Letter from the President

Even though it is only the second week of July, I feel like Masonboro.org has already had a big summer. It all started on June 2nd with a cook-out for volunteers. On June 24^th, Buddy's Crab Shack & Oyster Bar held a fund-raiser for us that raised over $2,300.00.  Finally, last week we had a fire drill/dress rehearsal cook-out on Monday and on Wednesday, we had our third annual July 4^th, Masonboro Island clean-up. It was our most organized effort to date.

This year was one of those you-had-to-be-there-to-believe-it events. The crowd was larger and more unruly then in years past. At the end of the day fights broke out (straining the ability of the five police officers on-site) and more kids were stranded without rides.

Despite the challenges, our volunteers performed flawlessly. The first shift handed out trash bags and talked to the kids about the importance of keeping the island clean. It is amazing how receptive they are to our message. Next year, I think we should spend more time talking to the kids about their responsibilities.

The second shift (12-4) is the "love" shift. At this point the party is in high gear and the kids are beginning to feel no pain. It is during these hours that our volunteers hear "I love what you guys are doing" more times then we can count. No really, "I love you guys!".

This year the third shift (4-8) was the one that left us all scratching our heads. At the end of the day pretty much anything you might see at a drunken college tailgate party was happening on Masonboro. In years past, people started leaving around 4:00 in the afternoon. Not so this year. At 6:00pm,  there was still a large crowd left on the island. At that point we swooped in and within an hour we had most of the trash off the island. One big negative happened this year when a couple of kids chastised us for not giving people rides off the island.

Now that it is all over, I want to thank everyone who volunteered. Without your efforts Masonboro Island would have been trashed. I also want to thank our board members. They are the reason we were so well organized this year. Over 40 businesses also contributed to our success this year. While there are too many to mention, I have to give a shout out to Waste Management. For three years they have handled all of the recycling and trash we have taken off the island.

Finally, I want thank you......our members. By joining Masonboro.org us you have made our efforts to keep Masonboro Island open to the public, a much louder voice.

I’ll see you on the island.
Richard Johnson