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Entrance to Padre Balli Park renamed Captain Billy Sandifer Way

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A part of Padre Balli Park will be named after a dedicated conservationist.

The entrance to the park which leads up to Bob Hall Pier will be named “Captain Billy Sandifer Way”. Sandifer was the founder of Friends of Padre. He passed away last March.

Sandifer is credited with organizing the annual Big Shell Clean Up which brings out more than 1,000 volunteers to clean up trash along the beach

Tyler Thorsen, vice president of Friends of Padre, said the dedication is a fitting remembrance of his friend.

“He loved the place, he lived there for a 1½-year period because he had PTSD and he couldn’t live in town,” Thorsen said. “So that’s his spot and that’s one thing you know about Billy Sandifer, he was the Padre Island National Seashore.

“The beach was him and he was it.”

On Saturday, Friends of Padre will host the first “Billy Sandifer Big Shell Clean Up” since his passing. Volunteers are still needed for the event.

For more information, check out the Friends of Padre website.