In episode four of “Forgotten Park,” the annual Cane Grinding Festival in Glades County continues to draw visitors to Ortona Indian Mound Park.
Yet, the remnants of Ortona's ancient civilization are succumbing to the passage of time and lack of attention.
🔊 Listen to Forgotten Park Episodes 1-5
The park, officially known as “Larry R. Luckey’s Ortona Indian Mound Park,” has been open to the public since 1989. Although the park bears the name of the former county property appraiser, Larry Luckey, it is owned by Glades County.
Larry and I walked through his namesake park. He pointed out one of the dig sites from Bob Carr’s archaeological survey in 1987.
Larry’s dream park is starting to show signs of neglect.
The pavilion meant to educate the public about the history of the Ortona’s indigenous people is laden in spider webs and natural debris.
Time has taken its toll on the boardwalk, too, which was built to lead visitors through chosen mounds and canal systems that date back to 400 A.D.
Pine and palm trees have grown through the wooden planks, leaving the walkway in a state of disrepair.
Since Ortona Indian Mound Park is owned by Glades County, the county holds authority to make any improvements.
Passing the boardwalk, Larry laments the absence of markers explaining the region's sugarcane heritage and ancient earthworks.
“There is not enough signage," said Luckey. "I've asked the commissioners, but there's no resolve, or no wherewithal, or no financing to do that. It saddens me. It saddens me, but I don't know what, what do I do?”
The Cane Grinding Festival has been held at Ortona Indian Mound Park on the first Friday in February for the last 35 years. It’s a volunteer-run and operated festival that's now organized by the Williams and McRoy families.
The focus for the festival is on sugarcane.
At the 2023 Cane Grinding Festival, 17-year-old Wesley McRoy, son of festival organizer Amanda McRoy, lets me hitch a ride in the buggy he’s driving to help demonstrate sugarcane grinding.
I asked him why he volunteers his time to take part in the festival.
“I think it's really important," said Wesley. "We have U.S. Sugar, probably 45 minutes from here, and on the whole drive, there is nothing but cane fields. So, I think it's pretty important to people that don't know about sugar cane or have never tried sugar cane, can kind of see the process of it.”
Kimberly Clement was at the festival with her one-and-a-half-year-old young son Caine. She's lived in Glades County for 34 years.
“It's very important that people in the area realize how important these farmers are," said Clement. "You know, the sugar cane here goes worldwide. So our farmers, our family and our friends in the area, they get to see exactly the syrup that comes from there.”
Kimberly knew about the mounds and canals throughout the park. She says without community volunteers, the histories of sugarcane grinding and indigenous settlers here would be lost.
“If we don't support our culture and what our ancestors made for us, our parents worked so hard for us to be able to enjoy what we have now, it'll just go away," said Clement. "If you don't feed it, it dies. So we keep feeding our culture and we keep making sure that everything has a way to survive.”
I met Kate Adams near the park’s entrance. She recently moved to Glades County from Tennessee and discovered the park while out exploring.
“It's such a beautiful park, I was amazed to see that it's a county park," said Admas. "I love the botanical aspect of it. There are beautiful oak trees, palm trees, there's a diversity of plants on the ground.”
Kate also knows about the park’s indigenous significance. She says that she’s concerned about the obstacles Glades County faces in preserving this historical site.
“I think preserving all history is important," said Adams. "And I'm gonna cry now, because I think a lot of the public education, you know, things, it's easy for things to fall by the wayside because of lack of funding or lack of interest.”
She said she’s making plans to possibly assist Glades County in preserving the park.
“It's such a small county, I think they could use some help. And I hope to form a group of volunteers to become kind of friends of this park. I don't know if it'll work. I think it's important that we expand the interpretive display. I hope we can do that and definitely get some signage.”
Amanda McRoy is related to Dorinda Williams-Campos from episode one. Their family legacy extends six generations in Ortona.
Amanda says that the Cane Grinding Festival transcends a mere celebration; it’s a tribute to a fading past, preserving its history for generations to come.
“It was the way they had to live, you know, so we don't want that to go away," said McRoy. "You know, really just preserving all the parts, not just the Calusa, not just cane syrup, not just our heritage as Williams, but as a whole, you know, to bring it all together. So it's not lost, like our lost park.”
In the last episode of Forgotten Park, radiocarbon dates trace the Ortona site back to 400 A.D., but evidence of the indigenous canal systems and earthworks are fading due to a lack of preservation.
What will happen to this history, and what will it take to protect it?
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