SARAH GRILE

Sloane Moss, 11, right, whispers a secret to Diana Stoneking, 12, about the boy Stoneking likes while the two hang out at the Vero Beach Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday. Moss says that her and Stoneking, who both part of the Junior Staff of the club, are the "extra eyes and ears."  Besides helping  watch over the club, the two help others with homework and other activities along with completing 20 hours of community service each month. 

"If I get one little kid to look at this and become a little more patriotic... part of my mission is complete," says Scott Lo Baido,  a New York artist who hopes to paint 50 rooftops in each state with a unique American Flag design by Sept. 11. Here, LoBaido works on the north side of the Veterans Inc. Building's roof on Wednesday in his second day of painting. The whole roof, completed on Thursday, would take three days for Lo Baido.

Carley Crowe, left, runs over to join Ryan Bradford, from middle left, Katie Raiff and Chelsea Brady, all friends of Michael Jr. Abt, to place flowers beside a cross with his name, before his memorial service at Treasure Coast Park begins on Wednesday. 

Emmaleigh Sloan, 2, of Port St. Lucie, marvels in the fake snow while looking for a Christmas Tree with her family on Saturday at Santa's Christmas Tree Village located off of US 1 in Fort Pierce on Saturday. The tree village, which used to be located Lennard Road, was relocated this year to the new location.

"It's a part of old Florida...the good Lord just cut off a piece and left it here for us to enjoy," says Joe Middleton, who runs Middleton's Fish Camp, about the Blue Cypress Lake. Here, boaters travel through a shallow part of the drought affected lake.

Sal Mancuso, center, of St. Lucie West, looks up at the sky after it begins to rain during the Veterans Day Service at Veterans Memorial Park in Port St. Lucie on Wednesday. Mancuso served in the 9th U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.

School teams race during a county wide track and field day in central Florida.

Teya Kyriacethys, 10, right, battles Victoria Anderson, 10,  who are both in the fifth grade at the Masters Academy, in a sleeping bag fight while standing raised wooden boards during the school's annual Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday. Micha Astin, 15, not pictured, who helped teach the younger students about historic living of the Pilgrims and Native Americans, said that the fights would have been over a river where someone would fall in. 

A man rides his bike in downtown Fort Pierce, Florida.

Patricia Flowers, of Gifford, holds her daughter, Radeidra, while standing outside the house where her 14-year-old son, Gifford Middle School student Rockee Flowers, was shot.

Izamar Salinas, 15, who is a "Canditata A Reyna" or Queen Canditate for the Mexican Independence Day Celebration in Fellsmere, waves her flag before the Indepence Day parade begins on Saturday. Following the parade, a celebration was held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church with a variety of activities including soccer games, music, food and the crowning of the new queen.

Laura Seymour takes a moment while working  in her yard on Thursday afternoon in Vero Beach. Seymour's house was flooded during Hurricane Frances and she and her family lived in a tent until given a temporary FEMA trailer. 

Rachel Hoch, 17, left, and Kelsey Fitzpatrick, 17, rest a moment while playing in the rain as graduates walk in during Sebastian River High School's graduation ceremony on Friday at the school.

A girl rides the bus home in Fort Pierce, Florida.

A patient at Martin Memorial Hospital receives ashes on Ash Wednesday while receiving care at the hospital. 

A boat docks near Fort Pierce Inlet State Park.

Jensen Beach High School students lift up Adam Powell after winning the game against Martin County High School 54 to 51 on Friday at JBHS.

Abbey McArthur, a teacher at Three Angels Children's Orphanage in Petionville, Haiti hugs Reece Yunker, 8, a recently adopted orphan, after he comes out of customs at the St. Lucie County International Airport on Monday night. All 26 orphans from Three Angels Children's Orphanage in Petionville, Haiti were brought to the airport on Monday in a Hendrick Motorsports jet loaned to Missionary Flights International . Final arrangements were made on Monday early afternoon in Haiti, leaving adoptive parents scrambling to find ways to meet their children. Some  parents, who had been in the process of adopting children from the orphanage for over two years,  traveled from states like Michigan and Indiana to meet their children.  The orphanage is one of the fist that was allowed to bring children into the United States according to its website.

City of Stuart Fire Rescue's Troy Bowser, a Lieutenant, from left, and Paul Moyer, a Firefighter, look for hot spots while helping contain the remnants of fire on Thursday that encompassed ninety acres from Stuart to Rio on Wednesday. A cigarette is suspected to have started the fire on Wednesday.