The Royal Looper

Put this one in the Just for fun category.  I listen to a radio station from the Florida Keys (http://us1radio.com/) quite often, specifically I listen to Morning Magazine and BizBaz.  It was through that station that I learned about the Conch Republic Celebration and the Wesley House.  Wesley House Family Services is a nationally accredited not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting and nurturing children and strengthening families with services spanning Monroe County, Florida.  The Conch Republic Days celebrate the Conch Republic Independence Day (see below for a full explanation of the how the Conch Republic came to be).  During this celebration anyone can claim a position as a member of the Conch Republic Royal Family and again raise funds for Children in the Keys.   This year I decided just for fun I should be the Royal Looper for the Conch Republic.  Check out the Conch Republic celebration at the Wesley House website  and donate some money in the name of the Royal Looper to help me ensure my title as The Royal Looper.

How the Conch Republic came to be:  In 1982, the United States Border Patrol set up a roadblock and inspection point on US 1 just north of the merger of Monroe County Road 905A/Miami-Dade County Road 905A onto US 1 (they are the only two roads connecting the Florida Keys with the mainland), in front of the Last Chance Saloon just south of Florida City. Vehicles were stopped and searched for narcotics and illegal immigrants. The Key West City Council complained repeatedly about the inconvenience for travelers to and from Key West, claiming that it hurt the Keys' important tourism industry.

When the City Council's complaints went unanswered by the U.S. federal government and attempts to get an injunction against the roadblock failed in court, as a form of protest Mayor Dennis Wardlow and the Council declared Key West's independence on April 23, 1982. In the eyes of the Council, since the U.S. federal government had set up the equivalent of a border station as if they were a foreign nation, they might as well become one. As many of the local citizens were referred to as Conchs, the nation took the name of the Conch Republic.