Make March Memories in the Florida Keys with Fun Events, Special Offers from KeysCaribbean Resort Villas & Marinas

March In The Keys Features Events Like A Conch Shell Blowing Contest, Seafood Festival, Fishing Tourney Hosted By An Iconic Super Bowl-winning Coach, And A Celebration Of Pets.

March brings unique events to the Florida Keys and the KeysCaribbean Luxury Resort Villas & Marinas salutes four fun Keys events in particular and offers three rewarding reasons to enjoy a getaway to the Keys.

“The Longer You Stay in Paradise, The More You Save” special discount offers a lower nightly rate for each additional day booked, and guests can receive generous rates of up to 50 percent off, or complimentary night stays at all KeysCaribbean luxury resorts all season. There is also an advance booking special that requires no deposit until two weeks prior to arrival date; plus a 100 percent cancellation guarantee. 

KeysCaribbean Luxury Resort Villas & Marinas logo

March in the Florida Keys is the ideal time to check out such signature events as a conch shell blowing contest, a seafood festival, a fishing tournament hosted by an iconic football coach, and a festival for pets and people alike.

Key West hosts the 54th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest March 5 at the Oldest House on Duval Street. Enthusiastic contestants pucker up and demonstrate their shell-blowing talents. Sometimes called the Conch Honk, there is no cost to enter or to compete, and no experience is necessary. Conch shells are available for purchase for those who do not have their own. This annual Contest celebrates the historic importance of the conch in the Keys, where the far-reaching sounds from conch shells were used by the Calusa Indians for communication, by sailors as fog horns, and by early Key West citizens to signal salvagers that a sinking ship was spotted offshore.

One of the middle Keys’ signature family events, the Marathon Seafood Festival, takes over Marathon Community Park March 12 and 13. The festival offers delicacies from the waters of the Florida Keys as well as live music, vendor booths, sweets, treats and beverages. Nearby luxury Florida Keys accommodations are available at Coral Lagoon Resort Villas & Marina and Indigo Reef Resort Villas & Marina in Marathon, and Village at Hawks Cay Villas & Marina in Duck Key. The resorts offer with free Wi-Fi Internet and free unlimited local and long distance calls, as well as the up to 50 percent special discount. Guests can also receive a complimentary night with a minimum stay of three nights at Village at Hawks Cay or five nights at Coral Lagoon or Indigo Reef.

Key Largo welcomes back Jimmy Johnson’s National Billfish Championship March 9-12. Hosted by the two-time Super Bowl winning coach and former head coach at the University of Miami, this prestigious event benefits the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. All anglers on the winning boat receive authentic, custom-designed Jimmy Johnson National Billfish Championship rings. Attendees can enjoy luxury Key Largo accommodations at Mariner’s Resort Villas & Marina, including courtesy Wi-Fi Internet and unlimited local and long distance calls. There is also an up-to-50-percent-off special discount and every fourth night is on-the-house with a minimum three night stay. 

Dog lovers can unite to raise pet population awareness and adopt rescues at Keys Woofstock: Peace, Paws and Music March 18 and 19 in Islamorada. Festival goers can “paws” for the cause to browse and buy products for pets and people at vendor booths, enjoy a full slate of live bands, enjoy food and beverages, participate in goodie bag giveaways and contests, and more at this far-out and fur-friendly festival. Participants can enjoy stellar Islamorada accommodations at Angler’s Reef Resort Villas & Marina, which offers all the amenities of a classic-sport fishing resort.

“March in the Florida Keys bring us beautiful weather and events that are unique to the Keys. And visitors can take advantage of our great deals, including our special discount of up to 50 percent off our normal rates, as well as our complimentary night stay packages and advance booking rate,” said Sam Schorr, KeysCaribbean managing director. 

KeysCaribbean is a boutique resort company specializing in operating Florida Keys resort villas and marinas from Key Largo to Key West. CEO Craig Hunt, the former vice chairman of Intercontinental Hotel Group and past president of Holiday Inn Worldwide, along with managing director Sam Schorr, possess more than 60 years of experience in operating and marketing unique and exclusive destination resorts and marinas. 

KeysCaribbean is committed to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Green Lodging Florida program. Mariner’s Resort Villas & Marina is designated as a Green Lodging property by the Florida Green Lodging Program.

Discounts are subject to availability. Some restrictions apply to the 100 percent cancellation guarantee. To receive the advance booking special, booking must be made a minimum of 30 days prior to arrival date. Complimentary night stays require minimum night stays, have limited availability and certain restrictions apply. Please see the KeysCaribbean website for more details. For reservations book direct at www.keyscaribbean.com or call 305.853.5000. 

Women’s History Month: “Papellibrium,” a Site Specific Installation from 30,000 Recycled Art Invitations

“Women and Their Work” Exhibit Featuring Artist Orna Feinstein coming to Austin, Texas

Houston-based artist Orna Feinstein, a mixed media artist specializing in printmaking and sculpture, will showcase “Papellibrium,” her new site-specific paper installation, at Women and Their Work (1710 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX 78701). The exhibit begins Saturday, March 12 and runs through Thursday, April 28, 2016. An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday March 12 from 7:00-9:00 pm. and is free to the public.

Papellibrium paper installation detail (PRNewsFoto/Orna Feinstein)

Papellibrium is a floor installation made of more than 30,000 re-purposed art invitations that Feinstein has collected over the past decade. It seeks to challenge preconceived notions of the traditional gallery space, delivering an engaging contemporary installation where the use of space is limited only to the floor.

Papellibrium paper installation (PRNewsFoto/Orna Feinstein)

The installation compares, contrasts and balances art and science, and creates soft tension between the organic and geometric. Combining the invitations on the floor into swirling patterns, Feinstein makes powerful use of the different palettes on the cards and breathes new life into these humble materials. The curving shapes created simultaneously reference a field of flowers and a cross section of vascular cambium that could be from a plant anatomy book, a concept that operates both on a cellular and exterior level, and references the concept of equilibrium in which all biological systems survive, co-exist, and function.

Exhibition catalog with an essay by Valerie Cassel Oliver, senior curator at Contemporary Art Museum Houston will be available at Women and Their Work.

Feinstein’s retrospective exhibition “Fifteen Years of Contemporary Printmaking” has traveled around Texas and was hosted by The Museum of the Southwest in Midland, the Museum of Geometric and Madi Art in Dallas, Galveston Arts Center, and the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont. She has been exhibiting extensively in group and solo shows throughout the United States and Europe including International Print Center New York, the 14th Print Biennale in Taiwan, and Douro Biennial 2016 in Portugal.

Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Printing Museum Houston, the Museum of Geometric and Madi Art Dallas and Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Greece.

For more information please contact Orna Feinstein 713-562-7495, Email or visit www.ornafeinstein.com.

Merrell Signals Change with Launch of ‘Do What’s Natural’ Campaign

New Platform Focuses on “Removing Barriers to Enjoying the Outdoors”

Leading outdoor performance brand, Merrell, announces its new integrated brand platform ‘Do What’s Natural.‘ The platform will debut with a new integrated marketing campaign, including traditional advertising and consumer activation through social media, ambassadors, and partnerships. Merrell’s new rallying cry speaks to the individual outdoor instinct in each of us and will inspire young-at-heart adventurers to make the outdoors their own. The new brand platform will launch in early March.

“For 35 years we have been making the best outdoor products in the industry and we are now making the largest investment we have ever made to tell that story through ‘Do What’s Natural,’” said Linda Brunzell, Chief Marketing Officer. “Our messaging, content, and product will be focused on our belief that nothing should get in the way of enjoying active outdoor adventures.”

The ‘Do What’s Natural’ platform will expand across all marketing channels with:

– A rich social and advertising campaign encouraging our young-at-heart-adventurer consumers to make the outdoors their own by doing what feels right/natural. The messaging will contain a balance of wit and grit that represents the performance and playfulness consumers associate with the Merrell brand.

– The development of a Global Ambassador Team, who embody their love for the outdoors through their work, for strategic activations to help share the brand story with new adventurers.

– The multi-year global partnership with the world’s largest event series, Tough Mudder. In the spirit of Merrell’s commitment to bringing outdoor experiences to wide and new audiences, the partnership will unite two brands with worldwide communities of outdoor enthusiasts who value teamwork, fun, unique experiences along with physical and mental challenges.

– A redesigned launch of www.Merrell.com and Merrell stores, will feature a cohesive new design that highlights meaningful and engaging content that brings the Merrell story to life and enhances the consumer experience both in-store and online.

“With our ‘Do What’s Natural’ integrated campaign, we want consumers to experience Merrell – anytime, anywhere,” added Brunzell. “We will provide a first-in-class experience at every touch point and will engage with our consumers like never before.“

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation Announces Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D. Will Receive the 2016 Lincoln Leadership Prize

World-Renowned Presidential Historian And Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author’s Epic Tome Team Of Rivals Was The Winner Of The Lincoln Prize And The Inaugural Book Prize For American History.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation (ALPLF) will award its prestigious Lincoln Leadership Prize to Doris Kearns Goodwin, the world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Goodwin is the first historian to receive the coveted Prize and receives it in the ALPLF’s 16^th Jubilee – 2016 in which it commemorates 16 years of protecting, preserving and advancing the legacy of the 16^th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation Announces world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D. Will Receive the 2016 Lincoln Leadership Prize (PRNewsFoto/Abraham Lincoln Presidential Li)

The Lincoln Leadership Prize is an annual award that recognizes outstanding individuals for a lifetime of service in the spirit of the 16^th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln and honors individuals who manifest great strength of character, individual conscience and unwavering commitment to the defining principles of democracy. Since 2006, the ALPLF has awarded the Prize to nine prestigious individuals who work tirelessly in the Lincoln tradition. Previous honorees include Civil Rights Activists The Little Rock Nine, Filmmaker Steven Spielberg, 42^nd President of the United States Bill Clinton, former Polish President Lech Walesa, Journalist Tim Russert, Astronaut James Lovell, Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation supports the collections and the educational and cultural programming of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum; fosters Lincoln scholarship through the acquisition and publication of documentary materials relating to Lincoln and his era; and promotes a greater appreciation of history through exhibits, conferences, publications, online services, and other activities designed to promote historical literacy.

Goodwin authored “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” which served in-part as the basis of 2015 Lincoln Leadership Prize recipient Steven Spielberg‘s major motion picture “Lincoln.” She has been an advocate for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum from its inception more than 10 years ago and serves as a founding Life Member of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation Board. Among her many honors and awards, Goodwin is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, Lincoln Prize and the inaugural Book Prize for American History, as well as the Charles Frankel Prize, given by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Sarah Josepha Hale Medal, New England Book Award, Carl Sandburg Literary Award and Ohioana Book Award.

“I am honored to accept this award celebrating the leadership legacy of President Abraham Lincoln,” said Goodwin. “For me, no privilege has been greater than the opportunity to spend 10 years of my life living with Abraham Lincoln as I researched and wrote ‘Team of Rivals.’ I came to know, understand and admire Lincoln for his political genius and leadership along with his humanity, generosity of spirit, social conscience and sense of humor. Now, more than two centuries after his birth, we can say with absolute certainty that the ambition that powered Lincoln from his earliest days – the desire to establish an admirable reputation on earth so that his story could be told after he died – has been realized far beyond his fondest wishes.”

Award-winning playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner will present the Lincoln Leadership Prize to Goodwin the evening of Friday, May 13, during a gala event at the Hilton Chicago. Kushner wrote the screenplay for Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which was based in-part on Goodwin’s book. Kushner also wrote screenplays for Mike Nichols‘ film of his award-winning two-part play, “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Parts One and Two” and Spielberg’s “Munich.” Additionally, Kushner is known for his plays, “A Bright Room Called Day;” and the abovementioned “Angels in America,” and his musical, “Caroline, or Change.”

The annual event serves as the primary fundraiser for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation for the benefit of the Museum and Library, which is not a part of the National Archives Records Administration‘s federal system of presidential libraries.

“It has been my pleasure to learn from Doris Kearns Goodwin as we strive to preserve Lincoln’s legacy here in the Land of Lincoln,” said Dr. Carla Knorowski, Chief Executive Officer, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. “Presidential libraries are repositories of historic information, artifacts and documents for our nation’s posterity. It is important that we all take on this mantle to study, celebrate and bring history to life so people understand and learn from it. We are grateful for Goodwin’s commitment and passion to telling Abraham Lincoln’s story, the story of the American presidency and stories about other leaders in our treasured history. We are so pleased to honor her. She is most deserving of the Prize. And, we are looking forward to seeing Kushner and Goodwin together, since they were instrumental in bringing Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ to life on the big screen.”

For more information about the Lincoln Leadership Prize please visit www.alplm.org. For tickets and/or table sponsorship information please call 312/553-2000.