Beach Rhythms Returning

"There are a lot of other people besides me who walk the beach and look at the sand and watch the trucks going by. They can see what the danger is. If they get involved and speak up then we have a chance to keep the beach as beautiful as it is now."

-- Anne Sanborn, July 2001

Wednesday's Pensacola News Journal prominently features an article about red clay concerns on Pensacola Beach. This provides yet another welcome sign that the familiar rhythms of life on Pensacola Beach are returning to normal at long last, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Ivan.

Just as the usually gentle Gulf waves ebb and flow along Florida's barrier islands -- each wave, having spent itself, supplanted by another as surely as that one in its turn will be replaced by a newer wave -- so, too, do the generations of beach residents who care deeply about Pensacola Beach easily flow from one into the next.

Today's story is that Victoria Clarkin, the president of the Pensacola Beach Preservation and Historic Society, is said to be following "dump trucks as far as Navarre, documenting the hauling" of material off the beach. Reporter Lynette Wilson's treatment leaves a few gaps in the story that may mystify some readers.

Most will understand that Ms. Clarkin suspects something may be fouling the famous "sugar white sands." But it isn't clear whether she's worried the sand is being removed by road crews building a four-lane Via De Luna, or red clay is being left in place, or even that trucks are accidentally importing the clay. Quite possibly, all the above.

It's hard to know because the newspaper gives Ms. Clarkin too little space to explain the basis of her suspicions. It is clear, however, that her volunteer efforts are vital. Escambia County environmental services director Keith Wilkins is quoted in the article as saying:

"We appreciate the residents watching. We rely on the citizens to keep an eye out. We have 12 enforcement officers and no inspectors."

No inspectors? That will come as a shock to some. Yet, thus it always has been.

Long-time residents of Pensacola Beach may be forgiven their sense of deja vu. Today, the sand monitor is Victoria Clarkin. Yesterday -- or, to be more precise, from 1998 to 2001 -- it was Anne Sanborn.

National reporter Kelly Greene even did a front-page feature for the Wall Street Journal about Anne in July, 2001. The title was, "Gray Area: If Sand on Strand Isn't White, Ms. Sanborn Is Livid." The subhead read: "She Patrols for Discolorations And Reports Them; Builders And Some Others See Red."

After the article appeared, Anne was interviewed about it for the (now defunct) pbrla.com web site. Here is an excerpt:

Anne said she and several friends had been informally patrolling the beach for nearly three years, alert to any red clay or discolored fill dirt being trucked onto the island. Their efforts started in earnest after they discovered the Santa Rosa Island Authority was overlooking sand mixed with red clay, rocks, dirt and "brown sand" trucked to a Gulfside dune rebuilding site.

Now, Anne says, the cadre of volunteers keeps a watchful eye for all sources of sand defilement, from road repair materials to new building construction.

Why worry over the color the sand?

"Because I like white sand," she states flatly. "It's one of the things that attracted me to Pensacola Beach and I know it attracts many other people. The AAA Travel guide even mentions the unique white color in the first sentence of their section about Pensacola Beach."

As it happens, Anne, then age 75, moved from the beach soon after to be nearer her children and grandchildren. When asked if she had any advice for those who were staying behind, this is what she said:

"All I can say is keep up the good work. There are a lot of other people besides me who walk the beach and look at the sand and watch the trucks going by. They can see what the danger is. If they get involved and speak up then we have a chance to keep the beach as beautiful as it is now."

And so the beach goes on into a long future, we can hope. Victoria Clarkin has answered Anne Sanborn's call to "get involved" and "speak out" to preserve the best of Pensacola Beach. Let's hope more of the next generation of beach residents will do the same.