Chamber announces winner of the painted pole contest
While all of Pine Island’s painted poles managed to survive the wrath of Hurricane Charley, they could not avoid removal by LCEC. In an effort to upgrade the service on Pine Island, many of the utility poles were replaced and subsequently many of the painted poles disappeared.
The poles had become something of a draw to Pine Island, so members of the Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce decided to offer a contest to encourage local artists to breath new life into the project. During the month of November, a call went out encouraging artists to submit designs and set to the task of creating works of art on several designated utility poles in Matlacha and on Pine Island.
A total of 32 new poles seemed to spring up out of nowhere throughout the Greater Pine Island area, including Matlacha and stretching from north to south in Bokeelia, the island center and St. James City, as well as on Little Pine Island. The new poles depict images of local flowers, several varieties of fish, exotic fruit, footware, birds, flags and musical instruments.
The chamber then sent out ballots for island residents to vote for their favorite poles and the winner was announced last week at the Chamber’s After-hours Card Exchange. The winner is the “Eagle” pole at the south entrance of the Winn-Dixie shopping center. The artist for this award-winning effort is Matlacha resident Cheryl Lamm. This pole stands beside another pole of similar design which Lamm painted last year call “Eagle Eyes” but with the upgrade of utility poles on Stringfellow Road, this also faces removal. Lamm also has painted several other poles that can be seen on both Stringfellow Road and along Pine Island Road on Little Pine Island.
Taking second place for her image of turtles was Judi Revercomb. This pole can be seen at the eastern entrance of the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center on Pine Island Road in Matlacha.
The third place winner of the contest was Meridith Higgins who painted a unique image of fish hanging on a fence. This pole is located on the west side of Stringfellow Road in Bokeelia.
The painted pole program was first introduced to the chamber by Andre’ Mule’ in 2002. Mule’s idea was to transform ordinary utility poles into works of art and the concept soon caught on. Residents and visitors to the island made “poll peeping” a part of the sightseeing tour and with the addition of new designs, there are more works to be discovered. In the beginning, it was feared that the poles would be a distraction for some drivers.
“Some were concerned that the poles might distract drivers and perhaps even cause accidents, but in the seven years that the poles have been here, this simply has not been the case,” said Benton. “The intent of this program was to showcase the talent of local artists and to beautify our roadways and it seems to have worked.”
Growing from the original 20 selected poles, the chamber realized that more would be needed as the number of artist submissions began to pour in.
“We have had such a great response since we offered the contest that we are planning to do it again next year as well,” said Chamber Director Lisa Benton.
Cash prizes were awarded to the top three winners of the contest totaling $1,000. First place received $500, with $300 awarded to second place and $200 for third.