Great Florida Beach Walk Saturday

Beach loving Historic City News readers along Florida’s Historic Coast are invited to join the Great Florida Beach Walk to show the world that the Sunshine State’s beaches are as wonderful as ever.

Organized by VISIT FLORIDA, the state’s official tourism marketing organization, the goal of the walk is to have volunteers walk all 825 of Florida’s sandy beaches and upload a photo of each mile – all between sunrise and 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 6. The resulting photos will provide an impressive and indisputable online record of the state’s beautiful, oil-free beaches.

“This is a great opportunity for St. Johns County residents to highlight the beauty of our 42 miles of pristine Atlantic beaches,” said Richard Goldman, executive director of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra and the Beaches — Visitors and Convention Bureau. “Despite the fact that our beaches were always more than 900 miles from the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, research shows there is a lingering perception among Americans outside of Florida that somehow our beaches were tainted with oil. This beach walk can help dispel that myth – all we need are volunteers to help tell our story.”

Goldman said volunteers can register now to walk a mile and upload a photo by simply going to the Beachwalk Volunteer website.

A number of local volunteers and organizations are planning special activities to support the Great Florida Beach Walk. Glenn Hastings, who is both a professional photographer and executive director of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, will provide free photo training for Beach Walk volunteers who will be contributing photos to the statewide online gallery. Begining at 6:30 a.m., Hastings will be at the St. Johns County Pier in St. Augustine Beach.

The St. Augustine Attractions Association will have 16th century Spanish soldiers and other locally-famous “characters” participating in the walk. Dave Walker, an award-winning sand sculptor, will construct one of his famous sand creations at Crescent Beach. Anastasia State Park volunteers will place mile-marker flags along the beaches.

In addition to VISIT FLORIDA, support for the Great Florida Beach Walk is being provided by The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, The Florida Lottery, Florida State Parks and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Flagler Volunteer Services is the joint county host for St. Johns and Flagler counties.