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Read Us Online FREE at Take Me IslandSunNews.com Home VOL. 9, NO. 6 From the Beaches to the River District downtown Fort Myers FEBRUARY 5, 2010 Antique Car Show At Estates Glorious! Debuts In Fort Myers heatre Conspiracy will open the hilarious and musically tone Tdeaf comedy Glorious! (The true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst singer in the world) at the Foulds Theatre on February 5 at 8 p.m. Directed by Bill Taylor and writ- ten by Peter Quilter, Glorious! is about an unlikely and ill-fitting diva, set in the America of the 1940s. This Southwest Florida premiere is a heart warming new comedy that highlights the improbable but true story of a phenomenally talentless eccentric. Jenkins (1868 –1944) was an American soprano and socialite who became famous for her complete lack of rhythm, pitch, tone, and overall singing ability. Despite her lack of ability, Jenkins was firmly convinced of her greatness. She Antique Car Show 2009 became tremendously popular and was the toast of New York in the 1940s. he Edison & Ford Winter Estates continue the celebration of Thomas Edison’s Her credo was, “People may say that birthday by hosting the Antique Car Show on Saturday, February 6 from 10 continued on page 9 Florence Foster Jenkins Ta.m. to 2 p.m. The show is included in the price of admission to the estates, or a separate ticket for $5 may be purchased to attend the car show that is staged at Henry Ford’s Winter Estate, The Mangoes. Estates members are admitted free. Leading Researcher Gives Optimistic Nearly 100 antique cars will be on exhibit from local car clubs and other classic car owners who will showcase their cars on the Ford lawn in a fitting tribute to the legacy Update On Kanzius Cancer Project, of Henry Ford, pioneer of the automobile industry and a winter resident of Fort Myers. Owners will be on hand to visit with guests and answer questions. Appeals For Continued Funding In addition to the car show, other programs during the day include: Introduction by Jim George • Model T tour and lecture with estates staff and car owners at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. continued on page 7 n an exclusive update to the The River Weekly, Dr. Steven Curley, chief research scientist for the John Kanzius cancer research proj- Iect at the MD Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston, has provided the details of the status of the project in order that local Mrs. Edison’s residents see the progress that has been made. The River Weekly has provided continuous coverage of the project over the past five years Hymn Sing To which has generated significant interest in the technology. Many local residents have financially supported the research. Help The Hungry Kanzius, who died in February 2009, developed a radio wave device that destroys cancer tumors by heating gold nanoparticles embedded rs. Edison’s Hymn Sing on inside them. The device works on the principal that while radio waves Tuesday, February 9 at the pass harmlessly through the body, they “cook” any metals in their path. MFirst Presbyterian Church in The key advantage of the system compared to treatments such as che- downtown Fort Myers will celebrate the motherapy is that it can “precisely target” gold nanoparticles placed Edison Festival of Light and help feed inside the cancerous cells, so the tumor is destroyed while healthy tissue the hungry. The church is at the corner is left unharmed. of Second and Lee streets. Admission is free but cash donations and canned goods will be accepted for The Soup Kitchen, by Steven A. Curley, MD, FACS Professor of Surgery; operated by Community Cooperative Chief, Gastrointestinal Tumor Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Research Center Ministries, Inc. e currently have a laboratory group consisting of 13 people. This will It’s the 21st year of the hymn sing, increase with the addition of another two post-docs who will be joining the which is organized and sponsored by the Wlab over the next three to four months, as well as the addition of another Galloway Family of Dealerships.Three per- PhD with expertise in molecular biology and cancer cell targeting. I am also work- formances are planned at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. ing to recruit a full-time PhD to replace Dr. Cherukuri and we will be interviewing and 7 p.m. The doors will open 30 min- some excellent candidates with expertise in bioengineering, chemistry, and nano- utes prior to each performance. First Presbyterian Church stained glass particle generation over the next two months. I hope to have somebody in place for “Ladies and gentlemen, we desperately this position by summer of 2010. need your help. The need for food is abso- The laboratory is almost completely self-sufficient at this point. We purchased a new lutely critical this year and seems to be ongoing for the near future. Love your fellow dynamic light scattering (DLS) unit which allows us to measure accurately the size and neighbor. Attempt to do what God would do and want you to do. Show me a man charge of nanoparticles. This includes nanoparticles alone or nanoparticles that are continued on page 7 continued on page 25 2 THERIVER FEBRUARY 5, 2010 Historic Downtown Fort Myers, Then And Now: Oak Trees, A Church, And A School by Gerri Reaves oday, Second Street and Royal Palm Avenue is one of the prettiest and most soothing of downtown intersec- Ttions, thanks to the towering oak trees. Those remaining historic trees along Second witnessed the great changes that have come to the intersection over the last century. They’ve seen the demise of all the buildings that appear in this undated photo, and they have seen new buildings replace the old. Was the oak tree in the historic photo a younger version of the one that welcomes churchgoers at the First Presbyterian Church today? What could be more conducive to spiritual and contemplative state of mind than the sight of those trees as one walks up the church steps? The three-story brick building in left of the historic photo opened in 1914 as the “new” Gwynne High School to accommodate the overflow of students from the near- by Gwynne Institute. Its short life as a high school ended less than a decade later, when the yellow brick A veritable cathedral of oaks distinguishes the front of the church on Second Street Lee County High School (also known as Fort Myers High School) was built farther today. This church was built in the late 1950s. The southeast corner (left) where the brick south at Thompson Street and Royal Palm. Gwynne School once stood is now a parking lot. photo by Gerri Reaves The school on the corner subsequently served as a junior-high and then a middle school. Later renamed the Crescent Building, it was demolished in 1976. Today the site is a parking lot. Across Royal Palm Avenue from the school is the first permanent home of the First Presbyterian Church, on the southwest corner. That somewhat diminutive church is visible just left of the oak tree. Although the institution had formally organized in 1901, it wasn’t until 1911 that it bought its first sanctuary, Fort Myers’ most historic church building, the former First Methodist Church, built circa 1882. By the time the Presbyterians purchased their new home from Carl F. Roberts in 1911, the small sanctuary had been dismantled and relocated to a spot near this inter- section in 1904 by its second owners, a band of Holiness worshippers. As part of the business deal, Roberts moved the building to the corner of Royal Palm and Second, as seen in the historic photo. The intersection was very much in flux at that time, for he was in the process of developing and opening Royal Palm Avenue. That historic church, as well as the two-story frame manse next door to it (right center), was demolished in the late 1950s, to clear the way for the First Presbyterian Church that exists today. Walk down to Second and Royal Palm, where students once went to school and churchgoers worshipped in their very own “new” third-hand church. Then visit the Southwest Florida Museum of History at 2031 Jackson Street, where you can see the exhibit Tutankhamun: Wonderful Things from the Pharaoh’s Tomb. Ask about volunteer opportunities and check out the schedule of escorted day trips. For information, call 321-7430 or go to swflmuseumofhistory.com. The museum’s hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. When this undated photo was taken, only young trees lined the south side of the inter- Continue your historical research at the Southwest Florida Historical Society at section at Second Street and Royal Palm Avenue. Left to right are the 1914 Gwynne High 10091 McGregor Boulevard, where you can explore family and local history and buy School (later a junior-high and middle school and eventually renamed the Crescent tickets for the February 15 Annual Cracker Dinner. Building), the first permanent home of the First Presbyterian Church, and the church Call 939-4044 or drop by on Wednesday or Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon. manse. Sources: The Story of Fort Myers by Karl H. Grismer, fmh.leeschools.net, and the photo courtesy of the Southwest Florida Historical Society archives of the Southwest Florida Historical Society. Read Us Online: www.IslandSunNews.com Contributing Writers Click on The River Jennifer Basey Heights Elementary Advertising Sales Production Manager Photographer Kimberley Berisford Joan Hooper Isabel Heider Thies Stephanie See Michael Heider Suzy Cohen Brian Johnson Ed Ibarra Jenny Evans Audrey Krienen Graphic Arts/Production Writers Ed Frank Scott Martell Co-Publishers Terri Blackmore Ann Ziehl Gerri Reaves, Ph D Max Friedersdorf Di Saggau Lorin Arundel Office Coordinator Katherine Mouyos Anne Mitchell Priscilla Friedersdorf Capt.

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