“Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn Days” of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon…

The Tom Sawyer Days of the Indian River Lagoon, SRL, IRL
Local boys under the Ernie Lyons Bridge, Indian River Lagoon. (Jeff Burkey, Theron Gibson, and Todd Thurlow, photo Sandy Thurlow, 1981.)

I love this old photo! Isn’t it great? Young adventurers right here along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!

The young boys in the photograph include my little brother, Todd, (far right) and his two best friends just “livin’ it” on a homemade raft sometime in the early 80s. I remember my sister Jenny and I used to yell: “Where’s Todd?” And my mother would be peeling potatoes and just shrug her shoulders–“at the river?”  We knew he was somewhere exploring and or fishing with his friends. What a beautiful time and place…

 

St Lucie Inlet earlier photo, date unknown, ca 1980's. Promotional Water Pointe Realty Group achieves.
St Lucie Inlet an earlier photo, (Photo, Chris Perry, ca 1983.) Promotional photo, Water Pointe Realty Group archives.

I read a great book a few years back by Bahamian actor, Sidney Poitier, “The Measure of a Man.” Poitier is the handsome, black actor who broke ground and starred in the controversial 1964 film, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” In his autobiography, Poitier says he learned everything he needed to know about navigating the hot racial politics of Hollywood by being a kid growing up in Cat Island because his parents gave him full reign to make decisions in the elements of nature …

A certain degree of freedom during childhood allows for great character building, critical thinking skills, and self-esteem. These traits of course translate into adulthood…

For me, “this” is perhaps the primary reason why we must fight hard today for our rivers. We must give the children of today and the future a place where kids can go and “just be kids”…..and learn….It may never agin be like it was in 1880, or 1930, or 1970 but something happens when a kid gets to play—to imagine….we must support and encourage this freedom of development.

The Army Corp of Engineers this week has kindly decided to lower the releases into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon at the request of Martin County to fulfill bacteria testing that cannot be accomplished with the gushing waters of Lake Okeechobee pouring through C-44 into the St Lucie River. This is good news and thank you.

We had tremendous rain yesterday and last night, but maybe, just maybe the waters by the St Lucie Inlet and southern Indian River Lagoon will be bluer and cleaner this weekend and coming week. If so, please do what Mark Perry of Florida Oceanographic (http://www.floridaocean.org) charged us all to do at the Rivers Coalition (http://riverscoalition.org) meeting: “Get out there and enjoy the river!” Take your kids! Take your parents! Let you kids be Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn for a day! 🙂

I will include below some of the latest data from the ACOE and SFWMD but you know, one day, I dream of not having to study this stuff so much, and just enjoying “our good nature” while watching the kids run around and  play by a clean, healthy river…

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (On line photo.)
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (On-line image.)
ACOE slide from Periodic Scientists Conference Call. 3-13-14 basins of SLR.
ACOE slides from Periodic Scientists Conference Call, 3-13-14 (Basins of SLR.)
Slide shows discharges from Lake O into SRL/IRL in blue. Not much area canal runoff last week. The lake is now at 14.27, going down but sill "high'" for this time of year.
Slide shows discharges from Lake O into SRL/IRL in blue. Not much area canal runoff last week. The lake is now at 14.27, going down but sill “high'” for this time of year.
Salinity went very low but since release have lightened up a bit, it is going up. The ACOE should be lowing levels again this coming week if they can based on rain or no rain.
Salinity went very low but since release have lightened up a bit, it is going up. The ACOE should be lowing levels again this coming week if they can based on rain or no rain. Thanks!
The SFWMD is to be thanked and commended for the over 500,000 Acre Feet of water that has been send south through the Storm Water Treatment Areas in 2015. Dr Gary Goforth has helped a lot in promoting this.
The SFWMD is to be thanked and commended for the over 500,000 Acre Feet of water that has been send south through the Storm Water Treatment Areas in 2015. Dr Gary Goforth has helped a lot in promoting this. More water getting cleaned and going south is less water destroying the estuaries. The water is not cleaned when dumped into the SLR/IRL and too much fresh water is bad for an estuary…
ACOE Release Guidance
ACOE Release Guidance.
ACOE Lake Okeechobee Release Schedule would allow up to 1140 cfs dumped into SLR/IRL. Discusting....
ACOE Lake Okeechobee Release Schedule (LORS) would allow up to 1170 cfs dumped into SLR/IRL. Disgusting….this does not allow children to have healthy fun in our rivers.

 

 

7 thoughts on ““Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn Days” of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon…”

  2. Jacqui,

    The aerial photo may be older than the 1980s; It appears to be before the jetties were built.

    W.E. “Ted” Guy, Jr.

    643 SW Fuge Rd

    Stuart, Fl 34997

    (772) 287-4106 (home)

    (772) 485-1866 (cell/car)

    guywe2@gmail.com

    Reply

  3. Great! I remember those “Huck Fin Days” on the river.

    The photo may be from my brother, Chris, as he took a lot of aerials for realtors and development of Sailfish Point. Looks like the one attached which CP did in 1983.

    Take care.

    Mark D. Perry

    Executive Director

    Florida Oceanographic Society

    890 NE Ocean Blvd.

    Stuart, Florida 34996

    772-225-0505 x103

    772-486-3858 (Cell)

    772-225-4725 (Fax)

    http://www.floridaocean.org

    Florida Oceanographic’s mission is to inspire environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems through education and research.

    P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

    Reply

  4. Thank you Facebook friends!
    Beth Whitty Ernst, Susan Robinson Dingess, Eryn Tyler Pare’ and 44 others like this.
    8 shares

    Justin Warren Beard Looks like a pretty sweet 3-person standup paddleboard to me!
    7 hrs · Unlike · 1

    Mark Florman I built a few rafts like that on the New River in fort lauderdale!
    7 hrs · Unlike · 1

    Nick Peragine Great post, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.
    7 hrs · Unlike · 3

    Leathanne Wright Love Love Love it!!
    7 hrs · Unlike · 1

    Leathanne Wright
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