The 2012 Grand National is coming...
Our Nations First City Grand National

Here in Florida we seem to have been enjoying a nice spring for several months now. This time of year Floridians spruce up their gardens and snow birds come down and get sunburnt as they forget how long they have spent in the sun. 

The Florida sun has beckoned so many for so long. In 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon was the first Spanish explorer to record a visit to what is now Florida. He left Puerto Rico on March 4 and arrived on Florida coast on April 2 with three ships, the Santiago, the San Cristobal and the Santa Maria de la Consolacion. He named his discovery La Florida in honor of the Easter season and the Spanish festival of flowers.  How could those early explorers imagine the beauty and peace that can be found in Florida today. I am sure that many of the members of the Cadillac and LaSalle Club are looking forward to exploring Florida and especially St Augustine in June.

Our CLC Grand National will surely be a busy event with much to see and do. One thing I hope our members, our welcome visiting friends will be able to do is to take a few moments out of the bustle 

of the event to enjoy the flowers. From the beauty of the crape myrtle trees along the drive to our hotel or the fine oleander bushes along the highways and found in the vista of the golf course out side of our hotel. There are certainly too many flowers to name but so many to enjoy reminding us why our fair state was named La Florida!