SEBRING — To commemorate America’s 250^th anniversary and in honor of Washington’s birthday, Governor Ron DeSantis designated Presidents’ Day a state holiday. Highlands Hammock is one of many Florida State Parks offering free admission from February 13 through February 16.

On February 14, Highlands Hammock State Park is celebrating Florida history, nature and the legacy of the CCC at the 39^th Annual Civilian Conservation Corps Festival.  The park’s signature event, more commonly known as the CCC Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Golden Era Jazz Band will open the festival with numbers from the Great American Songbook of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Principal speaker Clyde Butcher, who has photographed the Ancient Hammock and Cypress Swamp trails for many years as well as the Big Cypress Swamp, the Everglades and other national parks will recount his adventures in the Hammock. For his work in “focusing the lens on Mother Nature,” he received the National Medal of the Arts in 2024. 

Two longtime veterans of the Florida Folk Festival will set a lively tempo in the afternoon. Folk virtuoso John McClure will have audiences tapping their toes to bouncy banjo, guitar and mandolin. Vgo's set will feature songs from the Depression and the 1940s with a mix of blues. This musician is also a storyteller who will pepper his music with anecdotes about the songs and the instruments…. guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer and the bones!

CCC Museum curator David Schmidt will examine the origins of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was one of the most successful New Deal Era programs created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and its resounding impacts on resource management and stewardship of public lands. Archaeologist John Goss will explore historical and archaeological accounts of indigenous peoples in South Florida and their use of natural resources.

Other highlights include a wildlife rehabilitation exhibit, arts and crafts vendors, blacksmith, hewing and weaving demonstrations, a work camp reenactment and an antique car show. Children may explore nature at the Kids' Corner, participate in scavenger hunts and take a guided nature walk. Pony rides, wagon rides and park tram tours are ongoing. Food and refreshments are provided by food vendors and the Hammock Inn.

Heritage Demonstrations, Exhibitors, Activities and Children’s Activities

Gerry Jamison / Blacksmithing / Panther Pavilion
Gerry Jamison will be at his forge demonstrating blacksmithing. This former farrier excels at creating steel roses, fashioning snakes from rebar and rattlesnakes from rasps. Visitors who bid on a silent auction item will take home a steel cross at the end of the afternoon.

Charlie Brown, Paul Worthington and Ryan Worthington / Hewing / Picnic Area
Charlie Brown, the Park Manager from Mike Roess Gold Hold Branch State Park and the Worthingtons, a father and son team who are members of the park’s Citizen Support Organization, will be chopping, cutting and shaping wood using pine logs from Highlands Hammock.  CCC boys did hewing with axes to make logs into lumber and wooden beams.  Visitors including children may try their hand at this ancient woodworking art and take home a log “cookie.”

Joe Noto and Michele Noto / Frontier Work Camp / Picnic Area
Joe Noto and Michele Noto will set up a traditional work camp from the 1900s and demonstrate woodworking with old hand tools, coffee grinding and butter churning.  Visitors may grind their own coffee and take it home.  The Notos are reenactors at Paynes Creek Historic State Park.  

 Pam Perry / Weaving / Alligator Pavilion
Pam Perry who most recently volunteered at Dudley Farms Historic State Park and is now a member of the DeSoto Historical Society will demonstrate weaving on a loom.  Handmade quilts by folk artist Karen Smoke will also be displayed. 

Flywheelers Antique Car Show / Music in the Park Circle
Members of the Florida Flywheelers will display antique cars and tractors from the 1930s to the late 1940s.

 VIP Custom Carriage / Owl Pavilion and Picnic Area Entrance Gate
Pony Rides depart from the Owl Pavilion; $5 per child.

Children will be surprised and delighted to take a “pony ride” on the mule (Mary Jane), the American Mammoth donkey (Prada), a Friesian sport horse (Lincy), or the Quarter Horse (Titan)!

Wagon Rides depart from the Picnic Area Entrance Gate; $10 per adult.

Tram Tours of South Canal / Hammock Inn Concession
Tram tours depart from the Hammock Inn and run through the Hammock on the Loop Road before turning off into restricted areas where they pass through cypress swamp, pine flatwoods, and along South Canal where alligators, water birds and other wildlife may be observed.
Ticket Cost: $15 per adult; $10 per child for ages 6 to 12 years; Children 5 and younger are free.

Kids Corner / Otter Pavilion

1:30 p.m.
Kid’s Discovery Nature Walk / Wild Orange Trail (Departs from trailhead behind the Hammock Inn)
This hike is for children aged 5 to 13 to explore and learn about plants, animals, habitats, niches, food chains, animal adaptations and more! During the hour-long walk, children will discover adventures in nature and sharpen skills to explore nature in their own backyards. Led by Interpretive Volunteer Marilyn Blair, the hike will depart from the Wild Orange Trail behind the Hammock Inn.

Engage in Highlands Hammock State Park and Archbold Biological Research Station nature exhibits which include skulls, skins, bones, shells and other items.  

 Learn about park habitats by observing wildlife photos and finding the match of birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals within the murals of four habitats found in the park including Hammock, Cypress Swamp, Pine Flatwoods and Scrub.

 Play traditional games including cat’s cradle, hopscotch, jacks, tiddlywinks, pickup sticks, and marbles.

Explore the nature and history of Highlands Hammock State Park by taking a CCC Festival Scavenger Hunt geared for families with children of all ages.

Children will be thrilled to ride on a huge horse, an American Mammoth Jackstock Donkey, or a very tall mule ($5 per child) at the Owl Pavilion; Adults and families may enjoy wagon rides ($10 per person) which depart from the Picnic Area Entrance Gate.

Other Highlights
•  Florida Highwaymen Art
•  Highlands County Audubon Society
•  Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium:  Wildlife Rehabilitation Exhibit with Live Animals
•  Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership (Fish Habitats Game & Bird Wheel)
•  Heartland Cultural Alliance
•  FWC Ridge Rangers and More!
•  39^th Annual CCC Festival Schedule / 10 a.m.  – 4  p.m.

Speakers and Musical Entertainment

10:15 am – 11:00 am        Golden Era Jazz Band / Music in the Park Stage

11:10 am – 11:40 am        Park Welcome & Announcements / Music in the Park Stage

11:45 am – 12:30 pm        Golden Era Jazz Band / Music in the Park Stage

Two sets featuring numbers from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s of the Great American Songbook.

Noon – 12:45 pm

David Schmidt, CCC Museum Curator
Highlands Hammock State Park

Presentation: FDR & His CCC:  Conservation in America /  CCC Museum Stage

This 45-minute program examines the origins and achievements of the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s most successful New Deal Era programs, which had an enormous impact on resource management and stewardship of public lands during the Great Depression and has had a resounding impact for over 80 years. 

1:00  – 1:30 pm
Clyde Butcher, America’s Preeminent Landscape Photographer
Venice Gallery & Studio, Venice and Big Cypress Gallery, Ochopee

Address:  Adventures in the Hammock:  Clyde Butcher has a longstanding relationship with Highlands Hammock and is well acquainted with the Ancient Hammock and the Cypress Swamp. Through his many years of repeated “exposures” on these trails, he has preserved their inherent nature through all the seasons and after weathering storms.

1:30 - 2:15 pm            John McClure / Local Sebring attorney who is a self-taught and naturally gifted musician played the Music in the Park concerts and other venues throughout Florida together with four other family members in Back Porch Revival. The band played the Florida Folk Festival for 30 years and although it no longer exists, John still performs solo.

His set features traditional folk ballads and a selection of musical numbers featuring bouncy banjo, guitar , fiddle and the mandolin.

2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
John Goss, Archaeologist
Bradenton, Florida

Presentation:  Indigenous South Florida Peoples and Their Use of Natural Resources /

CCC Museum Stage

This 45-minute program explores historical and archaeological accounts of Native Americans  in southern Florida and examines the effect of natural resources in shaping their culture and the impacts of their culture on the natural resources unique to Florida.

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Vgo / A folksinger and storyteller with a preference for guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin and dulcimer who resides in Arcadia, plays lead banjo for the Gulf Coast Banjo Society.  Originally from Chevy Chase, Maryland, this highly adept musician taught himself string instruments at the age of 11. In the 1960s, he learned the Blues while observing Mississippi John Hurt, Son House and others. Vgo most recently played at the Ormond Beach Celtic Festival and has performed at the Florida Folk Festival for over 40 years. 

His set will feature songs from the Depression years and the 1940s together with a mix of Blues and comedy peppered with anecdotes about the songs and the instruments.

Park admission and all festival activities are free and open to the public with the exception of tours. Horse drawn wagon rides are $10 per adult and pony rides are $5 per child. Park tram tours are $15 per adult and $10 per child for ages 6-12. Children 5 and younger are free.  Residents and visitors are cordially invited to attend the CCC Festival and to explore Highlands Hammock and other Florida State Parks.