Text @ Marc & Tammy Hollander. Photos © Larry Blackburn, Ralph De Palma & Bruce Kudick
Coconut Castaways at 8th Annual Meet Me in the Keys event.
Meet Me in the Keys is a 4+day event filled with fun activities, various fundraising opportunities, Trop Rock music concerts and more! The annual event is for members of the three Castaways organizations, aka “friend” clubs of Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band. All of the money raised goes to KOA Care Camps, which is a specialized summer camp program for kids with cancer, and their siblings. This years Meet Me in the Keys event expanded well beyond the official 4 days and set a new charity record!
Day 1: Party Like a Key West Local
Tuesday June 9th started with the “Be a Local” pre-pre-party at Hogfish Bar & Grill featuring local musicians Roger Jokela, CW Colt, Terry Cassidy, Dani Hoy, Capt. Ron Baumann, Key West Chris Rehm, and Howard Livingston. Even though it’s 2 days before our event officially starts, over 100 people came to the island early just for the party. What a NEAT night! And Hogfish donated $1000 of their food/beverage sales back to our event.
Day 2: Wednesday Nights are as Good as the Weekend
For our 2nd day, Wednesday June 10th, Meet Me in the Keys hosted the “It’s Always Saturday Night” Party at the OFFICIAL home bar of the Southernmost Coconut Castaways, Smokin’ Tuna Saloon and featured music by Thom Shepherd and Coley McCabe. Great crowd and great fun!
Thom Shepherd getting his toes painted for charity while on stage.
Day 3: Keysified
For the Thursday June 11th, attendees started checking in at the Doubletree Grand Key Resort where we showcased musician Greg Dillard, a great guy out of Mississippi who is just amazing! In the evening, we officially kicked off our “Keysified” party with The Boat Drunks! Our group was the first ever to have an event in the yet-to-open Waterfront Brewery. It was an awesome venue and our photo booth was a big hit!
Howard Livingston g & Mike Miller of The Boat Drunks
Day 4: Hangover Classic
On Friday June 12th we set out to raise money for charity on our biggest Hangover Classic Walk ever!! It might be the shortest fundraising walk you’ve ever heard of at approximately a 1/2 mile (because you can do it with even a hangover). An amazing sight as we set out from the host hotel in a sea of turquoise tees and landed at the Key West airport bar, The Conch Flyer Lounge, where as usual, Captain Josh brought his A Game!
Capt. Josh Ramsteck & his talented wife Laurie @ the Conch Flyer Lounge
Up next we hit The Pool Party with Sunny Jim, Eric Stone Trio, and Jimi Pappas who were as awesome as expected, and when Howard joined in, along with Dani and Key West Chris, for the “All Star Coconut Jam,” it was definitely a highlight!
Sunny Jim Trop Rocks the Pool Party
Day 5: The Main Event
On Saturday, June 13th, it was the Meet Me in the Keys main event as Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band put on a private concert for our group at the historic San Carlos Institute. Huge thanks to all of the local businesses who donated food and drinks for our night. What a memorable night it was! The giant margarita auctioned off from Howard’s “Johnson” went for $16,000! BIG HEARTS! (see more photos © Ralph De Palma)
Day 6: Beach Bash
On Sunday, June 14th, the Castaways Beach Bash at Higg’s Beach was a lot of fun with all the great food donated by Salute and beverages by Papa’s Pilar, Shipyard Brewing, Budweiser, International Wine & Spirits and more. Music by Frankendread and the Last Mangos had everyone in a beach party mood.
The Incredible Results:
It was a great week. We always find unique ways to raise money for KOA Care Camps including turquoise toenail painting (especially for the guys, including the musicians!), raffling off a Pirate Treasure Chest of gift cards, auctioning off a chance to be mentioned in one of Howard’s new songs and much more.
We have such a loving, giving group of members in the Castaways organization and Meet me in the Keys just keeps getting bigger and better each year. This year we donated about $53,000 to KOA Care Camps. I hope everyone will consider joining us next June 9-12, 2016 as we do it all over again!
I live in Port Aransas, Texas and love all things Parrot Head and Trop Rock. I enjoy interviewing Trop Rock artists, attending events and always look forward to seeing Trop Rock friends from around the nation! Author of the Trop Rock lyric infused cozy mystery book "Schooled for Murder." Check out my website at www.CindyMuir.com