The Gulf winds blow through canopy roads all the way to Thomasville.

The native mes written on the land echoed through the red clay hills, where the scent of long leaf florida pine reach on up past that Georgia line.

Strolled through Tallahassee town to southern Appalachee bound.

Take the local routes And journey down the roads we call our home.

Take a local routes and journey down the roads we call our home.

Welcome to Local Routes.

I'm Suzanne Smith with WFSU Public Media.

We focus on interesting and unique stories about our community on this program.

And this first story manages to hit both those categories right off the bat.

In fact, it even hits on a third category called Who Knew That We Didn't know anything about this sport before we started working on this story.

When Mike Plummer, our producer of the story, first heard about it from a viewer, he said, What is that?

Well, now it's your turn to find out.

Here's a look at the sport of underwater rugby.

As the British Monty Python comedy catchphrase goes.

Goes.

And now for something completely different.

And now for something completely different This is underwater rugby.

To the uninitiated, it looks a bit like a shark frenzy, with people.

These people are members of the Tallahassee Tarpon Underwater These people are members of the Tallahassee Tarpon Underwater Rugby Club.

Rugby Club, Nyesha Stone, who started the club in 2019.

Mischa Steurer started the club in 2019.

What I like about on the of rugby.

Well, there are multiple things.

First of all it's a real it's a real team sport.

You cannot do anything here without your team.

You have to pass.

If you just work on your own, you're going to be smacked and killed down there.

Right.

So it's a real team sport.

And of course, the three dimensional play is fantastic.

It's the only true three dimensional play that you actually have available And you actually have available because you are weightless.

You can go up, down, left, right.

You know, you can turn around and it's a really good workout and it keeps me in shape.

The game is played in a freshwater pool at a depth between 12 and 17 feet with a ball that is filled with saltwater.

The saltwater in the ball is denser than the surrounding freshwater.

That negative buoyancy makes it possible to throw or pass the ball underwater.

The objective is to put the ball in the opposing teams basket.

At full team is 12 people, six in the water, six outside.

You have two goalies in the water.

You have two defenders in the water and two so-called forwards in the water.

And they have their counterparts outside.

So a total of four goalies, four defenders, four forwards, and they exchange one on one.

So they have a partner to exchange with.

If they are tired, they come out of the water.

They have to bring the fins out of the water and then her or his counterpart can jump into the water to play.

The goalies objective is to make sure there's no score into the goal.

So most of the time the goalie is flat with his back on the goal and tries to make a lid on the goal.

But then you need somebody to make sure that there's not the attacker coming close.

That's the defender.

The defender lays flat on the bottom in front of the goal with her or his head below the goalie line.

in front of the goal with her or his head below the goalie line, because the goalie has to rotate and watch where the goal...where the ball is coming from.

So the defender is just down there to make sure that attack is not coming close to the goal and the forwards would be called the forwards.

They are just trying to get the ball, they’re just trying to disrupt this attack And the goalies exchange.

So when the goalie cannot be down there forever, so another goalie comes down and rolls that goalie off and lays on the goal.

Same thing with the defender.

The defender comes down, pushes her or his own defender out, and then lays there and defends to the goal.

So the ball must never reach the surface.

If the ball comes out of the water, the referee will call it an inside If the ball comes out of the water, the referee will call it and it’s either a penalty throw or a free throw, something like that.

So the ball is always in the water and the only safe So the ball is always in the water and the only safe place for you as a player is really at the bottom of the pool, laying with your back on the bottom of the ball here, because you have to defend yourself against the attackers.

On the surface there are two or three people on you all right away and you have no chance to get the ball out of the way.

One technique is to, you know, try to get it through your legs, basically down to one of your players who waits down there to receive it.

For equipment, players, use a mask, fins and snorkel.

And with all that frenetic underwater activity, it is important to also wear ear protection.

We avoid hurting each other.

Obviously.

Right.

So real rough play is not is not allowed.

So you cannot plunge or choke.

You know, you are not allowed to touch the gear, actually.

So taking the mask off it so that that's not that's not allowed.

And you saw our ladies, you know, some of them are rather small.

And then you see our big guys, right?

But you develop a technique where you can be very effective by simply being at the right place at the right time to receive the ball and carry it forward and be able to with one hand defend and then pass it again.

and be able to with one hand defend and then pass it again.

You know, you don't have to go into a fight necessarily.

Yeah.

So you have to acknowledge that it's a full contact sport.

You know, you will get the occasional bruise somewhere.

Underwater rugby was first played in Germany in the early 1960s and is well known throughout Europe.

It's lesser known in the States, but there are organized clubs scattered around the country.

Here's what some of the Tallahassee Tarpon Club members had to say about their underwater rugby experience.

It's really challenging.

It's really challenging.

It's tough being down there.

You really have to push yourself.

And I feel like I learn something new every time that I get in the water and then outside the water.

It's just like a community and it's feels good to know that, you know, I'm part of a little social organization.

And I mean, how many people do you know that can say that they are playing on an underwater rugby team?

So it's something unique that I'm part of.

This has been like a real sort of eye opening experience because I get to meet individuals who have never really got to know before through this club.

And we've just I don't know, it's just been a it's been sort of a family in sort of building this relationship with these people.

And I don't know, it's just been it's been a blast.

You know, for people that first get into this, a lot of them, you see that they they kind of get a little frustrated because of people that have been in it a bit longer, have already achieved this, like it's almost like a click.

It's just like... one day it's like, holy cow, I can I can hold my breath way longer than I did last week.

And then you get progressively get better and better and better.

And before you know it, you know, you're you're sitting down there 30, 40 seconds and it's like no big deal.

You know.

I'm a very competitive person.

So the fact that we can fight for the ball and you know, I like the fight, the competitiveness, I really like it.

I enjoy it, come out and try it.

And at first you'll think you're never be able to do it.

But you know, incrementally, like any sport or activity, you will continuously get better and it's just become a great comradery and we're really, you know, helping each other improve physically and mentally.

We're really, you know, helping each other improve physically and mentally.

And so I encourage people that might be interested to just come out and give it a try.

The club is always looking for more players.

If you want to try underwater rugby.

If you want to try underwater rugby.

Check out their Facebook page or a wix web page for WFSU Public Media.

I'm Mike Plummer.

I'm Mike Plumber.

There are a lot of different ways we discover local stories about our community for this program.

Sometimes people email or call us like they did with Mike on that last story.

Sometimes our own curiosity leads us down an interesting path.

This next story was literally sitting on the side of the road when WFTS News Mike Plumber decided to take a closer look.

Producer Mike Plummer: Many of us drive by them every day and have done so for years.

But it recently occurred to me that I didn know the story behind one of the most reco landmarks in Tallahassee.

I’m talking abou the cottage-shops on Lake Ella.

This cheer woman is Miss Bridget Chandler and she kno their story… and was kind enough to share it.

It begins back in 1925, when a gentlem named Gilbert Chandler, Senior was traveli through Tallahassee with his wife and four young children.

They were looking for a pl to pitch their tent for the night.

He ende up staying for the rest of his life.

Bridget Chandler: He pitched his tent that first night across the street from the Gov Mansion, that was allowed.

So the next mor he thought, you know, this might be the ri place for me.

Producer: His first endeavor was on South Adams Street where the Cascades Park pedes bridge lands today.

It was called the Tall Auto Camp.

The concept was wooden platform to pitch a tent on.

This kept campers off the ground…a welcome innovation for travel in the 1920’s.

It offered men’s and women’ public restrooms and hot water showers, a laundry, and a store.

After three years op the Tallahassee Auto Camp Gilbert Chandler knew he was onto something.

In 1928 he bou 5 acres, a mile north of downtown, on both sides of North Monroe Street…which gave him road frontage on both sides.

Today’s Lake Ella property was part of that purcha Here he built four new cottages, a communi sanitary building and a store.

And also mo ten of the cabins from the old Auto Camp t this new property.

This was named the Tall Tourist Camp.

Bridget: And across Monroe Street they had a house and that’s where they lived.

Producer: Over the next three years Chandl added new cottages, demolished the older c and added private bathrooms to the units.

He also took a shot at roadside advertisin Bridget: It was the guy from Rock City and the guy from Burma-Shave who told him that if he would put up highway signs, he would fill up those cottages every night.

So he decided he would do that and he went out o the road and paid people to let him put up a sign on their property.

And so the first day he called his wife about four o’clock and he said have you heard any comments ab the signs?

She said, have I ever!

We have been filled up for hours!

Everybody who co in is mentioning those signs.

So he had fo the goose that layed the golden egg…it was the highway signs and advertising.

Producer: In 1936 after a motel scouting t to the west coast, Chandler got busy build new modern cottages on the Monroe Street p This would be the Tallahassee Auto Court.

Two years later he constructed Lake Ella M Court.

In 1943 and 44, he built 30 two-roo kitchenette apartments where the original Tallahassee Tourist Camp sat, with the agr that he would only rent to service members from Dale Mabry Field.

Bridget: He couldn’t get a permit because it was during World War Two.

So he went to the congressman from here and told him wha he would like to do and he said, well let’ see, because I understand that there’s not enough apartments in Tallahassee to house the families of the guys who are at Dale M Field, so let me check into that.

So he di And they said absolutely they would give him and they said absolutely they would give h a permit to build apartments.

Producer: When the army airfield closed in 1946, the 30 apartments were converted int 58 motel rooms, each with a bath and offic This would become the Tallahassee Motor Ho Bridget: He was in the process of building these and there was a freight train going through town and it was delivering to some in Florida, and a boxcar full of Georgia m pieces of Georgia marble.

Well it turned o here in Tallahassee and spilled out all th marble.

So it was for sale because it was too expensive to load it back on.

So he bi on it, he got the marble and he put those on the outside of all the cottages.

Producer: The cottages still standing toda are what’s left of the Tallahassee Motor H motor Hotel.

It’s important to keep in mind that at the North Monroe was still a two lane street, but also a major U.S. highway.

highway.

U.S. 27 and U.S. 90 were concurrent from H to Tallahassee.

U.S. 90 wasn’t rerouted from Quincy until 1950.

In 1957, Chandler expanded the Tallahassee Motor Hotel.

In 1 he added the luxurious Tallahassee Dining Room and Lounge.

I-10 would not be complet through this area for almost 2 decades.

Bu after it was, the decision was made to tur the cottages into shops.

And it turned out to be a good move.

They’ve been in demandever since.

They've been in demand ever since for WFIU Public Media.

For WFSU Public Media, I’m Mike Plummer.

If you've got an interesting and unique story about our community, send us an email at local routes at FSU dot org.

These days we are finally starting to feel some fall temperatures, especially in the morning.

But at the St Mark's National Wildlife Refuge, they're already in the full swing of winter bird migration, going back in time to 2020.

WSU ecology producer Rob Diaz de Vegas got up early one morning to head out to count winter shorebirds on an early misty fall morning.

>>Don Morrow: I’ve been a birder since I w a kid.

And I’ve been a birder at St. Marks since before I moved here.

Been here thirty-five years.

I’ve led field trips at St. marks for mayb fifteen years.

And I retired a couple of years go, and I asked them, “ What do you need?

You know, I've got I've got time.

time.” And then they said, “Would you like to do shorebird surveys?” >>Rob Diaz de Villegas: The Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge is a birding destination.

We know that.

But bird populations are declining around the world shorebirds in particular have seen their n drop by about thirty percent in North Amer That’s why Don Morrow shows up twice a mon before dawn, to count shorebirds.

It’s not a bad way to spend a morning.

>>Don Morrow: I always get out here and assume that I’m going to be sitting in the dark for an hour.

And then in about five or ten minutes, I can start making out detail.

And tonight, we're hoping the moon dampened a little bit by the fog.

And tonight we’re helped out by the moon, and dampened by the fog a little bit.

Possibility that we can get barred owls calling from the cypress dome over there.

oh yeah, the great horned over here, or [Don’s barred owl call] And then the great horned over here are almost subsonic.

[Don’s great horned owl call] Sometimes you just catch those last two hoot calls.

[Bird calls] >>Don Morrow: That’s a least bittern calling there.

It’s a quiet morning right now.

We’re in September.

Chuck-will’s-widows have stopped calling.

Nighthawks- we can still get nighthawks.

They’re migrating through, but our residen have already left.

>>Rob Diaz de Villegas: Now that Don can see the birds, it’s time to count.

>>Don Morrow: We’re at Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

I’m doing a shorebird survey on the interior ponds.

I’ve got a route that starts out at the en Stony Bayou 2, and swerves around and lets see all of the interior ponds.

I’ve been doing this for four years, and I always do the s route and the same ponds, even if there’s there seasonally.

Just to see what’s there and to make sure that it’s easily comparable to t surveys.

>>Rob Diaz de Villegas: The water’s a little high for shorebirds in Stony Bayou >>Don Morrow: In order to keep woody veget from establishing in the ponds, they have be flooded at least part of the year.

Oooh!

they have to be flooded at least part of the year.

Farnsworth Barn swallow.

Sorry, I get distracted easily.

Sorry, I get distracted easily.

BIRDER Attention Deficit Disorder, Birder attention deficit disorder.

But we’re in the process of switching over.

But we’ve still got some good mud here at the back on the side edge of Stony Bayou 1.

I would expect most of the shorebirds to b either on the salt flats, or on Tower Pond flats or on Tower Pond.

There's a thick Those are the black skimmers barking.

black skimmers, parking.

There's an Arctic counting shorebirds There’s an art to counting shorebirds.

They keep moving around.

They keep walking back and forth.

And what I promised the Fish and Wildlife is that I will be as accurate-ish as possi there will be as accurate as possible.

Nothing else in here.

Nothing else in here.

But it is a good pond.

And it is tidally influenced.

You come back here in another three hours, and most of these bir be gone.

They’ll have moved out to the coast.

And just before the next high tide hits, i stand here, flocks of birds will come flyi Yeah, we're somewhere between five and 600 birds, Yeah, we’re somewhere 500 and 600 birds, w about normal for this time of year.

By the time we get to winter, we’ll have 3,000 shorebi here.

And at that point, I will be counting dunl by the hundred.

>>Rob Diaz de Villegas: Don has surveyed the Refuge about twice a month for four years.

After spending the morning with him, I can see why he finds i enjoyable.

>>Don Morrow: I just like all of it.

I like watching the seasons unfold.

I like being part of the morning as the night end and the day begins.

I find it relaxing.

I I, you know, I turn the data over to the Fish and Wildlife Service, turn the data over to the Fish and Wildlif Service, but I also keep the data myself.

And I play with it and graph it, and I loo patterns, and I see what’s going on.

And it helps me to understand what’s happening on the G You know, what’s happening on my home turf Oh, you know what's happening in my my home turf.

We're lucky that places like this were set aside.

We’re lucky that places like this were set We need these lands.

These lands are our legacy; these lands are what we own as a people.

>>Rob Diaz de Villegas: For WFSU, I’m Rob Diaz de Villegas.

North Florida coasts are full of life, and I never tire of going out there, learn about them, and sharing it with you.

learning about them and sharing them with you.

Each of these videos comes with an in-depth blog post, Each of these videos comes with an in dept post, and I’ve spent a bit of time on shor these last couple of years.

Subscribe to the WFSU Ecology Blog, and subscribe to the WF Ecology YouTube channel to receive new sto on our area’s remarkable natural spaces.

One of the keys to interest people in pursuing careers in science like ecology, biology and chemistry is to capture their interest at a young age.

That's why FSU in the MAG Lab have several summer camps.

It aims to interest young women in the STEM field while they're still in middle school.

WFC is Rihanna.

Winter takes a look at the program.

So I'm not really an arts and crafts.

Kind of person, but I do really like making jewelry, so I'm going to be able to create.

A bracelet with a DNA sequence.

We have a sample of a flesh eating.

Diversity, super important in science.

Having different voices participate and contribute is paramount.

Middle school is the age where a lot of girls lose interest in science fields.

The mission of PSI Girls is to keep girls interested in STEM careers on a day to day basis.

What the girls get to do is come in.

They're going to talk about a field of study.

We're going to do a hands on activity related to that field, and then we're going to bring in a role model in that field.

I'm glad being able to bring in a diverse group of role models of different ethnicities and backgrounds and religions allows the PSI girls that we've got to be able to connect with one of them.

And that way they can see, Hey, she's a chemist.

I like chemistry.

I see someone that looks like me doing what I want to do.

And it's not just chemistry, it's physics, astronomy, cosmology, theory.

Just about every field of science you could possibly imagine.

We try and bring in the role models so that some everyone sees something that they can see themselves doing.

On Thursday was our DNA Day.

Dr. Mark Takara, FSU's first lady, was able to come in and she's an expert in RNA.

She talked about not just the RNA and the research that she did, but also her career trajectory.

As far as I can remember.

Even though I might not have articulated it to myself and realized it, I have always loved science, always.

I remember, though, when I was in elementary school in the beginning of middle school, probably about the age that some of you, or at least I wasn't very inspired to do well academically.

All my math and science teachers were men.

All the women that I knew personally were either stay at home moms or they were teachers.

So at that age, I'm not sure I could have imagined becoming a scientist that wouldn't have even entered my mind.

I wish there would have been such a thing as a PSI Girls camp back then, because I would have loved it.

You'd be living in.

And I might not have been using it.

I think sometimes STEM is a very lonely field.

It can feel a little daunting.

But having other people with you that you're familiar and comfortable with makes it better.

I really enjoy it because it's like, this is my kind of, I don't know, community.

And these are the people who will be like the new generation is like scientists and it's just a good feeling to know and be part of that world.

So you want to make a reason.

It's important to encourage girls in STEM because we need to hear every voice.

We're working to find the next generation of discoveries, of inventions, to make everything better on this planet.

And if we're eliminating 50% of those voices, it's going to take us longer to get there.

Cycles Camp was born out of a partnership with WSU, the Magnet Lab and Twin Cities Public Television, and that was almost 15, 16, 17 years ago.

We've been fortunate to bring in former PSI Girls to come in and talk about their careers because they are now chemists or engineers.

I think it was definitely beneficial to see so many women in charge, especially in STEM fields, at such a young age, because kind of like she was saying, we really don't see that at all, especially, you know, at a young age when you are going to camp.

So I think it was really beneficial when I did see girls and I got to see not only girls my age interested in science, but also women in STEM, actually in these careers actually doing the thing like it really like it just opened my eyes and allowed me to see and realize like, no, this is something that I could really do if I wanted to.

My favorite part is I Girls doesn't happen during the camp, but happens to three, maybe four years after.

When they write back to me and say, Hey, I don't know if you remember me, I usually do.

But they ask for a letter of recommendation to a university, or they mention that they're doing something in their college class and they've remembered PSI Girls.

So something that brings them back way after the fact and lets us know that, hey, we made an impression here in the success stories that that's that's just amazing for me.

Registration for next year's camps usually kick off in February and go until early April.

Check WFC Gorgui Girls for updates.

As you probably already know, WSU Public Media has been working on a limited series podcast focusing on the complex issues surrounding race in our community.

Over the last several weeks, we've worked on issues like stereotypes, education and property.

Well, more is coming in the weeks ahead.

Here's a preview.

We talk about King as though King is still here.

Eventually, my daughter should be talking about someone of my generation.

She's only four years old, so hopefully when she's 40, we still won't be talking about what King would have said.

We'll be talking about something by someone of this generation, what they did, what they would have said to help change the shape of what this nation will be for her children.

I can't wait to see who will be the voices that will push America to be the America we know it can be.

You can listen to the first episodes through WFSU dot org or through your favorite podcast app.

On October 25th will be holding a special in-person discussion and screening.

We hope you join us.

Go to WFSU dot org for more details.

That's it for this episode of Local Routes.

I'm Suzanne Smith.

You can see today's stories and more on our Web site, WFSU dot org slash Local Routes.

And while you're online, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Plus sign up for our Community Calendar newsletter.

Delivered weekly to your email.

It is a great way to stay on top of events happening in person and in the virtual world for everyone at WFIU Public Media.

Have a great week everyone Magnolia Tree greet the southern breez in the land where rivers wind Seeds that spring up from the past, leave us treasures yet to find.

where our children play along the land our fathers built with honest hands.

Take good look around at the paradise we have found.

Take the local routes and journey down the roads we call our home.

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