Fort Pierce is painting the town red (and green, and yellow, etc.) for Crayon inventor

Never underestimate the can-do spirit of someone willing to don a giant Crayon box costume to ensure an important figure in local history isn't forgotten.

Jeanne Johansen, president of the Fort Pierce Art Club, is such a woman. She's been known to make speaking appearances in the colorful costume when discussing the life and work of Edwin Binney, who invented Crayons before relocating to Fort Pierce nearly a century ago.

Johansen is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to knowledge about Binney, who, in addition to more global accomplishments, played an integral role in developing Fort Pierce's port, saving the St. Lucie County Bank from failure during the Great Depression, founding the local Sea Scouts chapter, and donating land that's home to the Fort Pierce Coast Guard Station and the Pelican Yacht Club.

On March 30, Johansen and others in the community will host a public event downtown in Binney's honor. From 10 a.m. until 11 a.m., there will be free activities for "children of all ages" at Riverwalk, 600 N. Indian River Drive. Guests can create artwork of their own at different stations.

Colorful tributes planned for Fort Pierce

"We wanted to bring back Edwin Binney," Johansen said. "The best way to celebrate him is through the toys he made for children."

The art club has been working on a Binney sculpture prototype, which will go up at Riverwalk for the event.

The St. Lucie County Historical Society will have a display highlighting Binney's contributions to the Treasure Coast.

Sunglow, the official Crayon mascot, will make an appearance, too.

From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., visiting executives from Crayola, the company that manufactures Crayons, will get a driving tour of Binney-related points of interest around Fort Pierce.

They will pass by numerous spots around downtown, decorated with artwork befitting the day's honoree, including 200 giant Crayons painted by local artists and volunteers. This is a communitywide effort featuring contributions from various individuals and groups, including the Lions Club's local chapter and Main Street Fort Pierce.

"We're happy to help Jeanne and her effort," said Doris Tillman, Main Street's manager. "She's done a tremendous job of pulling all this together."

Binney's name and deeds are worth knowing

To those unfamiliar with Binney's contributions to local history, all of this may seem like overkill. It isn't.

Recognition of Binney's contributions to the Fort Pierce area and the world at-large are long overdue. While Crayons have been popular for decades, the man who invented them remains largely unknown.

Binney wasn't a one-hit wonder when it came to inventions, either. He also developed a type of dust-free chalk that became widely used in school classrooms. Johansen said Binney thought of ways to make products better, such as developing new types of car tires and lightbulb filaments that lasted longer than their predecessors.

"The thing I loved about Binney was that he was a man who listened and solved problems," Johansen said. "Everything he did has benefitted people."

While Florida has a large transient population, it's important for communities to celebrate the men and women who have made important contributions to the area's history. Binney is one of several former Fort Pierce residents who deserve to be honored in this way.

Fort Pierce should leverage its connections to Binney

Hopefully, the March 30 festivities won't be the end of it, either. It would be wonderful if Crayola executives would consider some type of permanent tourist attraction in Fort Pierce.

Orlando has the Crayola Experience, a 70,000-square-foot, family-oriented destination. Given its historic ties to Binney, Fort Pierce ought to lobby for something at least that elaborate, if not more so.

Also, I know I keep harping on those ugly concrete silos at the port, but imagine how much better they would look if they were painted like giant Crayons. Do you think anyone would ever mistake Fort Pierce's skyline for another city's if that change were made?

Johansen and her band of Binney backers recently made a pitch to have the Fort Pierce philanthropist inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame. The effort fell short, but the community should continue thinking about other ways to keep Binney's legacy alive.

One of the last scheduled stops for the Crayola executives on their way out of town is Binney's former home on Indrio Road. On their itinerary, it's listed as a place they will visit only if time permits.

Let's hope there is time for that stop, because there might not be another opportunity to see Binney's home in its current pastoral surroundings.

Binney's legacy could fade into obscurity if we're not careful

Earlier this month, the St. Lucie County Commission rejected plans to build an apartment complex that would have encircled Binney's home on three sides.

It seemed like a possible watershed moment in the county's efforts to regulate growth and development. However, that action might be undone within a matter of weeks.

Under threat from a lawsuit by the would-be apartment complex's developers, commissioners agreed to rehear the land-use case at their May 7 meeting. I'll have much more to say about that in a future column, but the political fluidity of the situation shows why it's so important to raise awareness about who Binney was and why he matters.

Maybe wearing a giant Crayon box doesn't fit everyone's fashion sense. But knowing and appreciating Binney's contributions should be a goal for those of us who live in the area now.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at bfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Crayon inventor Edwin Binney gets deserved shout-out from Fort Pierce