Eternal Reefs, Reef Innovations and the Reef Ball Foundation are joining together with Parrot Heads in Paradise to honor Jimmy Buffett by creating new habitat for marine life off Key West
SARASOTA, Fla., Aug. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Eternal Reefs is partnering with Parrot Heads in Paradise, the Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations to work towards creating a Jimmy Buffett Memorial Reef when new permits are issued off Key West, Florida.
"Key West was certainly one of the more famous and favorite locations where Jimmy hung out and got his start," said Bill Brehm, national president of Parrot Heads in Paradise. "Because it's also where Reef Ball got its start, honoring Jimmy with a reef off Key West makes so much sense and we're thrilled to be a part of it."
Permits for the new reef sites in Monroe County are expected to be issued in late 2024 or early 2025.
"Having pioneered reef memorialization in 1998, Eternal Reefs has been involved with a number of projects to honor organizations and people without remains," said George Frankel, Eternal Reefs CEO. "With the entire Eternal Reefs and Reef Innovations staff all being Parrot Heads, we will create an impactful environmental memorial to honor Jimmy, his music and all his contributions to our lives."
One such project, honoring the submarine force, is the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef. Dedicated in 2018, this group of reefs off the Sarasota coast honors the 65 submarines that have gone "On Eternal Patrol," never returning from duty.
"The concept for a Jimmy Buffett Memorial Reef would follow the concept of On Eternal Patrol," Frankel added. "We hope to be able to bestow honor to a myriad of entities in Jimmy Buffett's name."
Another notable connection between the trio of reef builder organizations and Key West is that they memorialized Captain Tony in an Eternal Reef in 2009. In 1958, Captain Tony Tarracino purchased the storied Sloppy Joe's bar Ernest Hemingway frequented, renaming it "Captain Tony's Saloon." It was at Captain Tony's at 428 Greene Street in Key West where Jimmy Buffett got his start playing and often being paid in tequila, so the story goes.
A Jimmy Buffett Memorial Reef will be so named as an homage to the beloved singer's ties to Key West and the partnership announcement comes just before the giant party "Just A Few Friends - Key West," to honor the anniversary of Key West's favorite son's death, September 1, 2023. Key West plans multiple celebrations to honor Buffett over Labor Day weekend 2024. Visit Just a few friends – Key West for information.
Exact location, fees and other components of a Jimmy Buffett Memorial Reef are undetermined at this time until permits are issued by the regulatory agencies. To be put on a list for more information and receive updates, please email [email protected]
About Eternal Reefs
The Genesis Reef Project dba Eternal Reefs, Inc. is a Sarasota-based non-profit organization that provides a creative, environmentally enhancing way to memorialize the cremated remains of a loved one. Eternal Reefs incorporates cremains into a proprietary concrete mixture used to cast artificial reef formations which are then dedicated as permanent memorials which bolster natural coastal reef formations. Eternal Reefs pioneered the concept of reef memorialization and, since 1998, the organization has placed more than 3,000 Memorial Reefs in 25 locations off the coasts of Florida (Atlantic and Gulf coasts) Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia, substantially increasing the ocean's diminishing reef systems. Memorial reefs can only go in properly permitted locations by the U.S. Government. Eternal Reefs has strategic partnerships with the Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations. Learn more at http://www.EternalReefs.com or on the company's Facebook page.
The Reef Ball Foundation was formed in the late 1980s when friends dove the reefs off Key West on their University of Georgia breaks and saw the degradation of the natural coral reef systems. They developed the proprietary technology used today, widely considered to be the gold standard of engineered reefs worldwide. The organizations have worked in more than 80 countries and managed more than 5,000 reef projects representing nearly 2 million reefs worldwide. Eternal Reefs is the non-profit strategic partner with the Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations and pioneered the concept of reef memorialization in 1998.
Media Contact
Becky Peterson, Eternal Reefs, +17703670321, [email protected], https://www.eternalreefs.com/
Becky Peterson, Eternal Reefs, +17703670321, [email protected]
SOURCE Eternal Reefs
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