Voices
Listen to the the water stories of the diverse communities surrounding the Matanzas River. Below, you can chose a voice, listen to the interview, download the transcript, and more.
Frankie Pacetti
Commercial Shellfishing
“They were basically called 'fish camps,' and everybody would come down on the weekends and go fishing and everybody would get together as a group...When you're a kid you don't appreciate what you've got.”
Gordon “Gordie” Wilson
Superintendent,
Fort Matanzas and Castillo de San Marcos National Monuments
“I can't believe I get paid to do this some days.”
Hugh Mercer
Holmer Farms
“What we're really saying here: we've got a little treasure on our hands with this Matanzas. And we've got to be awful careful with it or we're going to lose it.”
Marian Kimrey
Retired teacher and Summer Haven resident
Matanzas Inlet Restaurant
“If I had a nickel for every shrimp I ever cleaned or breaded or whatever, I'd be the most wealthy person.”
Walter Coker
Photojournalist
“I've always just tried to document the evolving face of Florida—especially along the coast—and I'm still doing it.”
Phil Cubbedge
Shellfisherman
Matanzas River Clam Farm
“You've got to know where they grow and where to go at the right time and—there's a lot of knowledge in something like that. People don't realize.”
Fred Green
Former County Commissioner
"When I grew up originally at Crescent Beach, we didn't have electricity. We didn't have water. And the mail service was by boat."