Bokeelia Boat Club/Calusa Land Trust hold cleanup event
Twenty-two volunteers were ferried out to Calusa Island Preserve for a day of cleanup Saturday morning. The preserve is one of many properties under the protection of the Calusa Land Trust and consists of the west half of Calusa Island. The island is located just east of Shell Cut where Jug Creek opens into Charlotte Harbor.
“The Bokeelia Boat Club (BBC) has been working closely with the Calusa Land Trust for the last eight years,” Robert Soloman said. “The club shares stewardship with the trust of Calusa Island. This is the eighth year we put this volunteer group together to help the Calusa Land Trust. For every hour a volunteer works, the trust gets $16 credit. Today we have 22 volunteers and they will be on the island for maybe 3 to 4 hours each. This raises a substantial amount of money that the Trust uses to acquire and preserve more land.”
Calusa Island was once the site of a Calusa Indian village. The Saturday morning cleanup area is actually atop a 9-acre Calusa Indian shell mound that consists of several donated properties.
“This is the first property donated to the Calusa Land Trust,” Ed Chapin, Calusa Land Trust member, said. “The first property was donated in 1976 by Fred and Diane Johnson. The 60-acre preserve is largely mature black mangrove forest with an 8-acre central tropical hardwood hammock. The central upland is a shell mound created by the Calusa over many centuries of feasting on the then abundant conch, clams and oysters. Recently the Randell Research Center carbon dated the shell mound to approximately 800 B.C. The Calusa Indians occupied Southwest Florida until the late 1700s to early 1800s.”
Susan Raver, one of the founders of the Bokeelia Boat Club, said the organization was formed on Jan. 1 eight years ago.
“About 30 Bokeelia residents got together and formed the club and a month later we had our first event,” she said. “That was basically a membership event. The membership is about 300 now. Membership dues is only $35 for a lifetime membership and you don’t even need to own a boat. We have an event monthly and occasional events here on Calusa Island as well as the annual cleanup.”
On Calusa Island, the BBC has refurbished the storage building, built a privy and done extensive clearing of areas for games, picnics and club outings. “We maintain tables, gas grills and encourage our members to use this fantastic facility at any time,” Raver said. “The club has also helped the Calusa Land Trust with the initial cleanup of Cayo Pelau. As you know we have world class fishing.”
The cleanup consisted mostly of clearing the brush that overtakes the island.
“The weather couldn’t be better,” Haver said. “We will spend several hours here today, eat some hot dogs and get back to work. When we’re finished there will be more open areas to enjoy. These are always great social events and we help the Land Trust at the same time.”
The Bokeelia Boat Club has regularly scheduled meetings on the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m., at the Pine Island Elks.
For more on the club, visit www.bokeeliaboatclub.com