Misha McRae, Executive Director of the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the garden
Snowy Days Concert will be held on December 14 in the garden.
McRae said, “We thought it was a fun phrase, calling it Snowy Days, because we sell snow cones. That’s as close as you’re going to get to it down here. This is one of our education department benefits. It’s for kids of all ages, basically. It’s a great day to be out in the garden. Everyone in the area should know about our living lab program reaching pre K all the way up first year, college curriculum, courses, classes to help them through their academic careers. We need money to support it, because we want to give every child an opportunity, not only for their classes and for their class scores, but to come out to the Botanical Garden. The Living Lab is offered for free. We even pay for busses, which costs about $340 a bus, to bring a class out and return them back to school. So we’re doing this fundraiser. We thought it was a fun reason. It’s a good reason. We can’t call it the winter concert, because it’s not really winter. So we call it our holiday children’s concert, 12 to two o’clock, face painting, games, music, just fun, fun, fun, food and the whole nine yards. This is actually our fourth year doing it. It’s a great reason to come out to the garden and have a little bit of holiday spirit in the process. It’s $5 a child, $10 for a family. Keep it very low key and with live music, singing, the whole nine yards that we can do for this this time of year.”
The big gala is coming up in January.
McRae said, “90 years keepers of the trees. No small statement in this culture and climate of heads and beds, hotels and condos to say that garden is still there after 90 years, longest continuous, long running attraction in Key West. We want to do it the whole dress up, the whole evening gala celebrating the title and the anniversary that we hold so dear of this special Botanical Garden. We’re going to have live music, we’re going to have dinner and dancing. We’re going to have a bar. We’re going to be doing the whole elegant thing out there, the Petals and Pearls says it all. It is going to be the petals, because we are a botanical garden. The pearls because it’s going to be dressed up. It’s going to be an elegant evening, just signifying the importance of 90 years of this Botanical Garden within our community.”
The Rainbow Bridge Memorial is underway at the garden to memorialize pets who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
McRae said, “We are looking for sponsors to help us do it, so that we can signify all our little furry babies and all the other creatures that are in our families, that are part of our families, that have passed on. We thought the garden being a serenity, as zen as it is, that it would be a great opportunity to acknowledge those parts of our families that have gone and creating a Rainbow Bridge, that everyone can have a place for solace.”
The garden is actually open limited hours on Thanksgiving day.
McRae said, “We will be open from 10 to one o’clock on Thanksgiving Day. Come on out and enjoy a day at the garden and come visit us. We’d love to see you. Keep in mind that we are a 501c3, not for profit. If you’d like to sponsor, if you’d like to become a member, become a volunteer, please go to our website. In the upper left hand is a tab that you can make a donation or make your sponsorship to one of our events. We are about the island. We’re about the people, and we’re about all of the wildlife that belongs here as well. Membership does have its privileges, get free access to the garden during normal operation, for most events other than fundraisers, you get into free. We have our volunteer programs, we have our speaker series. We have our adult parties. We have membership appreciation parties. Become part of the green team and join the Botanical Garden.”
For more information, click here: https://www.keywest.garden