The Laker/Lutz News

Smithsonian

Getting up-close and personal with reptiles

By

A love of dinosaurs at age 5 led Bruce Shwedick into a lifetime of work with reptiles.

The Plant City man, who operates Reptiles Discovery, recently brought his traveling reptile show to the Hugh Embry Branch Library in Dade City.

Bruce Shwedick, of Reptile Discovery, feeds a piece of banana to ‘Baby,’ a yellow-footed tortoise. The 35-year-old Baby was hatched at the Bronx Zoo. These tortoises are found in the Amazon rainforest and are among the largest of the land turtle species. (Christine Holtzman)

Shwedick’s show features  gentle, captive-born reptiles, which he presents in a safe, non-threatening manner to people at his shows.

He focuses on educating the audience, with the purpose of helping them understand these often misunderstood creatures. His talks emphasize the need for safety and for conservation.

Since Reptile Discovery was founded in 1994, Shwedick  has put on shows in more than 1,000 schools, in 45 states, and in Washington D.C.

Shwedick, a Maryland native, said he was just 10 when he followed in his older brother Michael’s footsteps in raising reptiles. Michael is also a reptile specialist, and is the founder of Reptile World Inc., in Maryland.

The brothers enjoyed visiting the National Zoo and the Smithsonian in Washington D.C..

Seven-year-old Samantha Cook, of Dade City, gets a chance to touch a blue-tongued skink lizard, held by handler Bruce Shwedick.

Shwedick said he still has fond memories of those experiences today.

The reptile handler began presenting educational shows in 1974.

He has traveled to Africa, South America and throughout Asia to learn more about these creatures, by speaking to people in those locales and observing reptiles in the wild.

The reputation he has developed because of his knowledge about reptiles has led to shows at theme parks and to the role of reptile curator at Cypress Parks. He even was featured on Nickelodeon’s “LIVEWIRE” many years ago.

Recently Shwedick — also known as Mr. Bruce — shared his knowledge and showed off his reptiles at the Hugh Embry Library, 14215 Fourth St., in Dade City.

Eight-year-old Lauren Cook, of Dade City, pets ‘Chopstick,’ a 25-year-old Chinese alligator. ‘Chopstick’ has been accompanying his handler, Bruce Shwedick, to presentations for more than 20 years.

He captivated the crowed with a mix of personal stories, reptile facts, safety tips and a presentation of live reptiles.

Children and adults in the audience had the chance to touch many of the reptiles he exhibited.

One of those was ‘Baby,’ a yellow-footed tortoise, who was gentle and graceful, and loved to eat bananas.

The reptile handler also brought “Chopstick,” a docile, Chinese alligator, that he’s been taking to shows for more than 20 years.

Another reptile he displayed was “Alexander the Great,” an alligator snapping turtle from the Okefenokee Swamp. His appearance was brief because the swift-moving turtle was not quite as friendly as the others.

Mr. Bruce also showed off a blue-tongued skink lizard, a corn snake, a West African slender-snouted crocodile, and at the show’s conclusion, a 14-foot-long albino reticulated python, named “Banana Boy.”

Published August 14, 2019

Rhiannon Spillane, of Wesley Chapel, and her 2-year-old son, Harrison Martin, touch ‘Banana Boy,’ a 14-foot-long albino reticulated python, as handler Bruce Shwedick cradles the snake’s head.
A close look inside the mouth of an alligator snapping turtle. This species has the ability to attract fish, using its worm-like tongue.
Bruce Shwedick, of Reptile Discovery, shows the audience a West African slender-snouted crocodile, named ‘MBecky’. Shwedick also raised MBecky’s parents.

 

Smithsonian’s sports exhibit stops at local museum

By

Jim “Mudcat” Grant is a Lacoochee native son who blazed a trail as the first African-American to pitch a 20-game winning season in the American League.

His 1965 win/loss record for the Minnesota Twins was 21-7.

Grant, now age 82, lives in California.

He won two World Series games, also in 1965, pitching for the Twins against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Stephanie Black, executive director of Pioneer Florida Museum, shows off the Smithsonian traveling exhibit, ‘Hometown Teams: How Sports Shaped America.’ (Kathy Steele)

During one of those wins, he powered a three-run homer over the fence. He was named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year.

Grant’s career began in 1958 with the Cleveland Indians, about a decade after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball. He pitched his last game in 1971, pitching for the Oakland Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Mudcat is a name given to Grant by another ballplayer who reportedly thought he was from Mississippi, and Mudcat fit.

Grant’s star quality as an athlete is now on view at the Pioneer Florida Museum & Village, in Dade City.

His career is part of the Smithsonian Museum’s traveling exhibit, “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shaped America,” which runs through April 28.

Baseball, and Grant’s achievements, are just one of the highlights of the exhibit, which covers every sport imaginable.

There are interactive videos and trivia on baseball, football, bowling, soccer, cheerleading, roller blading, basketball, surfing and much more.

“There are all different sports,” said Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director. “Everybody can come in here and see something different.”

The interactive nature of the exhibit is meant to get conversations going about the impact of sports in American culture.

Items on display include a Wheaties box with soccer star Brandi Chastain; videos with marching bands and mascots; a mock-up of bleachers with seat cushions that reveal answers to baseball trivia; photographs; trophies; sports magazines; and, audio of athletes and fans talking about their favorite memories.

A lecture series is planned, too
On April 14 at 2 p.m., University of Florida history professor Steve Noll will be the featured speaker. Anyone wearing a sports team’s jersey or T-shirt will get a 25 percent discount on the museum’s fee.

Other lectures are tentative, but information can be found at PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

It’s a true traveling exhibit.

The Smithsonian traveling exhibit, ‘Hometown Teams: How Sports Shaped America,’ is the second Smithsonian exhibit to visit the Pioneer Florida Museum.

Once “Hometown Teams” leaves Dade City, it heads to the Dunedin Historic Museum, among other stops in Florida.

This is only the second Smithsonian exhibit for the Florida Pioneer Museum. The first was last year when the museum featured “The Way We Worked,” a look at the working life of Americans from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century.

The exhibits are part of the Museum on Main Street series, sponsored by the Smithsonian in partnership with state and local organizations.

The Florida Humanities Council selected the Pioneer museum to host Hometown Teams, and awarded a $5,000 grant. A portion of the grant will help sponsor a Dade City Little League team.

Host sites are encouraged to reach out locally for athletes who can be featured in the exhibit.

It was special to see Mudcat play
Most of the memorabilia from Grant’s career came from family members who still live in the area.

“We were fortunate that they were able to be so involved,” Black said.

A few items also are from the collection of artifacts on loan to the museum from alumni of Moore Academy, and the later schools bearing the names of Moore-Mickens.

“We’ve had a tremendous response from the community,” Black said. “Everybody is so excited about this.”

A life-size cutout of Jim ‘Mudcat’ Grant is featured in a display highlighting Grant’s career in major league baseball. Grant grew up in Lacoochee.

Grant’s twin sister, Johnnie Mae Lopey, remembers her first time watching her brother pitch professionally in Cleveland. She went there with their mother, Viola Grant.

A scoreboard announcement splashed her name onto the screen as Grant’s twin sister.

“That was special to see him play,” she recalled.

Through the years, Grant has left memorabilia with her, including a life-size cutout, which is part of the exhibit.

His nephew, Jamie Lopey, described Grant as a “family guy” who always encourages youth to play sports, especially baseball.

Grant is co-author of “The Black Aces,” a book that chronicles 15 black pitchers who had 20-game winning seasons in the majors. He also includes some who played in the Negro League.

Johnnie Mae Lopey said her brother had challenges even a decade after Robinson began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On one trip through Georgia, team members stopped for lunch, and Grant was told to go to the back door.

“His teammates said if he has to go to the back door, we’ll all go to the back door,” she said.

Grant has been back to Lacoochee on several occasions. Mudcat Grant Boulevard, near the entrance to Stanley Park, is named for him.

Local businessman Jesse Stanley, for whom the park is named, was an early booster of Grant when he played baseball at mini-camps, and was signed by the Cleveland Indians.

Johnnie Mae Lopey said her brother never let being from a small town hold him back. And, she said, that’s his message to youngsters still.

“Keep on practicing and try to be somebody,” she said.

What: Smithsonian Exhibit, “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shaped America”
Where: Pioneer Florida Museum, 15622 Pioneer Museum Road, Dade City
When: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exhibit ends April 28.
Cost: $10, adults; $8, seniors; $5, students including college students with valid school identification. No charge for children under age 5, and for active duty military with identification (with immediate family).
Info: (352) 567-0262 or PioneerFloridaMuseum.org

Published April 4, 2018

Remembering the legacy of Odell Mickens

By

Odell Kingston Mickens’ legacy as a Dade City educator and civil rights activist endures more than three decades after his death in 1980.

When racism and Jim Crow laws denied blacks access to public education during the 1930s, Mickens expanded the outreach of education to black students in Pasco County.

When white school boards eventually included black schools into a separate, but underfunded system, Mickens continued to expand opportunities for black students, including the right in 1940 to receive high school diplomas.

Mickens championed the economic and civil rights of the black community until he died in 1980.

He was the first black elected to public office in Pasco County, winning two terms on the City Commission of Dade City.

“I find Odell Mickens to be just a giant,” said Imani Asukile, director of global and multicultural awareness, and special assistant to the president of Pasco-Hernando State College.

Asukile was guest speaker on Feb. 16 at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City.

The museum is sponsoring a series of lectures in conjunction with its Smithsonian exhibit, “The Way We Worked.”

Asukile also is author of “Black Americans of Hernando County, Florida.”

Asukile said he is not formally trained as a historian, but has a deep interest in history.

“Somewhere I just caught the bug,” he said. “One of my goals is to unearth stories about local African-Americans.”

Mickens is a particular favorite.

In his research, Asukile learned that Mickens was mentored by Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the Bethune-Cookman University.

Bethune was internationally recognized as an educator, human rights activist and advisor to several United States presidents.

“She found him to be an outstanding student,” Asukile said.

Mickens was the descendent of Colbert and Nancy Mickens, former slaves from South Carolina.

Mickens’ paternal grandparents were later sold and sent to Marion County, where they raised seven children in the small hamlet of Flemington that Asukile described as “way back in the woods.”

Odell Mickens was born in 1904, the only child of Isaac Mickens and his wife, Anna. At a time when there were no public schools for blacks, they sent him to privately operated black academies.

“His parents invested in him to get an education,” Asukile said.

In 1933, at age 29, as a graduate of then Bethune-Cookman Junior College, Mickens became principal of Moore Academy, the first permanent school open to blacks in Pasco County. It was named for the Rev. Junias D. Moore, who served as its first principal.

Mickens’ wife, Christine, taught at Moore Academy and also coached the Panthers’ basketball team.

“This really turned out to be a wonderful and beautiful partnership,” said Asukile of the Mickens’ marriage.

Mickens oversaw the expansion of Moore Academy. Over the years the campus, in various locations, became Moore Elementary School and Mickens High School.

In 1940, Lillian Arnold, Mozell Thompson and Lila Thompson became the first blacks in Pasco to graduate and receive diplomas.

The school became Moore-Mickens Middle School in the early 1980s, and was later repurposed as an education center in 1987.

The Pasco County School Board closed the education center in 2015. A group of community activists are seeking to reopen the center, but have yet to finalize a plan with the school district.

But, Mickens’ contributions to the county extended beyond education.

He served on the building committee for the Dade City Civic Center which opened in 1963.

He also was a founder of the Negro Civic Association.

Association members lobbied city officials to open up land formerly used as a prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. The city platted the land and, over time, black residents bought lots and built homes in the Moore-Harper subdivision.

Mickens served on the board of the Pasco County Housing Authority; as assistant trustee for the Bethune-Cookman University; and, as president of the Bethune-Cookman National Alumni Association.

In 1980, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Dade City Chamber of Commerce.

Published February 22, 2017

 

 

 

Smithsonian exhibit comes to Pioneer Museum

By

The working life of Americans from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century will be explored in a traveling Smithsonian exhibition that will make its first stop in Florida at The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City.

Two children work at a mill in Macon, Georgia. This photo is from a Smithsonian exhibition on the working life of Americans.
(Courtesy of National Archives, Records of the Children’s Bureau)

The exhibit – “The Way We Worked” – is part of the Museum on Main Street, which is a national, state and local effort to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The Florida Humanities Council selected the Pioneer museum as a host site.

Visitors to the Pioneer museum, at 15602 Pioneer Museum Road in Dade City, can view the exhibit from Jan. 28 through March 18.

A series of local speakers will bring insight into Pasco County’s contributions to the nation’s work history.

There also will be field trips, special programs, lunch and learn events, and tours.

The Pioneer museum released details on the exhibit in a news release. The museum is seeking corporate sponsors, speakers and docents for additional programming.

Two girls deliver ice in 1918. This photo is part of a Smithsonian exhibition on Americans’ work history that is coming to The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village.
(Courtesy of National Archives, Records of the War Department, General and Special Staffs)

“This is the first time a Smithsonian exhibition will be in East Pasco County,” said Stephanie Black, the museum’s executive director. “It allows us the opportunity to explore this fascinating aspect of our own region’s history, and we hope that it will inspire many to become even more involved in the cultural life in our community.”

The exhibit tells the story of working America through 86 black-and-white, and color, photographs. The photographs explain where Americans worked, how they worked, who they were and why they worked.

The traveling exhibit is an adaptation of an original exhibition by the National Archives and Records Administration, which explores the connections between work and American culture.

It is a look at the past 150 years at influences on the workforce and its environment, including the growth of manufacturing and the rise of technology.

Five other communities in the state also will host the exhibit in coming months, including the Polk County History Center in Bartow.

For information or to volunteer, visit PioneerFloridaMuseum.org.

Additional information also can be found at FloridaHumanities.org.

Published January 11, 2o17