THE HAMMOCK
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 6, NO. 4
VETERAN OF THE YEAR PAGE 3 FREE
• NOVEMBER 2021
No more butts! New recycling program in Flagler Beach MATTHEW P. DOUGHNEY FLAGLER BEACH POLICE CHIEF
Local Postal Customer
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BCH FL PERMIT #447
According to the Truth Initiative, since the 1980s, cigarette have the distinction of being the most littered item on earth, with about 4.5 trillion cigarettes discarded each year. The filters of cigarettes are made of plastic and are not biodegradable. The filters store enough nicotine, heavy metals and other chemicals from the cigarettes to kill fish and marine animals that live in the waters where the tossed butts release toxins. The city of Flagler Beach is no exception, and cigarette filters are the most prevalent item collected during monthly beach clean-up efforts. In a proactive effort to address this issue in our city, Flagler Beach Commissioner Ken Bryan recently secured a grant to receive 75 metal receptacles from Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. The grant is administered by Jacksonville Beaches Go Green, a nonprofit part of Keep America Beautiful. “I initially asked for 50 receptacles, but after explaining the areas of concern and describing how much cigarette trash we pick up during the city beach clean-up programs, I was given 75,” Bryan said. Volunteers are mounting the metal recycling boxes at numerous locations around Flagler Beach, to include the Pier entrance, boardwalk, city parks and local businesses. The recycling boxes are being installed at/or near waist height. Volunteers and city sanitation staff will empty the boxes into containers donated by the Turtle Shack Cafe. Once they’re collected, the cigarette butts will be shipped to TerraCycle, a recycling company located in Trenton, New Jersey. TerraCycle has patented technology that recycles cigarette butts into plastic pellets used by manufacturers to build park benches, decking material and shipping pallets, among other items. GPS technology is being utilized by the city to assist in locating all the receptacles for follow-up disposal by the volunteers. According to Litter in America, the Keep America Beautiful National study of littering behavior, shows that just one cigarette butt receptacle decreases the amount of cigarette litter by 9% in a respective area. Look for the new receptacles in Flagler Beach and please encourage your smoker friends to use them. Keep Flagler Beach Clean: no ifs, ands or butts! For additional information, contact Commissioner Ken Bryan at kbryan@cityofflaglerbeach.com.
This photo was taken before Hurricane Matthew chopped off 160 feet from the end of the pier in 2016.
Once and future
pier F
lagler Beach’s iconic wood pier will be replaced with a new, concrete one in the same footprint, city commissioners decided during a special
hundreds of fervent spectators lining the shore. The parade, one of the community’s most highly anticipated events, is now in its 38th year. Four generations of Palm Coasters have enjoyed this unique annual celebration, now considered the largest boat parade in Central Florida. The parade would not exist were it not for the enthusiastic participation of boaters from all over Palm Coast and neighboring communities, the numbers growing year after year. It all began in 1984 with a group of boaters who would soon form the Palm Coast Yacht Club. The second year, ITT made it a contest with a grand prize of a trip to Italy. But the club soon echewed that format and offered it as an event purely in the spirit of a happily noncompetitive sharing of community holiday spirit. This year, boaters and party organizers are already mobilizing. This year the parade hopes to attract not only the many boaters who populate Palm Coast, but also representatives from the city’s local clubs and service organizations participating with boats decorated to reflect their activities and missions. This year, the now-famous articulated “shark” may not be back, but something equally
exciting is expected, as well as the ever-popular holiday tableaux and Santa Clauses bringing up the end of the parade in the tradition of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. Departing from the Cimmaron Basin, the parade will pass the Tidelands, Marina Cove, the Hammock, Yacht Harbor Village and the Palm Coast Legacy Vacation Resort. It will then proceed under the Hammock Dunes Bridge along St. Joe Walkway and Canopy Walk, pass by Island Estates, Waterfront Park and Grand Haven before dispersing at the Clubhouse Waterway. The parade will be escorted by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Tow Boat US, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Parking continues to be available near European Village for viewing along St. Joe Walkway, Canopy Walk and at Waterfront Park. This year, spectator parking will not be available at Waterfront Park due to an ongoing city construction project to enhance water-based activities. As always, participation in the parade is free, but registration is required. Contact Robert Ulis at 386-283-5166 or at srulis00@gmail.com. Visit www.palmcoastyachtclub. com. Rain date is Dec. 19.
NEWS EDITOR
A ballet of boats Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade: under a full moon Dec. 18
SARAH ULIS GUEST WRITER
At about 5 o’clock, it begins: a sedate drift of boats scattering lights across the water in Palm Coast’s Cimarron Basin. It is Dec. 18, 2021, the beginning of the Palm Coast Boat Parade. As twilight deepens the sky, more boaters begin to draw their boats into the gathering area, exchanging hearty greetings as they glide past one another in polite aquatic do-si-dos. Along the Intracoastal Waterway, even more boats have assembled. At 6 o’clock, lights flashing, the sheriff’s boat sets forth and guides the parade out onto the Intracoastal Waterway. A majestic line of decorated boats, cruisers and sail boats interspersed with canoes and kayaks begins its serene procession down a black velvet corridor of lights. Under a moon-bright sky, boat horns blast in response to tooting car horns and cheering from
Flagler Beach to replace pier with new $12.5 million concrete version meeting Oct. 27. The new pier will be 800 feet long — the length the current one had been before Hurricane Matthew lopped 160 feet off its end in 2016. “There’s $10 million in Tallahassee waiting for us to pull the trigger,” City Manager
JONATHAN SIMMONS
Courtesy photo by Eric Jordan
William Whitson said on Flagler Broadcasting’s “Free For All Friday” program Oct. 29. To build the replacement, the city plans to use $10 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency grant SEE ONCE PAGE 6
Holiday at the Beach Parade: Dec. 4 MATTHEW P. DOUGHNEY FLAGLER BEACH POLICE CHIEF
The Flagler Beach “Holiday at the Beach” parade will be Saturday, Dec. 4, at 1 p.m. The holiday parade in 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19, and this year’s parade will be slightly shorter in length than previous parades, as a precaution for the delta variant. Flagler Beach Mayor Suzie Johnston stated: “This year will be magical in Flagler Beach, as we have all been waiting to return to normalcy. ... Everyone looks forward to kicking off the holiday season with a skydiving Santa!” This year’s holiday parade will be organized by the Rotary Club of Flagler Beach. The parade will be limited to 50 entrants, and registration for the parade can be done online at the following website: https://www. needsconnector.com/holidayatthebeach. Contact Sues Alexander at 770-910-0359.