It’s that time again where we can leg our best friend (four legged one) splash in the Gulf of Mexico at Pine Island Beach, Weeki Wachee, Florida.
The Hernando County Parks & Recreation Department has given us the dates for the 2010-11 season of Bark Island. Dogs and theor owners can come on every other Saturday for two hours beginning the weekend after Labor Day. Admission is $7 per car or walk up patron. You need to bring proof of your dog’s current vaccination to enter the Beach.
Bark Island is open from 8 to 109 a.m. Saturday September 11, 25, October 2, 16, and 30th, November 13th, December 4, 18, January 15, 29, February 12, 26. Times will change from 7 to 9 a.m. March 12, 26, April 9 and 23. If your doggie would like a photo, a photographer will be available October 30th for Halloween, December 18th for Christmas and or course for our sweethearts, February 12th for Valentines. The cost is $5.00. Pine Island Alfred McKethan Park is located at 10840 Pine Island Drive. Nail clipping is free and is provided by Patti Waggin.
For more info call the Recreation Department at 352-754-4031.
Let the doggies free!!
We will always keep you posted!
Have a great day and enjoy!
Elsie Kempsey & Julie Ludovico
Team Tropic Hernando

I was surprised to find out that we had a wildlife survival sanctuary in SPring Hill on 18212 Booming Road, Spring Hill, Florida (Hernando County). I had read about their 10th anniversary in the Hernando Today and then went on their web-site and this is part of their mission statement. Their web-site is www.wildlifesurvival.com.

In light of the recent controversy facing people who have wildlife in captivity, I searched their web-site for more information and this is what I happily found:

They were founded in May of 2000. The founders realized that the problems facing wildlife in captivity were significant. Often, exotic animals found in captivity, are purchased by individuals who want to own them to enhance their personal status or for financial gain by breeding them for profit. Unfortunately, most people don’t know that exotic animals in captivity have complex nutritional, dietary and medical needs that are extremely costly when you own one of these animals.

Most of these situations end with the animal being euthanized or forced to live a life of misery in unsanitary conditions. There are also situations where people just run into hard times, and no matter how much they love their animals, they aren’t able to provide for them anymore so they are looking to place their beloved animal(s) with a sanctuary such as ours.

There are many so-called “sanctuaries”, that portray themselves as rescue facilities for exotic animals but seem to be more interested in breeding or purchasing cubs while leaving adult animals who desperately need homes with no place to go!
Their mission at Wildlife Survival is to rescue animals without prejudice. They do not intentionally breed, and they DO Not sell their animals! The animals do not have contact with the public. It is a place where the animals can live out their life without harm to them.
It is totally on a volunteer basis and all donations go directly towards the cost of care for their animals. All donations are tax-deductible.
We will always keep you posted!
Have a great day and enjoy!
Elsie Kempsey & Julie Ludovico
Team Tropic Hernando

In today’s very upsetting economy and turnoil all around, it is a welcoming site to volunteer for a group called
People Helping People (PHP), an interfaith community of Christians, Jews, and Muslims who are concerned with the increasing numbers of hungry and homeless people in West Hernando County.

The idea is to feed the hungry with giving them a great deal of dignity and it doesn’t matter where you come from, or what your faith is, everyone deserves a hot meal. They now serve every Sunday and the people are greeted by greeters, showed to a table, assigned a server and are served a drink, salad, a hot entree and a dessert. Publix, who should be extremely commended for their help in this, donates all the bread (there has to be at least 200 loaves) plus the cake and pies. They give us enough so that each person takes home two loaves. Publix may be a few cents more on what they charge, but if you see their generous spirit, you would be happy to shop there.

The volunteers come in at 3:00 p.m., we serve from 4-5:30 p.m., and then do the clean-up. Local restaurants donate the hot food and some of the volunteers I believe also cook. We are always looking for restaurants to help us out. Publix just does it every week. A volunteer picks up the donations from them.

They also have a raffle where they give a bag of donated food. Also, certain times they give donations of clothing.

It warms my heart that there is a place in these unfortunate circumstances where an elderly person, a disabled person, a young family, anyone can come and have a hot meal and a conversation and all done with love and dignity. We tend to forget about these people and there are more and more of us having difficulties in this economy.

We will always keep you posted.

Have a great day and enjoy!

Elsie Kempsey & Julie Ludovico
Team Tropic Hernando