The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club
The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club was formed in 1961 and originally had 27 members. By 1963, membership had grown to 188 and now, they have over 300 members and growing! One of the founding members, Dr. R. Tucker Abbott, was instrumental in establishing the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. In 1989 Dr. Abbott became a formal consultant to the museum board. Historically, the club has always been very active in giving talks and leading social shelling groups. They established a newsletter in 1961 “The Junonia” which is still released once a month. The club is very active in education and conservation. They donate monies to fund public education, conservation and marine research activities. In 1966 three shells that were new to Sanibel were discovered. The club even developed the “Shell Handbook – Conservation, Collecting, Cleaning”. The book was widely used for years and was reprinted three times! The club also developed a poster that highlighted the dangers of wholesale live shelling. They were very active in preventing the over-collecting of live shells.
2022 Sanibel Shell Show
The Annual Sanibel Shell Festival is in its 85th year! Held at the Sanibel Community House, the festival attracts shell enthusiasts from all over. It is the largest and longest-running shell festival in the world! There are shell crafting contests both for the novice and the expert, scientific exihibits, live mollusk tanks, shell art, and a wealth of information that serves to inspire and educate. The festival is free however, there is an admission price of $5 if you want to see the artistic & scientific exhibits inside the building. The festival is held every year on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday in March. This year (2022) it will be held on March 3, 4 & 5.
The Shell Show was started by the founder of the Island Inn, Harriet (Granny) Matthews. She and her husband moved to Sanibel from Kentucky and she loved collecting shells. She held the fist shell show on the porch of the inn in 1937. The fair continued to develop and eventually, had grown so much that it moved to the Sanibel Community House where it remains today.
Want to know more about shelling? Find out about the Sanibel Six or Sanibel’s most sought after shell the Junonia!
Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club
Annual membership fees:
$20 for a single membership and $25 for a family membership.
