City of DeLand Government

Tonight we celebrated Claire Smith, who placed 17th in this year’s Scripp’s National Spelling Bee! The certificate of recognition presented to Claire tonight reads as follows: Whereas, since 1925, children across America have participated in classroom, school and regional spelling bees with the hope of making it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee; and Whereas, the national spelling bee has 11 million participants; and Whereas, then 7th grader from Southwestern Middle School, Claire Smith won the East Central Florida Region 2 of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee; and Whereas, there were four levels of competition before qualifying for the Scripps Nationals; and Whereas, Claire was one of 245 spellers to represent the East Central Florida, Region 2 who advanced to compete in the Nationals in Washington, D.C. from around the nation; and Whereas, Claire was a Semifinalist, making it to the seventh round of spelling/vocabulary where she went out on a vocabulary question and finished tied for 17th place overall. Now, therefore, I, Christopher M. Cloudman, Mayor of the City of DeLand, and on behalf of the City Commission, do hereby recognize Claire Smith for her achievement of reaching 17th in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. and for being an outstanding representative for Southwestern Middle School and the City of DeLand. Congratulations Claire on the fantastic accomplishment!

What an incredible grand opening celebration today at the new DeLand SunRail station! Thank you to all of the partners who have helped keep this dream alive! On Monday, it will become a reality! Route and ticketing information for DeLand will be made available this weekend on Sunrail.com.

The city on Monday had the high honor of hosting descendants of the first Mayor of DeLand, Cyrenius Henry Wright. The great-great and great-great-great grandsons of our first Mayor, Silas Bennett Wright III and IV, stopped by City Hall to meet Chris Cloudman, Mayor of DeLand. At Monday’s commission meeting, the Wrights were presented with a key to the city. During the brief time they met with Mayor Cloudman, the Wrights shared some of the history their family has been able to document. Cyrenius Henry Wright and his son-in-law Captain John Rich (who had married his daughter Clara Fidelia) visited the area in 1875. Rich and Wright both would purchase plots of land and a few months later Rich built the first cabin here and Cyrenius returned later that year. By 1881, land had been cleared, cabins and homes built, a small schoolhouse, a church, post office and store. On March 13, 1882, the town was incorporated and Wright elected Mayor in Rich’s cabin. Cyrenius addressed those present: “With justifiable pride we review the six short years since with axes on shoulder we here pitched our camp with only wild woods around us and commenced our onslaught upon the sturdy pines. Less than five years since, the few persons residing here met to take the initiating steps toward laying out a town and otherwise furthering the interests of such social, educational and moral organizations as follow closely new settlements in all civilized communities. Subsequently in this cabin also was held the first public and religious services within the town. In the minds of many of us those associations will live never to be forgotten.” Mayor Wright would also serve as the city’s first Justice of the Peace and his son, Silas B. Wright, would serve as the city’s first fire chief.

We're delighted to share that DeLand is a recipient of the 2024 Public Engagement Award as a part of the Florida League of Cities Florida Municipal Achievement Awards. Last year, in celebration of National Historic Preservation Month, the city launched a digital historic tour, which allows people to take self-guided tours via Google Maps to visit our nationally-recognized historic districts as well as over 20 sites within the city (there are many more historic structures) that contribute to our rich history. You can still access our tour via our website or by going directly to the Google Map: https://lnkd.in/e_iRw4iQ