Like mutual aid for the surf set, the anonymously installed wax box has been a hit with Hanna Park regulars | Matt Shaw, Jacksonville Today
Published on July 23, 2026 at 1:56 pm
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Late last year, a small, roughly 16-by-16-inch box was hung on a tree abutting a well-trafficked boardwalk leading to the beach at Mayport’s Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park. Scrawled across the box’s top and middle shelves was a directive:
Take wax. Leave wax.
A subtle, charming addition to the amenities offered at Access 1, known colloquially as the Poles, the wax box has upended the notion of surfers as wave-starved hedonists, or those whose sole concerns are limited to, to quote Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s slacker-surf-poet Jeff Spicoli, “tasty waves and a cool buzz.”
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Like mutual aid for the local surf set, or one of those little library boxes that dot the lawns of residential communities, the wax box stands as a charitable gesture, an expression of communal goodwill.
“I just cut up some pieces of wood together, put them together and wrote that message, just to see what would happen,” says the surfer who built and installed the wax box, who asks to remain anonymous. “I saw it as a way for the community to show that they care.”
Wax, of course, is important for surfing. It’s used for traction, keeping surfer and surfboard connected. And the Poles is one of the most popular surf spots in Northeast Florida, deriving its nickname from the cone-capped pilings that separate the city park from the adjacent Naval Station Mayport. Those poles also allow sand to pile up in shallow banks, which trip up incoming swell to create waves at a relatively consistent clip.
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“I’m often ill-prepared when I get to the poles, usually missing one or two things I need,” says Michael Fitzgerald, a local contractor who visits the park most mornings to surf. He’s made use of the wax box, taking and leaving pieces or entire bars for others. “I appreciate whoever installed it,” he says. “It’s added some character to our favorite spot.”
Since the moment it appeared last fall, the wax box’s persistence has been a matter of intrigue.
“The first thing I thought when I saw it was, ‘Well, this probably won’t last long,’” says longtime Poles regular Eddie Pitts, who, for more than two decades has run the website 911 Surf Report, providing twice-daily photographic updates on surf conditions at the park and other area beaches. Pitts points to more recent, unsanctioned surfer-led installations; specifically, a sign memorializing a park regular who died last year. “It was just a small piece of wood,” he says of the marker. “And [the park] took it down.”
The wax box has in fact disappeared a few times since it was installed.
“One time it was gone and then just reappeared, mysteriously,” says the anonymous wax-box benefactor.
Hanna Park employees told me that the box is not technically allowed to be there, though none would go on record, as they were not unauthorized to speak on behalf of the park.
“We actually love that it’s there,” says Victoria Albright, former manager of Hanna Park and current Oceanfront Parks Manager for the city of Jacksonville. But “anything that’s installed in a city park needs to be reviewed and approved,” she says. “There’s a process for it.”
Albright says many city-run parks work with local volunteers on site-specific enhancements through Jax Park’s Adopt a Park Program. She encourages anyone who’d like to be involved in the wax box’s upkeep to reach out to her at valbright@coj.net.
Daryl Joseph, director of the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, says the review and approval process could ensure that the box remains secure and stocked with appropriate items.
“If we’re involved and engaged with the setup, we can monitor it so its intended use continues to be the intended use,” he says.
Similar to how those aforementioned ad-hoc libraries often need curatorial intervention (lest the shelves are stocked with nothing but paperback copies of The Da Vinci Code and editions from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series), the inventory of the Hanna Park wax box has, occasionally, been more empty tubes of sunscreen than chunks of wax. There’s been trash. A pair of goggles. Even a bunch of nearly ripe bananas.
There are currently no plans to take the wax box down, Joseph says. In lieu of the proper permits, though, he can’t guarantee it’ll remain in perpetuity. For now, he says, “We’re leaving it up.”
