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Eustis, FL
– Scouring
the archives of local museums can be rewarding but daunting work. Photographs
can be mislabeled, newspaper articles yellowed with age and records incomplete.
For local historian Betty Ann McClellan, a longtime local resident and past
president of the Eustis Historical Museum, the need to gather this history in a
convenient format has been evident for years.
“There have been
several books written about Lake County history, but nothing that fully utilized
the resources of the Eustis Historical Museum to tell the story of how this city
was founded,” says McClellan. “So my classmate Ruth and I decided to write
one!”
McClellan and her
co-writer, Ruth Downs Akright, will sign copies of the new book this Thursday,
September 1st, at 6:00 pm during a reception at the Eustis Memorial
Library. |
(Left to right):
Ruth Downs Akright and Betty Ann McClellan, present book to Eustis Mayor Michael
Holland and Eustis Memorial Library Director Marlene Blye. |
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For Akright, who
also graduated from Eustis High School in 1959 and has spent time consulting for
and running historical museums in the Northeast, the book was an opportunity to
bring her expertise back home.
“The archives of
both the Eustis Historical Museum and the Lake County Historical Museum have
offered up some truly remarkable artifacts,” shares Downs. “We have been able
to craft a full story of the Eustis’ founding and early years with numerous
pictures.”
The new book, which
took Akright and McClellan more than a year to compile, is part of the “Images
of America” series produced by Arcadia Publishing. This latest entry is
available from national retailers, local shops in Lake County and at the Eustis
Historical Museum.
The Eustis
Historical Museum and Preservation Society, located at 536 North Bay Street, is
a 501c3 tax-exempt organization that relies on memberships, grants, donations,
fundraisers and assistance from the City of Eustis to maintain the museum and
local historical artifacts for future generations.
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