Pulse: Don Price

Posted on by Thor

Don Price was the sexton at Greenwood Cemetery at the time of the Pulse Nightclub massacre. He got a call from the mayors office the weekend of the shooting. He had been out at the beach watching a Space X launch. He returned to met with the mayors office. The mayor wanted to know if Greenwood could handle the 50 burials. The mayor also wanted to see the area of the cemetery that could accommodate the families on about Sunday afternoon. It was announced that the families would not have any cost of burial at Greenwood. People thought that meant the burials were free, but there were costs. Several anonymous law firms underwrote the burials paying families for the plots. 50 spaces were set aside. The section that was set aside had just opened up two months earlier, so it was easy to send the mayor photos and plot maps since it was just surveyed.

The cemetery worked with the state. The cemetery map became a war board. Funeral homes had to be called each day and reports sent to the state. The cemetery kept track of every funeral and service. Men’s dress suits and flowers were donated to families. Almost 21 victims were buried in Puerto Rico.  It is possible some of them will return to Greenwood because of hurricane Maria. Families have been displaced and families may want their loved ones back in America. These were 21 year old kids. We ended up burying 4 in Greenwood. Others were buried in, Tampa, Texas and North Carolina.

He met with families that did not understand everything going on.  They didn’t live in Orlando and suddenly they had to decided if they should bury their loved one at Greenwood or back to Puerto Rico. He had to give each family their options and let them decide. Services started Saturday. It was the first time the cemetery had multiple holes open at once. Tents were put up and families were kept separate from the holes. It was chaos.

People who come in the cemetery want to know where the Pulse section is even today. There are 49 bricks set aside for a memorial at the cemetery but that project was put on hold because so much is going on.  It will be put up with no fan fare.

They went out dancing on Saturday night, and Sunday morning they were gone. Half of them were out of the state by Wednesday. Some parents would not recognize the sexuality of their children. One victim was not even picked up. Greenwood had to work on trying to get him picked up. Finally, next of kin made the arrangements.

The burial site for the Pulse victims is right next to Anderson Road. Mayor Buddy Dyer didn’t want to put the burial site on display, but he didn’t want to hide this part of history. From the site you can see the lake, and downtown Orlando. But there were threats of protesting. A 10 foot chain link fence was erected down Anderson and black construction mesh was added so families with a service would not feel like they were on display. Commissioner Patty Sheehan helped Don find American flags and rainbow flags so the families didn’t have to look at the black mesh. It gave them some color. A parade permit was pulled so they could close down the third lane on Anderson and shut down the wetlands park. So if protestors showed up they could be arrested. Luckily there were no protestors.

As a cemetery they have a right to control any still or video images shot on property. News crews could shoot between funerals but not during any funerals. No burials were filmed. Don had a police officer with him to be sure media respected families privacy. Everyone was watching.

Orlando has become a more open and accepting community. Greenwood was open to all races since day one, but if you go to Winter Garden,  Winter Park or Ocoee, there is a white cemetery and a black cemetery. Everyone in Orlando was affected by this tragedy. It was an attack against our entire community. It tied us together. Don stayed away from any of the memorials after the shooting. As he said, “When it comes to a memorial, the last thing you want is for the undertaker to be standing there.”

Accidental Historian

Posted on by Thor

I was sent to several locations in Orlando to sketch scenes that had been photographed back in the 1920s. In this scene Many trees had been added over the years and the old bandshell was replaced by the now rainbow colored Disney Amphitheater. The original bandshell in the historic photo was designed by Frank Loyd Wright’s secretary, Isabella Roberts who was an architect in her own right.  She also designed several buildings in  the Orlando area. I found it fascinating that many of the same shadows cut across the scene, 100 years later.

This is the Sperry Fountain which is actually the second fountain on this site. Having sketched this from life and comparing it to the original, I can say it is a fairly close replica. The duck on top of the fountain has a slightly different pose in the original sculpture, and today the green patina  had some purple paint stains perhaps from pride day.  The original is now
located in Greenwood Cemetery. The fountain is made of wrought iron and
has a duck base and water flows from the duck’s beaks and an acanthus leaf.

In 1883, wealthy Orlando resident Jacob Summerlin the owner of the Summerlin Hotel,
the first City Council president, and financial lender for the
construction of Orlando’s courthouse in the 1870s—donated a large tract
of land to establish a park in Orlando. In 1883, Summerlin came to a
city council meeting and offered the land around the lake on the
condition that it be beautified and turned into a park. He also required
that the city plant trees and put a “driveway” around the lake. To ensure that the city followed through with the stipulations of the
donation, Summerlin put reverter clauses in the contract to allow his
heirs to reclaim the property if the city failed in its obligations. Several years later, his sons threatened to exercise the reverter
clause if the city did not make good on its promise. Today, the park is
still maintained according to his requirement that it be kept
beautiful.

These sketches were done as part of Accidental Historian at the Orange County Regional History Center (65 E Central Blvd, Orlando, FL 32801). The premise of the show is that any one today might be a historian without even realizing it. That could certainly
true of many bloggers, urban sketchers, photographers, and more. In this
engaging exhibition, created at the History Center, patrons can learn how
individuals who are absorbed in documenting the world of today
accidentally become some of Central Florida’s finest historians for the
future. The show offers a glimpse into some of the museum’s favorite collections that were
created for the now, more than 100 years ago. Put it on your calendar, The Accidental Historian runs from September 21, 2019 to January 19, 2020. Work from Orlando Urban Sketchers will be on display along with historic and contemporary photos and journals.

Hurricane damage in Greenwood Cemetery.

Posted on by Thor

I drive by Greenwood Cemetery almost daily and after Hurricane Irma I was amazed at the amount of tree damage there was in the cemetery. I decided to return to document some of the trees that had snapped like twigs. The first stop was to the four headstones for victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre. This area of the cemetery had been largely spared. As a matter of fact one stone had rainbow balloons, rainbow flowers, a pin wheel and a rainbow colored teddy bear. All the memorial items were pristine. The day before had been Leroy Valentín Fernández‘ birthday. Clearly the family had come out and colorfully decorated his headstone to mark the occasion. All of the Pulse victim headstones now had color photos that were laminated in plastic and cut into the headstones. The photo of Cory Connell was had outstretched arms as if he were ready to wrestle the world. All memorial items had been removed form his stone, probably in preparation for Hurricane Irma. All 4 stone sat quietly in the shade of a large tree that had weathered the storm fine.

Pam Schwartz and I searched the cemetery for the tree I had seen while driving by the cemetery. Blanche Crews headstone
was knocked over by a fallen tree limb. It was wedged back up with
fallen branches making it look like the fallen angels had crutches.  Dozens of trees had snapped and branches littered the entire cemetery making it appear wild and overgrown. I settled into a spot near the headstone of Edgar Earl Hitchcock. I of course wondered if he was related to the film maker. Pam quickly did research and found out that Edgar was an important figure in Orlando’s medical history. He founded the Pediatric Associates of Orlando in 1939. He was shown in a photo giving the very first polio vaccine shot in Central Florida to a young boy. His wife Ruth died many years after him but her headstone was not in her family plot or perhaps there is just no headstone.

Across the lane from where I was sketching, a family arrived in several cars. Blue and white helium balloons bounced up out of the car behind them. They were visiting the headstone of Richard Marcano Trinidad who had died on August 19, 2016. He had died at the tender age of 36. His stone noted that he was a Stealers fan and the epitaph read…”For the best daddy in the world. We will never forget you…from your kids.” An Orlando Sentinel article reported that police had been dispatched to a home near UCF, where they found Trinidad critically injured. His 36 year old girlfriend was on the scene. I could not find any further reports about how or why Richard had died. The family released the dozen or so blue and white balloons and they silently rose into the sky.

Near the fallen tree I was sketching was the headstone for Harry P. Leu (1884-1977) and his wife Mary (1903-1986) of Leu Gardens fame. Their two granite slabs lying side by side, were pristine except for a few leaves. The Harry P. Leu historic home however has suffered damage from a huge tree limb that crashed into the roof, exposing the Leu bedroom to rain and wind damage. The ceilings and floor boards are soaked. Leu Gardens has closed indefinitely. Pam Schwartz, the Orange County Regional History Center curator went to the historic home to offer advice on preservation societies who might be able to help as well as FEMA contacts. 

The History Center off site storage facility had suffered damage when a roof access panel was blown loose and it gouged holes in the roofing as the heavy metal lid was hurled by the high winds, causing leaks over the historic collection. I was with Pam when she found the soaked warehouse and helped in removing soaked ceiling panels and now useless archival cardboard boxes. It look hours of work and in the emergency the sketchbook was ignored. Even though the floor were dried and artifacts were lifted to be  dried out off the floor, it was then discovered that the walls of the warehouse are fulled with mold. Now an effort needs to be made to save the collection form that mold which is inside the walls up to 10 feet high. The History Center is replacing all the inner walls in an effort to  protect and preserve Orlando’s History.

Cory James Connell, one man can change the world.

Posted on by Thor

At the six month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, Tara and James Connell invited me to sketch a ceremony honoring their son at Greenwood Cemetery. Tara’s directions were a bit confusing but James gave me a ballpark approximation of where to find their son’s resting place. The ceremony was to start at 5:30pm but I got there early around 4:30pm. I drove through the cemetery in search of one headstone among thousands. I knew that the site was near the 408 and in a corner of the cemetery under a tree. I circled around the winding lanes multiple times hoping to spot James Connell’s name. A black headstone read Papadakis and gorgeous white sculpture of an angel kept catching my eye as I circled.

Finally I parked and just started walking among the headstones. I was lost. Finding an individual stone would be like finding a needle in a haystack. I was searching for rainbows as a hint that I might be near. There were random sparks of color. New grass outlined some grave sites. Instinctively I walked towards a dark live oak tree that was right next to the road. Amazingly, I walked right up to Cory James Connell‘s head stone.

A football jersey read, Cory Strong. A signed football was at the site. There were Christmas candy canes decorating the site along with red solar powered Christmas lights. Two lanterns with penguins on them flanked the headstone. I was the only person around. I sat down and started to sketch. Behind the head stones, the sky lit up with a stunning vibrant sunset. I was blinded at times staring right into the blazing sun. To the right of Cory’s head stone were the head stones of a couple who had died together at Pulse. Anthony Luis Laurean Dilsa was buried right behind his partner, Leroy Valentin Fernandez. To the left of Cory’s stone was the headstone of Alejandro Barrios Martinez, another victim of the senseless violence. There were engraved photos on each stone. Gorgeous live flowers decorated each site in the granite vases. A burly man with golden shades walked up to Leroy’s stone and placed a bouquet of flowers at the site. He stood in silent thought for the longest time and then left.

After sunset, the family started to arrive. A little girl laughed as she raced her brother. She grew silent when she arrived. Well over 40 people gathered around the stone and lit candles. 49 balloons of every color of the rainbow were brought over. A couple held each other for strength. Headlights glared as cars raced down the 408 access road just beyond the fence. Orlando city skyscrapers were visible in the distance. Everyone was instructed to find a video online that was a tribute to Cory. After a countdown, everyone pressed play and watched. Heaven was needing a Hero, cut the silence. I struggled for some emotional distance and strength.

The balloons strings were untangled from each other and handed out to each person. Markers squeaked messages of love and remembrance. Everyone moved out from under the live oak canopy, away from the grave site for a group photo. With one more countdown, everyone released the balloons which slowly floated up to the stars. Cell phone videos caught the ascent. With the sketch complete, I drifted away among the headstones into the dark to head down to Pulse where prayers and song  continued to honor all who were lost six months ago. I felt sad for love lost but needed to keep moving. It is all that I can do to try and understand.

“Love is stronger than death, even though it can’t stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can’t separate people from love. It can’t take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death.” – unknown