Florida

Florida will Host the 2012 National Convention

National Convention News

The National Convention will be held this year in Florida at the Sawgrass Resort on August 4-8, 2012.  Follow information here on events and registration

Ground Transportation

Jim Landa is investigating the use of a shuttle service from the Jacksonville airport to Sawgrass, those who would be interested should email Jim Landa, also if you are in need of a rental car Jim is negotiating with Enterprise for a special Convention rate.

We are looking into a tour to St. Augustine for site seeing and shopping at the outlet malls. 

For the gamblers in the group there is a casino gamblilng boat with both day and evening departures. It has slots, poker, blackjack etc. and includes a meal on the trip out to international waters. There is a dog track with an attached poker room and a brand new poker room has just opened.

For the deep sea fishermen charters leave from both Mayport or St. Augusting (both about the same distance from the hotel). As one option, a friend runs Camachee Island Charters in St Augustine and he said rates for August would be $700-730 per boat for a half day depending on the number of boats needed. He said weekends fill up quite fast so reservations should be made as early as possible. The boats run from 40-50 feet and can carry up to 6 passengers and have all the amemities like  heads, A/C etc. Their website is www.camacheeislandsportfishing.com and inquiries should be made to Glenn. Other options can also be found online.

I'm going to be doing some restaurant reviews that I will forward so people can get an idea where they might want to try.

The following is the pricing info for the August Convention at the Marriott Sawgrass:

         Standard room: $139.00 + tax

         Main building suite:  $279.00 + tax

         Villa suite:  $179.00 + tax

Parking is complimentary.

Breakfast buffet is normally $19.00. Our group price is $15.00.

Free shuttle service from the hotel to TPC Sawgrass Golf Course, Sawgrass Village Shopping Center (retail shops, Publix, ABC store and several restaurants) and the Beach Club (beach equipment rentals, snack bar, restaurant, swimming pool and of course a nice beach) runs from 7:00 a.m. till 10:00 p.m.

In addition to the normal facilities there are a couple of beautiful pools, a pub, a couple of restaurants and a world class spa.

Pictures and more info is available at their website: www.marriottsawgrass.com

This year's golf tournament is set to be held at the TPC Sawgrass on the Valley Course on August 5th with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Departure will be at 7:15 a. m. from in front of the Convention Center. Cost will be $150.00 which includes transportation, green and cart fees, range balls, lunch on the course, and more. TPC charges $85.00 for rental clubs. If you chose to ship your clubs to the Marriott, thier address is 1000 PGA Tour Blvd, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082. I have a limited number of sets that are available for free. If you want to use on of those contact me at jimlanda.natstar@comcast.net. (First come, first served). Entries are limited so sign up early. Final cutoff date for entries is June 30th. Mail them to Jim Landa, PO Box 3154, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl 32004.

Slide Show effort will continue in Florida

The Florida branch will continue the slide show effort that began in Maryland last year.  Those that would like to participate by sending pictures for the show are encouraged to send those pictures to the following email.

sylvanstine@bellsouth.net.