John and Barbara Schmidt missed the first Discover the Island event at Egmont Key, but they really wanted to visit the historic site at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Instead of riding in a comfortable ferry, they chugged out past the main shipping channel in a six-foot Zodiac that was nearly swamped by larger boats several times.
Nearly 20 years and more than 17,000 documented volunteer hours later, Barbara is serving as chairman of this year’s Discover the Island event, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 13 and 14. It’s the Egmont Key Alliance’s major fundraiser with money targeted to restoring the lighthouse that has guided ships into Tampa Bay for more than 150 years.
This year’s visitors can discover the island’s history with specially trained volunteers at the most important sites – including John Schmidt manning his favorite underground casemate, used to protect the channel from enemy ships from about 1898 to 1921. The lower level of the historic lighthouse also will be open with volunteers in period costumes telling tales like the story of the lighthouse keeper and his family who took refuge in a rowboat tied to a palm tree in an 1848 storm that washed away the island’s first lighthouse.
Designated as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1974 and a Florida State Park in 1989, Egmont has become one of the region’s environmental treasures. Hundreds of feral cats have been removed and native populations of birds and reptiles rapidly rebounded. An estimated 1200 gopher tortoises live on the island, isolated from the bacterial infections and loss of habitat that are impacting other colonies. Egmont also provides critical habitat for nesting sea turtles and shorebirds like the oystercatchers and black skimmers as well as migratory birds that stop by on their way to South or Central America.
This year, the alliance will also have organized games for young children along with candle-making demonstrations for crafters of all ages.
If you can’t make this year’s Discover the Island event, the Tampa Bay Ferry takes passengers from Fort DeSoto Park to Egmont daily until Dec. 1, then breaks for the winter and resumes service on Feb. 15, 2011. For more information, visit www.hubbardsmarina.com.