Florida

I have been traveling in Florida this week. After all the snow in our area (50 inches in one week) I looked forward to the Sunshine State. Without wanting to whine, I will just say that the temp is 44 today and the skies gray and threatening. I did get a little sun and blue sky yesterday, but only for a couple of hours.

I have been, or will be in, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Milton, Pensacola, Gainesville, and Perry all of which have memorials of some kind. In fact I have been to some twice to try to outsmart the rain.

The first stop on this trip was in Gainesville, an hour or so, southwest of Jacksonville. The memorial here is located at the Community Plaza, at E. University and N.E. 1st Street. Although it is a relatively small, four sided pylon, it is still interesting. Each side has inscripted upon it either a adage of some sort or in one case the Pledge of Allegiance. There are also several simple line art drawings. What caught my attention, however, was a plaque at the bottom giving credit to the Woodmen of the World for placement. I had never heard of them before so I looked them up. It seems they are a organization formed in the 1800's to create brotherhood lodges and offer insurance and other financial services. The following comes directly from their website.

"Spanning three centuries, Woodmen of the World has evolved into a modern financial services organization that offers insurance, annuities and securities. Woodmen of the World members, who belong to more than 2,000 lodges throughout the United States, conduct volunteer, charitable and patriotic projects that benefit individuals, families and communitie." (sic)

So, all in all, an interesting stop. I really like when communities establish a memorial of some kind. It seems more personal, somehow.

From here in Gainesville, I am heading north to a town called Perry, which has a Veterans Memorial Park.