This year for Earth Day Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room is excited to announce a partnership with a Florida State entity, Tomoka State Park. The park is located on the Tomoka Basin, a crucial portion of the estuary system of the Halifax Intercoastal Waterway in the northeast corner of Volusia County in Ormond Beach, a short drive from DBKC. 

General Manager Dan Francati and the GreenPath team have committed to this joint venture with Tomoka State Park. This partnership will be a minimum three-year labor and monetary commitment to adopt the Oak Pavilion Picnic Area to restore its natural beauty. DBKC employees will volunteer their time to participate in clearing overgrown areas of vegetation, repainting picnic tables, performing minor repairs and general beautification efforts.  

Our 2011 Earth Day celebration will begin with a one-day Park cleanup by volunteer DBKC employees, families and friends. Tomoka State Park is offering historic demonstrations, guided nature walks and Park ranger educational presentations for our group.

In addition, there will be t-shirts for every volunteer, plus music and food, canoeing and other recreational activities available for the enjoyment of everyone participating in this event. The end of Earth Day 2011 is not the end of the volunteer efforts. Richard Ferranti the DBKC Environmental Manager will facilitate an ongoing volunteer program throughout the year.

 Tomoka State Park has an important history. In the early 1600s, Spanish explorers found Indians living here in a village called Nocoroco. Although nothing remains of the village, shell middens are abundant - mounds of oyster and snail shells accumulated from decades of Native American meals. These mounds reach 40 feet high at the river bank.

Tomoka State Park, designated as a State park in 1945, is a prime example of an urban park. Surrounded on all sides by development and just minutes from all modern conveniences, it is far enough removed from the busy world to afford visitors the opportunity to enjoy a starry sky after dark. The 900-acre peninsula, now known as Tomoka State Park, has provided man and animal with food and shelter since its earliest inhabitants thousands of years ago. Although the land has changed over time, it still offers the chance to nourish minds and stimulate senses.

Occasionally, people need to be reminded to get away from the everyday world to enjoy nature, explore, feel the breeze, smell the forest and enjoy the beauty that only natural areas can provide. People have used this space to do just that for centuries. During the 1920s and 1930s, people came to Sunset Park, Tomoka State Park's predecessor, to swim, picnic and enjoy nature. Changes made since that time have improved access and added to the ease and usability of the park, but visitors continue to enjoy the same outdoor activities that have always been popular at Tomoka: swimming, fishing, canoeing and kayaking, bird watching and hiking, picnicking and camping.

We at DBKC are very proud to form an alliance to help preserve the future of this local gem.