FELLSMERE — The day known across Indian River County as “Fellsmere Day” has become a staple for the community of Fellsmere, bringing residents together every year in celebration of the City’s birthday.
On Saturday, the event kicked off with a pancake breakfast and continued with a parade, live entertainment, food, opportunities to learn the history of the city, and a “Little Miss, Little Mr. Fellsmere” pageant. Residents of the community showed up in droves to enjoy the whole day of festivities, all centered around the pride of Fellsmere.
Mayor Susan Adams honored Moses Santos as this year’s Fellsmere Day Grand Marshall, a title awarded to a member of the Fellsmere community to honor him or her for their service and influence in Fellsmere.
Santos has been deeply involved in Fellsmere since 1990, when he took a job with Redlands Christian Migrant Association. In 1995 he began working with the Fellsmere Medical Center, known today as Treasure Coast Community Health, and he now serves as the Director of Community Outreach of the organization.
Adams said Santos “provides common ground between services and citizens” of Fellsmere. She added, “We wouldn’t be the community we are without Moses.”
When Santos moved to Florida from Brooklyn, N.Y., over 25 years ago, he was in search of a change from life in the big city, but he had no idea how big of a change he was about to experience.
“It was a huge transition for me. When I first saw the horses outside the 7-Eleven, I thought they were filming a movie,” Santos told the crowd after Adams introduced him. Santos continued, touting his pride of Fellsmere and the people who live there, and expressing deep gratitude for the recognition he received for his service to the city.
Pride appeared to be the prevailing theme as the day’s festivities continued. Crowds gathered along Broadway and cheered for local community groups, schools, churches, and law enforcement agencies parading up and down the street. Then the crowds shifted to the courtyard in front of the Old Fellsmere School to browse vendor tents set up by local businesses and organizations, and listen to live music provided by te Penny Creek Band, and Los Manantiales del Norte.
Approximately 30 people gathered for a walking tour of the historic buildings in Fellsmere lead by Fellsmere Historian Rich Votapka who posed as the City’s founder, E. Nelson Fell. The tour included a stop to view the historic flywheel engine that generated Fellsmere’s electricity and ice plant from 1917 to 1925. The engine was bought back by the City of Fellsmere from Johnny Perez who has owned the engine since the mid 1990s.
Perez, originally from Tampa, Fla., acquired the engine after a friend found it abandoned and rusted in a sawmill. Perez, an engine collector, has long enjoyed restoring and showing large, historic engines.
But it was not until five years ago that Fellsmere historian, Clarence “Korky” Korker, approached him with information on the history of the engine in Fellsmere, providing articles from the Fellsmere Tribune to support it.
On Saturday, Perez officially sold the engine back to the city of Fellsmere for $12,000, making the 103rd Birthday of Fellsmere even more of a “historic day,” according to Votapka.
As a grand finale to the day’s events, a pageant was held to crown the 2014 “Little Miss and Little Mr. Fellsmere.”
Six-year-old Brooklyn Jennings and 7-year-old Adrian Suarez were named the winners of the pageant and beamed with pride over the recognition they received by their community.
Suarez represented the third generation of his family to live in Fellsmere.
“I was raised here and all my family and friends live here,” Suarez said to the crowd. “And the Frog Leg Festival is awesome!”
Other participants in the pageant included Leah Sophia Vasquez, Jonathan Ramos, and Oran Jayn Torres.
Jennings and Suarez along with their pageant competitors represented the youngest of those who are very vocal about the pride they have for the City of Fellsmere.
Grand Marshall Santos said one of the best part of serving for over 25 years in the community, has been watching young kids grow up in Fellsmere, and then start families of their own and remain in the city.
As of now, Jennings and Suarez both agree Fellsmere is a great community to be a part of.
