Gilchrist County united around family, friends and food at the Gilchrist County Agricultural Complex on Saturday to celebrate the county’s 100th birthday with a feast of food donated by area businesses.
Julie Thomas, the 100-Year Feast committee chair, said the event sold 750 tickets.
“We wanted it to be a church dinner on the ground/family reunion,” Thomas said.
The county is making its centennial milestone celebration a year-long affair, with activities that include a 12-month coin hide-and-seek game, a fireworks show and a beauty pageant.
Thomas, 56, said she moved to Gilchrist County when she was in the seventh grade.
“Gilchrist County is the best place in the world to live,” she said. “The best community, the best folks that you will ever find.”
Gilchrist County is the youngest county in Florida and is named after Florida’s 20th governor Albert W. Gilchrist. The county was almost named Melon County because watermelons were a big cash crop, according to the Florida Sheriffs Association.
Established in 1925, Gilchrist County was carved out from the western side of Alachua County. The county's population in 1930 was 4,137, according to the Florida Center for Instructional Technology.
Gilchrist County's population in 2025 is 19,593, according to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
Attendees at the feast enjoyed country music and a wide range of food, including deviled eggs, gator tail and roasted pig.
A ticket to the event cost $25, and all proceeds will go toward building a centennial monument at the Gilchrist County Courthouse.
Some families and businesses sponsored tables, which cost $500.
Cindy Ayers, 68, attended the event as a volunteer, providing the deviled eggs.
Ayers said she’s a part of “The Southern Sisters,” a group of mothers in Gilchrist County who cater weddings for their children. The group prepared 750 deviled eggs for the feast.
“It’s just a wonderful place to live, with great people,” she said. “Very supportive of each other.”
Marvin Weaver, 76, has lived in Gilchrist County for about 40 years.
Weaver said the county has been a great place to raise a family and enjoy life.
Guest speakers were welcomed onstage as the evening wore on to talk about their lives and the history of Gilchrist County. The feast also held a raffle.
Joanna Buckles, 65, said she was at the feast because she was an administrator of a nursing home in Trenton for over 30 years before she retired.
“I wanted to come and say hi,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to see how families grow and love each other together.”