Hundreds attend annual Pioneer Picnic
Those who remember when Fort Myers ended at the corner of Cleveland Avenue and Winkler and when Daniels Parkway was a dirt road came to the Lee Civic Center on Saturday to get together with other long-timers.
The 74th annual Lee County Pioneers Picnic was at its usual home this year at the Tinsley Pavilion.
Pat Mann, president of the Pioneer Club of Lee County, said the day was all about enjoying some food and for people to remember the good old days and get reacquainted.
“It’s to come pat each other on the back, give a hug and enjoy each other who they only see once a year,” Mann said. “I have friends from Jacksonville and Naples who visited me last night who came just for this event.”
In the past, people have come from as far as Washington State and Alaska for the picnic. Allen Richardson came from Colorado this year, making him the person who had the longest trek.
The oldest pioneer woman was Betty Anderson at age 94, while the oldest man and oldest person overall was (again) Jim Sieple, 98. The couple married the longest was Earl and Helen Stanaland, 68 years.
A requirement for the Pioneer Club is that you had to live in Lee County 50 years ago. Many of these people have lived here their entire lives and remember a more bucolic Lee County, much of which has been supplanted by shopping centers, large resorts and concrete.
Rocky Lamp, North Fort Myers High School Class of ’72, was a football star and remembered how Ron Hoover put the area on the map.
“He used to write letters to us from the other teams and paint the stadium and blame the other school to get us fired up,” Lamp said. “I was from Pine Island and sometimes we would hitchhike to school, which you can’t do now. It was a special time. The motivation of what kids do now has changed.”
Glenn Lawhon, a lifelong Lee County resident who lives in Olga, said Lee County was much better when he was a kid than it is now.
“We had traffic issues on Fort Myers Beach because of the swing bridge, but back then it was slower paced and fun. We could ride our bicycles across town and didn’t worry about it,” Glenn said. “Today, it’s so crowded that wherever you go, especially during the season, you don’t want to leave your house.”
His brother, Ken, was coming to the picnic for the first time and said he would come back. He added that Fort Myers was not a tiny town, as it had everything most cities have, from car dealerships to a shopping mall.
“It just wasn’t as packed as it is now. It was the perfect place to grow up. We didn’t realize how blessed we were until we looked back on that,” Ken said.
Where the picnic will be in the future is more up in the air as its long-time home, the Lee County Civic Center complex on Bayshore Road near SR 31 faces an uncertain future. The club is expected to discuss its options in the coming weeks and months. Mann said the only thing they know is that the 75th picnic will be held the last Saturday in April like it always has.
Stan Ink, from the Fort Myers High School Class of 1949, helped design the Lee Civic Center, transforming it from when it was the Kickapoo Ranch to the complex it is now.
“President Ford made an offer for $5 million for any city that could get something under construction in 90 days and we were able to do that,” Ink said. “We got a $5 million grant to build this.”
Ink said there was the feel of a small town back when he was a child.
“There were 13,000 people in Lee County when I was in high school. It was much quieter and less traffic. We had one traffic light on First and Fowler,” Ink said. “Many of the people lived off McGregor.
Binnie Johnson was here when her grandfather ran the Coca-Cola plant on Cleveland Avenue until it was burned down from arson in 1996. She now lives east of Labelle and owns her own cattle company.
“My father started it on the old city dock and delivered it on horse and wagon. He would haul eight cases a week and my mother would wash all the bottles by hand,” Johnson said. “It was great back then. A great time to grow up.”
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com