The Southwest Florida Parrot Head Club

Questions That Bother Me So . . .

What is a Parrot Head?

At a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jimmy Buffett (note: two T's) commented about the brightly dressed crowd, wearing Hawiian shirts and parrot hats who kept coming to his shows, just like "Deadheads." Then Timothy B. Schmit, a former Coral Reefer and a member of the bands Poco and the Eagles, coined the term "Parrotheads."

The stereotypical Parrot Head is a fun-loving guy wearing a bright tropical shirt, flip-flops, shorts (or maybe a grass skirt and coconut bra) and a crazy hat while heartely sipping a Margarita. You may find a stereotype Parrot Head in a Parrot Head Club, but many of our members think more in terms of relaxation and being on a permanent mental vacation, even while working. Yeah! And while wearing a crazy hat or a wild tropical shirt.

What is a Parrot Head Club?

When a "phlock" of Parrot Heads come together, strange things start to happen. You'll find these people who in their real life may work in a hospital, or in the local police or fire station or even in the school room, come together to help their community. They clean the local beaches. They pick up trash along our highways. They raise money for causes that help people who are in need or to help find a cure for a disease that kills thousands of people each year. But they find a way to have fun doing all these things. They like to Party with a Purpose.

What is the Southwest Florida Parrot Head Club?

The Southwest Florida Parrot Head Club is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to assist in community and environmental concerns and provide a variety of social activities for people with similar interests including enjoyment of the tropical lifestyle portrayed in Jimmy Buffett's music and the desire to contribute to the betterment of their communities. That's a pretty dry way of saying it's a group of people who like to have fun while helping out other groups. We hold a few fundraisers each year to contribute money & goods to organizations in the surrounding communities.

Parrot Heads believe they should not only enjoy a tropical life & lifestyle, but they should leave their communities a little better than they found them. Here are a few examples of what we as the Southwest Florida Parrot Head Club have done in the past year:

• Hosted Team Troubadour at the Ft. Myers Relay for Life, raising over $5,000.00 in 2008
• Members participated in a local food drive that raised over 2,600 pounds of food and $5,000.00 to the Cape Coral Caring Center
• Donated over 250 pounds of food to the Salvation Army
• Cleaned the beaches at Bowditch Point Park and Bunch Beach
• Held road clean ups on Del Prado Blvd. in Cape Coral
• Collected over 250 pounds of food at Hope Rocks the Beach benefit for Hope Hospice in October 2008

There was plenty more. We volunteerd over 1,800 hours and donated over $8,500.00 and nearly 3,000 pounds of food to charitable organizations in Southwest Florida. Worldwide, last year the over 200 Parrot Head Clubs contributed over $2.6 million and 173,000 volunteer hours. In our eyes, that's a LOT of fun.

When one Parrot Head was asked to describe himself and other Parrot Heads, he answered, "We are angels in Tropical Shirts, having fun helping our communities and our environment."

What is Parrot Heads in Paradise?

Parrot Head Clubs are chartered under Parrot Heads in Paradise, Inc. (P.H.I.P.), a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to promote the international network of Parrot Head Clubs as a humanitarian group sharing information and social activities for mutual benefit. The organization engages in activities that are charitable, educational and that promote the general welfare of the community..

Club Members!

Remember, we have shirts and merchandise for sale at most club functions.