IMPACT’S GOT TALENT BRINGS YOU THE COMMUNITY’S BEST

Join Impact at Bloomingdale High School for the seventh annual Impact’s Got Talent and support the efforts of teaching healthy habits to teens.

On Friday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Bloomingdale High School, kindergarteners through high school seniors will be performing their talents and competing for a grand prize of $250. Enjoy the best vocalists, actors, dancers, musicians and more.

With amazing talent, special-guest judges, audience-choice votes, concessions, 50-50 ra f es and silent-auction prizes, Impact’s Got Talent is going to be a night of fun.

All ticket sales will benefit the Impact Program and its continued e f orts to inspire parents, leaders and teens to fight for a healthy lifestyle. Tickets are $10 per person and are available for purchase online.

“This is a great opportunity for students in our community to get involved while raising funds for the Impact Program,” said Angie Kagey, executive director at Impact.

The Impact Program promotes healthy lifestyles for teens by encouraging parents, teachers and leaders to empower

By Makenzie Atkins Noel

kids so they say no to things like premarital sex, drugs, tobacco and alcohol.

The three programs work with di f erent levels of the community to fight unhealthy behaviors and teach smart habits, and they are able to reach over 10,000 kids every year. Impact serves the community through schools, churches and other community organizations.

There are multiple ways you can get involved in Impact and support its mission, such as donating gas cards or bags of hard candy to Impact, helping toward its need of passenger vans used for summer programs, or volunteering as administrative support, an event volunteer or an education specialist. Businesses can also help support Impact through financial or services like printing, media, accounting or legal services.

To learn more, please contact Jennifer Crum at 863-661-3236 or crummiej2@gmail.com or visit www.whatisimpact.com/events. To purchase tickets for watching Impact’s Got Talent, visit https://impactsgottalent2023. eventbrite.com. For students and parents who are seeking help, visit www. whatisimpact.com/resources to find more educational resources.

EXPERIENCING THE ‘WILDER’ SIDE OF FLORIDA

Floridians are no strangers to alligators, as many of us have seen them in our community ponds, sunning on the grassy banks. But to experience them in the wild, or better yet, of the front bow of an airboat, is an altogether diferent experience. Wild Florida, a walkable zoo, driving safari and airboat adventure park, docks on lovely Cypress Lake just east of the Florida Turnpike, where over 600 gators enjoy their natural habitat.

Your first stop is the gift shop, which ofers a variety of unique, wildlife-themed toys, apparel and household trinkets, as well as an aquarium-housed, extremely rare albino alligator, born at Wild Florida. If you purchase the airboat tour, which we highly recommend, you walk the dock to a 15-person airboat, piloted by knowledgeable captains, who navigate their crafts on a thrill-ride-like racetrack of tall marsh grass. Protective earmufs are provided, but not required. During our visit, our boat found a cute pod of baby gators, numbering 15 or more, while the mama lurked quietly on the lake bottom nearby, afraid of our boat.

After tying up at the dock, we headed

By Jef Hoening

for the walk-through shaded gator park home to a gorgeous full-grown Florida panther named Nala, an Australian black mamba, curious lemurs, colorful macaws and much more. The park also houses its patriarch and largest alligator, the 14-foot modern-day dinosaur named Crusher. The park ofers an experience where patrons can have ‘lunch with Crusher’ in his enclosure. We found this curious, and also frightening; so, chatting with a couple of Crusher’s keepers, they commented that driving I-4 is more dangerous than entering Crusher’s lair. Yeah, no.

To complete the afternoon, we jumped in our car for the drive-through safari experience with zebras, gazelles, deer, bison and wildebeests. Pro tip: if your vehicle is approached by an ostrich, roll up your window! Cap of the drive by hand-feeding the girafe from an observation platform. Wild Florida is a terrific and fun experience for the whole family, and you’ll definitely get much more than you expect! Note the park is closed on Sundays. For more information, visit www.wildfloridairboats.com.