CHNEP

 

Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival
— a day to learn about and enjoy the natural environment of southwest Florida

Thanks to everyone who made the past festivals such great successes. Details about the 2011 festival are provided below. Details about all the festivals are available as a PDF file as are the programs created for each event. The 2010 festival was dedicated to the memory of Joy Linn and the 2006 festival was dedicated to the memory of Betty Talburt.

The next festival will be held on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at the Charlotte Sports Park. This page will include the latest information on exhibitors, activities, sponsors and more. We are now seeking sponsors, volunteers and exhibitors for the 2012 festival. Would you please complete the online form? Please check back often.

See some of what you missed by watching this three-minute video!

Take a look at past festivals.

(The links above will take you to a video and slide show.)

 

Please join us at the twelfth annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival

Free. Admission and parking are both free.

Saturday, November 19, 2011
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Charlotte Sports Park
2300 El Jobean Rd./S.R. 776 ~ 2.5 miles west of US 41

Directions

Festival Program (PDF)

Raffles and Silent Auction

Walks, Rides and Music

Exhibitors and Activities

Invitation to participate as an exhibitor: Guidance for Exhibitors

Sponsors: Invitation to participate as a sponsor

Promotion

Enjoy the day exploring and learning about the natural environment of southwest Florida. The festival will once again be filled with activities and exhibits for people of all ages to enjoy, including more than 50 nature exhibits, local artists, and the Mote Marine Laboratory mobile exhibit with its touch tanks. The Children’s Discovery Zone will be packed with games and activities, including a fossil dig. Children will also learn about fish and fishing and then receive a free fishing pole while supplies last! Refreshments and lunch will be available for purchase.
 
The festival is organized and supported by a dedicated group of volunteers representing a diverse number of organizations, associations, businesses and agencies. It has remained free to the public due to the generous support of sponsors and proceeds from a raffle held at the festival.

Connect with the environment at the Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival.

Thanks to sponsors, admission is free and tote bags will be given as a gift (1/car while supplies last).

Learn more by participating in field trips to other locations.

Please note that there is no rain date. On the day of the festival, updates on the status of the festival due to weather conditions will be available by calling 866/835-5785 x 240.

We hope that you will participate in the twelfth annual Charlotte Harbor Regional Nature Festival, making it bigger and better than ever.

— Planning Committee Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival

Sponsors as of October 18, 2011

Thanks to the following for supporting the 2011 festival.

Eagle ($2,500+): * Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program * Charlotte Sun * Mosaic

Florida Panther ($1,000+): * Charlotte County Community Services * CF Industries * Mote Marine Laboratory * Tents & Events * WGCU Public Media

Osprey ($500): * Fish Florida * Lemon Bay Conservancy * Peace River Audubon Society * South Florida Water Management District * Waste Management

Sea Turtle ($250): * Charlotte County Utilities * Coastal Wildlife Club * Four Circles Learning * Janicki Environmental * Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority * Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte Association of Realtors

Dolphin ($100): * Aquatic Plants of Florida, Inc. * Berntsson, Ittersagen, Gunderson, Walksler & Widekis, LLP * Butwell Stone & Soil * Friends of Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves * Florida Native Plant Society Mangrove Chapter  * Sierra Club Charlotte Harbor Chapter * U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 9-2

Raffles and Silent Auction

Whether you have your eye on a pair of Mote Aquarium tickets or a piece of art, we are offering a wide range of gift certificates and unique items. Fabulous prizes will be given away at 11:00, noon, 1:00 and 2:00 so continue buying new raffle tickets throughout the day. Winners of each drawing must be present to win. Winners will pick an item from the prize table. A few items will be available through a silent auction. It's easy! Buy your tickets, win a gift and support the festival!

$1 for 1 chance * $2 for 3 chances * $5 for 10 chances

The festival is supported through the generosity of sponsors and you, when you purchase raffle tickets. Thanks to the exhibitors and others who generously donated items.

Would you support the festival by becoming a sponsor?

All support is appreciated but acknowledgement is provided if more than $100 is provided. Sponsor donations are accepted at any time but your sponsorship will be acknowledged as soon as the funds are received. Because of this, it is to your advantage to provide sponsorship as soon as possible. To sponsor, please send an email to mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org with the name as you would like to be acknowledged and the amount. Please then send a check payable to SWFRPC1, include "CHNF" in the subject line, and mail to Maran Hilgendorf, CHNEP, 1926 Victoria Ave, Fort Myers FL 33901. The SWFRPC is not able to accept credit cards. If you prefer to pay by credit card, please let Maran know and you'll receive guidance on how to donate to the Friends of Charlotte Harbor Estuary, Inc., which is the CHNEP's 501(c)3 support organization.

1 The fiscal agent for the twelfth annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival is the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, a 170(c) 1. As a government entity any donations and contributions are tax deductible as they are exclusively for a public purpose. The SWFRPC federal tax identification number is 59-1515448. SWFRPC does not engage a professional solicitor and 100% of the funds generated by this request will be used to support this or future Charlotte Harbor Nature Festivals. The consumer certificate of exception as issued by the Florida Department of Revenue is 46-07-113386-53C.

Sponsorship

Sponsor
Donations

Exhibit Table

Name on Event Program as Sponsor

Name on Promotional Material (when possible)

Festival Area Named for Sponsor

Logo on Material

 

EXHIBITOR/VENDOR

$0 + Gift for Raffle

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DOLPHIN

$100

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SEA TURTLE

$250

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OSPREY

$500

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FLORIDA PANTHER

$1,000

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+$500 (total $1,500)

 Have your company name printed on a festival tote bag.

 

+$1,000 (total $2,000)

 Have your company logo printed on a festival tote bag.

 

BALD EAGLE

$3,500

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Exhibitors are asked to donate item(s) for the onsite raffle. Additional exhibitor guidance is available. Donations are accepted from others who wish to support the festival in this way.

Walks, Rides and Music and more

Wagon rides will begin at 10:15, 10:45, 11:15, 11:45, 12:15, 12:45, 1:15, 1:45 and 2:15. The wagon rides are limited to 20 people per group.

Guided walks will begin at the entrance to the festival, near the raffle tables.

Music in Arts of Nature Tent

Exhibitors

Entrance/Raffle

  • Coastal Wildlife Club

Environmental Stewards

  • Babcock Wilderness Adventures

  • Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife

  • CF Industries

  • Charlotte County Community Services

  • Charlotte County Solid Waste

  • Charlotte County Utilities

  • Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program

  • City of North Port

  • Conservancy of Southwest Florida

  • CREW Land & Water Trust

  • Florida Department of Environmental Protection, South District

  • Four Circles Learning (with CREW)

  • Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

  • Friends of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves

  • Friends of Oscar Scherer Park, Inc.

  • FWC Manatee Program and Florida Marine Mammal Stranding Network

  • Golisano Children's Museum of Naples (with WGCU)

  • Greater Charlotte Harbor Sierra Club

  • Hardee Outdoor Classroom

  • Keep Charlotte Beautiful

  • Lemon Bay Conservancy

  • Peace River Audubon Society

  • Peace River Wildlife Center

  • Southwest Florida Water Management District

  • U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 9-2 North Port

  • WGCU Public Media

  • Waste Management

Arts of Nature (this tent is also the food court)

  • Earth Preserver / Remitri & Co.

  • Face painting by Claire Miller

  • Indigo Press L.L.C.

  • Musicians Richard Ghent and Danny Kenne (performing 10:30-11:30)

  • Nature In My Pocket

  • Still Friends Band (performing noon to 1 p.m.)

  • Rotonda Rock Inc.

Stand Alone Exhibits

  • LemonBayMetalArt.com

  • Native Gems & Rock Shop

  • Robert Marek, Woodcarving & Carolyn Marek, Woodburning

  • Runningbears Trading Post

 Florida-Friendly

  • Aquatic Plants of Florida, Inc.

  • Beautiful Ponds, Inc.

  • Charlotte County Pest Management Division - Mosquito Control

  • Charlotte County UF/IFAS Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Program

  • Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center, Inc. (CHEC)

  • Florida Native Plants Inc.

  • Florida  Native Plant Society Coccolaba Chapter (with Pine Forest)

  • Florida  Native Plant Society Mangrove Chapter

  • Peace River Butterfly Society

  • Pine Forest Fruit & Flower Farm

 Knowing Nature

  • Mound House

  • Randell Research Center

Children’s Discovery Zone: There will be many activities for children, including tosses, coloring and more.

  • Barrier Island Parks Society: Guessing games about marine animals.

  • Canoe Outpost-Peace River : See what’s upriver through an outdoor display of nature shots, paddling and fossils.

  • Charlotte County Community Development: Learn about planning for the environment by using boxes and Legos to create your own plans!

  • CHNEP What’s an Estuary? Children will receive their own 3-power binoculars after learning about estuaries.

  • CHNEP touch tank: See up close an underwater view of an estuary.

  • J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge: Enjoy a fun nature-craft for children.

  • Nature On Wheels: Dress-up with animal costumes and use the photo booth. Enjoy the children's craft table.

  • Storytelling by Carol Mahler, author of Adventures in the Charlotte Harbor Watershed, and a professional storyteller, will bring the story alive during her presentations scheduled for 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30.

  • Face up to nature with free face painting by Claire Miller, featuring Florida creatures

  • Fishing poles will be given to the first children who go through a short class and demonstration led by Charlotte County Parks & Natural Resources Dept and Fish Florida. The children must be between 4 and 14, able to read, able to cast after instruction. If a child received this gift at an earlier festival, please leave these for those who haven’t received one.

  • Mosaic Fossil Dig: Discover prehistoric fossils of native animals that lived in Florida millions of years ago! You might just find pieces of ancient megaladon sharks’ teeth, turtle shells, wooly mammoth ribs or whale vertebrae uncovered while mining for phosphate in Central Florida.

Stand Alone

  • Lemon Bay Myakka Trail Science Highway Committee: Hammer leaves and berries onto paper.

  • Mote Marine Laboratory Mobile Exhibit: See upclose some of the animals that live in our waters!

  • The Green Bus Experience introduces students to the 4 Rs of Sustainability: Reduce, ReUse, ReThink, and Recycle. This experience is designed to highlight current and on-going waste issues and inform students of ways to enhance their lifestyles and minimize ecological impacts. The pre-program curriculum, as well as the experience itself, has been designed to meet Sunshine State Standards in Language Arts, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Music and Visual Arts. Teachers and students should expect to learn the basic concepts and objectives regarding waste, the proper disposal of waste, and recycling.

  • Aquatic Systems / Mosquito Education (with Green Bus) displays living local aquatic insects (many of which help us to control mosquito larvae), cases of both native and exotic insects, and take-home activities related to mosquito education. We provide environmental science instruction to public and private school students throughout Lee County. We are able to provide the program due to the collaborative effort of three agencies: Lee County Mosquito Control, the Lee County School District, and Florida Gulf Coast University.

Help promote the 2011 festival

Promotional material will be posted as items are available.

Directions

From I-75 Southbound, take Exit 179 / Toledo Blade, travel approximately 6 miles south to SR 776, turn west/right and travel approximately 1.5 miles to Charlotte Sports Park on the left. From I-75 Northbound, take Exit 170 / Kings Hwy, turn left off the ramp, then turn right on Veterans Hwy at the first light, travel approximately seven miles to the stadium. (You’ll cross US 41 after traveling approximately 5 miles on Veterans Hwy.)

The 2010 festival was dedicated to Joy Linn. Joy devoted many years of volunteer service to several organizations, primarily Peace River Audubon Society, Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center, Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program and the Peace River Medical Center. For CHNEP, she helped plan the first four annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festivals from 2001 to 2004. Many people looked up to Joy for her energy, intelligence, generosity, sense of humor and love of her husband. She passed away on March 24, 2009 from multiple myeloma.

Joy and Larry Linn

The 2006 festival was dedicated to Betty Talburt. Betty (on right) was a champion for advocacy and the protection of our beautiful natural world. Betty was instrumental in making past Festivals a success. She was involved in many local environmental projects, including the CHNEP Citizens Advisory Committee, Keep Charlotte Beautiful, the Charlotte Harbor Audubon Society and the Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival. Fran Reimondo is shown on the left.

Betty Talburt and Fran.