FPAN at Chalo Nitka

FPAN had a great time kicking off Florida Archaeology Month at the Chalo Nitka Festival in Moore Haven on March 6. The event offered our center an excellent opportunity to meet residents of Moore Haven, Clewiston, and other nearby communities. The event was well attended, and we hope our presence increased attendees’ interest in their archaeological past.

Calusa Heritage Day at Pineland March 13

We continue full speed ahead with Florida Archaeology Month and will be attending the Randell Research Center's Calusa Heritage Day at the Pineland archaeological site complex on Pine Island. Come visit, try your hand at making a bead timeline of Florida archaeology and pick up a free Florida Archaeology Month poster celebrating Florida's Mounds.

The Randell Research Center's fifth annual Calusa Heritage Day is scheduled for Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The event focuses on regional archaeology, history, and ecology. Art, music, and replicative technologies, as avenues to learning/education about Pineland's heritage, are included. Activities for children and adults alike will be provided, and food and beverages will be available. Admission is $5 per person; children under 12 are admitted free. All proceeds benefit the education and research programs of the Calusa Heritage Trail, Randell Research Center.

Featured speaker this year is GEORGE BURGESS, internationally recognized ichthyologist and coordinator of the International Shark Attack File. His lecture is entitled, "Smalltooth Sawfish: America's First Federally Endangered Marine Fish."

The day-long event will take place at the Pineland archaeological site complex (13810 Waterfront Drive, Pineland) and will be centered around the Pavilion/Classroom and Calusa Heritage Trail. Visitors can expect a variety of activities, exhibits, and information stations in a festival format, as well as site tours.

www.flmnh.ufl.edu/RRC/events.htm

FPAN at Chalo Nitka March 6

FPAN is excited to be attending the Sixty-First Annual Chalo Nitka Festival in Moore Haven on March 6. The FPAN booth will be offering informational pamphlets, fun activities, and free FPAN merchandise.

The festival is held at Chalo Nitka Park on 10th Street off US- 27. For a schedule of events or other information, visit http://www.chalonitka.com/.

Two upcoming events February 17 and 20

On Wednesday, February 17, Hope Hawkins from the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum will talk
about the field work conducted last summer on the Big Cypress Reservation, looking for the site of Seminole War Fort Shackelford. The meeting begins at 7:30; coffee and snacks
are available at 7. Bonita Springs Community Hall, 27381 Old US-41, Bonita Springs, this is a free event.

On Saturday, February 20, Archaeologists Michael Moseley and Susan deFrance of the University of Florida will present an illustrated lecture on The Early Coastal Archaeology of Peru and The Rise and Fall of Caral, An Ancient Andean Civilization, at the Calusa Heritage Trail classroom, Randell Research Center, 13810 Waterfront Drive, Pineland, (Pine Island) at 2 PM. Admission is $5 at the door. Phone 239-283-2157 for information.

Events January 30

Meet FPAN and Mound House staff at the Edison Festival of Light Day of Discovery Village on Saturday January 30th. Science educators from around the state will be there! The event is free, from 10am to 4pm in Centennial Park, across from the Harborside Event Center in downtown Fort Myers.

Also on January 30, our friends at the Randell Research Center will be hosting a fundraising event, "Music on the Mounds", at the Pineland site on Pine Island. Tickets are $20 - all the info you need to know is here!

Welcome Matthew Schuld, New Outreach Coordinator

Matthew Schuld begins this week as our new Outreach Coordinator for the Southwest Regional Center. Matthew, who relocated from Kalamazoo, Michigan in January, graduated from Western Michigan University with a Master of Arts in Public History in June 2009. Prior to his hiring with the Town of Fort Myers Beach he was employed as the post-graduate intern with the Kalamazoo Public Library Local History Department and carried out private contract work with the National Park Service at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. He has also served on the board of several civic and professional organizations.

We're glad Matt is on board! He'll be assisting with all aspects of our programming. Feel free to contact him at matt@fortmyersbeachfl.gov

Ann Cordell at SWFAS January 20th

At the January 20 SWFAS meeting in Bonita Springs, Ann Cordell of the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History will talk about her work with Kathleen Deagan on 16th century pottery from the Fountain of YouthPark Site in St. Augustine. The meeting begins at 7:30; coffee and snacks are available at 7.

As always, the SWFAS meetings are open to the interested public and held at the Bonita Springs Community Hall, 27831 Old US-41 in Bonita Springs.