Organizers are pleased to announce that Will Kimbrough, a long-time collaborator of Jimmy Buffett and the co-writer of Buffett's last single release, "Bubbles Up," will be performing on the Friends of Jimmy stage during the first annual "It's 5 o'clock Key West" Festival on Labor Day weekend. The free show, scheduled to take place after the Second Line parade on September 1, will be held at the Truman Waterfront Park and will also showcase some of the Keys' best local singer-songwriters, including CW Colt, Zach Miller, Caffeine Carl, Mike Stack, and Howard Livingston performing original music and Jimmy Buffett covers.
Kimbrough and Buffett were both natives of Mobile, Alabama. The duo has been collaborating for the last 20 years, contributing 21 songs to the last seven Buffett albums. The soulful and poignant tune “Bubbles Up” is featured on Buffett’s posthumous album, "Equal Strain On All Parts." Apart from being an honorary member of the Coral Reefer Band, Kimbrough is a Nashville journeyman who frequently tours with Alabama, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. He is set to release a new solo album, “For the Life of Me.” Kimbrough expressed his anticipation to be part of this legacy celebration in Key West, where he and Jimmy often spent time creating at Shrimpboat Sound Studio on Lazy Way. “It was, and probably still is, Jimmy Buffett’s world; we just live in it,” Kimbrough remarked. Labor Day weekend in Key West will now forever be associated with the passing of the beloved Jimmy Buffett. The music legend died September 1, 2023, prompting locals, led by entrepreneur Paul Menta and community activist Jordan Upchurch, to organize a unique parade that attracted thousands of grieving fans. In honor of his memory, legacy, and cultural impact on the Conch Republic, the inaugural “It's 5 o'clock Key West” celebration aims to revive that parade, making it even grander and "the cleanest in the country" while introducing new events and activities for an entire weekend dedicated to Buffett and his devoted fans. The Second Line memorial parade will commence at 5 pm on lower Duval, Sunday, September 1, 2024, and will culminate at the Truman Waterfront Park. Attendees can expect a lively festival ambiance with vendor booths, photo opportunities, food, drinks, and live music on the Friends of Bubba stage. Special souvenir parade lanyards are available for a $30 tax-deductible donation, with all proceeds collected by the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys for distribution to the Bahamas Village Music Program for youth and Reef Relief. Guests unable to physically attend the event in Key West are encouraged to participate virtually through a special link provided with their donation. Additional information can be found at www.its5oclockkeywest.com. Various activities are planned throughout the weekend, including walking tours, a margarita bar crawl, brunches, parties, and a variety of live music at different venues across the city. Each day will be themed to a specific Buffett song, offering attendees a range of free and ticketed options. Businesses interested in participating as event venues, sponsors, vendors, or suppliers are advised to contact the organizers at [email protected] or call Jill Snodgrass, Event Director, at 305.731.5780.
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Arts Council presents Connections Project Key West Closing Reception April 16th at Williams Hall4/11/2024 FLORIDA KEYS — The Florida Keys Council of the Arts is proud to present “The Connections Project: Making Music in the Keys” closing reception on Tuesday, April 16th at 5:00 pm at Williams Hall, located at 729 Fleming Street in Key West. Refreshments graciously sponsored by Sinz Burritos, Fausto’s Food Palace & more.
This year, in addition to offering the beautiful canvases from local artists, the Arts Council is also focusing on Musicians of the Keys, and the Key West reception will feature the talented musicians Bobby Nesbitt, Carmen Rodriguez and Jillian Todd who will entertain and share with us why they love to live and perform in the Florida Keys. Please join us as we celebrate the wonderful performances by these outstanding musicians and view our new version of the 2024 Connections Project! Donate $100 to the Arts Council Grant Programs, then select and take home a canvas of your choice. “The performing arts enhance our shared experiences, we thrilled to highlight local talent from Key Largo to Key West to celebrate the longstanding connection between the community and local cultural initiatives,” said Elizabeth Young, Executive Director of the Florida Keys Council of the Arts, which spearheads the project. Proceeds from the Connections Project benefit Keys artists and arts organizations through Arts Council grants. To participate in the Connections Project, or for more information: keysarts.com or 305-295-4369 MONROE COUNTY, FL — Monroe County Fire Rescue and Monroe County Professional Firefighters Local 3909 are partnering to raise awareness for autism during Autism Awareness Month throughout April. Firefighters will wear autism awareness t-shirts and attend a class, Understanding Autism—Practical Strategies for Emergency Responders, taught by Autism Society of the Keys Director Jill Campbell.
To purchase a t-shirt and support the cause, visit www.local3909.com. A portion of the proceeds go to the Autism Society of the Keys, a 501c3 nonprofit organization with the primary goal of helping families affected by autism in the Florida Keys. More information on the nonprofit can be found at www.autismsocietyofthekeys.com. MONROE COUNTY, FL – Monroe County County Solid Waste, partnering with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will be hosting three free Earth Day Tire Amnesty events for Monroe County residents with proof of residency. Residents may turn in up to six non-commercial tires with no rims for three days on Saturday, April 20, Saturday, April 27, and Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Monroe County Transfer Stations. The transfer stations are located at:
Residents must be able to load the tires into a container at the transfer stations, but assistance can be requested if needed by calling Monroe County Recycling Coordinator Melody Tuschel at 305-509-0325. “Tires can be a detriment to our local ecosystem and, when disposed of improperly, can hold water, making them the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitos,” said Tuschel. This event will help us remove some of these tires lying around people’s properties to recycle them properly.” In a landfill, it can take about 2,000 years for a tire to decompose. The tires collected at the event will be hauled to American Tire Recycling in Miami, where they are processed into rubber mesh granules. The granules are repurposed for asphalt/road surfacing, playgrounds, athletic fields, and landscape applications. Ft. Myers, FL - Offshore Sailing School President and CEO, Doris Colgate, is pleased to announce sailing lessons and courses will resume at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina on Fort Myers Beach, Fla. starting May 2, 2024. The company had to suspend operations on Fort Myers Beach due to marina damage from Hurricane Ian in September 2022. “We are delighted to return to this favored destination on Fort Myers Beach in our company’s 60th Anniversary year. We know our students will enjoy the many enhancements the Pink Shell Beach Resort has made in the past 18 months to its facilities, marina, beachfront pool area, and restaurants overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.” Offshore Sailing School instructors will teach basic sailing lessons, 3-day Learn to Sail certification courses, as well as its popular Fast Track® to Catamaran Cruising 7-day course, combining learning to sail aboard a Colgate 26 sailboat and training aboard a big yacht, such as a Leopard 40 catamaran. The company offers the same courses on Captiva Island at ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa aboard a Colgate 26 and 40’ monohull yacht. Coastal and Offshore Passage Making courses are also offered at these Southwest Florida resort locations. Team building and corporate group sailing and racing events are available at both locations aboard a fleet of Colgate 26 sailboats, designed by company founder/Chairman Steve Colgate.
The school also offers US Sailing certification courses in St. Petersburg and Key West, Florida, and Scrub Island in the British Virgin Islands. The company teaches a US Powerboating certification course aboard a Moorings power catamaran from The Moorings base on Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Students receive textbooks to study in advance and can earn US Sailing certification to skipper a boat up to 50’ all in just one week. Resort accommodations are included with the sailing course packages and the company also has no-lodging rates for area residents and those with alternate accommodations nearby. The company’s head office is at 6338 Presidential Ct., Ste. 201, Fort Myers, Florida, 33919. America’s #1 Sailing School® currently operates in four resort locations in Florida and two in the British Virgin Islands. Offshore Sailing School offers all levels of US Sailing and Powerboating certification courses, racing and refresher courses, Women-only sailing courses, racing events, team building and leadership development programs. Visit https://www.offshoresailing.com/. SENSE OF PLACE, KEY WEST Book Signing Wednesday April 10th Jag Gallery welcomes the publishing duo Margit Bisztray and Lena Perkins for a gallery book signing celebrating their recent collaboration SENSE OF PLACE, Key West, a gorgeous volume of engaging and captivating photography and prose which captures the wonder, beauty and idiosyncrasies that make Key West, Key West. Join us for a sip of Rosé on Wednesday from 5-6 pm, we’ll have books available for purchase and all are invited to bring a pre-purchased copy for signing.
Considered one of the Island’s top destinations for fine, contemporary art offering carefully curated exhibits featuring prominent artists from Key West and beyond, Jag Gallery is located at the Simonton Street entrance to Duval Square, 1075 Duval Street with ample, free parking. Gallery hours are Tuesday- Sunday, noon to 5 and always by appointment. For additional information call 305.407.6202 or email [email protected] and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. KEY WEST, FL, April 5, 2024—The College of the Florida Keys (CFK) invites the community to attend its CFK Poetics event on April 18 at 5 p.m. at the Tennessee Willliams Theatre on the Key West Campus. The annual visiting poets activity will feature a live reading from acclaimed poet Lauren K. Alleyne. She will read some of her work and take questions from the audience. The event is free for all attendees.
Alleyne serves as Executive Director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center and as a professor of English. She is author of two collections Honeyfish (2019), Difficult Fruit (2014), two chapbooks Dawn in the Kaatskills and (Un)Becoming Gretel, and co-editor of Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry. Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies internationally, including venues such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Ms., among several others. Alleyne, who hails from the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, has been recognized with a US Artist Award nomination (2023), an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Poetry (2020), the Green Rose Prize from New Issues Press (2017) and has been shortlisted for the BOCAS Prize for Caribbean Literature and the Library of Virginia prize for poetry (2020). In 2022, Alleyne was awarded an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virgina, and the JMU Agency Star Award. CFK Poetics is a series that aims to develop awareness of an immersion in the humanities landscape by connecting students and the community with poetry on the national level in a way that is immediate to their own experiences. Since 2019, visiting poets have come to Key West or appeared virtually to share their work and have conversations with the student body as well as the community at large. Formerly featured poets include B.H. Fairchild, Chelsea Rathburn, Richard Blanco, and Ross Gay, Barbara Hamby, David Kirby, and Adrian Matejka. Additional information about CFK Poetics can be found on the College’s website at cfk.edu/poetics. KEY WEST, FL, April 4, 2024— The College of the Florida Keys continues its 2024 VIP Series with “State of the National Marine Sanctuary” on Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in the Tennessee Williams Theatre on the Key West Campus. The presentation will be led by Sarah Fangman, the Superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. In its tenth season, the College’s VIP Series invites the community to learn from the Views, Ideas, and Perspectives of speakers of local, regional, and national prominence. The 2024 season includes presentations that focus on timely topics relevant to Keys’ audiences.
In this lecture, Superintendent Fangman will discuss managing the sanctuary under stress and how marine researchers and the community have responded in novel ways to try to protect threatened resources. Topics will include what we know are the impacts from the current temperature stress on the whole system—including corals, seagrass, fish, and sponges—and how the marine community is answering the cry for help. Fangman became Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent in 2017, transitioning from the same position with Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Georgia. She began working with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in 1998 after serving as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow with NOAA Fisheries at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response program in Washington D.C. CFK’s 2024 VIP Series is sponsored by First Horizon Bank. Tickets for each event are $5 at the door. Admission is free for students at CFK and Monroe County schools. For more information, call CFK at 305-296-9081 or visit the College’s website at CFK.edu/VIP. ![]() KEY WEST, FL, April 3, 2024— The College of the Florida Keys (CFK) welcomes Dr. Monekka Munroe as the Vice President of Academic Affairs. She will start full-time with the College in May. A member of CFK’s senior leadership team and Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Munroe will lead the academic affairs division, which includes the academic divisions of Arts and Hospitality, Marine Science and Technology, and Sciences and Nursing, as well as Student Success Services and the Learning Resource Center. “I thank the numerous CFK employees who participated in the selection process for our new Vice President of Academic Affairs,” said Dr. Jonathan Gueverra, CFK President. “They join me in welcoming Dr. Munroe to the College.” Dr. Munroe began her 16-year plus career as an Assistant Professor for Criminal Justice at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University before working as an Associate Professor and the Department Chairperson for the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Virgina Union University. Dr. Munroe has also worked as a part-time faculty member for Nova Southeastern University and as an instructor for a female correctional institution. She holds an associate in arts degree from Sante Fe College, a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She earned a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. |
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