“Retreat, Hell…We Just Got Here!”

The above line from the sci-fi movie Battlefield Los Angeles describes last Saturday's Seventeenth Annual Big Shell Beach Cleanup better than any words I can think of. I never sleep much for several nights before the Cleanup and last Friday night I went to bed at 9:30 and awoke at 12:15 AM. Unable to fall back to sleep I spent the rest of the night in front of the television evaluating the radar images of the incoming storm - thinking and scheming till time to head down to Malaquite. For a while it seemed the heaviest of the rain was going in far to our south but about 3:30 the intensity of the rain increased dramatically as it headed straight for us.

Prior to freaking out I went into a different mental mode I acquired in combat in South Vietnam. When you reach the point of knowing things are going to be really bad you totally quit worrying and slow everything down in your mind. You forget about buts, what-ifs, and maybes, and become acutely alert and calm and take it as it comes. You watch things unfold and act appropriately while calculating each move.

All our section leaders and coordinators arrived at 5:30 AM to insure we had time to prepare before volunteers arrived needing instructions. At 5:10 the rain became heavy and there was a lot of indecision going around. Realizing any action at this time would be futile and counterproductive, I instructed everyone to get in their vehicles and wait it out as attempting to send out sections or even get them supplies and lined out in the darkness in the cold, heavy rain would hurt the event.

Sitting in my suburban I was fascinated to see more and more volunteer headlights arriving continuously in my rearview mirror. Todd Neahr ran this cleanup event while I supervised and gave suggestions. It's time for someone to learn to run the event and now is the time and Todd is the man. He drove around in the parking lot and told newcomers of our intention of waiting till daylight. Then we sat back and peacefully waited till daylight. By first good light the wind had laid to about 18-20 mph and the rain had subsided to a heavy drizzle. In other words - conditions had improved from catastrophic to merely brutal.

Within minutes the event was in full swim like a well-oiled machine. EVERYONE appeared totally oblivious to the rain and the cold wind and carried out their duties effectively and cheerfully. In past years I've told you this event has the ability to become a living thing within itself; taking strength from the love and dedication of the volunteers and I watched it happen right in front of me as we lined up sections, gave them their supplies and sent them on their way. This was the most committed and cheerful group of volunteers I've ever seen although they were faced with the harshest conditions we've had to endure in the seventeen prior cleanups and they took it in stride and went on with their duties.

Several times I heard bursts of laughter when somebody said words to the effect, "Well, we've been hoping and praying for rain all these months and all we had to do was have a beach cleanup to make it happen." Each time I heard that remark I replied, "Yeah - Be careful what you pray for from now on." And then we'd all have a good laugh.

Joe Escoto, Park Superintendant of Padre Island National Seashore, walked up and stood beside me with rain running off his ball cap and sleeves. I said, "Joe, you don't have to stand out here in this stuff."

He smiled and said, "Well, actually Billy I WANT to be out here. I'm fine."

I said, "Joe, you can't tell me of another national park in the world that has this kind of visitor support." He agreed and said this event had always stood out above all others.

Soaking wet and shivering, park rangers worked tirelessly helping organize the volunteers just like the rest of us. I told Superintendent Escoto, "You know Joe, if this event never accomplishes anything else except letting the world know there are still people who care about the natural environment and our national parks and their condition and are willing to do something about it then all of the effort has been worth it." He agreed.

Todd and I had scouted the entire beach on Wednesday prior to the event and knew ahead of time that there was less trash on the beach than at any other time in the past seventeen years. It's OK to give some of the credit for that to the Big Shell and other cleanup efforts but it's also important to look at the overall picture, and when doing so one realizes we had no hurricanes cross the Gulf of Mexico from the south to the north in the past year. Just one hurricane crossing the Gulf can stack the beach high with debris.

As the trash was spread thin rather than piled up, the volunteers had to spread out and walk greater distances for smaller amounts of trash while soaking wet and freezing to death. As such we gathered only twenty tons. This tonnage brings the all-time total amount of trash removed from the beach by this event, south of the 15-Mile Marker of PINS, to 2,158,000 pounds. That is 1079 tons, folks.

We had three hundred bulletproof volunteers that braved the rotten weather and I was reminded of the three hundred Spartans that held off the entire Persian army in a narrow pass for almost three days before being finally overrun and killed to the man during the Battle of Thermopylae.

Todd and I had known from our Wednesday scout trip that IF we had good weather and a big turnout of volunteers we'd have the opportunity to clean more miles of beach than had ever been accomplished but it just wasn't meant to be - not this time anyway. On the beach you take it like it comes and I could not be more satisfied with the volunteers, the amount of trash collected and they entire event overall. As Dr. David McKee said, "Today is the stuff legends are made of."

To those who didn't go due to the horrible conditions - don't worry about it one bit. We know you were there with us in spirit and there will be other years. Once the weather situation became known prior to the cleanup I told several folks who were feeling sickly not to dare get out there and get bad sick - so no one should feel bad about passing on this one. To those who did come and stuck it out, I'd be proud to have any of you covering my back anywhere anytime and we all know I go to some awful tough places. Ha!

You all should be remembered as the legends; not me. The ladies who turned out were the ones who really got to a lot of us. Late in the event I came upon a woman who appeared to be in her late-50s or early-60s working alone picking up trash. She looked so miserable. I stopped and asked if she was alright to which she replied, "I'm soaking wet, I'm freezing to death and I'm having a ball, so you go on and leave me alone." Says a lot, doesn't it?

Ace Leal was busy with his camera capturing a bunch of video footage of the event and it should be available soon at www.FriendsofPadre.com or www.billysandifer.com. The volunteers are the heart and soul of this event but our sponsors mean the world to use too and I'd like to acknowledge them although I'm sure I'll miss someone as I always do so I'll apologize in advance.

A big thanks to outdoor writer David Sikes and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Ron Behnke and the Saltwater Angler, Everett and Pam Johnson of Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine and the Padre Moon for their promotion of the event. Thanks also to the board of Friends of Padre and all the coordinators and section leaders. I cannot say enough about the great folks at PINS NPS, Coastal Bend Audubon Society, Sharkathon, C2Mhill and Laura Paul, David Webb and Spooner Lures, Ben Beaty, and Mr. David Ainsworth and the continued invaluable help of Ainsworth Trucking Co. Mr. Leon McNinch and Jim Mayo of the Ruth Parr Sparks Foundation, CCA Corpus Christi Chapter, Daniel Dain and Domino's Pizza, Smart Shield Sunscreen, H. E. B. and "Fishbites" as well as Gambler Graphics. Citgo and Team Industrial Services stepped up for the second year as did Michael Laskowski Sr. and Jr. of Trac-Work Inc. Railroad Maintenance of San Antonio who again furnished volunteers with work gloves.

Remember the speed limit on PINS changes from 25 to 15 mph on March 1. Now if we can just figure out what to do with all them left over, high-dollar event tee shirts. What a hoot.

"If we don't leave any there won't be any." -Capt. Billy L. Sandifer