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From the St. Petersburg Times - Jan 1, 1965
From the Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Feb 21, 1987
Click on the link: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZTcfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3moEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6846,121725&dq=fisherman's&hl=en
She came to defend her title from 2009, when she won best overall recipe in the Cortez Crab Cookoff sponsored by The Islander in conjunction with the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.
This year’s festival theme of “White Boots Ready,” inspired a call for mullet recipes, and Eileen Mahoney came prepared with a netload of two dishes.
And she did it again.
Best mullet cook: Eileen Mahoney takes two prizes in The Islander Cortez Mullet Cookoff. Islander Photo: Bonner Joy
Her “Hot Pepper Mullet” was a hit with the judges, including 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Janette Dunnigan, Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash, Bradenton Beach builder Don Meilner and Island newcomer Socko Pearson.
Dunnigan liked that it was “independent” of typical recipes. “Original,” echoed McClash. And it looks good, said Meilner, although the judges were first worried it might be “too hot” for their tastes.
No to worry though, the fresh mullet, broiled and combined with onion, celery, garlic, cream cheese, sour cream and bread crumbs, stuffed into halved jalapeno shells — sans the hot seeds — was topped with shredded cheese, and the flavor was cool, the look colorful and the taste delicious.
It was deemed “Best of Show.”
Mahoney’s “Mullet Cakes,” styled after Maryland crab cakes, also achieved success with the judges, earning first place.
While the mullet seemed plentiful in the fall, the contest entries this year were slim. And Mahoney said she had trouble this year finding fresh mullet, while last year’s crab cookoff brought complaints that crabs were hard to find.
Next year, we hope for a good harvest, better weather, and plenty of entries.
Mahoney received her certificates at center stage at the festival, along with a check for $100 from The Islander.
“I’ll be back,” she said.
Mahoney’s recipes can be found online at www.islander.org.
http://www.amisun.com/headlines.htm#three
BY CINDY LANE | SUN STAFF WRITER
CORTEZ – The 28th Annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival this weekend offers much more than the food and fun it’s famous for.
Marine life lovers will find lots of learning opportunities, with informational booths on everything from sea turtles to scallops.
Last summer, three bay scallop searches in Sarasota Bay, Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor resulted in good news, said John M. Stevely, one of the festival’s original organizers, a speaker at the festival and Florida Sea Grant’s local marine extension agent.
Tampa Bay Watch searchers counted a record 674 scallops, Charlotte County’s search uncovered 94 scallops and the Sarasota Bay Watch search revealed 131 scallops.
A routine cleanup effort by the Sarasota Bay Buddies and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Manatee County first uncovered the fact that scallops had returned to Sarasota Bay in July 2007, near Emerson Point at the mouth of the Manatee River. Scientists called it the largest population of scallops found in the region in the previous 25 years.
Efforts to clean up the bay, including restoring the 95-acre FISH (Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage) Preserve in Cortez, have resulted in the scallops’ return, according to Stevely.
It’s fitting that the proceeds from the $2 festival admission go to the restoration and expansion of the FISH Preserve on Sarasota Bay, known as the "kitchen” to generations of Cortezians who have found food there, he said.
More information about scallops will be available at the festival at the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program booth in the community center. Look for the scallop shell on the logo.
Other family-oriented activities at the festival include Stevely’s talks on the docks at Star Fish Co., boat tours of the village’s shoreline, marine life displays, live music, clogging, kids’ games, nautical arts and crafts and the seafood that made Cortez famous.
The event, which draws more than 20,000 visitors a year to the picturesque historic fishing village, will be Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20 and 21 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This year’s theme is “White Boot Ready,” a reference to the boots worn by commercial fishermen. The theme will be pictured on the 2010 festival T-shirt, available near the main stage. The Cortez Village Historical Society also will unveil its new memorial T-shirt featuring a photo of Cortez gill netter Vernon Mora, who died last year.
Entertainers will include the Richard Culbreath Group, Sunshine Express Cloggers, the Crackerbillys, Soul R Coaster, the Triad Folk Band, the Manatee River Bluegrass Band and the Wheedles.
Raffle tickets for a 1986 Com-Pac 19-foot sailboat will be on sale at the festival for $5 each or five for $20.
Parking is available east of Cortez village off Cortez Road. Remote parking is available in the Cortez Commons shopping mall parking lot at the corner of Cortez Road and 59th Street West at 5584 Cortez Road, and at Coquina Beach Bayside. Shuttle buses to Cortez cost $2 per round trip.
Admission is $2, with kids under 12 free. For more information, visit www.cortez-fish.org.
Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival entertainment schedule
Saturday, Feb. 20
10 – 10:45 a.m. Richard Culbreath Group 10:45 – 11 a.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 11 – 11:45 a.m. The Crackerbillys 11:45 – noon Sunshine Express Cloggers Noon – 12:30 p.m. Blessing of the Fleet / Awards Ceremony 12:30 – 12:45 p.m. Richard Culbreath Group 12:45 – 1 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 1 - 1:45 p.m. The Crackerbillys 1:45 – 2 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 2 - 2:45 p.m. Soul R Coaster 2:45 – 3 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 3 - 3:45 p.m. Richard Culbreath Group 3:45 – 4 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 4 - 4:45 p.m. Soul R Coaster 4:45 – 5 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 5 - 5:45 p.m. Richard Culbreath Group 5:45 – 6 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers
Sunday, Feb. 21
10 – 10:55 a.m. Triad Folk Band 11 – 11:45 a.m. Manatee River Bluegrass Band 11:45 – Noon Sunshine Express Cloggers Noon – 12:45 p.m. Richard Culbreath Group 12:45 – 1 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 1 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Manatee River Bluegrass Band 1:45 – 2 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 2 - 2:45 p.m. The Wheedles 2:45 – 3 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 3 - 3:45 p.m. Richard Culbreath Group 3:45 – 4 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 4 - 4:45 p.m. The Wheedles 4:45 – 5 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers 5 - 5:45 p.m. Richard Culbreath Group 5:45 – 6 p.m. Sunshine Express Cloggers
http://www.islander.org/2-17-10/ac-cortez-02-17.php
By Lisa Neff Islander Reporter
Mmmm, mullet
Mullet, the fish that made Cortez, is the primary ingredient in this year’s Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival Cook-off sponsored by The Islander. Entries must be delivered by 1 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Cortez Community Center, 4523 123rd St. Court W. Winners will be announced at about 3 p.m. Entry forms and details are available at The Islander Web site,www.islander.org, and at the newspaper office in the Island Shopping Center, 5404 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
Many days a white boot brigade shoves off from the waterfront in Cortez in search for the big catch, the fresh haul.
On Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, Cortez will celebrate the fisher’s way of life and the village’s history with the one-of-a-kind Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.
The theme of this year’s festival is “White Boots Ready.” Those who don’t get the meaning can gain understanding by visiting Cortez on a workday: When fishers step off their boats at the end of the day, many are wearing white rubber boots that don’t quite reach the knee.
Those in the industry say that white boots are one commonality among a Croatian oysterman, a Vietnamese shrimper and a Cortezian crabber.
The festival, to be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days, honors the fisher, showcases Cortez’s history and features locally caught and prepared seafood and locally grown artists, craftspeople and musicians.
The festival schedule includes two full days of music. Also, at noon Feb. 20, organizers will hold the blessing of the fleet ceremony on the waterfront. Later in the day, The Islander will sponsor a cooking contest, with the winners announced at center stage.
The first fishing festival took place in 1981, drawing about 500 people to the waterfront. Over the years the festival has grown to encompass much of the village, from one day to two days and to attract a crowd of more than 20,000 people.
Admission to this year’s festival is $2 for adults and children 12 and over, with proceeds benefiting the nonprofit Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage Preserve — more than 100 acres of environmentally sensitive land on the east side of Cortez.
With limited parking in the village, organizers encourage use of the park-and-ride shuttle service.
Shuttles will be operating from the parking lot at Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island as well as from Cortez Commons, 5584 Cortez Road, Bradenton.
A round-trip on the shuttle will cost $2.
In the lineup
Organizers of the 28th annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival recently announced the entertainment lined up for the two-day celebration Feb. 20-21.
The talent includes:
Feb. 20 — 10 a.m., Richard Culbreath Group; 10:45 a.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 11 a.m., The Crackerbillys; 11:45 a.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 12:30 p.m., Richard Culbreath Group; 12:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 1 p.m., The Crackerbillys; 1:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 2 p.m., Soul R Coaster; 2:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 3 p.m., Richard Culbreath Group; 3:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 4 p.m., Soul R Coaster; 4:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 5 p.m., Richard Culbreath Group and 5:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers.
Feb. 21 — 10 a.m., Triad Folk Band;11 a.m., Manatee River Bluegrass Band; 11:45 a.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; noon, Richard Culbreath Group; 12:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 1 p.m., Manatee River Bluegrass Band; 1:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 2 p.m., The Wheedles; 2:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 3 p.m., Richard Culbreath Group; 3:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 4 p.m., The Wheedles; 4:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers; 5 p.m., Richard Culbreath Group and 5:45 p.m., Sunshine Express Cloggers.
From the Sarasota Herald Tribune Mar 3, 1957.
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http://www.amisun.com/feature.htm
SUN PHOTO/CINDY LANE Native landscaping plantedbetween Anna Maria City Hall and the Island Playhouselost some leaves during the prolonged cold snapearlier this month, but is expected to survive.
Eric von Hahmann a native Cortezian played his first Fishing Festival at the age of fourteen. Since that time, though he moved to Orlando almost three years ago and is playing for Universal Studios on the Porch of Indecicion at Margaritaville, he comes home each year to play his favorite venue the Cortez Fishing Festival where he is always surrounded by a crowd who loves his home grown Counrty music with and isalnd flair.
Eric has opened for Kenny Chesney, Jake Owens, John Anderson and Aaron Tippin. He'll tell you music and entertaining is his life and he'll mean it. Eric will be entertaining the festival crowd on a new stage this year which will be located across from the Coast Guard Station on the 124th St Ct. W. Come enjoy the festival but make time to enjoy some great hometown entertainment too.
From the Sarasota Herald - Nov 30, 1929
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From the Sarasota Herald Tribune February 24, 1946.
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=usMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UXQDAAAAIBAJ&dq=&pg=4629%2C5392673
From the St. Petersburg Times March 30, 1966