Meeting of the Turtlers

Last week a meeting of the Gulf Islands National Seashore sea turtle patrol/volunteers was scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Perdido Key. It was my first time to attend one of these functions, but it turned out to be a lovely event and I was able to match a lot of faces to names I'd only seen on reports and in logbooks.

Awards were handed out for milestones in volunteer hours. I was so proud of my friend, Melanie Waite, who received the President's Volunteer Service Award and a gold pin for 1,000 volunteer hours with the sea turtles! She has been part of the program for seventeen years! What a role model! Now if only she received credit for her travel hours, she probably would have received a platinum award. It takes Melanie an hour (one way) to drive from her home in Pace to the beach on patrol days!


Our hosts, Jay Bonanno and his gracious wife, Debbie, opened their beautiful Grande Lagoon home to the 'turtlers' for the meeting and get-together. This is just part of the fantastic view they have of the Perdido Key area of Gulf Islands National Seashore!