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Highlands Today

CCC Festival Draws Large Crowd To Hammock State Park

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: November 2, 2008

SEBRING - Escorting her granddaughters, 3-year-old Madi and 6-year-old Tori Cornell, around Highlands Hammock State Park on Saturday, Pam Fafeila summed up what drew thousands of people to the park's 23rd annual Civilian Conservation Corps Festival.

"It's a great atmosphere, and there's lots of things to do, for the kids and the adults," she said.

More than 90 craft vendors displayed their goods, ranging from yard ornaments and fused glass to plants and flowers, old fashioned, non-electric children's games, candles and artwork.

There were pony rides for the children and hayrides and tram tours of the park for all ages.

Twelve antique cars and tractors from the 1930s were on display, helping set the scene for this remembrance of the CCC, launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 7, 1933, just 37 days after his inauguration to help people survive through the height of the Great Depression.

Over the nine years it lasted, the CCC employed more than 3 million young men, ages 18 to 25 who reforested wastelands, developed parks, worked in erosion control and firefighting, and built dams and bridges and roadways in all 50 states.

Darrel Smith, a former Highlands Hammock ranger and now a volunteer historical re-enactor, dressed in an authentic World War I uniform, which was worn by the CCC workers, and gave a living history presentation on life in CCC camps.

"The most amazing statistic I found," he said, "is that in the nine years that the CCC lasted, it was credited with saving 21 million Americans from starvation."

Velmar Mack, 91, of Sebring, was one of the CCC alumni who attended the festival.

Growing up in the industrial area of Gary, Ind., he remembers the Depression as an awful time when "there was just no jobs, and there was no money." At age 17, he enlisted in the CCC and was sent to work in Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.

"The CCC was the answer," he said.

Mack said it was tough being away from home at first. "But," he said, "about the CCC, all I can remember is how good I felt because we were helping, we were helping ourselves and we were helping the family."

Each CCC worker was paid $1 a day at the end of each month, with $25 automatically sent home to the young man's family and $5 going to the worker.

"In the months with 31 days, you got $6, and boy, at that time, that was a lot of money," he recalled.

Mack said he enjoyed sharing stories of his CCC days with visitors.

"We went through all those tough times," he said, "and then we got to the good times."

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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