My First Historic Trust Meeting

After the City Commission meeting on Monday night, Kendra asked if I would be attending the after party for the Historic Trust meeting the next night. The Historic Trust has after parties? Whaaaaa?

So of course, I did a little sleuthing. I never miss out on an opportunity to insert myself into social gatherings I wasn't invited to! I messaged the secretary, Kristin, to ask if I could come and she responded with an enthusiastic yes.

The meeting took place in the Sanford Welcome Center, which, oddly enough, I had never set foot inside. I immediately noticed some beautiful (read: SUPERCOLORFULANDDELIGHTFUL) art hanging from the ceiling. The Trust set up chairs for everyone to have a seat, so I sat down in the back, where I was eventually joined by Alec and Jay. (Bonus! Denny gave me a shirt from the Washington Museum of Art! Meaning she brought the shirt to the meeting because she knew I would be there and I love shirts! Okay, maybe not that last part, but wasn't that nice?)

Hank was running the meeting, which was effective and efficient. I learned a little about how the Trust meetings work and what the group does in town. There was a lot of discussion about the lamp posts in the historic district (which, by the way, were all organized and place by the Trust, not the city), and of course, the marina situation. 

I was very pleasantly surprised to see Mark Mccarty, the commissioner for District 1, make an appearance. He was largely silent, but because the marina and the historic area are in his district, I thought it was nice of him to make an appearance. (Woah, actually attending community events to show support? Heads up, Mr. Mayor, you may wanna try this some time.)

My only true disappointment of the evening was the Welcome Center itself. The place is very nice and clean on the inside, but completely filled with generic "Florida" tourist tchotchskes like key lime coconut patties. There were plenty of Sanford pamphlets and posters, but nothing indicative of the merchandise downtown Sanford has to offer. I would love to see small displays of the businesses in the area, like maybe a few books and records from Maya and some glasses and hats from Hollerbach's. The Welcome Center should ideally give visitors a good idea of what they can experience while they are in town, and I think that could easily be achieved by asking the businesses to loan or donate something reflective of their concepts. 

It started to rain at the tail end of the meeting, so I ran across the street in the downpour. Jeremy was making Moroccan lamb stew, and as soon as I walked into the apartment, I was hit by a smell that can only be described as heavenly. It wasn't quite finished, so I went down to Rabbitfoot while it reduced. There was a small group from the Trust having coffee, and we even had a surprise appearance from Ronnie! 

Afterwards, we chowed down on the stew (more amazing than I could have imagined) and watched 30Rock. Lovely end to an educational evening, all within a block!