Grand Opening of

Heritage Peace River Landing  

County Commissioners and DP/PC Chapter members take part in ribbon cutting ceremony.

On Saturday April 30, 2011, the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter joined several partner organizations including the Polk County Board of County Commissioners, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, A-C-T Environmental & Infrastructure, and Clear Springs, hosting the grand opening of the Heritage Peace River Landing Canoe Launch.

Heritage Landing, located at 3301 Homeland Garfield Road, Bartow, will provide canoe, kayak, and other small water craft access to one of Central Florida's historically great waterways.

This project was originally begun in 2009 under the direction of then DP/PC President Kris Keprios.  During a special, "roll your professional sleeves up" work day, chapter members arrived at the location armed with weed-eaters, chainsaws, and all manner of gardening tools to help clear the property for the launch. 

On April 30^th, that effort will be recognized, as well as the chapter being honored.  A plaque with the chapter's name, and the names of the other project participants, will be one of the first things visitors will see. 

Attention Students;

Jumpstart Your Career

FPRA State Board Members please download the following Save-the-Date Conference Student Track Flyer
and pass along to your local student members or neighboring student chapter. Thanks for spreading the word! 

Dear FPRA Chapter Members:

Sun n' Fun Recap

by Danny Kushmer, President-Elect

For several years the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association has been providing volunteers to the Sun n' Fun International Fly-In & Expo in Lakeland Florida. Securing the Future of Aviation is a major mission of Sun n' Fun and has become one of the largest fly-in/expos in the world.

With media representatives from around the world, chapter members volunteer in the Media Center. This year, more than 500 reporters, photographers, videographers, anchors, hosts, bloggers, writers from Australia, Russia, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, England, U.S. and other countries descended on Lakeland, Florida to enjoy Spring weather and a multitude of activities.

Ten chapter members plus two others considering membership volunteered 112 hours over the 7- day event. These chapter members operated a booth at the entrance of Sun n' Fun and were the first to greet the media as they arrived. Volunteers welcomed the media, ensured they were pre-registered, answered questions and provided the credentialing needed for the event.

The media were directed to the Media Center, where they could get refreshments, have a quiet place to work and conduct interviews as needed. Chapter volunteers would also take turns working in the media center.

When working in the media center, volunteers had the opportunity to interact with the media answering questions and explaining why they were volunteering and who they represented. Volunteers would inform the media how they were members of the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association and provide information on the organization.

Danny Kushmer, Community Affairs Manager for the Southwest Florida Water Management District and President-Elect for the chapter organized the volunteers for this year's event and he had big shoes to fill. Previous chapter president Kris Keprios, Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing had been the point person for the volunteers for several years and successfully recruited, planned and implemented each year's event. Of the chapter members volunteering for Sun n' Fun 2011 three were Student Chapter Members from Southeastern University. These students were able to interact with various media types expanding their knowledge and exposing themselves to different cultures.

While this year's Sun n' Fun was a great success, it was not without issues! On Thursday, March 31^st (mid-way through the event) Central Florida experienced a devastating storm event. The storm generated tornadoes affecting Polk County and arrived at Sun n' Fun at approximately 11:30 a.m. On this day, two volunteers were operating the check in booth and one volunteer was at the media center. They had already checked in approximately 15 media representatives and were explaining how they should go to the media center should the weather turn ugly.

At about 11:15 a.m. one of the volunteers (student chapter member) was directed to go to the media center by Danny Kushmer who stayed behind to secure the check in booth/trailer. Once the storm hit, Danny was not able to make it to a more secure location. He did exit the trailer and stood under an enclosure to ride out the storm. As the winds picked up debris began to fly about, the trailer the volunteers were just in began to move up and down off the foundation and it became very dark. The winds, rain and hail pelted the grounds followed by a tornado all happening in about 15 minutes.

Once the winds calmed down and the rain stopped damage assessment began. Danny began trying to call the media center, the director of the media center and the volunteers all to no avail. Cell service was down and he began to worry about the two volunteers working at the center. After looking around at the damage Danny decided to continue trying to get through on the phone instead of walking through the damage to the center about 400 yards away. After about 10 minutes Danny received a Tweet from one of the volunteers saying the following "@DannyKushmer you must be psychic, thank you for sending me to the media center." At that point he knew everyone was ok and began to help those in the entry area of Sun n' Fun. Much damage was a result of the storm, several exhibitors lost their displays and approximately 70 planes were damaged, many beyond repair but fortunately no serious injuries. Amazingly, crews and volunteers worked through the night and Sun n' Fun 2011 re-opened on schedule the next morning.

The Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association is very proud of our "volunteer spirit" and the work our chapter members do in the community each and every day. Sun n' Fun International Fly-In & Expo gives our chapter members the opportunity to meet and interact with media representatives from around the world and is just one of many organizations we participate with each and every year. We are looking forward to next year and the 38^th Annual Sun n' Fun International Fly-In & Expo.