Player joins ‘Team Shevlin’ at Century 21
Lifetime Pine Island resident Tonya Player was recently named administrative assistant to Mike Shevlin at Century 21 Sunbelt Realty.
“Tonya is the newest member of ‘Team Shevlin’,” Shevlin said. “Although Tonya has only been here a week, she’s picked up so much.”
Player was born at Lee Memorial Hospital and has lived on Pine Island her entire life – except for a brief time living in South Carolina.
“When I was married in 1979, my husband and I returned to where he grew up in South Carolina,” Player said. “I am a Pine Island native and was anxious to get back to the island so I was thrilled to move back here.
“Pine Island was a very different place when I was growing up and everybody knew everybody,” Player said. “Southwest Florida wasn’t developed at all and as a child I can remember my father driving us from Bokeelia to Tice to visit my grandmother and not seeing any cars on the roads that’s how undeveloped Southwest Florida was.”
Player’s father made a living as a net fisherman until the net ban in 1994. Sadly, he passed away a short time later.
“I worked at Pine Island Elementary for 17 years, first as a teacher and then as the media specialist before I began working at the Lee County Library in 2005,” Player said. “I worked at the Pine Island branch until I received a promotion a couple of years ago and transferred to the Chiquita branch.
“I could have kept doing my job at the library with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back,” Player said. “But after working at the library for 11 years, I really wanted to come back to Pine Island and work with the people I love.”
“It’s only been a week and Tonya fits so well into the team,” Shevlin said. “There are so many aspects to this job and there’s a lot to learn – mostly small but important details. You have to have the ability to jump from one thing to another and Tonya is handling everything very well.”
All during her life Player has been involved with many of the islands’ community organizations: Pine Island Elementary school, she has been Mango Queen, two-time president of the Kiwanis, longtime fire commissioner and recently elected as chairperson.
“It’s all about community for me,” Player said. “The community is very important to me and I’ve been so involved in Pine Island all of my life. I am absolutely thrilled to be here – I came home.”