Senate Bill sb2640
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Florida Senate - 2002 (Corrected Copy) SR 2640
By Senator Clary
7-2145A-02
1 Senate Resolution No. ____
2 A resolution recognizing March 6, 2002, 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 unique and
22 distinct due to the snow-white sand that is composed of quartz
23 crystals washed down from the Appalachian Mountains centuries
24 ago and to its waters that appear emerald green due to light
25 reflecting off the photo-synthetic micro-algae that are
26 suspended in the crystal clear water, and
27 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida is home to eight military
28 bases, including Eglin Air Force Base, which is the largest
29 air base in the Department of Defense; Pensacola Naval Air
30 Station, home of the Blue Angels; Hurlburt Field, which is the
31 oldest, largest, and most seasoned unit in the Air Force
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Florida Senate - 2002 (Corrected Copy) SR 2640
7-2145A-02
1 Special Operations Command; Whiting Field; Tyndall Air Force
2 Base; Duke Field; Coastal Systems Station; the United States
3 Coast Guard; and the world renowned National Museum of Naval
4 Aviation, and
5 WHEREAS, today at noon we were honored to have a
6 flyover by aircraft from Eglin Air Force Base which are
7 assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing's 60th Fighter Squadron and
8 fully armed and ready to defend us in Operation Noble Eagle,
9 and
10 WHEREAS, the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force
11 Base has supported America's effort to combat terrorism by
12 developing precision-guided weapons that have played a major
13 role in the efforts in Afghanistan and more than 60 percent of
14 the bombs dropped in Afghanistan were precision-guided
15 weapons, most of them developed at Eglin Air Force Base, and
16 WHEREAS, Eglin Air Force Base has sent more than 1,000
17 military members to support Operation Enduring Freedom and
18 Operation Noble Eagle to bases throughout the world, and
19 Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing and its 728th Air Control Squadron
20 have supported homeland defense by keeping watch on our cities
21 and the skies over the United States, and
22 WHEREAS, Duke Field's 919th Special Operations Wing has
23 deployed more than 500 people and its aircraft to support
24 special operations missions worldwide and more than 85 percent
25 of its 1,300 members live and work in the Florida Panhandle,
26 and
27 WHEREAS, the Island of Saint Rose, now known as Santa
28 Rosa Island, was the site of the first colonial settlement in
29 North America in 1559, and
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Florida Senate - 2002 (Corrected Copy) SR 2640
7-2145A-02
1 WHEREAS, in 1861, the Battle of Santa Rosa Island was
2 fought when the Confederacy tried and failed to overtake Fort
3 Pickens, held by the Union throughout the Civil War, and
4 WHEREAS, Pensacola Beach had the area's first tourist
5 attraction when Pensacola boosters lobbied in 1886 to have
6 Geronimo imprisoned at Fort Pickens, and
7 WHEREAS, Milton is considered by the Florida
8 Legislature to be Florida's Canoe Capitol of Florida, and
9 Navarre is known as the "best kept secret", and
10 WHEREAS, Pensacola is known as the city of five flags
11 due to the city's being occupied by the Spanish, French,
12 British, Confederacy, and the United States at some point in
13 its history, and its historic district is a national historic
14 landmark and was voted as the seventh most polite city in the
15 nation, and
16 WHEREAS, Ft. Walton Beach is known for its Indian
17 Temple Mound Museum which was a political and cultural center
18 for Native Americans approximately 800 years ago and as a
19 national historic landmark, it holds the finest collection of
20 prehistoric Native American ceramics in the United States, and
21 WHEREAS, Ft. Walton Beach is the Billfish Capital of
22 the World and has the annual Billy Bowlegs Festival, and
23 WHEREAS, Destin is the home of the largest
24 charter-boat-fishing fleet in Florida and in the entire Gulf
25 of Mexico, and
26 WHEREAS, Destin Harbor was the setting for a very
27 successful movie, Jaws, and the Seaside community was the
28 setting for "The Truman Show," starring Jim Carrey, and
29 WHEREAS, Sopchoppy is the earthworm capital of Florida,
30 and Port St. Joe is the sight of Florida's First
31 Constitutional Convention, and
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Florida Senate - 2002 (Corrected Copy) SR 2640
7-2145A-02
1 WHEREAS, Panama City Beach is the self-styled seafood
2 capital of the world, the home of Florida's longest pier, and
3 is known as the Wreck Capital of the South for its artificial
4 dive sights, and
5 WHEREAS, Franklin County has no major highways or stop
6 lights but is a "cool" place to visit due to the fact that it
7 is the home of Dr. John Gorrie who invented a machine that is
8 the predecessor to refrigeration and air conditioning and
9 Apalachicola Bay produces 90 percent of the state's annual
10 oyster harvest, and
11 WHEREAS, Tallahassee is the capital city of Florida and
12 the home of the Florida Legislature in which Northwest Florida
13 is represented by Senators Durell Peaden, Al Lawson, Richard
14 Mitchell, and Charlie Clary, and Representatives Greg Evers,
15 Jerry Maygarden, Holly Benson, Jerry Melvin, Don Brown, Allan
16 Bense, Bev Kilmer, Curtis Richardson, Loranne Ausley, and Will
17 Kendrick, and
18 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida is the home of 11
19 universities and community colleges, including the University
20 of West Florida, Florida State University-Panama City Campus,
21 Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
22 University, Troy State University-Ft. Walton Beach Campus,
23 Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola Christian College, Gulf
24 Coast Community College, Okaloosa Walton Community College,
25 Chipola Community College, and Tallahassee Community College,
26 and
27 WHEREAS, Madison Oakes is a student at Van R. Butler
28 Elementary in Walton County and the winner of the Northwest
29 Florida Legislative Day poster art contest, and
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Florida Senate - 2002 (Corrected Copy) SR 2640
7-2145A-02
1 WHEREAS, Northwest Florida offers exciting events from
2 wine festivals to seafood extravaganzas to ethnic-heritage
3 happenings, NOW, THEREFORE,
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5 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
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7 That the Florida Senate recognizes March 6, 2002, as
8 "Northwest Florida Legislative Day" in Tallahassee.
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