Fun on the North Fork

[Cliff]

From this morning's Palm Beach Post:

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River Park Marina due a cleanup

By Jeri Butler

Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Some folks in Port St. Lucie think River Park Marina, which is off of Prima Vista Boulevard, is private because the Port St. Lucie Yacht Club leases a building on the land. But the 13-acre piece of wilderness along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River is a public park that's a nice place for a nature walk or a picnic. And the best thing is it should be getting a sprucing-up soon from St. Lucie County and a group of do-gooders.

The group that takes special pains to keep this little piece of heaven fresh and pretty are members of the Friends of the Marina.

"After the hurricanes we cleaned up with help from the county, and we're hoping to get a new picnic pavilion soon," said Susan Scherer, vice president of Friends.

Benches, a boardwalk over the wetlands and a canoe launch are also on the horizon, Scherer said. Some of the Friends members (dues are $6 a year) live in adjacent River Park and others are locals who just love to walk on the wild side, especially if it's along the river.

"We started as a beautification group but people heard about us and now we have about 70 members," Scherer said.

On Saturday the Friends will have a park cleanup at 10 a.m. followed by a picnic at noon. There will also be displays of plans to improve the park. If you'd like to see the land and other spots along the North Fork by water, Capt. Dana Wade of Water Lilly River Cruises will run a tour of the river at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. Call [phone] for reservations.

If you would like to help the cleanup or join in on the picnic and learn more about the park, bring something to put on the grill and any kind of potluck dish to share. For more information, call Scherer, [phone].
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More info
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[Cliff]

The picnic in the park turned out to be quite a gathering and a lot of fun.
About twenty or so of the Friends of the Marina and a number of others turned out to do a little cleanup and socializing.

The grill and salad table was filled to the hilt, if you went hungry.....what can I say ?
The grill was in constant use with hot dogs, burgers, steaks and something called 'Nad'. (I'm wondering if that was Naiads)

The weather cut us some slack, we didn't get the predicted rain, but we did have a strong breeze all day.
Susan tried out her new fishing rod (snicker) , yeah, she finally got one. She and Kerry tried to get something for the grill but the Snook didn't cooperate.
Capt. Joe gave us a demonstration on how to cast a Fly line Into the wind. BOY, half again as far as I can. No , it wasn't a special rod, it was mine.

We gathered over 300 pounds of trash, almost double what we usually get. Why ?
Because we had some unusual items this time, like a 'drive' shaft, an LP tank and a bunch of heavy wire.
One day I would like to have an in and on the water cleanup too.

Lee from One Wild World had a drawing and a lot of prizes were given out.

After the picnic there was a river cruse, with reduced rates and the proceeds going to The Friends Of The Marina.

Yeah it was a fun day, and they will get even better with the park improvements thanks to the FOTM.

Cliff

[donmfla]

I have visited the park a few times, and it is a very nice, peaceful place. but tell me, what is swimming in the water and how do I catch it? :-)

[Cliff]

donmfla's questions were answered by e-mail's in case your wondering.