Hoe 'n Hum Garden Club celebrated Arbor Day with a ceremony by planting a Little Gem magnolia tree in the Gulf Breeze Parkway median. Claire Carlson, Arbor Day chairman, and Helen Corley, horticulture and trees chairman, organized the tree planting.

The club's January meeting was conducted at Judy Barousse's home. Ellen Webb, president, opened the meeting and welcomed the members. Co-hostesses Marie Miclo and Barbara Page served a "British Tea" featuring English hot tea, scones and cucumber sandwiches.

The speaker, Gene Hurd, an arborist and co-owner of Hurd Brother's Tree Service, was introduced by the program arranger, Page. His topic was "Trees and Diseases." Hurd soon got the attention of his audience with his knowledge of trees. He gave a very interesting and informative presentation.

"We need trees in order to survive; and trees need our help in order to survive," said Hurd. "Any squirrel can plant a tree, but it takes a human to care for it in an urban area."

Hurd discussed many of the basic principles of tree care including benefits of trees; selecting trees that adopt to our growing conditions; tree planting; pruning; watering; insect and disease problems, and Florida's tree fence laws. He also talked about trees damaged from flood, salt water and wind caused by hurricanes. Hoe 'n Hum welcomes new members. For more information, call 934- 8047

Betty Archer Allen/Gulf Breeze News Hoe 'n Hum Garden Club members Sara Mae King, Sue Huff, Claire Carlson, Ina Sees, Mattie Mitchell, Tina Davey, Jean Barker, Helen Corley, Ellen Webb and Barbara Page stand in front of the Little Gem magnolia tree they planted for Arbor Day.

Gulf Isle Neighbors

Both ladies and gentlemen will be attending the Gulf Isle Neighbor's Annual Game Day held at the Gulf Breeze Presbyterian Church on the corner of Andrew Jackson Trail and Daniel Drive on February 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The cost is $15 per person. All proceeds go to charity.

Round up your friends and card tables for Bridge, Canasta, Poker, Bunco, Mahjongg or whatever you wish to play. Call Barbara at 916- 1176 or Donna at 934-3613 for reservations. Hope you made the deadline on February 14. For more information call Ellie Ackley at 934-7040.

Ackley

Gulf Coast Friends

Former Secret Service agent Michael Goehring will address the March 8 lunch and meeting of Gulf Coast Friends at the New World Landing. Doors open at 11 with lunch at noon. Reservations are required. Gulf Coast Friends members live in Gulf Breeze, Midway area, Navarre and Pensacola Beach. For information call Joan at 932-8162.

Greater Navarre Beach Arts Association

Connie Jones reports that Greater Navarre Beach Arts Association (GNBAA) accomplished quite a bit at the February meeting. Thanks to everyone who attended. Every voice must be heard to make this group a continued success.

Jones reminded the group not to forget the next Artist Showcase is Friday evening, March 16, from 4 - 7 p.m. at the Art Shack. Support Michael Loftis and Mary Om, and all of the association members. Many important topics were discussed.

Membership is from January to January calendar year. Membership costs are as follows: $35, per single member; $50 per couple; $75 per family and high school student memberships will pay half price of $17.50. Those who have joined over the past year will have membership extended to January of 2008. GNBAA membership benefits would include 10 percent off anything sponsored at the Art Shack (except fundraising events); Art Shack sponsorship for Meet the Artist evenings to members at no cost; artist members bio put on website; advertisement of your work at the Art Shack posted on GNBAA website; link of members professional websites from GNBAA site (reciprocal); publicity of events resulting in awareness in local newspapers; 10 percent off members artwork/ products at Arts Festival/Art Shack events; first priority for GNBAA sponsored events and first priority for booth space at Arts Festival in October

Jones

GNBAA welcomes donations. You may have an associate membership with a donation of $100 to 200; a Silver Sponsor with $500; Gold Sponsor with $1000 and a Platinum Sponsor with $2000.

GNBAA decided to Alliance with formalize an alliance with the Santa Rosa Arts Association. Two Santa Rosa Arts Association members will join the GNBAA group, two GNBAA members will join the Santa Rosa Arts group without paying fees. Anyone from either group who wants to expand their art contacts can join the other group for half price. They propose having two yearly mixers. The first mixer will be at the Dragonfly Gallery in Milton and the second mixer will be somewhere in Navarre. The sponsoring group will host and provide refreshments. Other events that have proposed or planned include the Jazz Festival for April 27, Santa Rosa Arts and Cultural Foundation and March Artist Showcase

Archer Allen

Navarre Garden Club

Navarre Garden Club will present three upcoming workshops.

"Landscaping Your Backyard for Wildlife" is the subject for the March 6 meeting of the Navarre Garden Club. Noted Santa Rosa Master Gardener, Carol Morgan, will have a display, handouts and a fascinating 30 - 40 minute presentation with information on Habitat Basics and Designing Your Habitat to fit your yard. Morgan's message will inspire those Navarre Garden Club members who wish to design and plant bird and butterfly habitats to enliven their yards.

Morgan has lived in Pace for over 30 years. She has been a Master Gardener in Santa Rosa for the past four years. Her family enjoys eight acres in Pace that have been certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. She also has a greenhouse and does plant propagation, landscape design, container gardening and gardening for wildlife.

The Navarre Garden Club has designated the March meeting as an open house meeting for anyone who wishes to attend and learn more about our club. Hosted by the Membership Committee, special welcomes are planned with drawing, reduced dues for the rest of the year and great refreshments. Call Carolyn Igo at 939-9604 if you wish to be a guest for this meeting, or just attend that day.

The Navarre Garden Club will meet in March on the 6 starting at 9 a.m. at the Navarre Community Center located behind the Navarre Post Office off of Hwy 98. Meetings begin with coffee and socializing with guest speaker, club activity and business updates, ends around noon. Anyone interested in outdoor plants, gardening or houseplants cultivation is welcome to join them.

"Water Features Workshop"

The Water features Workshop has been moved from Feb 24 to March 10 water features free public workshop Saturday March 10, from 9 a.m. to noon. It will be held at Insta-Too Stone and Pond Supplies 5205 Gulf Breeze Pkwy on the south side at the main property. The directions are: From Gulf Breeze, head east on Hwy 98 approximately seven miles; from Navarre go west on Hwy. 98 just past The Zoo. Look for signs and the Gorilla!

The owner, John Struzick, and his crew will demonstrate "live" how to build a Pondless Waterfall, recirculating fountains and a pond. There will be refreshments. Wear sturdy shoes and if you need to a folding chair if you can't stay up on your feet for long periods of time.

Call Betty Lawson 939-9894 for more information.

"March into Spring"

Linda Henderson announced that the third and last in this year's Fun with Flowers series will be held on March 24 at 9 a.m. at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church,7810 Navarre Parkway. Be sure to sign up this month to guarantee your space in the class. Gina Jogan will again be our instructor. No prior floral training is required. The cost is $20, which includes lecture, demonstrations, and a hands-on workshop where everyone will take home a lovely basket design they made themselves. We will also offer a delicious lunch for a nominal fee of $5. Give your checks to Lynn Wilson made payable to the Navarre Garden Club, Inc. For more information, see the website at: www.gardencentral.org/florida/ navarre

Gulf Breeze Relay for Life

Gulf Breeze Relay for Life recently announced at its February 6 Steering and Team Captains' meetings that the goal of 37 event teams has almost been reached.

Members of Gulf Breeze Relay would like to extend an invitation to area groups interested in fighting for a cure for cancer with American Cancer Society's most exciting event to join them to help them reach their goal!

Relay For Life is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research and programs of your American Cancer Society. During the event, teams of people gather at schools, fairgrounds, or parks and take turns walking or running laps. Each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times.

Because of the last year's outstanding support of the Gulf Breeze community, Gulf Breeze Relay raised over $112,000 with an original goal of only $60,000. As the Gulf Breeze area continues to rebuild, our communitymindedness continues to rebuild as well, so members of Gulf Breeze Relay for Life have no doubt they can achieve this year's goal of $118,000. The 2007 Relay for Life event is scheduled for Mother's Day weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12. For additional information, contact B.J. Davis at (850) 232-4734 or visit www.acsevents.org/relay/fl/gulf breeze.

Come on out and see -- or walk with -- your Gulf Breeze News team. We will be participating for our fourth year and hope to encourage much community involvement and fund raising! We will once again have face painting, and other exciting fun raisers that go along with the glamorous exciting theme, "Lights, Camera, Take Action for a Cure!"

Navarre Lions Presentation

Charlotte Auclair (center) of the Navarre Lions Club presented a check to Girl Scout Field Executives Joan McRae(left) for the Girl Scouts of Northwest Florida and Elizabeth Fayard (right). This is just one of the many contributions that the Lions make to the community. The public is invited to the all meetings of the Navarre Lions Club. Contact Ron Gurta at 936- 8408

The Gulf Breeze Rotary

Rotary will be holding the Second Annual Gumbo Cook- Off this Saturday Feb 24 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Gulf Breeze Shoreline Park. Rain date will be the following weekend if storms prevent the event.

Cooking teams will consist of three chefs. Each team is responsible for cooking 15 gallons of gumbo on site. All proceeds go towards college scholarships for local students and funding local community projects.

Celebrity judges will be on hand to meet and greet as well as name the top concoctions. Rotary will be selling beer, and those who have tickets can enjoy all-you-can-eat gumbo! Stop by the Gulf Breeze News offices to buy your tickets for only $10 each! Call Greg Smith at 292- 7432 for more information. Send emails to Betty Archer Allen at betty@gulf breezenews.com or write to Talk of the Town at Gulf Breeze News P.O. Box 1414, Gulf Breeze, FL32562

subject :

"Talk of the Town"