Fact - FORREC a design firm out of Toronto Canada designed Spanish Springs. This firm did extensive work on street scenes for Universal Studios.
I have a original copy of a news letter from Mark Morse to "Fellow Employees" The Villages 1988 a year in review. It was the 5th anniversary of Orange Blossom Gardens and the year building started across Rt 441.
Did you know that Harold donated a million dollars of his own money (not the corporation or bonds) to building the Town Square.
Attached to this news letter is an 18 page document titled "Spanish Springs, Florida: A Fictional History". It goes into great detail how the Morse family decided on the Spanish Springs theme. It details the names of each establishment in SS, the associated family ancestry behind the establishment and how each business fit into 1787-1812 time frame of SS.
This document generated by the Morse family was insisted upon by FORREC before they would "lift a pencil" to start the design. The Morse family got together every evening after work in their conference room. The news letter said "we set a bottle of whiskey and a case of beer on the table and with tongue and cheek, started talking about Ponce de Leon finding our Spanish Springs during his search for the Fountain of Youth".
Did you know:
- Katie Belle's is named after Mark Morse's great grandmother Katie Belle Schwartz.
- Van Patton is also a Morse family name
- Banner Tailoring Company actually did belong to great granddad "Papa" Schwartz until the Great Depression
- Okie Peterson was the Constable of Ellsworth, Michigan who used to chase Mark around when he was "a rambunctious youth"
Enjoy - no I won't let this document out of my sight.
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