What is the area known as the Celery Fields and why was it historically important? And why is it so significant to Sarasota’s health and economy today?

Two naturalists from the Sarasota Audubon Society, Jeanne Dubi and Barry Gerber, will entertain and enlighten us with an illustrated presentation, “Celery Fields, Past, Present and Future” at the January Conversation at The Crocker, Tuesday, January 12, 2016, starting at 7 p.m.

Mother and chick at the Celery Fields. I don’t know what bird this is. Guess I’ll be going to the January Conversation at the Crocker on Tuesday Jan. 12, 2016 at 7pm!

Jeanne Dubi is the president of Sarasota Audubon Society. She started birdwatching as a young adult in Wales. Barry Gerber, a Celery Fields Nature Center docent, started birding in 2011, got involved with the Sarasota Audubon Society and is currently enrolled in Florida’s Master Naturalist program.

Organized by the Historical Society of Sarasota County and sponsored by SARASOTA Magazine, Conversations at The Crocker events highlight specific aspects of Sarasota’s past and examines pivotal events and people who have influenced today’s Sarasota. Conversations are held at the historic Crocker Memorial Church, built in 1901, located next to the Bidwell-Wood House in Pioneer Park, 1260 12th Street, Sarasota, just east of Tamiami Trail. Conversations are open to the public and are always free to Historical Society members and students; guests are $10.