VERO BEACH — The annual Hibiscus Festival, scheduled for Saturday, April 16, invites area residents to come to historic downtown Vero Beach to explore and discover fun and interesting things to do. A new activity this year, sure to interest history buffs, is an exhibit set up by the Old Vero (Man) Ice Age Sites committee and sponsored by Wachovia. The exhibit, located in the parking lot adjacent to the Hibiscus Building on 14th Avenue, will educate the public about the presence of fossils at the Old Vero sites near the airport and the effort to raise funds to properly excavate them. Visitors can expect to see:
· Story boards and maps with descriptions of the Old Vero site and what was found there in 1915. Included will be Pam Cooper’s (Historical Director of the Vero Beach Main Library) traveling exhibit and story boards.
· Spectacular fossils found in Vero Beach and Indian River County by private collectors.
· Fossil Road Show (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) invites people with fossils to bring them to the exhibit tent and have them identified by a resident fossil expert.
· Taking oral histories – people bringing in fossils found locally will have an opportunity to be videoed for the purpose of cataloging where their finds have been made.
· Sand, containing fossils taken from near the Old Vero sites, will be brought in to the exhibit so that the public may have the opportunity to sift through, find fossils and have them identified by fossil experts.
· Vero Man troupe of three local students will provide Paleolithic entertainment and several skits.
· A video loop will be playing throughout the day showcasing local collectors explaining their finds and the geology of the Old Vero Sites.
· An exhibit of Ice Age Art of Mammoth carvings from around the world will be displayed, prepared by Ice Age expert, Barbara Olins Alpert of Rhode Island School of Design.
· There will also be a review with drawings and pictures of the species of animals found in Vero Beach during the Ice Age, “the most diversity of any site in Florida” according to UF
The Hibiscus Festival is presented by the City of Vero Beach to benefit Main Street Vero Beach and Vero Heritage, Inc.
Visit www.HibiscusFestival.org for all Festival sponsors and information.
