The Winter Park History Museum is currently featuring World War II memories.
Yesterday another Orlando suburb city, Casselberry, was added to the mix when the speaker series presented:
Home Front Stories From World War II - Winter Park and Casseberry.
One of the speakers was my old friend, Jane Casselberry. She and her husband of 72 years, Len, grew up in Winter Park but later lived (and still do) in the town that Len's father created north of Winter Park.
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| Jane and Len |
Jane was a young woman during the war years and yesterday she had some stories to tell. Not many people remember that the war was
in Florida. Floridans were always edgy. Jane remembers her family watching our U.S. planes bombing German U-boat saboteurs right off our coast. Jane, along with most of us, saved aluminum foil and melted grease. She joined the Red Cross. Len joined the Navy.
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| Jane and Len |
But the heart of her story, along with Lilian Casselberry, was telling about Hibbard Casselberry (father of Len) and his fern business that rapidly became a factory for the war effort. Later on Hibbard became "a habitual buyer of real estate." And that's why we now have the city of Casselberry, which is about three miles from my house.
In 1943 Jane started Rollins College. She would become a newspaper reporter. And in 1943 Len joined the Navy. In 1944 they were married.
I loved hearing Jane tell about her own father who helped build the massive and grand Alabama Hotel in Winter Park in 1923. Jane grew up nearby. So did Len. Now, the Alabama is home to luxury condos.
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