Keys Icon Needs a New Home!!!
It’s an iconic Upper Keys figure…big and gray, sporting red suspenders and a polka dot bandana. And it can be yours! Mickey Rat, the landmark which relaxed atop the roof of his Mickey Rats Bilge Bar at Holiday Isle’s Marina, is in need of a new home.
Due to the forethought and generosity of Holiday Isle’s Ed Kinkelaar and Stuart Newmark, Mickey Rat was saved from permanent burial and given to Treasure Village Montessori (TVM), a public charter school, in hopes of finding a new permanent home in the Florida Keys community.
To raise money for their art, music and other cultural programs, TVM is auctioning Mickey Rat to the highest bidder. E-mail bidding runs Friday, Jan 1st through Friday, Jan 8th at 8 p.m. Bids may be submitted to mickeyrat@bellsouth.net. Daily updates of bid status will be sent to all bidders as well as real-time updates being sent during the last hour of bidding on January 8th . Bidding may extend beyond 8 p.m., if necessary, until the lone highest bid is made. Information on reserve minimum bid, payment terms, and delivery may be requested from mickeyrat@bellsouth.net.
Mickey Rat kept watch over the Holiday Isle Fishing Fleet for years. The current sculpture was created in 1993 by artist Richard Blaise. Mr. Blaise also was the creator of Betsy the Lobster that lived for many years at Treasure Village and recently moved to the Rain Barrel Artisans’ Village and the giant conch shell created for Holiday Isle’s Hard Conch Café. His conch shell now welcomes guests at Theater of the Sea.
Proceeds from the auction of Mickey Rat benefit Treasure Village Montessori, a tuition-free charter school for pre-kindergarteners through eighth graders.
