The money raised supports the programs of the Florida Hemophilia Association: education, advocacy, financial assistance, and outreach. For additional opportunities such as Corporate, Major and Crystal Cup sponsorships, or to learn more about the association and ways you can contribute, visit www.floridahemophilia.org or call Debbi Adamkin at 305-235-0717 or 1-888-880-8330.

TREES AND WREATHS

Start your holiday celebrations at the 35th annual sale of Christmas trees and wreaths presented by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade. The tree lot’s 2012 grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 4:30 p.m., Nov. 19 at 2805 SW 32nd Ave. Santa Claus will attend along with local dignitaries.

The tree lot will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week until Dec. 15 or until trees are sold out. The beautiful Fraser firs from North Carolina stand five to 14 feet tall and sell for $55 and up. Plain and hand-decorated wreaths start at $35.

All proceeds from the sale of the trees and wreaths will benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade, which serves 10,000 children in Miami-Dade County with positive programs year-round. The clubs have been serving youth in the community since 1940. For more information, visit www.bgcmia.org.

CONGRATULATIONS

Veteran trial attorney Robert L. Parks is the recipient of the 2012 Perry Nichols Award, the Florida Justice Association’s most prestigious award given each year to a Floridian who has fought with distinction for justice.

Established in 1977, the award is a permanent tribute to Perry Nichols, an FJA founder and nationally renowned Florida trial attorney. Past recipients include Gov. Reubin Askew, Sen. Claude D. Pepper, Gov. Leroy Collins, Justice James Adkins, Al J. Cone, Robert Orseck, William Colson, and Christian D. Searcy.

“Bob Parks richly deserves the Perry Nichols Award, and I only wish that there were 50 attorneys in Florida who would surrender with a smile and joyfully volunteer their time to make our state a better place to live and work as Bob has,” said Nathaniel Reed, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, in a release.

Parks, a nationally recognized trial attorney, has more than 48 years of experience. Since 1964, he has represented plaintiffs in hundreds of personal injury, wrongful death, aviation, offshore resort litigation, watercraft, large manufacturing and automobile cases here and around the world.

He is also a longtime environmental advocate who served as volunteer chairman of the state’s Environmental Regulation Commission from 1978 to 1986. Awards include The National Audubon Society’s Environmentalist of the Year. Parks was an original member of 1,000 Friends of Florida, where he served as litigation chair for 13 years.

He has provided hundreds of hours of pro bono services annually throughout his career including more than 600 hours over the last four years serving as volunteer co-chair of the highly successful “Together We Must” fundraising campaign for Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.

A member of the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association, the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, and co-author of two chapters in Kreindler’s Aviation Accident Law for Matthew Bender & Co., on “Military Accidents” and “Air Traffic Control Negligence,” Parks won the prestigious War Horse Award in 2011. This is the highest honor given by the Southern Trial Lawyers Association.

Friend and fellow trial attorney Aaron Podhurst said, “Bob Parks is a credit to the legal profession, not only because he is a great trial lawyer, but he exemplifies the need to be a community-minded person and to give his time to the less fortunate.”