TurtleTrax Community Festival Plans in Full Swing

   Saturday, February 24^th is the big day for TurtleTrax 2007.    In response to the community’s outpouring of support for last season’s TurtleTrax public art project to benefit the Mental Health Association in Indian River County, the popular sea turtle sculptures are coming back to once again be decorated  for an all-new series of events in 2007. TurtleTrax is presented by John’s Island Real Estate Company and Proctor Construction Company.

  The signature event is a 10-mile walk, with a four-mile alternative (walkers choice), called Turtle Trek.  The event, expected to attract hundreds of individuals in support of MHA, will be held this Saturday morning beginning and ending at Riverside Park.  Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. Endorsed by the Veteran’s Council of Indian River County, the Trek will launch at 8:30 a.m. immediatley following a Patriotic Ceremony at 8:15 a.m. led by area dignataries. A 5-person Color Guard from the Sebastian River High School Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. will walk in cadence from the Trek’s start at Riverside Park’s Grand Pavilion Gazebos to Memorial Island following the Brown Sisters ( Abby-13, Sarah-11 and Audrey-9) singing of the National Anthem. The “Trek-ers” will continue on their route which, at one time, will take them over the Merrill Barber Bridge adorned with American Flags. Each of the twelve teams, captained by community and business leaders, volunteers and philanthropists, will adorn a T-shirt with a picture of their team’s turtle sculpture. The Trek will wind through the barrier island, over both bridges, along Indian River Boulevard, and culminate at the Community Festival being held in Riverside Park. Each walker is expected to collect a suggested $250 donation for the MHA.  There will be no registrations taken on the day of the event.  Local organizations and businesses are encouraged to sponsor a person or persons and can do so by calling Katie at MHA 562-3794. All walkers under the age of 18 may register with a parent’s signature.

   As in 2006, when 2,000 people attended the TurtleTrax Community Day, this year’s event  will feature food, entertainment, sponsor and artist exhibits, children’s activities, and the public display of all fifteen 2007 turtles in one location.

  The TurtleTrax Community Festival, sponsored by Charles Schwab & Company, kicks off at 10 a.m. at the Riverside Park Grand Pavilion Gazebos by the river and continues until 2 p.m. when all Turtle Trek-“kers” are expected to be finished.  Wanting to reach  all segments of the community, the festival will feature a wide array of entertainment  that will include the Senior Center Band - 10:00 a.m., Riverside Children’s Theatre- 10:35 a.m.,  Vero Beach Choral Society -11:10 a.m., The City of Vero Beach Recreation Department Performing Arts Teams-  11:45 a.m.,  Swingsation Dancers-  12:20 p.m..  The Brown Sisters- 12:55 p.m., and Vero Beach Theatre Guild on the Go- 1:30 p.m.  The children will be entertained with inflatables, face painting, cotton candy, and coloring activities. They will be delighted by a special visit from Ronald McDonald at 11 a.m. and organizers are told that Sponge Bob and the Chick fit-A Cow will be dropping by for photos with the children.  Turtle Artists will offer individual art exhibits as well as work for sale. Turtle sponsor booths will be on hand to support the event, and other booths from the Indian River County Cultural Council as well as the Mental Health Association will offer a myriad of local information.  What’s an event without food; there will be plenty of that too. A booth selling turtle merchandise will include turtle books, mini turtle replicas combined with a painting kit and some replicas already painted by local artists ad well as other turtle merchandise.

   In addition to visitors enjoying the 15 new turtle sculptures and photographing them as keepsakes, the piece de resistance’ of the event will be the TurtleTrax Community Mural, a collaborative art experience to commemorate the day designed by Heart to Art and painted by the public.  Heart to Art’s purpose is to share a vision and passion for collaborative art projects to bring groups together to work as a team of creators; the young with the old, the compromised with the healthy, corporate with the entrepreneur.  Together, everyone will be invited to pick up paint and brush and color a pre-designed piece of art on a giant mural that will later travel throughout the city on display and eventually end up at the office of the Mental Health Association, the event’s host.

   The event is free to the community.  For more information, contact Katie at 772-562-3794.    The MHA, a United Way Agency, is the only nonprofit resource that people in Indian River County have for immediate access to crisis counseling and mental health solutions. MHA proves its value to the community everyday in the lives saved, the families helped and the connections made for people facing mental health challenges.