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Friends of Huntington Beach State Park
There are many opportunities for our members to volunteer their time throughout the park. Below is a list of these opportunities with a brief description. The monthly newsletter will contain the dates and latest details along with a contact person, method for signing up and instructions on how to record your volunteer hours for each.
ALLIGATOR TOURS: Park visitors always want to know about the alligators in the park. A Friends volunteer offers multiple tours each week to visit the alligators and educate visitors about their habits, teeth, length, food, and danger. Tours are given April thru October.
ATALAYA CLEANING: Once every two weeks, on Tuesdays at 9:00-10:00 AM, a small group of Friends removes cobwebs and sweeps off the fireplaces, windowsills and floors in a section of Atalaya.
ATALAYA MAINTENANCE: Maintenance is on-going at Atalaya. Help is needed for routine maintenance. Examples of this are rust removal and repainting of grates and other metal surfaces, repair of windows and shutters, general painting and minor repairs.
ATALAYA TOUR GUIDES: Tours of Atalaya are scheduled daily. As a tour docent you would relate the history of Anna and Archer Huntington and why the house was built. You would take the visitors through the individual rooms and talk about how they were used. Yearly training with the Park’s Interpretive Ranger is mandatory.
ATALAYA SLEEP-OVER: One night each November, Atalaya is made available for people to camp or sleep in the house. The Ranger needs assistance setting up, organizing a scavenger hunt, Atalaya bingo, a camp fire for him to tell ghost stories, walks, making S’mores and breaking down at completion of the event.
CLEAN-UP: Picking up trash throughout the park including the beach, campgrounds, parking lots, roadsides and trails can be done at your convenience. No sign-up required.
COORDINATED CLEAN-UP: We also have specific clean-up projects throughout the year (Atalaya, campgrounds, etc.). These opportunities will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails.
ENTRANCE SECONDARY LANE: From Memorial Day until Labor Day, the park opens the second entrance lane during the busiest hours. Volunteers verify passes are current and allow people to use this lane and prevent traffic from backing up onto Rt 17.
FRIENDS HANDI VOLS: The Park periodically needs help with maintenance. Projects include scraping and painting of the picnic shelters, widening of trails and painting of trash containers. These opportunities will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails.
Ghost Tours: Every Friday Night from June through the end of August, Atalaya Ghost Tours are done by Interpretive Ranger Mike Walker. Volunteers are needed to be ticket-takers (actually just checking the receipts to make sure that the guests have paid and keeping a count of the attendees). Duties also include being the “sweep guide” at the end of the tour line of people to make sure no one wonders off. The shift is from 8:00 pm – 9:45 pm. This is one of the Park’s most popular summer programs.
NATURE CENTER: As a Nature Center volunteer, you will have varied responsibilities. Duties may include working the desk, greeting guests as they arrive, answering questions regarding the exhibit animals and other park wildlife and helping guests with the hands-on exhibits. Nature Center volunteers may also have the opportunity to lead some of the center tours offered throughout the day. Training is provided for anyone who would like to participate.
ATALAYA WALKWAY PLANTERS: We need a small group to water and maintain the planters along the Atalaya walkway.
SHOREBIRD STEWARDS: This is an Audubon South Carolina program. Weekends and holidays from April until August. A park staff member will transport you to the north end of the beach. You will watch for boats landing educate them on the importance of keeping the dogs off this section of the beach and how it affects the shorebird nesting. A three- and one-half hour shift is requested (9:00-12:30 and 12:30-4:00 daily). Training for this must be completed by the Audubon society. Sign-up is through Audubon South Carolina. sc.audubon_sc.org/coasts
EVENTS: The following events are held at Huntington Beach State Park each year. Opportunities include assisting with parking, working the event entrance and setting up to name a few. Additionally, volunteers are needed to make baked goods for sale and to work the Friends Booth at many of these events. All these opportunities and dates will be noted in the Friends monthly newsletter or in special emails and will identify the contact person and contact information. Record volunteer hours on sign-up sheets the day of the events.
TURTLE NEST IDENTIFICATION AND MONITORING: Volunteers are needed May thru September. Walks on the beach will be assigned by day and section and must be done faithfully before 9 a.m. Training by park interpretive ranger is mandatory. Duties are as follows: Walk your assigned section of the beach looking for turtle tracks, identify nests and picking up trash. Record and identify new nest location so that rangers can install predator deterrents to protect nests. Observe nests until signs of hatching.
TURTLE NEST PUBLIC INVENTORIES: Three days after a turtle nest hatches, we hold a public inventory to educate and to count how many eggs were laid and how many hatched. Occasionally we find live hatchlings and release them. We provide training during these events. We also help by organizing the spectators and keeping them out of the dunes. Once on the list, you will be notified with the inventory date and time by email.
**PLEASE NOTE: Whenever you are volunteering at the park, you must wear your membership badge to identify yourself as part of the volunteer force. Friends of Huntington Beach decals are required for entry into the park.
If you need any further information please send email to: hbspfriends@gmail.com.