Everglades City MusicFest Preview on Live Radio

 The “Florida Folk Show” will be broadcast live on Saturday, November 4th, from Everglades City before the Centennial Music Festival at the historic Rod & Gun Club.

The weekly radio show starts at 10:00 AM on 96.7FM and can be heard at www.radiostpete.com until 12 noon. Host Pete Gallagher will interview surprise guests and play tracks by popular local musicians who may appear at the Festival which follows. An archive of past shows can be accessed at www.floridafolkshow.com and on Facebook.

Everglades City is very proud to have been designated the first seat when Collier County was established in 1923 by advertising entrepreneur Barron Gift Collier. The first County Commissioners met in the Rod & Gun Club, which was then owned by Collier. The building dates from the days of William Smith Allen, a farmer who settled in 1870 on the bank of the river (called “Potato Creek”) and sold out to the Storter family in 1881 so he could retire. They expanded his old home and took in traveling anglers and hunters as paying guests. They also ran a Trading Post and housed the Post Office which was opened in 1891 with the name “Everglade”.

When Collier decided in the early 1920s that this area of Southwest Florida had great potential for development, he bought about 1 million acres of land including the Storter holdings. The big house was modernized and renamed the “Rod & Gun Club.” A Bavarian chef, nicknamed Snooky, was employed to feed gourmet meals to Collier’s distinguished visitors.

This is the third MusicFest organized by the Everglades Society for Historic Preservation (ESHP) that raises funds to maintain the unique heritage of this remote, rural area. Besides the great live music, there will also be auctions of donated items. Tickets are $50 for a reserved seat or $20 for general admission. You can book in advance at www.eshp.org or phone Marya at 239-451-0265.