To keep your electric bill in check, remember keep your A/C unit clean, especially the filter. If you have pets, this is very important since the warm weather means it is time to shed that extra coat! Keeping your filer clean will also help to keep you healthy. Clean indoor air in the summer is very important since most of us will rarely open the windows until late September!
Summer is also the time when due to the high humidity, mold and mildew become a problem. Wiping down the shower and tub after each use to keep it dry will help control the mold and mildew and spraying with bleach or peroxide will keep it at bay, if not kill it.
Stay healthy this summer by taking a few preventative measures!
Slide into Summer...
June 4th Buccaneer Bay opens!
Daily, 9:00am-5:30pm. Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, 6131 Commercial Way (US-19), Weeki Wachee, 34607. Cool the summer sizzle at Florida’s only spring-fed waterpark! Enjoy the white sandy beach, thrilling flume rides, beach volleyball, Lil’ Mates Cove and much more!! The water slides, kiddie pool, and lazy river at the waterpark open daily for the summer season. You can also enjoy the other State Park amenities including the popular mermaid shows and river boat tour. Admission: $13.00 for adults; $8.00 for children age 6 to 12; free, age five and under. For information, call 352-592-5656, or visit www.weekiwachee.com.
Fresh Market...
4:00-8:00pm. Downtown Brooksville (vicinity of 20 No. Main Street), 34601. Held on the first and third Saturday of each month, Brooksville City Nights is a fresh market like no other! You’ll find unique cuisine, arts, vintage crafts, organic and local produce, entertainment, street vendors and more. Bring a chair to relax under the stars and evening lights, chat with friends, or cruise Main Street for your shopping delight. For more information, call Lisa at 352-428-9275, or email brooksvillecitynights@gmail.com.
No License Needed...
FREE SALTWATER FISHING!
Saturday, June 4 – Sunday, June 5, 2016
License-Free Saltwater Fishing Days
Free fishing days provide an excellent opportunity for parents who don’t yet have licenses to take youth fishing, or avid anglers to introduce a friend to fishing without having to purchase a license. On these days, the fishing license requirement is waived for all recreational anglers (residents and non-residents). All other rules (e.g., seasons, bag and size limits) apply. The saltwater waiver applies to any recreational harvest requiring a saltwater fishing license (e.g., crabbing, lobstering, scalloping, etc.) as well as fishing from shore or a boat. A snook or spiny lobster permit are not required on these days. For more information, visit www.MyFWC.com/fishing/saltwater.
Yikes! Snakes...
Children in the park will be the most vulnerable to being bitten by snakes since they are often in and around the areas where the snakes like to hide. You can discourage the snakes by keeping all trash and other mostly unused items out of your yard. Unkempt gardens, wood piles, piles of old building materials and other things like that in your yard will make it more inviting to snakes.
Keep yourself and your family safe by addressing any problem areas on your lot now; when the rains come and that will be soon, the snake population is likely to grow. The nearby swampy areas is home to the snakes and they will stay there unless they view your yard as a better place to make their home. Keeping your yard clear of debris is the best way to discourage the snakes.
As the Grass Grows...
Broken Down Vehicles...
Lately it seems that more and more inoperable vehicles are in the park. Aripeka West is not the place to store vehicles that do not run! If you currently have an inoperable vehicle parked in the RV or Mobile Home park, please make arrangements to either have the needed repairs done on the vehicle or to move it out of the park. Only minor repair to vehicles may be may done in the park, big jobs must be done off site. Another option is to sell it, as is.
Dumpster Abuse...
The dumpster located in the park is for HOUSEHOLD TRASH ONLY. If you need to dispose of larger items such as furniture, tires or building materials, please take these items to the dump. If you place bulky items in the dumpster, then there is not enough room for household trash. Also lately there have been many items placed outside the dumpster, this is not allowed. If you have an item that you think someone else might want or need, ask around, put up a notice by the laundry room, but do not place your unwanted items outside of the dumpster.
Stars and Stripes...
On National Flag Day, Americans show respect for the U.S. Flag and what it represents. Our independence and unity as a nation is represented by our flag. The flag has become a powerful symbol of Americanism and is flown proudly.
Betsy Ross is given credit, by many, for creating the first American flag. Since 1977, the design of the flag has been officially modified 26 times. For 47 years, the 48-star flag was in effect. In 1959, the 49-star version became official on July 4. President Eisenhower ordered the 50-star flag on August 21, 1959.
Seventeen year old Robert G. Heft of Ohio is credited with designing the 50 star American flag. Of the more than 1,500 designs that were submitted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his was chosen.
NATIONAL FLAG DAY HISTORY
On May 30, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation deeming June 14 as Flag Day. President Wilson stated that he selected this day because “It is the anniversary of the day upon which the flag of the United States was adopted by the Congress as the emblem of the Union” and he wrote, “On that day rededicate ourselves to the nation, ‘one and inseparable’ from which every thought that is not worthy of our fathers’ first vows in independence, liberty, and right shall be excluded and in which we shall stand with united hearts.”
Dear Ol' Dad...
Father's Day, celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June, got a jump start from the formation of Mother's Day. Credit for beginning Father's Day celebrations is given to Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington.
At the turn of the century, Mother's Day observances were growing across the United States. The federal government had yet to recognize the holiday, but many states had adopted the third Sunday in May as a special celebration day honoring mothers. It was during a Mother's Day church service on June 20, 1909, that Sonora Smart Dodd was struck with the idea of creating a special holiday to honor fathers, too.
When Sonora was 16, her mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, the last of five sons. Back then, like today, single parenthood was no easy task. By Sonoma's account, though, Mr. Smart did a wonderful job. Because of this love and esteem, Sonoma Smart Dodd believed that her father deserved a special time of honor just like that given to mothers on Mother's Day.
In 1909, Sonoma Smart Dodd approached the Spokane YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested that her father's birthday — June 5 — become a celebration day for Father's Day. Because they wanted more time to prepare, the Ministerial Alliance chose June 19 instead.
The first Father's Day was thus observed in the State of Washington on June 19, 1910. The idea of officially celebrating fatherhood spread quickly across the United States, as more and more states adopted the holiday. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recognized Father's Day as the third Sunday in June of that year and encouraged states to do the same. Congress officially recognized Father's Day in 1956 with the passage of a joint resolution.
Aripeka Community Center Pot Luck Dinner...
Wednesday June 1st, join your friends and neighbors at Aripeka Community Center for a Pot Luck Dinner at 6 PM. Bring a dish and have a great time!
Is your toilet running...
While running toilets aren’t as severe a plumbing problem as, say, cracked or clogged pipes, they can still end up costing you hundreds of dollars every year (if not more) in wasted water. Toilet leaks are the most wasteful kind of home plumbing leak, wasting as much as four times what regular faucet leak does, and over 25 times what a shower leak does.
Generally, running toilets are a straightforward fix; the problem usually lies with a faulty flapper or floater mechanism inside the tank. However, sometimes entire toilets do need to be replaced to eliminate the problem once and for all.
For severe toilet leaking, this is almost always worth the investment: inefficient toilets can waste thousands of gallons of water in a single month. As far as your wallet’s concerned, this waste of water can translate into well over $2,000 per year, or as much as $200 extra in your monthly water bill.
Less extreme toilet leaks will still run your monthly water bill much higher than the norm; a moderate leak, at 6,000 gallons per month (that’s right, 6,000 is moderate), will cost you around $70 extra each month, which comes up close to $1,000 per year.
Throughout the United States leaking or running toilets are considered the most common cause of unnaturally high water bill spikes. At their worst, a running toilet can waste an entire gallon of water in as little as thirty seconds; as these types of leaks are often silent, the problem may start and continue on without your knowledge, resulting in an unsettling surprise when the water bill arrives.
As reported by the EPA’s WaterSense program, roughly 10% of all American homes have water leaks that waste 90+ gallons of water per day, the most common of these leaks, of course, being faulty toilet flappers or other toilet degradation. Across the United States, everyday home water leaks consume well over one trillion gallons of water every year.
When it comes to home toilets, even small leaks translate into big spending. The sooner you act to repair your toilet’s hardware and resolve the problem, the less water you’ll be wasting by the minute.
Scalloping 2016...
The 2016 Scalloping Season starts June 25th!
Bay Scallop: Argopecten irradians
Florida Recreational Regulations:
| Regulations | Bay Scallop Harvest Zone |
| Minimum Size Limit | None |
| Daily Bag Limit |
2 gallons whole bay scallops in shell, or 1 pint of bay scallop meat per person
Maximum of 10 gallons of whole bay scallops in shell, or 1/2 gallon bay scallop meat per vessel
|
| Season* | Open June 25 - Sept. 24 |
*Season opens the Saturday before July 1 unless July 1 falls on a Saturday, then the opening date would be July 1.
Commercial harvest prohibited.
Recreational harvesters need a Florida saltwater fishing license to harvest bay scallops unless they are 1. exempt from needing a license or 2. have a no-cost shoreline fishing license and are wading to collect scallops (i.e. feet do not leave bottom to swim, snorkel, or SCUBA).
Bay Scallop Harvest Zone:
Bay scallops may only be harvested in state waters from the Pasco-Hernando County line (near Aripeka - latitude 28 degrees, 26.016 minutes North) to the west bank of the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County (longitude 85 degrees, 25.84 minutes West).
It is illegal to possess bay scallops on waters outside open harvest areas. It is also illegal to land scallops outside open harvest areas. For example, it would be legal to take scallops from waters off the Hernando County coast, but it would be illegal to dock your boat in Pasco County with the scallop catch onboard.
Gear Requirements:
- Legal Gear: Harvest permitted by hand or landing or dip net
- Calendar of Events...
