On October 21, the Florida Chapter finally helped out at the much anticipated Bat Festival! A local bat sanctuary, the Lubee Bat Conservancy, holds an annual festival to raise awareness and excitement about bats and their conservation plight. We have a few endemic species of bats in Florida and it is important to protect them!

Seventeen of our members worked throughout the day and completed one of two shifts from 9 - 5 helping sell admissions tickets, beer garden admission, and answering questions. Brothers had a fantastic time welcoming people from all over Alachua county to the festival, and stamping the guests with a bat stamp on admission.

When off-shift, we enjoyed the festival attractions including booths giving out information on bats, getting bat merch, and exploring local art and business booths. Plus, we were able to check out the bats the conservancy are currently caring for, including many amazing Flying Foxes!

Everyone had an amazing time helping a local conservancy, and the Lubee bat employees very much appreciated us. It was a heart-warming and proud moment when the Lubee volunteer organizer approached our Service Chair, Lauren Gawel, in the middle of the day and told her that our chapter was by far the most on-time, organized, and helpful group of people she had ever worked with.

We certainly are batty for service!

The Florida AZ Chapter makes coming to chapter meetings fun! For our mid-October general body chapter meeting, the theme was Oktoberfest! Plus, we had a couple of special visitors. Dr. Kaufman, who excitedly took on the role of chapter adviser this year, came to speak to all of us about a study abroad trip to Italy with his wife, also Dr. Kaufman. The male Dr. Kaufman was passionate about the program and will be teaching an entomology course on the trip, while the female Dr. Kaufman really knows her olives and will be sharing that knowledge on the trip as well! The presentation was certainly alluring, and a few of our brothers plan to take advantage this summer!
After the Italian presentation and business, we came back to our home-made German food (made by the amazing Sentinel, Stephanie Hriclk) and our Oktoberfest photo wall and cut-outs! In Florida, we work hard, eat well, and have fun. Oom Pa Pa!

After Hurricane Irma hit Florida, farms around north Florida sustained damage. The Frogmore Fresh Farm had 100,000 blueberry plants needed to be re-set. It was a huge job and the farmer is a friend of the University of Florida who stood to lose years of productivity. The University of Florida's Sigma Alpha Fraternity reached out to our Alpha Zeta chapter to ask for more help and our brothers enthusiastically jumped on the project. "We were especially excited to be able to help our community while also getting AZ back into agriculture," said our chapter's president, Virginia Propheter.

On September 16, Alpha Zeta brothers of the Florida chapter drove 1.5 hours to the blueberry farm. Once there, our members split into groups of 2 or 4 and walked the rows of blueberries. We checked each row and put uprooted plants back into the soil and added stakes and ties for support. This was an inspiring event because the farmer only expected a turnout of 20 people, but 200 people from all over the community as well as University of Florida organizations arrived to support their local farmer. "It was great to see the whole community come together to support a local producer," exclaimed AZ brother, Courtney Carroll.

After Hurricane Irma hit Florida, farms around north Florida sustained damage. The Frogmore Fresh Farm had 100,000 blueberry plants needed to be re-set. It was a huge job and the farmer is a friend of the University of Florida who stood to lose years of productivity. The University of Florida's Sigma Alpha Fraternity reached out to our Alpha Zeta chapter to ask for more help and our brothers enthusiastically jumped on the project. "We were especially excited to be able to help our community while also getting AZ back into agriculture," said our chapter's president, Virginia Propheter.

On September 16, Alpha Zeta brothers of the Florida chapter drove 1.5 hours to the blueberry farm. Once there, our members split into groups of 2 or 4 and walked the rows of blueberries. We checked each row and put uprooted plants back into the soil and added stakes and ties for support. This was an inspiring event because the farmer only expected a turnout of 20 people, but 200 people from all over the community as well as University of Florida organizations arrived to support their local farmer. "It was great to see the whole community come together to support a local producer," exclaimed AZ brother, Courtney Carroll.

On October 15, 2017, members of the Florida chapter got together at 8:30 AM to volunteer at the Gainesville Pet Rescue. Our Brothers helped the shelter by giving dogs walks and much needed and appreciated human interaction. Our members also helped clean the walking area and cages. We may even be getting a Chapter Pet named Shag via one of our members! The Florida Chapter loves helping out with our furry friends!

Our chapter reset blueberries after Hurricane Irma.