This is Marcia Lane, your roving reporter.
Noah’s Ark — the one in Palatka, not the one in the Bible — has made the 2022 11 To Save list put out by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. The award doesn’t come with money but it does bring lots of recognition that can lead to helping saving unique structures. The list highlights the most endangered historic places in the state and serves as a guide for the Florida Trust’s advocacy and educational initiatives. Palatka resident Capt. Noah Tilghman built the the boat back in 1929 and for more than 50 years it was a moving landmark on the St. Johns River attracting movie stars and industrialists to fish and to loaf in the area. It’s currently pulled up to the Boathouse Marina on River Street. A committee Putnam County Historical Society is overseeing efforts for restoration.
More bones have been found at a construction site in Flagler County. During a press conference Wednesday at the site near New Leatherwood Drive. Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly gave an update of the search that began last week after workers found a human bone. Now University of South Florida anthropology students are part of the large scale operation search at the site in the Toscana development. The bones are thought to be no older than a couple of decades. “At this point, there’s no indication that this is a dumpsite for a killer. It may be a dumpsite for a killer, but so far, for just one individual,” Staly said. Two human femurs, fragments of a jaw and a skull as well as other bones have been found so far.
In Palatka a request for city funding to get a church-owned pool back up and running for the public is once more off tonight’s Palatka City Commission meeting. For more than two months the request by Family Life Center has been has been an on-again, off-again proposal with the city. While that item has been taken off, commissioners will get an update on the status of the former Jenkins Middle School gym which the city purchased from the school district and they will discuss the future of Hammock Hall. Hammock Hall, a city-owned meeting facility for the South Historic District, was put out for bid but none were received. Public hearings on the tentative millage rate, which is increasing, and on proposed minimum sizes for houses are scheduled for tonight’s 6 p.m. meeting.
Dairy Queen in Palatka has been a longtime supporter of Children’s Miracle Network. Today if you buy a Blizzard from their store at Crill and St. Johns avenues, all proceeds go directly to the children’s charity. If you donate $1, you’ll get back $2 in coupons.
Concerts in the Plaza continues tonight in St. Augustine’s Plaza de la Constitucion. The free concert begins at 7 p.m. with Str8up, a popular area group that performs country, rock, R&B and soul. Bring a blanket or chair for seating.
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