GLADES COUNTY -- The non-profit volunteer group Friends of Glades County Parks (FGCP) has been working with Glades County since 2023 to provide cosmetic upgrades and signage to county parks.

On March 29, 2025, FGCP invited the families of the parks’ namesakes for a presentation of the commemorative signs donated by FGCP and being installed at all four county parks. County commissioners joined the family groups at each park for the unveilings.

“We’re very grateful to the families who provided us with biographical information for these signs,” said FGCP President, Kate Adams. “FGCP Board Members did our own research, but of course, the Families’ first-hand knowledge was essential to the project.”

FGCP designed five signs to commemorate Vance Whidden, Alvin Ward, Sr., Margaret Van de Velde, Larry Luckey, Sr. and Sam Griffin. Adams said that the photos were the most challenging aspect, since all but one of the namesakes had passed away years ago.

“One of the reasons it took several months to produce the signs was because none of the photos were originally digital,” said Adams. “We scrutinized dozens of photos and virtually all of them had to be restored.”

Adams said that the group also volunteered to refurbish the kiosks at Margaret Van de Velde and Alvin Ward, Sr. Parks, where the commemorative signs will be installed. The kiosks received minor repairs to damaged lumber and multiple coats of primer and paint over a period of several weeks. At the Vance Whidden and Larry Luckey, Sr. sites, the signs are installed on posts until kiosks can be built in the future.

“We have a small group of volunteers that will always respond when called upon at least once a month,” said Adams. “We could use more help, however, and there’s always room for improvements.”

Three of the four Glades County Parks are located along the 110-mile Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, a part of the 1,584-mile Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST). Alvin Ward Sr. and Margaret Van de Velde are popular stops for cyclists and hikers on the FNST.

The entrance to the largest county park, Vance Whidden Park & Trail, is off the 3-mile FNST paved pedestrian-bike path adjacent to SR78. The 195-acre park is part of the western marshes of Lake Okeechobee. The natural landscape has been mostly preserved and has no infrastructure other than the paved “figure-8” walking and cycling trail. Many residents frequent the trail for daily exercise.

Whidden was a Glades County Commissioner and lived there for 81 years. He was a military veteran and hobby musician who played several stringed instruments.

“The sign is awesome and everyone in our family was very pleased,” said Whidden’s granddaughter, Brandi Miller Schoenfeld. “We’re grateful that these volunteers have acknowledged his dedication to community service.”

The Margaret Van de Velde Park and walking trail is on a peninsula where the Harney Pond Canal flows into Lake Okeechobee. Van de Velde was the first woman ever elected as a Glades County Commissioner. Her 82-year-old sister, Jane Stokes, traveled with her daughter from Palm Beach County to view the commemorative sign.

“Mom was thrilled that her sister’s accomplishments were better recognized with the new sign,” said Van de Velde’s niece, Cherish Onega “This volunteer group has done a wonderful job so far.”

Within the Margaret Van de Velde Park is the Sam Griffin Observation Tower that provides visitors with commanding views of the open-water horizon of northern Lake Okeechobee. There is a paved sidewalk from the parking area, and the tower’s ramps make it wheelchair-accessible.

“The sign is perfect,” said Carol Griffin, widow of Sam Griffin. “I was crying happy tears when I saw it. This little group did a great job!”

Mrs. Griffin commended FGCP for producing the signs so many years after the tower was built. The late Mr. Griffin was famous for crafting top-water wooden fishing lures, among other accomplishments. FGCP also hopes to document the lures, now collector’s items, in a separate signage project.

The Alvin Ward, Sr. Park is situated where the Lake Okeechobee rim canal meets the Caloosahatchee River at Julian Keen Lock & Dam. It’s also directly adjacent to the Florida National Scenic Trail (on the Herbert Hoover Dike) and contains floating boat ramps as well as an airboat launch.

“These volunteers are a different class of people,” said Alvin Ward, Jr. “We’re very grateful that this small local group took the time to research, design and raise funds for these signs.

Alvin Ward, Sr. owned Alvin’s Bait & Tackle for over 15 years, and fishing tournaments were held on Lake Okeechobee regularly. Sam Griffin and Alvin Ward, Sr. were both active members of the “Monkey Box Boys Bass Club” in Moore Haven. When  Ward passed away in 1981, his friend Sam Griffin was appointed to fill his seat as a Glades County Commissioner. One of  Griffin’s first acts as a Commissioner was a motion to name the park for Ward.

“My Dad loved Lake Okeechobee,” said Ward’s daughter, Brenda Choban. “The signs turned out great, and I think he’d be happy that these volunteers are helping the county parks.”

Adams said that each of the properties where county parks are located have a storied history. Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee was officially begun in 1932, but several of the Glades County sections weren’t completed until the 1960s or 1970s. Many residents remember what the park properties previously looked like when they were natural wetlands along nearly the entire western section of the lake.

“Our group believes that historic preservation is important,” said FGCP Board Member, Garnett Ahern. “These park namesakes greatly contributed to the community in ways far beyond their service as Glades County elected officials.”

The only Glades County Park not near the lake is the Larry R. Luckey Sr. Indian Mound Park (IMP) located in the community of Ortona. Developed in 1989 on the site of a former sand mine, the 60-acre park is an archaeological monument site that contains evidence of extensive earthworks constructed by indigenous people. It is managed as a nature preserve in which the native plants and animals are protected from removal.

Archaeologists believe that the Ortona area was inhabited as early as the late Archaic Period around 3,000 BC. Using ground-penetrating radar and nearly 200 years of various records, documented evidence suggests that prior earthworks and canals at or near IMP appear to have been built approximately 800 years ago.

Luckey was formerly the Glades County Property Appraiser and is an advocate of historic preservation and wildlife protections. IMP is the site of the Ortona Cane Grinding Festival held there annually. FGCP Board Members presented the commemorative sign to Luckey at the festival on Feb. 1, 2025, when it was installed at the park.

“I am humbled by this acknowledgement, and the FGCP Board has been very gracious.” said Luckey. “I’m happy to see their dedication toward nurturing all of our county parks.”

Luckey was hands-on during the park’s development and personally planted several of the oak trees at the park entrance in 1988-89. Older palm and oak trees are among the lush interior of the park, where there are several walking paths now cleared and connected by FGCP volunteers into a single trail.

FGCP volunteers worked weekly for five months doing hand-removals of invasive plants from IMP. The group hopes that this will be ongoing and eventually result in eradication of at least two invasive plants, Caesar Weed and Rosary Pea.

“Invasive plants are resistant to herbicides, and spraying is typically only a temporary solution,” said FGCP Board Member Harry Moldenhauer. “True eradication might take several years, but we’ll keep at it so they don’t completely take over and kill the native plants and trees.”

In addition to the five commemorative signs for the namesakes, FGCP donated a dozen other signs to IMP alone, including the new entrance sign in the parking area. The group hopes to assist the county with entrance signs and kiosks for all of the parks in 2025-26, among other projects.

For more information or to volunteer with Friends of Glades County Parks, contact by email: FriendsOfGCParks@yahoo.com, or send donations to the 501(c)3 non-profit group by mail: P.O. Box 302, Moore Haven, FL 33471.

GLADES COUNTY -- Sam Griffin’s son, Samuel J. Griffin, and cousin Kenley Roberts gathered with other family members at the Sam Griffin Observation Tower for presentation of the commemorative sign installed by FGCP at Margaret Van de Velde County Park. [Courtesy photo]

GLADES COUNTY -- Glades County Commissioner Jerry “Gator” Sapp speaks with some of the Thompson boys at Margaret Van de Velde County Park. [Photo by Patti Powers]

GLADES COUNTY -- The new entry sign was installed in February 2025 at the LRLS Indian Mound Park in the Glades County community of Ortona. [Courtesy photo]

One of the kiosks being refurbished by Friends of Glades County Parks volunteers at the Margaret Van De Velde park at Harney Pond Canal. [Courtesy photo]

(Front row) Kenley Roberts, Cayson Holman, Mackynzie Peeno, (seated) Kathy Griffin Decker, Crissy Griffin Fabian, Carol Griffin, Samuel J. Griffin, Jake Griffin, Beth Griffin, (standing) FGCP Harry Moldenhauer, Tim Stanley, Sera Griffin Aul, Nancy Peeno, Jeff Patterson, Jeff Barnes, Cliff Peeno, FGCP Board Member Garnett Ahern, Hattie Taylor, “Gator” Sapp, Corey Aul, FGCP Kate Adams. [Photo …

Patti Powers

(Front row) Taw Thompson, Macklin Thompson, Callum Thompson., (seated) Ruger Thompson, Joseph Thompson II, Robert Thompson, Jane Stokes (Margaret Van de Velde’s sister), Cherish Onega, Laura Thompson., (standing) FGCP Harry Moldenhauer, FGCP Board Member Garnett Ahern, Tim Stanley, Jeff Barnes, “Gator” Sapp, r Jeff Patterson, Hattie Taylor, FGCP President Kate Adams. [Photo by Patti Powers]

Patti Powers

(Seated) Alvin Ward, Jr. and Brenda Ward Choban, (standing) FGCP Board Member Harry Moldenhauer, Commissioner “Gator” Sapp, FGCP Board Member Garnett Ahern, Commissioner Jeff Patterson, Commissioner Jeff Barnes, Commissioner Tim Stanley, Commissioner Hattie Taylor, FGCP President Kate Adams. [Photo by Patti Powers]

Patti Powers

(Seated) Kayla Schoenfeld Mosley (holding John Mosley), Kathy Whidden Miller, Paul Whidden, Sharon Whidden, Brandi Miller Schoenfeld, Kirsten Schoenfeld Mosley, (standing) FGCP Garnett Ahern, FGCP Kate Adams, Tim Stanley, FGCP Harry Moldenhauer, Brandon Schoenfeld, Andre Brown, Jeff Barnes, Jon Paul Miller, Jeff Patterson, “Gator” Sapp, Hattie Taylor, Christopher Miller. [Photo by Patti …

Patti Powers