We’re ringing in 2010 right away by having our information booth set up at the Gulf Coast Kayak Fishing Association Rigging Clinic on Saturday January 2nd.   The clinic will be held in the parking lot of Hot Spots Bait and Tackle in Gulf Breeze (211 Gulf Breeze Parkway) from 10 am on through the afternoon.

A great opportunity to get out this holiday weekend between football games and see all the neat things these guys can do to kayaks.   From fish finders, to GPS, to anchor systems, live wells  and lights….if you think you’ve seen it on a boat – these guys have probably thought of a way to rig it on a kayak…..and they’ll show you how to do it too.

While you are there stop by our information booth and learn about our progress on the marine sanctuary and how you can stay informed or get involved and help Make Navarre Snorkelicious.

Come on out and join us at the next monthly meeting – Tuesday, December 15th at 6:30 PM in the Navarre Visitor Center Conference Room (enter through rear sound side door please).  As always the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The  Navarre Visitor Center is on Highway 98 in downtown Navarre just to the west of the Navarre Beach bridge  – beside the butterfly house.

Click this link to see the minutes from the meeting.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began accepting public comments  on October 19th for  the Gulf Side Snorkeling and Diving Reef Permit applications made by the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners.  The Permit reference for it is SAJ-2009-3187 (IP-SWA).  Comments will be received regarding this permit for 21 days (through November 9th).

The Corps also began accepting public comments on October 29th for the east and west Sound Side Reef Permit applications made by the Commissioners.   The Permit reference number for this permit is SAJ-2009-3188 (IP-SWA).  Comments will be received regarding this permit for 21 days also (through November 19th).

We encourage the public to comment positively on the need for both of these permits to be approved.   Let the Federal Government know that the reefs will have an immediate, large and lasting positive impact on the panhandle area economy, environment, and education  on both permit applications.  Economically the reefs will increase annual economic output in Santa Rosa County alone by $1.17 Million.  The estimated oyster growth on the proposed sound side reefs will create a water filtration capacity of almost 2 Million gallons of water per day and both the sound and gulf side reefs will provide essential marine habitat for juvenile fish species and increase marine biodiversity.  Both reefs will be a centerpiece amenity for the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary and all other area educational institutions and will facilitate learning and research programs from grade school through post graduate studies.

Please reference the permit number(s) when sending your comments.  You can send comments in writing by regular mail or email to Mr. Steve Andrews Jr. of the Army Corps.

Email comments can be sent to stephen.w.andrews@usace.army.mil

The physical address for letters is:

Dept of the Army – Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers

Pensacola Regional Office

41 North Jefferson St. Suite 111

Pensacola, FL 32502

As 2009  begins to wind down and we head into the holiday months, the marine sanctuary committee is beginning to look forward to the coming year’s challenges and how best to meet them.  One of the changes will be in the routine operations of the committee -  like managing communications, coordinating fund raising and grant activity, managing the permit process, etc.   Previously, we have  taken things as they come and  doled out the various tasks as the needs arise, like manning information booths, event planning, and speaking to community groups.

Now that we have a little more experience with running the different parts of the marine sanctuary program we can be more proactive with individuals  leading different functional areas.  Coming out of the October meeting, the breakout for the areas of leadership and the people that will be leading in each area are:

Communications- Nancy Sandler

Community Awareness Events – Dan McCarren

Presentations – Andy Epstein

Finance – Mike Sandler

Reef Sponsorship Program – Mandy Evers

Grants – Robert Turpin

Website – Mark Griffith

Permitting – Mark Griffith

After the new year a new Chairman of the Marine Sanctuary committee for the 2010 calendar year will be named.

2009 has been a year of many successes for the Marine Sanctuary Program, and  with the  reorganization outlined above we look forward to even better progress 2010.   Thanks to those committee members  stepping forward positively in leading our efforts to Make Navarre Snorkelicious!

Fundraising:

Run for the Reef 5K

Our inaugural event was a huge success and we grossed as much as $8,000 and netted as much as $5,000. Still waiting on word if there are any more registration monies to be collected from the Active.com on line registration system. This was not only a financial success but everyone involved seemed genuinely pleased that it went off without a hitch and we had over 300 participants. Including all the participant, volunteer and sponsor shirts distributed, we have 400 Run for the Reef T-shirts out there circulating to remind folks of the program. Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, race committee members and most importantly participants that helped to make it a success.

Impact100 Grant

As you may know we were selected as one of two finalist in the Environmental category for the 2009 Pensacola Bay Area Impact 100 grant of $102,800. Approximately 250 Impact 100 members voted by absentee ballot prior to the final presentations (based on what they had read in the entire grant application or grant summaries they were provided). The other 250 members voted at the annual meeting (held October 18th in Pensacola) after hearing final presentations by each finalist. While we were not awarded the grant, we ;learned quite a lot about the grant process and are encouraged to try again next year since our first outing allowed us to get all the way to the final two. Thanks to all who helped with the grant throughout the grant process.

Memorial Reef Naming Program

Recently we have discussed a plan that would allow individuals or businesses to purchase naming rights for one or more individual gulf or sound side reefs. We would then place some type of memorial at the park with a graphic depicting the location of each donor’s reef. We need to start planning for this. Things that need to be worked out include a pricing structure for the naming rights, how to work with the county on the size, location and type of memorial that we might be allowed to be erected, and how best to market the effort.

Permitting:

We now have our State of Florida DEP permits and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineer Federal Permits have been published for comment, which is the first phase of the approval process. Our Environmental Consultant will receive and respond to any requests for additional information as the federal permit approval process continues.

Community Awareness:

The past couple of months we made many appearances at local civic organizations and set up and informational booth or table at a few events. We are looking for more opportunities to do this and need some enthusiastic committee members to step forward to both schedule/coordinate these opportunities and to help by manning a booth or table or presenting our (now fairly standardized) presentation. Opportunities to present our information in front of groups that typically have speakers and lunch meetings is a great way to keep our message out in public circulation and generate the type of community awareness and good will we need to keep the project moving forward.

Next Meeting:

Next monthly meeting – Tuesday, October 27th at 6:30 PM- Navarre Visitor Center Conference Room (enter through rear sound side door please).
At the meeting we will review and document lessons learned for both the Run for the Reef and the Impact 100 Grant and discuss the memorial reef naming plan. As always the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Please enjoy these photos from the race and after party compliments of Masha Griffin at Griffin Photography.  Thanks to Marsha Griffin for not only being a race sponsor but donating her time and talents to provide us these great memories. Note – the photos have been resized to allow for posting on our website.

The Inaugural Run for the Reef 5K is now in the books and by all accounts it was a huge success. The weather was perfect and thanks to our wonderful participants, volunteers, and sponsors the race and after party ran like a well oiled machine.

Don’t forget  – finish line pictures can be viewed and purchased from the Navarre Press Website.

If you had pictures taken at the Kiss The Fish booth you can see them online on the Thrifty Tropical Shirt Facebook page.

The overall results for Runners and Walkers are listed below:

Overall Runner – Male
1 – Clayton Honaker – 18:16 (Navarre)
2 – Chris Neal – 18:26 (Pace)
3 – Jermyn James – 18:29 (Navarre)

Overall Runner – Female
1 – Amber Barberisi – 20:35  (Fort Walton Beach)
2 – Sharon Myers – 20:59 (Milton)
3 – Sandy Ebanks – 21:12 (Pace)

Overall Walker – Male
1 – Ken Wolfe – 34:06 (Fort Walton Beach)
2 – Delbert Tucker – 34:53 (Navarre)
3 – Ray Moseley – 39:20 (Pensacola)

Overall Walker – Female
1 -  Susan Giangiulio – 40:04 (Navarre)
2 – Christine Salome – 40:05  (Navarre)
3 – Diana McKinley – 40:40 (Navarre)

Links to full results are provided below:

Overall Runners Results – Oct 10, 2009 Run for the Reef 5K

Overall Walkers Results – Oct 10, 2009 Run for the Reef 5K

Female Runners Results – Oct 10, 2009 Run for the Reef 5K

Male Runners Results – Oct 10, 2009 Run for the Reef 5K

Runners Age Category Results are shown below:

Please note the following results correction for placements in the Male Age 65-69 category.

1. Bob Sciretta             28:48

2. Bill Larsen                30:42

3. Robert Anderson    36:19

Any of the age category runners  that won an award and was not able to pick it up at the awards ceremony may pick their award up  at Run With it Shoes (850-939-1001) in the Navarre Publix Shopping Center  through October 25th.

The Overall Walker Male and Female winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) that did not receive their award a the awards ceremony may pick them up at Run With it Shoes (through October 25th).

Runners who did not pick up their race packet may do so at Run With it Shoes through October 25th also.

A few tidbits about the Run for the Reef event:

Total Registrants – 311

Estimated Gross Dollars Raised  to benefit the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary – $8,126

The following states were represented in our participants   FL, AL, GA, LA, CT, and WI

The Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary Committee would like to thank all of our sponsors, the volunteers and their organizations for helping to make the Inaugural Run for the Reef 5K a great success and for helping to Make Navarre Snorkelicious!!

Register online now at www.active.com or download a registration form on our website and drop it off to the Navarre Visitor Information Center, Run With it shoes in the Navarre Publix Shopping Center, or the Navarre Press offices.

For full race information go to the Run For the Reef page.

Race Packet pickup – Friday October 9th 3-7 PM at Run With it shoes in Navarre Publix Shopping Center

Don’t miss a great time.

If you forget to pre register you’re not too late – you can register on the deck at Juana’s on Race Day 6:30 AM till Race Start Time.

Race Start Time: October 10, 2009 – 7:30 AM

1 Mile Kid’s Fun Run starts at 8:30 AM

Post Race Party and Awards Ceremony on the deck at  Juana’s Pagoda featuring Door Prizes, Free Breakfast, Free Beer/Beverages, and Free Entertainment by Islandtime Entertainment.

Remember – you don’t have to run to help and have fun doing it.  Register and get your race number and shirt and then head on down to Juana’s for the Post Race Party (don’t forget your race number)……no pain….all gain.

See you there!!!

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has issued the General Permits required for all three reef sites  (two in the sound and one in the gulf) of the marine sanctuary.  This is  a major step forward and gives us  three of the six permits required.    In addition to this good news,  we believe the other three required  permits that issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, will be going out to public notice for comment within days.  This is fantastic progress and even keeps us ahead of schedule.

Impact 100 Pensacola announced today at a press conference that the Navarre Beach Marine Sanctuary is among ten finalists that will compete for five grants of $102,800 in each of five categories.  There are two finalists per category – the Marine Sanctuary is in the Environmental category.

This is a huge opportunity for the Marine Sanctuary Program ,and can provide most of the necessary funding for the completion of Phase II (sound side reefs).  The final determination will be made after brief presentations by each finalists to the entire Impact 100 membership at their annual meeting on Sunday October 18th at 1:45 PM.

We believe the positive environmental benefits that will come from the sound side reefs – up to 1.8 million gallons of water filtered per day, increased biodiversity and juvenile marine species habitat – is very grant worthy.   In addition the Marine Sanctuary project provides huge economic and educational benefits for the area with an estimated increase of $1.17 million in annual economic output for the combined gulf and sound side reefs and increased local educational institution and grant funded study opportunities,

The Marine Sanctuary Committee is is honored to be among this years finalists and is very grateful to the ladies of Impact 100 – not only for the current grant program but for their continued contribution to making our community a better place to work and live.