Non-profit Spotlight: Pirates on the Ridge
Parrot Head Club of Winter Haven, INC. doing business as Pirates on the Ridge. In the beginning, there was a small group of friends sitting around our favorite watering hole. We were trying to decide what our next project was going to be. Through the years, we had been doing a variety of volunteering throughout the Winter Haven area. This included lake cleanups, underwater cleanups with our scuba gear, collecting donations for the Humane Society, toy and school drives.
Then one day we decided to place a float in the Lake Wales Mardi Gras Parade with a Tiki Bar theme. We all loved listening to and attending Jimmy Buffett concerts. So it was set. We bought the beads, built the float and off to the party we went! It was the coolest thing we had ever done – the POWER OF THE BEADS! We were hooked and started planning again for next year.
We had heard of the Parrot Head Club from going to the concerts, so we did our research into exactly what the club was all about. We had always thought that it was just a big ole’ party looking for a place to happen- WRONG! What we found was that the Parrot Head Club was a National organization of Jimmy Buffett fans, which enjoyed his music, and his philosophy of giving back to the community in which one lives. Basically, it’s a social club with a charity problem and this was exactly what we were already doing in our own small way.
After some time of looking into it this small group of friends voted to become a club and began to do something bigger than all of us. In 2002 we became official: The Parrot Head Club of Winter Haven, INC. A few years later, we changed the name to, DBA, Pirates on the Ridge. We are a not-for-profit organization, working towards our non-profit status.
Just this year alone we have been raising money for our main charity: Heartland for Children. Throughout the years we have spent many man hours volunteering and raising money for various local community organizations including the Humane Society, the Women’s Resource Center, Project Eagle, Gator Crawl, Keeping Winter Haven Clean and Beautiful, Street Angels, and Chain Life.
Our future looks even brighter. We had our first successful golf tournament in February and continue to take donations for our annual garage sale. As always, we continue to increase our community awareness, increase membership, attend the annual Meeting of the Minds in Key West, and attend Jimmy Buffett concerts.
If you are out and about, you can find us every third Saturday at the Island Bar and Grill where we hold our monthly “PHlockings.” What is a PHlock you ask? Whenever a group of Parrot Heads get together it is called a “phlock” and you can be sure a party is soon to follow. You can also find us on Facebook (both as a group and a like page). Or you check out our website: www.PiratesOnTheRidge.com or follow us on Twitter and Google Plus. Email us at PiratesOnTheRidge@gmail.com.
So, if you are looking for a great group of people that enjoys Jimmy Buffett and his philosophy, raising awareness and assisting other local charities, then we are the club for you. We look forward to meeting you soon. Until then, fins up!