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Come Experience The Natural World Of Padre Island
National Seashore With Captain Billy Sandifer!
Big Shell Beach Cleanup March 14th 2009
Those who visit and fish the area South of the 15 mile area of PINS beach
regularly for any length of time soon realize there is really nothing easy
about it. It’s harsh and hostile and totally unforgiving and it always has
been. Guess that’s why I have loved it so for so long. Hard and hostile
places breed strong, self reliant, col orful people and these are the people
who have been my chosen family all these years. Simply planning and
executing a successful day’s fishing can become quite a task. Then if tides,
winds and weather aren’t just perfect (and they rarely are) it becomes more
and more complex and difficult
Now imagine 502 people showing up before
daylight on their day off with many traveling hundreds of miles to be there
in 45 degree temperatures with drizzle and 24 mph North winds and picking up
800,000 pounds of debris (most deposited by Hurricane Ike) and you have the
story of the 14th. Annual Big Shell Beach Cleanup. From toddlers to school
children to red necks to house wives to PhDs. Bikers to Environmentalists to
Cowboys. All equal; working side by side and doing their absolute best to
get as much debris as possible collected and removed from the National
treasure that is PINS and which means so much to so many.
Their reward for
this day of pain and strain in miserable weather was an event T shirt, some
sunscreen and "Fishbites" and a map and a pair of gloves. Most got hotdogs
and pizza. Kinda’ slim wages but the real pay off was 9 3/4 miles of clean
beach in the Big Shell and a couple of miles cleaned by this year’s Port
Mansfield group of 25 volunteers who came across by boat and were met by 4
wheel drive trucks which had driven in from the North end. This portion of
the event is a first and was organized by Miller and Kathy Bassler of
Bassler Energy Services of Deansville, Tx.
Another first in this year’s
event was that NPS (National Park Service) personnel at PINS were full
partners in the event and not only worked with us but furnished invaluable
heavy equipment and trucks. To the NPS personnel it was just another day in
the trenches as they’ve been battling the debris since Ike and their effort
continues now. For days prior to the event the "backdrug" roads through Big
Shell with large front end loaders so volunteers could get in and out of the
area. It remained extremely difficult to pull trailers south of the 20 mile
but without their efforts it would have been impossible. I’ll stand tall and
tell anyone that NPS personnel led by Facilities Manager, Larry Turk, have
done more work on PINS in the past year than has ever been done there before
The bone chilling, wet and cold conditions made hard work miserable for
everyone but our volunteer truck drivers pulling trailers really had a tough
time in the soft sands South of the 20 mile. Even the most experienced got
stuck at least once or twice and had to be pulled out. I don’t think I’ve
ever given these trailer pullers the full credit they earn and deserve. They
risk and endanger their personal property more than the rest of us and that
extra effort needs to be realized and acknowledged. So a great big and well
earned special thanks go out to these hard working folks. Most of the
volunteers were back at Malaquite by the official ending time of 2 p.m. but
quite aa few worked beyond that and 8 of us joined NPS personnel on Sunday
and continued the effort till we simply could go no more.
Prior to this event the first 13 events picked up 1,030,000 pounds of trash.
The 800,000 pounds collected during this event brings the event total to
1,830,000 pounds. This record event collected as much trash as 10 previous
ones had but I think it very important not to "steal the thunder" of earlier
events as there are 2 big reasons for this years tremendous amount of trash
gathered. First off there was that much more trash to pick up and secondly
the NPS joining in helped dramatically Everyone who has worked in any of
these previous 13 events has worked their backsides off just as much as this
year.
We are grateful to all of our sponsors and I’d like to recognize them
individually. CCA Corpus Christi Chapter provided hot dogs and refreshments
for volunteers at Malaquite. Daniel Dain and Domino’s Pizza provided pizza
for tired volunteers. Coastal Bend Audubon Society furnished the restrooms
at the 15 mile. Fishbites, Smart Shield Sunscreen and Texmaps furnished
product for volunteers. HEB Plus of Flour Bluff donated a gift certificate
for sundry items. Michael Laskowski Sr. And Jr. Of Trac-Work, Inc Railroad
Maintenance and Rehabilitation officed in San Antonio furnished 600 pair of
work gloves and then personally hauled 4 trailer loads of trash. David
Ainsworth of Ainsworth Trucking in Corpus Christi provided 2 truck and large
trailers filled with ice chest and bottled water for volunteers. Jerry B’s
Kayak Sales and Rentals of Corpus Christi donated coupon discounts to
volunteers.
Without "getting the word out" this event would never exist and we are
extremely grateful to Kellie Smith and Time Warner Cable Media Sales, Texas
Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Salty Angler and David Sikes and the Caller
Times for the great publicity they gave the event. Thanks to Gambler
Specialitys for doing such a good job of the t shirts and to Ben Beaty for
his awesome graphic design of the shirts although I must say I’m prettier
than depicted. As rough and tough as depicted I’ll admit; but prettier.
Another first for this event is financial contributions to the event and
other worthy causes on Padre Island through donations to the newly formed
"Friends of Padre." The board of FoP is made up of Dr. David McKee, Tyler
Thorsen, Steven Naylor of Round Rock and myself and we were all personally
"in the trenches" with everyone else as well as managing the organization.
Substantial donations were received from Mr. Leon McNinch and Jim Mayo of
the "Ruth Parr Sparks Foundation, Stephen and Donna Gregory (they paid for
all the t-shirts and made a sizable donation as well), Kathie and Miller
Bassler of Bassler Energy Services in Deanville, Tx. made a donation and
organized the Port Mansfield volunteers, Sharkathon, Mr. Jimmy Jackson of
Beeville, TX. And Mr. Johnny French.
Sunny Beaches.org was present with 37 volunteers. Mrs. Alvaredo brought 19
school children from Robstown, Tx. Awesome.
And my friend of more years than I care to recall, Mr. Ace Leal, who you may
only know as "the t-shirt guy" deserves a very big THANK YOU ACE because he
earned it several times over this year. He not only handled most of the
chores concerning the t-shirts; which has been unusually complicated this
year but has been my main "go to" guy on every aspect of planning this very
complicated event. When everyone else was busy with something else Ace’s
reply was always "sure I will" or "I’ll be over in a few minutes."
I am very proud and blessed to be a part of this event. If you take a moment
and think about how crazy everything around us is these days and how many
people are getting caught behaving horribly over selfish greed and a total
lack of concern for anyone else or any thing but themselves this event
stands tall and proud as proof that there are still kind, concerned,
selfless people who not only are willing to give of themselves but to
eagerly do so simply because something needs doing and nothing is expected
in return. Each of us walked among such people Saturday and were counted in
their number and it honors us and it honors PINS. As always, YOU ARE MY
HEROES. Humbly your brother in the sand,
Capt. Billy L. Sandifer
ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY
During 2007s "event of record" 440 people picked up 95,560 pounds of
trash and cleaned 13 miles of beach on PINS. During Saturday’s 2008 event
400 people picked up 115,500 pounds in bags and including large items
brought in the total is estimated at 65 to 70 tons.
 They cleaned 13.7 miles of beach. Less people yet record distance cleaned and record amount
of trash removed. We surpassed the 1 Million pound mark by 30,000 pounds. Although the morning temperature was a brisk 42 degrees some volunteers
traveled in open vehicles from town into the work area and I observed
volunteers in wheel chairs picking up trash in two separate sections.
Although Capt. Ron Behnke of "Salt Water Angler" is recovering from
serious back surgery he and Julie were there with other family members and
pulling a trailer and also gave the event high quality advertisement. A
well earned thank you to the Behnke family and their publication.
 David Sikes of the Corpus Christi Caller Times went out of his way to give the
event as much exceptional press as possible and so did the publication,
Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, the local Corpus Christi CCA Chapter and
Time Warner Cable Media Sales.
Ainsworth Trucking Company continued to be
not only a major financial supporter of the event but furnished 2 trucks
and large trailers loaded down with ice chests of iced down bottled water for volunteers in the field and hauled huge loads of trash out. Mr. Henry
Perry, Ainsworth Trucking Company, is invaluable in the field due his
experience and good common sense and is a genuine blessing to this event.
 The Ruth Parr Sparks Foundation was a major benefactor and the event is
indebted to them and extremely grateful for their support. So is Mr. Jim
Mayo of Mayo Ranches andalthough he prefers not to be mentioned I find it
impossible not to do so. C.C. CCA President, Troy Adler, and Brush Country
C.C.A. were in the "trenches" walking the walk" rather than talking the
talk..
Michael Laskowski of Trac-Work Inc. Purchased 500 pair of work
gloves for the event and then pulled a large trailer in the work area
gathering trash. TAMUK ANGLERS and Sunny Beaches Org. Furnished solid
number of volunteers.
 Daniel Dann and store manager, Stephanie Benham, of
Domino’s Pizza delivered pizzas for volunteers at the conclusion of the event and CCA Corpus Christi’s Jay Gardner whipped up a goodly supply of
his famous cheese-chili dogs as well.
Co-Organizer, Tyler Thorsen, of www.corpusfishing.com and board member of CCA Corpus Christi, was as
invaluable as always and so was long time friend, Ace Leal, the t-shirt
man and another co-organizer. Mr. Joe Escoto, the new superintendent of
PINS, and Cynthia Rubio of the Turtle Recovery Program spend the day
likewise "walking the walk" in the work area and off duty Park Ranger Pat
Donahue patrolled the area with a full first aid kit should problems
have occurred.
 Smartshield Sun Protection, H.E.B., TEXMAPS.com, "Fishbites" and
Carsonmap.com continued their wonderful support . Gambler’s Specialities
Ink of Corpus Christi did an awesome job on the t-shirts in short order
and my dear friends, Dr. David McKee, Ph.D. at Texas A&M University-Corpus
Christi and businessman, Steve Naylor, of Round Rock continued their
dedication to this worthwhile endeavor.
Mr. Brian Hawkins of the "Texas
Country Reporter" T.V. show filmed the entire event and a show on it will
air in May. Gas is over $3.00 a gallon, personal commitments overwhelm us
all in our everyday lives and it was a cold morning to get up on your day
off and drive some distance at your own financial expense to do hard
physical labor all day. The title of this comes from my ol’ military days, "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty." 
Throughout the event it kept running through my mind for I realized that was exactly what was happening right
before my very eyes and I am overwhelmed with admiration for all of you.
If "what goes around really comes around" you’ve all bought some
exceptionally good karma on this deal. Your are my heroes.
Your Friend and
Admirer,
Captain Billy L. Sandifer
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