Pan Am-ers Visit Thriving Piece of Pan Am Brand

MIAMI – Pan Am International Flight Academy is a scheduled stop for the much anticipated “Worldwide Family Reunion” of former Pan Am Employees being held October 20 – 23, 2011 in Miami, Florida.

Former employees, friends and family of Pan Am International Flight Academy’s founding airline, Pan American Airways, affectionately known as Pan Am, together with aviation aficionados from all over the globe and every division of the company, are expected to attend the reunion being held in the Dinner Key/Coconut Grove area of Miami. Read more

Gag Grouper Reopens Sept. 16

The 2011 recreational harvest of gag grouper in all Gulf of Mexico waters off Florida, except Monroe County, reopens Sept.16 for two months. This season will allow anglers in both federal and state Gulf waters an opportunity to harvest gag grouper. The gag grouper season has been closed in state waters since June 1 and in federal waters since Jan. 1.

During the open season, from Sept.16 through Nov.15, recreational anglers may keep two gag grouper within the four-grouper aggregate daily limit in all Gulf waters off Florida except Monroe County state waters. The minimum size limit for gag grouper in these waters is 22 inches total length.

These harvest dates for gag grouper apply in 2011 only. More information on grouper management is available online at MyFWC.com/Fishing; click on “Saltwater” and “Regulations” then “Groupers.”

Remembering the Jupiter Island Club, Hobe Sound

HOBE SOUND – The Jupiter Island Club was one of the classic early resorts of Florida. Even today, Jupiter still connotes an exclusive place where certain folk gather.

Below, a video from YouTube user Lipwak, showing the club in its heyday, with white-jacketed waiters and all. Take a look at the video below; anyone else have memories of Jupiter from the mid 20th century?

First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, Site of Last Torrey Preaching

ORLANDO – When visiting Orlando, there are many church options.

One of the more historic is First Presbyterian Church, founded in 1876. From a small house church, it grew into a downtown campus of buildings and is now one of the more influential congregations here. Read more

Nazi Painting Surfaces at Tallahassee’s Mary Brogan

TALLAHASSEE – A painting, stolen by the Nazis, has apparently surfaced at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science. The painting is “Christ Carrying the Cross Pulled Up by a Soldier” and was on loan from a museum in Milan. It was painted by Girolamo Romano 1538.

It will be in Tallahassee even though the exhibit has closed; officials hope it can be re-united with its rightful owners.

See www.thebrogan.org.

The Last Pan Am 747 in Florida

MIAMI – With the new ABC television series Pan Am, there has been increased interest in this historic airline with roots in Miami. Above, a video of the last 747 from Pan Am leaving Miami, where Pan Am had a hub.

Ringling Celebrates Circus Poster Design

SARASOTA – The fall 2011 exhibition The Amazing American Circus Poster shows 80 brilliantly colored circus posters from around the world at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.

The base of the show is the graphic design work of the Cincinnati-based Strobridge Lithographing Company, one of the country’s leading printers for the circus. Their posters were unrivaled in the circus’ Golden Age, when circuses were one of the leading entertainment forms in the U.S. Read more

Florida Restricts Broward Manatee Boating

Manatees that travel the Intracoastal and other waterways in Broward County will receive additional protection under an updated rule passed Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Broward waters are an increasingly popular winter habitat for the gentle “sea cows,” with as many as 927 manatees counted on a single day in recent years. The Broward County manatee protection rule was last revised in 1993.

Under the new rule, boaters in Broward County will have to slow down for manatees throughout the week, not just on weekends, from Nov. 15 through March 31, on portions of the Intracoastal Waterway in the northern part of the county. There also will be additional slow zones in a few other small areas and an expansion of the No Entry zone at the Port Everglades Power Plant discharge canal. In many areas, the manatee rule changes will not affect boaters, because there are existing year-round boating safety zones that are more restrictive.

The Commission unanimously passed all staff-recommended changes to the Broward manatee protection rule, with one exception. Commissioners did not accept the proposal placing a more restrictive manatee slow speed zone in the area of the Intracoastal Waterway from Sunrise Boulevard and Las Olas Boulevard.

The time it takes a boater to travel through the county in the Intracoastal Waterway on weekdays during the winter will increase by about 18 minutes, but it will remain essentially unchanged during other times of the year.

The FWC received public input on the proposed Broward County manatee rule through a public hearing in April in Pompano Beach, and from written comments submitted to the agency. FWC biologists worked with Broward County staff, local and state law enforcement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff, stakeholders, municipalities and the interested public to identify and evaluate proposed changes. Under the FWC’s manatee management plan, other existing manatee protection rules will be reviewed in coming years, with all rules throughout the state ultimately going through the review process.