Foreword
The Sebring Historical Society was chartered in June, 1967 and its officers lost no time in appointing committees and putting them to work. The Publications Committee, of course, was charged with the responsibility of notifying the new members of the meeting dates and to do this at the lowest possible cost because the dues had been set at $1.00 for members, which allowed very little for printing and postage of the notices.
This problem was overcome by the generosity of Shultz Printing, Inc., who furnished the paper stock and permitted Culp Dottery the use of its presses without cost. This arrangement continued for years.
By the end of the first year of the Society, the Directors envisioned the need of a “house organ” so they authorized the issuance of a brochure which would serve as a trial balloon to determine its value. The response was spontaneous and generous as well as informative.
From the comments that were returned, a format was determined that would recognize that in the 200 charter members, interest was divided among some who were interested in:
1) Pioneers and their life styles and ways of living.
2) Seminole Indians, their habits and families.
3) Seminole wars, battles and forts.
4) Road, trails and water transportation facilities.
5) Pioneer’s recreation and amusement.
6) Politics.
Acting on the suggestions that were received, the publications committee tried to put together a brochure which, when printed and distributed quarterly, would have something of interest for all members as nearly as possible. But, there were some problems - - mostly financial.
A cooperative membership overcame most of them. One member had a small press which eliminated the cost of printing, except for special type and pictures. Here, again with George Shultz to the rescue. He furnished this service below cost at a figure which was easily met by a member.
Had it been necessary to distribute these by mail, the whole idea would have been sunk but Ruth Dottery and Louise Cameron delivered them by car and saved the Society all the cost of local mailing.
The first “Bulletin” was published in April 1969. It was continued on a quarterly schedule by practically the same committee until April 1987. In that period of time there were fifty-five issues printed and distributed covering approximately 393 subjects in 1380 pages.
After all those issues and all those years under the influence of almost the exact same committee it was felt that a change would be refreshing and so - - a complete change has been effective in a gradual replacement. The completed committee replacement has proven to be not only beneficial but also welcomed by the members of the Society.
In this collection some twenty articles have been copied from the first 55 “Bulletins” as they received the most comments from the readers. It is probably proper to explain that for many months in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Park DeVane, Culp Dottery and Allen Altvater set aside Wednesdays to visit the areas that were the sites of the events of history in Central Florida. They visited the location of Chokonikla and Paynes massacre; Oak Creek, where the panther carried off the child; the battleground at Okeechobee and other points about which they wrote. They personally knew Senator Murphy, Congressman Peterson and Rex Beach and they rode out the storm of 1926. With these facts in mind, it is easy to understand why they and other members of the committee would appreciate the efforts of other committee members.
We hope you have enjoyed the “Bulletin” and that you will take a few moments to express your approval to the committee members who have made such marked improvements to it. Even the name, The Historian, is more up-to-date and interesting.
Allen C. Altvater
November 1993
Editor’s note: Prior to Allen’s death, he had written the above foreword for this collection of articles. Two sets of the following twenty or so articles had been photocopied from Bulletins and placed in an envelope, yet this work never made it to the print shop. By 1993, Papa was no longer able to operate his multigraph press, so we feel certain that he had intended to have it reproduced by some other means.
Altvater Creed
“I will strive unceasingly to quicken the public’s sense of civic duty. Thus, in all things will I transmit this City, not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to me.”
“Ever work unselfishly for the advancement of the community in which you live. It is unfortunate that we are so often strongly under the impression that to do a piece of work and not get credit for it, is little less than a calamity.”
“By doing the thing for which you may receive no credit, you are building certain qualities which cannot be hidden.”