The 3rd Annual Turtle Splash & Family Bash : 2007
 

The event this year was a HUGE success!  We had over 2,000 turtles adopted from all over the world!!

This was our 1st year offering turtle adoptions online, and we had almost
700 turtles pre-adopted before the day of the event!  And, thanks to the on-air
promotion by our 3rd year media sponsor Tropic Wave Radio we had turtles adopted
from as far away as Sweden!

The Sponsor Recognition Cocktail Party & Silent Auction was an intimate affair, and a good time
was had by all that attended.  We enjoyed the sounds of the Ron Pirtle Quartet and the
Eau Gallie Yacht Club did an outstanding job with the food & drinks!

We had 21 items up for bid, and all but a few were won by attendees.  This new addition to our
Annual FUNdraiser was enthusiastically received and we look forward to it
becoming a regular part of our signature Turtle Splash event.

Read about the party in Donna Skattum's column:
Click here

Silent Auction Items & their generous sponsors:
Click here

See pictures from the EGYC:

The Turtle Splash & Family Bash on the other hand was attended by record crowds!!  We had over
50 classic cars on display during the event, including cars from The Space Coast Hot Rods,
The Space Coast Mustang Club, Classic Reflections, Titusville Corvette Club, Mopars of Brevard, and more!

A great BIG thanks to Dave & Sandy Viner of Rides & Games for bringing out an
incredible selection of inflatables and games ... the kids were flocking to them
like nothing I've ever seen.  In addition to all of the terrific items they supplied, we
had donations from MyMoonWalkMadness and JumpingBeans and Melbourne Party Jumpers, too!

Returning again for the 3rd year in a row to entertain us was The Howlies, and Bill and his fellow
band members kept us all groovin' to the tunes all afternoon.  At one point Jon Parrott was
spotted at the microphone, adding his talents to the group as well!

And of course our featured performer was on hand to wiggle and giggle with the kids -
Captain Music!
The younger crowd really enjoyed the live interactive singing and dancing for the 3rd year
and even the parents seemed to get into the fun! 

The Pepsi wagon was going full tilt all day, providing hotdogs, pizza, sodas and water for the
ever increasing crowd of Turtle Splash participants.  Many thanks to Cheney Bros. and Papa John's
and Pepsi Bottling Group for donating the goodies this year, with a special shout out to
Wild Oats for making sure that our wonderful volunteers were fed as well.

Leading the Grand Parade this year was The Melbourne Beach Fire Department who brought
out their fire engine and Dunkin the Duck from the Brevard Blue Ducks.  The crowd joined
in behind carrying signs and making noise with their klappers & maracas, and bringing up the
rear was the Turtle Brigade toting all the adopted turtles to the race.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all,  and most importantly we exceeded our goal
of raising $15,000 this year - thanks to all of our generous sponsors, prize donors, in-kind
sponsors, wonderful volunteers and of course, our local community that came out
and supported us at the park.  THANK YOU!

The newest addition to our line up this year was our "Lucky Turtle Contest" generously
sponsored by Lexus of Melbourne.  The "lucky turtle" that was pre-selected by our
contest underwriter was: Turtle # 2291.  In fact, the lucky turtle WAS INDEED
randomly adopted this year, but didn't splash fast enough to be included
as a qualified finalist (only the first 10 turtles out of the water qualified).  This was
an extremely popular contest-within-a-contest and despite no one winning
the Lexus RX400h, everyone seemed receptive to having a chance to win
and we are hopeful that we can offer this option again next year!

This year's "Qualified Finalists":
Click here

This year's terrific prize packages & their generous sponsors:
Click here

This year's winning turtles & their adoptive parents:
Click here

Read about the event in the news:
Click here

See pictures from the event: