Oscar Scherer State Park Blog

Scrub Jay 5k – 10k Race

Ed Burns — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:51:29 +0000

The 12th Annual Scrub Jay 5k and 10k Race will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2012.

Click here to register online.

You can download a registration form here

Race day registration and packet pick up begins at 6:45 am and ends at 7:45 am. Park opens at 6:30 am. Arrive early to avoid parking congestion. Vehicles will be stopped at the park entrance beginning at 7:55 for the race start until the runners have cleared the roads and are on the trails.

National Public Lands Day

Ed Burns — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:46:08 +0000

New Mower

Ed Burns — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:56:38 +0000

The Friends of Oscar Scherer Park purchased a new lawn mower for the park. The Gravely mower sports a 48′ deck for cutting a wide swath of grass. The new mower will be used by both the Friends and park personel to maintain the trails and grass in the park.

New canoe docks

Bob Sendrey — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:28:53 +0000

The canoe docks are being redone and new racks will be built to accommodate the new kayaks and canoes. The park is furnishing the materials and the Monday/Wednesday volunteer work group known a The Old Curmudgeons are doing the installation. Seen here are Mike Murphy at the bitter end and Jim Harmon laying some decking.

Father’s / sons & daughters orienteering

Bob Sendrey — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:50:21 +0000

Father’s Day 2011 – Hope every father had a great Father’s Day – these certainly did! They, along with a few mothers spent the day outdoors with sons and daughters learning to navigate the bush hunting down puzzle pieces and trinkets with a compass. The toddlers also had a short course to follow marked with yellow ribbon. Then they had hot dogs, fruit, granola bars, soda and water. Feedback was “IT WAS GREAT” being outdoors, meeting new people and being with family. The event was run by volunteers and park personnel.

This is a yearly event so join us next Father’s Day from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

New Cart Purchased

Ed Burns — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:26:00 +0000

The Friends of Oscar Scherer Park recently purchased a new electric cart for the use of the Park Rangers. The new vehicle is used on a daily basis for Park maintenance. It has a tighter turning radius and more power than the older carts in the Park.

The vehicle cost in excess of $8,000.00.

WIN – WIN

Bob Sendrey — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:01:27 +0000

The Monday/Wednesday Volunteer work group removes the invasive Australian Pine from the North Lido Beach area under their renovation program. It’s a WIN for both parks. Lido gets rid of a troublesome tree, gains area and Oscar Scherer gets income from the sale of this firewood by the Friends to the campers.

This, once a month, trip has been going on for over a year and will continue one day a month for a long time . The invasive has taken over a large area of Lido.

Our campers love it because it burns very well with little ash and they don’t need to travel out of the park to purchase firewood. The price is right as well.

Earth Day 2011

Ed Burns — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:36:10 +0000

Join us for our Earth Day Celebration. These musicians are scheduled to perform:

11:00 Kevin McGuire

11:45 Jay TurtleHawk

12:20 CCCarter Band

1:10 Richard Brobst & Train of Water

2:00 Ishmael Katz

3:00 Mindy Simmons

3:50 Jim Gromko

2012 Scrub Jay Festival

Ed Burns — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:32:09 +0000

Scrub jay Festival

Join us Saturday February 4, 2012 for the Third Annual Florida Scrub Jay Festival!

Enjoy a Festival atmosphere with games, activities, music, food, and Information on the biology, management, and future of the Florida Scrub Jay.

More info here.

Summary of 11th Annual Scrub Jay 5K & 10K Runs, Feb 19, 2011

George Ulrich — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:41:51 +0000

The 2011 Scrub Jay runs surpassed the previous record number of runners from 2010. This major fund-raiser for the Friends of Oscar Scherer Park is fortunate again to have the Lee Wetherington Foundation support of $5,000, which covers the majority of expenses in running the event, so that all of the entry fees go to support projects of park improvement all year long. Because of this support, all runners under the age of 14 are invited to run for free; this year there were 81 youth runners; the youngest was 5 years old. The race also benefits from the professional management and sanction by the Manasota Track Club.

690 Entries for both races and the 1-mile walk were submitted.

348 (51%) entered the 5K.

225 (33%) entered the 10K plus 109 (16%) were undeclared.

Female runners 372 (54%).

Male runners 319 (46%).

81 runners under 14 years old received complementary entries.

46 runners were from18 other states plus one each from Ontario & Switzerland.