Volunteers Plant 5,000 Sea Oats Seedlings in St. Pete Beach

ST. PETE BEACH, FL - Over 150 volunteers arrived in Pass-a-Grille in the early hours of June 26, 2010 and successfully planted 5,000 sea oats seedlings in the sand dunes between 15th and 22nd Avenues in Pass-a-Grille.

This was the 2nd annual Sea Oats Planting Event organized by the Beach Stewardship Committee of St. Pete Beach.  The sea oats seedlings were donated by Pinellas County and were planted as part of a multi-faceted beach erosion prevention program that utilizes both natural and structural methods to preserve the city's beaches and prevent beach erosion.

As chairman of the Beach Stewardship Committee, I was very pleased with this year's turnout, especially since the vastly popular Hands Across the Sand demonstration was scheduled to occur starting at 11:00 a.m. later that morning.  It was wonderful to see folks who had participated in last year's sea oats planting event, as well as many new faces.

It was also great to receive such wonderful support from our local business community.  The Tradewinds, Sirata and Alden resorts donated bottled water and energy bars for the volunteers, and Bruno Falkenstein from the Hurricane used his shiny new TurtleMobile to help deliver water and supplies to the volunteers on the beach.  Many thanks also to Cleo Robertson (fellow Beach Stewardship Committee member and owner of St. Pete Beach Today website) and the folks at Tampa BayWatch for helping to get word of our event out to the general public.

It's always great to see our city commissioners lending a hand, including SPB District 1 Commissioner Alan Halpern (on the right)...

...SPB District 3 Commissioner Marvin Shavlan...

...District 4 Commissioner Bev Garnett (on the left, with Gene Halpern on the right)

... and fellow Beach Stewardship Committee member and local businessman Marcus Lehtovirta.
 

The St. Pete Beach Fire Department also helped out by providing much-needed water to the freshly-planted sea oats seedlings.

Of course, some of the event organizers couldn't help trying to play with the fire engine controls....(the St. Pete Beach Fire Department personnel were VERY patient!)

Most important, the success of these sea oats planting events could not happen without the skill and dedication of St. Pete Beach Public Works Director Steve Hallock (right) and his staff.  These guys are the City's unsung heroes, and they do an amazing job at at time when the City's budget is shrinking with each passing year.

Thanks again to everyone who helped to make this year's event such a success!  

Photos by Andrea Lypka and Kevin Hing.  (You can tell the ones taken by Andrea...they are the ones that are in focus)

Upham Beach Renourishment Scheduled to Begin by September, 2010

Good news for beachgoers and Upham Beach residents alike!  According to Andrew Squires from Pinellas County's Department of Environmental Management, the Treasure Island / Upham Beach renourishment project is scheduled to commence no later than September 15, 2010!  The project specifications provide that the contractor will have 150 days to complete the project.

More Volunteers Needed for June 26th St. Pete Beach Sea Oats Planting Event!!!

Help !!!!  Many more volunteers are needed for the  Annual St Pete Beach Sea Oats Planting Event on Saturday, June 26, 2010! 

Volunteers are needed to help plant over 5,000 sea oats seedlings in the sand dunes of Pass a Grille beach from 8:00 am til 11:00 am.  Based on RSVP results so far, we do not have enough volunteers to get these wonderful sea oats seedlings planted in time!

Sea oats are a vital part of St. Pete Beach's beach preservation program:  as the sea oats plants grow, they trap sand from being blown away by wind, helping to form dunes that increase the size of the beach and provide habitat and food for beach wildlife.

Volunteers will meet at Hurley Park Pavilion, 1501 Gulf Way in historic Pass a Grille in St. Pete Beach.  Parking passes and bottled water will be provided.   More information can be obtained by downloading the City's Information Sheet for the Sea Oats Planting Event.

If you are interested in participating in this wonderful event, please RSVP at SPB City Hall at 727 367-2735.  Please leave your name, email address and the number of people who will be volunteering with you. 

Volunteers needed on June 26th: St. Pete Beach Sea Oats Planting Event

On Saturday, June 26th, the City of St. Pete Beach will host its Annual St Pete Beach Sea Oats Planting Event, and volunteers are needed to help plant over 5,000 sea oats seedlings in the sand dunes of Pass a Grille beach from 8:00 am til 11:00 am.

Sea oats are a vital part of St. Pete Beach's beach preservation program:  as the sea oats plants grow, they trap sand from being blown away by wind, helping to form dunes that increase the size of the beach and provide habitat and food for beach wildlife.

Volunteers will meet at Hurley Park Pavilion, 1501 Gulf Way in historic Pass a Grille in St. Pete Beach.  Parking passes and bottled water will be provided.   More information can be obtained by downloading the City's Information Sheet for the Sea Oats Planting Event.

If you are interested in participating in this wonderful event, please RSVP at SPB City Hall at 727 367-2735.  Please leave your name, email address and the number of people who will be volunteering with you. 

No Oil on the Pristine Sands of Upham Beach, St. Pete Beach!

The pristine, white sands of Upham Beach in St. Pete Beach, Florida are FREE OF OIL!

I took this photo at 8:00 a.m. this morning, June 12, 2010.  Beautiful!

Come enjoy our beach!

New Blog Covering St. Pete Beach and Amendment 4 / Hometown Democracy

After giving this a lot of thought, I've decided to create a new blog that specifically focuses on St. Pete Beach and Hometown Democracy / Amendment 4 issues.  I'll keep blogging about beach preservation and other St. Pete Beach related issues on this blog, but I thought it better to have a separate blog devoted exclusively to the Amendment 4 debate. 

The new blog is called "St. Pete Beach and Hometown Democracy / Amendment 4" and is located at: http://StPeteBeachandHometownDemocracy.blogspot.com

Check it out!

St. Pete Beach Needs Volunteers to Photograph Beach Conditions Prior to Deepwater Horizon Oil Impact

ST. PETE BEACH, FL -  The Beach Stewardship Committee of St. Pete Beach, in conjunction with the city's Public Services department and the Environmental Public Health Division of the Florida Department of Health, is seeking volunteers to photograph the current condition of St. Pete Beach's beaches to assist the City, County and State in its efforts to monitor the condition of our beaches during the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil crisis and to enable us to determine the extent to which our pristine white sands are being impaired by the oil and its residue.

Patti Anderson of the Florida Department of Health has released the following request:

Requested Action: 

We request that beach monitoring staff take a picture inventory of their beaches as a “Before” condition of the beaches in advance of the impact of the oil spill for the record.  We expect conditions to change as tar balls, etc,  start arriving – so although qualitative, can still be used as a measure of impact.  

The color of the sand is expected to change as 'hydrocarbons' start washing ashore.   Terms used are 'light, moderate and heavy'.   So getting pictures, in full sunlight of the sand color, will be helpful to document how conditions change.

We may very well ask you to repeat this activity as the beaches become impacted.   We will let you know as this is coordinated with the State Emergency Response Team (SERT).

Decisions to do beach cleanup could very well hinge on the color of the sand and the amount of tar balls.  So we wouldn't ask for this effort unless important.