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Centennial offers glimpse into past
Allenhurst celebrates Sawmill Day
1004Bearsheart
Dressed as a Native American Creek Indian, Louie “Bearsheart” Ferris came from Tampa, Fla., to participate in Allenhurst’s centennial celebration on Saturday at Miller’s Pasture. - photo by Phgoto by Patty Leon
The town of Allenhurst celebrated its 100th birthday by re-creating the past and welcoming in the future of the Jan and Dennis Waters Educational Center in Miller’s Pasture, the site of the original homes once used by the Dunlevie family when they managed the Dunlevie Lumber Company.
Dressed in authentic colonial attire, interpreters told stories of life in the 1900s when Allenhurst was a thriving lumber community.
Allenhurst Councilwoman Amanda Cox, daughter of Allenhurst’s first mayor, William C. Cox, opened the ceremony and awarded commemorative tapestries to Danny Norman, Theodore Vittoria and Randy Dunlevie, the grandson of Herbert Dunlevie, the Lumber yard’s treasurer. Vittoria, a New York attorney and D.C. Miller trustee, announced an upcoming educational pilot program to assist children of deployed military members. The program is being coordinated by the Tybee Island 4-H Club and is scheduled to take place during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The educational center, formerly the home of Ernest Dunlevie, also was unveiled at the centennial celebration.
Joe Rothwell, Miller Pasture’s restoration project manager, gutted the interior by hand in mid-April, restored the house to its original form and said it’s been an around-the-clock job to put the finishing touches on.
“But when it’s something you really love to do, it’s really not like labor,” he said.
Photos of the Dunlevie family, collected pieces of old china and furniture from the colonial period adorn the house.
Outside Louie “Bearsheart” Ferris, dressed in full Native American attire, talked about the indigenous Creek Indians. Danny Norman and Bill Kennedy demonstrated a sawmill and Vicki Martin talked about clothing through the ages. The event lasted until 5 p.m.
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