LOVERS OF DOGS, BEACHES ATTEND MONTHLY CLEAN UP

BYLINE: JOE BONIKOWSKI, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
DATE: January 4, 2006
PUBLICATION: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORHOOD POST
PAGE: 3
MEMO: Info box at end of text.

North Palm Beach / Palm Beach Gardens

On the first Saturday morning of each month, except when the weather is bad, people swarm along 3 1/2 miles of northern Palm Beach County coastline with one purpose:

Rid the beach of trash others left behind. The Friends of Jupiter Beach are starting their 11th year of their trash-collecting efforts, which end up being more like trash-collecting parties. At 8 a.m., everyone signs in, gets a name tag and a free ticket for a prize drawing. After 90 minutes of garbage gathering, everyone returns to the sign-in spot (the Anita Lankler Pavilion at Ocean Cay Park, on the Juno Beach-Jupiter border). A free breakfast accompanies the prize drawing, and by 10 a.m. everyone is done.

And although most members of the Friends of Jupiter Beach are dog owners, having a canine friend is not a membership requirement.

"Our mission is to keep the dogs on the beach," said Joan Ross, who's been president of the Friends board for the past two years. "So I think that's the attraction for our organization. But there are bunch of people who are enviromentally motivated, who don't have dogs, but come to our cleanups.

"We also have a lot of high-school kids who show up regularly. They get service credits, and it's a fun way to get their credits. And, of course, we feed them afterwards."

A lot of the garbage gathered by the Friends includes bottles, cans and food wrappers. Occasionally, they find something that really doesn't belong.

"A shed roof was found on the beach after last year's (2004) hurricanes," Ross said. "What comes up after the hurricanes is often a lot of natural, stinky stuff."

The Friends also look to their members to pick up after their dogs and keep their dogs leashed and under control on Jupiter's beach.

"We're providing 250,000 doggie bags a year," Ross said. "We fund those bags and maintain the boxes (at the crossovers).

"We already have 5,400 members (from West Palm Beach through Hobe Sound), so we have some strength behind us. By having as many as we do, we're hoping to keep the dogs on the beach as much as possible."

- joe_bonikowski@pbpost.com

If you go

What: Friends of Jupiter Beach monthly beach cleanup.

When: 8 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, including this Saturday.

Where: Anita Lankler Pavilion at Ocean Cay Park, on the Juno Beach-Jupiter border.

For information: Call (561) 748-8140.

Copyright (c) 2006 Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.