Doc Ford\u2019s donates 7 tons of oyster shells for shoreline repair<\/p>\n
ST. PETERSBURG \u2014 Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar & Grille\u2019s two St. Petersburg restaurants collectively recycled 14,267 pounds of discarded oyster shells in 2025, helping Tampa Bay Watch build new oyster reefs and living shorelines throughout the Tampa Bay Estuary. The shells were collected at the Jungle Terrace and St. Petersburg Pier locations for the nonprofit organization\u2019s Shells for Shorelines program.<\/p>\n
The restaurants serve fresh shucked-to-order Gulf oysters on the half shell and Yucat\u00e1n baked oysters marinated in signature sauce and baked with creamy Manchego cheese topping.<\/p>\n
Doc Ford\u2019s began partnering with Tampa Bay Watch in the summer of 2024 and recycled nearly 4,600 pounds during the inaugural year. Shells for Shorelines provides free recycling collection at local restaurants and cures the shells before placement. The discarded oyster shells are bagged and placed as vertical oyster gardens to help restore eroded shorelines.<\/p>\n
Some 322,434 pounds of shells have been collected since the program\u2019s inception in 2022.<\/p>\n
Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar & Grille and HM Restaurant Group have supported important environmental and community initiatives in Southwest Florida and the St. Petersburg area since the restaurant\u2019s founding on Sanibel Island in 2003. The annual \u201cDing\u201d Darling & Doc Ford\u2019s Tarpon Tournament has raised over $1.57 million for conservation and water-quality research at the island\u2019s J.N. \u201cDing\u201d Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The 14th annual tournament is May 15. Doc Ford\u2019s also donates $1 from cocktail sales in its Send It South drink program in Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach to Captains For Clean Water.<\/p>\n
Community Tech Desk to open at Lealman Exchange<\/p>\n
LEALMAN \u2014 A new free community resource aimed at building digital confidence and online safety skills will launch Tuesday, March 10, at the Lealman Exchange.<\/p>\n
The Community Tech Desk, powered by Unique IT Pro and the CodeBoxx Foundation, will operate every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon for four consecutive weeks. The program is open to the public and will be hosted during regularly scheduled senior programming hours at the Lealman Exchange.<\/p>\n
The Community Tech Desk will provide one-on-one \u201cTech Checkups\u201d focused on learning, safety and building comfort with technology. The initiative is not designed to sell products or services, but to help individuals better understand and confidently use the devices they already own.<\/p>\n
Participants can receive guided support with smartphones and tablets, review privacy and account security settings, learn how to access telehealth portals or use platforms like Zoom, and receive help identifying potential scams. The Tech Desk also offers unbiased guidance for those considering purchasing a new device.<\/p>\n
Community members are encouraged to bring their devices and questions. All services are provided free of charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doc Ford\u2019s donates 7 tons of oyster shells for shoreline repair ST. PETERSBURG \u2014 Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[29221,596,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-179945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-doc-ford","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}