Greeting from Doug Shaffer, President

During the past four years, I have been a volunteer at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park as well as a volunteer with several other organizations. I am looking forward to serving as the Friends' President for the coming year.

This year we have completed our new 8,000 square foot Felburn Wildlife Care Center. In addition, the Visitors Center's new picnic pavilion is completed with wheelchair excess and a safety fence to protect the children from the tram road. The new boardwalk has been installed, and we are currently in the process of constructing a new River Otter exhibit and a Red Wolf exhibit for the Red Wolves that will be arriving this fall. We have installed a sanitizing booth for hand washing in conjunction with the outreach programs with our wildlife.

The Friends will be working with Park staff during upcoming events, including the Haunted Tram Rides on the evenings of October 24 and 25. This has been very successful and a fun event. Our annual Celebration of Lights will be held from December 19 through December 24. Every year this event becomes bigger, brighter and more exciting. We will also be having our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 11. In addition, the Friends will be holding our annual Membership picnics during the year.

The money raised by our Friends organization during these events is used for the enrichment of the animals and improvements to visitor facilities. All money collected from memberships, donation boxes or private donations is used in our Park. Please stop by and see the improvements that your money has contributed.

This year the Friends, with the financial support from Progress Energy, held the very successful and rewarding annual camp in June for children entering the third and fourth grades and in July for those entering the fifth and sixth grades.

The Friends of Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, Inc., is a non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible. If you have not joined the Friends of Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, please consider joining us. Membership includes free admission to the Park on the second Saturday of each month for your entire immediate family. Our quarterly Friends to Friends newsletter includes the dates of the membership picnics and future events.

If you are seeking a rewarding experience, we encourage you to volunteer at the Park. We have a great, giving family at our Park. We salute all volunteers of all organizations. From the bottom my heart, thank you!

Thank you for visiting our website, and we hope you will visit the Park soon.

Sincerely,

Doug Shaffer