Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins; 603s; Turtle Talks, Reef Rakers, Marie Selby Botanical Garens, Special A-laugh-ics

This special presentation was produced in high definition by W. edu Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota Los Angels have you know some young people doing some very good thing. Others learn to make them laugh. That's a good thing. One of the greatest places to visit is also a center of scientific research and a moment of portrait graffiti in this volume of a Gulf Coast Journal. This WTU production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. Building strong communities through a leadership partnership ended doubtfully answer me. Join me.

Dear Journal. Here's something you don't usually see when public television and I stand here like a pitch man with a bag of chips. Well there's a reason you know how weedy is used to put famous athletes on a box cover. I guess they still do. Well the radio lay company decided to put on a bag of chips. Pictures of young people around the country who do something remarkable. And this fella. Is from the Gulf Coast and we'd like you to meet him. No matter what beach a babysitter old born on when they become adults they come back and that's exactly.

What I was 11 I had this aspect of my mind that all of the people that say the same for. One person one passion one place that chose Sanders SRODES started his conservation mission. Turtles are like impacts we see is when you talk about turtles and the things that affect turtles everything besides the lights from like the trash longline fishing people destroying our beaches people polluting the water. All those things affect thousands of other species in the water so it's really it there and in fact we see. It all began with a chance meeting on the beach with a woman known in the area as the turtle lady I met her on the beach one time when I had a flashlight on the beach and she was trying to explain to me why like I had I should have a flash. So that's kind of the first time I met him. A scolding that turned into a friendship. I started talking to her to see her on the island she explained to me while I could stand just for the lights to be like on the beach because going it under the sea

Charles Linda showed her Quist soon became instrumental in Sanders crash to make an impact on an impact species. We saw that there was a grant in the newspaper for kids that wanted to start a project to help the environment or just to help your community. And Linda sockless brought it up to us and we were looking at it and we thought maybe we could go to schools and talk to kids about why it's important to save the sea turtles gender's first stop Mote Marine Laboratory where scientists welcome the eager sixth grader with open arms. They gave me a lot of different advice of how they do their outreach programs. What is it you will have that we don't have. Flippers right. That's my central look. Think armed with knowledge of PowerPoint and his mentors support Zander spread the word of endangered sea turtles to kids one plash through at a time. I was called school's all time trying to get them to let me come over to their classes and I got to the point where like our phone was ringing off the hook being like that and we heard about this cool project you guys go in come talk to our kids about

turtle. So I'm like that turtle talks took off. I gave him some information. So that. You know how to hold their interest. I got him to sit up straight high get him to be attention. Xander created an activity book to go along with his ego literacy talks. When I was 14 we wrote the activity book Me and illustrated. I wrote all the actual passages and everything. It's really it's really simple it's like for a release it's like for elementary school kids understand which was easy for me. More than 100000 copies of Turtle Talk Show have been distributed to students well why the book is also available in Spanish and French. It's all over South America it's in Trinidad and Panama coaster recook you know it's and. It's. It's all over the United States and everywhere. School The project has taken Zander many places. All over. One thing about sea turtles they go to great Caribbean

warm weather always involving water ploy. It has been fun to. Watch sea turtle research and conservation program granted Zander and in turn the ship is senior year of high school a coveted position reserved usually for college students. So I'd have to say he's an exception in terms of who we work with simply because. It has to be somebody pretty special for us to be in the rules to have them is as a volunteer in our little conservation program. It's kind of funny I was like the little kid there but I got to do a lot of the data and just learn how Office works. Zander has won countless honors and awards for his efforts. He got $10000 from SeaWorld last year for their Environmental Excellence Award. Do something. Gave him $10000 so every bit goes back into printing books. As a finalist in the Volvo for Life Awards Zander received $25000 to donate to charity.

His choice he easy. We were very pleased and honored that he chose to give that to the sea turtle program. And so that's a candidate for us to be able to do things like. Buy a new ATV to drive down the beach so we have a very nice ATV that's got Zander on it has been christened. As a freshman in college. Zander knows the sea turtles will be part of his career plan. But I would love to and the marine science field hopefully go back and look for some plant I really love it over there I love this area so it's really. A perfect niche for him. As he has become. The perfect evangelist. For sea turtles. As ender does his good deeds and evangelizing for turtles.

There are other young people who do good deeds by getting out there on the beaches in the water under the water. They are called the reef records. An ocean in peril beach is screwed with crash some sea life disappearing at an alarming rate. Here in the Gulf human activity has taken and continues to take its toll. But an amazing group of kids along with their leader are doing their best to save our seas trying to find something for my middle school students. They could get involved in and make real world connections to the science program. One of the things that we thought about was that he lived at the near the ocean the oceans in turmoil you know what was something that we could do to help him. My name's Rick. I'm the founder of the reef Raider program with my students from Harley middle. This started off as a little minor thing in a little thing that has grown into much more of an addiction if you will.

Barbara I have a diving problem and that I like to live in the world it's a bill I mean bad. They don't call because everyone else in my family's been knighted. I'm not a dance record and I've been dying two years and today will be my 77. I want to be really right back to life humans have moved to the coastline with humans comes a lot of human impact. We had a bunch of kids who wanted to get involved and make a difference in the world and that's what they've done to our ticket. So while these young divers are taking in the sights and sounds of the sea they are taking out thousands of pounds of harmful trash. Today we are diving on the silver tooth Reef which is an artificial reef in the near shore Gulf of Mexico off of Long pokey. And the divers are removing derelict netting. That fisherman left when the net got caught up on the on the structure of the reef.

The importance of removing that is is really for the quality of the habitat for lots of animals can get tangled or trapped. Any opportunity I have to interact with volunteer groups that are actively engaged in and positive activities for Sarasota Bay I want to be a part of that. Call the catch of the day cannot be found on a menu. It's a good hole for the reef breakers. Most of my kids never seem to ever go away and I have them in fifth grade or sixth grade or whatever grade and they come back all the time let me know how their life is. Well I'm a teacher then I want to make an impact in their lives to figure out a way for them to be involved in the community. Why would you need that much lead. It's important to take care the reason because in 20 or 30 years if we don't take care of them they're not going to be there anymore. And that's a big part of the ecosystem and we need to keep it going to let out.

How much you think that way but you know I think browbeat the first oh a little bit of that again I'm sure today you have a ski reef breaker's task is a bit less adventurous. But still important. There are probably 300 pound trackback and. It's ridiculous. Oh my goodness. Companies and help on this one last thing that really it is a washout is there the next high tide. Yes. Love your favorite things that you're doing. You people are gross. The Reflektor groups out doing a shoreline cleanup and a shore dive in a grass flat this trash was brought off of the shoreline and on the next good west wind. This would have ended up out in the water and our divers would have to be removing it. Well Rick has inspired his students to be guardians of the ocean. Community members have also heeded his call to action.

Well what what we really like about diving with the reef breakers is the fact that we've got a great group of kids that are dedicated to scuba diving and dedicated to cleaning up the environment out here. I was a Mr. Smith science class and he said. He saw me you know I was going to you think oh ocean this is like a whole nother part of this well that we don't know about and we're not attacked at that time begun lessons taught lessons learned. For the reef rakers. The fate of our oceans is more than something discussed in a classroom. Think about it and she is in our hands. Every breakers. Rouleau rebel that I am I don't look at every yes for anyone anywhere near Sarasota a great place to visit and spend some. Gentling time is Shelby gardens. That's a beautiful place but one finds it is much more than that. At a music seminary she became an accomplished pianist. But it was

a family camping trips along the Ohio River that gave young men remain shoulder her love of nature the passion that would last a lifetime. Brief marriage in 1908 brought life to full bloom. Her husband was a wealthy oil tycoon William Selby had discovered his own slice of the natural world. Sarasota Florida the real William Selby visited Sarasota many times before they finally moved here in the early twenties. They were avid outdoors people. And William in particular liked to hunt and fish and Sarasota was a great winter playground for him. So on seven acres bordering Sarasota Bay this Shelby's build a modest home to match their quiet lifestyle. It was a perfect spot for Marie Selby to take up gardening. She loved roses. It looks very different than when Marie garden here primarily by the addition of many many different gardens and different plants. The things that remain from her

planting are some of the large trees especially some of the big fig trees that we have on our property. When Marie Shelby died in 1071 she left her peace of Paradise to the people of Sarasota. Since her death this potential legacy by the Bay has become world famous not for roses but for epic fights. Those plants that grow on other plants but do not take sustenance from them. As director of horticulture Mike McLaughlin fills with pride when he enters the tropical display house. Think of it as a living library of plants. It's a botanical garden which means the plants that we have here are part of a collection a scientific collection and the plants that we have here. We have data on. So when our researchers go out into the wild and collect they not only bring back the specimens for us to grow and study here and display they bring back

information about where that population was growing. At Marie Selby Botanical Garden visitors can admire the world's largest scientific collection of orchids and bromine Lee adds more than 20000 species. And sometimes you have a rare opportunity to see something like the tulip orchid. This is angular Loic Louisiana that is terrestrial orchid from the forests of Colombia and Venezuela. So we've had this plant since the 70s since the very beginning of Selby gardens and it blooms very rarely and visitors that come today have a chance to see this plant in full bloom. The display changes every few weeks as plants come into bloom. The orchid is the largest family of flowering plants. Nearly 22000 species. They're not all showy and glamorous like this one. Some are very dim.. This is a player from South America. Very small but have all of the features of this flower here on this show a cat land.

With their exquisite beauty orchids are among the most popular plants in the world. This is a head in a fight I'm from Australia and this is another member of our empathetic plant collection and it is actually a member of the coffee family. And you notice it has typical at the fight structures this big water storage organ here it's actually a swollen stem. But you know this has some holes in it. And this is plant actually has a very interesting symbiotic relationship with a species of ants. And we've cut this plant in half. So you can see the the readymade ant farm that's in here. A walk through the tropical display house or a stroll around the grounds is a year round adventure for plant lovers. Shelby Gardens is not to be missed showplace. A view rarely observed by visitors or Shelby's seen garden. The herb area is housed in the center for tropical plant science and

conservation. As he reviews a mounted specimen from South America one of 90000 dried plants in the Selby collection. Barry Luther is one of the world's foremost authorities on bro Meili adds. Well for this particular species it tell you exactly. How big it was how what it looked like generally. Where it grew. Elevation of habitat. Since we have live coal actions people ask why isn't that enough well if I want to see what the Hansen era S.A. kooky a lot looks like in bloom in January he doesn't bloom in January. But here in the herbarium a scientist can study an example of a plant from 10 years ago or 100 years ago. This documents bio diversity this. In. The future it's very likely that a lot of these plants will not

occur where they occur today or occurred 10 years ago and it's a permanent record of what was growing where. North America has more than 200 botanical gardens but only one specializes in ep a fight. In a world marked by rapidly vanishing habitat. The value of Sarasota is Marie Shelby gardens both seen and unseen. Is. Beyond major. I think she would she would love Selby gardens and I wish she were here to see it. I think she'd appreciate that so many people come to this site to learn about nature and reconnect with nature. You know about the Special Olympics people have special needs. Participating in sports. Well here's a twist on that people participating not in sports but in. Stand up.

Now. Trying to make other people laugh. With them. She was a. Joy so genuine. Audience can't help falling in love with. A. Yellow. Handkerchief and his friends are stars of the show. So my whole life is a. Stand up comedy version of. Special Olympics. Behind the scenes a metamorphosis for years in the making. Their volunteer teacher is Sarasota comedian Les McCurdy.

When I met Patrick and all the other students if maybe we'll try it and maybe we'll be able to get one joke at each person. OK. You know the you know the writers. To appreciate fully how far they've come. This was their first comedy workshop. For. Slate. Come on. Girls or for. Bombers to come but. Always. These garments Jackson. My thought was Myin this is not going to war was ever determined Patrick and crew got serious about comedy attending weekly workshops at McCurdy Comedy Theater in Sarasota.

There was already challengers. There were a few getting them to understand how to tell a joke. Have a set up works to the Punchline. Cows bellows how the punchline has to be to sing ending to the piece. Joe you want to buy one. Week after week and platters yet. Year after year. Patience and persistence paid off. He just has been an amazing journey to realize that there is so much more they are than you believe in you. Then you think is there and to learn not to judge of both sides. Patrick's performance this year will be about 12

minutes long and he would be happy to do 30 000. What do I have. I. Thought buyout this last at home in Venice. Patrick rehearses a lot for the special on my fiction show that to his nieces Helen and Ellie played the crucial role of audience has memory is very good and has stick to it have to say even better. Better than eyes he'll be saying he wants to practice he wants to practice right. Right. Stand up has shown a side of the 26 year old Patrick not even his mom knew existed. You know what I think the one thing that I've learned is not to say he can't do something you know with all your children.

You think you know them but you really doubt you will blow them out. And oh what a joke. He has like something to say that some people seem to understand and pay attention to him while he says it and it makes sense. A lot of times before people would say why and why it or they wouldn't understand him so he would feel more lost I think. That's got to be hard not to be able to say what it is she wanted so very kind of you thank you very much. Yes I think the main thing is to see him on a stage that's where he shines. That's where you can see that happiness which is of course every parent wants to send their child to be happy. Thank you.

Just throw caution to the when you take the leap of faith then your life will start to take turns that you never could have imagined which make other people's lives. Take those terms also. It's joyful beyond belief. The. Joy beyond belief. Patrick and his friends have found a place where people are laughing at them for all the right. Region. Yes. You. Are. We close this month's volume of a Gulf Coast journal with a moment of poet TOG referee. Some photographs and a poem in this case entitled. Progresses pilgrims. Those magnificent creatures the sandhill cranes are. Meant to be

safe in protected domains there to live. There. Until the grunting machines arrive. When cranes arrive. Cranes. Take wings. To fly to find refuge sing a verse of the progress song. A verse that says there's nothing wrong with mankind being less than kind to species otherwise defined if their habits tend to interfere with what mankind has plotted here. It's man's dominion Bible blast. Genesis should put to rest any niggling nagging qualms. As Iron Jaws devoured poems. So that mound where Redknapp sandhills stood to say but the good driven home spoiled food. Machines all that work just boiling all.

Over command may have got. One more. You can order this or any other volume of a Gulf Coast journal with Jack Perkins on a high quality DVD format. Call 1 800 3 5 4 9 3 3 8. Or visit our website at. W E to the gord. This w edu production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice building strong communities through a leadership

partnership and in doubt philanthropy.