Senate Bill sb0264
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Florida Senate - 2003 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SR 264
By Senator Clary
4-377-03
1 Senate Resolution No. ____
2 A resolution recognizing April 23, 2003, as
3 "Northwest Florida Legislative Day" in
4 Tallahassee.
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6 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida encompasses 16 counties
7 across the Florida Panhandle and over 13,000 square miles of
8 beautiful coastline, winding rivers, vast tracts of forested
9 land, and more than 100 freshwater springs and is the home to
10 36 state parks, and
11 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida is known for its southern
12 charm and small-town atmosphere, blended with its largely
13 undiscovered and unspoiled beaches, and
14 WHEREAS, the Emerald Coast was voted the Number One
15 Beach of America by USA Today and was voted as Southern
16 Living's best beach of the South for 6 years and Southern
17 Living's top family destination, and
18 WHEREAS, the beaches of Northwest Florida are visited
19 by over 20 million tourists annually and average 339 sunny
20 days per year, and
21 WHEREAS, the Emerald Coast beaches are uniquely
22 beautiful given their snow-white sand, composed of quartz
23 crystals washed down from the Appalachian Mountains centuries
24 ago, and their emerald-green waters, colored by light
25 reflecting off photo-synthetic micro-algae suspended in the
26 northern Gulf Coast's crystal clear water, and
27 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida is home to eight military
28 bases, including Eglin Air Force Base, the largest air base in
29 the Department of Defense; Pensacola Naval Air Station, home
30 of the Blue Angels; Hurlburt Field, the oldest, largest, and
31 most seasoned unit in the Air Force Special Operations
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Florida Senate - 2003 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SR 264
4-377-03
1 Command; Whiting Field; Tyndall Air Force Base; Duke Field;
2 Coastal Systems Station; the United States Coast Guard; and
3 the world-renowned National Museum of Naval Aviation, and
4 WHEREAS, the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force
5 Base supports America's efforts at combatting terrorism by
6 developing precision-guided weapons, many of which have played
7 a major role in recent military maneuvers in Afghanistan, and
8 WHEREAS, more than 60 percent of the bombs dropped in
9 Afghanistan were precision-guided weapons, most of which were
10 developed at Eglin Air Force Base, and
11 WHEREAS, Eglin Air Force Base has deployed more than
12 1,000 military personnel to support Operation Enduring Freedom
13 and Operation Noble Eagle to bases throughout the world, and
14 WHEREAS, Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing and 728th Air
15 Control Squadron support homeland defense by keeping watch on
16 our cities and the skies over the United States, and
17 WHEREAS, Duke Field's 919th Special Operations Wing has
18 deployed aircraft and more than 500 military personnel to
19 support special operations missions worldwide, and more than
20 85 percent of its 1,300 members live and work in the Florida
21 Panhandle, and
22 WHEREAS, in 1559, the Island of Saint Rose, now known
23 as Santa Rosa Island, was the site of the first colonial
24 settlement in North America, and
25 WHEREAS, in 1861, the Battle of Santa Rosa Island was
26 fought when the Confederacy tried and failed to overtake Fort
27 Pickens, held by the Union throughout the Civil War, and
28 WHEREAS, Pensacola Beach had the area's first tourist
29 attraction when Pensacola boosters lobbied in 1886 to have
30 Geronimo imprisoned at Fort Pickens, and
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Florida Senate - 2003 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SR 264
4-377-03
1 WHEREAS, Milton is considered by the Florida
2 Legislature to be Florida's Canoe Capitol of Florida, and
3 Navarre is known as the "best kept secret," and
4 WHEREAS, Pensacola is known as the City of Five Flags
5 because of the city's occupation by the Spanish, the French,
6 the British, the Confederacy, and the United States at various
7 points in its history, and
8 WHEREAS, Pensacola was voted as the seventh most polite
9 city in the nation and its historic district is a national
10 historic landmark, and
11 WHEREAS, Ft. Walton Beach is known for its Indian
12 Temple Mound Museum, a political and cultural center for
13 Native Americans approximately 800 years ago, and, is a
14 national historic landmark, holding the finest collection of
15 prehistoric Native American ceramics in the United States, and
16 WHEREAS, Ft. Walton Beach is the Billfish Capital of
17 the World and annually holds the Billy Bowlegs Festival, and
18 WHEREAS, Destin is the home of the largest
19 charter-boat-fishing fleet in Florida and the entire Gulf of
20 Mexico, and
21 WHEREAS, Destin Harbor was the setting for the movie,
22 "Jaws II," and the Seaside community was the setting for the
23 movie "The Truman Show," starring Jim Carrey, and
24 WHEREAS, Apalachicola, Carrabelle, and Wewahitchka
25 provided settings for filming the movie, "Yulee's Gold,"
26 starring Peter Fonda and depicting the extraordinary quality
27 of tupelo honey produced in the region, and
28 WHEREAS, Sopchoppy is the earthworm capital of Florida,
29 and Port St. Joe is the site of Florida's First Constitutional
30 Convention, and
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Florida Senate - 2003 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SR 264
4-377-03
1 WHEREAS, Bay County is recognized as the third most
2 popular golfing destination in the nation, and
3 WHEREAS, Panama City Beach is the self-styled seafood
4 capital of the world, is the home of Florida's longest pier,
5 and is known as the Wreck Capital of the South for its
6 artificial reef dive sights, and
7 WHEREAS, Franklin County is a "cool" place to visit
8 because it is the home of Dr. John Gorrie who invented a
9 machine that is the predecessor to refrigeration and air
10 conditioning, and Apalachicola Bay produces 90 percent of the
11 state's annual oyster harvest, and
12 WHEREAS, Tallahassee is the capital city of Florida and
13 the home of the Florida Legislature, in which Northwest
14 Florida is represented by Senators Durell Peaden, Al Lawson,
15 Nancy Argenziano, and Charlie Clary, and by Representatives
16 Greg Evers, Dave Murzin, Holly Benson, Ray Sansom, Don Brown,
17 Allan Bense, Bev Kilmer, Curtis Richardson, Loranne Ausley,
18 and Will Kendrick, and
19 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida is the home of 11
20 universities and community colleges, including the University
21 of West Florida, Florida State University-Panama City Campus,
22 Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
23 University, Troy State University-Ft. Walton Beach Campus,
24 Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola Christian College, Gulf
25 Coast Community College, Okaloosa Walton Community College,
26 Chipola Community College, and Tallahassee Community College,
27 and
28 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida offers exciting events from
29 wine festivals, to seafood extravaganzas to ethnic-heritage
30 celebrations, NOW, THEREFORE,
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Florida Senate - 2003 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SR 264
4-377-03
1 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
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3 That the Florida Senate recognizes April 23, 2003, as
4 "Northwest Florida Legislative Day" in Tallahassee.
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