Pirates, sailors, Rebels tell of Florida’s past
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN, gmartin@sun-herald.com
Wearing an 1830s U.S. Navy uniform, Greg Centanne, left, displays one of the first rifles designed to shoot bullets with metal cartridges to passersby, including Kathy Ulbrich of Punta Gorda, right, at the Florida Frontier Days Festival Saturday in Bayshore Live Oak Park in Charlotte Harbor.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Pirate Jeanette "Jaded Jetty" Goff of Punta Gorda attempts to teach scallywag Kiana Naylor, 14, of Port Charlotte a lesson, to no avail, during Florida Frontier Days Saturday in Bayshore Live Oak Park in Charlotte Harbor.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Stephen "Commodore Cutter" Goff sets his sights on the Charlotte Harbor horizon, during the frontier festival.
SUN PHOTO BY GREG MARTIN
Florida Frontier Days organizer Frank Desguin and his wife Teresa pause for a photo during the event Saturday.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR — Bayshore Live Oak Park became a crossroads for bygone eras Saturday, as re-enactors from the age of piracy through the Civil War mingled with contemporary passersby at the 17th annual Florida Frontier Days Festival.
“I’m able to relive a dream of being a history teacher,” said re-enactor Greg Centanne of St. Petersburg, who was dressed in the uniform of a U.S. Navy sailor from the period 1835-42. “I try to tell the Navy’s story because Florida was very much a part of the Navy’s frontier.”
