2015.09.26 General Membership Meeting
2015.09.09 Governing Board Meeting
Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles wants to thank our newest sponsors, Grayton Seafood. Go out and see Tabitha, Amanda, and Kingon and they would be glad to help you with a Theo the Turtle and other Theo Themed Items they have on hand. Grayton Seafood supports our mission of Sea Turtle Conservancy through Awareness and Education by donating a portion of the proceeds to FOSWST. We appreciate all that you do to help us out.🐢
Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles would like to thank our latest new sponsors, Jacque and Angela, at Bungalow Home and Life in Seagrove Plaza. They are now carrying Theo and the Theo themed Christmas Ornaments. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of these items is donated to our organization to assist us in carrying out our mission of Sea Turtle Conservancy through Awareness and Education. Thank you both for your support.
We want to thank everyone who came out to Grand Boulevard and voted on their favorite tree. We are honored to be named the Best in Show for 2018. The $2000 monetary award will help us as we continue towards Sea Turtle Conservancy through Awareness and Education.
FOSWST would like to give a big shout-out of thanks to Billie Gaffrey for her Jellyfish design of our Christmas Tree entry ay Grand Boulevard and to all the team members who came out to help decorate it this year. It’s BEAUTIFUL!
Everyone is invited and encouraged to go VOTE tomorrow evening, Tuesday November 20th from 4-6 for your favorite tree. We hope you’ll pick ours and support our mission of Sea Turtle Conservancy through Awareness and Education. We appreciate your help😉!
On Saturday, November 3rd, the 2018 Volunteer Beach Ambassador Team celebrated the end of season at their traditional Breakfast Meeting held Bud & Alley's Restaurant and sponsored by owner and community supporter, Dave Rauschkolb. It was a beautiful venue and a very generous sponsorship by Dave. Thank you Dave for all that you do for us.
I also want to thank Allison Benton Costa Sunglasses for donating reusable water bottles and shopping bags. Costa is all about limiting single use plastic and wanted to thank our team for their efforts in caring for our beach environment. We were honored by your support
In addition, we want to thank Jay Tusa Visit South Walton for another year of amazing support. Our New Shirts and Name Tags were key this year in attracting the attention of our guests on the beach. It opened doors for us and allowed us some great interaction opportunities. Thanks Jay for suiting up the team.
So what did this fabulous team accomplish during 2018...
We suited up 224 VBA's. We added 18 trained and 52 parent listed Jr VBA's to the team. We Participated in a variety of opportunities which included the following, just to name a few;
1. International Coastal Clean Up September 15th, 2018
2. Vineyard Vines Sponsored Educational Event July 5th, 2018
3. 4 Oceans Beach Cleanup July 7th, 2018
4. TDC Public Relations Training: Amaze Every Customer-Every Time
5. We Share the Beaches Educational Series
a. South Walton State Parks by Jeff Talbert
b. Micro Plastics by Laura Tiu
c. Bears in Our Backyard by Jordan Green
d. Walton County Waterways and Beach Activities Ordinance by Brian Kellenberger
We had our very "first" Jr VBA become a VBA. Congratulations to Reese who logged 33 hours this season.
There were a number of high achievers this summer and I would like to recognize them here:
Team Members who logged 50-100 hours...
Leigh P 51.25
Lisa B 60
Sonja A 62.25
Diana C 65
Karen L 69.5
Donna B 93.5
Terry B 79.75
Tom H 87.75
Donna D 90
Desiree D 95.75
Team Members who logged 100+ hours...
Christ H 131.75
Butch D 150
Marilyn L 163.5
Ed 184.5
The Shovel Award went to an amazing duo in Miramar Beach who were extraordinary in their efforts as Team Miramar.
Di I 264.75
Susie F 280.5
And, for our first time ever, we honored the first VBA of the Year...Michele P with 1137.5 hours. Way to go Michele and thank you for taking on this volunteer job like full time employment. You are amazing beyond measure!
As a group, we logged 5,301.5 TEAM Hours for 2018. Whether you gave 15 minutes or hundreds of hours, each piece of trash collected, each hole filled, and each visitor greeted and educated is important and ALL members are equally valued. THANK YOU TEAM FOR A WONDERFUL 2018 SEASON. YOU ADDED GREAT VALUE IN WALTON COUNTY AND THE MILLIONS WHO VISITED US THIS YEAR. I’M GRATEFUL FOR ALL THAT YOU DID.
