River Weekly News Will Correct Factual Errors Or Matters of Emphasis and Interpretation That Appear in News Stories
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FREE Take Me Read Us Online at Home IslandSunNews.com VOL. 15, NO. 8 From the Beaches to the River District downtown Fort Myers FEBRUARY 26, 2016 Lee County Fair Offers Special Benefits For Veterans, Seniors he Southwest Florida & Lee County Fair has added expanded hours in Taddition to Senior/Military Day on Wednesday, March 2 and Harry Chapin Food Bank Night on Monday, February 29 to further its commitment to giving back to the community it has served for 92 years. All seniors and veterans are invited to attend a special day of appreciation on Wednesday, March 2 beginning at 11 a.m., with $5 gate admission all day. The lineup of entertainment includes a dance contest to live music from The Del Prados. The contest is open to seniors ages 62 and over. Registration begins at 12:15 and ends at 1 p.m., and will be held on site only. Prizes will be awarded to the top three win- ners of the Jitterbug and the Twist. At 4 p.m., Danny & The Juniors will perform, Dress designed by Mariapia Malerba featuring Joe Terry. Lee Memorial Health Model on the runway photo by Alicia Cavero System, along with various agencies, will be Candied apples hosting a mini health fair. A printable bro- chure is available online at swflcfair.com. Art Walks The Runway Fashion Show Harry Chapin Food Bank Night is Monday, February 29 with gates opening at 4 roducer Melissa Tschari DeHaven rolls out the red carpet once again for the 5th p.m. Gate admission is free with a donation of three canned goods per person. Regular annual Art Walks The Runway Fashion Show, a celebration of fashion in the Fort admission applies without a donation, with proceeds from gate sales on that night going PMyers River District. The show will take place at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art to this charity, which supplies food pantries all across Southwest Florida. Center, located at 2301 First Street in Fort Myers, from February 25 to 27. The Creative Living and Home Arts Departments are where the community’s creativ- The Art Walks The Runway Fashion Show will celebrate the elegance of successful ity comes alive. With just under 1,000 entries in 2015, this vibrant department contin- local fashion boutiques as well as the bold creations of local and international designers. ues to grow as categories expand and entries arrive from neighboring counties. New this Proceeds will benefit the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center Eclectic Education program- year are the Cake Decorating Category and 3D Doodling. Cake Decorating is open to ming and development. youth, ages 14 to 20, and there are adult categories for non-professionals and for On Thursday, February 25, the Celebration of Fashion opening party will feature the continued on page 16 contiued on page 16 The Freecoasters Kiwanis Taste Of Pine The Honey Creepers Band Drive) on Pine Island Road behind the Pine Island Fire Station. Single day tickets are Island Is This Weekend $6 and two-day passes are $10; no charge for children 10 and under. Attendees ue to the unprecedented amount of rain during the previous month, The that bring a donation of three or more non-perishable food items for the Pine Island Kiwanis Club of Greater Pine Island rescheduled the annual Taste of Pine Pantry will receive $1 off their entrance fee. DIsland to Saturday, February 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, February The Taste of Pine Island will feature a large variety of food and craft vendors. The 28 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will take place at Phillips Park (5675 Sesame continued on page 16 2 THE RIVER - FEBRUARY 26, 2016 Historic Downtown Fort Myers, Then And Now: Frog Smith by Gerri Reaves, PhD rnest Archer “Frog” Smith, pictured here astride his EHarley motorcycle circa 1917, was a folk artist and story- teller in the classic Florida Cracker tradition. He was born in Georgia in 1896, but spent most of his life in Florida, arriving in 1911. He worked for approximately the first half of his life as a machinist, oiler, and engineer for railroads and sawmills, which in the early twentieth century were doing a booming business logging the region’s native pine and cypress Many of Frog Smith’s paintings, such as The Homesteader, forests. depict Florida’s classic Cracker culture But after the demise of logging, he truly reinvented courtesy Florida State Archives himself, becoming the character still remembered by many locals. After the Slater mill closed in 1944, he scraped Among the many curious stories and facts about together a living from a hodge-podge of jobs. He also him is how he earned his nickname Frog. built an eight-room house with lumber from two shan- During the Great Depression, he worked for a time ties the mill owner gave him. at the Clewiston sugar mill, which closed down for a In addition, he began writing, drawing on his itin- time. Always flexible and enterprising in finding new erant work life, family history and Florida’s Cracker sources of income, he took up night-time frog-hunting culture for material. Under the pen name of Frog, he to supply the delicacy to New York markets. wrote a column for the Tampa Tribune for a decade; He continued frog hunting even after he returned he also wrote for a variety of periodicals, including to work for the U.S. Sugar Corporation. In 1936, his Railroad Magazine. friends gave him the nickname Frog, which he disliked In 1954 News-Press editor William Spear hired him but eventually accepted. to write a regular Sunday feature that is fondly remem- To say he possessed versatility and confidence is an bered by many former readers. That column ran for understatement. Despite having only an eighth-grade almost 40 years. education, he tackled many endeavors and seemed to At an age when many people retire, he was not succeed in all of them. only writing, but gaining recognition as a raconteur Beginning at age 12, he worked with locomotives, and folk artist. His paintings reflect the life he lived boilers and various other machines. He was also a among locomotives, lumber mills and Florida’s rural This circa-1917 photo of Frog Smith on his Harley motorcycle railroad engineer and machinist, primarily at sawmills, landscape. He received various awards, such as the was taken when he was on his way to work including Dowling and Camp, the one in Slater (North 1975 Folk Heritage Award for Outstanding Contribu- courtesy Southwest Florida Museum of History Fort Myers), starting in 1942. He drove and repaired tions to Florida’s Folklife. He appeared at the Smithso- engines manufactured as far back as the Civil War era. nian Institution for the Bicentennial Folklore Festival in Continue your history research at the Southwest That was the Jim Crow era, when both whites Washington, D.C., and he was featured on CBS televi- Florida Historical Society’s research center. and blacks worked at the mills, but specific jobs were sion’s On the Road series with Charles Kuralt. The all-volunteer non-profit organization is at understood to be a white or a black man’s job. Of In the late 1970s, he took his storytelling and 10091 McGregor Boulevard on the campus of the Lee course, the former had higher status and pay. unique personality to local television on WINK-TV’s County Alliance for the Arts. In a 1980 interview, he recalled the racial politics series, Florida Yesterday. The center is open Wednesday and Saturday of the mill: “Such jobs as sawyer and millwright were He died in 1993 at age 96 in Fort Myers. between 9 a.m. and noon and Wednesday 4 to 7 p.m. usually a white man’s job. Also lumber inspector and See exhibits that illuminate the culture that Frog Call 939-4044 or visit swflhistoricalsociety.org for foreman because a white man wouldn’t work under a Smith loved by visiting the Southwest Florida Museum more information. black man in those days. Well, I got to give credit to of History at 2031 Jackson Street. Sources: The Archives of the Southwest Florida a black man. He taught me to run one of those big For information, call 321-7430 or go to swflmu- Historical Society, Railroading on the Gulf Coast: A steam loaders in the woods, and it was a black man seumofhistory.com. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 Conversation with E. A. “Frog” Smith in Tampa Bay that taught me most of what I know about running an p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. History, and Findagrave.com. ice plant.” 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 Rachel Atkins Ed Frank Capt. Matt Mitchell Writers Co-Publishers 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.