Friends of A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway Receive Honorable Mention

Danielle Anderson, Byway Administrator for the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway, informed local Historic City News reporters that her organization was one-of-two National Scenic Byways in Florida to receive recognition. Their video project, “Capturing the A1A Byway Story”, part of the Roadmap to History video series in development, was selected for Honorable Mention by the National Scenic Byway Foundation on April 23, 2020.

“Capturing the A1A Byway Story” introduces audiences around the world to the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway, one of 150 National Scenic Byways in America. With visually stunning images, the video captures a snapshot of the stories behind the creation of the advocacy group representing Flagler and St Johns counties as the Friends of A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway.

“We were proud to receive the news that our project had been selected for Honorable Mention by the National Scenic Byway Foundation,” said Friends of A1A President, Marge Rooyakkers. “The team that worked on this project put in a tremendous amount of effort to make this happen, and our supporting partners from the A1A Byway communities were gracious in sharing information and taking part in this project to showcase all that the northeast Florida region has to offer.

The Florida Keys All-American Road was selected for first place, receiving the 2020 Byway Organization Marketing and Communications Award.

Funded in part by a Visit Florida grant, the Honorable Mention in Interpretation was given to the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway for their “Roadmap to History” video series in the historic St. Augustine area.

In a release from the National Scenic Byway Foundation, Executive Director Sharon Strouse, cited the reasons behind the selection.  “The St Augustine group recognized that humans are visual learners in this fast-paced world,” Strouse wrote.  “A picture is worth a thousand words is their refrain.”

Widespread support by the many project partners, and recognizing the intrinsic qualities of the 72-mile byway coastal corridor, is credited for the success of the project, Anderson told Historic City News.