We have just 2 weekends left to collect the remaining 19,736 petitions needed to reach our quarter-million goal. We have fewer than 20,000 signatures to go!

Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 47, November 22, 2013  IN THIS ISSUE  Only 9 Days Remaining!  Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Quick.  Phase 2  New 1,000 Club Members:  Barbara Nevins and Sharon Kolor Shout Outs !  Campaign Stats  Top Volunteers  Top Organizations  Eighty percent of signatures come from volunteers who gather at events and public locations!  RESOURCES    Request More Materials Here!  CONTACT US  Florida's Water and Land Legacy  316 Williams St. Tallahassee, FL 32303  (850) 629-4656  Campaign Website  Visit our  Flight of Butterfliesdonor page!    As of today, with paid and volunteer efforts combined, we have 810,722 petitions of our overall 910,000 target! We are 90% of the way to our ultimate goal thanks to your hard work and continued support!  With another record-breaking week of 8,748 volunteer-collected signatures, we now have a total of 230,264 of our 250,000 volunteer goal!  We have just 2 weekends left to collect the remaining 19,736 petitions needed to reach our quarter-million goal. We have fewer than 20,000 signatures to go!  Our volunteers are bold! This weekend hundreds of our enviro-heros around the state are going out to collect signatures to help us reach our 250,000 goal. Can we count on your help on this last push to finish our campaign strong? Here are just a few great events that are happening this weekend where we need help:  BREVARD  Eau Gallie ArtWorks: Eau Gallie Arts District, Sat Nov 23rd and Sun Nov 24th, 10am-5pm; Sign up today!  DUVAL  Right Whale Festival: Jacksonville Beach, Sat Nov 23rd, 10am-4pm; *we are sharing a table with Sierra Club; Sign up today!  HILLSBOROUGH  2nd Annual Holiday Gift Expo: Strawberry Festival Grounds (2202 W Reynolds St, Plant City), Sat Nov 23rd 10am-5pm; *we have a table; Sign up today!  LEE  Cape Coral Farmers Market: Club Square, Downtown Cape Coral, Sat Nov 23rd, 8am-1pm;*we have a table, come collect with Carl Veaux; Sign up today!  LEVY  Yankeetown Seafood Festival: along Riverside Drive in Yankeetown, Sat Nov 23rd and Sun Nov 24th, 10am-5pm; *we have a table, come collect with Jason Brady;Sign up today!  SARASOTA  Sarasota Fine Arts Festival: Gulfstream Ave/Main St, Sat Nov 23rd and Sun Nov 24th, 11am-5pm ;*we have a table; Sign up today!  VOLUSIA  DeLand Fall Festival of the Arts: Historic Downtown DeLand; Sat Nov 23rd and Sun Nov 24th, 10am-5pm;*collect with Pam Meharg; Sign up today!  Are you looking for an event closer to home? We've got them. Check out our list of amazing events happening all over the state this weekend and for the last 2weekends of the campaign. There is still time for everyone to sign up for a shift to collect!  If you need petitions, let us know and we will drop a packet in the mail to you ASAP! Remember, we only have  9 Days Remaining...  If you haven't yet collected, it's not too late  to be part of this crucial, groundbreaking intiative!  Join us and gather signatures this weekend!  Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Quick. Looking Ahead to Phase 2 of the Campaign  The closer we get to reaching our goal, the more everyone is starting to think about what's next! We are within striking distance of qualification, which means we'll soon flesh out plans for Phase 2:  winning voter approval for the amendment on November 4, 2014.  We are keeping our eyes focused on meeting our signature-gathering goal, trying not to distract ourselves too much by the exciting things that await us in 2014. But, here's the general framework for how we expect December and the early months of 2014 to unfold:  Thanksgiving break. With Thanksgiving falling at the end of November (and the holiday break creeping into December), this is our last big opportunity to get out there and collect signatures! We need all of you to make the commitment to collect at an event and from your communities so that we can deliver one last huge chunk of petitions to the Supervisors of Elections before the winter holidays. December: We're asking everyone to head on over to the Post Office on Monday, December 2 to mail in all of your petitions! Reach out to your networks by every means possible--email, telephone, social media, you name it--and remind everyone to mail in their petitions. We will be counting, sorting and filling in any missing info on petitions that we receive so we can get them into the local Supervisors of Elections as quickly as possible. Look for a newsletter on Friday, December 6 that has the results of Thanksgiving weekend. The following Friday, December 13, we expect to have a better idea of how we are progressing on the geographic distribution requirement. We're confident of qualifying at least 13 districts, and there are a handful in play for securing at least one more! We need to qualify in at least 14 of Florida's 27 Congressional Districts.  January: Rember that local Supervisors of Elections have 30 days to review and validate our signatures, and January will be the month when we receive the final results from everything submitted in December.  It's also when we'll announce the statewide celebration plan!!! Look for your invitation via email. February 1: Once all the validated signatures are reported by the local Supervisors of Elections to the Division of Elections here in Tallahassee, we'll get our number (crossing our fingers for #1)! We're expecting the official results early in February!  All of this is to say that we'll be celebrating all of our hard work early in 2014 and then applying ourselves and the amazing team we've built together to our next major goal:  winning voter approval!  In 2014, we'll be calling on all of our volunteers and partner organizations to help spread the word far and wide about the Water and Land Conservation Amendment and what it will do for Floridians everywhere, so that come Tuesday, November 4th of 2014, the vote will be a resounding YES!  New 1,000 Club Member: Barbara Nevins and Sharon Kolor  Barbara Nevins is quite possibly our furthest outpost from campaign headquarters in Tallahassee, collecting all the way down there in Marathon, Florida. If there is an event happening in the Keys, Barbara is there with petitions in hand. She has taken the intitiative to engage our endorsing organizations Reef Relief, as well as the Upper and Lower Keys chapters of the League of Women Voters to partner with her in her efforts. Barbara and Aliki have also been neck-in-neck in their signature totals throughout the campaign, that it is fitting that they crossed the finish line within days of each other. Welcome to the club, Barbara! We look forward to working with you in Phase 2 as our ambassador to the Florida Keys!  Sharon Kolor of Vero Beach has been steadily collecting with the campaign for the past year. Whenever there is a call for volunteers in Indian River County, Sharon answers the call. She has been the lead volunteer for several events and is always a great resource for helping out new volunteers. Sharon also does not hesitate to go out and collect on her own, taking advantage of her local knowledge to scope out great locations for herself and other volunteers. We are so grateful forSharon's efforts throughout the lifetime of this campaign and look forward to much more great activism in the months ahead. Congratulations, Sharon!  Shout Outs  "I'd like to acknowledge the generosity of the Tampa Bay Garden Club for donating space at their annual Holiday Market, for the members of theHillsborough League of Women Voters to collect petitions. The Garden Clubprovided a premier location and table set-up to the League. Thank you!"--Mary Figg, LWV-Hillsborough  "A big published THANK YOU and loud clapping for Sharon Holding, Jeanne Brown, Patsy Seavers, Richard Stauffer, and Judy Moore (who drove up from Tampa). You all did an amazing job at Chinsegut!"--Rosemarie Grubba, Hernando County Volunteer Coordinator  "I'd like to recognize the incredible Deb Mixon, one of our nicest and most dedicated collectors who travels all over Central Florida to get signatures. Debwas a huge help at Chinsegut. SHE TOOK BEST OF SHOW!"--Rosemarie Grubba, Hernando County Volunteer Coordinator  "My appreciation and thanks go out to all the volunteers in Bay County who have helped with our local campaign, but especially so to the volunteers who have been active all year collecting signatures. They are: Wendy Hunsicker, Mary Thieme, Alan Collins, Ruby Jo Faust and Candis Harbison. Thanks to you we have met and exceeded our goal."-- Ron Houser, Bay County Audubon and Bay County Volunteer Coordinator  "A huge thanks to Carl Veaux, Heidi Liebwein, Lovice Holland, and Sally Woliver for doing an amazing job collecting and making the Florida Panther Festival a huge success! Also, thank you to Susan Calkins-Ritas for her tireless efforts to identify events and volunteers each week!"--Jeremy Frantz, Collier County Volunteer Coordinator  "Thanks to Jeremy Frantz and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for sharing their booth at the Panther Festival in Naples. We had the help of Marlene Graham, also with the Conservancy. Thank you both so much. Alessia Leathersand Patty Whitehead have been great help collecting signatures as well. Alessia is from Peru and one of the first things she did as an American citizen was to sign our petition. Way to go Alessia! I'd also like to thank Larry Schopp, from Sanibel andPam Richardson from Cape Coral. All have been a great help to me."-- Carl Veaux, Southwest Florida Audubon  "I am so grateful to have Pat Gierson and her team leading the campaign in the number of signatures collected. You have inspired me as an individual and I know you have inspired other League of Women Voters chapters. Your tireless effort and deep commitment to the campaign has made a huge difference. Happy Thanksgiving!"-- Terry LaPlante, GTB, Space and Treasure Coast Organizer  "I appreciate all the volunteers who came out two weekends in a row to support two huge events in Jensen Beach and Stuart: Anna Bergalis, Joan Bausch, Kimberlee Taylor, Mike Yustin, Dennis Killila, and Toni Rummo. Huge events are exciting and fun but dealing with traffic, parking, and other issues is enough to keep some volunteers at home. I try hard to make it fun and easy for you….Happy Thanksgiving!"-- Terry LaPlante, GTB, Space and Treasure Coast Organizer  "We have lots of volunteers who live in smaller communities without big events and these volunteers have to work twice or three times as long to collect a given number of signatures. Yet so many of them persevere going out week after week and sometimes 2 or more days just to collect and meet their personal goal for the week:Sharon Holding, Norma Dayton, Kimberlee Taylor, Julie Mallis-Turner, Joan Lyon, Mary Hrenda, Eileen Douglas, Liz Goldin, Corky Pezzati, Mary Duda, Cathy Stanton, Linda Behert, Tina Henize, Mary Figg, Ed Shindle, Kaitlin Deutsch, Darryl Rutz, Sharon Kolor, Kristy Polackwich, Kathy Overholt, Mark Boston, Melissa Buhler, Bill Fairbanks, Bill Nightingale, Donna Polhamus, Alice Hallihan, Frances Howell-Coleman ….We appreciate all that you have done….Happy Thanksgiving!"-- Terry LaPlante, GTB, Space and Treasure Coast Organizer  "Welcome back Ed Shindle. He is back in action. Thank you Ed! Happy Thanksgiving!"-- Terry LaPlante, GTB, Space and Treasure Coast Organizer   "Three cheers for Janis Upham. She has collected more than 2000 petitions! Happy Thanksgiving!"-- Terry LaPlante, GTB, Space and Treasure Coast Organizer  "I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of this campaign. It has been a lot of fun and sometimes a challenge. I work with so many great people who are near and dear to my heart. I learned a lot about what it means to be an environmentalist in Florida and what it is like to be involved with a campaign. It is amazing that we have pulled together to achieve this incredible feat. Today I give thanks to everyone who has been part of this campaign. Happy Thanksgiving!"-- Terry LaPlante, GTB, Space and Treasure Coast Organizer  "Thank you to all the Broward volunteers who came out to collect at the Broward Home Show. In all we collected more than 300 petitions. Special thanks to Darryl Rutz for being the lead volunteer for this event. You're the best!"--Laura Ciociola, Operations Manager  "Great work by all the volunteers who worked the Art and Wine Festival at Cranes Roost. Pat Southward, Debbie Salamone, Jim Robison, Carole Hinshaw, Pat Grierson, Eugene Stoccardo, Maria Rubin, Martha Maeda and Momoka Maeda all pitched in to make the event a success. Thank you all!"-- Pam Meharg, Seminole County Volunteer Coordinator  "It was a downtown get down this weekend in Gainesville with Bill Cumming, Susan Davis, Chloe Kuhn, Helen Warren, Karen Pearce, Sarah Ingley, Chip Deutsch, Elizabeth Cori-Jones, Callie Williams, Marjorie Abrams, Connie Caldwell, and Ron Robinson. It was great to join you in gathering petitions."-- Jason Brady, North Central Florida Organizer  "What a great week from the Citizens for an Engaged Electorate! Looking forward to meeting you all at the Yankeetown Seafood Festival for a final Levy County push."-- Jason Brady, North Central Florida Organizer  "Thanks to Katy Burnett and the members of the League of Women Voters of Alachua County for their petition drop."-- Jason Brady, North Central Florida Organizer  "With a little help from our friends in Lake County we are breaking records. Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song about Ed La Londe’s attention to sending in signed petitions. And I'll try not to sing out of key when I thank you."-- Jason Brady, North Central Florida Organizer  "Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, FWLL women! Our West Volusia Audubon duo of Janet Marks and Lynn Peterson were at it again!"-- Jason Brady, North Central Florida Organizer  Do you have a shout out you'd like us to put in our Friday e-newsletter? Send it to Laura at laura@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  CAMPAIGN STATS  Our total signatures for this week is 8,748 which brings us to 230,264volunteer-gathered signatures and a grand total of 810,722! Remember that we need 683,149 valid signed petitions to qualify for the November 2014 ballot, which means we need to collect about 910,000.  Total volunteer signatures..........230,264 (we passed 230K!)  Total paid signatures..........580,458  Total combined signatures (the grand total)..........810,722  Total remaining volunteer signatures needed by Nov. 30, 2013..........19,736 (only 5 digits!)  This week's total volunteer signatures..........8,281  # of online petitions turned in this week..........257  # of volunteers who turned in petitions this week..........223 (wowza!)  # of volunteers who've turned in more than 1,000 petitions to date..........35  # of volunteers who've turned in more than 500 petitions to date..........92  # of volunteers who've turned in more than 100 petitions to date..........442  Last week's total signatures..........8,281  Weekly signature goal..........9,868 (we can do this!)  Weeks remaining..........2  WEEK 59: TOP 10 INDIVIDUAL SIGNATURE GATHERERS  1.   Carl Veaux (Cape Coral) 480  2.   Sharon Kolor (Vero Beach) 252  3.   Anna Bergalis (Stuart) 244  4.   Terry LaPlante (Melbourne) 230  5.   Edward La Londe (Leesburg) 222  6.   Elaine Waidelich (Deland) 205  7.   Jeremy Frantz (Estero) 171  8.   Norma Dayton (Venice) 164  9.   Joan Bausch (Sewalls Pt) 155  10. Pam Meharg (Longwood) 153  11. Mary Figg (Lutz) 146  12. Mignon Craig (Williston) 131  13. Mike McCarthy (Naples) 127  14. Aliki Moncrief (Tallahassee) 119  15. Pat Southward (Lake Mary) 113  16. Larry Schopp (Sanibel) 108  17. Katy Burnett (Gainesville) 99  18. Kalia Baillene (Satsuma) 97  19. Judy Ellis (St Petersburg) 96  20. Janis Upham (St Petersburg) 95  WEEK 59: TOP ORGANIZATIONS  1. Southwest Florida Audubon ( Carl Veaux).....480  2. Space Coast League of Women Voters (Doreen Archer, Martha Bradshaw, Joyce Calese, Frank Clifford, Marilynn Collins, Barbara Dutton, Tony Dutton, Connie Hogerty, Susan Little, Mrs. Herbert Nermile, Mary Margaret Page, Karen Roboin, Sharon Reynolds-Mixon, Maria Seemer, Jo Shim, Brigitte Stinton, Lucia Watson, Ann Downing).....382  3. Seminole League of Women Voters ( Pam Meharg, Pat Southward, Carole Hinshaw).....274  4. Venice Area Democratic Club ( Norma Dayton, Debbie Terry).....242  5. Orange County League of Women Voters ( Pat Grierson, Eileen Winterble, Eugene Stoccardo).....214  6. Martin County Native Plant Society (Joan Bausch, Regina Wood).....212  7. Deland Garden Club (Elaine Waidelich).....205  8. Citizens for an Engaged Electorate (Mignon Craig, Drollene Brown, Sharon Reynolds).....171  8. Conservancy for Southwest Florida (Jeremy Frantz, Heidi Liebwein, Lovice Holland, Sally Wolliver).....171  9. Hillsborough League of Women Voters (Mary Duda and Nick Strippoli).....161  10. Northeast Sierra Club (Alberta Espie, Marie Fitzsimmons, Candy Rue, Diana Townsend, Janet Larson, Renate Hixon, Cheryl Vonn).....159  11. Collier Audubon (Mike McCartney).....127 12. Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (Larry Schopp).....108  13. Sanibel League of Women Voters (Richard Calkins).....105  1,000 Club Members with cumulative totals  1.   Pat Grierson (Orlando) 7,667  2.   Pam Meharg (Longwood) 4,774  3.   Carl Veaux (Cape Coral) 4,643  4.   Terry LaPlante (Melbourne) 4,484  5.   Barbara Eriv (Boca Raton) 3,097  6.   Ed Shindle (Tampa) 2,579  7.   Jacqui Sulek (Fort White) 2,201  8.    Debra Segal (Gainesville) 2,118  9.   Eileen Winterble (Orlando) 2,107  10. Janis Upham (St. Petersburg) 2,102  11. Norma Dayton (Venice) 2,093  12. Anna Bergalis (Stuart) 2,028  13. Darryl Rutz (Pembroke Pines) 1,810  14. Eugene Stoccardo (Orlando) 1,786  15. Emily Schwartz (Gainesville) 1,784  16. Lee Patrizzi (Chuluota) 1,722  17. Lydia Kennedy (Vero Beach) 1,719 18. Jason Brady (Tallahassee) 1,618  19. Joan Erwin (Orlando) 1,593  20. Ron Houser (Panama City) 1,590  21. Kathy Fanning (Gainesville) 1,573  22. Jim Erwin (Orlando) 1,538 23. Mary Dipboye (Winter Park) 1,457 24.  Lizz Goldin (Redington Beach) 1,431  25. Pat Carver (Dade City) 1,347  26. Michael Yustin (Stuart) 1,309  27. Debra Mixon (Homosassa) 1,265  28. Stephanie Lewis (Miami) 1,193  29. Aliki Moncrief (Tallahassee) 1,143  30. Donna Erlich (Tallahassee) 1,114  31. Tom Sobocinski (Seminole) 1,098  32. Taylor Clements (Tallahassee) 1,070  33. Jessie DeBlois (Miami Beach) 1,046  34. Barbara Nevins (Marathon) 1,028  35. Sharon Kolor (Vero Beach) 1,006  36. Barbara Schwartz (Ocala) 963  37. Mike Fearney (Lakeland) 947  38. Lisa Williams (Jacksonville) 930  39. Rae Ann Wessell (Sanibel) 927  40. Candy Rue (Jacksonville) 921  A FEW FINAL REMINDERS:  If you're out gathering signatures this weekend, don't forget about our hotline! We're there for you if you have any questions or need assistance while you're in the field! Keep it handy: (850) 421-3955.  For Florida!  Pegeen, Aliki, Laura, Jason, Terry, Jessie and Kent  Pegeen Hanrahan, Campaign Manager  pegeen@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  Aliki Moncrief, Field Director  aliki@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  Laura Ciociola, Operations Manager  laura@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  Jason Brady, Field Organizer (Central and North Florida)  jason@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  Terry LaPlante, Field Organizer (Space-Treasure Coast, Greater Tampa Bay)  terry@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  Jessie DeBlois, Field Organizer (South Florida)  jessie@floridawaterlandlegacy.org  Kent Wimmer, Outreach Director  kent@floridawaterlandlegacy.org        Please tell your friends about us!

Pd. pol. adv. paid for and sponsored by Florida's Water and Land Legacy, Inc.,  1700 N. Monroe St., Ste. 11-286, Tallahassee, FL 32303  Contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.