[ricki]

A post from Neil

Saturday June 6th, *Today it is official that this is the last day of Tiki Beach as we know it. Unfortunately due to new city contract requirements,*we are unable to renew our contract. At this moment in time, after a public bid has been advertised and issued, no one else has*elected to bid on that contract either. *We would like to thank everyone that has helped and supported us over the years: The founder Jon Grau, over fifteen years ago, for lobbying and turning our beach into "the place to be", then Chris Kjos who did wonders for our beach. Chris ran the beach for many years and introduced us all to kiteboarding and worked above and beyond doing an extraordinary job growing the world's fastest and most exciting watersport in the world today.

The lifeguards of Ft Lauderdale that have worked so diligently with us over the years, we could not*have done this without them. The Treasure Trove, with all their help and support that cannot*be matched.

My partner Helga Goebel, who has been there, injured or not, and bringing even more to the beach than we ever had, I could not have done it without her.

My part time employees, Evan Bell ( our new pilot) and Chris Ferrel (our new future dad). My girlfriend Terri and two dogs that have put up with me for the past three years*working 7 days per week and not being home, with my entire time revolving around the beach. But last but not least, all of you that have been there helping out and just bringing your stoke*to the beach.

*Saturday we will be on the beach clearing out the last of our equipment and hanging out under our new Tiki Beach tent. Please come down and say hi or goodbye. We are not really going anywhere, we (or they) are just now changing the goalposts. At 6pm we will be at the Treasure Trove remembering all of the good days past, and*looking forward to*the future of Tiki Beach with a full Pig Roast, and drink specials. *Hope to see you all there.*

This is not the end, it is more like the beginning, we have plans of a new future right now. In the meantime we will still be at the beach loving what we all love, but ask that everyone please respect the rules that the city has in place. We all bring something and this is the only way we will carry on, so we need to stick together and keep the spirit alive.**It is our beach, and we need everyone to please help police it, as it is down to all of us to keep the beach safe and ensure future public access.* Please keep an eye on our facebook page and group emails as now it will be more like Tiki happenings and Tiki future plans.*If anyone has any pictures of the beach or stories they would like to share please post them here and keep things alive. Things are only going to get better.*We love all of you, respect you, and trust us, things are only going to get better. Hope to see you tomorrow.Tiki Beach!