Business 41 gets a cleanup
You could see them on the medians, along the side of the road, and in areas where a lot of trash has somehow collected.
Members of the North Fort Myers Civic Association and the Business 41 Merchants Association met on a cold Saturday morning at Weaver’s Corner to give Business 41 a good cleaning from the river to Littleton Road.
The two organizations and the North Fort Myers Planning Panel co-sponsored the event.
Michael Land, president of the civic association, said while he wished more people could have participated (last year’s event had 25 as opposed to this year, which had about half that), it was an event worth doing.
“This is done through the auspices of the Florida Department of Transportation. They supply us with the safety vests, gloves and bags. It’s a grass roots beautification project and a feel-good project for this time of year,” Land said.
This was the second annual event. The first was held last September, but moved back to avoid the extreme heat.
No problem with that. It was in the 50s and windy when everyone gathered to get their marching orders and went to their assigned location.
The bad news was that with Christmas coming, many were out finishing their shopping, which kept number down for this. Also, the project was put together without much advance notice. Land said he would look into another time to do it.
“We should look into doing it sometime around March when there are more people to participate,” Land said.
Kevin Mulhearn, business owner and president of the Business 41 Merchants Association, said the idea was simply to make Business 41 a better looking place to drive.
“Since we widened it, we want to keep it clean and nice for everyone to enjoy,” Mulhearn said. “We’re trying to change the image of North Fort Myers and have it be a nicer place for people to visit.”
Brenda Sizemore, who owns River’s Edge mobile home park, owns a business on Old 41, said it’s about having pride in where you live.
“If we’re cleaning our business up, we want the rest of North Fort Myers to do the same,” Sizemore said. “Be consistent. Keep it clean. It’s something great to do.”