January 09 Meeting Minutes

Total members in attendance:  29

Guest speakers: Joy Hampp of Marineland

Presiding Chairperson: Ed Cronin

General Info

Ed opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and announcing the new EC members. They are Ed Cronin-Chairman, Erin Handy-Vice Chair, Donald Ster-Treasurer, Paul Hayden-Secretary, Danny Barley-Web, Donny Barley-Outreach, Tamil Singh-Special Projects.

Due to the enormity of the work to be accomplished, Ed and The EC have decided to add two additional positions to the EC. The first position will be held By Valerie Zevens. We are still looking for an additional member of the EC who will hopefully be a newer member who is not tied down with a leadership position on another board.  Ed asked those in attendance to let the EC know if they are interested.

Upcoming Events

Ed announced the slate of activities scheduled for the coming year. They are currently as follows:

·       Beach cleanups will be held from March through October on the third Saturday of the month at the Jax Beach Pier from 9-11AM with a surf session following them. Michael Poolt suggested that we also conduct these events from time to time in the afternoons for those who’s schedules preclude them from making the earlier sessions. We agreed this would be a good idea and he agreed to head up the events at that time and probably at a different venue.

·       On Feb 7^th we will have a booth at the MOSH during the Water Education Festival from 10AM-4PM. We are looking for volunteers and they can contact either Donny Barley or Paul Hayden via the contact page.

·       We will be partnering with MySurfari on a kickoff event to be held on 3/14 wherein all proceeds over and above the costs of MySurfari will go to our chapter. More details will follow.

·       We will possibly be involved with the clearing of the handicap walkovers at Jax Beach in March.

·       Our annual Black Tie and Baggies Gala event will be held in April. More details to follow.

·       On the weekend of Memorial Day we will be holding a Longboard contest.

·       On 6/21 there will be events scheduled for International Surf Day.

·       In September we will hold the Sisters of the Sea/Surfrider BBQ following the SOS surf contest.

In October we will be hosting the SE Surfrider Chapters Regional Conference and benefit concert in conjunction with an Art Auction. Dates and further info to follow. 

Guest Speaker

Joy Hampp of Marineland gave the group a video presentation about Right Whales. Joy’s presentation was very informative, enlightening and well received by the group. 

Other Business

·       Michael Poolt gave us the current details of the upcoming MySurfari kick-off party to be held on March 14^th and also filled us in on what his company is about. He said that they will have two bands at the event as well as a fashion show and that they will donate the proceeds above their costs to our chapter. The group was most appreciative of the gesture and will help to make the event a successful one.

·       Ericka Davanzo, FL regional manager from Surfrider, spoke to the group about the 25^th anniversary events as well as the regional meeting to be held at Jax Beach in October, which our chapter will sponsor.

·       Ed recapped the recent beach clean-up where we picked up over 100lbs of trash and recognized those who helped in the effort.

·       We had one new member present who was recognized.

During the Q&A session we discussed ways that businesses or individuals could help out with hand-outs and prizes at events. It was also requested that we sponsor a 5K marathon. It was noted by Ed that while this would be a great thing to do that someone would have to chair the event and get volunteers.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be held at Cabo’s Pizza on 2/10/09. Cabos is located at 8^th St. S. and 3^rd Ave. in Jax Beach. The meeting will start at 7:00PM. 

January Meeting Agenda & Expo/Anniversary Events

Our first meeting of the year will be at Cabo’s Pizza (3rd St. & 8th Ave. S. in Jax Bch) at 7:00pm on tuesday the 13th.

Tentative Agenda:

• Possible Guest Speaker - Joy Hampp from the Marineland Right Whale Survey Project

• Announcement and discussion of short & long term events/plans

• Recap of the last beach cleanup

• General discussion - QA with members

• Announcement of EC positions - L to R: Danny Barley (Web), Donny Barley (Outreach), Erin Handy (Vice Chair), Paul Hayden (Secretary), Tamil Singh (Special Projects), Ed Cronin (Chairman), Not pictured - Donald Ster (Treasurer)

25th Anniversary at Surf Expo

In celebration of Surfrider’s 25th Anniversary the Central FL chapter will be hosting a movie night at Surf Expo on friday 1/16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. General movie goers will not receive an expo pass, but can enter the movie at the close of the expo on friday.

Palm Beach County Chapter Auction

The Palm Beach County Chapter wanted to offer other Florida chapter members the opportunity to bid on some of their amazing items and trips to help with their campaign efforts to reform beach management in this state.

The Auction opens this Friday, Jan 9th till Jan 31st.

Items include trips to DR, CR, Cancun, Key West, Nascar Racing School, hog hunts, fishing gear, James Taylor & Willie Nelson autographed LPs, jewerly, framed prints, and more.

Items can be viewed here:

Palm Beach County Chapter Auction

Thanks for your support in 2009!

First Beach Clean Up of 2009

Many thanks to those that came out on this foggy morning and helped with the beach clean up. We had 12 people in attendance that collected over 100 lbs of trash at the pier.

Those present were:

Scott McCaskill
Kristin Yoder
Jason Fuller
Katie Fuller
Phil Brown
Kimi Brown
Mark Collins
Paul Hayden
Ed Cronin
Donald Ster
Donny Barley
Danny Barley

Good job everyone!

Happy New Year! Beach Clean Up Saturday 1-3-09

Hope everyone had a great holiday season. We’ll be starting the New Year with a beach clean up this saturday at the Jax Beach Pier from 9 to 11am. Anyone is welcome to join and hopefully there’ll be some surf afterward.

December: Meeting Minutes & Beach Clean-up Postponed Until 1/3/09

• BT&B will be targeted for April. A meeting of the committee will be held next week.
• EC has still to fill the positions of leadership for the chapter. We should do so before the new year.
• The longboard contest will be scheduled for May.
• The beach cleanup for December 27th should be moved to Jan 3 due to the amount of trash that should accumulate over New Year’s.
• All agreed that the second Tuesday of the month is a good time for meetings and there was a question as to whether we’d be moving the meetings to other places. I said we have a tendency to light in one place that works for the current group.
• A speaker is available for the cruise ship issue in Mayport. Val has the name to contact. I told the membership present that we do not have an official position at this time.

• Beach fire
• non-contest surf events/get togethers or even non-surf get togethers
• other extra-curricular get togethers
• On-line surveys (one of the new members has survey software and is willing to assist)

• Change the calendar and web sites to make them current
• Post meeting dates/times at Cabo’s (someone came in to Cabo’s last night asking about the meeting and no one had any info) - Perhaps a poster placed every month? Something in the beaches leader?
• Need to fill leadership positions! One of the new members is also working with the girl scouts and wants to get with our outreach coordinator.

Nothing But Soul Clothing - Launch Party

Nothing But Soul Clothing, a new local surf inspired clothing company is a proud supporter of The First Coast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Their official “Launch Party” is this friday, 11/14 at Wise Guys restaurant and bar, located at 2429 Third Street South (across from Starbucks & Roys).

Party starts at 8pm. Look for 1/2 price drinks all night, free give-a-ways and live music.

Please come out and support NBS and Surfrider!

November Meeting Minutes

General

Erin opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the new venue that is owned by a local surfer and supporter of the First Coast Chapter.
Erin also acknowledged two new members at the meeting, Debbie, who decided to attend the meeting on her birthday and Megan who recently moved back to the area and wanted to get involved.
Erin also introduced the new EC and noted that the various positions on the EC will be filled by those individuals and reported to the membership prior to the December meeting.

Upcoming Events

Our next beach clean-up will be on 11/22 at the Jax pier from 9-11AM. The following one will be at the same place and time on 12/27.
Larry Hart noted that the beaches are filled with plastics and debris from recent storms and for everyone to try and pick up trash whenever they are at the beach.

We are shooting to have the next Black Tie & Baggies (BT&B) on the second Saturday in April and hopefully at the Atlantic where we had it last year. A committee will be formed soon. Val Zevens noted that the sooner we start the better off we will be.

We are also looking to run a Longboard Contest and are looking at calendar openings. We hope to have it in May. Paul Hayden indicated that he has spoken with Paul West of the FSA and that they have set the template for it. Val volunteered her help.

We are shooting to have our next Art Auction in February but no specifics have been set as of yet.

Other Business

Erin noted that The Seven Bridges recently donated $350.00 fro a recent event to out Chapter. She also noted that a local coffee roasting company was looking to do something similar. She said that the company is already donating to the St. Johns River Keeper.
A Representative from a new local clothing company called Nothing But Soul talked about an upcoming event they will be having.
Erin talked about the upcoming Surf Expo and asked that volunteers contact her to work the Surfrider booth.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be at Cabo’s Pizza on 12/9 at 7pm.

November 2008 Meeting & New Executive Committee

The next meeting of the First Coast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation will be held on Tuesday, November 11th at Cabos Island Pizza at 7:00 PM. Cabo’s is located at 8th Ave. south & 3rd street in Jax Beach.

The agenda is to discuss our end of the year events and present our goals and suggestions for 2009. Please bring your appetites and ideas!

We will also announce our new Executive Committee members:

Erin Handy, Ed Cronin, Donald Ster, Paul Hayden, Danny Barley, Tamil Singh and Donny Barley

Members are encouraged to stick around after the meeting and view the Local Surf History exhibit that Cabo’s acquired from the Beaches Historical Museum.

October 2008 Meeting Minutes

Minutes for the First Coast Surfrider Chapter Meeting that met at Fionn Macool’s on 10/13/2008 at 7:00PM. For the purpose of Monthly Chapter Meeting.

Total members in attendance: 14
Presiding Chairperson: James Woodruff and Erin Handy

Election of new EC
Erin Handy, Ed Cronin, Donald Ster, Paul Hayden, Danny Barley, Tamil Singh and Donny Barley were listed for nomination. Those individuals were unanimously approved. There will be a meeting of the new EC on 10/27 at which time the individuals will be named to their specific positions on the board. That slate will be introduced at the next regular chapter meeting.

Upcoming Events
On 10/14 from 5-10PM there will be a fundraiser held at the Seven Bridges Restaurant near Tinseltown. One dollar of every beer sold will be donated to the chapter. Erin asked that people attend and spread the word about Surfrider.
On 10/22 Felicia Boyd of WAV will be at the Fletcher MS gym from 5:30-8:30PM conducting an outreach environmental event. Interested members are encouraged to attend.
The next beach clean-up will be held at 9AM on 10/25 on the south side of the pier.

Other Business
Paul reminded everyone that especially in these tough times that we should all make every effort to support both our local and national business donors and supporters.

Next Meeting
Our next meeting as well as all future meetings until further notice will be held at Cabo’s Island Pizza restaurant and surf museum at 8th Street S and 3rd Ave in Jacksonville Beach. The meetings will start at 7:00PM and will from now on be held on the second Tuesday of each month.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30PM. Minutes recorded by: Paul Hayden

Executive Committee Nominations!

At the next chapter meeting, October 13th at 7pm at Fionn MacCools, we will be voting on the executive committee members. This is an extremely important decision as it decides on the management of the chapter for the coming year. You must be present to vote. Please join us!

At September’s chapter meeting these members self-nominated and were seconded for inclusion in the executive committee nominations:

• Erin Handy
• George Arco
• Danny Barley
• Tamil Singh

The Executive Committee is composed of 7 members. The positions include Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Volunteer Coordinator and two open slots for whatever the chapter needs (we typically make these Environmental Coordinator, Outreach Coordinator or Special Events Coordinator). There are obviously a few more slots to fill and more if we’d like to hold nominations versus just placing the willing and able!

Surfrider Foundation By Laws state that to vote, you must be a current Surfrider Foundation member and you must be physically present at the meeting. All nominations require members to self-nominate, be seconded and then voted on by the chapter. If you are an active Surfrider member that has been to at least three Surfrider events (meetings, fundraisers, cleanups, etc.) in the past year, you are eligible to run.

To quote are most inspiring member, Paulie, “Let’s make it happen!” Now is the time for fresh talent from motivated individuals.