Youth baseball excitement page 16 MAY 20,1999 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 20 36 PAGES 3QRTER LEARNING THE ROPES Then there (1 to r) Kirsten were seven Harlow, a kinder- gartner at Sanibel School, helps Council winnows list of preschooler Anna Aulino with finding hopefuls for city's top post just the right color crayon to use for By Pattie Pace their pictures. Staff Writer Kindergarten stu- dents were paired Working from five individual top-10 lists, the Sanibel with preschoolers City Council selected seven candidates to invite to the for a kindergarten island for one-on-one, private interviews with each council orientation session member. last Thursday. For The selection • process took less than two hours. Thai, more photos of the however, doesn't count the endless hours four of the five island's newest stu- councilmembers spent weeding through resumes of the dents, along with original 176 candidates. school news, please "I must have put in 25 hours," Councilwomaii Npla see pages 14-15. Theiss said. "That's because I kept going over them. I want- ed to be sure I didn't miss a pearl, 1 was happy that six of Michael Pistella t> Sec Seven, page 3 Sorsibel to ce 25th year i rth of July/page 5 with these peq-: pic. It's working By Gwenda Hiett-Clements out really well use News Editor because we have such a Plans for the city of Sanibel's sil- cross section," H. Phillips ver anniversary are in full swing. she said. of ditch diggers A variety of • ceremonies and "Grover has experience in planning By Dawn Grodsky events to celebrate 25 years as a city special events, David is the head of Editor two of the papers, Jennifer is a long- are scheduled beginning Nov. 5, the They line up in the early mornings, shovels in hand, and •..-anniversary of the incorporation time resident. Everyone is contribut- ing something special. It's a great begin a long, hot day of ditch digging on the side of island vote, and continuing through the roads. Contrary to appearances, these orange-shirt-clad weekend of Dec. 10, the date of the group." Phillips said the ad-hoc commit- Hispanic workers, who travel in a white school bus to and first city council meeting. from the island each day, are not part of a prison chain gang A citizens' committee — com- tee has come up with a plan consist- ing of three components — official but are employed by a sub-contractor of Media One, which prised of Helene Phillips, Jody is expanding and improving its cable service by bringing Brown, Jennifer Workman, David ceremonies on Nov. 5, individual community celebrations during the "Broadband" to Sanibel. Emmons, Grover Arp, Jean Baer, Media One Corporate Affairs Manager Gilbert Marty Harrity and Steve Brown — rest of the month and Dec. 10 week- end events, including areenactment Monciviaz said the diggers work for a subcontractor called has been meeting for the past month Caswell, which is based somewhere on Florida's east coast. to finalize plans and begin making of the first city council meeting and arrangements. a community gathering at Gurfside "The reason they wear a bright colored shirt is ... to make City Park. , them easier to see. When dealing with construction and traf- Phillips, chairwoman of the fic, you want to make sure employees can be seen easily. group, pointed out all the plans are Workman —- just ,2-years-old Michael Pistella when the city was born — will Orange and yellow are very recognizable from a distance," tentative at this point. Monciviaz said. Ditch diggers work along Tarpon "We are having a ball planning Bay Road Tuesday. They're laying things. It's easy to have a good time t> See 25th, page 5 t> See Media One, page 4 "Broadband" cable for Media One. Ken Meeker, former GOING TO THE MOUNTAIN 'Dinner-set7 chamber director, dies MaryAnn Castimore, H Emily Underhill the daughter suspects to be obituary/page 2 of Captivans Lillian and By Dawn Grddsky Emery tried together Editor Castimore, will again By Pattie Pace Ken Meeker, hailed attempt to Staff Writer by those who knew him climb Mt. as a "gentleman," died McKinley in Last Friday, the fourth "dinner set" bur- last Tuesday, May 11, Alaska to glar wanted in connection with a violent 1999, at Lee Memorial raise funds Sanibel robbery in March pleaded not guilty Hospital. He was 82 for cancer to five formal charges before Circuit Judge years old. Meeker had research. William Nelson. At the arraignment, prose- served as executive director of the Castimore cuting attorney Steve Coukos also filed to' Sanibel/Captiva Islands Chamber of continues her consolidate Francisco Hurtado's case with Commerce for a deca'de, retiring in 1994. battle against those of the three other suspects. Prior to that, he was a seasoned broadcast breast cancer. A tentative trial date has been set for veteran who worked for CBS radio and tele- For details, Monday, July 12, for Hurtado, 30, of Cape vision, including a stint with Edward R. see page 13. t> See Meeker, page 2 Special to the Reporter t> See 'Dinner-set,' page 4. 2 • MAY 20, 1999 Q ISLAND REPORTER Council accepts budget committee report J3y Pattie Pace filled when a new city manager is hired. Staff Writer Ball added that the forecast change is also closely relat- ed to a more feasible schedule for overall capital improve- Praising the hard work and dedication of Sanibel's Five- ments. Year Budget Projection Review Committee, the city council Finally, he explained that the city's debt service will be unanimously accepted the detailed report Tuesday. reduced from $900,000 to $300,000 over the five-year peri- Budget committee Chairman Armand Ball explained two od but only if no new major expenditures are incurred. major components in the document. The first public budget hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, He told the council that financial forecasts had improved, July 20. Copies of the report — which contains a total of and were tied to early retirements and hiring freezes. 36recommendalions — are available at the Sanibel Finance However, he said that could change if vacant positions are Office for a fee. Call 472-9615. Obituary Meeker From page 1 Murrow. And since his retirement, Meeker kept his high Meeker also volunteered for several years at the Sanibel Emily Twink' Underhill, 69 profile by working for the Bailey Matthews Shell Museum Public Library, where Library Director Pat Allen recalled Emily "Twink" Wood Underhill, a former Sanibel civic and volunteering with the Sanibel Public Library. fond memories. "He was very reliable, we could always leader and business woman, died May 6,1999, at St. Luke's Ginny Bissell, a chamber employee hired by Meeker, depend on him being here when he said he was going to be. Hospital in New Bedford, Mass. She was 69 years old. said, "He was such a gentleman. He wanted everything to be He seemed to really support the library. He and his wife Known by her childhood name of "Twink," she was the done right, graciously. ... He was also a lot of fun to be both read a lot and we enjoyed having him here. He was widow of Ed Undermll, III, also formerly of Sanibel. with." always in a good mood and even after he got sick he never Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Mrs. Underhill most recently Meeker was the chamber's second executive director, let on; he maintained a positive and friendly attitude." lived m Padanaram Village, South Dartmouth, Mass. She taking on the role after Walter Klie retired. Meeker fiist moved to Sanibel in 1978 and he worked as was the daughter of the late Kenneth and Emily Wood. On Current chamber director Keith Trowbridge — who took an advertising salesperson for the Island Reporter before Sanibel, she lived on Anchor Drive in Chateau-Sur-Mer and the position about two months ago following Meeker's taking the helm of the chamber in 1985. Meeker was also a she had previously lived m Corning, N.Y., and Madison, replacement, David Besse's departure — said, "He was a longtime member of the Sanibel/Captiva Lions Club. Conn. kind soul, a true gentleman and he added class to whatever Meeker began his career as a CBS news anchorman for In her lifetime, Mrs. Underhill was a businesswoman he did. His 10 years as director of the chamber of commerce "The World Today" with Murrow, H.V. Kaltcnborn and and civic leader who was active in the environment, con- are remembered kindly. I was a member all the time he was Elmer Davis. Later, he moved to Louisville, Ky., and servation issues, city planning, genealogy and family plan- executive director, and we had many discussions and happy worked as an announcer, producer and writer for both radio ning. Her affiliations included the Sanibel Planning times together." and television for 13 years. From there, he went into adver- Commission and the Sanibel/Captiva Conservation Meeker started a number of chamber programs that con- tising and eventually formed his own agency. Foundation. On Sanibel, she and her husband founded, tinue or are being revived today, such as the monthly As a sideline, he wrote and narrated hundreds of mini- owned and operated the Unpressured Cooker in Cypress Business After Hours and the Ambassadors Club. Meeker programs for radio and television called "That's the Story," Square. Also, she and her husband were among the co- also conceived and launched the annual chamber luau and which were nationally syndicated. founders of the Island Reporter, the Fouith of July Road Rally, which has since been taken No funeral services are planned for Meeker.