pm – 5 pm. A “Meet & Greet” will then take place from 5 pm – 7 pm. It should be noted that seating for the afternoon lecture series will be limited. A fee will be charged for those who attend the lectures. Because the seating is limited (approximately 40 people), a repeat performance on August 1, 2015 was discussed and likely will take place. More about this will be reported on the website.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, I attended a meeting of the Indian River County Commissioners in Vero Beach. I had an opportunity to address the Commissioners about the 1715 Fleet Society and our events. They were very receptive and offered to cooperate with our efforts.

On Thursday, January 22, 2015, I met with Maritime Artist James Flood who recently painted an image of the 1715 Fleet (pictured above titled “The Embarkation of the 1715 Fleet”), which was incorporated in an article published in the January 2015 edition of the Numismatist. He intends to do another painting regarding the 1715 Fleet. Together we met with Pam Cooper of the Indian River County Main Library in Vero Beach where we discussed the library’s events which are currently scheduled to take place on Monday, July 27, 2015 and Friday, July 31, 2015.

James Flood Talks to Pam Cooper of Indian River County Main Library, Vero Beach Florida. Fred Banke Looks on.
James Flood Talks to Pam Cooper of Indian River County Main Library, Vero Beach Florida. Fred Banke Looks on.

On Tuesday, January 27, 2015, I had the opportunity to visit with Tommy Gore at his home in Alma, Georgia. Tommy Gore is quite well known in the ship wreck community. From 1966 until 2002, Tommy was a Salvage and Exploration Field Agent for the Division of Historical Resources in Florida. He was present during many of the discoveries that occurred of 1715 salvage operations. Tommy took the time to show me his personal museum which contained a world class bottle collection. Tommy has agreed to participate in the 1715 Fleet Symposium at the Vero Beach Museum of Art in July 2015. It is anticipated that he will be part of a round table discussion regarding topics to be announced.

All in all, the 2 weeks that I spent on the Treasure Coast following the FUN Show was well spent and provided me an opportunity to finalize plans for the upcoming 300th Anniversary Commemoration. There is still much work to do but I think this trip was well worth the effort.

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