HOW WE STARTED

On the weekend of March 11-13, 1981 at Mill Dam Lake (near Ocala), seventy-six participants met to establish a professional organization for people interested in sharing their knowledge of the environment with others. They decided on LEEF as their name and the turkey oak leaf as their logo. Dr. David LaHart was elected to be our first president.

At your next LEEF function, look for members wearing the ACORN pin -- they were there on that historic day. 

The League of Environmental Educators in Florida, Inc. was officially chartered (#766541) by the State of Florida on January 17, 1983. 

Please take time to enjoy Bob Smith's poem on the history of LEEF, called "ODE ON A FLORIDA LEEF", performed by Grant Livingston.

Ode on a Florida LEEF

by Bob Smith

Come gather ‘round new friends and old

And listen to my rhyme;

LEEF’s history I shall impart

A travel back in time.

On March thirteen of eighty-one

At a place called Mill Dam Lake,

From far and near they came to meet

Throughout the Sunshine State.

The sky was gray -- the weather cold;

The cabins had no heat.

Came seventy-six souls whose common goal

No rain cloud could defeat.

By morning’s light that follows night

On that Friday it was clear --

That those who came and signed their names

Had a message for all to hear.

The Environment, that sacred trust,

To teach of it we’ll need

A unity of mind and heart --

An environmental league.

Some were strangers when they met

And others friends of old,

Yet by the end of that first night

All were friends I’m told.

Throughout the day as workshops go,

We studied Nature’s way.

And in the night by campfire’s light

Sang songs and tunes did play.

Aboard a wagon filled with hay

We did set forth to go

To see a gator’s fire red eyes,

Then watched the embers glow.

Then sat we down at tables

On Saturday’s starry night

To discuss and then to vote on

This league to make it right.

Then after all the talking,

When all had had their say,

Hands were raised for the count --

That vote then made the day.

“What must we do,” it was then asked,

“To keep this spark alive?”

We’ve made a start my friends, take heart --

This movement will survive.

The numbing cold of Sunday’s morn

Was lessened by the fact

That the fire was warm,

the coffee hot

And all spirits still intact.

We must begin, it was agreed,

To nurture this newborn thing --

To lay the groundwork down with words

And solidify this happening.

“What of a name,” it was then asked,

“To identify this League?”

Environmental Educators

in Florida it should read.

The acronym would be the LEEF --

A Turkey Oak the sign

To symbolize our union with

Nature’s own design.

So volunteers were called for

Throughout the rank and file;

And everyone who raised their hand

Did so with a smile.

Then for weeks and months thereafter

They did communicate

By phone call, card and letter --

LEEF’s ideals to formulate.

Now sat they down on paper

Bylaws for a constitution --

Goals, objectives and a purpose

For LEEF’s dawning evolution.

To teach with skill and knowledge

Of our ecology,

Became the main objective

Of our philosophy.

To govern LEEF’s activities,

Five regional directors --

To set forth policies and such

And serve as circumspectors.

Next, a president to head the team,

And a president-elect,

One keeper of the books and funds;

Now the offices were set.

A newsletter was then needed --

Some way to communicate

Environmental news to all

LEEF’s means to facilitate.

And the LEEFLET we did ask

Who shall we put in charge --

The man from Tallahassee’s Hills,

Our own Director-at-Large.

Committees were appointed,

And sub-committees, too.

For none were left around to shout

“I have no job to do!”

On into Spring and Summer, too,

With Autumn on the rise --

The job was done by everyone,

And the ink had barely dried.

At this founding of the Florida LEEF,

We could not begin to see

How rapidly our LEEF would grow

Into a “life style” philosophy.

My story is now ended,

As stories often do --

But as long as there’s a LEEF, my friend,

LEEFERS’ stories are never through

OUR SYMBOL

Our current LEEF logo was designed by graphic artist Cortland Brennan in 2017.

Earlier versions of our logo