Message from Laurie of Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles
Beach Season 2019 is just 6 weeks out! We are in the early stages of preparing for Volunteer Beach Ambassador training and set the dates for our training classes today. As a reminder, a VBA Team Member or Jr VBA Team Member must retrain each season. It’s important to be refreshed on general procedures and instructed in new updates from the county. As you are planning to return to the team or join for the first time, I wanted you to have the dates as early as possible so you could plan around travels and work commitments. If possible, I encourage you to try to train during one of the first two sessions. Those are conducted live with county representatives and first responders. These sessions provide attendees an opportunity for more interactive question and answer sessions with our special speakers. In addition, the more of you in attendance during these sessions, the more VBA’s we can return to the beaches at the early start of the season.
I’m looking forward to having all past team members return and new members join. It’s going to be another great year out there on our South Walton Beaches and we want you on the 2019 Team. So here are the dates for you to consider and I can’t wait to see you all at one of these classes.
Saturday, February 23rd, 9-12 noon
Saturday, March 2nd, 9-12 noon
Wednesday, March 20th, 6:30-9 pm
Tuesday, April 16th, 6:30-9 pm
Wednesday, May 15th, 6:30-9 pm
Tuesday, June 18th, 6:30-9 pm
Wednesday, July 17th, 6:30-9 pm
Wednesday, August 14th, 6:30-9 pm
Pick a class and let me know…I’ll get you signed up on the roster. Stay tuned for more information coming out soon.
Laurie
lauriereichenbach@gmail.com
VOLUNTEER BEACH AMBASSADOR
Volunteer Beach Ambassadors is apart of Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles. A group that branched off of South Walton Turtle Watch with the specific mission to sea turtle conservancy through awareness and education. This 501 c 3 provides educational programs in the schools and on our beaches (to both locals and tourists). I
The VBA Team covers the beaches/bike paths and other areas in the community...we go where the tourist go. In addition to educating tourist on beach codes and general etiquette, we fill in holes, flatten sand art at the end of the day, and pick up trash.
Our volunteers are not assigned a schedule or location. The beauty of serving the county as a VBA is that you choose where on the beach or out in the community you want to serve, you pick your own schedule, and you give the amount of time that you have. Very flexible for those who work.
Our VBA of the year logged over 1,000 hours while our average VBA may only give a few minutes each week.
The cost is $5 to join FOSWST non-profit organization but the shirt, name tag, training materials are free.
The VBA uniform is sponsored by Visit South Walton/TDC..
A VBA is required to train yearly so that all stay up to date on any new beach ordinances or code changes and to refresh them on our strategy on the beach. Last year we had about 225 adults and 70 listed Jr. VBA's. Students may attend the class and then work the beaches with their VBA parent in order to receive credit for volunteer hours required by their schools but the student does not wear a shirt. For liability reasons, they must always be accompanied by their parent and only work under the supervision of their parent. If anyone of your readership would like to join, the only requirement is that they be a Walton County Citizen full time or a second home owner who is in the area 3+ months per year. We serve only Walton County.
Beach Season 2019 is just 6 weeks out! We are in the early stages of preparing for Volunteer Beach Ambassador training and set the dates for our training classes today. As a reminder, a VBA Team Member or Jr VBA Team Member must retrain each season. It’s important to be refreshed on general procedures and instructed in new updates from the county. As you are planning to return to the team or join for the first time, I wanted you to have the dates as early as possible so you could plan around travels and work commitments. If possible, I encourage you to try to train during one of the first two sessions. Those are conducted live with county representatives and first responders. These sessions provide attendees an opportunity for more interactive question and answer sessions with our special speakers. In addition, the more of you in attendance during these sessions, the more VBA’s we can return to the beaches at the early start of the season.
I’m looking forward to having all past team members return and new members join. It’s going to be another great year out there on our South Walton Beaches and we want you on the 2019 Team. So here are the dates for you to consider and I can’t wait to see you all at one of these classes.
Saturday, February 23rd, 9-12 noon
Saturday, March 2nd, 9-12 noon
Wednesday, March 20th, 6:30-9 pm
Tuesday, April 16th, 6:30-9 pm
Wednesday, May 15th, 6:30-9 pm
Tuesday, June 18th, 6:30-9 pm
Wednesday, July 17th, 6:30-9 pm
Wednesday, August 14th, 6:30-9 pm
Pick a class and let me know…I’ll get you signed up on the roster. Stay tuned for more information coming out soon.
Laurie
lauriereichenbach@gmail.com
VOLUNTEER BEACH AMBASSADOR
Volunteer Beach Ambassadors is apart of Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles. A group that branched off of South Walton Turtle Watch with the specific mission to sea turtle conservancy through awareness and education. This 501 c 3 provides educational programs in the schools and on our beaches (to both locals and tourists). I
The VBA Team covers the beaches/bike paths and other areas in the community...we go where the tourist go. In addition to educating tourist on beach codes and general etiquette, we fill in holes, flatten sand art at the end of the day, and pick up trash.
Our volunteers are not assigned a schedule or location. The beauty of serving the county as a VBA is that you choose where on the beach or out in the community you want to serve, you pick your own schedule, and you give the amount of time that you have. Very flexible for those who work.
Our VBA of the year logged over 1,000 hours while our average VBA may only give a few minutes each week.
The cost is $5 to join FOSWST non-profit organization but the shirt, name tag, training materials are free.
The VBA uniform is sponsored by Visit South Walton/TDC..
A VBA is required to train yearly so that all stay up to date on any new beach ordinances or code changes and to refresh them on our strategy on the beach. Last year we had about 225 adults and 70 listed Jr. VBA's. Students may attend the class and then work the beaches with their VBA parent in order to receive credit for volunteer hours required by their schools but the student does not wear a shirt. For liability reasons, they must always be accompanied by their parent and only work under the supervision of their parent. If anyone of your readership would like to join, the only requirement is that they be a Walton County Citizen full time or a second home owner who is in the area 3+ months per year. We serve only Walton County.