Overzealous Beach Cleanup

[beachma]

Happily reporting from the beach right here at Seagrove Villas ! Hubby and I arrived Saturday afternoon just in time to catch the tail-end of the Seaside Community Yard Sale...what fun! Snagged a great pair of flip flops for $10 and had a relaxing, delicious lunch at Rendezvous Caf?.
We were down for a week in August with our kids and grand children...which is wonderful, but this week in October is OUR week! Yesterday we were up at 6:30 AM and down at the beach for our first morning walk. We walked a while, then came back to the beach at the Villas, dragged our chairs and umbrella down and sat together just enjoying our favorite place in the world! After a bit, we left our coffee cups at the chairs and took another walk the opposite direction...east. We passed a gentleman walking a black dog, throwing a tennis ball...and noticed that he and another woman were removing chairs & umbrella's that were set up...even going as far as to throw the umbrella's into the trash dumpsters. I thought it a bit odd since it didn't appear to me that the chairs had actually been left up through the night. We had been down on the beach late to see the gorgeous moon rise Saturday night, and by the the time we left there were very few people and items left on the beach. When we turned around to walk back to our chairs, we could see that the man we had past earlier was dragging our chairs and umbrella up the beach to the dumpster! :angry: Please sir...I don't live here and get up early to see sunrises and stay at the beach to see the sunsets...don't deprive me of beach space because you're lumping all visitors into one category! The fact that our coffee mugs were sitting right there, one full of shells we had collected on the first half of our walk, was a clear sign that our chairs hadn't been left overnight! This morning it's windy and rainy...so our walk will have to wait, but tomorrow I suppose I'll have to put a sign on my chairs or something...

 

[Gidget]

Oh my!! What a story! That reminds me of the lady I once knew who was so compulsive about cleaning that her husband finally divorced her when she would try and make the bed with him still in it! :roll:

Yes, I would make a sign and suggest that maybe he get a chair and watch the beautiful sunrise himself. So did he actually drag your chair off?? Did you get a chance to tell him to chill?

Keep us posted and love your avatar btw.

G

 

[cabythesea]

A Local Apoligizes

On behalf of the locals, I would like to apologize for the actions of the
vigilante, arrogant people who think they own the public beach. It is folks like you - who visit in the off season, that make life better for the merchants and business people of South Walton. Thanks for coming and hopefully the weather will improve.

 

[Topsail Transplant]

Happily reporting from the beach right here at Seagrove Villas ! Hubby and I arrived Saturday afternoon just in time to catch the tail-end of the Seaside Community Yard Sale...what fun! Snagged a great pair of flip flops for $10 and had a relaxing, delicious lunch at Rendezvous Caf?.
We were down for a week in August with our kids and grand children...which is wonderful, but this week in October is OUR week! Yesterday we were up at 6:30 AM and down at the beach for our first morning walk. We walked a while, then came back to the beach at the Villas, drug our chairs and umbrella down and sat together just enjoying our favorite place in the world! After a bit, we left our coffee cups at the chairs and took another walk the opposite direction...east. We passed a gentleman walking a black dog, throwing a tennis ball...and noticed that he and another woman were removing chairs & umbrella's that were set up...even going as far as to throw the umbrella's into the trash dumpsters. I thought it a bit odd since it didn't appear to me that the chairs had actually been left up through the night. We had been down on the beach late to see the gorgeous moon rise Saturday night, and by the the time we left there were very few people and items left on the beach. When we turned around to walk back to our chairs, we could see that the man we had past earlier was dragging our chairs and umbrella up the beach to the dumpster! :angry: Please sir...I don't live here and get up early to see sunrises and stay at the beach to see the sunsets...don't deprive me of beach space because you're lumping all visitors into one category! The fact that our coffee mugs were sitting right there, one full of shells we had collected on the first half of our walk, was a clear sign that our chairs hadn't been left overnight! This morning it's windy and rainy...so our walk will have to wait, but tomorrow I suppose I'll have to put a sign on my chairs or something...

This guy must get around I had a similar experience myself at Dune Allen. Sometimes I get up pre-sunrise, bring my chair and coffee to the beach, take a short swim, and then watch the sun rise and drink my coffee. While I was in the water one morning, this person took my coffee dumped it out and proceeded to fold my chair up ( I am assuming he was going to throw it away ). I yelled from the water and then asked him what he was doing. Instead of saying he was sorry for the mistake, and for dumping out my coffee, he actually told me I shouldn't leave my chair unattended either very early in the morning or late at night. He then walked eastward and kept looking for other unsuspecting chairs. But i'm with you beachma I am only here part time and i don't want to be lumped in with those people who do leave stuff on the beach!!

Thanks for the post

 

[beachma]

Oh my!! What a story! That reminds me of the lady I once knew who was so compulsive about cleaning that her husband finally divorced her when she would try and make the bed with him still in it! :roll:

Yes, I would make a sign and suggest that maybe he get a chair and watch the beautiful sunrise himself. So did he actually drag your chair off?? Did you get a chance to tell him to chill?

Keep us posted and love your avatar btw.

G

Yes, he actually pulled the chairs & umbrella off the beach and put them by the dumpster at the beachwalk. He left our coffee mugs in the sand...which actually was a hazard for other walkers because they were white and we had a hard time finding them. Not able to get down yet this morning because of the weather...but I believe I will attach a note to them tomorrow!
Thanx...the avatar is a picture from the last time we were able to eat at 331..I think it was June of 2006! Loved that place...miss it!
P.S. We watched him continue to walk west towards Seaside but didn't try to chase him down. We waited a bit for him to return, he never did. If we see him at all this week, we will let him know that he's being unreasonable in his efforts to keep the beaches clean!

 

[babymakes4]

Next time, call the police

Tell them you would like to press charges for criminal mischief.

 

[Just Curious]

Sorry for the trouble. You should try to take a picture next time. The last person that got caught being overzealous about cleaning the beach was arrested. http://www.sowal.com/bb/all-about-sowal/36911-turtle-watch-volunteer-arrested.html

 

[scooterbug44]

I think a sign on your chairs is a good idea - most people whose chairs are on the beach at 6:30 am didn't just drag them down there.

Though one would think tossing out warm coffee would be a heckofa clue that people are actively using the chairs. :roll:

It's been a long summer of crap left on the beach, so what may seem like "overzealous" is more likely just "honestly trying to clean up after others."

 

[kkddbb]

I applaud the man for doing his job. We cant expect our beach service folks to chase down people. Believe me, just because there was warm coffee doesnt mean in the least that it was brought to the beach that morning. Im on grayton beach every morning and you wouldnt believe whats left out that would look like people were just there. Ive seen grills with food still cooking and the list goes on. This county had to set up rules and this fella is just doing his job. Just because someone had to walk and get their chairs godforbid doesnt mean we need to smear him, call him overzealous and make a big deal of it. it is what it is and as a local, im glad the law passed is being practiced as written.

 

[Douglas the Intrepid]

I applaud the man for doing his job. We cant expect our beach service folks to chase down people. Believe me, just because there was warm coffee doesnt mean in the least that it was brought to the beach that morning. Im on grayton beach every morning and you wouldnt believe whats left out that would look like people were just there. Ive seen grills with food still cooking and the list goes on. This county had to set up rules and this fella is just doing his job. Just because someone had to walk and get their chairs godforbid doesnt mean we need to smear him, call him overzealous and make a big deal of it. it is what it is and as a local, im glad the law passed is being practiced as written.

You are making the assumption that he is beach service getting paid for a job he is suppose to be doing. I strongly suspect he is just a local taking things into his own hands. If so I applaud his gumption, but question the implementation...