South Florida Museum Weekly News: Upcoming events, programs and more

Kathie Santa Maria has a special love for manatees. She transferred this interest to her students at Holmes Elementary School in Tonawanda, NY. The students have learned all they could about manatees – and developed a special fondness for Snooty. 

Students ask questions and see the manatees via an iPad held by the Museum’s Curator of Education, Samantha Sprague.

Last Tuesday, May 13, Samantha Sprague, Curator of Education at the Museum, worked with Ms. Santa Maria to have a special internet “conversation” between her class and Snooty via Skype. Sprague has facilitated this process for the students before. They were able to see Snooty and ask questions of the Museum’s Director of Living Collections Marilyn Margold. Of these experiences, Sprague said “Sharing the Aquarium experience with our guests is always fun, but when the manatees swam past the tiny iPad screen for the first time that day, the squeaks and squeals of the excited students made all of our hearts jump. I think even Snooty and the other boys heard them!”

Sprague continued, “Each student has carefully prepared questions for our Aquarium staff, and taking turns they got the chance to hear their questions answered while having the iPad screen all to themselves. Despite the distance, it was clear these students experienced an intimate and memorable connection with our manatees.”

As a special component to the project, Santa Maria visited Snooty at the Museum nearly a year ago on Monday, June 17, 2013. Museum and Aquarium staff gave Santa Maria a behind-the-scenes tour and she was able to meet the big guy, Snooty, face-to-face. Santa Maria was also given the opportunity to observe Snooty’s biannual physical, where she watched as he was weighed, measured, examined and – Snooty’s favorite part – scrubbed and massaged. Her students were delighted as Santa Maria waved at them from the Snooty Cam. 

Kathy Santa Maria visited Snooty in June of last year as part of her efforts to teach her students about manatees.

This is Ms. Santa Maria’s third year teaching her class about Snooty and manatees. In 2012, the children, who stay with Santa Maria for second and third grades, collected whatever spare change they could find to raise about $60 as a donation for Snooty’s care – as well as the young manatees currently in rehabilitation in the Aquarium. In 2013, the students were able to more than double their money to $129. This year, the children raised more than $250 for Snooty and his pals. That $250 will feed all three manatees currently in the Museum’s care for one day. 

Summer Smith from Bay News 9 asks the students about the money they raised for Snooty and the manatees. Visit Bay News 9 here to read their coverage of the event here.

What Ms. Santa Maria’s class didn’t know was that these funds would actually be doubled this year by a very special fundraising effort currently underway at the Museum. “Carrie’s Match for the Manatees” turned these students’ $250 donation into more than $500 for the Museum’s Manatee Care Program. The class hooted with delight after being told that their donation had been doubled. That money will now be enough to feed Snooty, Ace and Myakklemore for TWO days, instead of one.  

Museum supporter Carrie Yearwood has very generously offered to match all donations to the Museum’s Manatee Care Program up to a total of $40,000. The resulting $80,000 will go toward food and care for Snooty, Ace and Myakklemore, the two rehabilitation manatees staying with Snooty. The South Florida Museum launched “Carrie’s Match for the Manatees” in conjunction with the 2014 Giving Challenge and is continuing the Match into the summer months. “This is the perfect time to support the Museum and double the good,” says Museum Executive Director Brynne Anne Besio. “I love the fact you can double your impact, give manatees in need a second chance and help take care of Snooty, all at the same time.”

The three manatees will eat almost 75,000 lbs. of romaine lettuce and vegetables this year at a cost of nearly $75,000, and life support costs (electricity and water) total $55,000 annually for the Aquarium. The total Aquarium budget exceeds $280,000 annually. Since very little state or federal funding is available for the Museum’s Manatee Care Program, we must rely on caring people like Carrie Yearwood, Kathie Santa Maria and her students, and the 73 people who helped make this year the most successful Giving Challenge yet for the Museum… and there’s still time for additional help from you!

ALL gifts made to “Carrie’s Match for the Manatees,” up to a total of $40,000, will be matched. All donations to the South Florida Museum are tax deductible. If you have any questions about “Carrie’s Match,” please contact Development Director Martha Wells at (941) 746-4131, ext. 35 or [email protected]. 

South Florida Museum presents Coffee: The World in Your Cup, an exhibition that tells the story of one of the world’s most widely traded commodities and how it has affected cultures, economies, and environments across the globe. On view from May 27, 2014 to August 29, 2014, Coffee explores the environmental and social impacts of the coffee industry and recommends ways for consumers to make socially and environmentally responsible coffee purchases at the grocery store or in a coffee shop. (Please note: the exhibition will not be open this weekend as previously advertised due to a delay in shipment delivery. We apologize for any confusion. The exhibition will open on Tuesday, May 27 with the Exhibition Reception to follow on Thursday, May 29 at 5:30 pm.) 

The Exhibition Reception will include a free coffee tasting, the DaVinci’s Gelato food truck featuring a selection of gelato varieties including a scrumptious espresso flavor (for purchase) and live music in a delightful coffee house / bistro setting. The reception is free to Museum Members and $5 for non-members (click here to RSVP). Visitors will be welcome to browse the exhibition and speak with Museum staff about the exhibition and related upcoming programs. Light refreshments will be provided in addition to a cash bar. 

Learn about the impacts of caffeine, the world’s most commonly-used drug, on your body, discover coffee’s early controversial reputation as a “revolutionary drink,” and consider the culture that surrounds coffee in the twenty-first century. Photos, maps, text, selected artifacts, audiovisual presentations, and hands-on demonstrations help visitors explore the fascinating world behind the coffee we drink. 

Coffee: The World in Your Cup has been organized by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, Washington. 

The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota will be western Florida’s newest retail development.  Ten local non-profits, including the South Florida Museum, will benefit from the Sneak Peek of The Mall at University Town Center with 100% of the ticket sales going directly to the organization of your choice. Tickets are $100 each (fully tax deductible) and may be purchased from the Museum by calling Laurie Voight at 941-746-4131, ext. 17.

Taubman, in conjunction with Benderson Development is developing the 880,000 square foot, two-level enclosed regional shopping center, opening to the public October 16, 2014.  Anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and Dillard’s, the Center is located at the S.W. quadrant of I-75 and University Parkway, the most heavily traveled interchange in the trade area. For more information about The Mall at University Town Center, visit them online by clicking here.

Other participating non-profits include: All Faith’s Food Bank, Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota, Circus Arts Conservatory – Sailor Circus, Florida Studio Theater, The Food Bank of Manatee, Girl’s Inc., The Manatee Players, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, and Nate’s Animal Rescue. For more information about the Museum’s sale of these limited “Sneak Peek” tickets, click here.

The evening will include: 

• Continuous Entertainment
• Complimentary Food and Beverages throughout the Center
• Complimentary Valet Parking
• Receive a $20 gift card from The Mall at University Town Center upon check-in!