Emily, our almost 16 year-old is quite the bowler. She's been hitting the alleys for several years, and beats me every time we play. She has to remind me that its not about speed, but accuracy. Okay, okay.
Anyway, Emily bowled in a tournament in Richmond today, and did pretty good. Earlier this week, during practice, she was knocking down some 170-180 games consistently.
Her league bowls every Tuesday afternoon.
Here's where my ball usually ends up:
21 years ago today, my life changed forever, in ways I never could have imagined. Anita and I were blessed with the arrival our first child, our daughter Lauren. She's an amazing young woman, who is committed, focused, and uncompromising. I love her so much.
During the festivities of yesterday’s Florida Tourism Day, we’ve also been working with our tourism partners and a grass-root parent organization Save our Summers, to defeat an attempt to change the current Florida statute which requires local School Boards to begin school no earlier than 14 days before Labor Day. An email campaign and flyers distributed throughout the Capitol by Florida Tourism Day participants helped set the stage for this afternoon’s vote.
Today, we were successful in keeping the school calendar unchanged, with a 4-1 vote in the Senate Pre K – 12 Education Committee.
It’s been an amazing, and successful Florida Tourism Day. In addition to our Board Members, other attraction members from around the state were in Tallahassee for Tourism Day activities.
We began the day at 8:00 a.m. at Tallahassee City Hall. Our lobbyist, Jim Tillman, presented the FAA’s priority issues for the 2008 session.
At 9:00 a.m., Karen Moore from Moore Consulting Group, VISIT FLORIDA's PR firm, presented an excellent advocacy primer. She offered techniques and strategies on how to effectively present an issue to an elected official.
Next, we moved down the hill to the Leon County Civic Center. At 10:30 a.m. a panel presentation was made on the various issues affecting participating Florida Tourism Day sponsors.
At 11;30, lunch was served. Our guest speaker was Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Scarborough, a former Congressman, shared his views on the current state of politics in America and the campaigns for the White House.
The afternoon was spent making visits to our elected representatives in the Capitol. I was paired with Tom Waits, former CEO of the Florida Hotel Motel Association. We had appointments with several elected officials, making the case for increased funding for VISIT FLORIDA.
The evening reception was at the headquarters of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. The party was catered by culinary students from Tallahassee's Kaiser University. The event was professionally orchestrated by the staff of FRLA and hundreds circulated through the various offices sharing stories of their afternoon visits and enjoying the fine food and drink.
The FAA Board of Directors met today in our Tallahassee office, a spring tradition held in conjunction with Florida Tourism Day (tomorrow). Steve Geis (Chairman of the Board), Mary Altman, Sandy Craig, Drake Decker, Andrew Hertz, Mark McHugh, Van Rice, and Ralph Rodriguez participated in the meeting.
Following the meeting, we dined at the historic Silver Slipper, a Tallahassee tradition, and were joined by our lobbyist Jim Tillman and his wife Barbara.
The Hyatt Regency Bonaventure in Weston will host our meeting.
As a 4th generation “cracker”, I believe some things shouldn’t be messed with. Orange juice served at our state’s welcome centers, the Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee, and the St. John’s River flowing north set us apart from “the other 49” states. So talk about changing our state song raised my ire. Swanee River -- Old Folks at Home by Stephen Foster has been one of those sacred Florida traditions. In recent years, concern has been expressed about some of the racial undertones in Foster’s lyrics.
Actually, Old Folks at Home was not Florida’s original state song. Florida, My Florida written by Rev Dr. C. V. Waugh was adopted by the Legislature as our state’s first state song in 1913.
In 1935 Swanee River became our 2nd state song.
Now in 2008, the Florida Legislature is again considering a new state song. Jan Hinton of Pompano Beach, a Fort Lauderdale middle-school music teacher, has submitted the winning entry for Florida’s new state song Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky.
I admit upon hearing the title, I was skeptical. But after hearing the song on Jan’s web site, I’m beginning to think that sometimes change is a good thing. The song starts with a simple melody and builds in richness and pomp. The lyrics are inclusive of virtually every symbol of the sunshine state.
Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky is growing on me! Maybe its okay for Florida to shed old traditions, and begin new ones.
Click here, take a listen, and let me know what you think.
Horton Hears a Who! opens in movie theaters today, but there may be more to the who Horton hears story, than you ever imagined...
Charlottesville, Virginia is best known for the University of Viriginia that was founded by our third president, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson's mountain-top home, Monticello, and the Foxfield Races! (Yes, people do know Charlottesville for that crazy horse race!) As far as Monticello, it is also in Albemarle County and it attracts thousands of tourists every year. The famous author, Edgar Allen Poe, also attended the University of Virginia and his room on the Lawn at the University of Virginia is always on display.
Rumor also has it that Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to all as Dr. Seuss, applied three times to the University of Virginia. Three times he was denied entrance. That last day, he vowed to one day look down on the University. He began writing childrens' novels such as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. As his fame grew, so did his fortune!
It is said, that prior to writing How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss purchased a large, stately home high up on the mountain looking down on the University of Virginia. Today you can see the home back behind the Rotunda up on the hill. He bought the home so he could always "look down" on the University.
Have we forgotten the part in the Grinch that references all of the little Hoos in Hooville? That "Hooville" is said to be the University of Virginia. UVA's mascot is the Cavalier, but for those that live there, they are also the HOOS (Wahoos).
Our day began with a breakfast briefing in the US Capitol.
Congressman Ric Kellar (FL-8th) and Congressman Sam Farr (CA) were the featured speakers.
Following breakfast, we received a briefing on IAAPA’s legislative agenda. The Travel Promotion Act of 2007 is a major initiative with board support from national and state tourism entities. The TPA would create a public-private partnership (similar to VISITFLORIDA) with public funding coming from a $10 fee which would be collect from US visitors arriving in the US from visa wavier countries. Our industry is working to garner additional sponsors for the bill in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.
Our groups received appointments to visit elected officials from Florida. With me, our group included Barbara Heffernan (Anheuser-Busch), John McReynolds (Universal), Roger Berry (R.S. Alberts Co). We were escorted by Melinda Maxfield, an Associate with Williams & Jenson, IAPPA’s lobby firm.
Our visits including meeting with Legislative Aides for Sen. Mel Martinez, Rep. Allen Boyd (FL-2nd), Rep. Corrine Brown (FL-3rd), and Rep. Tom Feeney (FL-24th).
Our dinner was back at the Willard Hotel. Our speaker was Rep. Ron Klein (FL-22nd). Klein was running late because the Florida Democrat caucus had been meeting to discuss a resolution to the Florida Democratic primary stalemate between the Democratic National Committee, and the Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama campaigns. When asked, Klein stated that they had agreed that there would not be a revote.
The IAAPA Legislative Summit is headquartered at the historic Willard Hotel. Presidents Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Grant, Taft, Wilson, Coolidge and Harding have stayed at the Willard.
This afternoon, IAAPA hosted a meeting of state and regional amusement associations. California, New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida were represented.
This evening IAAPA hosted a welcome reception. Admiral William G. “Woody” Sutton, Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, U.S. Department of Commerce was the featured speaker.
For the first time, our Governor presented his State of the State address during prime time. Governor Crist, before a joint session of Florida’s Senate and House of Representatives, presented his agenda for the legislative session. The speech was interspersed with 4 videos of Floridians expressing their support of the Governor’s programs in energy & economic development, health care, restoration of civil rights, and property taxes.
The address was optimistic, upbeat and forward thinking. It will be interesting to see how the Governor’s, House Speaker’s and Senate President’s agendas are maneuvered over the next 60 days. No one argues that the budget process will be a contentious debate. Revenue shortfalls will require budget reductions. The Governor favors using Trust Fund deposits to balance the budget. The Senate President is generally supportive of the Governor. The Speaker rejects using Trust Fund assets. The Democrats are looking at new revenue sources, primarily through closing existing “loop-holes”. The Republicans are taking a “no-new-taxes” position. The State Constitution requires a balanced budget.
In 60 days, we’ll see how this drama plays out.
Governor Crist’s 2008 State of the State Address
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