Our site volunteers this month are Jeff and Dorie, and Carl and Pat. Jeff is a retired military officer and a jack-of-all-trades. He drives tram tours, fixes things, and does anything that needs doing. Carl’s and Pat’s specialty is marketing. Last year they initiated the Live Auction preceding Bay Day by soliciting many valuable donations from our local merchants. This spring they’re continuing that work so that we can have terrific Live Auctions on the Thursday nights before this year’s Fall and Spring Bay Days. Site volunteers are essential to the Buffer, which has only four paid staff.
Monthly Archives: April 2017
Friends Post Signs to Protect Seagrass
John Brucker, Manager of the Aquatic Preserve, suggested a set of new signs from the Be Seagrass Safe organization to attract boaters’ attention to the need to protect seagrass in the St. Joseph Bay. The large, colorful signs will be purchased by Friends and installed by Aquatic Preserves staff at three popular boat launch sites: George Pate Park in downtown Port St. Joe, Presnell’s Landing on State Road 30A (if the owner permits), and St. Joseph Peninsula State Park at Eagle Harbor.
The seagrass growing in the St. Joseph Bay is mostly the type called turtle grass. It provides shelter for small salt water animals and for young, growing fish and shellfish. It is also a favorite food source for juvenile green sea turtles.
Bay Day a Terrific Fund-Raiser
The Live Auction, Feb. 2, and Winter Bay Day ,Feb. 4, brought in over $9,000 in net donations, after deducting our costs. Please be sure to thank our commercial sponsors who gave items for the auctions and raffle! Business owners from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola responded to requests by site volunteers Pat Caruana and Carl Janish, and most local businesses donated valuable merchandise or services for our auctions. You can find their business cards and brochures on display at the Buffer Visitors’ Center. Please thank our sponsors!
All of you volunteers deserve a huge Thank You, too! Here’s a breakdown of net funds received from some of the Winter Bay Day activities you helped with:
Shrimp Boil, 491 plates sold, $4,911
Live Auction, $3,648
T-shirt sales, $1,091
Silent Auction, $872
Memberships, $860
Raffle, $696
Cookie Sales, $287
Friends to Purchase Land for the Preserve
Twenty-five quarter-acre lots adjacent to the north border of the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve came on the market in late 2016.
Dylan Shoemaker, Preserve Manager, told the Friends Board of Directors about this rare opportunity to expand the land area of the
Buffer. Dylan and the Buffer’s ecologist, Allix North, walked over the lots and rated them according to their potential benefit to the Buffer’s conservation efforts. Most of the land is too wet for building; it is near State Road 30A in Simmons Bayou but has no road access. The Friends Board and the bank managing the sale have agreed on a contract and set the closing date for late April: Friends will buy 20 of the lotsfor $50,000 (leaving over $40,000 in the Friends’ treasury). Friends will transfer ownership to the Buffer Preserve and the State. All Friends members should celebrate this real and lasting gift to one of our Preserves!