Halloween on Sanibel

Fall Family Carnival Returns!

If you are looking for a great place to spend Halloween, The Community House is the place to be. The fall Family Carnival will take place on Sunday Oct.31 from 5 - 7 pm. Admission is one bag of wrapped candy per family.
There will be trick or treating at carnival booths, crafts, games and food. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes and there will be a hayride. visit www.sanibelcommunityhouse.net or check out The Community House on facebook!

Free summer programs at the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge

This summer visitors to the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge get the opportunity to take a free tram tour on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10 a.m. sponsored by “Ding” Darling in conjunction with the Refuge concessionaires, Tarpon Bay Explorers. Visitors have enjoy fun and camaraderie while learning about the area’s natural resources.
The day, water, sun, moon, night - I do not have to purchase these things with money.
- Plautis
Many of us remember being told as a child to go outside and enjoy nature. Back then running in the grass, exploring the woods and trying to identify the various critters we encountered during our journey outside didn’t cost a thing.
The sky, lakes and plants carried no fee.
But now all to often there is an expensive price tag attached to seeing wildlife and nature. Admission fees to nature parks can run a family several hundred dollars.

But for cash-strapped families and folks wanting to enjoy a bit of well what comes naturally - the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS) and the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum is featuring free programs for families.
In conjunction with the Tarpon Bay Explorers, The “Ding” Refuge is offering three free education programs through Aug. 15.
This summer the new Family Birding Tram Tours, offered every Wednesday and Saturday at 10 a.m. is drawing crowds.
“The program is growing,” said Supervisory Ranger Toni Westland. “I think parents are looking for free educational programs to go to.”
The free tram tours are narrated by a Tarpon Bay Explorer and a “Ding” staff educator. This format helps everyone to learn about life on the refuge. Staff say program numbers seem to be up this year. Although European visitors and out of the area Florida residents comprise many of the tours, staff are seeing lots of locals this summer.

Newly hired “Ding” educator Becky Wolff said the tours always fill up.

“Ding” staff hope by offering fee programs that more people will take advantage of learning about nature and work to conserve it.
“There’s a push in all aspects to get people outside,” Wolff said.
The tours have become popular not just because its free but because of the spontaneity of wildlife.
On a recent tour Wolff said the tour group grew excited after a fiddler crab was spotted.
“You never know what you are going to see,” Westland said.
And it the enthusiasm built from the tours that Westland and Wolff hope will make a difference in the future.

“The whole idea is to create future conservationists,” Westland said.

The first 28 people to arrive for the tram tours score a free narrated birding tour along Wildlife Drive. During the program, participants can learn how to identify and count birds, then return to the Education Center to enter sighting data into the E-Bird Trail Tracker computer.

Those who wish to take the tram on a day other than the free days can make reservations at 472-8900. It costs $13 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under.

Here are some other free programs at “Ding”

n Reading at the Refuge, every Thursday at 11 a.m.: Attendees to each reading-and-crafts session will receive a free Nature Journal (one to each child) in which to record their impressions of their refuge visit and future nature encounters.

n Family Beach Walk, every Tuesday at 9 a.m.: In partnership with the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, the program convenes at Gulfside Park for a one-hour exploration of the refuge’s gulf-front Perry Tract.

For more information on the refuge summer programs, call 472-1100, stop in at the Refuge Education Center or visit www.dingdarlingsociety.org.
By ELLA NAYOR

"Sea plane makes crash landing off Bowman's Beach"

A small sea plane made an emergency landing in the waters off Bowman Beach on Wednesday afternoon, with the pilot and his passenger escaping serious injury.

According to eyewitnesses to the incident, the aircraft appeared to be in distress as it approached the Sanibel shoreline, which was filled with hundreds of beachgoers enjoying a warm summer day in Southwest Florida.

"We were in the water, and we saw the plane coming up the beach," said Gloria McCauley, who was visiting from Columbus, Ohio. "It was flying very low and it was flying very close to the shore. We knew something wasn't right because we could see the pilot waving his hands, like he was signaling to people to move away."

Around 2:30 p.m., the pilot — identified as John Parks — landed the plane in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 100 yards off the coast and one-half mile north of the public beach access of Bowman's Beach.

"He did a pretty good job landing it," added McCauley. "The belly of the plane hit first, and then the right wing hit the water. It made a huge splash."

The passenger of the plane was identified as Desi Dreffin, who is the registered owner of the aircraft.

Robert Szanto of Naples, another eyewitness to the crash, called 9-1-1 when he saw the plane heading towad the shoreline.

"I had never seen anything like that before," he said. "When it landed, it looked like it took a really big hit."

Within minutes, the Sanibel Fire & Rescue District, Sanibel Police Department, Lee County Fire Department, Lee County EMS and the United States Coast Guard arrived on the scene to assist in the rescue effort. No injuries were reported.

"I was really impressed with the emergency response," added Szanto. "There were planes and helicopters here about five minutes after the crash."

Chris Danzi also watched the incident from the beach. He walked out in the waist-high water and helped Parks pull the sea plane into the shallows.

"I talked to (Parks) and he said that he had a problem with the tail, so he had to put it down," said Danzi, a resident of Long Island, N.Y. "When we saw the crash, we thought there were going to be some major injuries, but there he was, about 20 yards out, pulling his plane it. He even swam back out to get some of the pieces that broke off."

The aircraft, a Sea Wind 3000, is based out of Osprey, Fla. The two-seat plane has not been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and given an airworthiness certificate at the time of the incident.