Embrace Diversity, the Same but Different

Beach Preservation’s 19th Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser, held at Island Way on April 21, featured twelve wines in pairs of the same variety showing the effect of terroir on character and taste. The silent auction, our largest ever, offered over 180 items for bidders, donated by 108 businesses and 42 individuals! Receipts from ticket sales and the auction will allow us to make a major contribution to the Beach Preservation Trust Fund. In addition to excellent hors d’oeuvres provided by Island Way and 17 other food contributors, Nancy Jo’s Homemade Bakery provided a 2-layer cake for dessert. Beach Ambassadors leader James W. “Skip” Cox was named Beach Preservationist of the Year and received the Royal Starfish Award! The annual fundraiser, with eight major sponsors, is a celebration of the things we can accomplish together for Oak Island’s beach. Those who work for the beach all year, our members, thus get first chance to buy tickets that go on sale in Febru-ary.

Inside this issue:

2018 Wine Tasting Fund Raiser

1

Earth Day 2

Facts About Plastic 2

Royal Starfish Award 2

Beach Ambassadors 3

Upcoming Events 3

New Beach Amenities 3

Board Members 3

Lazy Turtle Gives Back 3

Renewal Dates 3

Membership Form 3

Aquarium Programs 4

O A K I S L A N D B E A C H P R E S E R V A T I O N S O C I E T Y SUMMER 2018

Produced by Billie LeTendre

In our Next Issue read about

our experiences at:

Aquarium Programs

Farmers Markets

Beach Day

Beach Clean up

THE BEACH PRESERVER 2018 Wine Tasting Fundraiser

Hors d’oeuvres and finger foods were provided by

• Castucci”s Italian • Domino’s Pizza • Fish House Restaurant • Food Lion, Oak Island • • Food Lion, Southport • Island Way • Lazy Turtle Bar & Grill • Lowes Foods Bolivia •

• Lowes Foods Southport • Nancy Jo’s Homemade Bakery • Oak Island Sub Shop • • Pirates Deck • Pizza Shack • Shagger Jacks • Swain Seafood Shack •

• Tranquil Harbour • Turtle Island • Walmart Supercenter •

Special Thank You to our Sponsors

• Island Way • The Grape & Ale • Wine Rack • • The Country Vintner • Empire Distributors • Mutual Distributing Company •

• The State Port Pilot • Tryon Distributing •

Page 2 Earth Day at Oak Island

This year's Earth Day booth had three activities for visiting school groups and families. Children were invited to make pipe-cleaner bracelets using shells and UV-sensitive beads, a way to teach two lessons: moon snails drill the perfect holes found in many shells so they can eat the shelled animals inside; UV beads change from white to different colors when they are exposed to sun, so wearing the bracelet reminds us to use sunscreen!

The second activity was about plastic marine debris. Student groups made a list of the kinds of plastic found on the beach, then decided whether plastic debris resulted in MORE or LESS of different terms as they were presented. For instance, when thinking of DANGER, plastics might cause MORE; BEAUTY would probably be LESS with plastics. Words were written on oyster shells so they wouldn't blow away on this windy day! The ex-tended activity is available from BPS for classroom use.

Finally, all visitors to the booth were invited to sign the Beach Lover's pledge after repeating what beach lovers do. About 60 adults and 120 children participated on April 20th, 2018

2018 ROYAL STARFISH AWARD

Each year we present this award to the Beach Preservationist of the Year as a thank you and recognition for all this person has done to protect and honor our beach. Below is this year’s speech presented by Debbie Ollice.

Today we want to thank someone who continues to give selflessly to our community, our town, to his church, his fam-ily, and to everyone he comes in contact with! I know without a doubt that Oak Island is a better place, because Skip Cox lives here.

Let me share with you a few of the ways Skip's generosity affects us, the Town of Oak island, and our ocean and wa-terways.

• Adopt-a-highway is coming up – we can always use more volunteers--- did you ever wonder who started and orga-nized the local chapter? Skip!!!

• Our marsh clean-up is also coming up --- he's part of that, also – and yes, we can use volunteers there, as well!

• At his church, he and his wife Ellen are in charge of the food pantry and he sings in the choir!

• He volunteers at the hospital every week!

• Every Friday morning you will find him at a meeting with George and Public Works, and on the third Thursday of each month, you'll find him at the Environ-mental Advisory Committee meeting; again, volunteering his time to help in any way that he can!

• When the Town asked for volunteers to plant sea oats, guess who found the peo-ple, set up the schedules, had cold water for us, and coordinated the entire crew of volunteers, while we were on the beach --- that would be Skip!

• You may already be amazed at the many things I've listed, that Skip does … and I’m just getting to a huge one: The Beach Ambassador program.

• He is the tireless force behind one of the Beach Preservation Society's biggest contributions to our beloved Oak Island beaches. He and Rosanne have organized, trained, and run the Beach Ambassadors from its inception.

• He is our friendly face year round, as he drives the entire length of the beach to talk to people, tourists and citizens alike, encouraging them to take care of our beaches and ocean! Through his tireless example, Skip encourages all the people he encounters, even those who do not formally join the program, to become Beach Ambassadors.

• There would be no Beach Ambassador program without Skip Cox, and this would not be the wonderful town that we all have chosen to live in; for no one gives more of himself, nor contributes more to Oak Island.

It is my honor to present the 2018 Royal Starfish award to my dear friend, Skip Cox!

• Every minute enough plastic to fill one garbage truck is dumped into our oceans. • • Many marine organisms can’t distinguish common plastic from food. Animals that eat plastic often starve because they can’t digest the plastic and it fills their stomachs, preventing them from eating real food. •

• By 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish (by weight) •

THE BEACH PRESERVER

Page 3

Annual Membership

___Student $5

___Beach Lover Individual $15

___Beach Lover Family $25

___Dune Steward $50

___Starfish Guardian $100

___Beach Builder $250

Lifetime Membership (individual or family):

___Lifetime Seashore Protector $500

___Lifetime Island Preservationist $1000

Annual Business Membership $100

Date:________________Type of Application: ____New ___Renewal

Name (please print):_____________________________________________

Mailing Address: ________________________________________________

City/State/Zip: __________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________

Email: ________________________________________________________

Would you like to receive your newsletter by email?

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Mail to: Oak Island Beach Preservation Society

4601 E. Oak Island Drive

Oak Island, NC 28465

2018 MEMBERSHIP FORM

Board Members Oak Island Beach Preservation Society board meets at the OKI Town Hall on the first Thursday of each month at 4 pm.

Current board members are: Rosanne Fortner-Chair Diane Butzin-Secretary Kevin Lindsey-Treasurer Susan Leuck-Access Adoption Billie LeTendre-Newsletter Editor John Merchant-Access Fix-it Duane Murphy–Membership Debbie Ollice-Special Events Catrina Purser-Publicity Welcome to our Newest Member— Gerry Hardee

Volunteer Delegates: Muriel Nelson, Wendy Hicks, Larry Parker, Marty Escovitz and Jennifer Metzler-Fiorino

Summer Events

Here is a list of where to find us this spring and summer.

Aquarium Programs at Oak Island Rec Center –2pm June 14th, July 12th, and August 9th. Program descriptions on Page 4.

Farmer's Markets—7 to 1 June 11 & 18, July 9 & 23 Beach Day—June 30th on the beach at the Cabana

Stop by and say hello. We welcome volunteers to help out at these and other events. We will need several new board members this September. Email beachoki@outlook.com to receive more information about these opportunities.

Oak Island Ambassadors Update

The Ambassadors started their new sea-son officially on Saturday, May 5th, sporting a brand new vehicle. Look for them in a green and yellow 2017 JD Ga-tor. They had 31 volunteers to begin the year and 13 of these are new. The Ambas-sador Program has been successful in making visitors and locals alike aware of the rules of the beach for safety and good etiquette. Say hello to them when they ride or walk by and ask what you can do to help. I am sure they have good advice for all of us to stay informed, help others understand good beach behavior and what to do when problems arise.

Check your expiration date on mailing label or in email message. If you have not renewed since 6/30/1014 this may be your last issue.

New Beach Amenities Check out this spiffy new bench and Flip-Flop Tree built by our good friend and volunteer, Marty Escovitz. Marty is also the designer and builder of our new wooden Dog Bag Boxes. He’s always looking for a new project and to lend a hand to BPS. We’d love to have a few more volun-teers like him. What hidden talents do you have ? We can use your help.

Eating to Support BPS

This beach loving restaurant would like to support the Oak Island Beach Preservation Society! Drop in for lunch or dinner on the 2nd Thursday of each month and say you are a Beach Preservation supporter when you order -- 20% of your food bill will be donated to BPS. [Alcohol not included.] You don't have to be a member of BPS to partic-ipate [but please consider membership]! Lazy Turtle is at the Trott St beach access, near Oak Island Pier at 601 Ocean Dr, Oak Island, NC 28465. Hours are 11 am to 9:30 pm

THE BEACH PRESERVER

O A K I S L A N D B E A C H P R E S E R V A T I O N S O C I E T Y

4601 East Oak Island Dr.

Oak Island, NC 28465

Long Live Our Beach!

**Membership renewal form is inside**

All memberships expire one year from the date you joined or last renewed. Check your mailing label or your email message for your expiration date.

Visit us at beachOKI.com or contact us at beachOKI@outlook.com

THE BEACH PRESERVER Page 4

O A K I S L A N D B E A C H P R E S E R V A T I O N S O C I E T Y

4601 East Oak Island Dr.

Oak Island, NC 28465

Long Live Our Beach!

Fort Fisher Aquarium Programs at Oak Island

Turtle Talk: Thursday, June 14th at 2 PM Is a turtle’s shell its home? Help us answer this age-old question as we examine the lives of North Caroli-na's land, freshwater and sea water turtles. Learn about turtle habits, behavior, and anatomy. Find out what you can do to protect these fascinating rep-tiles! Living Sea Shells: Thursday, July 12th at 2pm Animals communicate just in different ways. Discov-er the hidden world of marine invertebrates in this live animal presentation! We will fine tune our ob-servation skills while exploring snails, urchins, crabs, sea stars, and other sea creatures! The Wonder of Whales: Thursday, August 9th at 2pm Take a virtual journey into the ocean and discover what dolphins, whales and humans have in common. Interactive props and engaging activities bring participants close to these amazing marine mammals!

Save these three dates. Join us while we learn about our ocean life, and have fun as we learn!

Location: Recreation Center, 3003 E. Oak Island Dr.

Sponsored by Oak Island Beach Preservation and Oak Island Parks and Recreation Center