When it comes to the existence of a public beach park that allows us to store windsurfing equipment and hold our events there, it may seem like ‘it has always been thus’.  Some of you may be surprised that this is not the case.  Others in the club will smile sagely and say, “oh yes, I remember,” and to those people I say please excuse me if I get some of this story a bit wrong.  It was, after all, long ago in 1993, somewhere between Wright’s “salad days” and now, that the fate of Shell Point Beach was determined.

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You see, the current park was at one time an actual platted and vested subdivision.  It was owned by George Taff, Sr. and consisted of nine waterfront lots.  This was at a time when Shell Point still had a restaurant, hotel, marina, and a marina store.  Mr. Taff had allowed public access to the area for years, and the beach was even listed as a public beach on the Wakulla County maps published each month in the now defunct Wakulla Times.  During this time, it had become a local rigging and sailing mecca for the ‘crazy windsurfers’ as they were often called by the locals.  But late in 1992, word began to get around that Mr. Taff was about to allow those lots to be developed. SPSC was much disturbed by this prospect, as were at least some of the locals who used the beach on a regular basis.  Initial pleas to the County Commission to save the beach were rebuffed, citing lack of funds to acquire the property. 

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But the intrepid SPSC folks were not to be deterred. We formed a group called “Save Shell Point Beach” and began to meet to look for alternative ways to preserve what was one of only two coastal areas in all of Wakulla County that was not salt marsh.  We found out that, just three years prior to our current dilemma, Florida had created the Preservation 2000 Program (P2000), one of the most ambitious conservation land buying programs in the entire US.  Ten percent of P2000 dollars each year were dedicated to the Florida Communities Trust Program (FCT) to assist local communities in implementing conservation, recreation, open space, and coastal preservation.  We kept hammering the County Commission until they directed a committee of citizens to research the potential acquisition of Shell Point Beach under these programs. For months, a group of SPSC folks worked with the County’s grants coordinator, Becky Porter, to create a plan for a public park at Shell Point Beach and submit an FCT application for funding.  We even made sure that the plan would qualify for funding without requiring a local match, since the Commissioners were unfriendly (as is so often the case) to spending even a dime of the county’s money for what was surely to become a great local public resource.  I remember sitting in a cubicle in front of a monochrome monitor (some of you may remember those) in the County offices on Trice Lane, researching and typing out the natural resources inventory and impact statement for the proposal.  Perry Morris rallied supporters in the Shell Point Community.  Mark Voigt and Mark Brackman worked on the drawings for the conceptual design. Other names that show up in meeting notes include Joe Reid, Stan D, and Greg and Jim, but the last two I just don’t remember.  We completed the application and got approval to submit it.  We were told we had a great chance of getting the grant!

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A new public park that preserved beach access in a county with little of that, landscaped with parking.  Piece of cake, right?  But not so fast.  Our proposal actually caused protest and consternation in the community!  There was the developer who had hoped to profit from the construction on those lots, there were folks who didn’t want the county to lose the tax revenue of about $12,500; there were folks who were afraid of riffraff and noise (even though it had been used as a public beach for at least a decade.) There were commissioners who said they didn’t want to maintain a park, and there were folks worried about liability. 

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So, the “Save Shell Point Beach” folks morphed quickly into the “Friends of Shell Point Beach Park” and began to research answers and solutions to all those concerns and more.  We lobbied the Commission and local community leaders, the citizens of Shell Point and anyone else who complained or who would listen. Local celebrity Jack Ridner helped.  It all culminated in a meeting of the Shell Point Community Unity Group on November 19, 1993, where we made a very polished slide presentation addressing all of the community concerns.  We did not win over everyone, but enough progress was made so that our ideas were included in the proposed management plan for the park, which was submitted and approved with the help of FCT staffer Grant Gelhart in 1995.  And the rest, as they say, is history. 

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Grant Gelhart, although he doesn’t windsurf, still attends our events today.  In exchange for SPSC efforts to create the park, and because we always also kept the beach clean and gave free windsurfing lessons, we got some of the “perks” that we still enjoy today—the equipment storage, access to the “chase”, ready permitting for events, etc

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And just so you all know, I went to the Wakulla Historical Society (housed in the old Courthouse on Crawfordville) to take a look at the documents and notes from our efforts now stored there (including the slide presentation), just to refresh my memory so that I could reasonably recount this tale.  The kind woman who retrieved the documents told me that she was so glad we have that park now—that it is such a gem in the community.  I have to admit, I almost got tears in my eyes.  So, when you go to enjoy Shell Point Beach Park, remember that SPSC had a huge role in making sure it is there today, instead of nine big houses on stilts, marring our beautiful open beach view.

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(Webmaster note:  The community cries of "Not In My Back Yard" birthed our yearly NIMBY Regatta that is not held in their back yard.   So consider attending this year's NIMBY which is contingent on having enough participants. )