Treasure Beach Folklore

Treasure Beach folklore   In an area built with history tied to the oldest city in North America we abound in a small town atmosphere. This island and its inhabitants carry on quietly day to day enjoying the beaches and shopping. Yet we are lacking the richness of its history and create modern rumors that offer silly stories. So, this month I felt it was time to apply the truth about our development and some of the quirky stories that have surfaced over the years. Most of these we can have a good laugh at, but some of these stories are still floating around town with no reality to them. To take this idea I feel we'll start at the top and work into the more bizarre or laughable stories. This past month with record cold temperatures in the area, we are not under 20 feet of sea water from global warming. Its a shame, but some locals near and around Treasure Beach still feel this theory that was pushed by Al Gore was true. Perhaps we can save a few from staring out at the canals wondering when the water will come over the top. First off this story was based on a math formula that doesn't work in nature. Yes, we can relax, the poles are building up and world temperatures actually show we are cooling down. Several reasons can be shown for the basis of cry over global warming, but what really hit the nail, was when scientist looked at the sun's solar flare activities and it matched the global increase on surface temperatures. In the past few years our sun has calmed down in regards to solar flares and we've been dropping surface temperatures since 2002. With this in mind, we can all sleep better next to the waterways, I just hope the government never adds greenhouse gas taxes on us for this false document. The next rumor hits Treasure Beach so hard, its horrible to even think about, yet I ran into the rumor here and was floored. A local was told by names withheld, that the people responsible for the 911 attack lived in Treasure Beach at one time. Wow uh ? The information was passed to me by a local that was in his mid forties, so NO this is not funny, but very hurtful. This rumor needs to be tossed into the garbage can, and I do not know the original source for such a discussing story, but it really needs to be stopped. In doing some digging, I do believe the local was drunk at the time while telling this story to do his best at trying to shock visitors of Treasure Beach. Another rumor was that a famous song writer lived in Treasure Beach under another name. Ok, the name passed to me was Tom Petty, but after some quick investigation we found the guy lives on the island and south of Treasure Beach. So much for that story, lets move on to our next Treasure Beach tall tails from the past. A few people around Barco street have made claim to seeing a nude women swimming in the canals in the early morning hours. I did my very best to investigate but somehow I always missed this sight by hours or days. I really did give it my best shot, weeks later I did find a gal that was wearing a very small bikini and swam the canal each day for exercise. So, I will recommend to those gentleman that alerted me to this story that glasses or less alcohol might correct their eye sight. Plus its sad to say, but she has moved from Treasure Beach so the sightings will calm down now. Another story was that at high tide the North side of Majorca street had enough water to drive your boat on. After speaking to some of the residents and inspecting the mud on the rumored big creek that flows behind the homes, it was obvious not even a toy inflatable could make the trip. Looking back about ten years ago Treasure Beach was circulating a story about the county installing sidewalks, severs, and filling in the canals. There was a good request from residents calling for street lights and dredging the canals. Somehow the two stories are connected. It could be that the difference between what the locals want, to what the county thinks. Yes, a good laugh, but it does strike fear in my heart, so we'll call it a horror story for that one. A common story surfaced some years ago here that keeps coming back. It generally goes like this, a guy from up North saw Treasure Beach at high tide and purchased a lot in the development on the spot. He was so happy and excited about it, he ran to town and purchased a large 80 foot yacht to dock at his low priced new water front home. Later that same day he tried to sail his dream boat up into the canals but it was low tide and he was forced to give up the trip, the yacht became damaged so bad it was abandon and now lies on the bottom of our North entrance. Ok, this story has run the boat from 60 to 100 feet in length and yet we can't find which lot he purchased, or any such remains of a yacht. I can only say no real estate company will admit to selling such a deal. Along the same line several real estate companies have been said to make claim that Treasure Beach canals at low tide are 5 feet deep. Yeah, I've even had this one in my face, so its hardly a rumor, but more like an insult to the industry. Lets face it, the 5 feet at low tide could happen but it would be due to an above average low that day, and which canal and when might be the question. More great stories of Treasure Beach is the guy that dug out his own canal at night while we all slept in our beds, then he moved away. At least he tried, but I'm sure it filled back after he left. There's an old one about a couple that drives their boat into Treasure Beach at high tide, they tie the boat off along the seawall, and go off for dinner. Returning to the boat hours later they are horrified to find the boat hanging in the air and all its contents all over the canals. Somehow, I believe this crazy story because I've personally witness this event on more than one occasion. A favorite one is the giant gator that hunts Treasure Beach canals, eating up lawn furniture, small cats and dogs. This gator has never been given a name, but his appetite includes dock floats, tools, boats, deck furniture, garden hoses and a few outboards just to name part of his amazing appetite. The gator sightings surface each year, but to this day I've never seen one in our canals, the size for these gator sightings runs from 5 to 13 feet, so at least we keep the state record off us for giant gators. Along the same line, I'm told about sharks that venture into our canals too. Sharks ! OK, there's been a few reported sightings, but we did note that most of the sightings were very small in size and only in our south end canals, and nothing more, so our lawn furniture and dogs are safe from sharks at this time. We do have a sea monster story for the canals, but he appears at the dead of night and no damage has ever been recorded. If you live in Treasure Beach you have heard about the house that sold for one million dollars. I will not give location, but yes, this one did happen so we can put "true" beside it. The state of Florida has band all new canal projects from construction. Yes, this one is alive and has taken a further step towards making us more exclusive. Two years ago the state passed further laws on canal construction by removing even the "grandfather" clause from development permits. Basically the entire state will not see anymore new canal communities built from now on. Rumor ? nope, just facts, so how about that. Another rumor was the name Treasure Beach was given because the famous pirate Black Beard buried something here in our development. Due to Black Beard's historic travels this one has almost no basis, perhaps other pirates did hide treasure here, but don't let your kids dig up the backyard over it, you'll be wasting time and a mess to clean up. Along the same story a rumor was told about Spanish and French soldiers that fought here and tossed the loser's guns into the canals. YEAH, who ever started this one needs to study a topic called " timeline". The canals are just over 30years old, so this one is laughable story period. The canals do contain old bikes and skateboards, but nothing like 200 year old weapons. Well, folks if those are not enough, a rumor that we might have to make our beach entrance accessible to wheel chairs is floating around. I have yet to see how a wheel chair does much on the beach, but with our counties new law about not driving on the beach could change all that. From up North I'm still hearing about waterfront homes in Florida cannot be insured. Apparently this source is coming from the Wisconsin area, perhaps a talk radio show, I can't believe how many visitors ask me about our insurance trouble here. My home is on the market for sale, and its really been frustration over the bizarre questions I get, like how often does the water come over my sea wall ? The questions could floor anyone living in Treasure Beach, but these are real folks asking and they are serious. The questions range from how many are murdered here per month ? or how often is the car stolen ? Which brings me to another interesting story. Oh, yeah, but please sit down for this next one. I've been told that somewhere in Treasure Beach is a home that is actually a CIA opts home that includes homeland security. They operate in the daytime, but drive unmarked dark tinted window SUVs. This might have been Tiger Woods hiding from his wife, but I seriously doubt it. Just driving around the streets, its apparently another false story, so who ever you are, please save this for some other development. I guess what we lack is a good old fashion story about a gold coin found on the beach and the guy disappears never to be seen again in Treasure Beach. Perhaps we can have some alien abduction stories from the other streets like Villa Verda, or some crop circles found near our sea walls. I just don't think we're trying hard enough to come up with the goods so far, but with these rumors I've address this month, you can see we're not far off the mark. Anastasia Island, Treasure Beach is a nice place to live, and enjoy the stories, because there are lots of them. But don't believe a word. ( wink wink )   L.A. Panchuk ( Author: The Devil's Magnet ) Reporter: Xzone radio