As I have mentioned before, writing for the local paper means I meet people I would probably not otherwise. Sometimes things come into me although more often to the editor first. In this case, it was both as I am now on several email notification lists.

College of the Florida Key (CFK) is in adjoining Monroe County, headquartered not surprisingly in Key West. The Upper Keys campus was previously smallish and in August last year they opened a new facility in Key Largo with greatly increased capabilities. Hubby did the photos and I wrote the story although I didn’t have the chance to actually go to the Center. The recent press release and note from the editor to look into the story was about a VIP Lecture series in it’s 8th year and for the first time, a presentation was to be held at the Key Largo Facility. The topic was “The Discovery, Early Mapping, and Charting of the Florida Keys and the Gulf Stream.” I contacted the initial individual because I wanted to engage with the gentleman who was doing the presentation for more background than was provided in the press release. We connected and his is a fascinating story, only part of which I had room for in the article. (http://www.southdadenewsleader.com/eedition/page-a03/page_d371bbf1-3af1-5861-99b7-4068df76a1af.html)

Hubby and I decided to attend if our schedules worked and they did, so we went down Tuesday night. In swapping emails and a phone conversation with the gentleman, we were able to spend about five minutes with him prior to the presentation. There were obvious connections among most of the almost full crowd, and he said for the first time, some of his family members, to include his 97-year-old mother were in the audience. Things did start a bit late and the Q&A was running over which meant there was a lot of enthusiasm in the room. We slipped out at 8:20 as we wanted a nice dinner, plus the drive up would put us home about 10:00. Buzzard’s Roost was the closest and a standard place for us.