We have all heard about “Paul the Octopus” that predicted the winners of the Word Cup in European Style football.  And having an aquarium that’s full octopuses, (not Octopi), we decided to see if our octopuses on this side of the Atlantic can predict the winner of the forthcoming American Super Bowl.  We have a lady octopus named Paula who has already shown that she is more than up to the task. 

As you can see in the photo we have prepared a chamber identical to the one used by Paul in Octopus in Germany for Paula to make her choice. The only difference is that the German aquarium Paul was offered mussels to make his choice. Since  Florida is full of delicious blue crabs, and Panacea holds its annual “Blue Crab Festival” http://www.bluecrabfest.com/  we are naturally going to be  presenting Paula with her favorite food; authentic local blue crabs.

In preliminary trials, the first on Monday with just empty chambers and the logos, Paula ignored the Philadelphia champions and opened the lid of the New York Giants. Then on Monday, when presented with crabs in both chambers, she again went for the Giants. But she will make her official choice at 1 PM on Friday afternoon, February 3, 2012 and you are all invited to attend. A representative from Panacea’s Blue Crab Festival, and hopefully the Festival Queen will be on hand to inspect the blue crabs being presented to see that they are up to Panacea’s high standards. While Jack Rudloe, president of Gulf Specimen Marine Lab says that this demonstration has no more scientific merit than the Super Bowl Game itself, he’s adamant that America will not be outdone by a European Octopus in our national sport of  real American football. 

The Wakulla Welcome Center, Panacea, will display a new exhibit.  It is called “William Augustus Bowles: Portrait of a Scoundrel?”

Asked why the title questioned Bowles’ status, curator Dr. Madeleine Carr explained that some historians like to call the adventurous young man a scoundrel. Others prefer to look at him as an idealist with a sense of the struggle for empire in the Spanish borderlands.

“We tend to forget how chaotic life must have been in Florida following the 1783 Treaty of Paris,” Carr said. “The British were leaving. Florida and the entire sovereign Indian lands north to the Ohio River were once again part of Spain.  Native people in these Spanish borderlands had to comprehend and negotiate with a new neighbor: the U.S.A. “

Bowles offered Indians and African Creeks a way of negotiating for trade goods that bypassed established patterns.  He hoped to create an independent Indian nation in Spanish Florida centered on the Wakulla River.  Along the way he traveled around the world.

“The Wakulla County Historical Society has had a dream as well: Opening its own museum in the former county jail in Crawfordville,” Carr said. “This exhibit will be part of this new museum once the second floor can be opened to the public. This will take a long time because of a lack of funds to build an elevator to access that area.”

Funds from the Florida Humanities Council, the state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities created the exhibit. “We have to keep our legacy in front of our citizens,” she said. “Otherwise such places as the Wakulla site of this Spanish fort in St. Marks will disappear if our elected officials decide it is insignificant.”

The exhibit will remain at the historic state park through the end of May 2010. “It’ll be displayed at other places in Wakulla County. But I’ve also had requests from Walton County,” said Carr.

There will be more opportunities to learn about conquistadors in the land of the Apalachee, the Spanish borderlands, the Creek Indians and Bowles at events planned for Wild About Wakulla week in April and this fall.  According to Carr, “Bowles was handsome, charismatic and he had a plan. But in the end he starved himself to death protesting his treatment in Cuba.”

WAKULLA WELCOME CENTER IN PANACEA
1505 Coastal Highway
Panacea, FL 32346

HOURS: Monday - Saturday, 10:30a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Phone: 850-984-3966

FLATS PRO SEMINAR

Sign up now to attend the Flats Pro Seminar on February 11, 2012, at Shields Marina in St. Marks. The comprehensive course will feature instruction on when, where and how to fish the flats of Apalachee Bay. Topics will include knots, tackle, lures, baits, tides and lunar phases, navigation, flats etiquette, boat and trailer rigging and other subjects to help anglers catch more trout, redfish and other inshore game fish. Captains Dave Lear and Chuck Simpson will be the primary instructors, along with Brett Shields. A BBQ lunch and goody bag is included with admission. Door prizes will also be awarded.

WHEN: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2012

9:00 a.m to 3:30 p.m

WHERE: SHIELDS MARINA SHIP’S STORE, ST. MARKS, FL

COST: $75 (Seating is limited)

RESERVATIONS: www.captaindavelear.com