Celebrating Pine Islanders; Trygve Anderson
Pine Island Experience podcast host and caretaker, Trygve Anderson describes himself as someone who has a deep desire to help people.
After having been here for approximately a decade, he said he and his wife Joanna had been all over the country, living in places such as Wisconsin, Indiana, California, Illinois and Pennsylvania as well as other parts of Florida. After various trips to Southwest Florida, he said it occurred to them that they should just buy something. Since she had been a fan of author Randy Wayne White, they settled on buying a place nearby.
“We stopped for a bite to eat at Low Key Tiki and we were sitting next to a retired surgeon who told us how fabulous the island was. That started our search and eventually we bought property,” Anderson said.
The knowledge that Pine Island was home came on fairly quickly, for the couple, he said, emphasizing that the small- town feeling offered by Pine Island, where neighbors help neighbors had undoubtedly won them over.
“I saw that this area still had a Fourth of July parade,” Anderson said.
Something the couple is sure to do to help fellow islanders, is to offer free marketing on their Pine Island Experience, podcast, as they see advertising and marketing as an important investment, but not one that is easily afforded by everyone.
“We try to give people a free avenue to talk about themselves and their businesses. For the islanders, there’s a chance to get to know either these artists or the owners of the business,” Anderson said.
His experience has been getting to know fellow islanders and just how great they really are, he said. Every time they have interviewed someone new, Anderson admits it stirs in him a new desire to find out more and perhaps strike up a friendship. In an effort to describe Pine Island to someone who has never been here, Anderson said, he would tell folks they will be treated like they would hope to be treated.
“I think people are unbelievably willing to help and it’s fun to reciprocate,” Anderson said.
Recently, a friend and neighbor lent a hand and a pair of eyes to Anderson, making him realize the value of having someone there even if he was able to master a chore on his own, he said.
“I couldn’t get a nut loosened to fix a washer and a guy down the street came down and spent two hours with me trying to get that nut loosened,” Anderson said.
People in other areas are busy or maybe a little bit aloof, where here, there’s an assumed openness helpfulness and friendliness he’s come to appreciate. Although he said, he’s aware that evolving is the nature of progression, even for some of the world’s best kept secrets, he hopes the charm of Pine Island is something we’re always able to count on.
“My vision would be, despite what evolves on Pine Island, we don’t lose that small-town feeling that has brought so many people here,” Anderson said.
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