HAPPY NEW 2022! PHOTO: CHROMATOPHORE COLORS BY SAM FARKAS

GREETINGS to Lake Worth Lagoon Initiative Public Outreach Working Group! Starting up the New 2022 Year by connecting with our partners that come together to protect, restore, remediate and celebrate our local treasure - Lake Worth Lagoon! This email blast is an opportunity to share information, activities and events of interest related to Lake Worth Lagoon with the group.

MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! LagoonFest is truly a partnership of ALL agencies that work tirelessly to connect our citizens, visitors and youth with our natural resources within and in Lake Worth Lagoon. Exhibitors and Vendors survived the inclement morning weather set up and ready to engage with the crowds when the skies opened up! Our most common feedback: "Can LagoonFest stay open longer, from maybe 9 to 3?" Working on it!

Here is a FAB Facebook post from a LagoonFest 2021 participant: "LagoonFest 2021 might have been the best event we've ever been to in WPB. Tons of interactive booths for the kids to learn & enjoy. A Kid's Zone with mural painting, pole casting, face painting(with no waiting mind you), and tons of other stuff. Other than watching the girls eat it all up, the most heartening part how many young kids-college aged youth were involved in presentations and education. Absolutely stunning. And a surprise boat donut at the end that widened everyone's eyes. Mind you, it was free. All of it. Well done LagoonFest!"

Let's make LagoonFest 2022 another memorable, worthwhile and impactful event! Mark your LWL calendars for Saturday, November 5th! There will be some changes, we value your INPUT - PLEASE share your ideas! email: [email protected] Updated LF information at: LagoonFest.com

A RECENT UPDATE: HIDDEN WILD, a stunning eco-adventure film that follows three local teens on a 70-mile trek through the connected wilderness still here in the Palm Beaches. Most importantly, this documentary film is NOW an integral part of the PBC School District’s 7th and 10th grade curriculum! 😊 ALSO, super excited to announce that the film was accepted in the 2022 Wild & Scenic Film Festival with a tour stop right here in Palm Beach County at the Jupiter Lighthouse and Museum Wild & Scenic Film Festival Event this spring. Please visit juiterlighthouse.org for more information. You can view HIDDEN WILD at hiddenwildfilm.com

"WEEDING FOR THE OYSTERCATCHERS" events were a huge success! Volunteers paddled to Snook and Bryant restoration islands in Lake Worth Lagoon to remove vegetation and trash in preparation for the return of the nesting Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers and other protected shorebirds. Thank you volunteers!

PHOTO: Black Skimmer by Mark Cook

Sincerely, Alicia Andersen, Public Outreach Environmental Resources Management [email protected] phone# 561-233-2448 connect with us at pbcerm.com

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Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners Robert S. Weinroth, Mayor, Gregg K. Weiss, Vice Mayor Maria G. Marino, Dave Kerner, Maria Sachs, Melissa McKinlay, Mack Bernard