Community Calendar

Join us for VETFest 2025, a vibrant celebration of veterans, active duty service members, and their families. Held in the heart of St. Petersburg, this free community event brings together local organizations, resources, and entertainment to honor those who served.

Highlights Include:

VA Benefits Assistance & Claims Support
Free Living Will & Health Care Surrogate Forms
Expungement/Sealing of Criminal Records
Disaster Relief Resources
Raffles, giveaways, and free Publix gift cards for early registrants
Community booths, music, and refreshments

Whether you're a veteran, a caregiver, or a supporter, VETFest is your chance to connect, celebrate, and access valuable services—all in a welcoming, festive atmosphere.

Admission is free. No registration required for attendees.

To table the event or to share resources, contact: ajones@bals.org

🌟Save the Date and join us for the 2025 Twinkle Ball! On Wednesday, November 12, The Ora will light up with moving stories from our Campus of Hope & Healing, as we celebrate FIVE years of impact for children and families in foster care through our work. Sponsorship opportunities are available ✨

Join us for the Sierra Club Adventure Coast Group Meetup on Wednesday, November 12th at the Historic Brooksville Womans Club, 131 South Main Street in Brooksville. Public welcome, bring a friend!

The Withlacoochee River is one of the longest and most scenic rivers in the state and Florida’s third largest river that winds through eight counties. Dr. Fulkerson will share the unique dynamics of the Green Swamp and Withlacoochee River and Green Swamp based on his comprehensive model of the entire Withlacoochee River Watershed and survey of the river’s entire 160-mile-length.

Over the past 20 years, he has led a variety of projects at the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) aimed at identifying flood risk and developing a better understanding of the region's water resources. Dr. Fulkerson is a Citrus County native who grew up paddling, fishing, and camping along many of our region’s waterways. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering and both a Master’s and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on water resources.

Social at 6:30pm, Zoom presentation by Dr. Fulkerson 7pm-8pm. Join the meeting in person or via Zoom.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/i3FlAy3QQOWKQdluvEi4Hw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting
For more information, check out our website at www.sierraclub.org/florida/adventure-coast, email sierraclubadventurecoastcc@gmail.com or call 352 277-3330. Find us on Facebook.

A comedic murder mystery, complete with mistaken identities, six million bucks in diamonds, and a corpse in a wheelchair. An unassuming English shoe salesman who is forced to take the embalmed body of his recently murdered uncle on a vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed in passing his uncle off as alive, Harry Witherspoon stands to inherit six million dollars. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn...or else his uncle's gun-toting ex!

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
(October 31 - November 15, 2025)
Duplicity, disguises, and delightful deception in 18th century Naples.
Così fan tutte, or The School for Lovers, follows the story of two naive young soldiers who prank their brides-to-be to test their faithfulness. But the sisters to whom they are betrothed have plans of their own. Find out who ends up schooling whom in Mozart's delightful comedy with a masterful score.

Performance Dates & Times:
Friday, October 31, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 13, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT) is pleased to announce the first show in its 2025-2026 “Soul Of A People” theatre season: “Purlie.” The production runs from October 8 through November 9, 2025 in The Donelly Theatre of WBTT (1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota). In this fun-loving musical, a dynamic traveling preacher, Purlie Victorious Judson, returns to his small Georgia town – still enmeshed in Jim Crow times – to shake things up and change lives. The self-taught preacher plans to open an abandoned church and ring the bell of freedom. The Tony Award-winning play made its Broadway debut in 1970 at the Broadway Theatre before transferring to the Winter Garden Theatre, completing its 688-performance run at the ANTA Playhouse. The musical is based on Ossie Davis’s 1961 play, “Purlie Victorious.“ The play explores themes of race, injustice, community, and the struggle for freedom and equality in the American South. The original Broadway show starred Cleavon Little and Melba Moore, who both won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for their portrayals of Purlie and Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, respectively. The play was revived on Broadway in 2023 to critical acclaim. Performances take place Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Individual tickets are $54/adults, $24/students (25 and under) and active military, and $44/adults for preview shows (first three nights of the run). Visit westcoastblacktheatre.org or call the Box Office (941-366-1505) for tickets.

This year, the Climate Adaptation Center's (CAC) conference will focus on How Climate Warming Is Reshaping Florida’s Ecosystems. The CAC will bring together leading scientists and biodiversity experts for an immersive, solutions-driven event focused on one of the most urgent challenges of our time: the impact of climate warming on biodiversity.

Whether you’re guiding decisions for your organization, community, government, or philanthropy, or simply want to understand what’s at stake, this event is designed for people who want to turn knowledge into action.

🌎 Learn what’s changing in Florida’s ecosystems
🌿 Understand how biodiversity loss affects everything from agriculture to tourism
💡 Discover innovative adaptation and resilience strategies from top experts
🤝 Connect with leaders shaping the future of Florida’s environment

Go nose to nose with Big John, the World’s Largest Triceratops, in an immersive and playful dinosaur exhibit at the Glazer Children’s Museum in Downtown Tampa. Whether you have a child at home or not, all are welcome to visit this colossal exhibit, 66 million years in the making.

La Grande Illusion is a major exhibition of works by internationally acclaimed artist, Brian Maguire. The exhibition spans two decades of work that spotlights the artist’s lifelong quest to draw attention to global injustices, war, and human rights. One of Ireland's leading cultural figures, Maguire has turned the practice and tradition of painting into acts of visual testimony. Maguire’s paintings are global in scope and are derived from projects undertaken between 2007 and 2024 in Mexico, the Mediterranean, Syria, Sudan, the United States, and the Amazon. Maguire's artworks are painted from direct experience and involve the artist spending extensive time on the ground with the communities that welcome him. The results are, plainly put, paintings that visualize the commonality of human suffering and dramatize the plight of people in need.

Find something for everyone on your list with unique gifts made by local artists and vendors at the Tampa Museum of Art’s Holiday Shopping Event! Explore the Harrod Family Museum Store’s extraordinary selection of jewelry, books, home accessories, stationery, children’s items and more! Art+ Members save 20%! l Not-yet-Members save 10%

Local Artists Include: Lisi-Tana Stationery, Designs by Moni Stationery, Samantha Uttech Jewelry Design, Lonni Hopkins Jewelry Design, Mill Atty Maison Accessories