"Ding" Darling Wildlife Society Newsletter
March 26, 2015
In This Issue
Vote for 'Ding'
Scholarships
Screech Owls
Tarpon Registration
Upcycle!
Porter Goss Comments
Tarpon Tourney
Wildlife Sightings
Quick Links
Each Vote Counts!

Favorite Refuge: Vote 'Ding'

 

"Ding" Darling counts among the top 20 contestants for Favorite National Wildlife Refuge in USA Today's Readers Choice Awards, and is currently in second place. We need your daily vote. Please click here  to vote once a day until noon on Monday, March 30, 2015. We know we're the best, now help us let the whole country know, too!
Scholarships Deadline: March 31

March 31, 2015 is the deadline for high school seniors and/or college students at any level who are residents of Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry or Glades counties intending to pursue a degree in environmental related studies.  
Click here for more information
FREE
Refuge Programs Spotlight

FREE Refuge Tours and Programs run through April 12, 2015. Here we spotlight Beach Walk, which takes place every Friday at 9:30 a.m. Meet at Sanibel's Gulfside City Park for a guided exploration of the Refuge's Perry Tract. Learn about this vital beach ecosystem. Don't forget to bring your shell bag! Note: parking fees at Gulfside City Park apply. 1 hour

For a complete calendar of available programs, click here.

 

TripAdvisor Review
trip advisor

 

Had a great Refuge visit? Please review it at www.tripadvisor.com. Here's one recent five-star review:

 

"Beautiful surprise"

 

This is a beautiful setting, There is plenty of things to see. Alligators, birds, manatees, etc. Nice drive. last year we went to the bay and rented a pontoon boat for fishing. our guide Breanne was awesome. Baited our hooks, knew all the species of fish, knew the bay well. It was a great trip for our parents who are older nice boat, smooth waters." rj, Sanibel Island, March 21, 2015

S.O.S.

Save Our

 Screech Owls

 

Click on image to learn more
The Sanibel City Council will discuss a proposal to add "Warning! Low- Flying Owls" signs along Sanibel-Captiva Road at its April 7 meeting.

Please come show your support. Click here to ask Council members to support the installation of the signs.


 

Attend Upcycle! Art Fest April 1 and April 2
Tarpon Tourney



 

Dining for "Ding" - TOMORROW, March 27th
  Only 20 spots remain.  An exclusive sunset dinner will be held on the Garden Terrace at 'Tween Waters Inn Island Resort on Captiva this Friday. A cocktail hour will begin at 6 p.m. and dinner will follow at 7 p.m. with 25% of each reservation being donated to the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Hosted by Captiva House Executive Chef Jason Miller and Guest Chef Laurent Geroli, this event is limited to the first 60 reservations. Cost is $125 per person, gratuity included. Call 472-5161 x 421 for reservations.
2015 Lecture Series
TOMORROW, MARCH 27
A champion for the Florida environment,
Marjorie Harris Carr (1915-1997) is best remembered for leading the fight against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cross Florida Barge Canal. Biographer Peggy Macdonald will present two programs about her biography, Marjorie Harris Carr: Defender of Florida Environment, beginning READ MORE

Jeremy Conrad
Friday, April 3rd:  Jeremy Conrad, a  
Refuge wildlife 
biologist, will give two pictorial "Sea Turtles: Successful Nesting  presentations with a local and global perspective beginning at READ MORE
 

Lectures begin at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Seating is on a first-come basis, so plan to arrive early. 


 Thank you to our 2015 Lecture Series Sponsors

 


Upcycle! Sneak Peek
More than 20 artists will display
and sell their works of repurposed and re-imagined materials at the second annual Upcycle! Art Fest on Wednesday, April 1, and Thursday, April 2, 2015, at the Visitor & Education Center from 9 to 4 each day. 

 

Steve Kalb depicts endangered flora with recycled metal, such as this silent auction item - a ghost orchid wall hanging with hooks for hanging clothes or towels.

To view a sampling of silent auction  pieces and artworks for sale, click here. To read more about Upcycle! click here.

 

Julie Gauster creates stunning necklaces from repurposed jewelry, such as this piece you will find on the silent auction table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Thank you to our following sponsors:
Don & Ann-Marie Wildman

 

EAA Reservoir - Make a Difference TODAY 
Porter Goss
  Read what Sanibel's former mayor,   chairman of the Lee County commission,   and member of congress, Porter Goss, has to  say in an article titled
"Don't let  Tallahassee's political ways spoil critical  land buy."  

"As an elected representative of the people of Southwest Florida for a cumulative 30 years, including mayor of Sanibel, chairman of the Lee County commission and member of Congress, I found it rare to be offered such an opportunity as Gov. Rick Scott and legislators have today to purchase lands south of Lake Okeechobee at a price favorable to READ MORE

The EAA Reservoir Project is an essential element in the restoration of the Everglades and, as a result, will help dramatically reduce the summer flow of contaminated water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and hence the Refuge watershed. 

Please call or email Governor Rick Scott TODAY asking him to support the purchase of sugar land and urge the South Florida Water
 Management District to buy 46,800 acres of US Sugar land to build a reservoir. The purchase will allow water to be cleaned up and sent south to restore the Everglades instead of polluting the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. 
Timing is of the essence
Click HERE to email Governor Scott.  
To Call: Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott
400 S Monroe St; Tallahassee, FL 32399 

Click here to learn more about how to be heard.
Only 25 spots remain  

 

Deadline for registration is 
April 30. Click here for more information and to register now for event. Click here for rules and registration info and to read about 2014 results.

Thanks to our 2015 tarpon tourney sponsors, below. To become a sponsor or to donate silent auction items for the Captain's Dinner, please email or call Birgie Miller at 239-292-0566.  
Title Sponsor

Presenting Sponsor

dys
Platinum Sponsors

 




 


 
Gold Sponsors

 

Captiva Diva
 
Raiser's Edge  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver Sponsors

Sanibel Island Fishing Club

Bass Pro Shops

Gulf Star Marina 

The Island Sand Paper, Ft. Myers Beach

Must Do Visitor Guides & MustDo.com 

Vasanta Senerat, CPA, PA

Shoreline Lumber

Don Wildman

 

 

Wildlife Sightings and Tides
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These are just snapshots of some of the things taking place at your Wildlife Refuge. Please check our website at www.dingdarlingsociety.org to learn more!

  Sincerely, 
   Birgit Miller, Executive Director

 
 
 "Ding" On the Wing composed by Chelle Koster Walton
Designed by Sarah Lathrop and interns Kasey Robb and Madison Durley