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Our 50th anniversary celebration for Canaveral National Seashore continues this Sunday, Nov. 9, in spite of a venue change. We hope you will join us for Colors of Canaveral from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Due to the closure of our national park during the federal shutdown, the Colors of Canaveral event will move to Arts on Douglas, located at 123 Douglas Avenue in
New Smyrna Beach. The event site was originally planned at Seminole Rest, which is a part of the National Park Service, but that location currently is closed.
Ironically, just as artist/environmentalist Doris Leeper had a hand in getting Canaveral National Seashore established 50 years ago as a national park, she also was directly involved with the founding of Arts on Douglas in 1996, thanks to the help of benefactor Ed Harris.
Located in the historic downtown district of New Smyrna Beach, the building was originally constructed as a Ford showroom and service center in the 1920s and subsequently repurposed as a used-furniture warehouse. The facility has since been renovated into the 3,500-square-foot Arts on Douglas exhibition space that hosts 18 art exhibitions each year. It was Leeper who encouraged Harris to purchase the building for use as a downtown gallery for the arts.
Colors of Canaveral is being staged by Friends of Canaveral to help celebrate the park’s five decades while also serving as a fundraiser to support park educational programs. The event will feature an online/silent auction, a Coastal Boutique, a Plein Air art display/sale by local artists Cathy Berse, Joe Palmerio, Patrick Rausch and Ruth Squitieri -- who will be present to showcase their work - - and gift-card raffles by different vendors which may be selected by guests at one ticket for $5, or 3 tickets for $10.
The Coastal Boutique features an eclectic mix of home goods, purses, bags and coastal-themed jewelry. The online silent auction features a range of items including Bajio sunglasses, kayak, boat and charter fishing trips, restaurant dinners, adult beverages, handcrafted art and jewelry, running gear, overnight stays at Oak Hill Fish Camp and even a year’s worth of Dairy Queen Blizzards! Online auction bidding will be held from Nov. 7-11, and the items will be on display at Arts on Douglas during Sunday’s event.
There also will be an art activity for children led by local artist Nancy Neel, who will be using a Doris Leeper art activity book produced by Atlantic Center for the Arts.
And while we hope to someday be able to stage an event at beautiful Seminole
Rest, Friends of Canaveral is so very grateful for and amazed by the tremendous
outpouring of support for our celebratory event. The massive generosity has shown us that local donors and businesses appreciate the jewel of a national park in our coastal community -- a community spanning from New Smyrna Beach to Titusville. There might be 24 miles of Canaveral beaches between JB’s Fish Camp and Chase’s on the Beach in New Smyrna to Playalinda Brewing Company and Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant in Titusville, but truly, the tie that binds us is Canaveral National Seashore.
Please check out the complete list of donors and businesses who are supporting our event. They care about our community and the well-being of our national park. Let’s show them our support.
Lisa D. Mickey
President, Friends of Canaveral
Lisa D. Mickey is a Florida Master Naturalist / Florida Land Steward
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