Civic Association celebrates Fourth of July
While most cities and towns had huge Independence Day celebrations, North Fort Myers did something more low key for residents to enjoy before going out to watch the fireworks.
The North Fort Myers Civic Association held its first Fourth of July Festival at the community park concession stand on July 4, featuring some live music. Free food and an opportunity by many to sign up and join the association and make a difference in the community.
While threatening skies put a small damper on things, at least they had shelter. About 100 people come for the event.
Michael Land, president of the civic association, said despite the lack of promotion and the weather, the event was a success and should become an annual one.
“We were taking advantage of the area fireworks instead of the cost it would involve to do our own. The thought was that North Fort Myers has never had a townwide event with free food that’s open to the public,” Land said. “As part of our goal to increase civic pride and participation, we held the festival.”
The event featured singer/ guitarist Jerry Green, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, and lots of watermelon, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage and peppers and other good stuff.
Unfortunately, the threat of thunder and lightning kept a few people away. As the event neared an end toward dusk, the lightning detectors went off to signify it was in the area.
“We would have liked to see more people come, but we learned some things, such as the need to get advertising out earlier and keep it going. Next year, that’s what we’ll do,” Land said. “With the thunder and lightning coming every day this time of year, it’s a calculated risk.”
The event came about very quickly, and not until toward the beginning of June, meaning there was little time to promote it. Land said Richard Dunmire told him that if you offer free food, they would come.
“We were thinking of doing it a few weeks later, but we wanted to take advantage of the fireworks,” Land said.
Another thing the festival faced was competition only a few miles away from the huge events such as Freedom Fest in Fort Myers and Red, White & BOOM! in Cape Coral.
Land said he didn’t think of doing the event on another day like the Saturday or Sunday before, since the fireworks would be the attraction.
Overall, though, Land said it was a great event, and there was interest from some who wanted to attend meetings in the future.
“We met a lot of nice people, a few of whom will come to our meetings. It was we wanted to accomplish,” Land said.