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.

September 2008 Chapter Meeting Minutes

Minutes for the September First Coast Surfrider Chapter Meeting that met at Fionn Macool’s on 9/8/2008 at 7:00PM hours. For the purpose of Monthly Chapter Meeting.

Total members in attendance: 19
Guest speakers: Felicia Boyd of WAV/St John’s Water Management District
Presiding Chairperson: Rhea Drysdale

SEPTEMBER 2008 CHAPTER BUSINESS

New member recognition:
There were four new members in attendance who were recognized and were given the opportunity to introduce themselves.

Upcoming Events:

• International Coastal Cleanup will be held on 9/20/2008. Surfrider is scheduled to meet at Oceanfront Park at 8:00AM and work until 10:00AM. Volunteers are needed.
• The Surf Expo will be held September 12-14th in Orlando. Volunteers have been designated to help man the Surfrider booth at the event.

Guest Speaker:

• Felicia Boyd of WAV:
  Our speaker, Felicia Boyd, spoke with us about the WAV program and updated us on outreach events they will conduct in local area schools like the Science Nights we participated in last year. She also talked about their storm drain marking program and asked for volunteers to help with a marking event that First Coast Surfrider will be partnering with them on later in the year. After concerns expressed from chapter member Nathan Arnold about illegal dumping of oil from a Jacksonville Beach restaurant, the question of storm drain tagging was brought up. The chapter wants to help canvas the beaches to ensure that all drains have a clearly marked tag. Since their original installations, many have disappeared or had damage. Felicia also spoke with regards to the upcoming International Coastal Cleanup.

Recap of Past Events:

• Sisters of the Sea BBQ:
  Erin Handy updated us on the Sisters of the Sea contest, which had superb waves and the cookout, which we helped sponsor. The event brought in nearly $725.00 and was attended by about 150 people. Much thanks was given to Mojo’s Kitchen who donated the food as well as The American Legion who made the space available and donated the bartender. Thanks to Erin, Ed Cronin and Val Zevins who helped make it a success.

Other:

• Rhea provided insight for the new members as to events and activities that our chapter is involved with during the year as well as historical references.
• Rhea announced that she and Brad will be relocating to NY soon and unfortunately they will not be able to stay on here with the Chapter.
• She also announced that it is time for the election of the new board for the coming year. Nominations were taken and others will be made prior to the next meeting. At that time the new EC will meet and elect the new board. If you would like to be on the EC, please contact us with your interest. The only requirements are that you be an active Surfrider member and have attended at least three events in the past year, which can include meetings, cleanups, fundraisers, etc.

Next meeting:

• Our next meeting will be held at the same venue and time on the second Monday of October.

SOS & SR End of Summer BBQ

Sisters of the Sea and Surfrider’s End of Summer BBQ

This Saturday, September 6th from 6:30pm-late, Mojo Kitchen presents an End of Summer BBQ with Sisters of the Sea and First Coast Surfrider!

Location: American Legion Post 129, 11th Ave South and 4th Street in Jacksonville Beach

$5 Donation, proceeds benefit Bosom Buddies, includes soda/water and raffle ticket to win a Mystic Surfboard. Cash bar for those of age. All ages welcome!

Don’t miss the 10th Annual Sisters of the Sea Surf Classic earlier in the day at the Jacksonville Beach Pier!

September Chapter Meeting & EC Nominations

Chapter Meeting - Monday, September 8th at 7pm

Location: Fionn MacCool’s in Jacksonville Beach

Agenda:
It’s that time of year again, time to elect fresh faces to the Executive Committee. If you’d like to be considered, you need to attend the next chapter meeting where names will be nominated, seconded and added to the ballot for October’s election. In order to run all you need is to be a member in good standing (active Surfrider membership) and have attended at least three events in the past year (meetings, cleanups, expos, etc. count).

We’ll keep this meeting short and sweet. Housekeeping, nominations and then we’ll break into groups to tackle special issues. No speaker this time, but thank you to John Hearin for an incredible presentation at last month’s meeting on artificial reef construction. If you missed it, you can grab the presentation here: http://www.asr-america.com/index_files/Projects.htm

Surf Expo in Orlando, September 2008

The Surf Expo in Orlando, FL is September 12th-14th

Want to attend the Surf Expo? Volunteer for the Surfrider booth!

It is a 2 hour requirement for entry. No one under age 16. Contact Erin Handy for details, email: volunteer@surfriders.org She needs your name, age, day available (fri, sat or sun) (AM or PM), and contact info. Deadline for volunteer sign up is Monday, Sept 8th.

Expo Booth Number: S1113. Grab more info about the expo here: www.surfexpo.com

Qigong Classes on the Beach

Take Qigong classes on Jacksonville Beach!

Experience the benefits of the ancient art of qigong (pronounced Chee-Gung) Sunday September 28th at 8am at the Florida Blvd beach access. This is free and open to the public with a beach cleanup following the 45 minute class, a $5 donation is greatly appreciated and all proceeds benefit the First Coast Chapter of Surfrider.

What will I do in a Qigong class?
A typical class consists of breathing exercises, movements & postures, meditation & visualization.

For more information please contact Meredith Woodard, email: meredith.woodard@gmail.com or phone: 318-3789