Indian Rocks Beach community helps support partially closed church
The Brief
Indian Rocks Beach hosted its annual GreenFest on Saturday.
The event helped raise money for a partially closed church dealing with hurricane damage.
It featured live music, vendors, children's environmental education activities and a bake sale.
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. - This Wednesday marks six months since Hurricane Helene.
Coastal communities like Indian Rocks Beach are still picking up the pieces from the devastating storm surge it brought.
On Saturday, the sixteenth annual Indian Rocks Beach GreenFest brought the community together to raise money for a partially closed church.
Local perspective
The event was held outside the Church of the Isles. It featured live music, vendors, and environmental education activities for children.
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Proceeds from a 50/50 raffle and bake sale returned to the 73-year-old church.
Pastor Wesley Snedecker said Helene's storm surge left two feet of standing water inside the building.
Its thrift store lost almost all of its contents inside.
"We obviously have done a lot of remediation work as many others on the island have, with a combination of professional contractors coming in, but also a lot of volunteers came out and helped us do things like cut drywall and remove furniture that had been damaged," Snedecker said.
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The thrift store and Pilgrim Hall have since reopened. The church's sanctuary is still being renovated.
Hurricane Milton also contributed to the church's damage, impacting the roof.
Big picture view
Event sponsor Plumlee Gulf Beach Realty manages 160 properties along the coast.
"The hurricanes basically put a freeze on everything. The amount of deals that we had offers on, contracts on, that fell through you wouldn't believe," owner Todd Plumlee said.
Plumlee said that 100% of their properties would normally be occupied in March.
"We're at about 90% occupied for the month of March," Plumlee said.
The Beach Art Center is also still in the recovery process.
"The Beach Art Center took on almost two feet of water," said President Jenni Bond. "When I opened the door, the toilet brush from the men's bathroom was jammed in the door, and there was just water everywhere. But, all of the art was still on the walls."
What's next
Like many others in the community, Bond said the Beach Art Center is still waiting for permit approval.
READ: Indian Rocks Beach commission delays decision on short-term rental ordinance, workshop ordered instead
"We started having shows. We're trying to have gallery shows. We don't have walls, but we're making it happen," Bond said.
Indian Rocks Beach City Hall is also still operating out of trailers outside the building.
"I think we're a little nervous as we're getting into the summer months again," Bond said. "Indian Rocks Beach is very special, and it's the resiliency of the people here."
The Source
FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis collected the information in this story.
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