Ladies show off the many items for sale at the recent St. Luke’s bake sale held in conjunction with Pioneer Day.
More than 1,200 people learned a little bit about history and enjoyed an array of soups and baked goods last month during the 2019 Merritt Island Pioneer Day.
Pioneer Day, held on Feb. 9, is a joint partnership between St. Luke’s and Sams House on Merritt Island – the Management and Education Center for the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program’s Pine Island Conservation Area.
“We like connecting to the community around us,” says Pioneer Day chairperson Sharon Young. “We enjoyed seeing so many people visiting our historic chapel and cemetery and participating in many of the day’s events.
During the day, St. Luke’s offered more than 20 kinds of homemade soup for lunch and a variety of many home-baked desserts for sale, as well as other fundraising activities. The combination of offerings helped raised a healthy amount of proceeds for a variety of uses.
Pioneer Day participants listen to a guide during a stroll through an archaeologist tour of the historic St. Luke’s Cemetery.
“We raised just over $2,000,” Young said. “From the proceeds, we donated to Father Stephen Doss’s Mercy Ministry (in Sâo Paulo, Brazil). We also hope to rewire our historic chapel bell so that we will be able to ring it in our “new” church during services and once again, hear the bell calling us to worship. Some funds will also be used to improve our website, which is such an important part of outreach to the community.”
One of the free events offered at Pioneer Day was an archaeologist tour of the historic St. Luke’s Cemetery. “It was well-attended!” Young said. “People learned how to clean cemetery stones while still preserving and not harming the stones. Because of the interest garnered by the tour, we will be sponsoring a seminar on the care of historic cemeteries, led by the Florida Public Archaeologist Network on May 25.”
Those interested in attending the seminar are asked to please call St. Luke’s at 321-452-5260 or visit the church’s website at http://www.stlukesmi.org
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH