roar offshore permit tabled trash & toilet plans vex council · shape of a boat keel. two...

Volume 19, Number 34 “By Islanders, For Islanders” August 23rd, 2019

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FortMyersBeach.news

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John LukowLibrary Assistant Director

By Gary [email protected]

The Fort Myers Beach Library has undergone several significant changes since the tragic

passing of its former Director, Dr. Leroy Hommerding, this past January. One is the creation of a new Assistant Director position that the Library Board of Directors recently filled with Cont’d pg.8

Fort Myers Beach Library Assistant Director John Lukow calls the Library his ‘Second Home!’ PHOTO BY GARY MOONEY.

Roar Offshore Permit TabledTrash & Toilet Plans Vex Council


Organizers for the “Roar Offshore” Powerboat Races, with activities scheduled October 10 - 12 expected to attract roughly 70,000 visitors to Fort Myers Beach, attended the Town Council Meeting on Monday, August 19, seeking approval of their Special Events Permit. After significant concerns were voiced by several council members over the portable toilet and trash plan for such a large crowd, Council tabled any permit action until its next meeting on September 9, just one month prior to the Roar Offshore event. Tim & Cyndee Hill, Roar Offshore President & Vice President, requested not only the Special Events Permit, but a waiver of the Town’s $100 permit fee, $4,572 in parking fees and the Open Container regulations for Times Square, Old San Carlos Boulevard and several other downtown streets for the Race Boat Parade & Street Party on Thursday evening, October 10. Friday, October 11, features time trials and the Festival of Speed, with Race Day on Saturday, October 12, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Tim Hill hoped the Town would waive $4,672 in Fees because race organizers already must allocate roughly $85,000 in related costs to Lee County, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, and Emergency Medical Services, stating that every dollar they have to pay is one less they can contribute to local charities. Council member Rexann Hosafros stated, “The Town, of all people, is in the least favorable position to

waive its fees, as we are tiny! I am sorry others are not treating you so well.”

TOILET & TRASH PLANS

Council member Joanne Shamp then began her comments with the caveat: “I am really excited about this, so don’t interpret what I am about to say that I am not! You are expecting 70,000 people and that is a lot of people! Here is what I worry about now – you may have basically 20,000 people from Lynn Hall Park to Junkanoo On The Beach, with only eight port-a-potties at Lynn Hall Park and eight at Crescent Beach Family Park and the Town does not have any public restroom facilities in that stretch. In doing research, the suggestion is 150 port-a-potties for every 10,000 people and 10 to 15% more with alcohol. Secondly, that will be a lot of trash and litter on the beachfront, so that is a problem. You have a dumpster at Lynn Hall Park, but what about the rest of the beach. I know what the beach looks like after the 4th of July and this will be much bigger than that.” Cyndee Hill responded that they are examining an additional dumpster at the former TOPPS Grocery Store site and Cont’d pg.10

Town Council presents Ceel Spuhler with a Proclamation, Key to The City & Commemorative Poem

to celebrate her 90th Birthday on August 25.

Save Our Water 2019DeSantis Speaks to Full House


The “Save Our Water 2019” Forum, presented for the 3rd time by the Naples Daily News & News-

Press at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs before a sold-out audience of 600 people on Wednesday August 21, already boasted a star-studded lineup of local environmentalists, political leaders and water quality educators, but it was the unadvertised speaker who drew two standing ovations and the loudest applause. The day before the event, the Office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the State’s Chief Executive would appear. Governor DeSantis arrived at approximately 11:30 a.m. and made roughly a 10-minute, off-the-cuff address.

GOVERNOR’S REMARKS

“Water quality last year affected a broad cross-section of the people of our State,” began Governor DeSantis, “whether it was with restaurants, hotels, the fishing industry or property values – it was all aspects of life, with different people affected in

Cont’d pg.12

Governor Ron DeSantis addresses the sold-out “Save Our Water”

Summit audience.

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The Goodbye GirlRae Burns Leaving Town of FMB


On Wednesday, August 28, the Town of Fort Myers Beach will lose one of its most recognizable and well-liked employees, when Environmental Coordinator Rae Burns will conclude her final day with our local government. “My husband Jeremy re-cently accepted a really good job

offer with Verizon Wireless in the Orlando area, so even though I love it here, this is a career move we have to make. If I would have been with the Town through No-vember 15, that would be my fourth anniversary here, and I absolute-ly enjoyed my time with the Town and am sad to leave, but you must do what you have to do. It is a little strange that my last day falls in the middle of the week, but I gave the Town a month’s notice to figure out what they wanted to do with my job, and if they fill my position by then, I can even help to train the new per-son, so that is why my final day in August 28.” While Rae is one of the Town’s youngest employees, this was not her first full-time position since attaining her undergraduate degree from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). “My first real job was working in the Lee County laboratory for about a year, collect-ing and preparing water samples, along with all the kinds of grunt work that one does when you are at the bottom of the totem pole!” In addition to her FGCU de-gree, Rae earned her Master’s on-line from Clemson University. “I did that because FGCU does not offer a Master’s degree in my program, so I would have had to leave the area, to go to either the Universi-ty of Central Florida or the Univer-sity of Florida, but Jeremy and I had already met and, while not yet married, knew that our future was together, so I wanted to remain in Southwest Florida with him, so the

online degree from Clemson al-lowed me to check all those box-es. I don’t live and die on Clemson National Championship football games though, as FGCU is where I met Jeremy, so that is my school through-and-through!” When reflecting on her vari-ous duties with the Town, Rae said she will most miss those that in-volve birding. “Nesting shore birds on Fort Myers Beach are so inter-esting, especially during mating season, as the babies could not be any cuter! I love to keep track of all the various different kinds of spe-cies, particularly in the Critical Wild-life Area, as nesting shore birds tell you so much about the overall en-vironmental quality of Fort Myers Beach, so that is the coolest thing.”

MAGNIFICENT BEACHENVIRONMENT

Recognizing that she is one of the Town’s youngest employees, she viewed her time with Fort My-ers Beach as a great learning ex-perience, both personally and pro-fessionally. “Working with the Town has helped me to grow so much, especially with my ‘people skills,’ because those are essential when you work in government with the general public. When I was with the Lee County laboratory, you are basically all by yourself, but when you work for a Town like Fort My-ers Beach, you interact with so many people on so many different topics! Floodplain management, for instance, is something I never

expected to get into so much, but now I really like it and it is one of the better parts of my job. Another thing that really surprised me was the legal aspect of this position, with appearance before the Town’s Special Magistrate and other court dockets, so that was an eye-opener and a real education.” Rae hopes to resume her government-related environmental career in the near future: “I have two similar job position interviews with communities within an hour of Orlando in the next few weeks, so – fingers crossed – one of them will come my way! I am eager to con-tinue my career in government ser-vice.” While Rae looks forward to her future, she will most definite-ly miss Fort Myers Beach! “I truly feel there is not another place like Fort Myers Beach, as it is a very unique kind of animal. I love that the Town’s Comprehensive Plan actually says that one of its major goals is to ‘Keep Fort Myers Beach Funky,’ as that is just the coolest thing! I love that the Town is lead-ing the way with environmental ini-tiatives like the plastic straw ban and hope that continues with items like plastic bags. Overall, this has been a fun, fantastic and interest-ing job, and I thoroughly enjoyed all my experiences here, and I ap-preciate everything this community has taught me. I will miss everyone here at Fort Myer Beach, so please take care of our magnificent beach environment and yourselves!”

Environmental Coordinator Rae Burns’ last day with the Town of Fort Myers Beach will be Wednesday, August 28.

PHOTO BY GARY MOONEY.


Beach Botanyby Jim Rodwell

SPURRED BUTTERFLY PEA The Spurred Butterfly Pea, Cen-trosema virginium, is an herbaceous pe-rennial with trailing and climbing vines 6 to 8 feet in length. Compound leaves com-posed of 3 leaflets are alternate on the vines. Leaf shape is narrow to elliptic 1 to 11/2 inch in length. A member of the Fabaceae, Bean family, virginium, has a butterfly-like flow-er structure. The corolla consists of three pairs of petals. Two extra large petals are fused together to form a banner and two smaller petals are fused together in the shape of a boat keel. Two narrow pet-als are on either side of the keel and are called wings. The flower’s corolla is light lavender blue with white markings. Inflo-rescence is solitary. unequal size. Result is that vir-ginium is an asymmetrical flower. The flower is capable of division into symmet-rical halves by only one longitudinal plane passing through the axes. This is called zygomorphic. For millions of years of co-evolution certain insects learned to ap-proach virginium from only one direction to reach the nectar source. Insects coming in at angle will have no luck. The specimen in the picture was found in a prairie alongside the Dog Track in Bonita Springs.

Council Ponders Tax IncreasePlanning Session Reviews Budget


The Fort Myers Beach Town Council, at its August 15 Management & Planning Session, led by Council member Bruce Butcher, provided a thorough re-view of the Town’s proposed 2019-20 Fiscal Year Budget. Following this, Council member comments seem to indicate that they will ap-prove an Ad Valorem Property Tax increase during their September Budget Hearings, raising the cur-rent .87 rate potentially to the .95 Truth In Millage (TRIM) figure set at the June 3, 2019 Meeting. Ad Valorem Property Tax-es are based on $1 per $1,000 of property valuation, meaning Fort Myers Beach residents currently pay 87 cents per $1,000 that could increase to 95 cents per $1,000. Council FY19-20 Budget discus-sions are Mondays, September 9 & 23, at 5:01 p.m. For example, the owner of a Fort Myers Beach house valued at $300,000 pays the Town on the current .87 figure $261 in Property Taxes; the pro-posed .95 rate would increase that to by $24 annually, to $285. Town Staff based their pro-posed Balanced FY19-20 Budget on current .87 rate, including all potential Add On Items. Council, however, engaged in a discussion about eventually replacing the Bay Oaks Recreational Center along with other improvements, possibly leading to a savings program to fund these over a number of years. The proposed FY19-20 Bal-anced Budget totals $17,232,540, with the General Fund amounting to $7,069,140; Beach Water Utili-

ty Fund $5,606,820; Building Ser-vices $952,325; Beach Access & Shoreline at $1,135,230; Gas Tax $623,000, Capital Improvements $566,025; and Stormwater Fund at $1,280,000. The .87 millage would generate roughly $3 million, with the .95 TRIM rate an estimated $250,000 on top of that. Council weighed an additional $1,127,250 in Add On Items, such as Public Outreach & Marketing, Comp Plan Review Consulting Services, & Capital Improvement Projects that Staff estimates it can fund under the current .87 Property Tax figure. Council provided input be-tween the .87 versus and .95 rates. “I believe we should leave the mill-age at the proposed .95 mark,” said Mayor Anita Cereceda. Coun-cil member Rexann Hosafros stat-ed, “Following these discussions, I lean toward the higher rate.” Vice Mayor Ray Murphy and Butcher each added, “Leave it,” meaning the .95 figure. Only Council mem-ber Joanne Shamp left wiggle room, saying “my personal position is it should be somewhere between that and the current point.”

100 MINUTES

“I am pleased to present the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 Draft Budget,” stated Town Man-ager Roger Hernstadt. “I say ‘draft’ because this allows Council to pro-vide further direction, and of course we still have the Public Hearings. From the Staff perspective, we can maintain our current level of ser-vices under the current millage, with slightly over a 3% growth fig-ure. I do have one update, how-

ever, from your printed material: we estimated Federal Emergen-cy Management Agency (FEMA) out-of-pocket reimbursements to the Town from Hurricane Irma at $400,000; we now have roughly $558,000 with FEMA still evaluat-ing additional Town requests.” “Let’s go down the line with budget questions,” began Cere-ceda, starting with Butcher. For the next 100 minutes, punctuat-ed occasionally by questions and comments from his fellow Coun-cil members, Butcher took Staff through an in-depth examination of the proposed FY19-20 Town Budget, including clarifications on the Local Gas Tax, Impact Fees, Capital Improvement Projects, Re-serve Funds, Water & Stormwater Rates, Public Works Items, Build-ing Permit Fees, General Services, Town & Contract Employee Wag-es & Benefits, FY18-19 Carryover Surpluses, Fines & Enforcement Changes, Special Magistrate Fees, Banking Charges, Community De-velopment, Short Term Rental Fees, Law Enforcement Programs including Maritime Patrols, Tour-ism Development Council Fund-ing, Grant Moneys, Parking Fees, Bay Oaks Recreational Center Im-provements, Town Vehicles, and additional items. Following Butcher, Mur-phy stated, “Bruce asked all of my questions and 100 more! That was very thorough, so thank you!” He however requested that Council appropriate $10,000 to purchase water quality testing equipment for the “Commercial Waterman” Non-Profit Group from Matlacha that Council tentatively approved,


Council Ponders Tax IncreasePlanning Session Reviews Budget, Cont’d

though Shamp opined that this runs counter to its policy of allocating funds to Non-Profits. Hosafros noted, “Bruce asked most of mine as well,” though she sought clarification on a 2% Health Benefits allocation to the Town Manager, to ensure it is ap-propriate in his contract. She ques-tioned as well if Council needed a $16,900 Travel Expense or $5,300 Promotional Activities budget lines, as Councils historically never need that much, but her colleagues dis-agreed, saying they cannot antici-pate expenses for the next Coun-cil that may have up to three new members and a new Mayor, with Cereceda term-limited out, follow-ing the March 2020 Town election. Council then examined Add On Items for the draft FY19-20 Budget, including trolley bus shelters & benches, new Bay Oaks minibus & playground, Mound House National Register Celebra-tion Day, sidewalks near the Beach Elementary School, Stormwater Reclamation Projects, ADA Tran-sition Plan, Crescent Street Traffic Signal, and additional items total-ing $1,127,250. Shamp asked for confirmation that Council can fund all Add On Items at the current .87 Property Tax Millage Rate, with the Town Manager replying in the affir-mative.

NEW BAY OAKS?

Hosafros noted, “The ele-phant in the room comes from the Bay Oaks Recreational Center Ad-visory Board (BORCAB) that says Bay Oaks needs a major renova-tion or replacement. That is more

than the Town can afford in any one current year, so we should set aside money to save for that future.” Shamp stated, “I will take an opposite view – that being said, I am a Bay Oaks fan! There is an estimated 10 to 12 years of life left on the building. I understand the questions of if it suits the needs of the community and if it is the opti-mal design for that property, but we are talking about millions of dollars for a new building. For that amount of money, we must go to a referen-dum, so it is too early for this. It is not in our purview to create an ac-count for something we may do.” Hosafros countered, “It is financially prudent, rather than hit-ting people up with a big fund of money; it is prudent to save money for this.” Butcher noted, “Bay Oaks has been in a ‘contain & maintain’ mode for a long time, so we ought to start saving; otherwise, at some point, we will have to borrow a bunch of money. The proposed mill-age increase will allow us to bank a surplus of $250,000 per year.” “Joanne, I am glad you brought this up,” said Cereceda. “At the new proposed millage, my Town tax bill will only go up a little more than $30 a year. The nature of the Town is changing and we cannot continue to be a ‘pay as you go’ community forever, but must become a ‘save as you go’ com-munity, to do what we must for our future; the future will be here tomor-row, and we will not be ready. I love the word Rexann used because it is one of my favorite words – ‘pru-dent!’ I am glad you raised the is-sue, though, as a significant part of the community will say that.” Hosa-

fros stated, “My Town taxes will go up $21.98 for the entire year; peo-ple spend that on a couple cups of coffee and a bagel!” “Point well made,” agreed Murphy.

TOWN ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Shamp asked Town Attor-ney John Herin, Jr, if the Town can legally bank money for a specific project. Herin said, “Council can bank General Reserve Funds for whatever purpose it desires, but you cannot restrict its use. A future Council can redirect those funds for whatever it desires.” The Town Manager added, “If this Council be-gins to save money for a new Bay Oaks, and the community basical-ly supports that, a different Coun-cil will face a tremendous amount of scrutiny if they make that deci-sion. The Town can use this as seed money to borrow more mon-ey, as it is tough to save enough for a multi-million dollar building.” Murphy noted that banked money can be for matching grants, saying,

“You raise that type of cash through a combination of ways.” While Butcher favors a re-serve fund, he has a concern over saving money “for a building we have yet to determine. Don’t put money aside for Bay Oaks, but to improve the Quality of Life on Fort Myers Beach, whether it be a bet-ter Times Square or Bayfront Park or enhanced safety lighting on Es-tero Boulevard. Any substantial improvement will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, so that is what we should step up to do.” Shamp, noting that the prospective .95 Property Tax rate will cost her roughly an additional $100 per year, stated, “I am always amazed at how much the Town ac-complishes with the money paid us; I receive a lot more from the Town than most other taxing entities.” In other matters, Council heard a brief reFRESH Estero Bou-levard Projects update and Town Staff Departmental Reports.

Town Council debates the Draft 2019-20 Town Budget. PHOTO BY GARY MOONEY.


TDC Funds Newton House WorkTourism Report

By Bob [email protected]

The Lee County Tourist De-velopment Council (TDC) met in regular session on Thursday Aug 8. The TDC is the governing body of the Lee County Visitors and Con-vention Bureau (VCB) sanctioned by Lee County Commission. The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB) is funded by a five percent (5%) tourist tax collected on accommodations rented for six months or less. The funding is split with approximately 54% to adver-tising and marketing of Lee County and Lee County Sports Develop-ment, 26% beach and shoreline improvement & 20% debt service on Lee County’s 3 stadiums: City of Palms Park, Jet Blue Stadium & Century-Link/Hammond Stadium. In that meeting, funding was approved for $127,038 addition-al funding to complete remodeling of the Newton House building and restrooms. The original $70,000 funding already allocated from FY 2018 was expanded for several reasons. Speaking for the Town of

Fort Myers Beach Parks & Recre-ations, Alison Giesen, explained to the Council that work was delayed due to unavailability of contractors due to Hurricane Irma repairs on Fort Myers Beach. During the re-cent solicitation of 4 bids for the project, it was learned the scope of the project needed to expand due to the age and deterioration of the historic 1950’s structure. The Town of Fort Myers Beach is contributing $15,000 to this project.

In other news of local im-pact, The TDC Events Marketing Funding for 2019-2020 awarded $7,000 to the Friends of the Arts for the 2020 Fort Myers Beach Film Festival, and $25,000 to the FMB Chamber of Commerce for the Oct 2019 Roar Offshore Powerboat Races. The TDC Arts & Attractions Marketing Funding also approved $9,000 to the Fort Myers Beach Art Association & Gallery and $8,200 to Friends of the Mound House.

APRIL – JUNE VISITORS

The firm of Downs and St. Germain Research presented their regular quarterly report for April to June 2019 Visitor Tracking, Occu-pancy and Economic Impact Study. This 125-page comprehensive re-port provides a great overview on tourism, backed by survey-based research with travelers while in Lee County. Highlights from this report generally reflect the Tourist Tax Collections information from Lee County. YTD collections, when compared to the prior year, are down slightly less than 1%. June figures alone reflect a 1% decline in collection on a 5% decline in occu-pancy. July figures are expected to be similar or show slightly greater declines. Air travel into Southwest Regional Airport (RSW) is a bright spot being up about 8% in May and June over prior years. Currently RSW offers non-stop service avail-able to 53 destinations by 15 air carriers. Regarding trip planning, the report showed 60% of visitors plan their trip about 3 months in advance. Less than 13% plan their trips 1 month or less in advance. Top reasons for visiting included vacation, relax & unwind, beaches and visiting friends and relatives. 51% booked their accommodations directly with a hotel or condo, with the balance on a variety of online booking options. 69% of all visitors arrived via air travel. Traveler pro-files remain steady being mostly couples, with families not far be-hind. Also interesting was the fact that a third of visitors stayed in non-paid accommodations, by staying with friends and family. This April through June also showed average trip length of 7.4 days, with 25% first-time visitors, and 27% report-ing visiting 10 or more times. Top visitor activities report-ed were not surprising with about 75% reporting beaches, relax & un-wind, and dining as top activities. In-teresting to note that visitors end up doing more and different activities than their stated reasons for visit-ing. Apparently after arriving here, they realize there is a lot more to do than they thought. Shopping, water sports, attractions and photography all scored higher as actual activities vs reasons for visiting. Very positive trip and area satisfaction ratings and low visi-tor concerns did not match lower July to September reservations reported in April through June. Ad-vance reservations for 2019 were reported lower vs 2018, reflecting a hesitance to make reservations, possibly due to 2018’s water quali-ty problems in coastal Lee County. This must have resulted in many last minute travel plans, because anecdotally observed, water quali-ty in July through August 2019 has been very good, and many busi-nesses report a much better 2019 vs the horrible 2018 – but still below normal levels historically for this time of year. The information reflects the importance of tourism to our area, but the necessary delicate man-agement of our natural resources to provide similar attraction to fu-ture business and vacation plan-ners. Continue to follow the Island Sand Paper for updates on tourism and doing business on Fort Myers Beach.

Fort Myers Beach Pier. PHOTO CREDIT: THE BEACHES OF FORT MYERS & SANIBEL.


By Fort Myers Beach Library Staff

The Book Artist: A Hugo Marston Novel (M PRY) The setting of this mystery is the Dali Art Gallery, built on the heights of Montmartre, Par-is, France. The artist showing in the exhibition space creates sculptures constructed entirely of books. The lead character, Hugo Marston, is in charge of the American Embassy’s Security Force. Marston happens to attend the opening night not knowing his investigative expertise will be required. Put on your detec-tive hat; this is suspense mystery fiction! Author Mark Pryor’s eighth novel in the Hugo Marston series can be read interdependently from the first seven novels.

The Light Brigade (HUR) is a science-fiction, fantasy-thriller for warriors. The ever-present battle of terrorism versus intelligence cre-ates an interspace warfare battle to the death. The loss of humani-ty is in question when warriors turn into beings made of pure light as a strategy to conquer the celes-tial Mars. Futurist author Kameron Hurley is gearing up to publish two more books this year.

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee (TRUE CRIME MURDER CEP) is a story within a backstory. Some may not be aware that Nelle Harp-er Lee helped Truman Capote re-search the true crime classic, In Cold Blood. Over a decade after the success of the American liter-ary classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee, a native of Alabama, attended the deep-south courtroom trial of an assassin vigilante. The victim, a greedy insurance fraud serial-killer

preacher, inspired the drama due to years of cheating the law and the sixth commandment. Author and Historian, Casey Cep is a Harvard English Major and an Oxford theo-logian philosopher.

The Road to Walden: Twelve Life Lessons from a Sojourn to Thoreau’s Cabin New Large Print (818.309 DAN). Inspired by Tho-reau, author Kevin Dann completes the seventy-hour walk, a two hun-dred mile journey from the borough of Manhattan to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. His pil-grimage is inspired by self-reali-zation, self-help and his quest of historic non-conformity. The chap-ters align with the twelve life les-sons; the first four are titled Awake, Speak, Dance and Create. The au-tobiography is a romantic work for those who seek some version of transcendence.

The Hug (JE MCL) is two chil-dren’s stories read either right-side-up from front to middle or upside down back to the middle. Both joyous conclusions meet in the center when two desperately sad hug seekers hug it all out! A story with a light-hearted approach to a tale as old as time, a split book that illustrates seeking and being denied, yet ultimately finding a per-fect match. In The Hug, author Eoin McLaughlin and artist Polly Dunbar teach that life’s priceless gifts store the potential for heartfelt reward. The experience of shared read-ing creates a social skill bond that demonstrates multiple values. Chil-dren enjoy becoming involved in the process of reading a book and the split book device is amusing to both adult and child.

All In: Book Two of the Bridge-port Social Club Series (GF GRA). Bridgeport, Ohio is an actual village and the setting for author Shelly Shepard Gray’s fictional romance. The main hometown characters are a crime victim businesswoman and a single father. Join Meredith and Ace in their blended family, healing love-story experiences.

Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Col-lapse, (SOCIAL SCIENCE CAR-NEY) is an introspective book that calls for community action. Thoughts regarding the necessity of American houses of worship and their essential close-knit communi-ties are explored. Various civil soci-ety problems and solutions are ex-amined. Research is presented on the economic effects of the social conditions enveloping our contem-porary culture. Author Timothy Car-ney reports on the decline of Ameri-can hallmarks of social capital such as volunteerism and job training. Some readers may consider this book a call to action. What can your community do for you? What can you do for your community? Try both!

Thirty-One Day Food Revolution: Heal Your Body, Feel Great, and Transform Your World New Large Print (613.25 ROB). Defining your daily food as your nutrient fuel in-spires healthy success. If you are interested in learning about cook-ing a variety of natural foods for a quick start nutrition kick or really crave a new fresh diet, Ocean Rob-bins’s instructive book will be your guide for the month of your choice. You will be navigated through a thir-ty-one-day challenge to experience healthy eating’s happy healing hab-its.

South Florida and the Keys Road Trip: Miami, Walt Disney World, Tampa and the Everglades (FLORIDA TRAVEL FERGUSON). The where, when and the before you go tips and tricks of Florida travel. This book highlights both the Sun Coast and the Gold Coast

of fabulous South Florida. Author and Florida native Jason Fergu-son even writes about the sixty-one years young, Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival! Also new in the Fort Myers Beach Library is a suitcase full of 2019 Fodor’s Travel guidebooks! Alas-ka, Costa Rica, Germany, Italy, Ha-waii, National Parks of the Amer-ican West, New England, Spain: there are twenty-eight new 2019 travel books available for a two-week loan.

The Human Planet: How We Cre-ated the Anthropocene (NATURE LEWIS). This text researches and cross-examines humankind as a force of nature on Earth’s current and possibly future planetary con-ditions. Authors Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin excavate questions and solutions from the fields of sci-ence, philosophy and politics. Ex-plore how civilization has branched out and into Earth’s geological re-cord.

Call Me American: A Memoir (921 IFT) is a survival biography describ-ing the experience of one of life’s great joys, loving a country and achieving citizenship. The Ameri-can visa lottery was a long-await-ed precious gift of pure heartfelt love for author Abdi Nor Iftin. This writer has traveled a mighty long way, from teaching himself English in Mogadishu, Somalia all the way to calling the United States, home sweet home. When civil war is real and asylum equals life, autobiogra-phies like this shed light on essen-tial qualities that are so deeply and dearly loved about our America.

Library Treasures


John LukowLibrary Assistant Director, Cont’d from pg.1longtime employee John Lukow. “My wife is a 1st grade teacher with Lee County Public Schools,” Lukow said. “We have three sons evenly split between high school, middle school, and elementary school! I am originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and though my family moved around a bit when I was younger, due to my Dad’s job, we ended up in Cape Coral in 1980 and my own family remains there to this day. I am a graduate of Cape Coral High School, and attained by Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and my Master’s in Library Science from Florida State University, the latter in 1994.” Immediately upon graduating from FSU, Lukow began work at the Fort Myers Beach Library. “I have been here now for 25 years, mostly as the Catalog Librarian, and that is a behind-the-scenes job,” he joked, “so I didn’t get out in front very much! I process collections into the computer, along with the Processing Clerk, to make sure everything shows up all right, as well as assisting with the computer system and helping with our bookkeeping, along with other assorted duties.” Now that he is Assistant Director, he works closely with Cletus Poser, who became Interim Director the week of Dr. Hommerding’s passing and permanent Director in late March. “I now handle the budget, am more involved with book ordering, and interact with the total staff more than ever, “ Lukow said. “Working on the new Budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year was particularly interesting, learning in detail all the projects we fund, those where we can decrease our

allocations, and information about new areas where maybe we should allocate resources, especially for disaster contingencies and future planning. This causes me to split my time between my old and new duties, so we are looking to hire someone to take some of these things off my shoulders.”

AN HONOR

The new Assistant Directorship position related directly to Dr. Hommerding’s loss. “He did pretty much everything,” Lukow marveled. “When the Board promoted Cletus, everyone realized we all needed to help share the load with him, so the Board created the Assistant Director position and offered it to me, based on my tenure and knowledge about the inner workings of the library. It was

an honor I truly did not expect, but I immediately accepted.” Contrary to community rumors, however, Lukow said he is not in the pipeline to become the next Director whenever Poser concludes his tenure. “There have been no promises or anything like that made to me,” Lukow related, “so as far as I know, I am not part of any succession plan, but should the opportunity avail itself in the future, I would be receptive, as this is a great library and Fort Myers Beach is a great community. I learn so much from Cletus, as he is a wonderful resource, and perhaps his strongest attribute is he is always there to listen, then provide just the right answer. There is so much experience on our Library Board, so I really enjoy those interactions. This is true as well of our tremendous staff who are so knowledgeable about so many

things, and I especially marvel at how they work with and assist our library patrons, and the smiles they bring to our visitors’ faces are an inspiration to me, and those reactions tell me we are doing a great job.” With a relatively new Director and Assistant Director, is this a new era for the Fort Myers Beach Library? “We are still evaluating how things work and evolve,” Lukow explained. “What is a certainty is the Fort Myers Beach community absolutely loves the Beach Library and as an institution, we are already well thought of, so you do not want to make any drastic changes just for the sake of change, particularly in areas that work well, where no change is necessary. Because we can analyze our operation from this position of strength, we can take our time to see how and where we can improve, to keep an eye out for what the community needs from us that we do not currently provide.” One area where Lukow wants to expand his knowledge is the “Heart Of The Island” movement. “I am just now getting up to speed with this, as the Library Board sees it as a priority and assigned Board Secretary Jan Fleming to represent us at their meetings. From the little I know, it sounds like a great concept, to help to brand this region of the island, as when everyone works together to accomplish good things, we all win.”

SECOND HOME

With Dr. Hommerding’s death still so recent, it is impossible to enter the Beach Cont’d pg.10

Library logo is part of the floor of the Beach Library. FILE PHOTO.


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The Island Sand PaperFortMyersBeach.news

An independently owned island newspaper

Publisher Bob LayfieldEditor Missy LayfieldLead Writer Gary MooneyAdvertising Sandy SandnessProduction Mark List

Phone: 239-463-4461 Fax: 855-886-3568Email: [email protected]: 450 Old Sand Carlos Blvd; #108 Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931

The deadline for Classified ads and Letters is Noon Wednesday

Letter PolicyThe Island Sand Paper welcomes original letters of up to 300words on local issues. All letters must include the name and city of residence of the author, plus a phone number for verification.We reserve the right to edit for clarity, length, accuracy and to prevent libel. No poetry. Letters are printed at the discretion of theEditor. Repetitive letters from the same individual on the same subject will not be printed. There is a publication limit of two letters every 4 weeks. Submissions over 300 words may be considered for publication as a Guest Commentator based on available space, relevance and the quality of the submission.

The Island Sand Paper welcomes original photos for publication based of available space, relevence and quality.

Editorial

ESTERO ROAD WORK

We have tried being patient during the last 2+ years. However, the road repairs have taken over our island. We can barely enter our own property without doing damage to our vechiles. Road workers sit and use our front yard for lunch breaks, parking areas and leave gar-bage and ruin what is left of our landscaping. Due to electrical damages, FPAL trucks run outside our home until 2-3:00 in the AM. Beeping con-stantly. I have talked with many residents who express the same issues, some have sold their properties and actually moved. There has to be a better plan to complete these repairs. Is it possible to complete a section before destroying 2 more miles of residential and/or businesses. Who is actually in charge of this project and who has allowed it to continue in this fashion. Debrie has been allowed to accumulate, trucks and work-ers park wherever they want to, they use homeowners property as if it theirs, making it a hazard to enter the roadway. I know we are not alone in bringing up these issues and we need answers immediately.

Judy & Donald KotulaFort Myers Beach

Editor’s note: As these readers wanted immediate answers, we passed their concerns along to the reFRESH Waterlines Public Information Consultants Cella Molnar & Associates, who responded to them directly. Questions about the Estero Blvd or FMB Water Line projects can be directed to Cella Molnar & Associates at 239-337-1071.

REFRESH ESTERO BLVD

We can appreciate the frustration of living amongst construction. Our firm, Cella Molnar & Associates, is the public information consultant for the Estero Boulevard and the Waterlines projects. We are the liaison between the owners (Lee County DOT and the Town of FMB), the con-tractors and the public. We are here to help during construction, and can be reached at 239-337-1071. We also offer a weekly email update that can be requested on the “Contact Us” page at refreshfmbeach.com The Estero Boulevard projects are complicated projects and each component must be completed before the next can begin in order to minimize one-lane traffic. • First, FPL, CenturyLink, and Comcast had to relocate their poles and services out of the right-of-way. • Secondly, Lee County crews clear the road right-of-way to install the sanitary sewer force main on the bay side of the road. • Then, the Town of Fort Myers Beach Waterlines crews install the water main on the beach side of Estero Boulevard and make the bayside, side street connections. At the same time, the Town crews are installing new water lines and storm water drainage on bayside, side outfall streets where stormwater from both Estero Blvd. and side streets is treated prior to being released in the bay. • Finally, Lee County crews install the Estero Blvd. storm drainage system and begin work on the road and right-of-way improve-ments. Currently, Estero Boulevard crews are nearing completion of Segment 2 (Lovers Lane to Strandview Ave.) with asphalt paving. The rainy weather has made all construction activities challenging including paving. We expect to start laying the final lift of asphalt in Segment 2 soon, weather permitting. Estero Boulevard crews are also working from Strandview Ave to Lazy Way installing the storm drain system. To stop work from December to April would only delay the work for many years. While we realize snowbirds and tourists visit during these peak-season months, the drier weather during these months is better for underground construction work. Kaye MolnarCella Molnar & Associates

THE GOOD NEWS

The bad news of the world keeps on coming. The only way to avoid the effects of constant bombardment of bad news is to consciously focus on good news. This is why the Island Sand Paper uses this space every couple months to recognize those that bring positive change to our local community. We hope our readers enjoy a bit of time pondering the good that happens right here in our own community. Kudos go out this summer to… Bay Oaks Recreation Center staff for organizing the Fourth of July Parade and to Town Council for another great year of fireworks! The Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation for their continued beach cleanup efforts, including the July 5th Cleanup. The U.S. Coast Guard and Auxiliary and the FWC for their efforts to keep our waterways safe. The FGCU Water School, Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani and all the scientists and advocates who continue to work toward better water quality in SWFL. The Fort Myers Beach Fire Department on earning a Gold Plus Award for their Emergency Services, issued by the American Heart As-sociation for their care of heart attack and stroke victims. Everyone who watches for & stops for pedestrians at crosswalks. Pedestrians who use crosswalks and push the buttons for the flashing lights at crosswalks. All the turtle volunteers who walk the beach at dawn checking for new nests and stranded turtles during our record-setting year for turtle nests. Salty Crab Bar & Grill and their patrons for a recent $10,000 do-nation to Golisano Children’s Hospital, bringing their four-year total dona-tion to over $32,500. Eryka Aptaker and the Spirit of “45 effort to honor World War II veterans with a special ceremony on Spirit of ’45 Day each year. Estero Island Garden Club for their continued efforts to keep spe-cial public gardens scattered all over our Island in good shape all sum-mer. Fish Tale Marina and the Reunite the Fight organization for host-ing Grouper Grapple and offering several veterans a weekend getaway with expenses paid. Logan & Tyler Shamp, plus their proud and talented grandparents, Joanne and Dan, for the repair and resurrection of a vandalism-damaged turtle sculpture from the Beach Library. Rae Burns for her 3+ years of environmental impact on our com-munity as the Town’s Environmental Coordinator. Under Rae’s watch the Town initiated efforts to provide turtle-friendly light bulbs and offer free light inspections. Lee County Commissioner Raymond Sandelli on his selection to fill the District 3 seat until the November 2020 election. Here’s hoping he is as focused on water quality issues as his coastal constituents are. Every Islander who has volunteered, donated or helped in any way to make our Island home a better place to live, work or play.

Missy LayfieldEditor


Sunday ServicesFort Myers Beach Churches

Chapel by the Sea Presbyterian2500 Estero Blvd

10:00 a.m. Worship

Beach Methodist155 Bay Rd

239-463-965610:15 a.m. Hymn Sing

10:30 a.m. Worship

Beach Baptist130 Connecticut St.

239-463-64529:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:30 a.m. Sunday School10:30 a.m. Worship

WE Dinner 5:30 p.m.WE Bible Study 6:15 p.m.

St. Peter Lutheran3751 Estero Blvd

239-463-42519:30 a.m. Worship

10:30 a.m. Bible Study

St. Raphael’s Episcopal5601 Williams Dr

239-463-605710:00 a.m.

WE Healing Service 10:00 a.m.

Ascension Catholic6025 Estero Blvd

239-463-6754SA 4:30 p.m.

SU 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. MO – FR 8:00 a.m.

John LukowLibrary Assistant Director, Cont’d from pg.8Library without thinking of him, and this is especially true for Lukow and his coworkers. “He was ‘The Man,’” John stated with visible emotion. “It seemed like he could do everything, whether it was running the Library, his volunteer work with the Kiwanis or helping with the Estero Island Historic Society – he somehow had enough time for everyone; he was really something to see in action! Coming into the Library is still tough because Dr. Hommerding’s mark is everywhere – he was such a big presence! As a staff, we are

holding up well because we rally around each other. I also can’t say enough about the support we receive from the beach community, as that continues to this day and definitely helps us during the down times. Dr. Hommerding will never truly go away and will always be a part of us.” As for what the Beach Library means to him, “it is kind-of a second home! This is my only professional job, so I have seen it grow and expand, and that is a very comforting feeling for me. Dr.

Hommerding left us a wonderful legacy, and we work hard every day to keep it up to his standards. This is why I find the ‘Heart Of The Island’ concept so intriguing – because, to me, the Library truly is the heart of the Fort Myers Beach community. There is something here for everyone, whether you are a fulltime resident, occasional island visitor and everyone in-between. I know sometimes people come into the Library having a bad day, but after doing reading or research, working on one of

the jigsaw puzzles or attending a Community Room program, I never see anyone leave in a bad mood! We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful library to call home!” The Fort Myers Beach Library is at 2755 Estero Boulevard, with hours Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and closed Sundays and holidays, including Labor Day. For information, see www.fmb.lib.fl.us or call 239-765-8162.

they are working closely with “Keep Lee County Beautiful” to clean Fort Myers Beach, not only during the event, but for a large-scale cleanup on Sunday, October 13, at 8 a.m. Shamp, however, emphasized her concerns. “We have to have some more places for toilets for the Special Events Permit or else we will have a problem with people urinating and defecating on people’s yards, as most of our beach is privately owned, as well as people getting dehydrated from alcohol and passing out on the beach. You and I want this to be a success so it becomes an annual event, but people in the Town will not want it back unless you take care of this. We do not allow glass bottles or cans on the beach, and we will most likely need to use Town employees to police this, as

they know our Beach Ordinances, and our taxpayers will have to pay for that. I would like to see an overhead map with port-a-pottie locations and a trash plan; I need to see something in detail that will make this a successful event.”Mayor Anita Cereceda agreed, saying, “With all due respect, even if businesses and hotels are welcoming, there is no way they can deal with this type of capacity, as that will overwhelm the bathrooms in businesses on this island. I really need to see that plan for port-a-potties and trash containers for an event of this magnitude and am surprised that has not come up until this point, as that information is critical to the Town approving this; you have to have provisions for this! I don’t want to approve this until we have that map and can feel

comfortable with it. You will have a viewing platform at Junkanoo and there is no way the restrooms in Junkanoo can accommodate even

that crowd.” Tim Hill pointed out that there will be six additional port-a-potties at Cont’d pg.19

Roar Offshore Permit TabledTrash & Toilet Plans Vex Council, Cont’d from pg.1

Ceel Spuhler, with her Key to The City! PHOTOS BY GARY MOONEY.


There has been a lot in the news about water quality since last summer. I believe that most of the residents of our local area are very much aware of what happened and would like nothing better than for that to become ancient history. I’m with them. Scientists and others have instructed us to limit our use of lawn fertilizers and become more cogni-zant of where water runoff goes to avoid adding nutrients to our natu-ral waterways, which can help pre-vent future algae outbreaks. Each one of us can do a little that in turn will help a lot. We planted many native Florida plants when we moved into our house in 2001, but about eight years ago we stepped up our ef-forts to make our landscape Flori-da friendly. The goal was to greatly reduce or eliminate watering and

fertilizing the yard and plants, es-pecially in the winter dry season months. The first step taken was to put crushed shell, where grass used to grow, in the backyard. We added walking paths with concrete benches, self-contained waterfall ponds and outdoor lighting. Next came the greenery. The selection of the plants and trees were made carefully. We wanted them to be drought tolerant and capable of handing the close-to-freezing temperatures we might have during the winter weeks. Yes, we have weeks of winter, not months. A variety of palms were planted along with bromeliads, or-chids and flowering native plants. Originally our plan was geared to-ward managing watering, but the native plants soon began to draw lots of butterflies. We went from catching a glimpse of the occa-sional monarch, to seeing lots of monarchs. As the garden grew, we began to see gulf fritillaries, ze-bra longwings, black swallowtails, white peacocks, sulphurs, queens and even atalas. The last one men-tioned really surprised us. The atala is one of the rar-est of Florida butterflies. It came very close to extinction in the 1950’s because it relies on only one host plant, the coontie where females lay their eggs for caterpil-lars to feed. The coontie roots were harvested by Native Americans and early Florida settlers for starch that could be turned into flour and the plant was almost wiped out. In the late 1970’s research was done on the relationship of the atala and the

coontie plants. A small colony of the butterflies was found on a barrier island near Miami and that began the push to save the atala. Until recently it was be-lieved that the southeast coast was the atala’s only location in Florida. I personally can attest to the fact that this is not true. I saw one in my butterfly garden several months ago, thanks to the coontie plants I’ve planted. There is also an abundance of them in Cape Coral’s Rotary Park. The Tom Allen But-terfly House is located there and that’s where I saw my first atala

and learned about the importance of adding coontie plants to our gar-den. Butterflies are amazing creatures. Their lifecycle begins as an egg laid on a host plant. That plant is usually unique to a certain type of butterfly and becomes food for the caterpillar that hatches from the egg. It begins eating as much as possible before becoming a chrys-alis. After a short time, the chrys-alis breaks open and out comes a butterfly. The newly formed butter-fly then looks for nectar plants so

it can start the process over once again. Many anglers in Southwest Florida pay close attention to a little white butterfly called the southern white. All during my years as a Gulf coast fisherman I have hoped to see the white butterflies in the early spring. Their appearance is one of the first signs that migrating tarpon are on their way. They usually ap-pear in March and are most likely to be seen while boating on one of our many bays. If you want to learn more about native Florida plants and but-terfly gardens visit All Native Gar-den Center in Fort Myers or stop by the Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House at Rotary Park in Cape Cor-al.

Captain Rob Modys is a life-time Florida outdoorsman, retired spin & fly fishing guide and host of REEL Talk Radio on ESPN 99.3 FM from 7-10 a.m. every Saturday morning. He is past president and board chairman of the Florida Outdoor Writers Associ-ation and serves on the board of the Florida Guides Association. Capt. Rob also shares his fishing knowledge in a series of fishing classes at Bass Pro Shops.

Atala Butterfly with iridescent wing markings.

PHOTO CREDIT: ABI WARNER/123RF.COM.

Black Swallowtail chrysalis and caterpillar. PHOTO BY ROB MODYS.


different ways. It is important to be good stewards of the land and water here, because it affects the economic image of our State. What people saw last summer, they might not know that was just Southwest Florida but anywhere in Florida, and asking themselves, ‘what is going on down there?’ so it was more than just this area that was affected, so we had to deal with it head on, without holding back, to swing for the fences as soon as we took office, as in the transition period, we spoke with many people who had a lot of really good ideas. “Some of our advisors said they would probably need a month before they were ready to roll out the program, but we said, ‘No, No, No – we must do this right away, to show everyone there would be changes with the new administration, to move forward,’ because we could not do it unilaterally and needed the help of the Legislature, so we had to come out early to rally public support, to get more support from the Legislature. We wanted to be ready to go the first day, but we determined it was more important to visit the areas devastated by Hurricane Michael on day one, so we came down here and made the announcement on the second day.“Another thing we thought really important was to install new leadership at the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and we put in a lot of good people there from Southwest Florida, like Chauncey Goss from Sanibel and the new Executive Director, Drew Bartlett, and I think that was the one thing that really changed that for the public, to have more confidence that they will deal

with the issue in a really good way, so we did that right off the bat and that was a good thing to do. “For water policies, we asked the Legislature to fund $2.5 billion over four years, and this was something Florida had not been willing to put up to that point, but my instinct was that this was something that needed to be tackled, as people were scared, especially the average Floridian, with all the stuff that was going on. This was a powerful issue that called for action, as water quality did not affect just one small aspect of the electorate, like the fishing or boating industry, so we had to act because we had a really broad base of support, and it was important that our citizens, when they would see their Legislators in the grocery store or Post Office, would tell them that this was a priority, to get this done. “We asked the Legislature to appropriate $625 million for Water Resources the first year and ended up getting around $680 million and that was never done before in the State of Florida so that was really big! Just because we were successful this year, though, does not mean it is a lock we will receive that support over the next few years, as this is a large amount of money, so let your Legislators know this is a priority to you so that we hit our target amount of money. You can have all the resources you need, like the Blue-Green Algae Task Force and the State’s first-ever Chief Science Officer, to name a few, but you need the funds to apply to those resources so they are effective, to tackle Red Tide and Blue-Green Algae through

institutions like Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) and the Mote Marine Laboratory, so I look forward to those recommendations. At FGCU, this is their bread-&-butter!”

CELEBRATE VICTORIES

“We recently attended a trade mission to Israel,” Governor DeSantis continued, “to get them involved in these kinds of partnerships and to even bid on some projects to clean water, so we reached halfway across the world on clean water, and that is significant. We are also working constructively with our own federal government to bring more resources to Florida and historically the federal government has not done the things that they agreed to for items like Everglades restoration, but now the Trump Administration agreed to fund $200 million for Everglades restoration. Another project Florida funded was $40 million to raise the Tamiami Trail to help water flow underneath it, but we needed the federal Government’s $60 million and we finally got the positive word that they will fully fund the Tamiami Trail project, so that is a very positive move. “The federal government also partnered with us through the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to take a new approach in how to manage water levels in Lake Okeechobee, to minimize the damage caused by discharges, as the old approach caused negative effects and algae blooms, so the new approach mitigated the damage as much as possible. This has all kinds of positive ramifications; l want to point

out that Standard & Poor’s provided Florida with a Triple A Credit Rating and one of their main reasons was because, in addition to our generally positive fiscal picture and health, one thing they specifically put in their report was that we are tackling our water issues and they view that as a fiscal and economic imperative, so that shows you how central clean water is for the State of Florida. “Thank you to everyone here for what you have done, and I will just say that in going forward, there is a lot of momentum to address these things. The next Legislative Session begins in January, so when you see your Legislators out in your community or you call their offices, tell them that we are moving in the right direction, as they really take those conversations into account, and ask your neighbors to do the same, as when they hear this, it means more than any initiative from an organized group, so keep talking to them and tell them how much you appreciate their work from the last session and you want to see that continue, to move forward, as most people agree we need this to continue. I am excited to be a part of the clean water movement and I look forward to continue to work with you on this issue and to celebrate some more victories!”

DEAD TURTLE IMPACT

Cindy McCurry-Ross, Regional Editor of USA Today Florida Network, and Rob Moher, President & CEO of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, provided opening remarks. “Clean water is a global concern and deserves action

Save Our Water 2019DeSantis Speaks to Full House, Cont’d from pg.1

Cont’d next pg.


and federal funding,” said McCurry-Ross. “I was in Italy last year when they showed heartbreaking photographs of all those sea turtles washing up dead and they asked if that was Florida and I had to say, ‘Yes.’” Moher added, “Pets and children and grandparents are all vulnerable, bringing a sense of urgency to our work. We have seen tremendous progress – just think where we were nine months ago! Governor DeSantis issued an ambitious Executive Order to get the State to take action so there is a silver lining to this crisis – it created a unique alignment of interests, so this is a historic moment for what our future will look like.” FGCU President Dr. Michael Martin and Dr. Greg Tolley, Executive Director of FGCU’s new

“Water School,” described the role education plays. “Good, bad or imperfect,” related Dr. Martin, “there are not many places on the planet where we can learn more from all these issues than Southwest Florida, so this is a unique place and what we learn and how to do it right will affect generations to come, not only here but around the world. The one issue that includes everyone is water!” Dr. Tolley added, “After last year’s Water Summit, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am still optimistic that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we don’t know how long that tunnel is or how long we still have yet to travel. Right now, we should focus on issues for which we can provide solutions, like what is coming into our estuaries and groundwater.”

SINGLE, NOT TRIPLE DIGITS

Prior to Governor DeSantis’ appearance, the main Guest Speaker was to be Noah Valenstein, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. “I have very clear memories of what we all witnessed here a year ago at this time. Jacki Liszak, Executive Director of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, took me on a tour and we stopped at a waterside restaurant. We were one of only two tables with customers, and you could see the pain on our waitress’s face when she told us that by this point in her shift, she should have triple figures in tips, and she was still in single digits! The change now is in how the state has now come together to address and handle water quality, and this jam-packed room is an example of that. I think we are in the next major environmental boom, maybe not yet in the entire United States, but certainly here in Florida.” Save Our Water 2019 featured presentations as well by Chris Pettit, Director of the Office of Agriculture & Consumer Services’ Office of Water Policy; Marisa Carrozzo of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida; and Rae Ann Wessel of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, along with four panel groups. The Legislative Policy Panel included Florida House of Representative Dane Eagle (R-77), Florida House Representative Robert Rommel (R-106), and Florida State Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R-28), along with Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director of Florida Conservation

Voters. The Public Health Panel featured Professor Barry Rosen of FGCU’s Water School, Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani and Howard Simon, formerly of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The Water Quality Projects Panel included Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Reynolds of the USACE, Governing Board Member Charlette Roman and Executive Director Drew Bartlett of the SFWMD and Tom Frick, Director of the Division of Environmental Assessment & Restoration. The Water Summit concluded with the Personal Advocacy Panel with Dr. Serge Thomas of FGCU; Trish Fancher, Executive Director of Keep Lee County Beautiful; John Lai, President & CEO of the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce and Captain Daniel Andrews, cofounder of Captains for Clean Water. “Find your tribe and work together to fix this,” advised Fancher, “rather than blaming each other; find your passion and dig in!” Lai stated, “Education is the key, so if you have the knowledge we need, get involved; if not, join an organization and learn. Find the 90% we all agree on and do not argue over the 10% we do not.” Captain Andrews concluded, “You all here today are already involved, so don’t preach to the choir! Rather, find ten more people who are not here and get them involved as well, and we will fix our water!”

Save Our Water 2019DeSantis Speaks to Full House, Cont’d from pg.12

The Legislative Policy Panel including from left, Aliki Moncrief, State Representa-tive Robert Rommel, State Representative Dane Eagle & State Senator Kathleen

Passidomo. PHOTOS BY GARY MOONEY.


LIBRARY TOURInterested in learning more about the Fort Myers Beach Library envi-ronmentally sensitive construction? Sign up for a Library Tour offered on MO Aug 26 at 10:30am. Meet Liz Rhodes in the foyer for the tour. Call 239-765-8162 by SA Aug 24 to register.

SWIM LESSONSSwim lessons at the Fort Myers Beach Community Pool are de-signed to teach participants lifelong swimming skills and provide train-ing in basic water safety and how to help a swimmer in a distress. Each skill level learns specific skills. Swim lessons are intended to provide a positive learning expe-rience so participants can enjoy the water safely. Fall swim lessons will be offered on WE from 2:30 – 3:30pm Aug 28 – Oct 9; or on Sunday from 11am-12:30pm Aug 25 – Oct 6. Call the pool for details

239-463-5759.The Beach Pool is open from 10am - 6pm every day until September. Fall hours begin September 1. Swim lesson rates are discounted due to the gener-ous contributions of the Fort Myers Beach Kiwanis Club and their “Ev-ery Child a Swimmer” program.

ART GALLERYThe Fort Myers Beach Art Associa-tion Gallery is located at the corner of Donora and Shell Mound. (3030 Shell Mound Blvd.) Hours are WE & TH 9am – noon. Free admission. 239-463-3909; www.fortmyers-beachart.com

YOUTH SOCCERIt’s Soccer Season and registration is still open on a few Beach Soccer teams! Girls born in 2010 & 2011 are needed for the U10 girls team, as well as boys & girls born 2014 & 2015 for the U6 co-ed team. Prac-tice is beginning this week, so sign up NOW at www.FMBSoccer.com. Registration $70. Coaches are also needed for some teams. If you can coach or assist, register at the above website. The younger teams practice at Bay Oaks with other teams practicing at the Kelly Road Soccer Complex. Teams typical-ly practice twice a week and have one game each week. For more information email [email protected]

FREE ALERTSLee County property owners can sign up for a new free service to alert them of potential property fraud. Announced this week by Lee Clerk of Court Linda Doggett, Prop-erty Fraud Alerts emails notifica-

tions to subscribers within 48 hours whenever a lien, deed, mortgage or land record with their name on it has been recorded in the clerk’s official records. Documents filed in court proceedings not included. Property owners in Lee County are encouraged to go to LeeClerk.org/propertyfraud and register their name & email address. Whenev-er a document is registered in Lee County with your name, you will be alerted by email with a link to view the document. Common names may receive alerts pertaining to others with the same name. Any-one who believes they have been a victim of property fraud should con-tact the Sheriff’s Office at 239-477-1000.

BAY OAKSNow that school has begun, the Bay Oaks After School program, Club Rec is in full swing. Club Rec is open school days from 2:15 – 6pm for children in grades K – 5. Cost per semester is $100/child for members or $135 /child for non-members. On days when school is out and it’s not a national holiday, Bay Oaks offers Fun Day from 7:30am – 6pm for ages 5 -13. Fee is $15/child. Call Bay Oaks for more information 239-765-4222.

GRUB CLUBBring your lunch and join the Grub Club at the picnic pavilion at Kore-shan State Park and learn about a naturalist topic from a Florida Mas-ter Naturalist. On WE Aug 28 from 12-1pm, the topic is Gopher Tor-toises, a fascinating ancient spe-cies. Fun to watch, but endangered. Learn about their behaviors, anato-

my and fun facts. Get a chance to hold the shells of tortoises that lived in Koreshan State Park. On WE Sept 18 from 12-1pm, learn about Butterflies. Learn the difference be-tween moths and butterflies, how butterflies develop, plants that sup-port butterflies, netting techniques, tagging & more. Programs are free with park entry. Entry is $5 per vehi-cle with 2-8 occupants; $4 for a sin-gle occupant vehicle and $2 for pe-destrians and bicyclists. For more information call 239-992-0311. Ko-reshan State Park is at 3800 Cork-screw Rd, Estero.

ART GALLERYThe Fort Myers Beach Art Associa-tion Gallery is located at the corner of Donora and Shell Mound. (3030 Shell Mound Blvd.) Hours are WE & TH 9am – noon. Free admission. 239-463-3909; www.fortmyersbeachart.com

WATER AEROBICSWater aerobics is one of the most energizing forms of aerobics and can be enjoyed by everyone. Whether you are looking to kick start your fitness journey, increase flexibility and joint mobility, lose weight or just have some fun, water aerobics is the exercise for you! Of-fered at Bay Oaks Pool every MO, WE & FR at 9am. Cost- BORC member $4- Non-member $6

COASTAL CLEANUPThe debris on our beaches and in our waterways is much more than a blemish on the environment, it is a public health threat and a serious danger to our ocean ecosystems. Keep Lee County Beautiful (KLCB)

A Publ ic at ion of FortMyersBe ach .ne ws

F R E E

A Daily Guide to Fun on the Beach

August


and the FMB Community Founda-tion invites everyone to help make a difference by participating in The International Coastal Cleanup on SA Sept 21 from 9am - noon. For Fort Myers Beach efforts, check in at FMB Elementary School, 2751 Oak St, FMB. Other local sites in-clude Bunche Beach, Lovers Key State Park Event Field and Wynd-ham Garden Hotel. Visit KLCB.org to register or for more information.

PUBLIC FORUM BOARDThe South Florida Water manage-ment District (SFWMD) is accept-ing applications from members of the public interested in serving on the newly created Water Resourc-es Accountability and Collabora-tion (WRAC) Public Forum group. The WRAC Public Forum will be an open form with designated repre-sentatives from stakeholder groups such as agriculture, business, en-vironmental groups, local govern-ments, water utilities and public interest groups. Periodic meetings will give a balanced representa-tion of the diverse perspectives and viewpoints on water resource issues. To learn more, visit bit.ly/SPwrac

BEACH LIBRARYThe Fort Myers Beach Library is a

great place to visit. Browse the li-brary’s many collections, use the computers, read newspapers, vis-it the Library Café, Friends Used Bookstore or the artwork on the 3rd floor, all in air-conditioned comfort! The Library is open MO-FR 9am-5pm and SA 9am-1pm. Closed La-bor Day, Sept. 2. 239-765-8162. Upcoming programs include:MO Aug 26: 10:30am – Library Tour, pre-registerWE Aug 28: 10:30am – Windows 10, pre-registerTH Aug 29: 2:30pm – Family Mati-nee, “Paddington 2.FR Aug 30: 10:30am – Memory Improvement, pre-register

MOUND HOUSEThe oldest standing structure on Fort Myers Beach with a histori-cal museum inside and beautiful grounds outside including an ob-servation pier, kayak launch and amazing back bay views. Grounds open sunrise to sunset. Museum is open TU, WE & SA 9am-4pm. Located at 451 Connecticut St. with overflow parking at 216 Con-necticut. Call for exact times on kayak tours, costs, reservations and additional information. 239-765-0865. Save 20% on kayak tours for a limited time when you use the code SUMMER20 during

online registration; 50% off Muse-um admission when you mention MOUNDHOUSE2019. Upcoming programs include:SA Aug 24: 8am-Mangroves by Kayak Tour; 10am – Family Ad-ventures; 11am & 2pm - Shell Mound Tour; 1pm – Guided Mu-seum TourTU Aug 27: 9am-Beach Walk at Newton Park (beach conditions permitting); 1pm-Shell Mound Tour; 2pm-Guided Museum TourWE Aug 28: 8am-Mangroves by Kayak Tour; 1pm-Shell Mound Tour; 2pm-Guided Museum TourFR Aug 30: 8am-Family Fun Kayak Tour (Museum closed)SA Aug 31: 8am-Mangroves by Kayak Tour; 10am-Cool Calusa Tools; 11am & 2pm –Shell Mound Tour; 1pm-Guided Museum Tour

ISLAND HOPPERThe 6th annual Island Hopper Songwriters Fest has announced that Rodney Atkins will perform in a ticketed event on the final night of the festival, SU, Sept 29 at Pink Shell Resort on Fort My-ers Beach. The Island Hopper is a 10-day festival that kicks off on Captiva Island Sept. 20 - 22, then moves to downtown Fort Myers Sept 23 - 26 and wraps up on Fort Myers Beach Sept 27 - 29. The fest provides a unique experi-ence to interact with songwriters. More than 70 singer-songwrit-ers will perform more than 100 shows, the vast majority of which are free. For more information, a complete schedule and tickets for ticketed events, download the Is-land Hopper app for iOS and An-droid from your app source.

FORT MYERS BEACHNESTS................... 112*FALSE CRAWLS... 119HATCHED............. 67

BONITA SPRINGSNESTS.................. 238*FALSE CRAWLS.. 378HATCHED ............. 146 *record

www.turtletime.org

TURTLE LIGHTSAnyone with property near or on the beach should replace all exterior light bulbs with amber LED light bulbs to comply with state and local laws de-signed to protect nesting sea turtles. They must be LED bulbs. Amber LED lightbulbs can be purchased at Town Hall for $8.50 each during of-fice hours: 8:30am – 4:30pm. Wildlife friendly lighting is also available from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commis-sion at myFWC.com.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT MEETINGS Wednesday, 8/28 6:00pm Fire Board

All meetings take place in Town Hall, 2525 Estero Blvd, Fort Myers Beach unless otherwise noted. Meetings are subject to change


WHAT IS COMMUNITY COMICSEach week I draw a cartoon and put it up on my FB page (Mark List) on Saturday morning, and ask all my FB

friends to contribute captions for the cartoon. I also ask that everyone vote for the ones they think are the funniest. The ones with the most Likes by Monday or Tuesday get printed in the funnies pages that week. We

do it simply for the fun of it.

Businesses Worried About

Off-Season Blues?

Plan ahead! Let us help boost customer traffic & sales!Families are booked for vacations here May through August. Locals come out with reduced traffic!They need to know what you offer! Three Affordable Options:1. Deals on 1/16 and 1/8 page newspaper ads! 2. SAND LIFE Magazine - one ad, goes all month long!3. $100 Digital Ad gets 75,000-100,000 impressions.

More info? Call 239-463-4461

or email [email protected]

Reliably Serving Fort Myers Beach since 2001

“MC’s uncontrollable anger continues to this day from his sis-ter playing that stupid Trini Lopez song over and over and over

during his childhood.” Eric M. Huntsman

“Job description of code enforcement officer, Town of Fort Myers Beach.” Keri Hendry Weeg

“Ice fishing since global warming.” Bill Rountree

“Famous underground actor Nick Molte fell for it when his bud-dies said “Let’s go out and get hammered!” Kevin Kenworthy

“When the Moon’s in the sky like a big pizza pie, THAT’ A MORAY!” Terrance Terry Stewart

“Pardon me...do you have any Grey Poupon?...”Greg Parke


BEACH BUSINESSES

DiamondHead Resort and they are working with the Town to locate port-a-potties at beach accesses. Town Manager Roger Hernstadt quickly interjected, “The Town did not offer beach accesses for port-a-potties, unless directed by Town Council, for the people adjacent to those will have strong feelings about that!” Vice Mayor Ray Murphy suggested, “Island businesses should be accommodating, as they will all benefit. You would think they would want to contribute, but perhaps we should remind them.” Shamp offered, “This needs to be a cooperative effort – you must work with businesses, restaurants and hotel owners, together as a group, to figure out who will do what. Perhaps there are Tourism Development Council funds to pay for toilets and garbage pickup, as this will draw a lot of ‘heads to beds!’” “Not at this point,” explained Cereceda: “It is too late.” Hosafros related, “You have a list of committees; perhaps volunteers can pick up litter from the beach.” Cereceda suggested Council “table this until our next meeting on September 9. I do not want to jeopardize this in any way, however I cannot support waiving the fees.” Shamp added, “You have five people on this Council who support this event, and who can’t wait for it to be a success so it can come back next year to Fort Myers Beach!” “And it will be,” added Hosafros! Council then unanimously tabled the Roar Offshore Special Events Permit until its September 9 Meeting at 9 a.m.

SEEMS ODD

In other “Administrative Agenda” items, Council unanimously approved $189,277 including $22,777 in carryover

funds to Infinite Construction LLC for Estero Boulevard Sidewalk improvements and replacement from the Lani Kai Island Resort to Times Square; and provided unanimous approval for the Town Manager to negotiate a contract with Redevelopment Management Associates (RMA) for Branding Services for the Town, though Council member Bruce Butcher was “disappointed they are not here today to provide a presentation,” with Hosafros adding, “no one showed up to get the job and communicate with us for the first time – this seems odd to me!” “I am disappointed in that myself,” said Cereceda. “I agree with Rexann that our first meeting should have been face-to-face, but my research indicates they are top-notch.” The Town Manager will schedule a Special September Council Meeting with RMA to initiate the Branding process.

STREET PERFORMERS; POOLS

Council unanimously approved five Public Hearings. During the Final Hearing for Street Performers, Council limited Times Square Street Performer Permits to 12, available annually each September 1, on a first-come; first-serve basis, but will ban Street Performers from selling any merchandise; accepting only donations. Council provided a one-year exemption for the three Street Performers who currently sell items, with total elimination effective in 2020. Council then approved the Final Hearing for Mound House Rezoning. Under the hearing for the Schroeder Roof-Over-Deck Variance, most Council members expressed personal sympathy for the property owner, but unanimously denied the Variance

because they could not find a legal criteria to approve it, meaning the property owner must remove the roof over his dock deck. Council moved the First Public Hearings for Elevated Swimming Pools and Credit Card Skimmers to their Final Hearings on September 23 at 9 a.m. During Advisory Committee Reports, Council heard from Dan Allers from the Bay Oaks Recreational Center Advisory Board (BORCAB); and Bill Veach, who Chairs both the Cultural Resources Advisory Board (CRAB) and Marine Resources Task Force (MRTF).

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY!

Council began the meeting

by presenting a Proclamation, Key to The City and Commemorative Poem from Joanne Shamp to beloved community volunteer Ceel Spuhler for her 90th Birthday on August 25. Ceel said, “To receive the Key to this Town that I love so much means so much to me, so I thank you heartily for your thoughtfulness!” Cereceda replied, “You mean a lot to us, Ceel, and to this Town!” The Meeting adjourned at 1:08 p.m.; the next Management & Planning Session is Thursday, September 5; & the next Council Meeting is Monday, September 9, both at 9 a.m. Its First Fiscal Year 2019-20 Budget Hearing is Monday, September 9, at 5:01 p.m.

Roar Offshore Permit TabledTrash & Toilet Plans Vex Council, Cont’d from pg.10


For all tides go to www.saltwatertides.com

Tides • Matanzas Pass • Ft. Myers BeachDay High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon /Low Time Feet Sunset Visible F 23 High 6:05 AM 2.9 7:04 AM Rise 12:26 AM 58 23 Low 1:26 PM 0.7 7:57 PM Set 1:57 PM 23 High 8:31 PM 2.0

Sa 24 Low 12:01 AM 1.7 7:04 AM Rise 1:08 AM 48 24 High 6:57 AM 2.9 7:56 PM Set 2:56 PM 24 Low 2:48 PM 0.6 24 High 10:44 PM 2.0

Su 25 Low 12:52 AM 1.8 7:05 AM Rise 1:55 AM 38 25 High 8:01 AM 3.0 7:55 PM Set 3:56 PM 25 Low 4:03 PM 0.4

M 26 High 12:15 AM 2.1 7:05 AM Rise 2:49 AM 27 26 Low 2:06 AM 2.0 7:54 PM Set 4:56 PM 26 High 9:12 AM 3.2 26 Low 5:06 PM 0.1

Tu 27 High 1:02 AM 2.1 7:05 AM Rise 3:49 AM 18 27 Low 3:25 AM 2.0 7:53 PM Set 5:54 PM 27 High 10:21 AM 3.3 27 Low 5:59 PM 0.0

W 28 High 1:34 AM 2.1 7:06 AM Rise 4:54 AM 10 28 Low 4:32 AM 1.8 7:52 PM Set 6:48 PM 28 High 11:24 AM 3.5 28 Low 6:46 PM -0.1

Th 29 High 1:59 AM 2.1 7:06 AM Rise 6:02 AM 4 29 Low 5:30 AM 1.7 7:51 PM Set 7:39 PM 29 High 12:22 PM 3.7 29 Low 7:29 PM 0.0

F 30 High 2:21 AM 2.2 7:07 AM Rise 7:11 AM 0 30 Low 6:25 AM 1.5 7:50 PM Set 8:25 PM 30 High 1:16 PM 3.7 30 Low 8:07 PM 0.1

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MOBILE HOME FOR SALE

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What does Bay Oaks Rec-reation Center (BORC) have to of-fer Island residents? Even during the sleepy summer months, there is plenty happening at the recreational campus on Oak Street, just one block bayside of Estero Boulevard near the Beach School and Beach Library, in the Heart of the Island! Let’s start with the fact that if you are a Fort Myers Beach resident, Bay Oaks membership is free. While

some programs require a fee, mem-bers pay less. Bay Oaks Recreation Center is a town-owned facility managed by the Parks & Recreation Department that includes a gym, weight room, meeting room, 4 tennis courts, two baseball/softball fields, Disc Golf course, a play-ground and also a natural area. BORC offers programming for all ages. Heard about the paddle game with the silly name, pickleball? Want to try it out? Every Thursday and Sat-urday from 10:30am – 1:30pm, Bay Oaks hosts pickleball and it’s open to the public! Fall is a great time for begin-ners! Cost is just $2 for BORC mem-bers; $6 for non-members. Adult open volleyball is offered

in the gym every Tuesday night at 6:30pm. Everyone is welcome. Co-ed adult softball play be-gins September 8. Get your team to-gether and sign up by calling BORC at 239-765-4222. If you’re looking for an in-door, air-conditioned activity and en-joy playing games, drop by Game Day at BORC on Mondays or Fridays from 10:30am – 1:30pm. Card games, dominoes or Mahjong are all played at this Bay Oaks Social Seniors (BOSS) sponsored activity. There’s no mini-mum age and you don’t have to be a member of BOSS or BORC to play. All are welcome! Free for BOSS mem-bers; $4 for non-members. For more information call Bay Oaks at 239-765-

4222. Families can take advantage of Club Rec, an After School program offered every school day, or Fun Days, when school is out. The Fort Myers Beach Com-munity Pool is on the BORC campus but requires a separate membership/entrance fees. Open year-round, the Pool offers water exercise classes, lap lanes and a kiddie pool. Pool hours through August are 10am - 6pm daily. Beginning Sept. 1, hours will be 10am – 4pm daily, with the pool closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information on the pool, call 239-463-5759.

Let’s Play!Bay Oaks Recreation Center


PUZZLE ANSWERS


RELAXATIONINGRELAXATIONING

(to relax while on vacation)

Enjoy Relaxationing

Waterfront Views

Scrumptious Food,

Fine Spirits, and

Superb Service!

ENJOY OUR COOL INDOOR DINING OR OUTSIDE WATERFRONT SEATING.

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Open Daily 12-10pm

Grouper GrappleMilitary Veterans Honored

Brian Peachy, front left and event organizer, stands with military veterans honored at recent 7th Annual Grouper Grapple Fishing Tourna-ment hosted by Fish Tale Marina on Fort Myers Beach. The event local-ly organized by Peachy, partnered with the Reunite the Fight non-profit organization to sponsor a group of veterans to experience freedom on the water with an amazing Estero Bay fishing excursion, including travel costs and accommodations on Fort Myers Beach. Fifteen teams entered the event this year. 100% of entry fees are returned to the winning teams. The event also supports two student scholarships in honor of former Es-tero High School coach, Jeff Sommer, who passed away in 2015. Led by Sommer’s son Adam and wife Sue, scholarship recipients are select-ed based on the character and perseverance demonstrated by Coach Sommer. This year a Kids Fishing Derby was a part of the event. Event volunteer Sean Simmons participated in the first event as an invited vet-eran, and has volunteered to assist in the event since. The former Marine Sergeant felt the event 7 years ago was a big step in his recovery from PTSD, by leading him to reconnect with the outdoors and its peace and tranquility. “Everyone participating here leaves happy for the opportunity to share the fishing and fellowship with other veterans that the event pro-vides,” Simmons added.

The top three teams in the 7th Annual Grouper Grapple were: 1st Place – Snake in the Grass; 2nd Place - Reel Easy and 3rd Place – Savage.

Catch of the Day Gail took this photo of Angelo with his big catch and wanted to share it with our readers! The little mangrove snapper was released to grow into a big fish for another day.


CLUB FRIDAY 8/23 SATURDAY 8/24 SUNDAY 8/25 MONDAY 8/26 TUESDAY 8/27 WEDNESDAY 8/28 THURSDAY 8/29 COTTAGEGulfshore Grill

765-5440STEVE FARST

9PM-1AMNEW VINYLS

9PM-1AMTROUBLEMAKERS

8-12PMFADED ROOTS

8-12PMTHE WILDINGS

8-12pmSTEVE FARST

8-12pmNEW VINYLS

8-12pm

DIXIE FISH CO.Fisherman’s Wharf

233-8837MARK WESLEY

5:30-8:30PMSOME LITTLE FISH

5:30-8:30PMGIRL MEETS BOY

4PMTEQUILA TOM5:30-8:30PM

JEFF LYONS5:30-8:30PM

BOBBY BLAKEY5:30-8:30PM

DOC FORDS708 Fishermans Whf.

765-9660GIRL MEETS BOY

6:30-9:30PMSTEVE McDOUGALL

6:30-9:30PM3 CROOKED STEPS

1-4PMGIRL MEETS BOY

6:30-9:30PMKAPO KINGS6:30-9:30PM

MATANZAS on the BAY414 Crescent463-3838

DANIEL D 5-9PM

SCOTTY BRYAN 12-4PM

MARY WINNER 5-9PMMARK DUKE 12-4PM

SAILOR LARRY 5-9PMSCOTT BRYAN

5-9PMSAILOR LARRY

5-9PMPETE BEARD

5-9PMMARY WINNER

5-9PM

NAUTI PARROT19001 SAN CARLOS BLVD

314-5667BUBBA DUO

6-10PMCLIVE LIVE 1-5PMTJ & TIM 5:30PM

ADAM MAC 1-5PMJPH 6-9

COLLABORATION BAND7-11PM

SHERRIN McCUNE 5-5PM

JAMES PRATHER5:30PM

KENNY GIORDANO5:30-9:30PM

NERVOUS NELLIES1131 FIRST STREET

463-8077BILL ZINK

6-10PMSHAWN RUSSELL

6-10PMJEFF WHIDBY

6-10PMJOE JOHNSON

6-10PMBILL ZINK

6-10PMMEGHAN ROSE

6-10PMSHERRIN McCUNE

6-10PM

OUTRIGGER6200 Estero Blvd

463-3131ALAN SMALL

5-8MEAGAN ROSE &

SMOKIN’ BILL 2-5PMPRINCESS &SMALLTOWN

2-5PMJENNY VE

5-8PMMEAGAN ROSE

5-8PMENDRE D

5-8PMNICOLE D’ANDREA

5-8PM

PETE’S TIME OUTTime Square463-5900

AARON SEYFFERTH6-10PM

JAMES GRAGG 6-10PM

AARON SEYFERTH6-10PM

DAVE COLLATON6-10PM

JAMES GRAGG 6-10PM

PIERSIDE BY TOWN PIER

765-7800SHERRIN 1-5

JEFF WHIDBY 6-10FRANK THOMPSON

1-5 6-10FRANK THOMPSON 1-5

SHERRIN 6-10ANTHONY WAYNE 1-5

SHERRIN 6-10 BILL ZINK 1-5

JEFF WHIDBY 6-10BILL ZINK 1-5

MARY WINNER 6-10PMBILL ZINK 1-5PM

ANTHONY WAYNE 6-10PM

SALTY CRAB1154 Estero Blvd

233-8224CLOSED FOR

RENOVATIONSCLOSED FOR






RENOVATIONS

SOBsOld San Carlos Blvd

463-3474ANTHONY WAYNE

6-10PMWILL KAISER

6-10LEE HAGAN

6-10PMWILL KAISER

6-10ANTHONY WAYNE

6-10FRANK THOMPSON

6-10SHAWN RUSSELL

6-10

SUNSET BEACHTimes Square463-1028

BARRY LAWRENCE8:00PM

JENNY VE 1-4PMCLIVE LIVE 8:30PM

BARRY LAWRENCE 1-4:30PM

CLIVE LIVE 7:30-10:30PM

JPH MUSIC8:00PM

WHALE1249 Estero Blvd

463-5505PAPER THIN

9-12PMTROUBLEMAKERS

9-12PMRADIO GHOST

9-12PMKARAOKE WITH

BRENDA6-9PM

SAM DeARMOND6P-9PM

ROGER YOUNG6-9PM

TYLER KLUESNER6-9PM

WHO’S PLAYING WHEREON AND AROUND THE BEACH

Who’s Playing Where Page is a free service for current Island Sand Paper Advertisers. ALL LISTINGS ARE SUPPLIED BY THE ADVERTISERS. ALL LISTINGS FOR THE MONTH ARE DUE ON THE 15TH OF THE PREVIOUS MONTH TO BE INCLUDED IN THE WHO’S PLAYING WHERE. To qualify for listing, venue must have live music scheduled regularly

on multiple days per week. CONTACT SANDY AT 463-4461 TO DISCUSS ADVERTISING OPTIONS!


Ginger LimeShrimp

Live Music • Waterfront Seating • Island Mojitos

www.DocFords.com708 Fisherman’s Wharf • 239.765.9660

Award WinningFlavors From The

Caribbean Rim!

1249 Estero Blvd. • 239-463-5505 • www.thewhalefmb.com

Lee County’s Newest

Waterfront Restaurant& Fish House!

www.dixiefishfmb.com714 Fishermans Wharf • 239.233.8837

Retail Fish Market AvailableLocal Gulf Shrimp & Great Views

The Best Happy Houron the Beach!

Mon - Fri 2-5pm

Use a rideshare to get to The Whale, we’ll give you a FREE “Whale-A-Rita”!With purchase of food.

Live Music is Back Every Friday, Saturday, & Sunday! 9pm - Midnight!