FREE Take Me Read Us Online at Home IslandSunNews.com VOL. 11, NO. 5 From the Beaches to the River District downtown Fort Myers FEBRUARY 10, 2012 Estates Will Celebrate Edison’s 165th Birthday February 11 Aerial view of the Red Sox spring training complex Commissioners and Red Sox officials Grand Opening will host a grand opening celebration on Saturday, February 25 at 11:30 a.m. For JetBlue Park where they will officially open the ballpark Mr. and Mrs. Edison as well as Henry Ford tour downtown Fort Myers during one of the and spring training complex to the pub- many winters they spent at their Southwest Florida estates At Fenway South lic. Executives and crewmembers from he Lee County Board of JetBlue Airways, the official airline of the he Edison & Ford Winter Estates celebrates the 165th birthday of Thomas Commissioners and the Boston Boston Red Sox, will also be on hand Edison with a celebration on Saturday, February 11, complete with a cake, TRed Sox have announced plans for to help officially open JetBlue Park. The Tentertainment, motorcade and downtown tour with Mr. Edison and friends. the opening of JetBlue Park at Fenway grand opening ceremony will be followed At 10 a.m., Edison Ford will begin the festivities with a birthday ceremony and stu- South, the team’s new 106-acre spring by an open house, from 1 to 4 p.m., dents from Edison Park School for the Creative and Expressive Arts performing music training and player development complex open to all fans and visitors. from the Edison era. Cake, provided by the Edison Ford and the Edison Pageant of in Lee County. continued on page 30 Light, will be served after the performance. The celebration is free to the public. A motorcade with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and President Herbert Hoover in antique cars will be held in downtown Fort Myers at 11 a.m. Join them on a historical Art Center Presents All Star Jam walking tour of downtown with True Tours. Cost for the walking tour is $10.60 and tickets may be purchased at Edison Ford in advance or day of event. he Sidney & Berne continued on page 6 Davis Art Center will Tpresent the All Star Jam on Saturday, February 25. The concert will take Shellabration! Wa-Ke Hatchee place on the street outside the Davis, located at 2301 Happenings Family Fun Day First Street in the down- ecently, Arthur Frommer shared ome out to the Wa-Ke Hatchee town Fort Myers River his list of favorite travel destina- Park & Recreation Center on District. Rtions and Sanibel Island was num- CSaturday, March 3 for Family Fun Artists scheduled to ber one. This is a wonderful and exciting Day, with lots of free activities for every- appear include Jeff “Skunk” designation... and the perfect way to one. Baxter, formerly of The celebrate the wonder of the island is Family Fun Day begins at 10 a.m. with Doobie Brothers and Steely Shellabration! 2012. the annual arts and crafts show, which will Dan; Barry Goudreau and The official celebration of the 75th offer a wide variety of vendors until 3 p.m. Fran Sheehan of Boston; anniversary of the Sanibel Shell Fair & The band Catalyst will be performing from Kenny Aronoff of the Show will begin with the Sanibel Stoop on 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Smashing Pumpkins; James Montgomery, Rick Derringer and Mousey Thompson of Friday, February 17. Meet at Bowman’s A car cruise – sponsored by the Gulf the James Brown Experience; Leroy Romans from the Wailers; Steve Luongo and Beach at 10 a.m. and be part of an Coast Mustang Club – will be held from David Hull. attempt to Sanibel Stoop the way into the 2 to 5 p.m., featuring various cars, trucks The stage will be set up in front of the Davis Art Center, at First and Lee, looking Guinness Book of World Records. and bikes. down First Street. The area in front of the art center will be enclosed, with a curtain at Put on your dancing shoes for the The day-long event also includes a free First and Jackson, creating a large outdoor venue for the concert. Shellabration! Gala on Sunday, February bounce house from 5 to 7 p.m. for the Internationally known drummer, songwriter, record producer and filmmaker Steve 19 at 5:30 p.m. at The Sanctuary Golf kids to enjoy. At 7 p.m., the annual Movie Luongo, a Southwest Florida resident, will perform on drums. Luongo’s credits include Club and experience the sounds of Tom In The Park will feature Yogi Bear, continued on page 33 continued on page 24 continued on page 5 2 THE RIVER - FEBRUARY 10, 2012 Historic Downtown Fort Myers, Then And Now Pinetucky Resident Sarah Williams by Gerri Reaves n Fort Myers’ early pioneer days, an area known as Pinetucky Iexisted in the vicinity of the Cleveland Avenue on-ramp to the Caloosahatchee Bridge. The name is said to derive from the plentiful supply of mature pine trees in the neighborhood. Pinetucky was bordered roughly by Riverside Drive (now called McGregor Boulevard) on the north- west, Victoria Avenue on the north, Edison Avenue on the south, and by Grand Avenue on the east. It was a racially integrated area in those days. Among the black residents was Nelson Tillis, who became the town’s first black settler in 1867, and lived near the Thomas A. Edison home. Another prominent black resident was Sarah Williams, a successful businesswoman, landowner and community worker. She was also the mother of busi- nesswoman and philanthropist Dr. Ella Piper, another important figure in local history. This northwest view from Cleveland Avenue near Johnson Street shows part of the land that was once the historic neigh- borhood of Pinetucky photo by Gerri Reaves Williams, known affectionately as Aunt Sarah, came to Fort Myers in 1899. She acquired a large parcel of land at Cleveland Avenue and Johnson Street. The historic photo of her taken at her home there dates between 1899 and her move to Evans Avenue several years later. By the turn of the 20th century, blacks – along with their businesses and churches – were moving out of Pinetucky and downtown in general, as white settlement expanded and Jim Crow laws exerted themselves. Most blacks subsequently settled in Safety Hill, the neighborhood that became known as Dunbar after the Dunbar School was built in 1927. Perhaps Williams’s greatest legacy is the Christmas Tree party she gave at her home in 1915 for 15 little black girls. At the time, she was employed by the Harvie E. Heitman family. Drawing on the substantial respect she had earned in the community, she appealed to Heitman and other prominent businessmen and civic leaders to help fund the event. So successful was that charitable impulse that the party continues today. After Williams died in 1926, only days before Christmas, her daughter – Dr. Ella M. Piper – continued the party, a legacy that still brings Christmas cheer and community spirit to hundreds of children and adults almost a century after Williams conceived of it. Sarah Williams at her Pinetucky home in the early 20th century courtesy of the Southwest Florida Museum of History continued on page 6 Read Us Online: www.IslandSunNews.com Contributing Writers Click on The River Jennifer Basey Joan Hooper Kimberley Berisford Audrey Krienen Advertising Sales Graphic Arts/Production Photographer Suzy Cohen Scott Martell Isabel Rasi Ann Ziehl Michael Heider Ed Frank Capt. Matt Mitchell Sarah Crooks Office Coordinator Writers Max Friedersdorf Patricia Molloy Co-Publishers Kris See Patricia Molloy Gerri Reaves, Ph D Priscilla Friedersdorf Laura Zocki Puerto Lorin Arundel Anne Mitchell Jim George Di Saggau and Ken Rasi Jeff Lysiak Dr. Dave Hepburn Scott White 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 2012 The River Weekly News • LORKEN Publications, Inc. PAPER THE RIVER - FEBRUARY 10, 2012 3 Edison Ford Antique Car & Boat Show with over 100 antique cars on the Ford Estate Inside The Lab behind-the-scenes tour of newly restored Edison Botanic Research Lab Edison & Ford Winter Estates with consultant Dr. Richard Wallace and Edison Ford chief curator Alison Giesen concludes at the original site of Edisons’ 1886 Electric Lab and participants will have Announce February Programs access to the historic riverside estates. Edison Ford members admitted free; non mem- bers $40. Groups may schedule special times and dates in February and the tour will ebruary at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates is highlighted with Thomas be available throughout the year with advance notice. Edison’s Birthday Celebration, Edison Ford Antique Car Show, opening cer- • Edison Ford Inventor’s Summer Camp – Registration is now open for Edison Femony for completion of the Edison Botanic Research Lab, the return of Art Ford Inventor’s Summer Camp that runs May 29 to August 3 in science, art and In Bloom, a Director’s Tour to St. Petersburg as well as a variety of other special nature. Camps are separated by grade levels, first to third and fourth to sixth. Weekly programs and activities throughout the month. themes will include: The February schedule of programs and events include: May 28 to June 1 – Super Solar Scientists • Inside The Lab Tours – Tuesdays during the month of February, 10:30 a.m.