5 Things You Need to Know This Weekend: July 30-Aug 1

1.Several local athletes are participating in an invitation-only camp, the Madden Football Academy. The athletes were invited to the elite camp through their performance at the Under Armour High School Training Camps/Combines hosted in 16 cities plus all prior 2011 IMG Madden Football Academy camps. Before the start of the 2011 High School Football season, the IMG Madden Football Academy will release its 2011 IMG All-Madden Team compiled of 28 athletes selected based on their on-field and classroom performance. Local athletes include, Offensive Lineman Josh Clark (Class of 2012) Quarterback Trenton Miller (Class of 2012), Offensive Lineman Kevin O’Brien (Class of 2012) and Offensive Lineman David Knevel (Class of 2013).

2. Broadway Bootcamp, a summer camp that offers intensive training in acting, technical theatre and performance preparation, is staging Once on This Island, the Caribbean adaptation of ‘The Little Mermaid’ by the creators of RAGTIME.  The musical fable tells the story of forbidden love between people from two different worlds. Presented as a 'play within a play', a cast of village storytellers, attempting to calm a frightened young child, tell the romantic tale of a peasant girl who saves a rich city boy from death. Performances are scheduled for today at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and July 31st  at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $11 for ages 12 and under. All performances are held at the Manatee Players, 102 Old Main Street in downtown Bradenton. For information call the Manatee Players’ box office at 941-748-5875 or look online.

3. The Humane Society of Manatee County is looking for photogenic cats and dogs for its Pet Photo Calendar Contest. Pet lovers can enter by visiting humanemanatee.org and clicking on the calendar website. Voting begins once photos are uploaded, and the overall vote winner will be featured on the cover of the society's 2012 calendar. The other top five dogs and cats will be featured on individual months. Votes are $1 each, and all proceeds benefit HSMC. The contest ends Aug. 15. E-mail info@humanesocietymanatee.org or call 941-747-8808, ext. 311, for more info.

4. After cutting 54 positions from county government and slicing the budgets of nearly every department, Manatee County Commissioners increased the proposed millage rate in the coming year to give Sheriff Brad Steube enough money to hire 20 additional deputies. Commissioners voted 5-2 to increase the proposed millage rate, setting the cap at 6.3703 mills up from the current rate of 6.2993. Under the proposal adopted Friday, ad valorem taxes will increase  about $7.10 for every $100,000 of a home's value if the new millage is adopted when the budget is approved.

5. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition, “Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants,” is on view at the South Florida Museum, 201 10th St W, Bradenton. It will remain on view in the Museum’s East Gallery through Oct. 9,  before it continues on its 15-city national tour through 2015. Bradenton is the second stop on the exhibition’s schedule. Access to the exhibition is included with general admission to the Museum. Small yet abundant, with complex and wildly diverse lifestyles, ants are everywhere, living lives mostly hidden from our view. With the aid of a macro lens and the insights of ant expert and photographer Dr. Mark Moffett, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History helps visitors understand this world.