Seagrape Circle had the privilege of enjoying a private tour by Ann Michael of her beautiful five acre property. Since I am the newbie in our circle, and have only lived here since 2003, I wanted to do some research so I could really enjoy and appreciate our visit and this very special family.
It didn’t take long to find loads of helpful articles and photos of the Michael family. I thought I would share my findings, as well as our visit.
First, A Little History
Anne’s family has strong roots – literally! (pardon the Garden Club pun! I couldn’t resist!) Anne was married to the late Joe Michael, son of A.B. (Alfred Benjamin) Michael and grandson to Stephen Kelita Michael. Stephen was responsible for bringing their family to the area in 1887.
Stephen (pictured left with his wife, Laura Elizabeth Miller Michael) established more than a home built of wood, which had to be floated down the river. He established a citrus grove on the island. Sadly, the grove was destroyed by a severe frost in 1894 but that didn’t stop the Michaels. His son, A.B., took it over and reestablished the grove in 1902 at the young age of 25. The impact he made in the area and in the citrus business was nothing short of remarkable. I so enjoyed reading their family story.
A.B. and his Orchid Island Grapefruits would become world famous and and go on to win more than citrus awards. He won quite the reputation for having “his finger in everything that was good for the grower“, I read in one article.
In my research, I found a quote I thought our Circle would especially appreciate where A.B. said, “You can walk through a grove, if you’re a groveman, and the trees talk to you and tell you what they need and what they want. If you’re smart enough to understand their language.” I guess you could say he was the grove whisperer!
While, as a big grapefruit lover, I sure can appreciate his harvest. However, I marvel most over one of his greater “harvests”; his forward thinking and thoughtfulness he continues to share with us today.
He could have easily smiled in great victory and simply enjoyed his success and beautiful land with his family. Instead, he came up with the idea of reserving a portion of Wabasso Island for a public park before developers took it over so we get to enjoy a peace of his paradise too. This is where the Environmental Learning Center now stands and it makes me wonder what I will be able to do for our community. I only hope I can be a blessing like that to Indian River County in some way.
The Grapefruit Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree
Hard work and success didn’t stop with the Michael men of course. Anne Michael continued the family’s legacy of impact and service, including serving as Orchid Island Mayor for 17 years. The more I looked online, the more I realized there was enough content online to write a book on Anne and her incredible family.
This week was just another wonderful example of how she continues to serve this community, as she demonstrated Wednesday by volunteering her time to our special group. I so enjoyed meeting her and listening to her share history, fun facts and family memories with our circle.
Home of a Champion
Anne hopped in her golf cart with notes in hand, ready to teach us a thing or two – all while making senior moment jokes. She led the group via golf cart all over the property, giving us all some good exercise and laughter along the way.
Though there is no way I could count the vast number of palm species on the property, I couldn’t forget the massive palm you see in the photo to the right. To most people, it would likely get lost in the tropical shuffle. Thankfully, Anne recognized the gem she had and it stands tall and proud as one of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services‘ Champion Trees.
Of course this totally intrigued me so I took as many notes as I could so I could learn more when I got home. I must admit, as your garden club newbie, I butchered the name. The good news is, I got close enough to locate the tree in the registry, which I found was called the Corypha (gebang palm, buri palm or talipot palm).
Luckily, most of the Champion Trees in our area are publically marked and located at McKee Botanical Garden so it easier to narrow down. (Click HERE to check out our area Champion trees)
Anne mentioned its large bloom, which I couldn’t even fathom that so I had to look that up too. I was surprised to discover the bloom (example I found online pictured left) was on the list of top 6 largest flowers, holding 1st place for the largest inflorescence (cluster of flowers) in the world.
The top of the tree wasn’t the only thing that was massive. The base of the tree was enormous too. I didn’t realize just how big it was until I took Marion’s picture standing next to the monstrosity. What an amazing structure!
We stuck around for a closer look as we enjoyed the natural artistic canvas of colors and shapes of the hardened cells along the trunk (pictured right).
Anne, if you are reading this, now you know why we were moving so slowly on your tour. We just couldn’t help ourselves. We were soaking it all in!
Fun Facts:
– A palm’s trunk is actually an elongated stem
– There are no lateral branches on palms
– Leaves (palm fronds) and fruit come straight out the stem
– The “bark” of the palm tree is not bark at all; it is made of “sclerified” (hardened) cells left over from the bases of previously shed fronds according to findanyanswer.com.
You’ve Got Mail
In these last two photos I can’t help but think of the movie “You’ve Got Mail”, with Tom Hanks from 1998. These days, we get correspondence electronically in an instant through email. So, to learn that her property housed the first post office (location pictured below), I took interest right away. I immediately envisioned my dad (who is a retired mailman), rowing out to a buoy to get the mail as Anne described it. We take so much for granted!
What a great visit we had. It is so neat to learn more about our wonderful county and to meet so many great people. Thank you Anne for your time and hospitality!
Click HERE to read a wonderful, and quite extensive, article by TCPalm on the Michael family.
Please Contact Me for corrections or updates to this page.
Event Photo Gallery
Seagrape Circle 