Spring Has Sprung <i>Family Fun Fest</i>

Participants map <i>Brenda Lee</i>, a mock shipwreck, at the "Legacy from the Past" Family Fun Fest in March, 2009

Thomas M. Strom

News Release Date: March 30, 2009

Contact: Gary Bremen, 305-230-1144, x3084

Bunnies, colored eggs and baskets are springtime standards, but what’s the real story? Participants in Biscayne National Park’s “Spring Has Sprung! “ Family Fun Fest on April 5 will know! The free event takes place from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on the grounds of the park’s Dante Fascell Visitor Center, and features stations located around the visitor center that provide a variety of interactive and hands-on activities, including:

• The Great Family Fun Fest Egg Hunt — Hunt for the eggs of some of South Florida’s most popular birds!
• As the Tide Turns — What do “spring tides” have to do with Spring? Find out in this zany soap opera!
• The Grass has Riz! — Wondering where the critters is?!?! Try checking in the seagrass meadow!
• Eat It and Dye! — Dying eggs is fun, but how do flamingos, sea hares and sulphur butterflies get their color?
• Funny Bunny — A rabbit that swims, walks on its hind legs and makes its own snacks? Strange but true!

Participants will receive a paper passport to be punched at each station as they complete the activities. Those who complete all five activities will earn a special button to help remember the day, and those who earn five buttons in a season will receive a Family Fun Fest Fanatic award in May.

Family Fun Fest normally takes place on the second Sunday of every month from January through May, but due to a conflict with Easter, the April event will take place on the first Sunday of the month. The series is made possible through a grant from the Captain Bob Lewis Boat Center Yamaha Billfish Challenge and the Bobby Duryea Memorial Fund at the South Florida National Parks Trust. Additional support this month comes from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves, The National Resource for Aplysia at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, GetOutdoorsFlorida.com and a host of dedicated volunteers.

The final Family Fun Fest event in  2009 is:

• A Salute to Mom! — May 10
  Celebrate Mother’s Day with a tribute to some of the park’s best parents!

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is located at 9700 SW 328 Street, nine miles east of Homestead, Florida. Call 305-230-7275, extension 0 for more information.

-NPS-