What do Seminole Indian clothing, shipwrecks and mastodon bones have in common?  They are all part of Indian River County’s history and were all on display at last night’s Heritage Celebration event at the Downtown Vero Beach Heritage Center. Twenty exhibits arranged in a timeline representing people, places and events from our local history captivated the two hundred plus attendees. Several exhibitors were dressed in period attire, including two “cave people” representing the Vero Man display which included prehistoric animal bones and early human implements.

A memory book was produced by Pam Cooper of the Main Library Archive Center with contributions by many local writers, each representing a different point on the timeline of history.  Attendees had to collect the pages to this book by visiting each exhibit. Displays represented  Dodgertown, the Mel Fisher Museum, Fellsmere, Sebastian and Vero history, the Vero Beach Airport, the history of hospitals and the person responsible for their existence, Garnett Radin, vintage postcards from B.T. Cooksey, citrus crate labels,

Elizabeth Graves-Bass, president of Vero Heritage, Inc., was thrilled with the results. “This is the third year we have held the celebration and we’ve never had this many people and such a diverse group.”

Susan Grandpierre, president of the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee, was also pleased with the turnout. She also spoke about the status of the proposed archeological dig. “We have the initial funding but scheduling problems postponed the start until fall, after the rainy season.”

The Heritage Celebration this year ties in to Florida’s 500th anniversary. It was in 1513 that Ponce de Leon first set foot in what is now St. Augustine. There is evidence that he or some of his fellow explorers also landed in our area soon afterwards. However, the original Americans had lived here already for hundreds, possibly thousands of years earlier. The earliest homesteaders in what is now Indian River County came in the mid to late-ninteenth century and included both white and black settlers. Written and photographic evidence exists from that time forward chronicling the settlement and growth of Indian River County. All of that history was on display at the Heritage Celebration.

The event was a fundraiser for Vero Heritage, Inc., which operates the Heritage Center, a 1935 building on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information about the Heritage Center, which is available for private and community events, call 772-770-2263.