Music filled the warm ocean air while more than 40 canopies were placed in rows at Main Beach Park in Fernandina Beach on Saturday. Crocheted sea turtles and glass-blown wall art of sea turtles and other sea creatures, jewelry, arts and crafts, shark teeth, beach accessories, coffee, pies and more filled the tents.
Earth Day Turtle Fest was held as the hot sunny weather made attendees feel like it was a summertime festival. The event had a great turnout. All proceeds from the event go to the nonprofit Beach Junki, which was the mastermind behind the event.
Amy Beach, founder and director of Beach Junki, said she had decided just two months prior that she wanted to do the event. It took her idea and the work of many volunteers, sponsors, musicians and vendors to make it successful.
“We did this. Not me. It was my idea, but they did this,” Beach said in reference to the volunteers who helped her put the event together.
The event included 43 vendors, and seven musical groups that performed live. Ten of the vendors were nonprofits like Beach Junki.
Kim Galvin, event coordinator, said about 40 people volunteered to help out with the event.
Tickets also were sold to enter into a drawing for different prizes.
“This was a last-minute passion project,” said Jenn Burns, music coordinator for the event. When she found out Beach could use some help getting the musicians together for the event, Burns jumped at the chance.
“I am totally on board with pouring back into this community, just as a local being from here. I love the beach, I surf, I used to, kind of, tour-guide out here, I love to be outdoors, we all want to enjoy this beach and we all love the animals.” she said. “We fight this all the time, keeping the lights off the beach, having people clean up after themselves on the beach, putting the sand back in the holes, it’s a constant upkeep and educational thing, and we have to keep going.”
Bill Ivins, Brandon Olson, Alix Delfs, Shell Anders, Vibe RW and Kalani Rose performed at Turtle Fest. Burns, also a musician for the event, played fifth in the lineup.
Members of the Fernandina Beach Pirates Club also were in attendance, as the musicians set up on the Pirates Club boat to perform.
Beach and the other coordinators reiterated how important education is for sea turtle awareness and safety. Beach was particularly excited about the youth education Turtle Fest provided. At the back left corner of the canopies was an area dedicated to education that was dubbed Kids Corner. Several tents were there for the specific purpose of educating the kids on sea turtles.
“Everyone knows about the sea turtles but don’t really know about the threats and how we can save them,” Beach said.
“When you teach the kids, they will engrain it into their parents,” Burns said.
Vicky Strommen, Kids Corner coordinator, said “Amy has … really motivated me that one person, even though it’s a small thing, can make a difference.”
Beach said the focus of her organization is to encourage beach cleanup and awareness of things such as the dangers of digging on the beach. Digging deep holes can create a hazard for baby sea turtles who need to get to the water fast and who don’t have the ability to go backward.
Strommen, who volunteers with Beach Junki beyond Turtle Fest, explained why she felt pushed to work with Beach. “I’m very much about the environment and the impact people have had on it … especially with the plastics and how we can’t just recycle our way out of it, we need to reduce it. That is one big piece but it impacts the sea animals, and one of those it impacts is, of course, the sea turtles.”
Beach Junki was founded by Beach in 2020 with the initial goal of generally making the beach better. Beach worked closely with Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch and learned sea turtle rescue skills and quickly she discovered her passion for helping the sea turtles. She knew then and there it would be a main focus for her organization.
Beach also works with local artists to raise awareness of the dangers we create for sea turtles. You can find several art projects around Fernandina Beach. The organization has even created a shared toy box outside the beach for educational purposes and to encourage cleanup.
“I’m trying to get my organization to haul sea turtles for anyone who needs it,” Beach said, revealing she just received a grant she would put toward a van.
Baby sea turtles begin their trek to the ocean in late summer and early fall.
For more information on Beach Junki, visit www.beachjunki.org/.
achandler@fbnewsleader.com