MARJORY’S  BIRTHDAY  PARTY  GREAT  SUCCESS!

On her 123rd birthday Marjorie Stoneman Douglas attended a birthday party held in her honor at Grassy Waters Preserve in Palm Beach Gardens this past Saturday!    Thanks to talented Audubon Society of the Everglades member Judy Hill, who recreated Douglas for the occasion, the public learned quite a bit about Marjory’s life, her accomplishments and the Everglades.

In 2012, the Florida legislature established the birthday of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas as “Florida Everglades Day”.  Douglas was the author of The Everglades: River of Grass.   Published in 1947 by the diminutive journalist and ardent Everglades supporter, and reprinted over 11 times, it’s the Everglades bible.  The Everglades is one of the largest wetlands in the world and provides water supplies to one in three Floridians.  The event was sponsored by the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group, the Everglades Law Center, 1000 Friends of Florida, the Everglades Foundation and the Audubon Society of the Everglades.

The first annual Everglades Action Day will take place in Tallahassee following this event. Everglades Coalition members from across the state will meet to educate and engage our state legislators on critical Everglades restoration, water quality, and habitat protection issues. www.evergladescoalition.org

by Susan Snyder and Kay Gates, photos by Claudine Laabs