A site from Allen Forrest about my Interests including Family, Travel, Photography, Genealogy, My Naval Career, Technology, Sports, Growing up in Quincy, Massachusetts, and others. I hope you find it interesting as well! Thanks for taking a look!
On December 11, 1958, I enlisted in the United States Navy
That morning, My Dad and I walked to Quincy’s Wollaston station and rode the Old Colony Line’s train into Boston’s South Station. He went on to work at Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York’s Boston office. I went to the Navy recruiting office on Atlantic Ave. and was transported to the the Armed Forces induction facility, Fargo Building for enlistment.
Boston’s Fargo Building looked pretty much the same in 1958 as this photo from 1940s .
Later that day, I was on my first airplane flight, an American Airlines plane to Chicago, for transportation to Great Lakes Navy Recruit Training Center where I arrived in the middle of the night and immediately began my twenty-year Navy career.
Welcome To Great Lakes Naval Training Center
Our “Bedroom” (Typical Great Lakes Recruit Barracks)
Great Lakes Drill Hall. Even though we frequently had to shovel the snow off the outside drill “grinders,” we did much of our training inside.
Graduation Photo of Seaman Recruit, Forrest
After nine weeks of training in the freezing cold at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, north of Chicago and on the shore of Lake Michigan, I graduated as a Seaman Apprentice and went home on leave before reporting to my next assignment at Newport, Rhode Island.
While I was home on leave, my dad had my two brothers and me put on our uniforms for this photo.
Three “Men in Uniform,” March, 1959. Cub-Scout, Andy, Navy Seaman Apprentice, Allen, and Boy Scout, Steve. (photo by Edwin Forrest)
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Brevard, North Carolina is a beautiful city in the western part of the state and is known as “the Land of Waterfalls.” It is home to Brevard College, a small private school. Here are a few of my photos from my visit to Brevard several years ago.
Brevard College is a small, private, United Methodist, liberal arts college in Brevard, North Carolina.
I shot many photos of the waterfalls in the mountains outside of Brevard. Here is one of them-
Looking Glass Falls in Transylvania County, outside Brevard, North Carolina.
The legend goes that Brevard’s white squirrels originated from a carnival animal truck. According to Brevard resident Mrs. W.E. Mull, a pair of white squirrels was given to her brother-in-law, H.H. Mull, by Mr. Black of Madison, Florida, in 1949. A carnival truck had overturned near Black’s home and the squirrels were caught by Mr. Black when he observed them playing in his pecan grove.
Mull gave the critters to his niece, Barbara, who unsuccessfully tried to breed them. In 1951 she married and left home. Eventually, one of the white squirrels escaped and Mr. Mull soon let the other one go. Before long, the squirrels began breeding in the wild and appeared in several areas of town.
In fact the city has an Official White Squirrel Ambassador. Because Brevard is located at the entrance to the Pisgah National Forest, that white squirrel ambassador is named “PISGAH PENNY.”
While visiting the campus of Brevard College, I shot the following photos of the white squirrels the town is known for.
White Squirrel on Brevard College Campus Tree, Brevard, North CarolinaBrevard White SquirrelAccording to North Carolina’s “The Transylvania Times” Brevard white squirrels originated from a carnival animal truck in 1949. Before long, the squirrels began breeding in the wild and appeared in several areas of town.Brevard White Squirrel on Campus of Brevard CollegeBrevard White Squirrel
Recently, I saw a squirrel with a bright white chest in the backyard of my Jacksonville Beach home . We have many gray squirrels in the area and because one of my close neighbors feeds them, I see many of them running along the fence that separates our backyards. This was the first time I’ve ever seen one here with a large portion of its fur white instead of the usual gray. Of course, I immediately thought back to my Brevard visit.
Now, a few weeks later one of my neighbors from several blocks away posted a photo she had shot with her phone of a squirrel with a white tail in her yard. She said she’s naming it “Peter Cotton Tail.” With her permission, I am posting a copy of her photo here.
“Peter Cotton Tail,” My neighbor’s photo of a white-tailed squirrel in her yard.
Brevard College has a small but gorgeous campus! Here is a shot of one of their older buildings.
Taylor Hall at Brevard College, Brevard, North Carolina. Taylor Hall, built in 1924, is one of the oldest buildings on campus.
I will be on the lookout in my yard for any more squirrels with white fur.
Could it be that those Brevard squirrels are moving to Florida for our warmer climate (and no personal income tax?)
If anyone else has seen white squirrels in their area, feel free to post information about them and links to any photos they may have taken.
You can always view many more of my photos on my photo site at AllenForrest.com.
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I spent a few days in Florida’s Polk County again several weeks ago. I was interested to see more of the area that I have become very fond of. The curious name of “Frostproof” got my attention. I also went to Lake Wales, and can confirm there are no whales in that lake.
The settlement in the area now known as Frostproof was established in 1850. This settlement, like many in central Florida at the time, was set up as a fort and was called Fort Clinch. The fort was named after the local Lake Clinch which was, in turn, named after the Seminole War commander Duncan Lamont Clinch. Prior to being named Frostproof, the town was named Keystone City. However, after being confused regularly with Keystone Heights, a city in North Florida, Frostproof was coined. The name was a marketing ploy to convince potential landowners that the town has never had, and never would have, a frost that could destroy the large citrus-driven economy. However, only a couple of years later, a frost during The Great Freeze of 1895 killed most of the citrus in Frostproof.
Here are several of my photos from Frostproof-
Frostproof, Florida, Banner celebrating city’s 100th anniversary in 2018, in front of the former Frostproof High School Building that has been converted to the Frostproof City Hall.
Ramon Theater, Frostproof, Florida, now a Beautifully restored 1920’s era theater that hosts quarterly Murder Mystery Dinners.
My next stop was the city of Lake Wales. The land around the present city was surveyed in 1879 by Sidney Irving Wailes, who changed the name of a lake, then known as Watts Lake, to Lake Wailes. The city of Lake Wales was established near the lake in 1911–1912. The spelling Wales was used for the city, although the lake is still generally spelled Lake Wailes.
Lake Wales is home to Florida’s Natural Growers, an agricultural cooperative. It is currently owned by over 1,100 grower members. It is the only national orange juice maker that uses only US-grown fruit (grown by its cooperative members in Florida) in its products.
A giant tower with Florida’s Natural orange logo outside the plant at Lake Wales, Florida. Citrus World, Inc.’s Florida’s Natural advertise “WE OWN THE LAND. WE OWN THE TREES.” WE OWN THE COMPANY.”
Originally named the Dixie Walesbilt, the building now known as the Grand Hotel, a 10-story skyscraper, stands as enduring testimony to the spirited optimism of the Great Florida Boom Period. One of a small remaining number of historic skyscrapers constructed in Florida during the 1920s, the hotel, which originally cost $500,000, was financed through the local sale of stock in the enterprise. Its doors opened to the public in 1927, shortly after the boom had begun to collapse.
No visit to Lake Wales would be complete without a visit to Bok Tower and Gardens, a 250-acre contemplative garden and bird sanctuary located atop Iron Mountain, north of Lake Wales. Formerly known as the Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower, the gardens’ attractions include the Singing Tower and its 60-bell carillon. Bok Tower Gardens is a National Historic Landmark. The 205-foot Singing Tower was built upon one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet above sea level, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Lake Wales’ Bok Tower, Built 1927-1929
Engagement Photo At Bok Tower
I thoroughly enjoy exploring the smaller towns around the southeastern United States with my cameras. I hope you will take a look at more of my photos at my website, “Photography by Allen Forrest.”
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