Civilian Conservation Corps Festival: Celebrate Florida History and Culture

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- Enjoy Highlands Hammock State Park. With more rare and endemic species than any other Florida State Park; and, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Highlands Hammock is known for its magnificent hammock, the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum and other New Deal Era structures. It is a place where wilderness and history are preserved -- where visitors may walk the trails where the Florida panther and black bear quietly pass beneath towering oaks, and where visitors to the CCC Museum experience the Great Depression.
- Welcome and Introductions / Morgan Tyrone, Park Manager; Carla Sherwin, Park Services Specialist; David Schmidt, CCC Museum Curator; Josh Vaughn, Sebring High Band Director; Joy Loomis, Avon Park High Choir Director. 11 a.m. at the Music in the Park Stage
- Florida Author and Historian Dr. Gary Mormino: Ten Foods That Define Florida From Smoked Mullet to Key Lime Pie! Noon in the CCC Museum Stage
- Civilian Conservation Corps Museum Curator David Schmidt: Built By the CCC: America’s Greatest Parks. 1:30 in the CCC Museum Stage.
- Archaeologist John Goss: Prehistory of Indigenous Peoples of Central Florida. 2:30 p.m. in the CCC Museum Stage.
- Florida Highwaymen Artists Kelvin Hair and Richard Evans will exhibit and sell their paintings.
- Scott Teele and Frank Teele, award-winning blacksmiths with the Florida Artist Blacksmith Association, will demonstrate blacksmithing as they create a steel water lily table sculpture for the silent auction (3 p.m. in Panther Pavilian). One lucky bidder will take home at the end of the day.
- Enjoy music by Sebring High Jazz Band (10 a.m., 12:30 p.m.) who will perform big band music from the 1930s and 1940s, Avon Park High School Show Choir (11:30 a.m.) and Heart of Highland Show Chorus - Sweet Adelines (2 p.m. and 3 p.m.).
- Take a step back in time at the Cow Camp Reenactment by Lake Kissimmee State Park.
- Antique Car Show highlights exhibitors firing up old engines and a vintage tractor.
- Guided, narrated 90-minute tram tours at 11 a.m., Noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. (if needed). Trams depart from the Hammock Inn, run along the Loop Road beneath the densely shaded hammock, pause on a wooden bridge within a cypress swamp, and continue through open pinelands. The tram returns along South Canal through a wetland of bay and cypress trees where alligators, turtles, herons, ibis, egrets and the occasional otter may be observed. Tram tickets are sold through the Hammock Inn concession, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket cost is $15 per adult and $10 for children six to 12 years old. Children aged five and younger are free. Tickets may be purchased on the day of the tour or one day in advance. Call the Hammock Inn at 863-402-0061.
- VIP Custom Carriage Ride / Karen Tyrrell and her Clydesdale mare Lorna Doone or Fallon, a Friesian Percheron draft horse. Cost: $10 per person. 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
- Arts and crafts vendors, demonstrations and displays by government agencies and organizations concerned with local history or nature and the environment are ongoing. Learn more about quilting, spinning, pine needle basketry and more!
- Food and refreshments are provided by the Hammock Inn Camp Store and onsite food vendors.

Children and young people may participate in a number of activities, including:
o 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Discovery Nature Walks for children 5 to 13 to explore and scavenge to learn about plants, animals, habitats, niche, food chains, animal adaptations and more! During the hour-long walk, children will discover adventures in nature and sharpen skills to explore nature in their own backyards. Led by Interpretive Volunteers Chris and Bob Wohlwend and Alice Oldford. Meet at Wild Orange Trail in the picnic area behind the Hammock Inn Camp Store. Dress in long pants, protective clothing and shoes (no flipflops or sandals) and bring water sunscreen and insect repellent. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
o Engage in Highlands Hammock State Park and Archbold Biological Research Station nature exhibits including touching and holding a live pine snake.
o Learn about park habitats by observing photos of wildlife and finding the match of birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals within the murals of four different habitats found in