LEXEY SWALL-BOBAY / Staff

Naples resident Art Krupa runs down the beach as his kite board catches wind Sunday as Jacob Adams, 4, background watches at Delnor-Wiggins State Park in North Naples. To celebrate July as Recreation and Parks Month, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Recreation & Parks is encouraging family-friendly, outdoor recreation with the launch of its Family. Friends. Fun. campaign to reconnect children and families with nature. Since 1985, the National Recreation and Park Association has designated July as Recreation and Parks Month. To celebrate this designation, Florida waived admission to all state parks on July 13.

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A gray, drizzly day yielded to sun-seeking beach-goers at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park on Sunday.

It was icing on the cake for Collier and Lee county residents enjoying a rare day of free admission into the park, one of 161 state parks that waived entrance fees in recognition of national Recreation and Parks Month.

Like the rain, cars poured into the park at a slight drizzle, said Greg Toppin, who was manning the entry gate in the afternoon.

“A lot of people who haven’t been to the park have come through since I came on at 1,” Toppin said. “If it would have been a nice, sunny day, I think we would’ve had a lot of people.”

Once the rains cleared, a slight cover of clouds shrouded the sun and left the beach unseasonably mild, creating an opening for Fort Myers resident Natalie Toledo and friend Zita Numark.

Numark was visiting from San Rafael, Calif., with her daughters, Cayla, 4, and Melissa, 7.

“We were at Wal-Mart for three hours waiting for it to clear up,” Numark said with a laugh.

The women were both pleasantly surprised by the free admission. Toledo said she usually forks over the $5 entry fee to take advantage of a beach she said is quieter and cleaner than most.

Toledo and Numark got their wish for quiet. The only noise Sunday seemed to be coming from the waves — choppier than usual following the rain — and the sound of sea gulls screeching and children laughing just up the beach where Paveena Pookongnam sat watching.

She took cover under a towel as her children, nieces and nephews danced around her, taunting the sea gulls that swooped and dove for crumbs just above her head.

“We love coming here every weekend,” said Pookongnam, who also was surprised to find that she didn’t have to pay the usual $5 to get in. “When (the rain) stopped, we came.”

A few hearty souls went in early, braving the rain and waiting for the sun to reluctantly make its late-afternoon appearance.

Kevin Hasan and his family had to take cover briefly in one of the park’s picnic shelters while a thundercloud passed. But after that, they were right back on the beach, fishing where they can be found each week at the northernmost end of the park, overlooking Wiggins Pass.

“We just enjoy it,” he said. “It’s something to do. My wife reads a book.”

His niece, Siana Slova, 12, danced nearby, checking fishing poles.

When asked what she likes about coming to the park, she gets to the point: “fishing.”

What does she like about it?

“Catching the fish.”

Her father laughs and fills in the blanks for her.

“The most fun is willing it,” Agron Slova says. “Fighting the fish.”

Similar to the way they willed the clouds away and fought the rain, insistent on enjoying the day regardless of the weather.

Sunday’s free admission was part of a month-long campaign by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Recreation & Parks, encouraging outdoor recreation under the slogan “Family. Friends. Fun.” The campaign is intended to help families reconnect with nature.

Unwittingly, James Fellows and his family could be the poster children for the campaign.

“We just come over in the evening instead of watching TV,” said the Naples Park resident, who visited along with his sons, Carson, 5, and Jamers, 7.

“They love (the cartoon) SpongeBob, but they can only take so much television.”