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Tag: Bradenton Beach park

Wildlife signs installed at Chappie Park

Wildlife signs installed at Chappie Park

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Outdoors, Parks.

BRADENTON BEACH – The city’s Scenic Waves Partnership Committee held a ribbon-cutting on Jan. 24 to showcase the first installation of “Wildlife of Anna Maria Island” signs on the Bradenton Beach Scenic Highway. The ceremony was held at John Chappie Park at 1400 Gulf Drive N.

The Scenic Waves Partnership Committee was awarded a $5,000 Tampa Bay Estuary Program mini-grant for the design and manufacturing of two of six wildlife educational signs to be installed at public parks along the Bradenton Beach Scenic Highway. The signs teach ways to protect wildlife and their habitats.

According to a press release from Scenic Waves, “The sign design was done by Drawn by Dawn Witherington Illustration & Design. Each sign is 60″ x 24” high-pressure laminate CHPL and was installed atop aluminum posts by the Bradenton Beach Public Works Department staff. The sign design and content were reviewed for scientific accuracy by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, as well as Wildlife Inc.”

Keep Manatee Beautiful has provided 68 color prints of the “Wildlife of Anna Maria Island” sign and 68 thumb drives with information about the wildlife to Manatee County’s public schools, private schools and community centers.

“Scenic Waves members are obtaining feedback through surveys from the public where the signs have been placed, both before and after the signs were installed,” according to the press release. “The surveys ask the public to identify seven animals in the bays and Gulf of Mexico around Anna Maria Island, two reasons why our shorelines are important for wildlife and two ways to help protect the wildlife. A summary of the results will be provided to the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.”

Educational signs coming to John Chappie Park

Educational signs coming to John Chappie Park

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Outdoors, Parks.

BRADENTON BEACH – Two educational “Wildlife of Anna Maria Island” signs will soon be placed in John Chappie Park.

The park, 1400 Gulf Drive N., is across the street from the Bermuda Bay Club condominium complex. The identical 60″ x 24″ angle-mounted, high-pressure laminate signs will be placed at two locations along the sand trails in the natural surroundings of the city-owned park located between Gulf Drive South and the Gulf of Mexico. The signs will not be placed on the beach directly west of the park.

The Bradenton Beach Scenic WAVES Partnership Committee is spearheading the sign project. On Sept. 19, Scenic WAVES Vice-Chair Ingrid McClellan presented the mayor and city commission with an invoice for the completed design work and the cost estimate for the sign manufacturing. She also asked the commission to choose the color of the signposts. The commission opted for green posts.

The colorful and informative signs will include images of the wildlife found on Anna Maria Island, including manatees, bottlenose dolphins, cownose rays, pelicans, loggerhead sea turtles, green turtles, gopher tortoises, ospreys, royal terns and several other shorebirds, fiddler crabs, Atlantic bay scallops and more.

The signs will include the following educational messages:

• Leave only footprints;

• Fill in holes;

• Obey posted closures;

• Lights out May-October (sea turtle nesting season);

• Give birds space;

• Do not feed wildlife;

• Protect dune vegetation; and

• Be seagrass safe.

The sign design cost $3,503, with the city paying $1,003 of that using funds from the John Chappie Park fund. The cost to manufacture and ship the two signs and the mounting posts is $3,007. A mini-grant from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program will cover $2,500 of the manufacturing costs and the remaining $507 will be donated personally by McClellan and Scenic WAVES committee member Cathy King.

As an additional educational component to the sign installations, the non-profit Keep Manatee Beautiful organization will donate 68 thumb drives to teachers, schools and community centers in Manatee County. The thumb drives will contain informational materials provided by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring organization and the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce. The thumb drives will be accompanied by poster-sized versions of the wildlife signs.

While addressing the commission, McClellan noted the long-anticipated sign project was initiated in 2016. She expects the signs to be installed in December.

Mayor John Chappie, the park’s namesake, praised McClellan’s presentation and expressed his appreciation for all the work she and the committee put into the project.