Rock the Preserve to jam out at the Bay Preserve on Sunday

Bring out your lawn chairs and jam out with the Second Nature Band at this picnic-style gathering at the Bay Preserve from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13.

The music fundraiser helps with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast and honors Mary Terese Finnegan, who died from complications of cancer, but was a supporter of the Foundation's work preserving wild land and animals.

The Bay Preserve is the home of Foundation, alongside Little Sarasota Bay in Osprey.

“Before she passed away, she told me to hold her memorial at this location, the Bay Preserve. The day after she passed (Dec. 13, 2021), my two sister-in-laws and I found out that they were booked out all the way through June,” says Greg Huffman, husband of Mary Terese Finnegan, one of the event producer of Rock the Preserve, and a guitarist and singer in the Second Nature Band.

“We ended up holding her memorial at The Point Restaurant. However, my friend Roy Peter Clark brought up the idea to do a charity in her honor. So, we are doing this event for the benefit of the Conservation Foundation. This idea of doing this charity event, even though I’ve never played guitar professionally by trade, was to honor her.”

“I want to showcase what a wonderful person she was,” Huffman said. “I want to honor her wishes. I want to do something at the Bay Preserve because I couldn’t do her memorial there.”

The event is free for the community, though there is a suggested donation amount of $10 per person. Each $10 donation provides one entry into the door prize giveaway. RSVP on the Conservation Foundation website.