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Celebrating Island history

Members of the Anna Maria Island Historical Society welcomed the public to celebrate the history of the Island’s early settlers at the annual Heritage Day Festival and Settler’s Market. The festivities took place last Saturday, March 2, at the Anna Maria Island Historical Society Museum and Park on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria.

There was fun for all ages including a children’s scavenger hunt and other games, a sale of antiques and collectibles, an authors’ corner where readers could purchase books signed by the authors, and a pirate invasion with the Anna Maria Island Privateers aboard their land-bound ship, the Skullywag. Island craftsmen were also on hand for the event, including a beekeeper selling fresh honey, a wool spinner, candle maker, canners with jams and jellies, a quilt maker, barbecue, refreshments and more. The annual event is held to give residents and visitors a small taste of what it was like for the Island’s earliest residents who began settling the area in the late 1800s.

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