On May 20, 1999 the first of 1500 concrete railroad ties fell to the ocean bottom culminating four years of incredible SISA effort. An artificial reef was created. On May 28th, 1500 more concrete ties were placed at a second site. On June 4th, 1999 another 1500 concrete ties were placed on a third site.
Four years of work on the part of many made this happen. Mike Rowland made the contacts and kept the project going. Phil Recob put on the tournaments that earned the more than $15,000 SISA spent on the project. Bill Hinkel provided the boat and almost 2 weeks of his time to carry Indian River County Engineer, Jeff Tabar to the Reef sites. Raymond Reed "Keel of SISA Ship" kept us on course year after year. Wendy Becker kept the ties open with Indian River County.
Look in the mirror or look around you at the next club event and congratulate the person standing there. There is a good chance the person you are looking at contributed some key element to make this dream a reality.
SISA also had a great deal of outside help. Our tournament sponsors donated thousands of dollars. Nikki Hoier, from FIT, put together the proposal that won the $25,000 state grant. Nikki also managed the project day to day. Commissioner Fran Adams and Coast Engineer Jeff Tabar provided the support of Indian River County. Gail Heber, from NASA, found Central Florida Railroad who contributed the concrete ties on the reef sites.
You get the idea. This has been a TEAM project. No individual could, or did, accomplish this alone. A hearty well done goes to everyone involved.
