Sunday, March 8, 2009

KEY WEST

Council seeks member

The Monroe County Tourist Development Council is accepting applications for a lodging representative vacancy on the Key West District Advisory Committee. The term of member Joy Smatt will end this month.

Applicants must own, operate or manage a lodging property in Key West to be eligible. Committee members are appointed to a three-year term and serve without compensation.

The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. April 3. For additional eligibility information, applications or questions, call 305-296-1552.

STOCK ISLAND

Animal Farm open Sunday

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office Animal Farm will be open to the public from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Everyone is welcome to visit, for free, the wide variety of animals at the park, including Tina the Key deer, tropical birds, snakes, ferrets, rabbits, horses, ponies, a llama, donkey, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, a 100-pound tortoise, an emu, albino hedgehog, Patagonian cavies and more. New additions include a kinkajou and a sloth, both natives of the Costa Rican rain forest.

The Animal Farm is at the Stock Island Detention Center, just off College Road. It is open to the public the second and fourth Sunday of every month.

Groups may make special arrangements to visit the farm. Call the Sheriff's Office Detention Center at 305-293-7300 to schedule a visit.

NO NAME KEY

Scenic kayak trip benefits refuge

Join Friends And Volunteers of Refuges (FAVOR) on the only charity kayak event on the islands. Capt. Bill Keogh and his crew at Big Pine Kayak Adventures have donated a sunset/moonrise scenic paddle through the sponge flats, grass beds and mangrove forests of the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge.

The two-hour trip costs $25 per person, and all proceeds will be used for outreach, education and volunteer projects on behalf of the four Florida Keys wildlife refuges.

The trip is offered only once a month. To reserve your seat, call 305-872-7474.

The trip departs from the Old Wooden Bridge Fishing Camp near the No Name Key Bridge at 5 p.m. Bring your own flashlight. For more info, visit www.FAVORfloridakeys.com.