Vol. 2, No. 10

August 2006

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Delta Connection is to utilize a new 40-passenger regional jet on its Atlanta to Marathon route.

Delta Airlines
to Begin Nonstop
Atlanta-Marathon Flights

By Bob Serata
Florida Keys News Bureau

MARATHON, Florida Keys — At 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, Delta Connection flight 4635 is scheduled to depart Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on a nonstop flight to Florida Keys Marathon Airport and arrive at 12:55 p.m.

That flight will mark the first time a commercial airline will link Marathon and the Middle Keys directly to a destination outside Florida.

Delta's partner, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, owned by SkyWest Airlines, is to operate the new 40-passenger Bombardier regional jet.

The Marathon-to-Atlanta leg, flight 4634, is scheduled to depart at 1:20 p.m., arriving in Atlanta at 3:25 p.m.

Following their inauguration, both flights are to operate daily.

Delta also announced that additional Friday and Saturday flights are to begin Friday, Nov. 17.

Flight 4677 is scheduled to depart Atlanta every Friday at 7:30 p.m., arriving in Marathon at 9:25 p.m. Flight 4676 is scheduled to fly every Saturday, departing Marathon at 9 a.m. and arriving in Atlanta at 11:05 a.m.

Florida Keys Marathon Airport's $9 million terminal offers ample parking and a passenger lounge. Taxis and shuttles are available. Avis, Budget and Enterprise car rental agencies are on site.

For flight reservations and prices, contact Delta Airlines at (800) 221-1212. Delta SkyMiles members can call (800) 323-2323. On-line reservations can be made at www.Delta.com.

By Bob Serata
Florida Keys News Bureau

FLORIDA KEYS — Water fowl and falcons are to be the star attractions at the seventh annual Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival, set for Friday through Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

Photo by Belinda Serata A green heron looks for food.

The annual festival gives visitors and locals a chance to get acquainted with some of the unique birds and wildlife native to the Keys. Some special guests also are featured — thousands of peregrine falcons that move through the Keys on their southerly migration every autumn.

The festival is to begin Friday, Sept. 29, at the Marathon Garden Club, mile marker (MM) 50 bayside in Marathon, with a presentation about short-tailed hawks and white crown pigeons.

Saturday's schedule is to be filled with field trips, kayaking and educational programs. Curry Hammock State Park, MM 56.2 oceanside, is to host an environmental fair with eco-savvy vendors and organizations offering advice, information and products.

Photo by Bob Serata A red-shoulder hawk seems to pose for the photographer.

Special programs on Saturday, to be presented by a variety of experts and enthusiasts, include "Planting a Wildlife-Friendly Yard," "Good Bug Bad Bug," "Nest Box Cavity Boxes for Birds" and "Invasive Exotics & How to Control Them."

Children's activities are scheduled all day so the whole family can have fun learning about the birds and wildlife of the Keys.

Events for birders and others eager to discover the Keys' natural world are to continue Sunday.

The festival coincides with the annual Florida Keys Raptor Migration Project, a research program that counts falcons and hawks as the raptors migrate through the Keys.

Photo by Belinda Serata A white ibis awaits its next meal.

The official counts are held from Sept. 15 through Nov. 13 at Curry Hammock by scientists and volunteers from HawkWatch International and the Florida Audubon Society. A special thrill for many birders and non-birders alike is the opportunity to see what many consider the largest peregrine falcon migration in the world.

On average, about 15,000 raptors are counted during the project.

For more information on the Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival, call (305) 872-0774. To learn more about the Florida Keys Raptor Migration Project, e-mail clott@abcbirds.org.

By Carol Shaughnessy
Florida Keys News Bureau

KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Chris Storm's takeoff of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" helped the Texas commercial property developer win last month's Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest during Key West's annual Hemingway Days festival.

Photo by Andy Newman Chris Storm won the 2006 Hemingway Look-Alike Contest.

Sporting a khaki hunting outfit, white beard and bushy eyebrows, Chris Storm, 55, hit Cash-like low notes as he sang a plea — entitled "Sloppy Joe's Blues" — for contest judges' votes during the highlight of the six-day Hemingway Days festival. Click here to listen to Storm's song and see more photos.

The competition drew 130 other bearded entrants who clothed their stocky forms in sportsmen's attire and paraded across the stage at Sloppy Joe's Bar, famed as Hemingway's favorite watering hole.

Storm, a vigorous five-time competitor, credited his victory to the enthusiasm of his 35-member cheering section and his undeniably "Hemingway-esque" appearance.

"Hemingway was a very complex individual, but there are a lot of good parts about him I'd like to think I have," said Storm, who resides in Amarillo. "I've hunted and fished, I've been to Africa several times and I love to write."

Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West throughout the 1930s, writing many of his classic works in a second-story studio adjoining his Whitehead Street home.

The 2007 Hemingway Days festival is scheduled for July 17-22.