Let’s Flamingle Island Expo will be held Saturday, Jan. 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Castaways Island Realty at 3366 Stringfellow Road, St. James City. Connect with local businesses, talk with local Realtors, shop island artists and vendors, enjoy food trucks and raffle prizes. There will also be swag bags, face painting and more! For information, contact Castaways Island Realty at (239) 282-0770
This Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, the Greater Pine Island Civic Association will once again join forces with the Pine Island Garden Club and the Calusa Land Trust to show Pine Island some love during a special pine tree giveaway. The effort will provide free longleaf pine seedlings to Island residents to help repopulate Pine Island with native trees lost due to the stress and subsequent beetle infestation from hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton. The trees come from the Florida Forest Service, which produces more than 4 million bare-root pine seedlings at its Andrews Nursery in Chiefland, Florida, annually and sells them in bulk to non-commercial growers. By purchasing in bulk, the ...
The focus of the Greater Pine Island Civic Association’s January general meeting was an update from the zoning committee on pending projects, as well as an invitation to the general public attending the meeting about topics that could possibly be discussed in the future. GPICA board president Chris Blum Began by inviting members to share these ideas with the group. “We’re gonna throw some ideas around of maybe what we want to see in 2026 — who do we want to see? Who do we want to hear from? If we can think about that, before we get to that and have some ideas to share,” Blum said. GPICA board secretary Steve Eldredge shared with members that he last shared a Pine ...
A Friends of Cayo Costa gathering will be held Sunday, Feb. 1, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., at Tarpon Lodge. Come share your stories of visiting Cayo Costa, get a park update, VIPS update and enjoy a great sunset! Space is limited, reservations are required. The cost is $25 for current Friends of Cayo Costa members, $35 for future friends. And there will be light bites a cash bar and door prices you must register by Jan. 23 at https://www.friendsofcayocosta.org/events. The Tarpon Lodge is located at 13771 Waterfront Drive, off of Pineland Road in the Pineland area of Bokeelia, For more information about the lodge, visit https://tarponlodge.com/ or call (239) 283-3999
This Thursday, Jan. 15, the Pine Island Garden Club, at its monthly meeting beginning at 9 a.m. at the Fishers of Men Lutheran Church, will host Robert Ballard, who will provide a history and the restoration plans of the Calusa Land Trust’s newest preserve, the Chipley Sandpatch Preserve. Ballard is a fifth generation Floridian who was raised on Pine Island. He has lived in New England and traveled extensively throughout the US, Europe and South America. After retiring from a sales career, he returned to his island roots. He has been active in civic organizations throughout his career and is a past president of CLT and presently serves as its chief steward over its ...
An in-person book discussion of “Broken Country” by Claire Leslie Hall will be held Tuesday, Jan. 20, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Friends of the Pine Island Library will gather in the Pine Island Library Meeting Room for a lively discussion led by librarian Jackie McGuire. After ...
Optimistic Personality Disorder is a heartwarming, hilarious, and inspiring one-woman show that has been consistently wowing audiences across the United States. Created and performed by professional speaker, actor, and comedian Merit Kahn, Optimistic Personality Disorder is guaranteed to induce ...
Due to the upcoming expected cold weather, The Salvation Army of Fort Myers will be opening its Center of Hope at 2400 Edison Ave. as a temporary warming station and shelter in coordination with Lee County partner agencies. Summary Details: • What: Salvation Army Cold Weather Warming ...
A new documentary series detailing the story of a local man who murdered two women is set to air next week. Paramount+ announced “Handsome Devil: Charming Killer,” will be a three-part docuseries on Southwest Florida murderer Wade Wilson. The first installment is set to air on Jan. 20. ...
It was another beautiful week as calm seas and blue skies gave us excellent boating conditions. If you were running deep or staying within sight of land, it was great weather for fishing Gulf waters. Red grouper was the focus for anglers fishing 30-plus miles offshore, resulting in ...
National Newspaper Week wrapped up Saturday with, no doubt, a typical end-of-week collective sigh by those of us working a beat. Our numbers have dwindled — an 80% decline from 800,000-plus newsroom jobs in 1990 to around 86,000 in mid-2025, according to ReportEarth — but still, papers ...
