The South Padre Chamber of Commerce is the recent recipient of two communications awards from the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives. The awards come in the Print and Electronic Publications, and Newsletter categories. Receiving the awards at the TCCE conference in Rockwall, Texas were chamber President/CEO Alita Bagley and Marketing Director Dianna Harvill. The chamber won first place for its 2022 Official Guide to South Padre Island in the Print…
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South Padre Island Police Chief Claudine O’Carroll didn’t know what to fully expect heading into March’s spring break 2022 and the following Easter holiday week in April. Both 2020 and 2021 were peculiar ones. Spring break traffic in 2020 was light to at times non-existent. A bit of a rebound occurred in 2021, with more families on the Island over the usual college-aged spring breakers who had their routines thrown…
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South Padre Island presents a 4th of July Walking Beach Parade on July 4 lining up at 9 a.m. at Beach Access #21. The parade begins at 9:30 a.m. and concludes at Beach Access #17. Watermelon, water and giveaways while supplies last.
Richard Kline surveyed a patch of the Gulf of Mexico about 15 miles northeast of the South Padre Island jetties and found a mostly watery lifeless bottom. “There were almost no fish in that whole 2.5-square-mile area,” said Kline, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. “Now, there are hundreds of thousands or more.” The difference between back then – before 2015 – and…
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Finding a new entertainment option on South Padre Island that can gain traction isn’t easily pulled off. A former oilfield worker with an infinity for Island life decided to give it a try. Homer Garcia reached into his bag of ideas and came up with a 15-seat bicycle rig where peddling is shared and fun is had. “It’s pretty much a moving bar,” Garcia said of what’s experienced at his…
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Join the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce and Holiday Inn Resort SPI for Pre-Summer Contacts & Cocktails May 24. Before the busy summer season starts, enjoy a little down time with hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and networking.
Join the South Padre Island Birding, Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary on May 7 to celebrate the third anniversary of the Alligator Sanctuary. Learn all about the biology of an American alligator and the Alligator Sanctuary through our educational “Gator Talks.” Afterwards, see the feeding of Big Padre, the center’s 12.5-foot alligator. The center will have cake, cookies and refreshments while supplies last. Free admission all day.
The executive board of the Texas International Fishing Tournament has chosen Caroline Miller, daughter of James and Becky Miller of Harlingen, as the 2022 T.I.F.T. Hostess. Miller is a fourth-generation T.I.F.T. participant and has been involved with the tournament since she was an infant. She attended her first tournament at two-and-a-half months old and took part for the first time at 15 months. “When I think of the Texas International…
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The South Padre Island spring breaks of most recent years were quite different from those that came before them. There were lower numbers but some good came out of the leaner seasons of 2020 and 2021. The imagery of rollicking college-aged students was replaced by the more mature demographic family groups. There were fewer crowds to get through with the temporary decline of college youth on semester breaks. The pandemic…
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Experience the spectacle and colors of spring bird migration through South Padre Island at the Spring Migration Celebration April 23-24. The weekend includes birding workshops and presentations and a native plant sale. Also on the schedule are Island golf cart birding tours and kids’ activities.
