Friends of Sebastian Inlet State Park

Adopt A Highway

The weather report called for partly cloudy skies, with a high of 75 degrees and a 10% chance of rain. I thought to myself, what a perfect weather forecast for a roadside cleanup. Fifteen state park volunteers from the Friends of Sebastian Inlet State Park gathered in the parking lot along Florida’s state road highway A1A. Armed with pickup sticks, gloves, trash buckets and adorning day glow safety vests, the group socially distantly gathered around the Park Ranger to review the safety briefing. The Friends of Sebastian Inlet had recently signed a two-year contract with Florida Department of Transportation and the Adopt A Highway roadside cleanup program. The Friends responsibility is to quarterly maintain the 1.32 miles of highway that stretches through the Northern boundary of the Sebastian Inlet State Park. This was their first clean up in 2020 and as clean ups go there was a certain excitement in the air. Let’s pick up the roadway and take pride in our newly adopted highway! As the group of fifteen dispersed on ether end of the road shoulders the mid-December skies opened and the rains fell. Although the Friends of Sebastian Inlet State Park had to wrap up their roadside clean up earlier than expected, over thirty pounds of trash was picked up along the highway road shoulders. There is a sense of personal pride and camaraderie that goes hand and hand when an individual, volunteers their own time and gives back to their favorite state park or local community. As the saying goes “it takes a village”, it also takes dedicated friends. To learn more about what the Friends of Sebastian Inlet State Park do and how you can become a member, please visit our website, https://friendsofsebastianinletstatepark.org, follow the Friends of Sebastian Inlet State Park, Inc. on their FACEBOOK page or just stop into the Sebastian Inlet State Park and ask about our membership program. Do you know who your friends are?

Park Services Specialist Addy Finegan
December 12, 2020