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A June wedding appealed to Mabel Stuart Helveston and Homer Lincoln Hebb, who were married on the 15th of that month in 1923. This photo shows the clothing styles of the day and stories in the Sarasota Times reflect some of the customs. In early June 1923, the paper reported on a party held in honor of the bride-elect. The guests hemmed tea towels that were then presented to Miss Helveston. Her mother won the prize for the best hemming, a blue bud vase.

On returning from their honeymoon, the newlyweds were greeted with an unusual reception. The Sarasota Times noted that they had escaped the usual shower of rice after the marriage ceremony. Thus, when they arrived back in Sarasota, "Their friends turned out with the fire department truck, forced the newlyweds to get upon the radiator hood of the big red truck, and the serenade that followed up and down local streets was noisy enough to bring out the entire town. An orchestra with Leon Pickett as the leading actor, discoursed music along the way." They moved into a not-quite-finished house on Alta Vista Street and spent the next 50 years there.

Mabel Helveston was a great-granddaughter of William and Mary Whitaker, 1840s settlers at Yellow Bluffs, near the west end of 12th Street. She later recalled that her home at Indian Beach was so far from the school on Main Street that she was taught at home until about the fourth grade.

Homer Hebb came to Sarasota as a child. His father operated a sawmill on Cedar Point (now Golden Gate Point) and during the 1920s opened a boat shop on the bayfront. Hebb built boats with his father and participated in several community and civic organizations.

Article written by Ann Shank, former county historian. Posting courtesy of Sarasota History Alive! Visit us at www.sarasotahistoryalive.com