The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) scheduled the first of four license-free recreational fishing days on the first full weekend in April each year (April 5-6, this year), because it coincides with a productive freshwater fishing period, when the weather is usually pleasant. Many of Florida’s recreational sport fishes, including black bass, bluegill and redear sunfish, move into shallow waters to spawn during spring, making them more available for anglers to catch.

License-free freshwater fishing weekends are a great time to introduce other family members, friends and neighbors to fishing and see if they and you would like to take up the sport. Besides enjoying the fun of reeling in a fish, many people find recreational fishing to be a good motivator to enjoy the great outdoors and living a more active, healthy and natural lifestyle.

During license-free freshwater fishing weekends (the first weekend in April and the second weekend in June), no recreational fishing license is required. However, all other bag limit and season, gear and size restrictions apply.

To further encourage recreational fishing, the FWC will conduct a special contest during April to collect photos of anglers. All you have to do is post a photo of your family fishing in Florida’s fresh waters on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #FLfish (or  use #FWC-FamilyFishing). In return, the FWC will enter you into a drawing for one of six surprise packages, each including a $50 gift card from Bass Pro Shops, thanks to TrophyCatch; a Glen Lau video library on DVD; and assorted fishing lures, hooks, line and goodies to make your next trip even more productive.

Submitted photos must be your own. Editing software must not be used, and the photo cannot include inappropriate content. Photos should be taken during April while freshwater fishing in Florida and include multiple anglers enjoying their day together on the water. The FWC may subsequently use the photos for educational or outreach purposes.

So where will you go (FWC link) for your next freshwater fishing trip? Plenty of resources are available online to help you choose. Start by visiting MyFWC.com/Fishing and under “Freshwater Fishing” pick “Sites/Forecasts.” There you can find the top destinations for pursuing bass, bream, catfish and other species in 2014, as well as regional forecasts and tips for local waters; information on all 80 FWC fish management areas; and links to our boat ramp finder and freshwater fish attractor locations. Another good resource is the Take Me Fishing website.

Freshwater anglers have enjoyed wonderful fishing so far in 2014 across Florida, and this spring should see a continuation of that trend.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) incentive-based conservation program, TrophyCatch, rewards anglers for participating in citizen-science, by catching, documenting and releasing largemouth bass heavier than 8 pounds. Besides the immediate gratification of releasing these older bass to fight another day, anglers provide valuable information about the number and distribution of these trophy bass and what it takes to sustain a trophy fishery. Biologists compare the findings to existing conservation programs such as habitat restoration efforts, aquatic vegetation management strategies, bass stocking histories and various regulation management approaches to determine what works best.

Between Jan. 1 and March 23, anglers entered 220 Lunker Club, 89 Trophy Club and three Hall of Fame bass. That is a three-fold increase over the same period last year. Part is due to simplified rules and more anglers being aware. Nevertheless, it is clear that Florida is producing and recycling vast numbers or trophy bass.

You never know when you may find a lunker on the end of your line. To be prepared, visit the TrophyCatch website, register and check out the rules and prizing. Just registering makes you eligible for a random drawing in October for a Phoenix bass boat powered by Mercury and equipped with a Power-Pole. However, every time you have a TrophyCatch bass verified, your name is entered 10 more times.

Moreover, every verified bass earns you not only bragging rights on the Web but also a customized certificate, decal and club shirt, plus at least a total of $100 in gift cards from Bass Pro Shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods and/or Rapala. Bigger fish earn greater rewards: Anglers who have 13-pound-plus Hall of Fame entries also get a $500 fiberglass replica of their catch.

So far there are already four Hall of Fame bass this season. Joseph “Brooks” Morrell’s 14 pound, 9 ounce-bass from Lake Kingsley in Clay County is the current season leader. If it holds up, he will earn the TrophyCatch Championship ring in October, which is donated by the American Outdoors Fund.

However, there is still a lot of fishing to be done before then, so get out there and see what you can catch.

Bob Watterndorf is a columnist for Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. For more Fish Busters columns, visit the FWC website and select News/Monthly Columns. Instant licenses are available at on the FWC website or by calling 888-FISH-FLORIDA (347-4356).

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: FISH BUSTER'S: License-free freshwater weekend is April 5-6

CRESTVIEW — Family and friends are doing what it takes to make sure Hanna Greenfield competes in the country's second largest Arabian horse show.

It'll cost almost $3,000, including registration fees and travel costs, for the 12-year-old to participate in the Arabian Horse Association's Region XII in May in Perry, Ga., horse trainer Marissa Brown said.

Trainers at The Equestrian Center in Fort Walton Beach hope fundraisers help the Baker School student and her horse, Espania, a 20-year-old Arabian mare, make it there.

So far:

•An anonymous donor contributed $1,000.  

•Leslie Gilchrist is selling Mary Kay products and donating 80 percent of proceeds.  

•Brown created a gofundme.com account that has raised $75, as of this writing.

Such efforts are worth it, as Hanna's dedication to training earned her 20 top-placing awards in Class A competitions, family members said.

"If she is willing to go out there and do what she does with the help of her trainers (Devon Smith, Daphne Whitehead, Randee Harvell and Brown), then it's the least we can do to try and help her get the money to go," said Sharon Adams, Hanna's grandmother.

Hanna has earned 10 points in Class A shows, which is enough to compete in Perry, Brown said.

And she has earned almost 100 ribbons after participating in almost 40 competitions since 2010, trainers said.

"We are going to get her there one way or the other," Whitehead said.

Hanna said she appreciates everything the center has done for her and hopes all of her hard work pays off.

"I feel like we can still do this," she said.

Learn more about Baker School student Hanna Greenfield's fundraising efforts to participate in the Arabian Horse Association's Region XII in May at on Facebook or at gofundme.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Equestrians seek help sending Baker teen to national horse competition

When reviewing a performance by a diva of Patti LuPone's stature, it's considered posh to snootily deride her delicious over-the-topness with snarky dismissal.

"Real" reviewers can't resist that.

To be absolutely gaga-eyed when a Broadway legend's notes are ringing off the rafters is just so common, so star-struck. I'm just grateful someone took the time to entertain me.

VIDEO: Watch an excerpt of Patti LuPone singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from her March 29 concert>>

I was enthralled by her Saturday night performance at the Emerald Coast Convention Center, and sing the praises of organizations such as the Sinfonia Gulf Coast that bring such world-class talent to our neighborhood.

Of course she hits magnificently high, warbly notes and won't let them go. She's Patti LuPone, for heaven's sake! If she came out all breathy and sultry and Marlene Dietrich, I would've been severely disappointed.

I wanted those ear-tingling high notes. I wanted to see all those famous people she's played — Eva Perón, Mama Rose, Mrs. Lovett, Reno Sweeney, Nancy — up there on that stage.

Patti didn't fail me. Backed by the sometimes lush, sometimes brassy sounds of Sinfonia Gulf Coast, she took us on a musical autobiography in her "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda…played that part" show.

"I'm going to sing every song from every show I ever wanted to do," she said after the glorious overture.

Such a tease.

But the 15 numbers she did perform were a satisfyingly wonderful tour de force.

From "An English Teacher" from "Bye Bye Birdie" to "September Song," a Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson number from "Knickerbocker Holiday," we joined Patti on a giddy romp through the musical theatre songbook.

Breathtaking moments — cue those high notes, get that hand up  — included "Don't Rain on My Parade," "As Long as He Needs Me," "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Give My Regards to Broadway."

She knows how to work a room, that Patti. At last, after lamenting she didn't get the title role in "Peter Pan" and singing "Neverland" anyway, she said simply, "I got this show instead."

And then she sang IT.

THE song we were waiting for.

The sophistos may have pretended nonchalance but were secretly aching to hear it as much as we peons were.

She sang "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina," the Sinfonia doing both Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Patti soaring, sweeping, grand justice.

The night was complete. I witnessed a diva in her fabulousness and left elated.

Email News Bulletin Staff Arts and Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: REVIEW: The awesomeness of Patti

CRESTVIEW — That a jacket's fasteners could be miniature works of art probably doesn't strike the average person as he or she dresses for church.

But maybe a visit to the Crestview Public Library lobby display cases will make them think twice about the common button's artistry.

PHOTOS: See photos from Barb and Don Lanier's button collection exhibit at the Crestview Public Library>>

Valparaiso residents Don and Barb Lanier have been collecting buttons for 36 years. Their exhibit spans a wide range of subjects and vintages.

The buttonologists — "I didn't know there was such a word," reference librarian Sandra Dreaden said — display buttons ranging in subject matter from animal life to heraldic symbols.

Materials include buttons made of glass, gems, metals and locks of human hair, and buttons Barb Lanier made from pine straw.

There are clay buttons produced by American Indians, West German "moonglows" and Swiss livery buttons bearing noble families' crests.

Collectors by happenstance

The Laniers, who are members of the Florida and Texas state button societies and the National Button Society, began collecting buttons "by happenstance," Don said.

"We just wanted something to do when I retired," he said. "I'm not a golfer, I'm not into sports, I don't fish and I don't hunt and I don't chase women because Barb won't let me."

While the couple lived in San Antonio, they started buying jars of buttons at flea markets, thinking they'd separate them by material and color and create art projects.

Instead, a flea market vendor introduced them to the local button society's president, who invited them to a club meeting. Today, Don is the North Florida Button Club's president.

Among the button fanciers' cornucopia are two small, dark metal buttons bearing the United States seal. They are U.S. Army World War I button lockets that house a miniature photo of the soldier's sweetie.

"It's amazing what you can learn from a little tiny ornament that you can put on your clothes," Don Lanier said. "You can learn a lot about history from buttons."

Want to go?

Don and Barb Lanier's button collection exhibit is in the Crestview Public Library's lobby display cases through April. Residents interested in joining the North Florida Button Club may contact Don Lanier, bardon56@aol.com or 729-7594.

Email News Bulletin Staff Arts and Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Button, button: Couple's button collection provides history lessons