WPHS Museum Curator Brian Schmit was happy to receive a donation on July 8, 2019, from Mary Ann Sarazen, who is Gene Sarazen’s daughter. Gene Sarazen, a famous golfer of the 1920s and 1930s, owned a home on the Cotee River in New Port Richey. The items donated include Gene’s hat, a pair of his knickers, and an Earl Benham jacket he owned. Brian is holding an autographed picture of Thomas Meighan, signed by him with a note to Gene Sarazen and his wife. There is also a photo of Sarazen and Meighan together while golfing probably in New Port Richey. The Sarazen articles will be displayed as part of the exhibit redevelopment project at the museum scheduled for this fall.
Our next speaker at the museum is Doug Sanders, the history writer for The Laker-Lutz News, a former city planner for Dade City, and a former news director of WDCF radio station in Dade City. He will ask and answer some questions about Pasco County history that you may not know about. At what venue in Pasco County did B. B. King, Ray Charles, and James Brown perform? Did Calvin Coolidge have lunch in Dade City? What man from Atlanta brought the first railroad to Pasco County? What actor who appeared on the Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, and the Dick Van Dyke Show was born in Dade City? Where was the last Indian attack on a settler’s homestead east of the Mississippi River? Does a Dade City woman have a document signed by Abraham Lincoln? To learn about these topics and more, join us on Saturday, July 13, at 1 p.m. at the museum in Sims Park. There is no charge for admission.
