Meet Our Volunteers! 

When the alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays, Jayne and Pat Nasrallah always question their decision to volunteer for Turtle Patrol at Fort Clinch State Park. Why would any working person want to get out of bed at that hour on a Saturday? But when they emerge from the trail onto the beach with Cumberland Sound and the rising sun in front of them, they know they wouldn’t miss it for the world. 

As they take the four-wheel drive vehicle onto the sand, they focus their attention on looking for the tracks of nesting sea turtles. When they are lucky enough to find tracks, Jayne and Pat identify the species, mark the nest for future surveillance, and record the data for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Compiling this data contributes to the conservation of turtle populations both locally and internationally, making the Turtle Patrol's work as important as it is fun. 

When hatching time arrives, Jayne and Pat inventory the empty nests. They are thrilled to sometimes discover a live baby loggerhead. Setting the little one on its way to its ocean home is a privilege. 

Volunteering for Turtle Patrol at Fort Clinch is a task for which Jayne and Pat receive yearly training and for which they must be permitted by the FWC. If you see them on the beach, give a wave and they will happily share whatever the turtle news of the day is with you!

Every Wednesday afternoon guest at Fort Clinch State Park are greeted by the same genuine smile of park volunteer Sue Taylor.  Sue started volunteering at Fort Clinch or as she says, “working the best job I ever had” about four years ago following her retirement from career in journalism.  “It’s funny” she explains, “my father, who’s 93, is prouder of me being a volunteer than of any other  accomplishment I have achieved in my life”. 

She is now a glowing ambassador for Fort Clinch State Park.   When askedabout her favorite part of the park Sue doesn’t hesitate, “I love the feeling you get when you pass the Ranger Station either biking, running or in a car as you pass under the trees and enter that magnificent canopy road you just get that feeling, it’s like you’re home”.  She explains between telling guest about the first-person interpretation at the fort site and giving out change.

An avid bicyclist, Sue rides through the park several times a week.  Sue figures that she’s traveled “thousands” of miles on park roads either as part of the local bike club, the Amelia Island Cycling Group or for fun with her husband. 

Sue Taylor is just one of the many volunteers that you can find at Fort Clinch State Park either working as campground host or greeting guest as they enter the park.  If you’re in the Fernandina Beach area and want a nice place to spend the day, you don’t have to wait till Wednesday the park has wonderful volunteers working every day and they all have genuine smiles.