Sarasota resident organizing hurricane debris clean-up efforts on Stickney Point Road approach to south Siesta

Armbruster seeking volunteers for another event on Feb. 8

Suzanne Armbruster walks between bags of debris collected on Stickney Point Road on Feb. 1. Photo courtesy of Lourdes Ramirez

With business down on Siesta Key, as the island continues to recover from major hurricane damage last fall, one person has stepped forward to organize efforts to polish up the Key’s approach from the south, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.

On Feb. 1, Suzanne Armbruster of Sarasota led between 20 and 30 volunteers in cleaning up Stickney Point Road from the Midnight Pass Road intersection to the Avenue A intersection.

Members of the nonprofit Protect Siesta Key were among the group, Lourdes Ramirez, president of that organization, told the News Leader. However, Ramirez emphasized that Armbruster was “the true energy behind this [initiative]. She created the flyer, purchased the safety vests, brought garbage bags and cleanup equipment,” Ramirez added in an email to the News Leader.

“We managed to fill about 150 bags in three hours,” Ramirez noted.

Another cleanup is scheduled on Saturday, Feb. 8, Armbruster told the News Leader when the publication contacted her. It will begin at 8 a.m., with everyone wishing to volunteer asked to meet at the New Balance store standing at 1872 Stickney Point Road, in Southbridge Plaza.

When the News Leader asked Armbruster what had inspired her to launch this initiative, she explained in a Feb. 4 email, “With Season upon us, the gateway to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world needed immediate improvement. We are proud of our beach and we want tourists driving in to see a pleasant approach.”

“I think people assumed the County would clean this up,” Armbruster continued in the email, “but with their hands full working on so many other hurricane related and normal projects, unfortunately this route seems to have been put on the back burner. A few months ago I noticed that many residents and tourists were commenting on the condition of the road on social media, and with no real answers being given by the County as to when they could actually get to it, or even what they are legally allowed to do since so much debris was strewn about on what’s considered private property, I decided to take matters in to my own hands,” she added. “That’s when the decision to organize Citizens for Stickney Point Clean Up Saturdays was launched!”

This aerial map shows the stretch of Stickney Point Road from the Midnight Pass Road intersection to U.S. 41, including Avenue A (below the U.S. 41 intersection). Image from Google Maps

Armbruster noted that on Feb. 1, the volunteers who showed up included both full-time island residents and snowbirds.
She also wrote that area businesses New Balance Sarasota, Molly’s, the Daiquiri Deck, CB’s Saltwater Outfitters and Captain Curt’s “played a role in making this day successful and I’m very grateful to them.”

Ramirez told the News Leader that representatives of CB’s and the Daiquiri Deck helped move the bags of trash and debris to their business dumpsters, while employees of New Balance provided water for the volunteers.

Armbruster also offered “special thanks to Lourdes Ramirez and Tonya Getzen Gowan for helping to organize the event! Many hands make light work!”

Additionally, the News Leader found a post on the Siesta Key public Facebook page from a Siesta resident in regard to the Feb. 1 event. The man wrote, “I had the pleasure to meet Suzanne and her husband and the volunteers …” He extended his appreciation to Armbruster and included a video in which Armbruster talked about results of the undertaking.

Armbruster noted in that video that the volunteers worked on both sides of Stickney Point Road. “We moved a ton of sand, which we weren’t even expecting,” she pointed out, plus “lots of hurricane debris, TVs, surfboards, refrigerator doors — you name it.”

Referring to the Feb. 8 event in her email to the News Leader, Armbruster added that she hoped it would be the final cleanup for Stickney Point Road for this winter, “but we plan on continuing volunteer Saturdays on other parts of Siesta Key that need attention.”

She further noted, “Anyone who would like to help can contact me at 941-928-2124. It takes a village!”

Ramirez said that the leaders of Protect Siesta Key plan on assisting with those initiatives in other areas of the island.