FORT PIERCE — The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation (HBOIF) has announced Alma Lee Loy as the guest of honor for the third annual “Love Your Lagoon” dinner on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 at 6 p.m. at FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1 N. in Fort Pierce.
Proceeds from the event will support the annual Indian River Lagoon Symposium and benefit scientific research on the lagoon conducted by FAU Harbor Branch.
“I am thankful for the honor of joining with FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Their continuing discoveries bring new paths to a better life for all mankind,” said Ms. Loy.
Alma Lee is a successful business owner, public servant, and steward of community organizations. Her life history of service is vast: founder of Alma Lee’s Children’s Clothing Store in Vero Beach, the first female elected to the Indian River Board of County Commissioners, and one of the first women in the state to be elected chair of a county commission.
Ms. Loy served as the president of the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce as well as the Indian River Land Trust, was a founding member and president of the county’s United Way, and is a former member of the IRSC Foundation Board of Directors.
Alma Lee’s environmental leadership was demonstrated by her passionate work to save McKee Botanical Garden from commercial development 15 years ago.
Ms. Loy was recognized in 1995 by the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce with the establishment of the Alma Lee Loy Community Service Award, and more recently with the naming of the Alma Lee Loy Chamber of Commerce Building honoring her decades of leadership in business and community organizations.
In 2012, local leaders renamed the 17th St. bridge in Vero Beach in her honor.
Ms. Loy was selected by the HBOIF board of directors to serve as this year’s guest of honor because of her long standing role in local leadership, and commitment to the environment and the Indian River Lagoon.
Major sponsors for this year’s dinner and IRL Symposium include:
Mangrove sponsor: PNC Bank, Seagrass sponsors: Joe and Jennifer Duke, Oyster sponsors: Florida Atlantic University, John and Marilyn McConnell, Jr. and Michael and Marie O’Reilly; Dolphin sponsors: Evans Properties, Inc., Katha Kissman, Ethel K. Marran and The Ethel Kennedy Foundation, Ed Lippisch and Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Michael & Misty Minton and the Law Firm of Dean, Mead, Minton and Zwemer, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, and J.J. Taylor Companies, Inc., Manatee sponsors: The Atlanta Consulting Group, AT&T, Mrs. Jean Geddes, Marilyn C. Link, William J. and Laurie Stewart, Esq., Southeastern Printing, Stuart Magazine, Michael and Carol Toner, and Wells Fargo.
Seahorse sponsors: Adams Ranch, Aesthetic Dentistry of Palm City, Berger, Toombs, Elam, Gaines & Frank CPA, C. Amos Bussmann and Sea Technology Magazine, Florida Power & Light Company, Marine Bank & Trust, Tom and Sherry Plymale, Kevin & Marsha Powers, Robert Stilley and The Honorable MaryLynn Magar, and John and Nan Warner.
HBOIF is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission supports Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, a research institute of Florida Atlantic University.
For more information, please contact Colleen Brennan at (772) 466-9876 ext. 222 or by email at CBrennan@HBOIFoundation.org.
