Holden Beach Turtle Patrol Says Goodbye to Pat & Alice
posted: September 28, 2025, 11:45 AM
It is a bittersweet ending for our Holden Beach Turtle Patrol 2025 sea turtle season. This year we say goodbye to Pat and Alice Cusack, who have been icons for 2 decades.
Alice joined the Turtle Patrol in 2006 and has completed 20 sea turtle seasons. After her trainee year on the patrol, she immediately began taking on additional roles and responsibilities. She was a strong supporter for the Turtle Patrol and not only cared about sea turtles, but cared about us the Turtle Patrol members, and was a great advocate for sea turtles and loved to share her knowledge and passion with the public. In her many roles over the years, she mentored and trained over 100 members. Some of the roles she took on were Morning Caller, member of Stranding then later she we Head of Stranding, Assistant Coordinator, T-Shirt Co-Coordinator, and weekly volunteer for the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital for 5 years. Her leadership, kindness, dedication, and passion for sea turtles will be remembered.
Pat joined the Turtle Patrol in 2007, a year after Alice, and he completed 19 sea turtle seasons. He jumped right in after his trainee year as well and was very active from the start. He has always been an ATV Rider and was the ATV Coordinator for many years. He was on Stranding, in 2010 he became Assistant Coordinator and in 2014 he was appointed Permit Holder/Program Coordinator. Like Alice, he was T-Shirt Co-Coordinator and volunteered weekly at the Karen Beasley Turtle Hospital. He has always been willing to teach and mentor members. Pat was often on the beach when he wasn’t scheduled to be there, working hard with everyone and coaching.
When asked what they will miss, the Cusack’s will tell you: their friends on the Turtle Patrol, talking to the public and watching their faces light up as they witness the wonders of sea turtles, watching the nesting and hatching of those precious sea turtles, and constantly learning new things. So it’s not surprising that the during all of the post-Erin activity on the beach, the Cusack’s adopted nest 29, which was their “Last Adopted Nest on Holden Beach” and it was a successful nest with 91 hatchlings.
We gathered recently for our Turtle Patrol annual end of season event, and in attendance were Alan Holden, Mayor of Holden Beach and Matthew Godfrey, Sea Turtle Biologist for NC Wildlife (NCWRC). Both Pat and Alice were awarded the distinction of Honorary Members of the Holden Beach Turtle Patrol. This honor is reserved for members with many years of service that have successfully handled extraordinary activities and have made considerable contributions to our Patrol.
The Turtle Patrol family will miss the Cusack’s, but know we have been mentored and coached well. The Cusack’s leave behind a strong, knowledgeable, and compassionate organization which has strong leadership and a sense of camaraderie and dedication, with a passion for sea turtles. Steve McNeill will take over as Program Coordinator. Pat is confident Steve will do a great job as he knows he is smart, calm, and organized. Steve shadowed Pat this season and we are ready to support him next year.
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