The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-06-05
METHODIST PICNIC AT STANTON
Special Ger. Ocala Banner:

There IS nothing like forming into
bunch and having a glorious jubilee,
and June IS the best month, without
q doubt, for a jollifcation like this.
III June the portals of Sunny Florida
are wide open. the hinges even being
taken of, and the continuous woods
. are gCrgeously decorated with natures
flowers, vines, etc, and the ozone hon
eymOOn is as sweet as the real honey
moon itself.
The Methodist people like pie" and
2 Jolly good time now and then out of
doors. and il IS with the greatest
pleasure hey have with them on
these pie outings" congregations
from Other churches. So the bunch
vas o-ua.--roInded up--trom the
, res5-ns about Ccala and vicinity on
. TuesGa. morning. for a grand jubilee
. on beautiful lake Weir. They were
ali as hapu- Is iarks in cornfeld ia
March. for they We're anticipating a
day of JOY out there on Marion's Mel
irteranean. SO il was with no dis
/ pleasure at all TO await the proper
time for the train 10 come in. though
the jOy-bells in their hearts rang oIt
the louder still when it did arrive
nine coaches strong.
/ Old Sol rose over the rampant of
oaks in the east a little earlier on
Tuesday than on Monday morning,
! especially, we will state here, to smile
! on and chaperone the picnickers as
much of the living day as possible. The
sun was very joyous on Tuesday, too
We cannot say whether it was the
! picnic bunch, or the ending OF his trip
! TO the TrOpic of Cancer that ma ie
/ him smile so and battle Marion with
his golden rays in such fine style.
! The day was a sunny June day.
Florida knows how TO serve them
! June-time days so sweet and soft and
pheasant.
All aboard" cried the conductor;
/ clear the Fort King crossing" to the
/ fagman, and pull OUT" to his engi-
neer. were the next orders, and as the
train rolled out the conductor caution
ed the engineer as to speed, for our
safety.
Out i'm the country, and bowling
along southwark We came face to face
with beautiful Marion-the country
back of our town, the cream of the
salad bowl county. AS we sped up
! the road of tropical wonders"-A. 4.
Through this beautiful land, to Us
came its own voice on a Whit of
ozone: I'VE knew you would pass this
way today. SO We put on our best
summer suit"
The whole country around babe us
welcome. The pines nodded their
| stately heads, the foliage of oaks and
hickory waved, the birds of many
plumage sang their merriest, and the
farmers "helloed."
Truly We were speeding through 4
country of love for its fellow man, its
betterhalf, sweethearts and beauX.
And as we sped on through this vast
region to the south beyond Ocala,
the writer fell into a dream: This
whole section from Ocala to East
Lake was an immense farm covered
with irrigation plants. The irriga-
ton was perfect, and the land was
overflowing with vegetables and
fruits and flowers
East Lake." from the conductor
brought us to our feet with a lurch.
Within a very brief space the train
drew up and stopped, without even
throwing out a line. Here we exchang-
ed greetings with Lake Weir for a
! few moments.
Lake Weir is quite a little ocean. Il
gets pretty rough and sQually there
sometimes and then the lake navy has
to be very carefully guarded.
! Ours-Marion-is the banner county
of Florida If it could be possible
that we could send either Lake Weir
or Silver Springs as an exhibit TO a
state fair held in any state at any
time, we believe Marion county, Fla,
would win out as the banner county
above all corners.
Lake Weir waved to us her greet
ings; her fragrant breath famed our
brow, and-well, we're no poet, so we
will put you, reader, on the rail again
with us on our journey.
We then sped through the prettiest
country under the sun. Orange groves
on one side and the great lake on the
other. The stations in order between
East Lake and Stanton are Woodmar
and Lytle. Every one of these places
does its full part in helping to hold
the banner over Marion.
ssTO Stanton-on-L ake-Weir" we were