The Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department is offering Winter Camp for children ages 9-12 at Daggerwing Nature Center on December 29, 30, 31, and January 2 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Participants will discover the wonders of winter in South Florida! Campers will visit local attractions to learn about migration, hibernation, and special adaptations animals use to survive the winter weather.

The fee is $80 per child. Registration is open until full and limited to 20 campers. For more information and to get an application, visit Daggerwing Nature Center or visit our website at www.pbcparks.com/nature and click on the Daggerwing link.

Daggerwing Nature Center is operated by the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department and is located in South County Regional Park at 11200 Park Access Road, off Cain Boulevard between Glades Road and Yamato Road, in western Boca Raton.
Visit www.pbcparks.com/nature for more!

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Upcoming Events at Sunset Cove Amphitheater

Sunday December 14, 2008 – First United Methodist Church Christmas Sing Along. 6-7 PM. Come and sing Christmas Carols and your favorite holiday songs. Admission is free.

Saturday December 20, 2008 MPj04387210000[1] – A family fun-filled event as we celebrate the “Winter Solstice” 4 PM to 8 PM. Admission is free. Come and play in 24 tons of SNOW, make winter arts and crafts, play reindeer games, pictures with Santa and enjoy the magic of “STEPHAN.” Vendors on site, so no outside food or drinks allowed. No pets. Don’t forget your mittens!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL FROM SUNSET COVE AMPHITHEATER

Saturday, February 7, 2009 – Compassionate Pug Rescue’s (CPR) first Pugs and Pooches WinterBark 2009. South County Regional Park, Sunset Cove Pavilion 9 AM - 4 PM. Spend the day hanging out with your pooch while enjoying the festival. All proceeds will benefit a local animal rescue. Vendors on site. No outside food or beverages allowed. $10 parking fee.
Saturday, February 21, 2009 – Boca Raton Dog Club’s AKC Show. Sunset Cove Amphitheater and Pavilion 7 AM - 5 PM. Come and enjoy the thrill of competition combined with the joy of seeing beautiful dogs compete in the AKC All Breed Conformation Show. Vendors on site. No outside food or beverages allowed.

Festival seating - bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on. Vendors on site, no outside food or drinks (or pets) allowed inside the gates.

Visit www.pbcgov.com/parks for new additions to the schedule and sign up for E-lerts. Event Hotline 561-488-8069

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Perhaps overshadowed by all the hoopla this year surrounding the opening of the Sunset Cove Amphitheater and the Canine Cove dog park in nearby South County Regional Park, there’s another new attraction there worthy of mention.

The County also recently opened an accessible playground, a unique concept that enables children with disabilities to play alongside those without such disabilities. It is located next to the new amphitheater and dog park.

The new playground was inspired by the highly successful Picower Super Park in Lake Worth, which features one of over 100 Boundless Playgrounds™ that have opened throughout the United States over the last decade.

Many children have disabilities that make it difficult for them to enjoy traditional playgrounds. These children often do not get to experience what most other children take for granted.

The new barrier-free playground has ramps that allow children in wheelchairs to experience elevated areas safely. Balance beams and stepping pods support children with Down Syndrome and help to improve their equilibrium.

Rigorous and challenging activities will allow all children to play at their highest potential. This new playground provides an opportunity for all children – with and without disabilities – to play together side-by-side.

A shaded gazebo with benches is included in the playground, as well as 19 additional benches and a drinking fountain.

To get to the accessible playground, the dog park or the amphitheater for the next six to eight months, go west on Glades 2.5 miles from 441 to the park’s new southern entrance just past the fire station, then follow the signs.

By April of next year, the road that now ends at Coconut Cove Waterpark will be extended to these newest attractions, making it a much shorter trip for those of us who live in northwest West Boca.

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The Grand Opening of Canine Cove – the new dog park for West Boca – is set for Saturday morning, July 26 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am.

Your dog(s) can run and play to their heart’s content in the fenced-in areas designed especially for off-leash recreation.

Canine Cove has two large dog sections and one for small ones. Only one of the large dog sections will be open at any given time while the other one undergoes maintenance. The facility will have three gazebos, three pet drinking fountains, 34 shaded benches, 15 Dogipot stations, and one pet washing station large enough to wash two dogs at a time.

The park will be open from dawn to dusk seven days a week, except on Wednesdays, when it will be closed from noon to 3:00 pm for maintenance.

Canine Cove is located close to the newly opened Sunset Cove Amphitheater, the venue for West Boca’s first annual 4th of July fireworks extravaganza.

To get there, go west on Glades 2.5 miles from 441. Just before you get to the fire station and can see West Boca High School in the distance, turn right into the park and follow the signs.

By early 2009, this road will be extended through to Coconut Cove Waterpark, which will make the trip to Canine Cove considerably shorter for some. But for now, this new dog park is still a lot closer than the city of Boca Raton’s Mizner Bark. And unlike Mizner, Canine Cove will be free for the residents of West Boca!

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After enthusiastic and well-attended festivities to celebrate the opening of the Daggerwing Nature Center’s massive expansion, the new facilities are now open to the public.

The new exhibit hall takes visitors on a journey that begins under the ground, continues under water, and rises above the surface up to the canopy of a swamp. Interactive exhibits, live animals, sloped flooring and oversized features create a storybook-like experience to help understand the swamp habitat.

Following the exhibit, you can take a walk on the boardwalk through 40 acres of real swamp to test out what you learned in the exhibit hall.

Daggerwing offers programs for school groups as well as private gatherings for birthday parties, scout troops, camps, nature clubs, church groups, “mommy and me” groups, senior adult centers and libraries. For all programs, educators use a hands-on approach with live animals, models, interesting facts and other fun materials to teach about conservation and what’s native to Florida.

Master of Ceremonies Burt Aaronson, the County Commissioner for our area, reminded the audience that there was more yet to come at Daggerwing. The new astronomical observatory, which will have a dome that opens and a telescope for viewing celestial objects/events, is yet to be built on the very site where the grand opening took place on April 26. He promised it would be open for business within a year’s time.

Daggerwing is located in South County Regional Park just west of the Tennis Center and just north of Coconut Cove Waterpark. It is open six days a week from Tuesday to Sunday, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm, except for Saturday, when the facility opens at 8:15 am.
Admission is free.

For more information, go to www.pbcparks.com/nature and click on the Daggerwing link.

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Daggerwing Nature Center
Expansion Grand Opening and Earth Day 2008
Saturday, April 26 - 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

EXPANSION DEDICATION AND OPENING, 9:00 am
A ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Commissioner Burt Aaronson will be followed by the release of a rehabilitated wild animal back into nature by Folke Peterson Wildlife Center.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
• Beneficial Insects: Ladybug Release by Daggerwing Staff into Butterfly Garden, 10:00 am
Insects can be an environmentally-friendly way to control pest insects, as opposed to using chemicals, which can harm other animals and even pollute our water. Participants will be given the opportunity to release live ladybugs into our butterfly garden, which are a natural predator of pest aphids.

• The Life of a Tree: Storytelling by Pretend Party Productions, 11:00 am Pretend Party Productions will use puppets and music to tell about the life cycle of a tree.

• Reptiles as Pets by Jeffrey Herr, a 13-year-old Daggerwing volunteer, 12:00 pm Jeffrey, a reptile enthusiast, will have some of his pet reptiles on display. He will discuss husbandry of reptiles, and give tips to kids who have or may want to have reptiles as pets.

• Raptor Chapter by Donald Campbell of Green Cay Nature Center, 12:30 pm Donald will have several of our native birds of prey like the Great Horned Owl, Red-shouldered Hawk; perhaps a Kestrel or a Screech Owl. All of which are protected under Florida law.

• Reptile Show by Underground Reptiles, 2:00 pm Underground Reptiles will present a variety of impressive live reptiles, while teaching us how they each are perfectly adapted for survival in their distinctive habitats.

EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

• Recycling Bingo (in the new classroom), 10:30 am and 1:30 pm Play and learn fun facts about recycling! Earth Day prizes will be awarded to the winners.*

• Face Painting with Maria Rigsby of Okeeheelee Nature Center, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Have your face painted with special Earth Day designs!

• Crafts (in the new laboratory), 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Visit the brand new lab, and make a craft that you can take home.*

• Guided Boardwalk Tours, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Take a half-hour tour of our lake and swamp habitats. Guides will point out unique flora and fauna, while explaining why these habitats are so special.

• Animal Encounters, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Volunteers will be roaming the nature center with our live educational animals (snakes, tortoises, and a skunk).

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South County Regional Park is about to launch construction on a new dog park, which will be located at 11200 Park Access Road between the Glades entrance and the South County Park’s new amphitheater.

Extensive research was done both locally and nationally before deciding on the park design. The dog park will be sectioned into three enclosed areas – one for large dogs, one for smaller dogs and a third which will function when one of the other sites is shut down for cleaning or maintenance.

Practical features for the new facility will include a stainless steel dog drinking fountain, bags for pet waste, a shaded area to cool off and a central dog washing area to rinse off Fido before he climbs back into your car. A welcome aesthetic feature will be the dog romping area, which will overlook the lake and provide bench seating for pet owners. Formerly if you wanted to find a place for your dog to play near the water the closest dog-friendly beach was located in Jupiter. The hours of operation for the dog park will be sun up to sun down.

Since the dog park will be located adjacent to the amphitheatre, many opportunities will be available for expanding activities for dog owners such as dog washing fund raisers, etc. The combined facility can accommodate up to 5,000 people and 2,500 parked cars.

A tentative completion date for the dog park is late spring or early summer. If you would like to check out the site ahead of time, a grand opening ceremony is slated for the new amphitheatre on March 29th at 6:00 pm, according to PBC Parks Superintendent Bill Wilsher. The dog park’s official opening ceremony will follow on July 4th and the festivities will include fireworks.

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The new West Delray Regional Park opened on October 19 after years of planning and preparation.

Burt Aaronson

As Commissioner Burt Aaronson noted at the opening dedication ceremony, it also came to pass because of the hard work of a great many people.

He especially singled out the vital role played by the three homeowner association umbrella organizations, whose names will soon appear on a huge plaque at the park’s entrance. They are the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations, The Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations and the West Boca Community Council.

The 314-acre park offers a canoe/kayak launching area, a remote control airplane field, a remote control boat lake, a primitive camping area, a mountain bike area and a hiking/nature trail. Several ceremony speakers offered first hand testimony of the great fishing to be found in the park’s lakes.

The land for the new park was previously owned by the Palm Beach Downs horse-training center. It is located on West Atlantic Avenue about a mile west of 441.

Aaronson took the occasion to laud the Palm Beach County leadership of County Administrator Bob Weisman and Parks Director Dennis Eshelman for heading up the best park program in Florida and one of the best in the entire country.

He announced that the new amphitheatre at West County Regional Park in West Boca was scheduled to open in March, 2008, and promised we would have “Shakespeare in the park” there next summer.

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