FloridaSnapshot.com » Retro

80th Year for Sarasota Tarpon Tournament

Staff Reporter — Sun, 23 May 2010 02:23:41 +0000

SARASOTA – This year is the 80th anniversary of the All-Release Tarpon Tournament.

The tournament was found in 1930 by the Palmer family of Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel. While the Sterling silver four foot high trophy resides at the Sarasota History Center, the competition is still very much on each year.

The event runs for five weeks, this year from May 22 to June 27. Find out more at www.sarasotatarpontournament.info

Florida Trust Issues Eleven Most Endangered List

Staff Reporter — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:20:25 +0000

Fort Myers - The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation released May 13 released the 2010 Florida’s Eleven Most Endangered Historic Sites list at the Annual Statewide Preservation Conference in Lee County, Florida. The Most Endangered Historic Sites program is designed to increase the public’s awareness of the urgent need to save Florida’s neglected or threatened historic resources.

The historic sites included in the 2010 list include:

Bonnet House, Ft. Lauderdale, threatened by increased development continuously threatens the view corridors
Royal Poinciana Playhouse and Plaza, Town of Palm Beach, threatened by potential removal of historic landmark status and proposed development
Central Christian Church, Orlando, threatened by demolition due to neglect
Hialeah Park Race Course, Hialeah, threatened by partial demolition and new development
Coconut Grove Playhouse, Coconut Grove, due to development pressure
Sanford Grammar School, Sanford, because of redevelopment pressure
Fort Zachary Taylor, Key West, threatened due to severe deterioration
Boynton High School/Mangrove Park School, Boynton Beach, threatened because of deterioration and increasing development pressure
Miami Marine Stadium, Biscayne Bay; redevelopment pressure
Milton Historic District, Milton, threatened by potential adverse effects from a proposed road widening project
Bob White Citrus Packing House & Strawn Sawmill National Register Historic Districts, DeLeon Springs, threatened by vacancy, lack of financial support, and demolition pressure.

Founded in 1978, the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation promotes the preservation of the architectural, historical and archaeological heritage of Florida through advocacy, education and stewardship of historic properties.

The Trust’s Passport membership program offers free or reduced admissions and other special benefits at over 80 historic sites, museums and parks across the state of Florida.

For additional information, please contact the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation at (850) 224-8128 or visit www.floridatrust.org.

Polynesian at the Mai Kai, Hukilau Tiki Festival

Staff Reporter — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:10:56 +0000

FORT LAUDERDALE – The nation’s great tiki festival comes again to the greatest Tiki town in the nation, Fort Lauderdale from June 10-13, 2010.

It’s called the Hukilau and it is four days of all things Tiki, drawing over 1,000 to come hear music, see artists and get into the South Seas mindset.

The Hukilau is a multi-location event, events at Bahia Cabana Resort, Bahia Mar Hotel and Mai-Kai.

Over the course of four days and nights, attendees will enjoy live performances by an array of international bands, shop for rare tiki wares and have a chance to see presentations and panel discussions by tiki luminaries throughout the weekend.

The highlight of the weekend is of course Fort Lauderdale’s Mai Kai.

Other groups, galleries and performances include Shag, Jeff Berry, Harold Golen Gallery, The Woggles, The Sweet Hawaiians, Stolen Idols, The Bikini Beachcombers, Marina the Mermaid and The Intoxicators.

See www.thehukilau.com

Okeechobee, Old Florida Charm

Staff Reporter — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:03:24 +0000

OKEECHOBEE – While crossing the state of Florida, you will want to make sure you stop in a few of the towns. Very often, folks drive across the state, from Gulf Coast to East Coast, and miss out on the amusement that is in between.

Here, Glady’s, one of the local restaurant treasures in Okeechobee. Okeechobee isn’t a bit tourist town (there is a small museum, a 1920s courthouse and a real-life livestock market. People come for the fishing and outdoors.

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Save the Kissimmee Kast Shuffleboard Courts

Staff Reporter — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:32:15 +0000

KISSIMMEE – In an unwise decision, civic leaders in this town are planning to demolish the town’s shuffleboard courts. They date from 1941 and are the Kast Shuffleboard Courts.

That news according to The Daily City blog. The blog has photos and a whole story on the issue.

Because the city does not know how to market the shuffleboard, and their leaders lack imagination, the courts will disappear.

Certainly, shuffleboard players are aging, but the solution is not to rip them down. If anything, when the times are tough, cities need to preserve what they have and encourage its use. How about encouraging younger folks to hang out and use the shuffleboard facility?

Kissimmee can never compete with Disney; it needs to do its own thing for the 21-plus set. Curling was once as un-hip as shuffleboard, but a bit of Scotch whiskey and media exposure made it fun.

Add some rum on Friday nights and Kissimmee might have a hit on its hands.

Join their support group on Facebook.

Orlando, Action City

Staff Reporter — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:06:10 +0000

ORLANDO – Did you know Orlando was Action City, USA? Yes, you can take the convertible to the private plane, and then cruise Interstate 4 home, in Action City!

Remembering Ocala’s Six Gun Territory

Staff Reporter — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:00:59 +0000

OCALA – One of the great pre-Disney attractions of Florida was Six Gun Territory in Ocala. It was a true western town, with regular shootouts, one of which was shown here. There was also a saloon, fair and Mexican cantina. It closed in the 1980s.

Time For When You Need It Bad

Staff Reporter — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:43:44 +0000

Time to get the old commercial out. “When you’ve got it bad, we’ve got it good” was the slogan. It was run when the weather got cold in the Northeast and Midwest, and it did wonders.

Yogi Bear Jellystone Adds Acorn Village

Staff Reporter — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:10:54 +0000

MADISON – Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort located in rural Madison County, Florida, has added a new area to its campground called Acorn Village. The new area consists of four large cabins and a commons building for gatherings and meals.

This space is available for family reunions, camps and other large groups. In addition to being surrounded by lots of nature, Jellystone Park also features a waterslide, lake, pool, miniature golf, game room, karaoke, paddle boats and kayaks. Visit www.jellystoneflorida.com and www.yogicampingflorida.com.

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Hunting for White Ibis in Orange Lake

Garland Pollard — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:36:03 +0000

ALACHUA COUNTY – One of the great pleasures of Florida birdwatching is the white ibis (Guara alba). In the evening, they tend to pick insects in lawns and fields, and in most cases are not afraid of humans, and so come in close enough so you can get a good look. Often, they are in groups; if you are lucky, you can spy a mother and her young.

The birds are pure white, with tips of several outer primary colors and black. The bird has a bare face, bill and legs. It nests in in thickets (the mangrove best), and it builds nests from twigs. Eggs are from three to five and graying blue and whitish or blotched or spotted with dull yellow and umber brown.

One of the most celebrated early colonies of white ibis was Bird Island in Orange Lake. The National Association of Audubon Societies purchased the sanctuary as a bird reservation, and still owns the property. It was one of the few that survived the dreaded era of the plume hunters.

The reserve was purchased In 1910-11, when Florida Audubon Society member Oscar Baynard encouraged the National Audubon Society to purchase the property in Alachua County. It was the nation’s first Audubon sanctuary.

The noted conservationist and bird authority T. Gilbert Pearson wrote about the colony in his authoritative Birds of America, published in 1936 by Garden City Publishing. Pearson grew up in Archer, Florida and led the Florida Audubon Society for the next 24 years. Wrote Pearson, who was also a president of the National Association of Audubon Societies:

Those years when the water is not too high to cover their food white ibises to the number of about nine thouusand pairs come here to breed, as do the egrets, herons, and Water Turkeys that are present every season. Their nests are built in the low alder tres that cover the island and are placed at all hieghts from one to 15 feet.

Natural enemies include vultures and moccasins; wrote Pearson:

This island literally swarms with water moccasins in summer. They take many of the eggs and perhaps some of the newly hatched young.

These birds fly in long ranks and make a very pretty sight when towards evening they begin coming in from their feeding grounds whihch are often many miles away.

To see more, look at the website of the Alachua Audubon Society

FloridaSnapshot.com » Retro

80th Year for Sarasota Tarpon Tournament

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Florida Trust Issues Eleven Most Endangered List

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Polynesian at the Mai Kai, Hukilau Tiki Festival

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Okeechobee, Old Florida Charm

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Save the Kissimmee Kast Shuffleboard Courts

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Orlando, Action City

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Remembering Ocala’s Six Gun Territory

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Hunting for White Ibis in Orange Lake

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