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FREE Take Me Read Us Online at Home IslandSunNews.com VOL. 15, NO. 4 From the Beaches to the River District downtown Fort Myers JANUARY 29, 2016 Fort Myers Beach Lions Club Shrimp Eating Contest Set For March 13 Three Bands To John Stey & Company Play Bluegrass At The Alliance almgrass presents three hours of live bluegrass in the theater at the PAlliance for the Arts on Sunday, February 7 beginning at 2 p.m. The concert features John Stey & Company, Captain Joe & the Bottom Feeders and Swinging Bridge. Tickets are $8 at the door, $6 for alli- ance members. Seating is open and first Trophy winners from last year’s Fort Myers Beach Lions Shrimp Festival come, first served. Children 12 and under are admitted free if accompanied by an adult. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. he success last year of the Fort Myers Beach Lions Shrimp Festival World The Sunday afternoon concert series Shrimp Eating Championship means the “big eaters” will be part of the festival continues monthly throughout the season. Tagain this year. The shrimp eating championship will be held on Sunday, March Visit ArtInLee.org or call 939-2787 for 13 at 1 p.m. at the festival grounds at Lynn Hall Park. more information. To learn more visit www. It will feature 10 sponsored contestants competing to eat as much cooked and peeled Palmgrass.org. Fort Myers Beach pink shrimp as they can within five minutes. Contestants will be aided The Alliance campus and galleries are by assistants, who will distribute the shrimp in pre-weighed portions. Judges will watch open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. over the contest to ensure fair play. continued on page 4 Captain Joe & the Bottom Feeders continued on page 6 Shell Point Upcoming Concerts Offer Memorable Musical Entertainment Southwest Florida Symphony and Maestro Nir Kabaretti photos courtesy of Shell Point Retirement Community Spend A Night at the Oscars with the Hollywood Concert Orchestra at Shell Point hell Point Retirement Community invites Southwest Florida music lovers to Retirement Community on February 9 at 7:30 p.m. three entertaining professional performances in February. Shell Point’s Fine and Performing Arts Series puts the Hollywood Concert Orchestra S On Thursday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m., Shell Point partners with the Southwest on center stage at The Village Church on Tuesday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m. Attendees Florida Symphony and Maestro Nir Kabaretti to present Symphonic Folklore: an eve- will hear special musical arrangements of current and classic movie, television and ning of symphonic storytelling with featured performances of Mendelssohn’s Italian Broadway favorites during this renowned international program, A Night at The Oscars. Symphony, De Falla’s El Amor Brujo and Copland’s Old American Songs. Tickets Tickets cost $35 and may be purchased at www.shellpoint.org/concerts or by calling cost $25 and may be purchased by calling the box office at 454-2067 or visiting www. the box office at 454-2067. shellpoint.org/concerts. continued on page 4 2 THE RIVER - JANUARY 29, 2016 Historic Downtown Fort Myers, Then And Now: Legion Ceremony On Courthouse Corner by Gerri Reaves, PhD his circa-1960 photo captures a proud moment on the grounds of the Lee County Courthouse near the Main and TBroadway corner. The five smartly dressed men posing for the photo are unidentified, but they are members of American Legion Rabe O. Wilkison Post 38. The occasion is also unknown, but given the crisp uniforms and the microphone set up (left), it might have been an awards ceremony, a veteran-related holiday event or a monument dedi- cation. While formal ceremonies like the one pictured are still com- monly held at the courthouse, the scene captured in the background across Main Street shows that although some parts of the downtown landscape remain basically the same, other parts change altogether. Prominent in the background is the L-shaped Colquitt Building, rounding the north- west corner at Main and Broadway and looking much as it did almost six decades ago. Henry Colquitt, a real estate developer from Detroit, opened that Mediterranean- The 1926 Colquitt Building looks much the same, but Hotel Indigo is located in the former Revival style building with Spanish Mission touches in 1926 and established his real Goodyear spot photo by Gerri Reaves estate office in the space fronting Main Street. When the café closed its doors in April 1962, it had the distinctions of being the When the historic photo was taken, the Fort Myers Restaurant was located in the oldest restaurant in the city and the longest residing tenant in the Colquitt Building. prime corner space. Note the large sign hanging from the bell tower. Over the last 90 years, the building has housed a wide variety of businesses and George Symeon and his brother had opened the eatery in January 1926 soon after today is hotel office space. the building was constructed. In 1929, Angelos Vasiloff bought half interest in it. But the scene mid-block and across from the courthouse steps has changed entirely since the legionnaires posed for the camera. The Goodyear store and parking lot (left background) have vanished from the spot and Hotel Indigo has replaced them. That property has a long history as a hotel location, so Goodyear’s relatively short time on the spot was an exception to the rule. The Hammon Hotel was located there in the first decade of the twentieth century. It became Hotel Kenmore and was expanded in 1917, but by the end of World War II had closed. Then came the Goodyear auto-service business, followed by a period of vacancy. In 2009, another hotel, Hotel Indigo, rose on the spot. Walk down to Main and Broadway and survey what’s changed and what hasn’t since legionnaires dressed in their uniforms and posed for a photo. While you’re there, look at the monument that Post 38 first dedicated in 1922 to honor Lee County veter- ans of World War I. Then, walk a few blocks to the Southwest Florida Museum of History at 2031 Jack- son Street, where you’ll learn about more ceremonies held at the historic Lee County Courthouse over the last century. For information, call 321-7430 or go to swflmuseumofhistory.com. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Then continue south on McGregor Boulevard to the Southwest Florida Historical Society’s research center, where you can find out more about the many veterans who served the community after military service. The all-volunteer non-profit organization is at 10091 McGregor Boulevard on the campus of the Lee County Alliance for the Arts. The center is open Wednesday and Saturday between 9 a.m. and noon and Circa 1960, these unidentified members of American Legion Post 38 participated in an event Wednesday 4 to 7 p.m. Call 939-4044 or visit swflhistoricalsociety.org for more infor- held on the grounds of the Lee County Courthouse. In the right background is the Colquitt Building on the corner of Main and Broadway. The Goodyear store and parking lot are on mation. the left. photo courtesy American Legion Post 38 Sources: The Archives of the Southwest Florida Historical Society. Read Us Online: www.IslandSunNews.com Contributing Writers Click on The River Jennifer Basey Marion Hauser, MS, RD Advertising Sales Graphic Arts/Production Photographer Kimberley Berisford Ross Hauser, MD Isabel Rasi Ann Ziehl Michael Heider Suzy Cohen Audrey Krienen Bob Petcher Kristy See Ed Frank Capt. Matt Mitchell Writers Co-Publishers Rachel Atkins Jim George Patricia Molloy Gerri Reaves, Ph D Lorin Arundel Office Coordinator Shelley Greggs Di Saggau Anne Mitchell and Ken Rasi Patricia Molloy Tom Hall Cynthia A. Williams Jeff Lysiak The River Weekly News will correct factual errors or matters of emphasis and interpretation that appear in news stories. Readers with news, tips, comments or questions, please call (239) 415-7732 or write to: The River Weekly News, 1609 Hendry Street, Suite 15, Fort Myers, FL 33901. Fax number: (239) 415-7702. E-mail: [email protected]. The River Weekly News reserves the right to refuse, alter or edit any editorial or advertisement. PRINTED ON RECYCLED Independently Owned And Operated • COPYRIGHT 2016 The River Weekly News • LORKEN Publications, Inc. PAPER THE RIVER - JANUARY 29, 2016 3 Fort Myers Art: • Jayne Baker (jeweler); • Mila Bridger (photographer); Artists’ Studio • Aida Bukovica (interior design consultant); Tour Returns • Carolyn Gora (fiber/mixed media); • Tony Myles (photographer); To The Alliance • Eric Riemenschneider (painter); by Tom Hall • Ava Roeder (fiber/mixed media); and • Dale Weber (mixed media artist). pend the day On-site studio artists include David exploring art- Acevedo, Paul Rodino, Xavier Brignoni, Sists’ studios on Jeffrey Scott Lewis, Mark Holman, Nick February 27 during Orlando and Diana Ripoll (all part of the Alliance for the Union Artist Studios), Veron Ennis at Arts’ 5th annual VEMA, and Patrick Conolly and Barbara Artists’ Studio Tour. Piontek at Studio 204. The day-long event The studios of each of the off-site allows art lovers participants are located within a two mile- to spend time with radius of the alliance. local artists in their Don’t miss this unique opportunity studios and homes. It’s one thing to see to watch local artists work in their own art in an exhibit, or even talk to an artist spaces and discuss their creative pro- about their work, but it’s an entirely dif- cesses. Tickets are $25 for alliance mem- ferent experience to step into an artist’s bers and $35 for non-members and are world.

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