Alyce Edgell and Mosquito Switches

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After I began actively collecting and sharing local history in 1987, my husband, Tom, and I attended a function of the St. Lucie History Museum located on the causeway to Ft. Pierce’s South Beach. When we walked in, one of the ladies say “Well, hello Ms. Thurlow.”

I wondered how she knew me but soon learned that she had been the school secretary for Lawnwood Elementary when I taught there shortly after Tom and I were married in 1962. I was amazed she remembered me because I only taught at Lawnwood for a short time before joining Tom at Travis Air Force Base in California. The lady’s name was Alyce Edgell.

Alyce Edgell. a devoted member of the St. Lucie Historical Society, was the editor of its Historical Quarterly for many years. She prided herself on its content and often including early pioneer accounts that otherwise might be lost. The fact that copies of the Historical Quarterly were preserved in the P. K. Yonge Library at the University of Florida gave her much pleasure.

When I noticed a mosquito switch on display at the St. Lucie History Museum, I remarked that I wondered how they were made. Alyce told me how this was done. She said to clip off a new shoot from the center of a sabal palm (also known as a cabbage palm). While it is still green, shred it with a pin or needle, then make a handle with twine, leaving a loop to use for hanging it up or wearing it on a wrist.

Find a small palm with a new frond that can be cut. If you are unable to get its base you will have to tie it.
Chessy Ricca, former curator at the Elliott Museum, demonstrates How to shred the palm frond.

It is amazing how quickly you can shred the palm. It is actually fun. In no time at all you have something that looks like a horse’s tail.

This is a newly made mosquito switch. It looks very much like a horses tail and will last for a hundred years if kept out of the elements.
Boo Lowery a member of a prominent Stuart family whose father rode a pony at the front of the 1926 Martin County Birthday Parade, bound the handle of this switch and added a loop for hanging or carrying it.

One of the reasons I wanted to feature mosquito switches was to honor Alyce Edgell who taught us how to make them. She died tragically.

ALYCE EDGELL AND HER HUSBAND, ROBERT, WERE KILLED AT THE FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY CROSSING ON SEAWAY DRIVE IN FORT PIERCE ON DECEMBER 14, 1994. ALYCE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE ST. LUCIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AT THE TIME AND SHE AND HER HUSBAND WERE CROSSING THE TRACKS AFTER ATTENDING A HISTORICAL SOCIIETY MEETING.

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