inside:
Meeting neighbors, and telling their stories.
“I’m A Man”
1967 — Bo Diddley
((( spencer davis )))
john moran
In the mid-’60s and ’70s, Bo Diddley was living in a small, wooden house ten miles out of town on Archer Road. Because he was a local, The Florida Theater (later The Great Southern Music Hall) was a venue he played frequently. The 1930s brick building stood regally on University Avenue, across the street from the Segal building, near downtown.
“Walk Of Life”
1978 —
((( Dire Straits )))
m. king
There’s a tree from the moon on the University of Florida campus, and its location is a secret.
It’s probably the most deep-rooted secret at UF. The mysterious moon tree grew from a seed sent on the second Apollo lunar mission in 1969.
But because the tree was planted in a busy spot on campus, no UF professors or administrators are willing to reveal its location. They fear that people may stalk the sapling and pull off pieces as a souvenir.
Forestry school Director Arnett Mace said he knows that the moon tree exists, but even he has no idea of its whereabouts. Broadcasting Professor Mickie Ed-wardson, one of the few persons who does know the tree’s site, would let hardly a word sprout from her lips.
Nearly 100 seeds went to the moon in November 1969 with astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., Richard Gordon and Alan Bean. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, wanted to learn if exposure to harsh lunar conditions had any effects on plant growth.
After the mission returned, scientists at Cape Canaveral sent the seeds to plant experts throughout the United States. The UF Forest Resources and Conservation School was one of the lucky groups to nab some of the seeds, Mace said.
The Campus Planning Assembly tree committee, chaired by Edwardson, decided where forestry professors would plant a couple of the pods. Only the one tree is known to have remained alive.
“The so-called moon tree is in a position on campus that is very vulnerable — in a very busy spot on campus,” Edward-son said. “I wouldn’t want to say any more about it because it may get destroyed by curious students.”
In fact, the tree may be moved before any more information about it is disclosed, she said.
Forestry Associate Professor Anthony Jensen – a longtime researcher for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences — also said he knows of the moon tree’s existence on campus.
“I’m not sure, though, exactly why or how the University of Florida got one of the seeds,” Jensen said. “It happened so long ago that the people who know more about it probably don’t teach at the college anymore.”
The tree is not of an unusual species and doesn’t look different from any other decade-old tree on campus.
1977 — “I Got The News”
((( Steely Dan )))
m. king
