Easter fun for a cause in Port St. Joe
On a bright and beautiful Saturday morning, families flocked to Centennial Park in Port St. Joe for some good old fashioned Easter fun April 12.
Children collected hundreds of plastic eggs in the Easter egg hunt, provided by The Junior Service League of Port St. Joe, which hosts multiple fundraising events throughout the year.
“The work that we do is all community driven for the women and children of Gulf County.” said Ginny Bacon, a representative of the Junior Service League who organized the Easter egg hunt. Among the many eggs were 25 special golden eggs, provided by the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office as part of their donations made to the nonprofit organization.
In addition to the egg hunt, the event offered about 15 kid-friendly games including inflatable slides and bounce houses. Students from Port St. Joe Junior Senior High School volunteered at the event, interacting with the children as they enjoyed the post hunt activities and games. The star of the show was the Easter Bunny who interacted with the children and posed for photos with families throughout the event.
South Gulf Fire Rescue joined in on the fun, bringing their ladder truck for families to climb in and take photos. Two of their Dalmatians, Kai and Coral, showed up as well, and were a hit with families. The team also offered an educational experience, in their interactions with the community and in the fire safety activity books they provided for children and their families to work on together.
“The more we interact with the community, the more they see our faces, the more they’re willing, at an emergency, to come up to us and tell us what’s going on,” said Mike Barrett, fire chief for South Gulf Fire Rescue. Barrett added, “the main missions of all fire departments in America are fire/rescue, fire prevention, and fire education. South Gulf Fire Rescue is honored to associate with all local groups serving this community.”
To round off an eventful Saturday, the Junior Service League also hosted their Whale of a Sale fundraiser, inside the Centennial Building. The community sale offered a variety of goods, including furniture, clothes, small appliances, pet supplies, and more.
“Everything we have in there was donated,” said Bacon. “All of the proceeds go back to the JSL for us to use for future events, within our organization, for the county.”
For more information on the Junior Service League of Port St. Joe, contact Info@psjjsl.org or follow their Facebook page.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.