Town Parade around 1982 High Springs, Florida – YouTube
This video was recorded by my father. We had recently moved to the area in 1979 (Alachua, Florida). My parents attended the local church and was getting to know a few other families.
Airplane Ride around Gainesville, Florida around 1989 – YouTube
This is the first airplane ride I ever took, which was a small four-seater. My father had a pilots license at the time, but he hired a pilot and his plane for this trip. We toured around Gainesville, Florida, which we estimate this video being the year around 1989. You can see the power plant, UF football stadium, water treatment plant, and many of the main arties of the cities still exists. Since I was still small, they borrowed a pillow from the airports couch for me to sit on during the flight.
Cockroach Racing in Alachua, Florida around 1986 – YouTube
This was a side event during the 4-H shows at the Alachua County fairgrounds. We would actually capture cockroaches the night before, to be used in the race the next day. The race was simply which roach would contact with the surrounding white circle first.
Lewis Family Videos Mid-1980s in North Florida – YouTube
In 1979 my parents bought five acres outside of the city limits. Within a year they had bought two horses. The two dogs my mother had brought with them from Indiana. My father worked construction jobs while my mother worked at the UF Vet School. In 1982 by father bought a “camcorder” where you had to carry the camera, a VHS player/recorder on your back, and battery packs on your belt. He gradually got better with the settings. These sequences are from about 1982 up to 1986. But the last portion of the video is from the usual north Florida freeze of 1989.
Life in the 1980s School Kids Going to Circus – YouTube
1983 Kindergarten Class Presenting a Circus Themed off Ringling Bros
Prior to making our own circus, we had a class field trip to a real circus in Jacksonville, Florida. In class, we made our own props and choreographed our own skits. The show was presented in the schools football field. This was a K-12 school. Out of a class of 60, only 12 of us stuck together until 12th grade graduation. We all talked about this show for years afterwards.