Everglades Activities

By Marya Repko

The month of January brings a slew of family-friendly activities in the Everglades. Enjoy the scenic beauty of the River of Grass as you head to these exciting events that give a glimpse of life in the glades.

Historical Movie Night

Relive your childhood memories! The Everglades Society for Historic Preservation is hosting an “Old-Fashioned Movie Night” featuring two of the 38 segments from the TV program “The Everglades” which ran for one season, 1961-62.

Ron Hayes stars as Constable Lincoln Vail, an Everglades “county patrol officer,” who travels by airboat to solve crimes. The series was produced locally by Budd Schulberg who made “Wind Across the Everglades” several years earlier.

Come enjoy popcorn and soda while you indulge

in nostalgia at 5:30 p.m. in the Jinkins Fellowship Hall in Everglades Community Church on Friday, January 11. The event is free and open to the public.

For information, call Marya at 695-2905 or see www.evergladeshistorical.org.

Arts & Crafts in Everglades City

Visit Olde Florida with a trip to historic Everglades City on Saturday, January 12, when artists and crafters will hold a sale.

Art-in-the-Glades takes place from 10 AM to 2 PM in McLeod Park where the kiddies can play on the swings as the adults browse among the booths. Besides vendors offering a variety of items from paintings to hand-made soaps, there will be live music, hot dogs for lunch, and local authors signing their books.

Everyone is welcome and there is

no charge. For information, phone (239) 695-2905. DIRECTIONS: Take US-41 (Tamiami Trail) east to US-29, turn south and drive about 4 miles. McLeod Park is next to the majestic City Hall building on the Circle.

Orchids Lost & Found in Cuba

The Fakahatchee Strand is known for many of the rarest orchids in the United States but some of them also grow a little further south in Western Cuba, including a few species that were wiped out by collectors in Florida.

In October, two local experts Mike Owen, Park Biologist at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, and Dennis Giardina, Everglades Region Biologist for Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, were honored with an invitation to present a paper on their Fakahatchee orchid conservation

work at an International Orchid Restoration Workshop in Soroa, Cuba. Part of their mission was to find two of Fakahatchee’s lost orchid species.

They will talk about their visit during a photographic presentation on Saturday, January 12, at 5:30 p.m. in the Players Club & Spa, Lely Resort, Naples. The event is hosted by the Friends of Fakahatchee and is open to the public. Reservations are required. For info and to book, phone (239) 695-2905 or see www.orchidswamp.org where you can use a credit/debit card.

To order, see the Friends’ website www.orchidswamp.org or phone Jimene at (239) 293-8742.

Take a Walk in the Wilderness

Everyone knows about the Fakahatchee Boardwalk. It’s a

favorite place to take visitors or to just commune with nature in solace.

Located on US-41 (Tamiami Trail) about 7 miles west of SR-29 in Collier County, this gentle path takes you about a half-mile through old-growth cypress and other rare plants to the platform overlooking the pond where several generation of gators laze about.

The Boardwalk has been called the “Window into the Fakahatchee” because many of the wonders of our local state park are there to see. You might even glimpse a rare bobcat or Everglades Mink but you are certain to see plants that are hard to find in the concrete condo and shopping mall environment of typical Florida.

You can download a Guide to the Boardwalk at www.orchidswamp.org, the website of the Friends of Fakahatchee.