Brian Rucker, Historian, Author, and Educator received the Milton Pride tag holder from Dewitt Nobles, President of Santa Rosa Sunrise Kiwanis.
Brian is well known in Northwest Florida as a keeper of the History of our area. He has written many articles and books, and spoke to the "Sunrise" membership about roads in our area from the 1800's to today.
One of his books is the "Brick Road to Boom Town", the story of Santa Rosa County's "Old Brick Road". He spoke about 1913 when Milton was the busiest city in Florida, and the reason for the decline starting with a hurricane in 1926.
In 1921, with the completion of the new Blackwater River Bridge, a festival was held on Labor Day that year to commemorate the opening of the brick road in East Milton.
From across the Panhandle and surrounding states, 10,000 people attended the festivities that included a two to three mile long parade from Bagdad to the Brick Road, and 4,000 cars; 7,000 people who crossed the bridge on foot – numbers we find fascinating when you consider the population was only around 2,000.
Santa Rosa Sunrise Kiwanis welcomes everyone to its 7 a.m. meeting every Wednesday at Tanglewood Golf Course where all are invited to breakfast.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Brian Rucker speaks to Kiwanis