IXIANS BLOG!: May 2016

BELUTHAHATCHEE AWES THE IXIANS

We were promised an awesome experience and Beluthathatchee delivered. As long-term Ixia members and field trip regulars, my wife, Pam, and I have seen some pretty spectacular sights. But this one has it all, home-town hero, world-famous historical figures, a magical house, an 18 acre lake, sweeping vistas, and a lost wild rose with Ixian connections.

Stetson Kennedy was a bigger-than-life author, environmentalist, Folklorist, Klan-buster, crusader and civil rights activist. He died in 2011 at the age of 94. He is best remembered for infiltrating the Klan in the 1940’s and exposing its secrets to the outside world. But he also authored or co-authored 10 books, championed and fought for many causes, and counted various celebrities as close friends, most notably self-described “stud buddy” Woodie Guthrie. We knew this trip would be as much about the man as the place.

We also learned a bit about the place beforehand. Beluthahatchee Park is a four (4) acre park located within the 70 acre tract of land purchased by Kennedy in 1948. Beluthahatchee Lake was created by impounding Mill Creek in 1945 and it meanders through a natural basin and is surrounded by high bluffs. Kennedy subdivided and platted the tract in 1949 and set aside land in perpetuity as a wildlife refuge, stipulating that residential construction be consistent with his goal of “serving as a working demonstration that human and natural habitat need not be mutually exclusive, but can coexist in harmony.” Using a 2005 Florida Communities Trust grant, St. Johns County acquired Kennedy’s cottage and a house next door where Kennedy’s first wife Edith lived with her husband, Gerald Hart, Kennedy’s best friend. The Hart house serves as center for small meetings and private parties. The two buildings and five surrounding acres form Beluthahatchee Park.

Finding the site was the first order of business as we heard more than once “it’s easy to miss. A few miles south of Julington Creek down SR 13, look for a one-lane dirt road into the woods and an almost-invisible sign.” Somehow, the two loaded cars in our Ixia carpool made it. Twelve of us, including Adam Arendell, whose perceptive photography peppers this entry, quickly arrived at a small, shaded parking area that connects to the aforementioned Hart House. There we met Karen Roumillat, Stetson’s stepdaughter and our main tour guide for the day. She told us right away that we were in for a surprise as they had visitors so we went inside and met Stetson’s grandson, Sean Kennedy, his wife, and young son, Stetson Kennedy. Family genealogy became the day’s challenge. Stetson Kennedy had personal connections to the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Mavynne Betsch (the “Beach Lady” of American Beach on Amelia Island), Woody Guthrie and hometown Ixian, Robert Ragland, M.D. each of whom visited him there. Guthrie wrote many songs while a houseguest at Beluthahatchee and a songwriter’s Artist-in-Residence grant has been established by the Stetson Kennedy Foundation to support folk-life artisans. http://stetsonkennedy.com/foundation.html

After lots of Q’s and A’s we descended via the yard to the dock where we were witness to one of the most visually thrilling lakes imaginable….14 acres in size, it is dotted with Bald Cypress trees from one end to the other. “Hatchee” is the Muscogee tribe’s word for ‘rat tail’ describing the form of a narrowing, impounded stream (lake) as it heads up-stream. “Belutha” is said to have come from Zora Neale Hurston’s take on Beulah-land and was added by Stetson. While on the dock, we witnessed a resident Osprey catching its lunch and returning to its nest not a stone’s throw away. This is everyday business on the lake!

Back up the bank and a few hundred feet to the north, perched right on the edge of Lake Beluthahatchee, stands Stetson’s home. This is the gem we came to see.

The house has two stories, with a great-room/kitchen and porch that extends the width of the house and commands broad lake views. It is a national literary landmark to Guthrie and Kennedy and an erstwhile museum and shrine to Stetson, his friends, and his way of life. It has been left pretty much the way it was when he died in 2011. Shortly after we arrived and were enthralled by the lake views we were joined by Sandra Parks, Stetson’s widow and wife of the last decade. Sandra is a former St. Augustine City Commissioner and owns and operates Anastasia Books there. She is standing between Sean Kennedy and Stetson’s stepdaughter in the picture below:

Our senses were a bit overwhelmed but we did do some botanizing toward the end of the trip. The highlight of this part was Adam’s discovery of a special rose that Bob Ragland had given Stetson years ago. They all knew about it but no one knew exactly where it was. Some plant highlights that caught our eyes and Adam’s lens: