MAMA ALWAYS SAID, IF IT LOOKS LIKE A PANTHER...

Today's post is like a box of chocolates, lots of sweet pieces, some with nuts. If y'all don't like one, try another.

IT'S A PANTHER.

And we'll give y'all three good reasons why we say there's a panther near JI.

#1 A full grown male Florida bobcat is only about 24 pounds, The poor family pet that was killed was an 85 pound Lab, whose spine was snapped, according to the vet. A full grown male Florida panther can be as big as 150 pounds. So, do the math. In addition, the attack occurred around 8:45 in the evening, an active time for panthers and a "resting" time for bobcats:

http://www.coryi.org/bobcatecology.htm#INTRODUCTION

#2 Florida panthers have indeed been sighted in Indian River County and as far north as Jacksonville, so before y'all go spewing your knowledge of all things Florida, do some research:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/UW/UW14400.pdf

http://www.floridapanther.com/

#3 And most important, nothin ever bad happens at places like John's Island, so it might be conceivable that bad things that happen get hidden. Just sayin...

HERE'S AN IDEA FOR DODGERTOWN

Joe Baird is quoted and Vero Beach is featured in the Sunday New York Times!

“If you maintain it, they will come,” the Indian River County administrator Joe Baird said.

He 's still thinking he's going to snag a MLB team and now the Minnesota Twins are mentioned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/sports/baseball/08dodgertown.html

More Dodger news (and pictures!) from Arizona - some long time fans miss Vero's Dodgertown, but not really:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/heatindex/articles/2009/03/10/20090310spt-p2young.html

So here's our idea for the Dodgertown property. Car Club. What? Let Miss Vero explain. There are quite a lot of big boys in this town, with big toys. Like the cute little ole jet planes that fly into our cute little ole private airport. Well, some of these boys have big boy cars too and they would like to drive them fast, but y'all know that no one can take their Porsche or Ferrari out on state road 60 and hammer the pedal down to see how fast it can go. Well, not legally. So here's our idea - Car Club!

Check it out boys:

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/03/09/daily6.html

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080729-The-Monticello-Motor-Club-A-Private-Racetrack-for-Wealthy-Auto-Enthusiasts/

http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71604

Wealthy homes, wealthy islanders (if the panthers don't eat 'em!), wealthy car owners. It all makes sense, besides, Vero has always been a service industry town, why think it'll change? So let's stick to what we know and cater to the wealthy folks, at least we're good at that!

THE NEW ROD AND GUN CLUB IN FELLSMERE

A great story about the ole Fellsmere Inn, but when will it open? Perhaps all of our Fellsmere connections can help us out on this one:

http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=55350

GET OUT OF HERE!

There's a full moon on the beach tonight and there's good music in unlikely places. Ben Prestage is playing this afternoon (5pm-7pm) at Everything Outdoor, turn off your computer and get out there right now, it's a beautiful day for it:

http://outdoorvero.com/index.htm

http://www.myspace.com/bprestage

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

HOUSE PARTY!

Or... House Party for a reason, sometimes known as a salon - what a fabulous idea!


"A salon is a gathering of stimulating people of quality under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host, partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation and readings, often consciously following Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" ("aut delectare aut prodesse est"). The salons, commonly associated with French literary and philosophical salons of the 17th century and 18th century, were carried on until quite recently in urban settings among like-minded people of a 'set': many 20th-century salons could be instanced."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon_(gathering)

Imagine y'all, walking into a house party and being greeted by a giant shining silver bowl of mint juleps! And, as instructed we were told to grab a straw and suck some down! Yum. Yum, yum, yum. Well, Miss Vero did not have to imagine because that's exactly what happened to us on Sunday at the home of the fabulous Miss J.J. Wilson!

And to what did we owe such festivities? Well, hunnies, anyone who can have a house party and raise money, not to mention awareness deserves a big shout out and so, we would like to thank Miss J.J., who opened up her lovely childhood home in old Riomar to everyone for the benefit of the Marian Fell Library.
http://www.irchistorical.org/properties.php

Here's a little excerpt from Miss J.J.'s recap:

"The intangibles gained are harder to compute, but the good feeling in the room (and yes, everybody had a chair, miraculously enough) was palpable — we all learned SO much from our informed and charming speakers. Rody Johnson appeared as himself — not as easy as it sounds — and somehow brought Vero’s history from early days up to the present (he also donated $5 from each book he sold back to the Library, bless him); Rich Votapka — excuse me, I mean E. Nelson Fell took us even further back and the tour de force of all the Fellsmere firsts had the audience gasping. Both presentations plus the input from Pam Cooper and Suzan Phillips and other knowledgeable guests were appreciated also. The Cracker Tales were agreed to be first rate and several copies were sold (though Charlotte had doubted anyone “would want them”)."

This is the kind of party that speaks to Miss Vero's soul, we love our local history and we are so honored to hear the stories first hand from people like Miss J.J. and Mr. Rody Johnson (who, by the way, has a lovely feature about his book "The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown" in Vero Beach magazine this month).

Miss Charlotte Terry is also doing a wonderful job with her "Cracker Tales" project and we applaud her efforts as well. We think it should be part of a required welcome package, along with a complete history of Indian River county, given to everyone at the DMV when they get their new drivers licence in Vero - or better yet when they register to vote!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

BASEBALL AND FANFARE

Y'all know by now, that Miss Vero is not a big fan of sports. But we drove by Dodgertown the other day and fondly remembered times we had at the old Dodgertown Country Club. Over the years we enjoyed many a luncheon there and even though we thought it odd to drive through that little trailer park to get to the clubhouse, it just seemed so accessible.

These days, not many places are quaint like that and the old landmarks are fadin fast. Look at all the old Vero lost this year - The Patio, The Quik-Snak, Mrs. B's, Lenny's Lounge - gone, gone, gone. Unfortunately, these places will fade into our memories like a lot of others (Marvin Gardens?), but Dodgertown was a defining part of Vero Beach.

Here's a fascinatin look at the Dodgertown history that we had never seen before:
http://www.walteromalley.com/hist_dtown_index.php


And we suppose the old days and the hometown feel of Holman Stadium is really gone forever along with reasonable ticket prices.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-11-14-166944860_x.htm


This would be a good day for a martini. And did y'all know that in LA (Los Angeles, not Lower Alabama!), when y'all go to see the Dodgers they have a martini bar? Really!:
http://mlb.mlb.com/la/ticketing/dugout_club.jsp#gallery


Maybe we'll just have to make do back here in Vero. Hey! We could could count licence plates or signs the way that ole Russ passes the time!: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/18/russ-lemmon-signs-seem-be-taking-over-state-road-6/



Yawn...or maybe not.


MWAH!


missvero@live.com