Pine Island Eagle sign found undamaged in Saint James City after Hurricane Ian
The Pine Island Eagle is grateful to a Good Samaritan from Saint James City who found, and stored, the paper’s historic sign lost in Hurricane Ian after the Category 4 storm made landfall on Cayo Costa on Sept. 28, 2022
Jan Robertson said the storm had blown it into a neighbor’s yard and, after her neighbor was finished cleaning up, Robertson took the sign to her house, where it’s been ever since.
“I figured I’d take the sign back to the office, because the Eagle means a lot to me. I always look for the cat of the week and there’s always good stories,” Robertson said.
The sign from the Eagle office, as well as a Little Lily’s deli sign, had made their way about two miles down Stringfellow to Woodstock Road. Robertson said she removed the two signs from her neighbor’s debris pile, because she felt she should bring both signs back to the center where the Pine Island Eagle office is located. Robertson said she moved to Pine Island because it seems much like ‘Old Florida’ in her opinion, adding that she also loves the ospreys.
“It’s amazing that it traveled that far undamaged,” Robertson said of the saved sign.
“We’re so thankful to see our long, lost sign was returned,” said Ray Eckenrode, publisher of the Breeze Newspapers. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s a small item, but to have it make its way back to us after three years seems like a nice piece of symbolism to remind us how the Pine Island community has been so resilient in dealing with the trauma of Ian and we hope the Eagle has been a part of that.”
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email