By Doug Alderson
This year’s annual Apalachicola Riverkeeper Ice-Cream Social started as expected. It was a relatively mild day for June 1st, in the mid-80s, and ARK volunteers started arriving at the Maclay Gardens State Park Gardener’s Cottage a bit before the start time of 12:30 p.m. They brought fruits, nuts and candy for ice-cream toppings and readied the welcome table.
The Runaway Biscuits music band decided to set up on the spacious green lawn along with the Hot Pepper Steppers old-time dance group. Both groups donated their time. People began to trickle in. We started serving ice-cream and sold raffle tickets for a hybrid Trek bicycle generously donated by Tom Herzog. And then, wham! Waves of people began to show up all the way until closing at 3 p.m. We had to make runs for more ice-cream and the welcome desk was slammed. In all, in less than three hours, we counted almost 170 people, far more than any previous Ice-Cream Social.
“Wow, what just happened?” one of our volunteers asked to no one in particular. 
The ice-cream buzz put everyone in a good mood and adults and children joined in the dancing on the lawn. We also introduced a few members of the 2025 RiverTrek team, and Cameron Baxley, our Riverkeeper, provided a summary of recent victories and new challenges we are facing.
The event’s success could be due to a combination of reasons. We had good weather, the event was well advertised in the media and on social media, and the oil drilling issue likely brought in more supporters. Plus, we used a new venue, Maclay Gardens, and that may have reached some new people and we attracted a few park visitors. But no matter the reason, this was one of those “Wow, what just happened?” kind of events, and it was all for the benefit of Apalachicola Riverkeeper. Special thanks to the staff, board members, volunteers and supporters who made it all happen!
