Pioneer Florida Museum

Night at the Museum shows off Pioneer Florida Museum & Village through Costumed Docents

Exhibitions, History, Clubs & Lectures

By Guest Author • Posted on August 16, 2022

Contributed by Andy Warrener and images by Richard Riley

The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village in Dade City tore a page out of Hollywood cinema with their “Night at the Museum” event on Saturday, July 16. “Night at the Museum” featured eight different docents, dressed in period regalia, depicting either a historical figure or a generic character demonstrating a craft or skill of yesteryear.

Curator Andy Warrener portrayed Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in the section dedicated to prehistory and the 16th Century.

Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Museum curator Andy Warrener portrayed Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in the section of the museum dedicated to prehistory and the 16th Century.

Adjacent to Warrener, in the covered Cracker porch were docents Deanne Absher and Tiffany Davis demonstrating crafts using corn husks. Already on display in the area were two brooms constructed of corn husks.

Continuing counterclockwise around the museum was historian and author Keith Kohl portraying a soldier from the 2nd Seminole War. Kohl was accompanied by his son Johnathan.

soldiers at Pioneer Florida Museum
Museum docents portraying soldiers in uniform at Pioneer Florida Museum’s Night at the Museum July 16, 2022.

Inside the Lockey Tool Room, resident carpenter Rob Schuler and his wife Susan demonstrated different wood-working techniques.

Lockey Tool Room Pioneer Florida Museum
Inside the Lockey Tool Room, resident carpenter Rob Schuler and his wife Susan demonstrated different wood-working techniques.

Night at the Museum shows off Florida History at Pioneer Florida Museum & Village through Costumed Docents

Just outside the tool room, Museum Association trustee Wayne Sweat demonstrated how a linotype was used. The Model 32 Linotype that was donated by The Zephyrhills News and was the very same model that Sweat used early in his career as a journalist.

Pioneer Florida Museum Linotype model 32
Doug Sanders, historian and retired journalist, explains the operations of a Model 32 Linotype that he operated in the 1980s at the Zephyrhills Weekly News to Rebecca Brown of Davenport, Florida.

Next up was Sheyenne McAlister in the Cracker Cowboy section, discussing early cattle ranching in Florida and the role of the Cow Cavalry during the American Civil War.

On into the Civil War section of the museum, history teacher and historian Caleb Greinke did a first-person portrayal of Samuel Pasco, who Pasco County is named after.

Lastly, in the World War II section of the Museum’s main building, Hannah Schultze depicted lady Marines, complete with uniforms, identification patches, manuals and lots of stories.

WWII woman marine portrayal
Hannah Schultze of Ocala portrays a WWII Woman Marine to Marsha Kea. There were over 20,000 women in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during the war doing non-combatant duty in the US and in occupied territories. After the war, those retained were placed on regular active-duty status as the rest of the Marine Corps.

The Museum dimmed the lights to give the nighttime feel, even though it was still broad daylight at 6pm when the event began. “We have been coming here for years,” stated Michelle Williams of Dade City, “But we did not expect this unique event. We learned more than usual through the people role playing characters of different eras of the central Florida area.”

The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village also hosted a Genealogy Workshop August 13. For more information on the many programs at the Museum, visit its Facebook page or its website at http://www.pioneerfloridamuseum.org.

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