Meet the Scenic Sumter Corridor Advocacy Group for this fun-filled picnic… Food and Drinks will be provided. Bring the whole family, friends or anyone who may want to learn about our organization and the Florida Scenic Highways Program.

Bring your lawn chairs and if you have a favorite outdoor game, bring it along. Volleyball, Corn Toss will also be available to play. Bring your boat or fish off the dock!

To register call Diane at the Chamber – 352.793.3099

Location:
Marsh Bend Outlet Park off CR 470
3100 CR 413
Lake Panasoffkee, FL 33538

When:
February 11, 2012 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm

A routine has developed for the “Grammy and Girls” days that Carole Decker and her twin granddaughters spend at Pineapple Park.

The trio eat a picnic lunch in the park, frolic in the playground, grab a couple books at the adjacent Eau Gallie Library and walk to the end of Eau Gallie Pier.

“I did that one time I brought them here, and now it has become a regular thing,” said Decker, of Melbourne. “This is a special place where I bring them.”

Now one group is hoping to entice a larger audience to enjoy Pineapple Park and more than 50 other sites that sit along the Indian River Lagoon National Scenic Byway.

After working for more than a decade to preserve sites along the route, the Indian River Lagoon National Scenic Byway Coalition is turning its focus toward promoting those sites.

“We hope to have not only international visitors and people from out of state, but also in-state and local residents to get off the interstate and take a look at the great scenery and the great experience on the Indian River Lagoon,” said Tim Ford, president of the coalition, which is made up of individuals as well as public and private organizations that have interests along the byway.

The Indian River Lagoon National Scenic Byway runs from the Canaveral National Seashore to Wabasso and includes sites along the barrier island and the mainland. Florida designed the area as a state scenic highway in 2000 and the U.S. Department of Transportation declared it a national scenic byway in 2002.

Scenic byways are chosen because they have one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.

“The Indian River Lagoon has all of those features,” Ford said.

The coalition will still keep up its preservation efforts, which have included projects to remove invasive Brazilian pepper trees, purchasing significant sites and restoring them.

But the coalition also recently printed a new glossy brochure about the byway that will be in hotels, chambers of commerce and welcome centers, Ford said. A grant from Florida Department of Transportation paid for the first 2,500 brochures and the Tourism Development Council funded another 2,000.

The public also will see coalition representatives at community events, touting the byway and recruiting new members. The coalition recently received its non-profit status, which allows them to raise money to pay for promoting and maintaining the byway.

Putting attention on the byway itself has an economic development benefit for the region overall, said Ford, who also is the administrator of the Bayfront Community Redevelopment Agency in Palm Bay.

“It provides tourism. It gets people to the area,” he said. “It may be somewhere they stop and say, ‘Maybe I want to start a business here or I want to move here.’ ”

In January 2012, Jeff Caster will take over the role of Florida Scenic Highways State Coordinator, replacing Mariano Berrios who has been serving this position for many wonderful years.  Currently, Jeff’s role within the Florida Department of Transportation, Environmental Management Office, includes program management for Landscape Architecture, Roadside Management, Visual/Aesthetics, Highway Beautification Grants, and the Wildflower Program.  Jeff has great interest in conservation and management of natural resources and scenic beauty, which makes him a perfect leader for the FSHP.  Jeff has worked in partnership with the FSHP for many years and has presented at the last two Florida Scenic Highways Statewide Workshops.

Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Community Development from Purdue University, a BS in Landscape Design from Florida A&M University, as well as a Masters of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University.  Originally from the “Garden State” (New Jersey), Jeff has lived in La Florida (land of flowers) for over 30 years.  He is a lifelong conservationist and Florida Registered Landscape Architect.

Jeff is a member and past president of the Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Landscape and Environmental Design Committee, and a member of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Technical Committee on Environmental Design.  Jeff served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Florida A&M University, School of Architecture, from 1997-2007.  He is passionate about Florida Wildflowers and is a founding member of the Florida Wildflower Foundation, serving as the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Florida Wildflower Foundation.  He has worked for the Florida Department of Transportation since 1993.

Please join us in welcoming Jeff to his new role!

Volunteers from the Fire Department have participated in numerous clean-up and beautification efforts along Scenic Highway during the past three years, helping to create impressive vistas of Escambia Bay, as well as a safer environment within the 42-acre Bay Bluffs Park.

“Cleaning up Scenic Highway and Bay Bluffs Park has been my mission since I came onto Council,” said City Councilwoman Maren DeWeese. “The Pensacola Police and Fire Departments have been behind that effort 100 percent. Scenic Highway and the Bay Bluffs are a treasure for all of Pensacola to enjoy.”

Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, who was not at the council meeting, later thanked the firefighters for their efforts.

“The men and women of the Pensacola Fire Department are committed to this community,” Hayward said. “Their volunteer efforts have made a significant impact along Scenic Highway.”

Members of the Fire Department who participated include David Poss, Chris Eadler, Mark Snyder, Rick Simmons, Phillip Hoffman, Nate Edler, Joe Glover, Gabe Fernandez, Matt Schmitt, Max Hoffman and John Bartholomew.