- December 26, 2024
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Bill Venne, Elaine Studnicki, Art Dycke, James Canfield and Kathy Reichard-Ellavsky. Photo by Brian McMillan
Mayor David Alfin addresses the audience, with a distinguished row of guests: James Canfield, Bill Venne, Art Dycke and Milissa Holland. Photo by Brian McMillan
Garfield phones were given to early residents of Palm Coast. This one is housed at the James V. Canfield Museum, at Holland Park. Photo by Brian McMillan
Kathy Reichard-Ellavsky, vice president of the Palm Coast Historical Society, poses at the James V. Canfield Museum with a vintage 1970s kitchen, salvaged from one of the original homes in Palm Coast. Photo by Brian McMillan
Years before the city was incorporated, the man who would one day become mayor, James Canfield, received a gift, of sorts. ITT, the company that envisioned and created the community in 1970, was now leaving town and wanted to unload a bunch of boxes with founding documents and artifacts.
Soon, Canfield’s garage was full of the ITT boxes. “My wife was getting annoyed,” Canfield said during his speech on Oct. 29, as the city celebrated Founders Day. He explained that when the city was later founded, on Dec. 31, 1999, the boxes were finally transferred out of his garage and into one makeshift City Hall after another, until they landed at the Palm Coast Historical Society at Holland Park.
It was fitting, then, after the speeches commemorating the 51st anniversary of the city’s founding, that the building was renamed the James V. Canfield Museum. The room next door to the museum was also given an official name: the Arthur E. Dycke Research Center, after the man who has been the city’s historian since 2000.
Founding City Council member Bill Venne also spoke to the crowd of a few dozen dignitaries and residents on a bright fall day, Oct. 29, 2021. He recalled Palm Coast’s “country club atmosphere” from the early days. Ultimately, though, “people started to feel that we needed a little sovereignty.” He credited Canfied for leading the way to incorporation and for setting the tone of the city.
“If he was there with his tie and jacket, we had to be there in our tie and jacket, too. He ran a tight ship,” Venne said. “ … It was a great experience working with that bunch, getting the city off the ground.”
Joining Canfield and Venne on the original City Council were Ralph Carter, Jerry Full and James Holland. Carter and Holland both have city parks named for them.
More than 60% of the 12,000 voters opted for incorporation, according to Dycke’s book on the history of the city.
Fanny Herrera spoke after Venne at the Oct. 29, 2021, celebration. Her family moved to Palm Coast in 1976; her husband, Eddie, has a field named after him at the Indian Trails Sports Complex. She explained that, in an attempt to organize an international celebration, she flipped through the skinny phone book at the time and found all the names that seemed to be Polish or Hungarian, etc. About 13 people showed up. Eventually, the event would draw thousands.
The city asked her one day how much money she would need to throw the celebration, and she recalls saying, “I don’t need any money. I give you the bills, and you pay it all.”
The late Jon Netts was the city’s second mayor, from 2008 to 2016, and he was succeeded by Mayor Milissa Holland, who also spoke at the event on Oct. 29, 2021. She recalled that, as a young woman, before the city’s incorporation, her father told her that Canfield would make a good mayor because he had an understanding of the city’s history, a love for the community and a vision for the future.
“He led by example each and every day,” Milissa Holland said of Canfield. “ … Thank you for your incredible service.”
Like Venne, James Holland was not as excited about Canfield’s dress code in the early days of Palm Coast government. He ended up wearing clip-on ties to council meetings, Milissa Holland said, and he took them off as soon as the meetings were over.
“If he was there with his tie and jacket, we had to be there in our tie and jacket, too. He ran a tight ship. … It was a great experience working with that bunch, getting the city off the ground.”
— BILL VENNE, on serving on the first City Council, with Mayor James Canfield
Dave Studnicki, a member of a group of golfers known as the Sludgehammers, which included some of the city’s founders, announced to the audience that the group had disbanded after 70 years of revolving membership. He donated a check to the Palm Coast Historical Society for the amount of the club’s leftover dues, $527.
Dave’s wife, Elaine Studnicki, is the society’s president. She unveiled the names of the museum and research center, as well as a mural-in-progress that will be dedicated to Netts’ memory.
Current Mayor David Alfin, the city’s fourth, praised each previous mayor’s leadership; he also praised Dycke’s efforts to record the city’s history, calling him a “sweet, humble gentleman.” Dycke has written a third book, available at the Canfield Museum.
Alfin noted how far the city had come since those first 8,000 homes were sold in the first year. In 2021, the city has an Innovation District and 90,000 residents.
“Today, our Palm Coast Historical Society is paying tribute to five decades of the memories, leadership, triumphs and challenges that have shaped the foundation of our city,” Alfin said. “This is not just an anniversary, but an observance of our history and the people who’ve helped make it the wonderful place where we all live, work and play.”
