Oral History of Edwin White and Carolyn White

HH00548.pdf

Dublin Core

Click to View (Movie, Podcast, or Website)

Title

Oral History of Edwin White and Carolyn White

Alternative Title

Oral History, White

Subject

Oviedo (Fla.)
Horses--Florida

Description

An oral history interview of Edwin White and Carolyn White, conducted by Porsha Dossie on April 18, 2015. Around 1967, the Whites moved to Oviedo, Florida, where they established a horse ranch. In the interview, the Whites discuss how Oviedo has changed over time, their horse ranch, and the wildlife that lives around their property. Due to technical difficulties, the first six and a half minutes of the recording lacked audio and were edited out of the final version.

Abstract

Oral history interview of Edwin White and Carolyn White. Interview conducted by Porsha Dossie on April 18, 2015.

Table Of Contents


0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:10 How Oviedo has changed over time
0:05:58 Horse ranch
0:08:50 Staying healthy
0:10:58 Bath Lake and the surrounding wildlife
0:13:17 Closing remarks

Creator

White, Edwin
White, Carolyn
Dossie, Porsha

Source

White, Edwin and Carolyn White. Interviewed by Porsha Dossie, April 18, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.

Date Created

2015-04-18

Date Copyrighted

2015-04-18

Date Modified

2016-01-21

Has Format

14-page digital transcript of original 13-minute and 25-second oral history: White, Edwin and Carolyn White. Interviewed by Porsha Dossie, April 18, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.

Is Part Of

Oviedo Historical Society Collection, Oviedo Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Format

video/mp4
application/pdf

Extent

482 MB
147 KB

Medium

13-minute and 25-second audio/video recording
14-page digital transcript

Language

eng

Type

Moving Image

Coverage

Tally-Ho, Oviedo, Florida
Oviedo, Florida

Accrual Method

Item Creation

Mediator

History Teacher

Provenance

Originally created by Julia Edwin White and Carolyn White and Porsha Dossie, and published by RICHES of Central Florida.

Contributing Project

Curator

Cepero, Laura

Digital Collection

Source Repository

External Reference

"All English Horse Show Set for Tally-Ho Farms." RICHES of Central Florida. https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/items/show/6302.

Transcript

Edwin
And then, uh…

Carolyn
At church.

Edwin
Got married. Yes.

Carolyn
Met at church.

Edwin
First Baptist [Church of Oviedo], and, uh, we moved to the Oviedo area then in about [19]60—67.

Carolyn
Something like that.

Edwin
Or something like that, and, uh, built a small horse ranch out in the Black Hammock.

Dossie
Hm.

Edwin
And Carolyn [White], uh, had horses, and a pony from the time she was that high, and, uh, always wanted to have one. So then we, um, started that and had, uh, stable there, and, uh, she started riding lessons and trained horses, and had about 50 students a week, didn’t you?

Carolyn
Mmhmm.

Edwin
A long time, and then, it got a little too—more than we wanted, so we moved down, um, to Chapman Road, here in Oviedo, but we’ve been in this area since back in the ‘60s, and, uh, both our boys grew up here and, uh, went to all the schools here, and, um—and they have also stayed in Oviedo, so shows ya it’s a nice place to live.

Carolyn
Yeah, Lars [D.] White is our son.

Dossie
Mmhmm.

Carolyn
He’s Oviedo fire chief, and Don White is our other son, and he lives nearby, but he’s more like standoffish, so [laughs]…

Edwin
[laughs].

Carolyn
So he doesn’t come to the meetings and so on, but he’s still a good person [laughs], but anyway, uh, here we are, and, um, we still love Oviedo. We still have eight acres, and we just love it, and I still teach riding and train horses. Keeps you young [laughs].

Edwin
We were here when, uh, UCF[1] was FTU.[2]

Carolyn
Yeah.

Dossie
Mmhmm.

Edwin
And when they first thought about doing it down—building it down there, and we thought it would end up something like a junior college, or [laughs], you know—now, it’s what? The second largest…

Carolyn
In the state.

Edwin
In the…

Carolyn
United States.

Edwin
Yeah.

Carolyn
Yeah.

Edwin
It’s unbelievable.

Dossie
Yeah[?].

Carolyn
So…

Edwin
But, uh…

Carolyn
Anyway, there’s a lot of traffic on Alafaya Trail now.

Dossie
[laughs].

Carolyn
More than ever, and, um, it’s just grown and everything, but we’ve still stayed the same. We still do what we do, and enjoy it, and—and still love Oviedo. So that’s our story [laughs].

Dossie
[inaudible]. So I’m just going to talk you guys a little bit about the changes you’ve seen in Oviedo, and then…

Edwin
[inaudible].

Dossie
Just go from there, ‘cause you’ve been here since…

Edwin
Well…

Dossie
The ‘60s.

Edwin
Yeah, there were two-lane roads. There was nothing any larger than that, and…

Carolyn
Yeah, Alafaya…

Edwin
Most of ‘em…

Carolyn
Trail was.

Edwin
Were dirt.

Dossie
Dirt?

Edwin
Yeah, the—Chapman Road, leading up to [clears throat] where our…

Carolyn
Mitchell Hammock [Road]?

Edwin
Property is, was just, um—it was like a washboard road, and, uh, Oviedo was much, much smaller than—I can’t even give you the size of it, but, uh…

Carolyn
It was…

Edwin
It has grown [inaudible].

Carolyn
It was a farmers’ town.

Edwin
Yeah, it was…

Dossie
Hm.

Edwin
They grew, uh…

Carolyn
Water…

Edwin
When we built out in the, um…

Carolyn
Black…

Edwin
Black Hammock…

Carolyn
[clears throat].

Edwin
Area, uh, they were growing cabbage, celery…

Carolyn
Watercress.

Edwin
Watercress on large acreage, and that was the main, uh, products back then. So it has grown now, and of course, with the water situation like it is and everything, most of the farming has moved on out where more water is available, and watercress is down near Lake Okeechobee, where they do have enough water to take care of that.

Carolyn
And lots of orange groves around too.

Edwin
Lots of orange groves, which there aren’t a lot of those left. Uh, everywhere there was an orange tree, there’s a house now.

Carolyn
[laughs].

Dossie
[laughs].

Edwin
But, uh, we still love Oviedo, but, um, we sometimes think we liked it better…

Carolyn
We like less traffic [inaudible].

Edwin
[laughs].

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
Less traffic, but we do have more conveniences, because here we are, so far out, and when you came from Orlando to Oviedo then, you felt like you were taking a day’s trip.

Dossie
Oh.

Edwin
But you weren’t, but, uh, it was, um—it was nice out here then, but it’s—it’s changed an awful lot. We do like the conveniences of a mall, and…

Dossie
Mmhmm.

Edwin
Publix right around the corner, and—in fact, Carolyn used to ride her horse from where we are on Chapman Road—rode all in the, uh, shoppin’ center area.

Carolyn
We, uh, ran through Publix.

Edwin
Yeah.

Carolyn
Used to ride right through Publix.

Edwin
Right where the bank was, and…

Carolyn
Oh.

Edwin
Uh, it—it has grown a lot, and we could take—we could go out the back of our property and, uh, take a, um, hayride and go all in through…

Carolyn
Ceme…

Edwin
Where the…

Carolyn
The cemetery.

Edwin
Yeah, the cemetery that was there and the, um—where the shopping center is actually. So we’ve seen it grow a lot. Mitchell Hammock Road is, um, now—what is it? Six lanes?

Carolyn
Yeah [laughs].

Edwin
Yeah, it’s about…

Carolyn
Just[?]…

Edwin
Three each way.

Carolyn
Huge [laughs].

Edwin
And, uh, it was just dirt.

Dossie
[laughs].

Edwin
So it’s brought conveniences. It’s brought a lot of problems, and so on, but you can’t get around it. You…

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
You have to go with the flow.

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
[laughs].

Dossie
Mmhmm.

Carolyn
That’s[sic] about sums it up. Don’t ya think, Ed[win White]?

Edwin
Yeah, unless she’s[3] got…

Dossie
Uh, is there anything else you guys would like to add that you—I haven’t covered? [inaudible] you guys have givin’ me a lot of information already, but if there’s something you think you should add, feel free.

Edwin
Well[?]…

Dossie
Because you came in 1967 to Oviedo?

Edwin
‘Bout ’67, yes.

Dossie
Um, what were you doing as a job then? Were you working as well?

Edwin
She would—actually, we had the horse farm.

Carolyn
Yeah.

Edwin
And…

Carolyn
I was—I had, like, 40 students a week. I was—had a lot of business. I mean, everybody wanted their kids to have lessons, and I had adults in the morning, and I taught kids in the afternoon…

Dossie
Mmhmm.

Carolyn
In group lessons and usually had private lessons in the mornin’. So I’ve been doing this for a long time. Kinda know what I’m doing [laughs] by this stage, and I still enjoy it, and I think it keeps, um, the physical—the physicality of it…

Dossie
Mmhmm.

Carolyn
Keeps us young. I mean, we’re outdoors all the time, and it’s, um—it’s just part of our lifestyle.

Edwin
Yeah.

Carolyn
And we live on a small lake,[4] and, um, it’s really funny, because when we were looking for property, I was so sick of Black Hammock and it being so wet—very wet. If it rained, it rained in the Black Hammock. We were just indulged[?] with rain, and we just got so tired of it, and so finally, we just wanted to get out of there, and get where it’s high and dry, and that’s why we came over to this side of town, versus being down in the Black Hammock, and we were lookin’ for high-and-dry property, and found it. One of my riding students told us that there was property down the street from them, and so we came and looked and bought it right away, ‘cause we just—we really wanted to be high and dry, and so we just, um—my business followed me over here, and, um, still teach and still trainin’. I just don’t give group lessons anymore, which I gave—I used to do a lot of that. So I still enjoy what I’m doing [coughs], and it keeps us healthy. So we still love Oviedo [laughs].

Edwin
During that time, we were boarding horses for the people that lived in town also, so—in Orlando and Winter Springs and, uh, Winter Park, and, uh—so that brought a lot of the kids out ever[sic] day after school. They would come out to ride their horses and take their lessons and so on. So…

Carolyn
And[?]

Edwin
Both our—both our boys loved having all the girls coming out every afternoon…

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
After school [laughs], and it kept the boys at home too.

Dossie
Hm.

Edwin
Because the girls came to them [laughs].

Dossie
And your—both your sons grew up in Oviedo and attended, uh, the Oviedo schools?

Edwin
Yes.

Carolyn
[inaudible].

Dossie
Did they go to Oviedo High School?

Carolyn
Yeah.

Edwin
Yes[?].

Carolyn
And—and the grammar school.

Edwin
Yeah.

Carolyn
Yeah, and, uh, we—we just fell in love with Oviedo, and we just, um, became more a part of it, being uptown now, not back in the Black Hammock, and, uh, so we’ve enjoyed it a whole lot. We enjoy church here and met a lot of friends in church, and you finally just grow into the community. That’s what happened to us, and we still love it, and we still love what we do. We still keep healthy that way. I keep telling him that [laughs].

Edwin
Yeah, it’s—it keeps me going and…

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
It’s making me healthy.

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
[laughs] Uh, and during that time, we were, um—she was taking care of the boarding and the, uh—and I was an IRS[5] agent, so I did that until I retired, and then, um—since I retired, I’m still doing the horses.

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
That’s helping.

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
Not[?] doing me [laughs]…

Carolyn
So…

Edwin
But we’ve met a lot of nice people, and we still run into ‘em occasionally at, uh, the grocery store or something like that, and—so it’s been an interesting life.

Carolyn
Lot of people ask us, “How do you keep so young?” You know, ‘cause we’re physical[sic] good shape, except for my neck [laughs]. So I had an accident, and, um, so I had neck surgery. So the past couple of years has been a little bit rough on me—getting’ over it, but I’ll get over it again. So anyway, we still love what we do. We still love workin’ outdoors. We—we just—I just feel like we’re blessed to have good health.

Dossie
Yeah.

Carolyn
I think when you get our age—I mean, goodness—and you’re still goin’ strong, and you’re still able to do physical work, you know, and I don’t think anything by[?] goin’ out and trimmin’ trees and doin’ all kinds of stuff, ‘cuz we’ve always done it, and livin’ on the lake, we had to keep the lake clean. So if—we’ve got that lake pretty well cleaned by now.

Edwin
[laughs].

Carolyn
[laughs].

Dossie
What lake do you guys live on?

Carolyn
It’s, um…

Edwin
Bath Lake.

Carolyn
Bath Lake.

Edwin
B-A-T-H.

Carolyn
It’s kind of a funny name…

Dossie
[laughs].

Carolyn
Because it’s a smaller lake, but it’s nice, and it’s clear water and everything. So we’ve kept the lake nice and clean, and—and, uh, keep our property up and enjoy it. We—we enjoy our work. So I don’t know how many people can say that at our age.

Dossie
[laughs].

Edwin
And even though…

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
Oviedo is grown so in the traffic and, uh, all the houses [clears throat], we still, on our piece of property, have the deer coming through, um—going from one location to another, and they pass through our property most[sic] every night, and we have the fish out there, and we have all kinds of water birds, and, uh, we, right now are…

Carolyn
We have…

Edwin             Going through the, uh, sandhill cranes, which have been coming through our property eighty[sic]…

Carolyn
Eight…

Edwin
Eight years.

Carolyn
Eight or nine years.

Edwin
And they, each year, have a—an offspring, and so this year right now, they have a little one about that big. Well, [laughs] he’s grown…

Carolyn
[laughs].

Edwin
Already in a week, and we have, uh, all sorts of animals around, and right now, there’s a, um, [great] blue heron—two blue heron[sic] that have built a nest in the top of a pine tree…

Carolyn
Down…

Edwin
Down by the lake, and they have offspring in there right now. So…

Carolyn
They’re huge. Blue…

Edwin
There’s always something…

Carolyn
Blue herons.

Edwin
Exciting happening.

Carolyn
They’re beautiful birds. They’re huge too. When, you know, they go up there and they build this humongous nest—I mean, it—thing is probably that big.

Edwin
Yeah, it looks like an eagle’s nest. It’s so huge.

Carolyn
And they—I know they have at least one—maybe they have two babies in there, but they’re quite noisy, and they’re raising them. So that’s our first for that—with the blue herons puttin’ their nest up there. So the blue herons just hang out at our place. We have eagles once in a while that’ll land, and it’s—it’s just interesting. That pretty well sums it up, I think, Ed?

Edwin
Yeah.

Dossie
Well, I thank you guys so much for talking to us and taking out the time to come[?] here.

Carolyn
[laughs].

Dossie
This is really nice.

Carolyn
Thank you for inviting us.

Edwin
Yes.


[1] University of Central Florida.

[2] Florida Technological University.

[3] Porsha Dossie.

[4] Bath Lake.

[5] Internal Revenue Service.

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Dossie, Porsha

Interviewee

White, Edwin
White, Carolyn

Location

Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida

Original Format

1 audio/video recording

Duration

13 minutes and 25 seconds

Bit Rate/Frequency

195kbps

Citation

White, Edwin, White, Carolyn, and Dossie, Porsha, “Oral History of Edwin White and Carolyn White,” RICHES, accessed March 19, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/6893.

Locations

Categories