• Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
New posts

Joyce Owen

SoWal Staff
Oct 8, 2007
168
7
SoWal.com
Old but good idea

One more time !

Hope that darned old constitution doesn't get in the way again.

The Ambassadors is a new twist - Why not call them "Beach Czars" - seems to be a popular thing right now - Pay Czars, Bike Path Czars and the like.

Actually it's an old idea that the TDC tried a few years back. Volunteers would be trained to educate visitors on the beach. There were calls for folks to give a few hours a week to do it. Unfortunatelly getting enough volunteers was the problem.
I think this might be a solution until the ordinance is approved.
 

ASH

Beach Fanatic
Feb 4, 2008
2,153
443
Roosevelt, MN
I'm going to predict that this thread will set a new SoWal record for the most views and comments--and it will do it before the month is out.

.

I don't know. That Random Thoughts Thread in the Lounge has been going since May of 2007 and has over 4,300 reply's and over 36,000 views. :yikes:
 
Last edited:

GoodWitch58

Beach Fanatic
Oct 10, 2005
4,810
1,923
I think the Beach Ambassadors program is a great idea...I believe it was mentioned on here some time ago.

In New Orleans the tourist office used to have --not sure after Katrina-- young people on the streets with maps, information, directions, available to answer questions from tourists. They are always super helpful, very friendly, seem to enjoy their job and even sometimes give out discount coupons from local restaurants and attractions. I think it is a value added component to the NOLA tourism and visitors bureau's effort.

Here, perhaps we could educate our visitors about not only keeping litter and abandoned stuff off the beach overnight, but also let them know about the turtle nesting, the coastal dune lakes, and the rip currents. All in all, it sounds like a win-win to me.

Maybe the locals who routinely pick up trash, could become a bit more organized and then let folks know about Adopt a Beach and Leave no Trace and get more members of the community involved in a meaningful way.
 

Walton Outdoors

Beach Fanatic
Oct 8, 2008
309
242
www.WaltonOutdoors.com
Actually it's an old idea that the TDC tried a few years back. Volunteers would be trained to educate visitors on the beach. There were calls for folks to give a few hours a week to do it. Unfortunatelly getting enough volunteers was the problem.
I think this might be a solution until the ordinance is approved.

It is my understanding that the "beach ambassadors" will be this AFTER the new revision of the ordinance is approved. A collaboration with Code Enforcement of sorts. I could be wrong, but this was my interpretation.
 

SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,763
803
I think if you remove all the legislation and let the locals run the show, we would get the trash off the beach much quicker. I say about one week and this issue would be resolved.

I agree....my solution is to declare everything left on the beach between 7pm and 6am as "booty" -- free for the pickin'. Call it the "Move-it or Lose-it" program; post it on signs and have a banner plane fly over the beaches each evening at 6:50pm. Savvy entrepreneurs will be lined up at the beach entrances each night like ladies at Macys on Dec 26. The beaches will be cleared of junk every night at 7:05pm...problem solved.
 

Carol G

Beach Fanatic
Jan 15, 2007
1,920
223
Point Washington
I agree....my solution is to declare everything left on the beach between 7pm and 6am as "booty" -- free for the pickin'. Call it the "Move-it or Lose-it" program; post it on signs and have a banner plane fly over the beaches each evening at 6:50pm. Savvy entrepreneurs will be lined up at the beach entrances each night like ladies at Macys on Dec 26. The beaches will be cleared of junk every night at 7:05pm...problem solved.

I agree. Some enterprising folks will invest their time and energy and vehicles collecting all this crap without destroying it, and then reselling it for a profit. All we need is the ordinance in place, the government can step out of it after that. Unless someone is actively using the property, it is considered abandoned after 7 pm.

Private property owners should have the option of permitting their stuff, as long as they can prove that it is safely anchored and will not become an airborne missile or otherwise hazardous to public safety. Permitted objects need to be clearly marked, and private property owners need some sort of option for legal recourse if their property is mistakenly taken. And they should be required to insure it, as they would any other personal property. I know, these are the tricky, sticky points, but I also know a solution can be found, it might just take a bit of compromise on EVERYONE'S part.

I love the turtles, but we need to leave them out of it. It seemed like a smart idea to bring mice and turtles and all sorts of endangered species into all of these environmental arguments a couple decades ago, because it gets the governments attention and funding... but the real problem is the narcissistic, egotistical and disrespectful attitudes that have developed and are prevalent in our society today. It seems everyone has forgotten how to be respectful of all the rest of the people sharing this planet, and if we can't respect each other, we certainly aren't going to be able to respect a turtle or a mouse.

We ALL deserve a little piece of this beach paradise, each and every one of us. Owners, renters, locals, tourists, rich, poor, people, turtles... The only price is to treat it with respect. Yet so many today are such gluttons they have no idea how to gracefully accept that little piece, and respectfully share the rest with everyone else.

Those photos are sickening, I had no idea it was so bad. I stopped for several groups of people today crossing from the south side to the north side of 30A, carrying floaties and chairs and wheeling wagons full of stuff back home with them. I wanted to get out and hug each one of them.
 

wrobert

Beach Fanatic
Nov 21, 2007
4,132
575
63
DeFuniak Springs
www.defuniaksprings.com
I agree....my solution is to declare everything left on the beach between 7pm and 6am as "booty" -- free for the pickin'. Call it the "Move-it or Lose-it" program; post it on signs and have a banner plane fly over the beaches each evening at 6:50pm. Savvy entrepreneurs will be lined up at the beach entrances each night like ladies at Macys on Dec 26. The beaches will be cleared of junk every night at 7:05pm...problem solved.


Damn! You do know how to shift a thread to the left.
 

wrobert

Beach Fanatic
Nov 21, 2007
4,132
575
63
DeFuniak Springs
www.defuniaksprings.com
I agree. Some enterprising folks will invest their time and energy and vehicles collecting all this crap without destroying it, and then reselling it for a profit. All we need is the ordinance in place, the government can step out of it after that. Unless someone is actively using the property, it is considered abandoned after 7 pm.

Private property owners should have the option of permitting their stuff, as long as they can prove that it is safely anchored and will not become an airborne missile or otherwise hazardous to public safety. Permitted objects need to be clearly marked, and private property owners need some sort of option for legal recourse if their property is mistakenly taken. And they should be required to insure it, as they would any other personal property. I know, these are the tricky, sticky points, but I also know a solution can be found, it might just take a bit of compromise on EVERYONE'S part.

I love the turtles, but we need to leave them out of it. It seemed like a smart idea to bring mice and turtles and all sorts of endangered species into all of these environmental arguments a couple decades ago, because it gets the governments attention and funding... but the real problem is the narcissistic, egotistical and disrespectful attitudes that have developed and are prevalent in our society today. It seems everyone has forgotten how to be respectful of all the rest of the people sharing this planet, and if we can't respect each other, we certainly aren't going to be able to respect a turtle or a mouse.

We ALL deserve a little piece of this beach paradise, each and every one of us. Owners, renters, locals, tourists, rich, poor, people, turtles... The only price is to treat it with respect. Yet so many today are such gluttons they have no idea how to gracefully accept that little piece, and respectfully share the rest with everyone else.

Those photos are sickening, I had no idea it was so bad. I stopped for several groups of people today crossing from the south side to the north side of 30A, carrying floaties and chairs and wheeling wagons full of stuff back home with them. I wanted to get out and hug each one of them.


An umbrella was blown up the other day in Australia striking a tourist in the hand resulting in his death. So I still think we need to just go ahead and ban them completely. Totally too dangerous for meer mortals to use.

As for the other, the idea works great on the public part of the beach. But the private part would never happen. That is the problem now, making special rules for the private property owners that everyone seems to enjoy sucking tax dollars from, but abhors the fact that they own something that most can not afford.
 
New posts


Sign Up for SoWal Newsletter