Fall Baseball

It seems early to be talking about Fall Baseball, since spring baseball is not quite over but here it is....

NEW SMYRNA BEACH PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT
FALL 2009 YOUTH BASEBALL & SOFTBALL REGISTRATION

Fees:

Registration: $45 for residents / T-Ball $40 for residents (Financial assistance may be available upon request)

User Fee: $8.00 for first child and $5.00 for each additional child for nonresidents.
Late Fee: $5.00 for any registration accepted after the deadline.
Insurance: $8.50 policy covers one child through July 31, 2010.

Register at 1000 Live Oak between 8:30 A.M. & 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday.
Phone: 424-2175/Fax: 424-2177
No registration will be taken without a copy of your child’s birth certificate. (If your child has played a Parks & Recs Sport before they have it on file.)

Make checks payable to: City of New Smyrna Beach.

IMPORTANT DATES – 2009
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Friday, August 7th for all age groups.
SEASON BEGINS: Saturday, September 19, 2009 (Picture Day)

The Southeast Volusia Little Web Site has complete information on tryouts etc for each age group.

Fourth of July Celebration~Kennedy Park

I have gotten several emails from folks who are visiting this week asking about fireworks. They are held on Saturday at Kennedy Park in Edgewater, they start around 9pm. It is a full day of activities for the family, starting at 7:00am with a 5K run that starts at City Hall. They will dedicate the park at 9:00am and then entertainment, vendors and kids activities start at 4:00pm. Complete details can be found on here on the City of Edgewater website.

Around Town~Weekend Events

This Saturday beginning at 11am is the BBQ Fest at Pub 44. Head over to Pub 44 and enjoy a day of family fun and help support the Infant & Children Sleep Apnea Awareness Foundation “Kids Sleep Disorders”

Entertainment will be provided by Jim Van Fleet and the Reign Band and appearance’s by #19 ARCA driver Alli Owens, and NFL Player #88 Dallas Baker. The proceeds from this event will benefit Kids with Sleeping Disorders right here in our own community. Proceeds will help provide 200+ potential life saving Angel Monitors for local day-care centers throughout Volusia County.

BBQ Taster will be from noon to 2 p.m., and tickets are $10 in advance. Come sample all of the different BBQ from local area restaurants and vendors.

Dolphin View Restaurant

We made our second and third visit to Dolphin View this week. If you do not know The Dolphin View is the old Sea Harvest Restaurant at 107 N. Riverside Dr. They are also home to the Pastime Princess which has some very reasonable fishing rates.

Earlier this week a friend and I went in and ordered at the counter to eat in. The service was very friendly and fast. She had a crabcake and I had a fried grouper sandwich and we split an order of the fried shrimp (it was fried day). The sandwich was large and very tasty, the crabcake was good but not great. The fries and hushpuppies were very good. It was a good visit, the beer was cold and the view is wonderful.

Today we ordered a large take out order since I had an assortment of kids, it was in two orders so it was kind of confusing. The service at the counter when we picked it up was excellent. The two girls working were very friendly and happy to help.

My brother got a blackened Mahi sandwich and was very pleased with it, said it was very good. I ordered a bunch of different things so we could try several things. We ordered two orders of kids chicken with fries, lots of chicken chunks and waffle fries and a hush puppy, all three kids gave it a thumbs up. We also ordered an order of grilled shrimp and an order of blackened shrimp with fries, these are huge orders of shrimp, well over a dozen fresh shrimp. The grilled were kind of boring, the blackened were very good. Last but not least we ordered a blackened grouper sandwich without the bread, we just wanted the fish, the portion is advertised as 3/4 of a pound and it is at least that, three of us split it and had plenty to eat. It was very tasty. Each of these orders came with fries, hush puppies and coleslaw, (you can substitute a salad) they included plenty of each kind of sauce. My son made a comment that they need to use my coleslaw recipe. He is a coleslaw freak and has never found any he likes as well as mine so do not let that discourage you!!

So, I can say we enjoyed the food both visits this week, I am more partial to the fried foods they offer, probably because I don't eat fried very often and really only ordered it to try it. It was excellent. I did see a wrap sandwich the other day and it looked very good, I asked the person eating it and she said it was quite tasty. The line to order right at lunch time can seem overwhelming but it moved very quickly, the service is extremely efficient. Off times you can get right in and out.

They also now have a Tiki Bar right on the river which is very nice. They are offering an all you can eat breakfast on Saturday and Sunday from 8am til 11am for $4.95 you cannot beat that price. We will check that out in the near future as well!

Directions to Dolphin View

Menu

Dolphin View is worth a visit!

Remember to support your local business!

Interesting Sites

I wanted to share these websites thought they were very interesting and actually useful.

Need a gift or want to save some money on eating out. Check out Restaurant.com. I was amazed to find several local New Smyrna Restaurants providing discounts as well as several in Daytona Beach.

This one is great. Xtra Xtra. Just put in a zip code and all sort of announcements from newspapers and publications come up. I found several people in my hometown had passed away, gotten married, had babies. It was very interesting.

More later...have a great day!

NSB Skatepark

The NSB Skatepark is open and is located at the southwest corner of Turnbull Street and Industrial Park Avenue, just west of the New Smyrna Beach Police Station.

The Skate Park has approximately 8,500 square feet of concrete skate area, consisting of a flow/street area and a pool with tile and concrete pool coping. It is open from 12pm until dark on weekdays and 10am until dark on weekends.

It is a little hot to be skating but it sure looks like fun. Here is a link to the park layout.

For More Information on the park here is some local contact information.

Check back tomorrow for our revisit to Dolphin View Restaurant.

Sunday Stumble~Father's Day

Here are some interesting web sites about our favorite thing, DAD!

Father's Day on the Net

Twice Infinity

Message from the President

Message from the First Lady

For all you Dads who are Yankee fans this is a good one. LoHud Yankees Blog

Good News Daily

That concludes today jabbering and stumbling, maybe I will get back to something relevant later in the week!

Coming Soon:
Second Visit to Dolphin View Restaurant (formerly Sea Harvest)
Upcoming events

Oak Hill Seafood Coop

There is a great article in the News-Journal this morning about the Oak Hill Seafood Coop. They are located at 700 N US Hwy 1 in Oak Hill. This is Cook's Plaza. Their website is under construction but it does list prices for some of their current available seafood. You can also purchase seafood at the Farmer's Market on Canal Street on Saturday mornings from 730am-1230pm. We got some fish last week it was delicious. They are also having cookouts on the last Sunday of each month featuring local seafood, hush puppies and ice tea for a $10.00 donation. The next event is June 28th at 4pm.

Support your local business!

Super Barack

Love this new video by JibJab about our President, it debuted last night at a press dinner attended by Mr. President, he apparently thought it was quite amusing!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Around Town-Weekend Events

The Seaside Fiesta was a great success, the weather held out and a good time was had by all, or so I hear. I was at baseball practice!

This weekend the Farmer's Market is going on from 7:30-12:30 on Canal Street.

The KC Society presents its 2009 Father and Daughter Ball on Saturday, June 20 beginning at 6 p.m. The event will be held at the NSB Women’s Center, 403 Magnolia Street, NSB. There will be dinner, dancing, gift bags, entertainment and appreciation. For more information, please call 1-888-779-8986. You may buy tickets online. The cost is $25 for father and daughter; $35 for father and two daughters; $50 for father and four or more daughters. There will be a $10 charge for each additional daughter after five daughters, and $15 for each additional “dad".

It is Father's Day weekend and it will be HOT at the beach, check Just Weather for recent updates on the weather.

Don't forget to pick up your report cards and FCAT scores at Coronado Elementary. The office is open every day except Friday for pickup. I am sure the other schools have similar arrangements for pickup.

Enjoy the weekend!

Seaside Fiesta

Seaside Fiesta, this New Smyrna Beach, Flagler Avenue family block party, will be held on Thursday, June 18th from 5-9 p.m. Thursday. This annual event is hosted by the Merchants of Flagler Avenue and the New Smyrna Beach Parks and Recreation Department. Featuring booths, live entertainment, arts and crafts, food, and a variety of games for adults and children.

Entertainment at this year’s Seaside Fiesta features Acousticon at the Seaside Station stage.

The performance stage will be set up at Flagler and Peninsula avenues and will feature local groups such as American Martial Arts, NSB High School Color Guard and Terri’s Twirling Tornadoes. The Christian Rock Band “Holy Smoke” will be featured at the gazebo at the corner of Flagler and Pine.

Many of the Flagler Avenue Merchants will remain open late. Restaurants on the street will be open and festival food vendors will offer fresh squeezed lemonade, kettle corn, Gran Arepas, sausage and pepper sandwiches and many more treats.

Flagler Avenue will close to cars at 3 p.m., and will stay closed until 9:30 p.m.

Flag Day

My daughter has always been thrilled to be born on a holiday. Flag day...she asked me today if it an important Holiday...I said of course it is.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Another June birthday in our house. My daughter turns 10 today. She is all excited to be "double digits." I cannot believe my baby is 10 years old. She was a toddler yesterday, going to kindergarten and playing in the dirt. Well she still likes to play in the dirt...

Things To Do

Wii Sports lessons are offered at the Brannon Center every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon, seniors are invited to come and take lessons, playing bowling, golf, and baseball with our new WII sports game. For more information, please call Nicole at (386) 424-2280.

CorMeth Boutique on Flagler Avenue will have a Father’s Day Sale during the week of June 15 through June 20. All men’s clothing, sports equipment, and accessories are reduced. The boutique is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Marine Discovery Center offers Sunset and Eco tours of the Lagoon and Estuary. Click here for more information. They also have room in several of their summer camps. Both my children attended camp their last year and will again this year, it is a really great experience.

Check on the Sea Turtle Nesting for our area on the Volusia Sea Turtle Society website. Scroll down on this page and check out the great photo of the shuttle coming home.

The annual Seaside Fiesta on Flagler is this Thursday from 5pm-9pm. More on that later in the week.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Showdolls Camp

The New Smyrna Beach Showdolls are holding their annual BabyDolls & Boot Camp from July 13th-July 16th from 8:45am-5:00pm. My daughter and a few of her friends attended this camp last year and LOVED it. The cost is very reasonable at $80.00. Check their website above or email me for more details.

Art Walk On Flagler

This Saturday from 10am-5pm is the monthly Art Walk on Flagler. This is a special "Martini Art Walk". You can purchase a ticket for 10.00 at the gazebo at Pine Street and taste different flavored martinis at 11 different venues. Yum, perhaps we won't call it the Art Walk, maybe we should rename it the Art Stagger, or Art Fall Down.....oh the possibilities.

Yes2Local News has all the information on the event.

Sunday Stumble

...and now back to our regular programming.....The Sunday Stumble - this week featuring nothing really related just a bunch of interesting stuff.

Swim At your Own Risk is once again giving us free advertising as the Shark Bite Capitol of the World. This blog features a shark attack map and victims galleries. Nice...

The Fear Beneath another free advertisement about our "dangerous" waters here in NSB. Also all things predatory, some did not look real but I am not a good judge. I rarely go over the bridge.

The Chum Slick is the very best blog about the reality of the plight of sharks. We love Sharky!

Uptake Vacations Blog great vacation blog, this post is about our area. Very nicely done with great information.

Twitter - do you Twitter? There are some interesting NSB people twittering.

Central Florida Fishing Report - love to fish? This is a must read!

Volusia County Beach Report - this page is provided by Volusia County, features driving conditions, tide information etc. Good stuff.

Have an excellent week!

Meaningless Drivel

I really try not to whine about inconsequential things...but today I am feeling a tad bit sorry for myself and it is Saturday and no one reads me on Saturday anyway so.....

I need a new computer. BAD. My desktop that I use to recruit is on its very last legs. My brother has babied it along as long as he can. I can no longer copy and paste, email works when it feels like it, internet is sporadic....it sucks....

Well, I cannot afford a new computer. Not at all. I have to make this thing work a little longer. I am starting a new job in addition to my old job....I have to have a computer that works....oh well sucks to be me....ok I am done whining. I just wish life was easy.....and I had a new computer....

12 For 12K Supports UNICEF in June

Every day 25,000 children die from a preventable cause.

Having what it takes, doing whatever it takes—this is the essence of UNICEF, the organization that has saved more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization in the world.

UNICEF’s accomplishments are the result of more than 60 years of on-the ground work all around the world, led by experts from a range of disciplines, who have unparalleled influence at the highest levels of government, and the courage, resolve and commitment to get the job done.

More children are alive today because of UNICEF. And yet, impressive as these results are, it is not enough.

UNICEF’s unmatched reach, expertise, access and influence, innovation, efficiency and resolve mandate that we do whatever it takes to put an end to the unnecessary deaths of 25,000 children who die every day from preventable causes.

This is where the Believe in Zero campaign aims to make the difference.

That even one child dies from a preventable cause is completely unacceptable—especially when simple, basic and affordable interventions exist to save lives.

What will your donation buy? I will focus on Water. Water is life.

Yet one billion people do not have access to safe water, and 2.6 billion people live without proper sanitation. Water-borne illness is the second highest cause of childhood death in the world. When water is unsafe and sanitation non-existent, water can kill.

$10 can provide 400 children with enough clean drinking water for one day. Just $10, less than we spend on coffee in a week. Can you give $10 to save countless children?

I am a huge supporter of the 12 for 12K Challenge. I think it is a brilliant and provides the opportunity for those who want to help but do not have endless resources the ability to do so much with very little.

The 12for12k Challenge is the combination of social media and fund-raising that aims to change the lives of millions worldwide. By harnessing the power of social media and its unparalleled networking tools, 12for12k looks to bring hope and optimism to those who need it most.

The premise of 12for12K is simple:

12 months
12 charities
$12,000 per charity

You’ve already taken the first step of the challenge by reading this.

The next step is up to you.

Around Town~Weekend Events

Anyone know of anything exciting going on this weekend? If so leave a comment with the event. I am coming up short this week.

Sunday from 2pm-4pm, the Om Bar will have a free wine tasting.

Volusia County’s Pet Vet Cruiser offers free and low-cost spaying and neutering for pets. Residents in unincorporated Volusia County can catch the Pet Vet Cruiser, by appointment, at the Oak Hill Flea Market on Tuesday, June 9.For more information, please call (386) 323-3575

Volusia County Schools are out today and the weekend should be nice for the beach! Enjoy and send me your events!

Baseball & Softball Camps

City of New Smyrna Beach Parks & Recreation is holding summer camps in baseball and softball.

Information is available below:

NSB Baseball Camp

NSB Baseball Academy

NSB Softball Camp

They are also offering a Sailing Camp.

Happy Birthday

Today is my son's birthday, he is 12 years old. I am not sure where the time has gone. He was replaying his life for me last night and it was kind of humorous. He said I have lived in 3 states, one of them twice, gone to four schools and we are not even in the army. Yes, he is a smartass. He is also funny, sweet, kind and the best kid around!

Happy Birthday Curtis. Thanks for letting me be your Mom!

Jimmy Lane Surf Camp

Jimmy Lane Surf Camp is underway this week and all summer long. Registration and information is available above. Summer is here!!

Learn So You Can Earn

The 2009 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP)

Six Week, paid internship program open to Volusia & Flagler youth ages 18 - 24. This is funded by American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.

Pre-registration is required.

The site to register is www.employflorida.com

For more information about services in New Smyrna Beach or Edgewater area, contact them at:
mthomas@henkels.com or 386-451-2474.

The Countdown Is On

Well, not exactly, the countdown around here started about two weeks ago......the countdown to the end of school that is....my son got out last Wednesday, makes it tough to get my daughter to bed and then again up in the morning, actually makes it like walking across hot broken glass but that is my battle!!

A few things to look forward to in the coming weeks as summer vacation is upon us!

Summer Concert Series - each Thursday night at 7:00pm in Riverside Park

Enjoy an evening of music in the gazebo at Riverside Park. Bring your lawn chair or favorite blanket. FREE concerts. Open to the public. Concessions available. Concert will be in the Brannon Center if weather is inclement.

This Thursday will feature: Thomas Jones, Jr. - Jazz brought to you by the City of New Smyrna Beach and Main Street Merchants. Booked by Marc Monteson Promotions

Every 2nd Saturday of the month is East Coast Cruiser night on Canal Street. This even is free and features entertainment, food and great cars.

John Kellat Memorial Veterans Appreciation Dinner - June 6th - 3pm-7pm

In honor of D-Day and our friend John Kellat, the museum will be hosting its Second Annual Veterans Appreciation Dinner to give thanks to our veterans of all wars. All veterans eat free. Reservations are required and space is limited, so please call early. Additional guests are $10.00. Timeless Wings and Wheels members $5.00. Check out Timeless Whings and Wheels website. They have some excellent veterans information for locals and visitors.

Mark your calendar now for the 21st Annual Seaside Fiesta, it happens on June 18th on Flagler Ave, more on that later!!

Have a great Monday!