Duette's Cracker Fest helps to preserve a one-teacher school from the past
DUETTE -- Visiting the farming community of Duette in rural northeastern Manatee County is like stepping back into time and reliving the days when Floridians made their livings tending cattle and crops.
It often included generations of families attending one-room schoolhouses.
In Duette, circa 2015, almost nothing about that picturesque scenario has changed. About 20 students, from kindergarten through fifth grade, attend Duette's one-teacher elementary school, and the Dry Prairie Baptist Church
is the main place of worship, next door to the school off State Road 62.
On Saturday, locals who have grown and raised their families in Duette, along with visitors from the Bradenton area and neighboring Hillsborough County, gathered on the school grounds for the third-annual Duette Cracker Festival, sponsored by Duette Education Foundation Inc., the organization that contracts with the Manatee County School District to operate the school.
'The Principal'
The fundraiser is planned each year by Donna King, who taught at the school for 20 years and serves as the executive director of the foundation. King, who is fondly referred to as "the principal" by everyone in Duette, said she has hopes of raising more than last year's goal of $5,000.
Joining her at the Cracker Festival, were volunteers from the North River Kiwanis Club, who cooked the food and served fried gator tail, frog legs, pulled pork and hamburgers, along with several staffers from Mosaic, which has several large phosphate operations in the area.
"We love the idea that they're able to keep this schoolhouse and carry on history. It's part of the tradition of the area and I hope the school stays in tact," said Debbie Gill, a resident of rural Fort Lonesome, just to the north of Duette in southeastern Hillsborough County.
Gill brought her daughter, son-in-law and four grandchildren and all were enthralled by a tour of the school with teacher Cassie Fahy. "I was offered this job through a friend and it just kind of fell into my lap. I wasn't seeking anything like this, but it's an amazing opportunity," Fahy said, who is earning her master's degree in special education.
Besides the school tours and down-home country food, festival-goers were treated to a bullwhip cracking contest, the derivation of the Florida "cracker" cowboys, and live entertainment that included country, folk, bluegrass and gospel music, harmonica-playing and "Stomp"-style dancers.
Bella Gullett of Duette, whose husband and four children all attended the Duette one-teacher elementary school, said the education is top notch and students learn values which stay with them throughout their lives.
"This school has always taught children manners and respect for others, which is a strong foundation," Gullett said.
"I'm absolutely amazed by all this. It's so wonderful to have such a small community. And for the teacher to teach through Grade 5 is unbelievable. I don't know how her head can turn so fast," said Alice Landry, visiting from Bradenton along with her friend, Bob Hauser.
The cracker cuisine of gator bites and frog legs also was a crowd pleaser. The frog legs sold out fast and were a definite hit with Darlene Nielsen of Palmetto.
"I love frog legs. They taste kind of like chicken and they're real juicy. I like them fried or sauteed. They're just good."
Kathryn Moschella, Lakewood Ranch reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7010. Follow her on Twitter @MoschellaHerald.
This story was originally published April 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Duette's Cracker Fest helps to preserve a one-teacher school from the past ."