
By Gina McCauley |
This year Ocean Shores saw about 103,845 visitors between July 1-4, 28,390 on the 4th alone.
-Scott Anderson,
City Administrator, Ocean Shores
“Overall there were 46 volunteers manning five beach entrances and together we handed out around 5,000 blue bags. The 4th of July is crazy here for sure. I’m proud of our community members and how they’ve cared for the environment and our beaches.”
-Gina McCauley
BOOM! It’s the 4th of July in Ocean Shores, and what a crazy holiday it was – our fire department responded to 22 calls for service on the 4th. Most locals don’t go near town during this holiday, and, wisely so. Our City Administrator notes we had approximately 103,845 visitors between July 1-4, and 28,390 on the 4th alone. That’s up from 2022, and results in a lot of garbage.
There has been an effort to mitigate some of the carnage for years. Volunteers would greet visitors at each drivable beach entrance to hand out the blue garbage bags provided by the city. When the lead person for that effort decided to retire two years ago, Happily Sharing Ocean Shores, our Ocean Shores destination marketing/promo social media group, took the event under their wing, christening it the ‘Blue Bag Brigade’.
This year I enlisted members of our Meetup group, Out and Older in Ocean Shores, to person the Taurus beach entrance exclusively. My ulterior motive was to gently introduce our ‘community’ to our visitors, many of whom may have not interacted one-to-one with LGBTQ folks before. I also wanted our Ocean Shores neighbors to witness our care for, and involvement in, this funky little town we live in. And, since we all live close to our beaches, I wanted to do whatever we could to help our beaches survive the onslaught of fireworks and picnic debris.
I set up a canopy with a banner reading “Out ‘n Older in Ocean Shores” at the entrance to the beach at Taurus. Bags were delivered by volunteer, Garvie Cooper. A big shout out to our volunteers, Dan Darr, Connie Clifford, Judy Pike, John Arbuckle, and Mel Devore. I scheduled two-hour shifts from 10:00 to 4:00, and had chairs to sit in during the slow spells (we old folks, yah know). Mike Schultz and Steven Sanford brought us some decadent donuts to help us maintain our energy (and weight). We handed out about 550 bags at our entrance alone! Overall there were 46 volunteers manning five beach entrances and together we handed out around 5,000 blue bags. Yay, us!
We had fun! Mel and John were so dashing two-stepping in the street, without music no less! Dan and I battled mosquitoes most of the morning, but still had fun. All our visitors were cordial, mostly jovial, and thanked us for the bags and our volunteerism.
Thank you to other Out and Older members who went back to the beach on the 5th, along with other volunteers, to collect garbage not picked up by show goers. There was a lot! Per the city, they collected around 15 cubic yards of garbage. That’ll fill a whole dump-truck! The 4th of July is crazy here for sure. I’m proud of our community members and how they’ve cared for the environment and our beaches.
A few special shout outs to….
Mike and Cindy Thuirer of North Beach Realty Ocean Shores for giving us a place to store and stage the large amount of blue bags.
Lisa Scott for helping with the schedule of volunteers.
Garvie Cooper for making sure the approaches were stocked with bags.
Thank you to the volunteers in this year’s 4th of July Blue Bag Brigade:
Robin Cole
Judy Pike
Connie Clifford
Dan Darr, Dan Sells Ocean Shores
Nick and Mike
John Arbuckle
Mel Devore
Gina McCauley
Gina Cooper
Jody Powell Cadle
Kim and Dean
Sue Metcalf
Patti Foster Risse
Mike and Linda Cotton
Pat Kelsey, The Celtic Sunflower
Carmen Matson, Burlap and Lace Vintage Market
Stephanie Morton, @The Observer
Larry Comparone
Jennifer Herboldsheimer
Jaime Freeby
Richard McClurg
Jon Martin, Ocean Shores Mayor
Debbie Cain
Lori Murphy
John Gallaher
Adeana Rich
Janet Needham
Lana Carlene
Amy Robins
Clint and Tina Flintoff
Alex Suarez
Richard Wills
Barbara Daly
James Bitseff
Trish Greer
Patti Welsh
Tammi Graham
Lisa Griebel
JD Reynolds
Jim Hummer
Leigh Lott
Lori and Jerry Davis
Kathy Charpentier
Cathy and Russ Mugford
Samantha Plante
Steve and Pat Edwards
Brie Kappert, Coastal Yard Designs
