GREETINGS FROM GREEN ACRES!

...and remember them at election time!




THE TALLY IN TALLY

The more I pay attention, the more I realize just how short sighted and self serving some politicians can be. And the less I'm able to put an optimistic spin on the bills I see advancing in the Florida Legislature this year. I can't say there aren't any good ones but they're not moving along as fast as the bad ones.

Over the last week, I sent a letter to 5 different committees consisting of a total combination of 76 congresspersons and if I subtract the handful of automated replies, I can count 4. (Two of which were from the same guy and he isn’t even my representative.)

Not one was from the four committee members I wrote asking not to include nuclear in our "renewable" portfolio standard. But I did get a reply from Governor Crist's Energy office basically reiterating what I wrote- but it included "If you hold strong feelings about this decision I would encourage you to contact your elected state Legislators".

Righto Guv'nor. Thank you for the advice.

In the name of economic development a bunch of politicians are using our economic woes as a way to get rid of all the checks and balances we have pertaining to growth and environment (as inadequate as they've been). There's somewhere around 300,000 empty houses in Florida, we're closing down schools, more and more people are out of work, more and more water restrictions are being mandated and all they can do is use it as an opportunity for a free for all. Even if you're an anti-environmentalist and/or pro-growth you can't like the bills being pushed through. Some of them not only weaken or eliminate any checks on growth and the environment but they take decisions (power) from local governments and the people themselves.

Senator Bennett, chairman of the Senate Community Affairs Committee is pushing a bill to get rid of the Department of Community Affairs or merging it with another government agency. Even if you're a developer like Senator Bennett, the DCA works for you. The St. John's Water Management District says we'll be out of sustainable water supplies in 4 years. Other areas of Florida are already running out of water. The Tampa area with an aquifer, a huge reservoir and a desalination plant just banned all lawn watering.

That alone reminds us of the need for the only real growth management tool we have- the DCA. I know there is room for improvement in our growth management regulation but getting rid of it altogether is not in anyone's best interest. Not even if you want to build and sell houses. Go right over the IR County line in Fellsmere and there are thousands of acres of land that just like in Fellsmere were once zoned agricultural but are now annexed to Palm Bay. They're in the St. John's Water Management District too and there'll be no agency coordinating regional impacts. Remember, SJWMD's job is to find and allocate what water there is, not to say where we can or can't grow. Not to mention the impact Palm Bay's development will have on IRC roads from Babcock and U.S. #1.

Another bill wants a 3 year moratorium on impact fees and it would take away an individual county's right to decide whether or not to partake- or if they want to let off on some but not on others as was currently proposed.

Another bill will make it easier to get a permit to pollute surface water and destroy wetlands and harder for agencies overseeing wetlands and surface water to use their rules to refuse permits.

Another bill dubbed “streamlining” would weaken environmental protections and includes a moratorium on new or more stringent protections for three years.

Another bill advancing is making a one size fits all law for fertilizer run-off. Communities would have to prove they need stricter rules than the state if they should live near some watershed they want to protect such as the Indian River Lagoon or the ocean. This would impose extra expense and difficulties for local governments that want to prevent water problems rather than mitigate them.

Last but not nearly least is the Paid Petition Circulators bill designed to limit our ability to promote constitutional amendments through the petition process. In the future, anybody could be affected by this bill as a citizen, even those pushing for it. It's especially egregious because it invalidates a petition signed in good faith by a registered voter through no fault of their own. Sometimes we have no other redress but the citizen's petition process.

All those bills are being pushed in the name of economic development. Florida's economy cannot recover without clean, adequate or affordable water supplies, if the roads are jammed or in poor repair, or if we have ever rising property taxes- and still no "good" or sustainable jobs.

An interesting article on how Gainesville is taking a better path to economic development:
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/03/the-rooftop-revolution?cmpid=WNL-Friday-March20-2009

Green For All's web page on the Economic Recovery Package:
http://www.greenforall.org/resources/recovery-package

"The package includes BILLIONS of dollars in funding for green job training, weatherization, and greener, more energy efficient infrastructure."

There’s still some process to go through before any of those become laws or regulations so we still have time to have a say before they come up for a vote. Below are two links to letters to get you started...

A pre-written letter from Audubon in favor of saving the Department of Community Affairs:
http://audubonaction.org/campaign/save_florida_growth_management

A pre-written letter from Audubon in favor of protecting wetlands and water resources:
http://audubonaction.org/campaign/no_to_env_ponzi_scheme

TTFN, LDouglas

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

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

GREETINGS FROM GREEN ACRES!

Before we get to LDouglas' wonderful post today, Miss Vero would like to say a big hello to a friend that we ran into last evening, who has been a faithful reader in spite of the fact that she doesn't agree with Miss Vero at all! We like to call her "Belle" because she is one of the most lovely, true, conservative, Southern Belles that we know. Our friendship with "Belle" reminds us that, even though we might not see the world the same, somehow the Beach House brings us all together, where a cocktail and a kind word goes a long way. So Miss Belle, knowin that y'all are a big fan of Max Newport , perhaps you'll see fit to join us in the comment cocktail lounge!

Also, we must tell y'all that the Fabulous City of Fellsmere has a new website, where the motto is "cultivate. nurture. grow...":
http://www.cityoffellsmere.org
It is very user friendly (we love the calendar!) and informative, perhaps we can see this type of site for Vero, Sebastian and the county. A job well done by Mr. Harvey Wasserman and the great folks at http://eclipseme.com


And now, back to LDouglas in Green Acres, who's post we would like to add to by providin y'all with, our new congressman, Mr. Bill Posey's web site:
http://posey.house.gov/
Remember kids, your elected officials are just waiting to hear from y'all, so don't disappoint!




Spring is in the air

It's that time of year again, can you feel it? Spring is in the air. It's time once again for planting spring flowers and something else-- planting your opinion-- in the garden of Florida government. The regular Florida legislative session is starting on March 3rd. The full session is only 60 calendar days (including weekends) so it's going to go by fast. As usual, there’s good and bad news. The bad news is there are hundreds of bills that may (or may not) come up for a vote and our budget woes continue, but the good news is that it's never been easier to have a say about them.

I know some people ask "why bother?" because they feel like their opinion is different from the mainstream or it won't matter. But it does. They say for every letter or phone call received, a politician (or editor) knows there are many others who feel the same. So there is some power and influence behind one letter (or phone call).

Of course, not everything is cut and dry. The recent stimulus plan is a good example of that. I've read the majority of people writing and calling were against it (phone calls are influential too). However, it still passed. But the part that shows the effectiveness of opinions through letters and calls to me is that the birth control provisions were removed while a lot of the environmental provisions held up. There were many religious groups speaking out against including birth control measures and many environmental groups speaking up for the environmental measures- and they both had an impact.

While I sometimes find the process confusing and hard to keep up with, I'm hoping to be able to keep up and keep you informed of when an important bill is coming up for a vote. If you have an issue you care about, there is probably a group with a lobbyist for it willing to send you e-mail alerts. Do a search on Google. The things most important to me as you may know are the "Love Triangle"- food, environment, and health. For Florida's environmental issues, I'll be using the alerts and updates from Dave Cullen, the lobbyist for the Sierra Club, as well as the alerts from the Audubon Society.

I like to use the form letters from those organizations for ease. They're not as effective as an independent letter but they do help. Most of them let you edit it or add your own thoughts. But when it's something really important to me, I also write a separate letter and send it via e-mail. I do my best to keep it short and polite as I know they're busy and they deserve to be treated with respect. If it's real close to a vote, sometimes I'll also hand write a couple sentences and fax it. (I also follow up with a phone call, at times.)

And if there's an editorial I agree with about an issue, I'll e-mail that. I received the fastest reply ever from Governor Crist after sending one of those.

If you ask me, there is no more important time than now to make sure you speak up for those things important to you. We're facing hard times and politicians don't always tend to do what's right during hard times.

Here's a link to the Florida Senate web page listing all the House Bills for the 2009 Regular Session:
http://www.flsenate.gov/session/

Note that page is just for House Bills, odd numbered 1-99, and you have to look to the right to jump to House Bills numbered 101 up, etc.
To get the Senate Bills, you have to use the box, ”select chamber", located above to view them.

Remember the old adage, "You reap what you sow"? Experience in politics tells us that's not always true but it shouldn't stop us from choosing which seeds we believe most in. When all is said and done there's always the possibility we may reap something different. But like gardeners we can have faith in those small seeds and cling to the hope that this year, we'll end up with a good harvest.

Some tips from the Sierra Club on how to write an effective letter if you need a refresher: http://www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/toolkit/letters.asp

TTFN, LDouglas







MWAH!
missvero@live.com

MAX HOPS IN ON MONDAY!

IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Max Newport


Especially if you are a frog.

In Fellsmere.

In January.

Sorry folks. I just read an article by Ray McNulty in the Press Journal.

And his style of writing.

Has grown.

Really grown.

On me.

But not enough for me to appreciate it to the extent that I want to pursue it any further. Between McNulty’s bi-polar attitude toward the Florida Gators and Russ Lemmon’s sheer laziness in offering himself as a Youtube exchange center, it is easy to understand the downward spiral of newspaper circulation. Yesterday, Russ offered to send out a “brainteaser” via email to those bored enough to do such a thing and mean old Russ only gives his victims two hours to complete this puzzle. McNulty’s article last Friday poor mouthing the Gators for winning the national championship game was downright embarrassing.

These guys are bad.

Really bad.

Really.

Bad.

But I digress. I wish that I was in a position where I could join Laura Guttridge in her protest at the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival. Think what you will about Laura, but she is the real deal when it comes to caring for animals and doesn’t play both sides of the field. She definitely walks the walk and I admire her tenacity for standing up for her beliefs even though it makes her the subject of frequent ridicule from the ever so brilliant posters on TCPalm. I don’t necessarily agree with her on everything. Max will eat the burger but not kill the cow. We are a better community with the likes of Laura speaking her mind.

I have eaten frog legs several times at Mrs. B’s now defunct restaurant and they were okay. They were more of a novelty; something to try when the kids were younger. We have loaded up the Newportmobile and attended the frog leg festival a couple of times. The frog legs were awful. The meal was served cold. The legs were chewier than a pack of Trident, the grits were an insult to anyone who was raised in the South and the cole slaw was well, cole slaw. Publix serves better cole slaw at their deli. And the hush puppies? Go to Pineapple Joe’s for some good hush puppies. Maybe I just got a bad plate or maybe the county commissioner who slopped it on recognized me or maybe, just maybe, the food at the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival simply sucks.
There is a basic contradiction in this celebration in that the basis of the festival is the gruesome death of the guest of honor. There are posters and shirts celebrating the frog in a comic fashion. Frogs dancing. Frogs playing banjos. “Kiss My Frog” t-shirts.

http://www.froglegfestival.com/gallery.html

There is a t-shirt I would like to see. A few decades ago, there was not an issue of National Lampoon that I would not buy. The cartoon above was so memorable, that they kind of made it their official logo. It showed a couple in a restaurant with a sign above the kitchen door saying “Try our frog legs”. Leaving the kitchen was a legless frog on a board with wheels with an old timey metal iron in each hand. If I had some of those shirts, I would pass them out for free at our renowned festival of the frog.

I must confess at this point, as a lifelong resident of Indian River County, I have never been out in the marsh gigging, or more likely in my case, attempting to gig a frog. It is not an ethical thing since I do hunt and fish. In the case of frogs, the end just didn’t justify the means. I spent many a night with a Coleman lantern and a net catching shrimp because we like to eat shrimp and there is very little of the feisty beast that is not eaten. My understanding from talking to veteran giggers is that there are two basic methods of dealing with the post-gigged frog. One is cutting off the legs in the boat and tossing the still living frog back into the brink. The other is throwing the wounded frog into a cloth sack and let them flop around until they die. Either way seems like a pretty nasty demise for the purpose of harvesting a miniscule amount of meat.

We are told not to fret about the local frog population because this year, the frog legs are being imported from a farming operation in Asia. That sounds really healthy since Chinese dog food nearly killed some of our pets a few years ago. Keep the paramedics on standby.

It’s not that this festival is entrenched in tradition or making tons of money to benefit the community. This thing started in 1990 by Fran Adams, now the widow of former Lieutenant Governor Tom Adams, but who is a local politico in her own right and a nice lady. According to the Sebastian Sun, “Over the past 18 years, more than $60,000 has been raised through the Frog Leg festival”. That comes out to about $3,300 a year.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jan/02/frog-leg-festival-hops-into-fellsmere/

They could make more money with a bake sale.

Fellsmere has a tremendous history to celebrate other than a pile of legless dead frogs. In 1976, Charlotte Lockwood published a book entitled “Florida’s Historic Indian River County”. A good portion of the book is dedicated to the “City of Kings”. They had two newspapers in the early 1900’s, The Fellsmere Farmer and the Fellsmere Tribune. They had a baseball team, a movie theater and a 14 mile railroad track to transport their main crop, sugar to Sebastian for shipment. Sugar was a big deal. They grew, refined and packaged sugar and sold it as “Florida Crystals”. Sugar was big in Fellsmere well into the 1950’s. I’m sure the library has a copy of this great book. In my copy, there is nary a word about frogs as an industry but I do know that hunting frogs in the marshes of the western part of the county has been going on for ages and I am not going to suggest that it is not part of Fellsmere’s history. I was able to find that 20 thousand pounds of frog legs were shipped from Sebastian to Chicago in 1947 and I am going to guess that some of those frogs rode the rail from Fellsmere.

http://www4.tcpalm.com/news/2007/aug/05/30oscar-gaffney-home/?printer=1/

The town of Fellsmere has so much more to celebrate than frog amputees. Fellsmere was way ahead of the nation in the area of women’s suffrage. In 1912 women were voting in Fellsmere elections. The 19th Amendment was not ratified until 1920. Why not celebrate Fellsmere being eight years ahead of the curve in allowing women to vote instead of chewing (and chewing) on rancid frog legs from China? If you want to celebrate the frog without killing it, here are a couple of ideas:

http://www.froglegstilts.com/

http://www.ehow.com/video_4434072_origami-jumping-frog-legs.html

http://www.froglegsinc.com/index.html

I am looking forward to the day where technology will be there for a video t-shirt so that I can join Laura at the festival sporting a video of a living, breathing frog with his lower legs crudely hacked off. Until then, we can all just be thankful that Fellsmere doesn’t consider French poodles a part of their heritage.

Bon Appétit.





MWAH!
misvero@live.com

WHILE VERO SLEEPS, GREEN GROWTH APPROACHES...

While everyone around here is still fussin and fightin about charter gov and bemoanin the lack of economic development, privatizing waste transfer and pointing fingers at dirty developer deals, a big green monster will be rising from the swamp and cattle pastures in the west. Just 30 minutes on the newly refurbished state road 60, as soon as y'all get to Yeehaw Junction, 41,300 acres were acquired in 2006. The largest single parcel of land purchased in Florida since Mr. Disney's deal. Call it Destiny.
http://www.destinyflorida.com/

If that real estate bubble hadn't burst we woulda seen some signs of it already. And being that it professes to be a green sustainable community, we're sure that there will be all kinds of incentives and grants to help this project along. Besides, it sounds like the developers have a coupla pairs of egos about the size of the acreage.

Let's also not forget the major land acquisitions of Fellsmere:
http://web.tcpalm.com/2007/10/26/10xxEDITANNEX.pdf


So Miss Vero asks those who profess to know what's right for Indian River County (our local gov) - when are y'all gonna wake up and stop the ridiculous infightin and wrap your heads around the fact that inevitably things are changin, it's up to y'all to make sure they go in the right direction. Oh wait, since this is an election year maybe it's up to us.

WHO IS LDOUGLAS?

Time and time again when we read the comments posted on the TCPalm, one reader puts everything into focus for us and we'd just like to know, who is LDouglas?


Posted by LDouglas on July 8, 2008 at 12:59 p.m.
"You don't need growth to have good jobs and businesses. Growth the way we know it can be a vicious circle. You only need to look at Orlando and other cities to see that. Look at all the growth Orlando has experienced and yet their still crying for more and crying for more jobs- to the tune of trying to hit up the taxpayers for over a billion dollars to "attract" them. While they're still paying off debt from other job attracting schemes.
All "growth" for the sake of growth has accomplished is over crowded or huge outlays for new schools, constant road construction, minimum wage retail jobs, higher cost of living and higher property taxes. There are ways to have growth economically without attracting people growth. (That's not to say that there wouldn't ever be any people growth- that's just to say you aren't attracting them unnecessarily.) The trick is finding the balance.
BTW, Charter does NOT make or allow people to vote on everything. It only allows them to initiate a citizens petition. If they get the proper amount of signatures then EVERYBODY who is registered to vote can decide yea or nay. There's no way 20% of the people can have things their way unless the other 80% gives it to them.
Read the charter draft for yourself here:http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jun/24/editorial-err-side-openness/
On the left hand side click on the PDF file."


Posted by LDouglas on July 6, 2008 at 6:54 a.m.
"As far as the rich and poor in Indian River County, it's no different than anywhere else. The best you can do IMO, is work to make sure that we have the best educational system and that the poor of all people make best use of it. All the other good programs to help are like building a house without a foundation. It's only so long that it will remain standing."

Miss Vero will assert that this is the wisest thing ever uttered in Indian River County.


It's a bloody mary morning kids, with extra Tabasco...


MWAH!

missvero@live.com

MUCK IN FELLSMERE

Nope, this is NOT in Fellsmere, however, Miss Vero will explain all in due time chickadees.

Yesterday we stuck our tow in the muck that is Fellsmere, but Miss Vero bets that few of y'all know the history of this town. Fellsmere, believe it or not, was once in the running to be the capital of Florida, it sure was conveniently located in the center of the state. Fellsmere also had the distinct honor of having women vote in 1915, four years before the amendment to the constitution. There was a railroad connecting Fellsmere to Sebastian and a cattle trail west to Tampa. There was also another city called Brooksville, which was wiped off the map completely by some nasty Florida weather (sound familiar?). Anyhoo, there's a ton of this sort of info in the Library if-in y'all are interested and Miss Vero has better things to do than to keep teachin y'all history.
http://www.cityoffellsmere.org/

What Miss Vero will do is give you a quickie, day tripping tour of what to see and do. First - drive real slow cause the Fellsmere po-po are very attentive to that speed limit thang. In fact get yoself a designated driver because y'all know with Miss Vero, there will be alkeehol involved. Go to Giseppee's and have the best damn pizza in the county. Don't argue with us, it is the best damn pizza.

Then take a little riding tour of downtown on a street known as Broadway, this should take you about a minute. Or, just park and hoof it around but don't miss the historic church or the old Fellsmere Inn that some fool bought from Miss Margaret and thinks they can turn a profit. Miss Vero really liked the days when the previous owner and Fellsmere native, Miss Margaret had her little funky antique shop there. Again, another place with a lot of forgotten history.

By now y'all will have noticed Marsh Landing.
http://www.florida-secrets.com/Restaurants/EC/Marsh.htm

Go on in and look at all the groovey pics and stuff on the walls. Maybe, if-in y'all are lucky, Miss Fran Adams will be there, she is the owner and the Queen of Fellsmere. Start the cocktail hour at their new bar (Miss Vero is thrilled to see Miss Fran serving alkeehol!). Get your driver a sweet tea in a mason jar to sip on. Profusely apologize for not eatin there, not because the food's not fabulous, but because y'all just had the best damn pizza at Guiseppe's and we must save room for alkeehol. Promise Miss Fran y'all will be back and keep that promise.

Now comes the fun part. Drive west on 512 towards nowhere till y'all see the "Sugar Shack" on the right. Sit yoself down at the bar and try to get drunker than the bartender. Just try, Miss Vero can't even do it! and we're not talkin about Big Barb neither. By the way, ask about Big Barb, Miss Vero always liked her. Get everyone riled up big time by askin who "Damian Gilliams" is. This is where the designated driver comes in handy, cause now it's time to go.

YEEHAW JUCTION - GATEWAY TO KENANSVILLE!

Tell your driver that y'all want to go to YeeHaw Junction. Of course the driver will think y'all are stoopid drunk and while this is probably the case, somehow convince them to take you to YeeHaw. At the corner of route 60 and 441, take notice of the Desert Inn, where they "Always pass all health inspections". Good thing cause, y'all might just have to stay there some day, maybe that day. http://www.desertinnrestaurant.com/

Drive north on 441 over and under the Florida turnpike that bypassed and thereby killed a town called Kenansville. At the corner of 441 and Canoe Creek Road, take a left.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenansville,_Florida

It is there in the ghost town of Kenansville, that you will find two remarkable things. First on the left the (reportedly original) Heartbreak Hotel of Elvis fame. Stop in, somebody fixed it up real cute and they have a little gift shop and everything.
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/kenansville.html

And second, just a little ways down the road, you will see that sign posted at the beginning of today's story, The Lake Marion Restaurant and Grocery - which has the BEST CATFISH IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA! And don't go tellin Miss Vero about Lightsey's down in Okeechobee, we know all about that. Besides, The Lake Marion Restaurant also has the best swamp cabbage. By now y'all should be needin somethin to soak up the alkeehol. Enjoy!

Now go brush up on your Florida history and make Miss Vero proud, cause tomorrow we have a real treat for y'all:

SUPER DELUXE EDITION OF THE BEACH HOUSE - CHARLIE CRIST PIPER VISIT, RUSS LEMMON SIGHTING, FABULOUS PARTY AT THE UNDERTOW, MISS VERO'S SEX AND THE CITY SOIREE

So we'll see y'all tomorrow, right?

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

MESA MESS

Well kids, the Press Journal sure does like to report on the misery of poor Mr. Don Studley. Just take a look at this unfortunate fella trying to get his due back from that Ira Hatch pile o'cow plop.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/sep/25/marjorie-hatchs-accounts-unfrozen-after-vero-beach/

Is that all Miss Vero? No, hunnies, y'all know it's not. Last month the PJ, seeing fit to air everyone's dirty laundry - since there's no news and they hafta fill up space, reported Mr. Studley's dee-vorce AND foreclosure!
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/20/courthouse-news/

Yup, poor, poor, Mr. Studley. Gone are the days when his big ole real estate boomin billboard welcomed northbound I-95 travelers into Indian River County. Miss Vero does not personally know Mr. Studley, but we are thinkin he's probably just a regular hustlin bubba (even if he is a yankee) who got hisself caught up in some Fellsmere muck. At least the Hometown News gave him his propers:
http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=35314

REDNECKS WITH MONEY - AKA RITZ CRACKERS

In Mr. Studley's local glory days, he was hooked up with a man by the name of Jeff Parsons. These boys and a woman named Kathy Gates had a little business venture called MESA Park in Fellsmere. They started out booking some mud bog racing or such- things that Miss Vero would have no clue as to the nature of. Then they booked the headliner, Mr. Willie Nelson, (who Miss Vero does know!) for what was promised to be the first of big entertainment to come. Just look at all the opening optimism back in 1998:
http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4579218-1.html

Where did all this big time MESA start up money come from? Miss Vero is glad y'all asked, because now we will tell you a little story of some high falutin times back in the gay '90s. There were rumors, if Miss Vero recalls, that project money was connected to the sale of some technology in Vero Beach to the emerging Internet giant AOL. And, since one time AOL captain of industry, Ted Leonis, was the mayor of Orchid Island and facilitated some such deal, Miss Vero tends to think there is sumthin to this. But remember, we said rumors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Leonsis

Now acquiring funds and managing funds are two different things. And if-in y'all spend your newly acquired windfall like a drunken sailor on leave in Singapore, well...
It just so happens that Mr. Parsons and Mr. Studley were doing a little R&D in Naples, Florida back in '98. Primin the pump to their muddy investment.
http://entertainment.miaminewtimes.com/1998-11-19/news/where-man-meets-mud/6

And wouldn'tcha know it? Miss Vero was at the same time vacationing at the fabulous Ritz Carlton in Naples. While there, Miss Vero was invited to a decadent little party at a place called "Heaven Cigars" where a private cigar aficionado lounge stocked with flowing champagne awaited us! When we told the hosts that we were from Vero Beach, they asked if we knew Mr. Parsons. It turns out that he was one of their best customers, he even had his name on a brass plated plaque on his private humidor in the cigar vault. In fact, he had just ordered hundreds of personalized cigars to be shipped to Vero. My, the stories they told. Turns out that place also had a few legal issues along the way and ended up being owned by a cocktail waitress who worked there! Miss Vero says good for you, girl!
http://www.smokemag.com/1207/feature.htm

Very long story some what short, things quickly fell apart for the MESA trio and after hittin the auction block, MESA Park is now ancient history. New interest recently from Fellsmere progress proponent, monopoly player, hotshot City Manager Jason Nunemaker, who has his sites on acquisition:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/27/no-headline---27vfellsmere/

Now Miss Vero likes to tell this story not to embarrass Mr. Studley, bless his heart, but to admire him. He stayed in Vero, he tried his hand at real estate - it's not his fault the market went sour. And then he sat hisself down on the court house steps with a very lovely pre-printed sign asking for what is his. He sure does seem to be a positive and persistent man and with that ten gallon Stetson, he makes a colorful character in Vero. Good luck to you Mr. Studley, we admire your stayin power.

Miss Vero is thoroughly exhausted by that story and will have to recoup with a little cocktail. Thanks for all the emails kids! And a special hello to Miss Robin, who is trying her best to report on the Book Festival via the PJ, Good luck to you girl!


MWAH!

missvero@live.com