Summers heating up and it’s time to go back to Summerzcool!! Anybody up for Canoeing 101! "Remember what is and is not cool". And that crystal clear water of the Econfina creek is VERY cool!! "Oh summer school; there is a time and place to act like a fool, at Summerzcool!"

On 8/28/10 join your Parrot Head Phriends as we canoe down one of our most valuable local natural resources and pick up trash along the way.  Econfina Creek Canoe Trail is officially designated as part of Florida's Statewide System of Greenways and Trails. This trail is an unusually beautiful, flowing creek. High limestone walls and sand bluffs, lush vegetation, and abundant wildlife characterize this remote creek.  There are several crystal clear springs along the way.  If you have never experienced the beauty of this canoe trip, you have to give it a try. 

Here is how it works:

Call Econfina Canoe Livery at 722-9032 to reserve your canoe.  Tell them you are a Parrot Head and the rental is $40 (cash only) for two adults and includes the canoe, paddles, life jackets, launch, trash disposal, and transportation back.  You must make your reservation by 8/23/10 to get one of the reserved canoes.  Additional persons in the canoe are extra and there is a launch fee if you have your own canoe or kayak. 

Get up a little early, load up your cooler, pack a lunch, bring your cash and ID, and drive to Econfina Creek Canoe Livery off of Highway 20. The bridge that crosses Econfina Creek on Hwy 20 is about 12 miles east of Hwy 77 or 7 miles west of Hwy 231 near the borders of Bay & Washington Counties. To reach the livery turn north on Strickland Road off Hwy 20 just west of the bridge and travel about 2 miles, livery is on the right.  It takes about 45 minutes to drive there from town.  We plan to meet at 10 am to get an early start on the 7 mile adventure.  It takes leisurely 4-5 hours if you do some paddling, longer if you drift.

Join us on Friday August 6^th as we show them how to really throw a tiki party at Sharky’s Beachfront Restaurant and Tiki Bar. Sip on a tall frosty pina colada or your favorite boat drink while you enjoy some tasty treats served up compliments of Sharkey’s!! You must be WEARING YOUR BADGE to get the specials!!

The monthly meeting will be at The Place on Harrison Ave on August 20. Music will be provided by Kurt McCarthy and the 4^th Street Band. Come on out for good phriends, good music and some good old fashioned Parrot Head Phund Raising going on! Be prepared to Party for a Purpose!!

On September 3 we will be having the monthly meeting on the first Friday at Pappy’s at St Andrews Marina and they have a whole lot of good stuff in store for us!! Look for more information in next month’s newsletter.

Susie Lanier

Submitted by Susie Lanier

PCMI called on the PARROT HEADS to help with their Annual Telethon to help raise money for at risk youth in our community. We have been answering their call for 5 years now. They asked the Parrot Heads to start off the Telethon with all our Colorful and Joyful spirit; we are first in line to make those phones ring. As always the Parrot Heads were up to get the PARTY started this year! We had fifteen Parrot Heads and one Parakeet (we even had a Parrot Head Virgin) show up to start the Phun. Before we started, the excitement began with two of our members bringing in their live parrot Sidney as our mascot….when our mascot latched onto Jan’s Tropical Shirt and she screamed we realized that he was not ready for his "close-up". It was all Phun… Mark was our winner with the most calls but as usual the Parrot Heads proved why we really are known as the .…."ANGELS IN TROPICAL SHIRTS"!

Next Year join us for the Phun and Support PCMI!!

From our Pres: PCMI (Panama City Marine Institute) has a live auction yearly at WMBB TV and after our first year with them, we have had a standing invitation to be the first ones on the auction for the color and enthusiasm shown by our members. They love that we come in our Parrot Head paraphernalia and they use our photos on cards mailed to previous bidders and in their ads for this event. We have also contributed to their organization as one of our monthly charities to assist in all they do for the kids in this great program. A great big thank you to all who helped out and volunteered their time for this event! Also, thanks to all of you who purchased raffle tickets at our July meeting, we raised over $260 for this very worthy cause.

New Members for June 2010:

"Santa Barbara" BJ

"Coming Soon"

"St Thomas" Joe

"your name here"

"Phunderdog" Roxie

"Wild thing" Joan

"Gone Overboard" Greg

"Lovin Life" Lynn

"Wine Snott" Mariann

"Liquid" Lisa

"Pappy" James

"Hot Mama Nanny" Candy

"Tou Patou" Jan

Ahoy thar mateys!! And how does a true pirate earn is bones ye ask? Bring new crew!! Make sure they put that you referred them on their membership card and you can work your way up through the ranks to bigger and better shares of the booty!! Even the lowliest bilge rat may some day become a Cap’n!! Har! More info to be comin from our Bones Chairperson… as soon as we shanghai one that is!! Arrrr!

Some of the phlock have been spotted enjoying Brunch on the Beach Sunday Mornings at the Buccaneer Bar and Grill. Might be worth checking out.

Have you tuned in and checked out Panama City’s very own Trop Rock Station 1290 AM? It’s definitely got that Parrothead attitude!!