Central Florida Chapter General Meeting - April 17

### NEXT: Central Florida Chapter General Meeting – April 17

📍 Leu Gardens – Magnolia Room

🕡 6:30pm – Social Time | 7:00pm – Presentation Begins
Join us for our monthly meeting at Leu Gardens! We'll kick off with some social time at 6:30pm, so feel free to bring a snack to share with the group. The presentation will start at 7:00pm.

🎤 Guest Speaker: Leslie Poole, an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Rollins College and an award-winning writer and historian.
In Tracing Florida Journeys, Leslie Poole delves into the stories of explorers and travelers who came to the peninsula and wrote about their experiences—looking at their words and the paths they took through a modern lens.

You’ll hear about:
✅ John Muir and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s romanticized visions of “paradise”
✅ John James Audubon’s encounters with the rich birdlife of the Keys
✅ Zora Neale Hurston’s travels to turpentine camps and sawmills to document voices of the time
✅ Tales of shipwrecks from Jonathan Dickinson and Stephen Crane
✅ The brutal realities of Hernando de Soto’s 1539 expedition
Poole uses journals, historical writings, and her own personal explorations to draw comparisons between the Florida of the past and the bustling, transformed state we know today. This presentation will give you a new appreciation for Florida’s deep-rooted natural and cultural history.

🌿 Half-Back Raffle – Win Some Cash!
Don’t forget to participate in our 1/2 back raffle! Tickets are $1 each or six for $5—the winner takes home half the pot!
📅 Date: April 17th
⏰ Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm
📍 Location: Leu Gardens – Magnolia Room
We look forward to seeing you there!