Conquistadors in May/June Gasparilla Island Magazine
The May/June edition of Gasparilla Magazine is out with new feature stories, recipes, shopping and social pages.
This edition’s recipe is a prize-winning lemon and raspberry trifle from the Lemon Bay Pioneer Fest, and the cocktail recipe comes to you from the Rabbit Hole at Cape Haze Tavern.
The magazine includes a story from the Boca Grande Health Clinic about protecting the largest organ of the body — the skin.
Our book review highlights a coffee table-style guide to seashells with hand-painted illustrations. Also included in the magazine is a story on the early 20th century book “Ezekiel’s Travels,” which follows the titular character as he journeys around Florida, including to the 3,500-year-old Senator Tree.
Features for this edition of Gasparilla Magazine include, “Acres of Eden: a Visit to Creator’s Farm and Garden;” “Heroes of Our Waters: Who’s Minding the Harbor;” “Boca Grande Brands: What’s in the Boca Grande Trademarked Proper Name;” “The Gasparilla Island Tennis Classic’s Greatest Tennis Match;” and “The Conquistadors: A Royal Order in Punta Gorda Celebrates the Spanish Explorer Juan Ponce de León” (excerpt included below).
Keep an eye on your mailboxes for the new edition or stop by the Beacon office to pick up a copy.
“The Conquistadors” excerpt by Shiela Evans
There’s an unusual group of men in the Port Charlotte area who have a special relationship with the history of Charlotte Harbor. They are semi-serious re-enactors of the Conquistadors of the 1500s, with a special affinity for Juan Ponce de Leon.
Ponce and his Conquistadors were not serious fighters. They were explorers, administrators and artisans, more than fighters, and did not do well against the Calusa Indians they came up against in Charlotte Harbor. Still, he was the first European to establish a settlement in the territory that is now the USA, and led the first European expedition to Florida.
St. Augustine and the Charlotte Harbor area may disagree on which settlement was first, but there is no doubt that Charlotte Harbor played a major role in the development of the state, and Charlotte Harbor is, in fact, the first documented establishment of a European colony in the Americas, even if it only lasted about two months.
There is definitely a Spanish heritage that should be acknowledged and remembered. Yet, before the Royal Order of Port Charlotte (ROPC), there was little sense of that history in Charlotte County, and no outward commemoration of Ponce de Leon’s contributions.
Even for the ROPC, history was not its first reason to establish the club. It started as a social club and a means to promote Punta Gorda and the rest of Charlotte County. Some of its early members, however, also were interested in the history of the area, and broadened its scope of activities.
The modern Conquistadors constructed a “ship,” or something that looks very much like a ship. It is an impressive replica of what their Renaissance counterparts would have used back in the day. It is constructed over the body of a bus, and is used for special events, such as the celebration of Ponce de Leon’s landing on the shores of the Charlotte Harbor (typically held in April each year), and for the Punta Gorda Christmas parade, as well as the big Gasparilla Festival held annually in Tampa.
It is named the “Palencia,” after the area in Spain where Ponce grew up. It also has a mini version, built over a golf cart.
During the last several years, members of the ROPC have spread the history of Ponce de Leon and his accomplishments throughout the area. They have also joined with other area organizations in sponsoring sailboat races, golf and shuffleboard tournaments, and treasure hunts, all for the enjoyment of the people of Charlotte County. They have established a number of Conquistador statues in the Punta Gorda area, notably in Gilchrist Park and at Ponce de Leon Park.
