GBNA NEIGHBORHOOD WORK DAY

Grant would like you to put the following date and event on your calendar:

Saturday November 17th is

Grayton Beach Beautification Day.

We are going to be re-doing the plantings on Hotz, clean up our neighborhood entrance area. We are going to hopefully have volunteers cut the right of way around the neighborhood. We will be setting up a tent on Hotz and seving hotdogs and drinks for all of our workers.
We are hoping to meet on Hotz at 8 AM and then start the clean up. Grant hopes to have a garbage truck available to pick up materials that aren't usually picked up during regular pick ups. You should be receiving an email blast with all the info soon. Any questions contact Grant. His email is located on the right side of blog. 

GBNA BOARD MEETING OCT. 5TH

If you have any suggestions or comments that you wish the board to address please contact them via email. You can find their emails on the right side of the Blog.

Issac

Grayton is fine...a little wind, some rain, not much sand damage . The gulf is stirred up and "noisy."

Want to create a masterpiece?

Don Sawyer will be teaching painting at his new studio starting in September. If you like his style of painting ( regional fence on Defuniak) click on the Sawyer link on the right side of the blog and sign up.

Abour Time, RIGHT?

‘Trying to be good neighbors': Grayton businesses band together to alleviate traffic problem

July 13, 2012 4:15 PM

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Molly Mosher

The Walton Sun

Plenty of parking spaces make good neighbors, and that is why Grayton businesses now offer shuttle services to patrons.
Shorty’s Surfside & Topside, The Red Bar, and The Zoo Gallery have teamed up to offer customers a complimentary shuttle ride during summer months. The shuttle started running June 30 and will continue through Labor Day weekend.
“It’s the downfall with being successful at promoting an area,” said Philippe Petit, one of the owners of The Red Bar. “The tourists are here … But now we are faced with a different problem.”
Since the once-sleepy town has become such a destination for tourists and locals alike, parking on the main drag has become a precious commodity. With cars outnumbering spots, the restaurants had accommodations for dining, but not the parking to support it.
Much to the frustration of those who live in Grayton, visitors would use side yards as makeshift parking spaces or block accesses or other cars.
“The parking has been an issue for many years,” said Petit. “The neighborhood really got fed up with it.”
If they couldn’t immediately find parking, patrons vying for spaces along landmark Hotz Street would wait, sometimes longer for parking than for a table, and in some cases, leave Grayton altogether.
“With this solution, they can get into the restaurant,” said Petit. Those who wish to dine at Shorty’s or The Red Bar can shop beforehand or grab drinks at the bar while they wait for a table, which beats sitting in a car waiting for a space to come available.
Shorty’s owner Henry Patterson approached the owners at these two other businesses with the shuttle idea, and it wasn’t long before the solution was in place to alleviate traffic issues and neighborhood tensions, without losing any business.
The shuttle runs 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. daily, from Grayton Corners to the intersection of Defuniak and Hotz streets.
Owners of the three businesses maintain it wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration of Grayton Corners. But Grayton Corners owner Lee Perry says he’s just doing his part.
“Anything we can do to help the neighborhood out is what we want to do,” said Perry, who co-owns the shops with Steve Gleaner and a third partner out of North Carolina.
The parking lot at Grayton Corners just about doubles the 50 to 60 parking spaces near downtown Grayton.
“You take 40 to 50 cars out of the mix,” said Patterson. “It’s good for business, it’s good for residents. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
The shuttle service started June 30 with the help of Sunshine Shuttle and bore a price tag of $10,000 per month.
Even in its two week run, the response has been favorable.
“With 320 people in a night, nobody would have known” it would be such a success, said Patterson, referring to the July 3 evening.
The immediate success led Oli Petit, owner of The Red Bar, to buy into the idea further. Last week he acquired his own shuttle. He and the other business owners will now be operating the shuttle service for the duration of the season.
“These business leaders have taken the initiative where a lot of other people haven’t,” said Sunshine Shuttle owner John Finch of the Grayton project. He says parking is not just a Grayton problem, but is pervasive along 30A.
Though Sunshine Shuttle is no longer the shuttle provider for Grayton, Finch hopes the idea catches on and more business owners along 30A adopt the concept, eventually running a trolley or shuttle service along the entirety of the oft-congested county road.
And with the area showing no slow in growth, the timing is right to put in place a system to mitigate parking issues and keep all who love Grayton — residents, business owners, and patrons — happy.
“We’re just trying to be good neighbors,” said Zoo Gallery owner Chris Wilson.

Rags to Riches

Rags to Riches Regatta

June 25, 2012 7:36 AM

Morgan Smith

GRAYTON BEACH — A long-standing tradition is sailing back to the waters of Grayton Beach and Seagrove just in time for the Fourth of July weekend.
Rags to Riches Regatta Registration opens July 1 at 8 a.m. behind Red Bar in Grayton Beach, and the Skippers meeting starts at 11 a.m. with the race shortly following.
In the race, 20 to 25 boats glide across the 10-mile course of the Emerald Coast between Grayton Beach and Seagrove.
“Having all the spectators out there with their colorful tents and all the kids playing around in the water is the way we want to cele-brate Independence Day,” said Elizabeth Savage, the race organizer. “This is just a salute to the past.”
The Rags to Riches Regatta begins in Grayton Beach and ends in Seagrove.
Savage said she has fond memories participating in the race.
“I raced as a child with my fa-ther,” she said. “It has become a family tradition, and something we are passing down to later generations.”
The Regatta was founded in 1981 by locals Lynn Stone and Charlie Thornton and originated as a battle between a group of sailors from Grayton Beach.
The residents of Grayton Beach considered themselves the “rags,” and the Seagrove residents the “riches.”
The race was suspended for 16 years beginning in 1992 and started back up in 2009.
“Grayton Beach got so busy, and that made it complicated to have a race,” Savage said. “A lot of people that I talked to wanted to bring it back.”
During its reemergence, the regatta saw the return of the Hobie 16 race, with about 16 boats and 100 spectators welcoming its arrival.
“Everything was so beautiful,” Savage said. “Each boat was painted with different colors and set against (the) Gulf (of Mexico). The atmosphere of that day was just amazing.”
Savage said the event has since become a hallmark to the Fourth of July festivities and an event unlike any other for Hobie 16 enthusiasts.
The entry fee is $45 per boat and includes a race shirt and gift bag. Trophies will be awarded to the top three finishes.

REMEMBER

Today marks NEW DRIVING ON BEACH PERMITS!!!!!!!!!