Press Release, 03/05/2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2010

SERENDIB-itous Sri Lanka
Larry Schokman, Director Emeritus The Kampong, lectures in March

Coconut Grove, FL – Join us on Thursday, March 18, 2010 for The Kampong’s Lecture Series when Larry Schokman shares his recent trip to Sri Lanka. The Kampong will open at 6:30 p.m. with a reception sponsored by Whole Foods Market. The lecture begins at 7 p.m. Kampong Members are free. Suggested donation for non-members $10.

The New York Times recommends "31 Places to Go in 2010" and Sri Lanka is their #1 choice! The next best thing to going yourself will be enjoying a visit through Larry’s eyes and photography. You’ll see the Resplendent Isle (Sri Lanka) from its pristine, palm-fringed beaches to high elevation cloud forests at 9,000 feet. Marvel at huge granite edifices of a by-gone era, and witness the pageantry of one of the oldest religious festivals--the Perahera, with a hundred caparisoned elephants and hundreds of drummers, musicians and dancers.

Larry Schokman, a former tea planter from Sri Lanka is a recipient of the American Horticultural Society 2000 Professional Award for the Director of a Botanical Garden, Florida International University Medallion and FIU Department of Environmental Studies Outstanding Alumni Award. He is a founding member and past-President of the Tropical Flowering Tree Society. Larry’s 35 years of passion for The Kampong is displayed as you walk through the garden.

For more information call 305.442.7169 or email: kampong@ntbg.org

Photos available upon request.
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The Kampong is one of five tropical gardens and three preserves of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The mission of the National Tropical Botanical Garden is to enrich life through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education by perpetuating the survival of plants, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge of tropical regions.

NTBG is a not-for-profit institution.