Newsletters

Spring ’25 Oyster Float and Spat Sale

and OYS-101 Seminar - Basics of Oyster Gardening

~ Vic Spain, Brian Wood, MOGs

 

Saturday, May 17

Camp Kekoka, 1083 Boys Camp Rd, Kilmarnock, VA 22482

from 9 am to 12 noon.

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TOGA looks forward to seeing you in May! At the event we provide educational materials and personal consultation with Master Oyster Gardeners (MOGs) working with both prospective and experienced oyster gardeners. In addition, Richard Siciliano, MOG, will lead a class of OYS-101: Basic Oyster Gardening from 9-10:30am. Register online for the course, free of charge. If inexperienced, please consider signing up for an Oyster Gardening 101 course held in April. Options will be available when you sign up and will provide guidance before the order deadline of May 1.

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Oyster Floats for Sale

On sale are Taylor Floats, Flip Floats, Tidal Tumblers, Rough Riders, and Bottom Cages, along with spat tubes, wire benders, and spat bags. See float descriptions. Added this year will be Eagle Scout Grow-out Kits. Order Deadline is 5/1 - NOW PASSSED. ​

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Also available at the sale will be small or medium spat bags, crab pot line, float wire mesh, shell bag material, TOGA hats and T-shirts (no need to pre-order these items).

 

Interested in learning how to build your own floats and save? See info below about Build-Your-Own Float Day on May 10.

 

Purchasing a TOGA float requires current membership. You may order up to three wire floats plus two spat tubes total, including build-your-own purchases. If you are unsure about your membership status, check the address label on the back of this mailed newsletter. Otherwise contact Vic Spain at vicspain@rocketmail.com/

 

Payment is due when you pick up your order. If you cannot be at the sales event, ask us to hold your float for you, and let us know when and where you wish to pick up your purchase. Otherwise, the float(s) you ordered may be sold. Therefore, please pick up your pre-ordered floats by 12 noon. Unclaimed and unreserved floats will be sold to walkup customers.

 

NOTE: Orders must be received by May 1, 2025. TOGA accepts checks, cash, and Visa/Master Cards, with payment due at pickup. (To avoid charging state taxes on our floats, we follow the Occasional Sales policy for nonprofits in Virginia. If you cannot pick up your order on May 1, arrange to pay within 7 days after the sale.)

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During the Spring Float Sale, vendors will be selling triploid and diploid spat (as available.) Since demand for floats has been high, vendors will be selling their own floats and equipment, along with spat. TOGA members and others who missed the order deadline can shop for different style floats, tools, and supplies that TOGA does not sell.

 

The annual Spring Float Sale is one of TOGA’s primary fundraising activities, with all proceeds benefiting TOGA, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All proceeds beyond material costs go to the TOGA/Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Student Fellowship Endowment, and to other projects to foster oyster gardening and the health of the Bay.

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If you prefer to order by mail, rather than online, use the printed order form. You may also find this form in your mailed Spring newsletter.

 

Submit the completed form to the address on the form, or email a copy to: vicspain@rocketmail.com/ (We urge you to use the online order form since a record of your order is created in our files, and a copy is automatically returned to you by email.)

 

Build-Your-Own Float Day: Saturday, May 10, 2024, Camp Kekoka, 9 am to noon

TOGA members who volunteer for TOGA activities (including float-building), before the sale, get a $25 discount on floats they build. You may order your BYO float on either the online or mail-in order forms. 

 

For those want to volunteer at one of our Float Build Days for the Spring Sale (Thursdays 9-noon) for pre-sale float building, please also contact Jim Dall at jimd@togaboard.org by early April 2025 to be put on our float-building notification list.