THE LAST EGRET

Meet Harvey E. Oyer III, author of The Last Egret, at 1 p.m., Oct. 7 at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables. The book reading and signing is part of the upcoming Fairchild Bird Festival.

Oyer’s special book was recently chosen by the Miami Dade County Public Schools for integration into the fourth grade curriculum. It also won a Mom’s Choice Award.

The festival will take place Oct. 6-7 and will be preceded by two days of off-site birding tours around South Florida. To find out more about the schedule for half- and full-day tours, contact Natalie White Bernal at 305-663-8091; or nwhite@fairchildgarden.org. All field trips will be lead by Tropical Audubon Society Leaders. Registered attendees will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Visitor Center at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and leave as a group.

More information about Fairchild’s Bird Festival is at www.fairchildgarden.org and on Facebook and Twitter.

BE READY TO VOTE

Maribel Balbin, president of the League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade, will be the guest speaker at the New Neighbors Club of South Dade luncheon starting at 11 a.m. on Oct. 10 at the Coral Gables Country Club, 997 N. Greenway Dr. The topic is “Be Ready to Vote: Constitutional Amendments on the 2012 Ballot." Balbin will discuss the 11 proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution that will be on the ballot in November.

The cost of this event is $25. Reservations are required and the deadline is 6 p.m., Oct. 4. Contact Rita Casagrande at 305-595-0213, ritafosse@yahoo.com.

LEARN WITH ROTARY

Comprised of professionals and business executives who live and/or work in the area, the Rotary Club of Miami Dadeland-Pinecrest meets for breakfast every Monday from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the Dadeland Marriott Hotel, 9090 S. Dadeland Blvd.

Upcoming speakers include: Yanick “Nicky” Louis-Lindquist who will talk about her project “Building a Children’s Oasis in Haiti” on Oct. 1; novelist Annette Jahnel, the author of “My Year of Beds,” on Oct. 8; and Michael Rosenberg who will discuss “The Pets’ Trust - The Tragedy of Pet Overpopulation and How We Can Fix It” on Oct. 15.

The club’s vocational service director David Kinney will introduce Pinecrest’s new police chief Samuel Ceballos Jr. at the club’s Oct. 22 meeting when the Police Officer of the Year award will be announced as well. On Oct. 29, the Group Study Exchange Team from India will visit. For more, contact Ron Lieberman, 305-613-6744, miamilawyr@aol.com or Tom Boswell, 786-417-6003, tboswell1@yahoo.com.