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Civic & Community Corner: There’s a lot happening in North Fort Myers

By Staff | Oct 25, 2017

The motion to have me “censured” and my powers and actions as President of the NFM Civic Association, including my ability to continue writing this column, for proposing a name change, was defeated at the Oct. 19 meeting. Afterwards, I shook hands with the mover and seconder of that motion and we promised to put that whole issue behind us and work as a team for the betterment of the Civic Association and the quality of life in North Fort Myers.

In other action taking place at that meeting:

* There is a vacancy on our Board of Directors, which can be filled by a vote of our General Membership. Any member considering a run for this position should review our website, www.northfortmyerscivicassociation.com, and the By-Laws contained therein, and contact me, sending me and

larrydmurphy07@gmail.com a Resume.

* A motion to subscribe for a month to newspapers.com which would allow us to research over a century of News-Press articles to gather info on the history, leaders, events and points of interest in NFM, was tabled until the next meeting so Brenda Sizemore, who volunteered to lead this effort, can gather more info.

* Our proposed NFMCA Pamphlet, a drastic revision and improvement by new member Laura Ray over the first Pamphlet published last February, was approved in final form and will go to print shortly.

* Danny Ballard, By-Laws Revision Chair, proposed a few minor and technical changes which were approved by the Board and will next be presented to the general Membership for acceptance.

* Approved a Civic Pride project for NFM using online presentations by Oldsmar, Fl. and previous winners of the Florida League of Cities Award, with inspiration from recent Fort Myers Civic Pride Celebration. Brenda Sizemore will co-chair. Need volunteers and another co-chair. This could be an awesome and very rewarding project.

The NFM Friends of the Library met earlier on Oct. 19, at their new temporary headquarters (for the next two years while our new Library is being constructed on its former site). It is in the northwest corner of the shopping center at the northwest corner of Pine Island Road and Business 41 behind the iconic Tastee Freezee custard cone. This dedicated and hard-working group has several fundraisers and promotions underway. Check out their website and join their group for a mere five bucks a year! Although only 1/3 the size of the former Library, the current digs are thoughtfully laid out making use of every inch and I had no trouble locating the book I wanted, getting a replacement Library Card and checking it out all in a few minutes. Try it. You’ll like it! Most of the construction bids have been awarded and we are looking forward to a Groundbreaking ceremony in early December. Stay tuned for future details.

The NFM Civic Association participated, as it does every year, in the Fall Funfest sponsored by the Lee County Parks and Recreation Department on Friday, Oct. 20. Our group was Chaired by hard-working Dora Miller and our NFMCA tent was nicely decorated. The kids flocked to our Ring Toss game donated to us by Howie Hohwiesner, and gobbled up the candy we were distributing until the rain caused an early closure. Thanks to Danny Ballard, Rudy Berndlmaier, Jeannette Rusiniak, Linda Yorde, Peg Crishal and others for holding their positions at our tent in the rain. Hope no one got sick.

Two days later we were manning a spot at The Shell Factory’s Nam Jam on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Tom and Pam Cronin and Ric Tupper of The Shell Factory for inviting us to participate in this blockbuster event honoring our area’s veterans. We passed out our Pamphlets and other handouts, made new friends and recruited new members against the backdrop of songs by Chuck Peterson, fancy steps by The Calendar Girls, BBQ and Veterans. What a hoot! Thanks to the ubiquitous and inexhaustible Rudy Berndlmaier, reliable stalwart Larry Murphy and Richard Dunmire, our former Treasurer and Director, for working this event for the Civic Association.

The NFM Community Planning Panel and NFM Design Review Panel meet jointly on the first Tuesday of every month, 6 to 8 p.m. at the NFM Recreation Center, so if you’ve never been to one of their meetings come see the proposed building projects, review the elevations and hear the many pointed questions that these volunteer panelists pose to the presenters before voting to recommend acceptance, modifications or rejection these projects.

PUBLIC APATHY IS THE PLAGUE OF THE 21ST CENTURY! VOLUNTEER – IT’S GOOD FOR THE MIND AND THE HEART.” – MIKE LAND

Contact me at 239-823-3631 or mike.nfmca@gmail.com if you have some event, project or idea that you would like in this column, or with any comments or questions. Visit northfortmyerscivicassociation.com.