Old Florida Festival takes residents back in time

His mother and grandmother went with him, too, winding their way through the woods outside the Collier County Museum in East Naples. They heard booming cannons, spied a spinning wheel and took in all the local lore they could as part of the 15th annual Old Florida Fest.

The festival continues today, as re-enactors, craftspeople and musicians lend their talents or trades to recreate Florida's history.

Justin liked seeing the spinning wheel, he said.

"I really like how they sewed a long time ago," he said.

His mother, Tracy Reites, was pleased that her son could see a living version of history. It was better than photos in a textbook, she said. And she wanted Justin to see what life was like before electricity, too.

"Unless they have something like this, they'll never see how it was," Reites said.

Festival-goers could mingle with members of different Florida time periods, including Calusa Indians, Spanish Conquistadors, Civil War soldiers and telegraph operators.

"Everything is designed to give you the sound and taste and feel of Florida pioneer life," said David Southall, the museum's curator of education, who donned a Civil War uniform for the event.

Attendees could sample freshly popped kettle popcorn, visit a blacksmith and browse for beeswax at a colonial-era candle shop. Or they could chat with the historical figures, such as Larry May, a member of Calderon's Company, a volunteer group of Bradenton re-enactors.

May portrayed Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer who came to Florida by way of Cuba in the 16th century. With him, De Soto also brought soldiers, hogs and horses; like De Soto, May also brought two horses with him to the Old Florida Fest.

And he brought a desire to share the details of Spain's history in Florida.

"Most people don't know anything about it," May said. "I guess they think we all started after the Revolutionary War."

The event gave attendees a peek into some of history's lost techniques, such as homemade soap-making. It was also a chance to take part in some of history's more unusual trends, such as a visit to a phrenologist, an expert in reading the meaning of the physical traits of a person's head.

Jerry Bedenk and Carol Patten spent more than two hours wandering through the festival. Bedenk has been to the museum before, but never to the festival. He enjoyed what he saw and learned.

"It's very natural and the people are very informative -- surprisingly informative -- about old Florida," Bedenk said.

Patten even called her sister from the festival to urge her to attend the event, too, she said.

"You would believe this is how it was," Patten said of how authentic the re-enactments were.

The event also included a reenactment from the Third Seminole Indian War, a fight over land that raged from 1855 to 1858. Billy Bryan Jr., and his father, Billy Bryan Sr., of the 10th Florida Volunteer Infantry Living Historians, took part in that re-enactment clad in period battle dress.

"It's hands-on history," said the senior Bryan of the re-enactment and festival. "It's actually seeing it."