VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT, Saylor Ashton’s Sunrise Cafe

Carey and Chef Jeremiah Martinlig

Volunteer Saylor Ashton’s Sunrise Café at Bud and Mary’s

Saylor Ashton’s Sunrise Café at Bud and Mary’s is the recipient of the 2022 Best Local Business Partner Award for its support of the park.  

Chef Jeremiah Martin and his wife, Carey, bring their special talents from the food trailer world. They have spent the last couple of years traveling the United States going from festival to festival. Together they make an incredible team and have established a restaurant and catering business in Islamorada.

For National Public Lands Day in 2022, Jeremiah and Carey offered to provide picnic lunches for the cleanup volunteers. The offer of free lunch boosted the number of participants to 25. The value of service was around $300. Jeremiah and Carey also provided large coolers and ice for the park rangers to take lunch to Indian Key Historic State Park for volunteers working there.

Volunteers and staff had all their dietary requirements met and enjoyed a lovely picnic under the historic tamarind trees.

Jeremiah and Carey didn't stop at just providing a free lunch for one event. They maintained contact with the Friends of Islamorada Area State Parks. When the friends  decided to bring back their community event, Lignumvitae Christmas, they asked Jeremiah if he would be interested in cooking for the event that is held on another off-the-grid island.

He and Carey came out to the island and assisted with the planning for event setup as well as bringing a grill and cooking supply set up for making quesadillas and hotdogs on the day of the event for reasonable prices. This allowed the CSO to provide food for visitors that was safe and delicious.     

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