Title: Legal Holidays and Special Observances

Summary: Designating the second Monday in October of each year as "Sir Lancelot Jones Day" in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties; encouraging public officials, schools, private organizations, and citizens in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties to commemorate the occasion, etc.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, born in 1898 on a 22-foot boat in Biscayne Bay, entrepreneur and farmer Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones prospered by supplying the nation with Key limes and was an expert fishing guide sought by five presidents and numerous senators, influential industrialists, and other cultural icons eager to experience the beauty of the bay s wildlife, and WHEREAS, Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones lived most of his years on the tiny island known as Porgy Key, near the southern end of Biscayne Bay, which was first settled by his pioneer father and Bahamian mother in 1897 in an area long associated with African American maritime history and which is now on the National Register of Historical Places, and WHEREAS, given the adjacent ecosystems of southern Biscayne Bay and the northern Florida Keys, the lifelong conservation and education efforts of Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones are of significant importance to Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, and WHEREAS, often referred to as the  Sage of Caesar Creek,  Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones became an educator of schoolchildren and a conservationist whose resolute values toward the preservation of Biscayne Bay greatly contributed to the establishment of Biscayne National Park, which was created to preserve and protect area wildlife for the education, inspiration, recreation, and enjoyment of present and future generations, and WHEREAS, Biscayne National Park is home to a rare combination of terrestrial, marine, and amphibious life in a tropical and subtropical setting of great natural beauty, which annually draws an average of 500,000 visitors, contributes more than $34 million to the state s economy, and supports jobs, and WHEREAS, the invaluable efforts of Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones to preserve the land he loved and to ensure that future generations would delight in its beauty and abundance have resulted in significant economic, ecological, and cultural contributions to the state, its heritage, and its future, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 683.095, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 683.095 Sir Lancelot Jones Day; Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. The second Monday in October of each year is designated as  Sir Lancelot Jones Day  in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties to commemorate the contributions of Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones in the preservation of Biscayne Bay and the establishment of Biscayne National Park. Public officials, schools, private organizations, and all citizens in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties are encouraged to honor the legacy of Sir Lancelot Garfield Jones and his contributions to the state by commemorating Sir Lancelot Jones Day on the second Monday in October of each year. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.