Organizing Regent
Mrs. Melvin H. Taube
Organizing Members
Dorothy S. Cheatle |
Jean C. Gaunt |
Joyce D. Haswell |
Fleta B. Jackson |
Edna H. Lane |
Mary R. S. Lepper |
Helen P. Taube |
Evelyn Miller |
Eva May B. Munger |
Geneva B. Perry |
Helen Beth Schafer |
Florence Shepard |
Mary S. W. Sirmay |
When the thirteen organizing members met, they chose “Caladesi” as the official name of their new chapter. Caladesi is of Spanish origin, believed by some to mean, “Island of the Beautiful Bayou.” Its southernmost 156 acres were homesteaded by a Swiss native, Henry Scharrer, in 1888. Henry Scharrer received a title to the land after he became a naturalized citizen. After his death in 1934, the island slowly reverted to its original primitive condition. Its natural beauty is now being preserved by Caladesi State Park rangers.