CELEBRATING 60 YEARS
COVER STORY
ED DRONDOSKI
Jim Turner, former treasurer for the festival’s planning committee, admits that
he was the one who ended Sandy Shoes because of financial concerns.
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HOW SANDY SHOES GOT ITS NAME
It’s common to say that once you get Florida sand in your shoes
you’ll want to return. That made Sandy Shoes Festival a winner when
organizers were looking for a name for their newly fledged festival
60 years ago. Gail McManus, 17, suggested it and later became the
new festival’s first theme girl.
for all interests. The writer noted that in the week leading up
to the festival, the streets were already very crowded, fueling
expectations of great success.
Today, Pam Gillette of Main Street Fort Pierce notes the
similarity between the first Sandy Shoes and today. “We have
a cooking component and a citrus component to show what
we have here... the fishing and citrus industries... and the festival
is held on our beautiful waterfront. This is what we want
our northern visitors to experience. We want them to know
why Fort Pierce is such a gem and such a nice place to visit.”
After the final festival in 1977, it rapidly became just a
memory for the thousands who had attended, participated
and enjoyed it. Looking in the rearview mirror, some said the
concept of charging no fees did it in.
“Everyone was making money from the festival,” Bush says.
“But from what I have been told, most weren’t sharing that
money with the festival itself. When the county and city had to
give up supporting it, there was no money to continue.”
But the memory of Sandy Shoes lingered in the minds of
those who took part.
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