News of demolition of dorms reaches Jamaica

Our story last week on the demolition of dormitories built in the 1950s in Ellenton as part of Bible Conference center brought this response from Jamaica:

Mr. Jones, your article from the Bradenton Herald today reached me all the way to my home here in Jamaica, and I find it so very nostalgic and interesting.

My name is Karen Brunk, daughter of Lawrence Brunk, and every detail brings back such memory and emotion. When my parents first purchased that 300 acres along the Manatee River in the early '50s, it was a land of rattlesnakes, wildcats and alligators and dolomite strip mines.

I was just a young child then, but I remember parking our car along U.S. 301 and wearing boots to walk through the bush to beginnings of our home, what later was known as the “little pink house,” and in recent years was or perhaps still is, used as a church office. You would still find a large crack in the cement block wall that used to be my bedroom, and where pesky mosquitoes came in at night.

I was a tomboy, they say. I always preferred being on the tractor, or taking care of the cattle and goats that we raised, and have ridden my horses over every inch of that property. Wow….what memories you have conjured up!

Thank you for reporting on a story that is near to my heart and to my four siblings as well. Blessings on you and your family, and Happy New Year.

Jim