Proposed state anthem with local ties fails in legislature

North county residents hoping their chests would swell with pride when a state anthem penned in part by a local son was played, heard a sad song at the close of the recent legislative session.

“Oh Florida, My Sweet Home,” written by Crestview native Graham W. Fountain and Warren L. Halstrom of Tallahassee, was not selected by legislators.

Instead “Florida: Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky” was enshrined as the state’s anthem.

Written by an Englishwoman who now teaches music in Pompano Beach, the “Sawgrass” anthem will be used as an alternative to “The Old Folks at Home” (a.k.a. “The Swanee [sic] River”).

The classic Stephen Foster song, which was first designated the official Florida state song in 1935, rankled some for its period nostalgia for “the old plantation,” which some felt was too suggestive of the antebellum era.