Special Olympians clean Anna Maria beach

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BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA – A group of Special Olympic athletes participated in a beach cleanup near the Sandbar restaurant on Friday morning.

Approximately 20 Special Olympic Athletes and 10 chaperones from Special Olympics Florida – Manatee County participated in the event.

Tammy Nordling, a broker and branch manager for the Michael Saunders Reality office in Holmes Beach organized the event.

“We wanted to do something for our beaches. I spoke with Mayor Murphy and he said this would be a good time to do a beach cleanup in Anna Maria. This is the first time we’ve done this. The Special Olympians care about their environment and Michael Saunders Realtors cares too, so it’s a collaborative event,” Nordling said.

After arriving aboard the free Island trolley, the Special Olympic athletes and their chaperones first met with Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy at city hall.

When greeting the group, Murphy said, “We’re very proud and pleased to have you here today. We try to keep the beach as pristine as we possibly can, but it’s always in a state of constant use, so we have to constantly be out there doing work on it. I hope your time is productive and you enjoy yourselves.

Murphy told the group about the old City Pier, the new City Pier, the new Mote Marine Education Outreach Center on the pier and the city of Anna Maria’s 100th anniversary celebrations. The mayor also fielded questions.

Murphy presented Nordling with a box of commemorative coins featuring the city logo on one side and the Mote Marine logo on the other and asked her to share with the athletes.

“This is such a collaborative event and what a great way to spend a Friday,” Nordling said.

BEACH CLEANUP

The group then walked over to the beach access near the Sandbar restaurant. After receiving trash bags, gloves