KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Historic and Heritage clubs throughout Northeast Florida face the same challenges of sustaining interest and constant sources of revenues, so they huddled Saturday to share ideas at the Keystone Pavillion ahead of that city’s Centennial.

Representatives of the Keystone Heights Heritage Commission, Waldo Area Historical Society, Middleburg Museum, Orange Park Historical Society and the Historic Melrose District discussed their business practices, and each learned a different approach to finding money, resources and space to preserve their communities' legacies.

None were more interested than Keystone’s Christine Arnold and Deirdre Murphy.

The city will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2025, and in preparation, it created The Friends of Keystone Heights to promote the city's historic, cultural and natural heritage for current and future generations.

One of the first big events will be the Heritage Commission’s Museum and Chautauqua Event in May. The Chautauqua Movement was a significant period in the area’s growth. Artists, speakers and musicians from the Chautauqua circuit in New York stayed at the Keystone Inn because many businesses needed young women to wait tables. Soon, others from the New England area moved to the Lake Region as the inn became one of the most popular destinations in Florida until it burned down in 1954.

The Movement also had a religious component that focused on art and literature. A large city sinkhole was once used as a 5,000-seat theater for Chautauqua shows.

The Chautauqua Event also includes a pop-up museum because the Heritage Commission doesn’t have a home for its artifacts.

“The city council said it can’t build a museum,” Arnold said. “We hope there are ways around that. When we do our pop-up museum, we hope to get enough signatures to take to the council to get some traction and persuade them.”

Arnold said the city’s historic pieces are scattered throughout the area.

“Right now, nobody knows we have the stuff,” she said. “I think what we have to do is show up and have a lot of things on display (at the Pavillion). Right now, things are stuffed in drawers, at the airport, in city hall, all over the place. We need to find a home for everything.”

The clubs had varied ways of financing their organizations. Some received tax dollars, some relied on sponsorships and donations, and Melrose volunteers paid to keep their doors open.

Murphy emphasized the need to utilize social media and target a younger audience.

“This was a good idea to get together and share ideas,” she said. “I think we all made good connections. Let’s make sure we do this at least once a year. I know other groups planned to be here, but they had something else going on. I think we can all help each other.”