Cortez Village Historical Society recruiting volunteers

recent grant moves CVHS closer to its goal of increasing its volunteer base.

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BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com

CORTEZ – A grant in excess of $3,000 couldn’t have come at a better time for the non-profit Cortez Village Historical Society (CVHS).

In an ongoing campaign to recruit and train volunteers, trolley grant funds of $3,072 will be used to develop a CVHS docent resource kit – including a greeting script, a fact sheet of key collection attributes and frequently asked questions about Cortez history. Part of the funds will also be used to hire a consultant.

“We have a small cadre of volunteers and are continuously trying to recruit others,” according to the grant re- quest. “One barrier to volunteer docent recruitment is concern on the part of potential volunteers that they do not know enough about the rich history of the village and the Center’s collections to be able to answer visitors’ questions or provide interesting information about the artifacts.”

“This is perfect timing,” CVHS President Cindy Rodgers said at the Cortez Cultural Center at a recent meeting of board members and volunteers.

CVHS member Paul Dryfoos presented a timeline of Cortez history beginning at 10,000 B.C. when the first people settled on the Florida Gulf Coast and thrived for thousands of years catching and eating fish.

He outlined the first Europeans to arrive in Florida in 1513, to the time between 1550 and 1820 when Spanish, French, English and Native Americans competed for territory.