July-August 2018

NEWS & PREVIEWS

Smithsonian

Exhibition Celebrates Hometown Sports

The Alliance for the Arts, in partnership with the Southwest Florida Historical Society, presents the Smithsonian Museum exhibition, ‘Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America,’ thru August 11.

The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street exhibition examines the many roles that sports play in American society. The exhibition demonstrates how hometown sports energize the community, instill pride in it and create a bond that is passed from one generation to the next.

The exhibition’s family-friendly opening ceremony is July 6 from 5-8pm. The event is free and open to the public.

To complement the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibit, the Southwest Florida Historical Society and Lee County Black History Museum will curate memorabilia exhibits with local sports stories.

A panel discussion on the history of sports in Lee County will be held at the Alliance on July 21 at 10am. The event is free and open to the public.

The Alliance will also host a screening The Mighty Ducks on July 14 and Caddyshack on July 28 in the theatre. Seating is limited.

The Southwest Florida Historical Society, located on

After a three-year long restoration, the working studio of artist and civic leader, E. George Rogers is on view at the Collier Museum at Government Center in Naples.

the campus of Lee County Alliance for the Arts in the building lovingly referred to as the 'Little Yellow House', is devoted to collecting and preserving cultural artifacts relevant to the history of Southwest Florida. Call 9394044 for information.

The Lee County Black History Society established the Williams Academy Black History Museum, located at Clemente Park on Henderson Ave. in Fort Myers. Call 332-8778 for information.

The Alliance for the Arts, open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm & Sat 9am-1pm, is located at 10091 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers. For more information, call 939-2787.

Restored Art Studio of E. George Rogers

Opens at Collier Museum

After a three-year restoration, the working art studio of E. George Rogers’ is now on view, along with an exhibition of his artwork and life, at the Collier Museum at Government Center in Naples

Born in England, Ernest George Rogers came to the United States in 1913 at age twenty-two and built a successful career in finance. He bought his home at 454 Sixth Street South in Naples in 1952, retiring to spend time with his family and his art, a lifelong passion.

George Rogers was a prolific painter, working every day in his art studio in the back yard of his home on Sixth Street. His paintings won many awards and were featured in over 50 one-man shows.

Gatherings and discussions held in Rogers’ studio resulted in the co-founding of the Naples Art Association and the creation of the First National Bank of Naples, Collier County Mental Health Association, and the Collier County Historical Society. He was the Chairman of the School Board when county schools were desegregated in 1965.

Rogers, who died in 1992 at 101, was recognized by the Naples Daily News as one of the 100 Most Influential Southwest Floridians of the Twentieth Century.

Collier Museum at Government Center, located at 3331 Tamiami Trail E. in Naples, is open Mon-Sat 9am-4pm. Admission is free. For information, call 252-8476.

The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition, ‘Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America’ is on view thru August 11 at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers.

Symphonic Chorale Invites

Singers to Join Them for ‘Summer Sing’

The Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida will present its fourth annual ‘Summer Sing’ on August 28 at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in Fort Myers’ historic downtown River District. The highly anticipated end-ofsummer concert starts at 7pm.

The Symphonic Chorale welcomes all area singers to participate. ‘Summer Sing’ is free of charge and no audition is necessary.

‘Summer Sing’ will feature a rehearsal and subsequent performance of John Rutter’s Requiem, a musical setting of parts of the Latin Requiem, with added psalms and biblical verses. Artistic Director Dr. Trent Brown will lead the rehearsal and performance, complete with chorus, soprano soloist, and the Chorale’s talented accompanist, pianist Abbey Allison.

“We are very excited to be doing Summer Sing at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center for the second time and proud to present this beautiful work,” says Dr. Brown. “We had over 120 singers join us for ‘Summer Sing’ last year and this year we want to add to that number. We also hope to welcome a large audience.”

Singers are asked to register by August 28.

The Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida is the area’s only professional core community

The Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida is inviting singers from throughout the area to join them for their annual ‘Summer Sing’ concert on August 28 at the Davis Arts Center in Fort Myers’ Historic River District

chorus and is the Resident Chorus of the Southwest Florida Symphonic Orchestra. Members come from Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and surrounding areas. Area singers are encouraged to audition for the Chorale and enjoy being part of its 2018-2019 season.

For more information on ‘Summer Sing’ or the SWFL Symphonic Chorale, call 5605695. Reserve Tuesday, August 28th for Summer Sing in downtown Fort Myers.

Dani Thralow is one of four Comediannettes performing July 21 at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers.

Dani Thralow, Nancy Francis and Mariannette LaPuppet.

Pam Bruno, from Hollywood, Florida, is the winner of 2015 Ultimate Miami Comedian award and has recently appeared with Kevin Hart in his new TV series, Hart of the City, on Comedy Central.

Dani Thralow, from Naples, was recently named Acme Comedy Club’s Second Funniest Person in Minneapolis & St. Paul.

Nancy Francis, from Fort Myers, is a 30 year veteran of the Real Estate Title Business who recently decided to take to comedy.

Also from Fort Myers, Mariannette LaPuppet is a professional actress and writer of over 25 years turned comedian. She was a finalist in Nick@Nite’s ‘America’s Funniest Mom,’ Winner of the 2nd Annual Comedians Ball in Florida, and finalist in Comic Cure’s ‘Florida’s Funniest Female’.

The Alliance for the Arts is located at 10091 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers. Call 9392787 for information.

Four Female Comics from Florida to Perform in Fort Myers

The Alliance for the Arts will present The Comediannettes (formerly Diva Comedy Night) on July 21 at 8pm. in Foulds Theatre. The night of standup comedy features funny and fierce female comedians, all from Florida.

The line-up features Pam Bruno,

Edison & Ford Winter Estates Celebrates Henry Ford’s Birthday

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates is celebrating Henry Ford’s 155th birthday on July 30. The day will start off with free birthday cake served at 10am on the museum porch. Special behind-the-scenes tours of Ford’s winter estate home will be offered and history character, Henry Ford, will be available for photo opportunities.

Ford and his wife Clara purchased their winter retreat in Fort Myers, next door to Thomas & Mina Edison in 1916. The purchase price was $20,000 for about three acres of riverfront gardens and a Craftsman-style bungalow. The home site was nicknamed ‘The Mangoes’ for the many Mango trees on the property.

The homes, gardens, laboratory, and museum is an official project of ‘Save America’s Treasures,’ a Florida Historic Landmark and a National Register Historic Site. The Edison Botanic Laboratory is a National Historic Chemical Landmark.

The Estates, located at 2350 McGregor Blvd. in downtown Fort Myers’ Historic River District, is open daily, 9am-5:30pm. For more information, call 334-7419.

The Edison &Ford Estates in Fort Myers celebrates Henry Ford’s 155th birthday on July 30.

Underwater Art at Davis Arts Center A

group show, ‘There’s Something in the Water’ opens at the Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center on July 6, 6-9pm, during downtown Fort Myers’ Art Walk. Admission is free and open to the public.

The exhibition features photography from Mila Bridger, Katy Danca Galli, and Bob Halstead, plus paintings from Arturo Sameniego.

Bob Halstead is an awardwinning underwater photographer, credited with

devising a now common technique called ‘muck diving,’ which reveals unique creatures or objects in the sediment. His photography has also helped identify several new and unknown species of sea life.

Mila Bridger is best known for her surreal, color-saturated photographs and stylized portraits featuring what she labels as manufactured fantasy.

A Florida west coast native, Katy Danca Galli is the former photo editor for Scuba Diving magazine, master diver, and ocean advocate.

Originally from Mexico, Arturo Sameniego earned degrees in business and art and spent many years developing a successful computer business until he took the plunge in 2004 to fulfill his dream of being a full-time painter. His art is represented by galleries across the country, including Miami, Houston, Charleston, and Denver.

The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is located at 2301 First St. in the historic downtown Fort Myers River District. It is open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, admission is free. For information, call 333-1933.

Kerouac & Ruscha On the Road at Rauschenberg Gallery

Florida SouthWestern State College’s Bob Rauschenberg Gallery hosts the exhibition, ‘Jack Kerouac & Ed Ruscha: On the Road’ thru August 18. The groundbreaking exhibition pairs renowned West Coast Pop and Conceptual painter Ed Ruscha’s illustrated edition of the classic Kerouac novel with the author’s original 1951 manuscript for the first time.

Kerouac completed his first draft of On the Road in just 20 caffeine- and Benzedrine-fueled days, a continuous 120-footlong paper scroll, single spaced and with no paragraph breaks, and forever defined the bohemian Beat Generation of the 1950s.

“It's about a group of crazy young people who just travel

back and forth across the United States,” according to Ed Ruscha. A friend and collaborator of Bob Rauschenberg, Ruscha’s work has been widely collected and shown extensively by major museums around the world. As is evident in this exhibition, Ruscha’s career has offered an artistic corollary to Kerouac’s linguistic portrait of the American landscape. Inspired by the romantic vision of the road as epitomized by the Beats, Ruscha invented the ‘artist’s book’ in the 1960s with his inexpensivelyprinted and self-published deadpan photographic musings on the evolving urban environment of Los Angeles.

Bob Rauschenberg Gallery is located at 8099 College Pkwy., on the Fort Myers campus of Florida SouthWestern State College, next

to the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, in the Humanities Hall. The gallery is open Mon-Fri 10am4pm & Sat 11am-3pm. Call 4899313 for information.

DAAS Co-op GalleryPresents Art of North Fort Myers High School Students

During July, DAAS Co-op Art Gallery & Gifts will host an exhibition by students from the North Fort Myers High School. Under the direction of art teacher and member artist, Ellen

Bianchi, the students produced artwork exclusively for the exhibition entitled ‘De Novo.’ An opening reception is scheduled for July 14, 6-9:30pm. It is free and open to the public.

North Fort Myers High School is the Arts magnet in the West Zone for the School District of Lee County. Students may choose art courses in the areas of ceramics, painting, photography, drawing, and printmaking. The school’s visual art students received 30 awards in community shows and competitions in the past school year and the 2018 visual art graduates received scholarships from art schools including the Savannah College of Art & Design, Ringling College of Art & Design, and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

DAAS Co-op Art Gallery &Gifts is located at 1400 Colonial Blvd. in Royal Palm Square, in the heart of the SoCo Cultural District. Current off-season business hours are Wed-Sat 11am-5pm. Call 590-8645 for information.

Butterfly Count at Edison & Ford Estates

On July 13, from 10am-12noon, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates will participate in the North American Butterfly Association's annual butterfly count. Results of the count help researchers monitor butterfly population

Fort Myers’ DAAS Co-op Art Gallery’s July exhibition showcases artwork by North Fort Myers High School students.

The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at FSW in Fort Myers hosts the exhibition, ‘Jack Kerouac & Ed Ruscha: On the Road,’ thru August 12.

“There’s Something in the Water,’ an exhibition of photographs and paintings, is on view at the Sidney &Berne Davis Arts Center in Fort Myers thru July 25.

trends throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Teams of butterfly spotters will count butterflies at locations in Fort Myers and Cape Coral. The butterfly garden at Edison Ford is a NABA Certified Butterfly Garden.

Volunteers are needed in all locations. Experience is helpful, but not required, as groups will include both beginners and seasoned butterfly enthusiasts. Those with less experience can help record data or take photos. Last year, volunteers counted 134 butterflies of 19 different species.

Butterfly spotters should be prepared to walk outside for at least two hours in hot, humid weather. To participate in the count, all volunteers must register before July 11.

For anyone interested in creating their own butterfly garden, both nectar and host plants are available for sale in the Garden Shoppe. Horticulturists are on site daily to answer questions about plant selection and maintenance.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates, open daily, 9am5:30pm, is located at 2350 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers’ Historic River District. For information, call 334-7419.

W ANTED Playwrights

The Naples Players’ ETC Readers Theatre is now accepting original one-act scripts for its 15th annual Evening of New Plays contest for Southwest Florida playwrights. Winners and finalists will have the opportunity for their plays to be cast, directed and staged in Naples’ Sugden Community Theatre’s Tobye Studio on January 20, 2019. Deadline for submission is July 31. Winners will be notified by October 31.

Entries must be one act, nonmusical, and no longer than 30 minutes. It is suggested that the cast not exceed seven characters. Writers each may submit only one play and each play must be the writer’s own

original work, not an adaptation, and not commercially published or produced, though it may have been work-shopped or presented in staged readings in other locations than Southwest Florida. A submitted play also may have been entered in an earlier ‘Evening of New Plays’ contest one time, but not if it was a finalist.

Authors retain all rights and give performance rights to The Naples Players for ‘An Evening of New Plays’ and limited readings in other venues.

The Naples Players Community Theatre perform at the Sugden Theater, located at 701 5th Ave. S. in downtown Naples. For information, call 263-7990 for information.

Artists

The Naples Art Association invites artists to submit an original piece of art for its annual non-juried exhibition, ‘Your Choice. The deadline to submit artwork is July 11. The exhibition is called ‘Your Choice’ because artists decide which artwork they will exhibit while viewers attending a special reception on August 10 will decide who receives the awards.

Everyone attending the reception will cast a vote for his or her favorite artist. Voting is overseen by the Collier County Supervisor of Election Office. A special precinct will be opened during the election with all exhibiting artists listed as ‘candidates’ on the ballot. The precinct will be open to everyone attending the reception regardless of age or voter registration status.

The ‘Your Choice’ exhibition

will be held in the galleries on the ground floor of the Naples Art Association from August 13September 19.

The Naples Art Association is located at 585 Park St. in downtown Naples and is open to the public with no admission Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. Call 2626517 for information.

Artists

The Alliance for the Arts is seeking artists to submit their work to ‘Dia de lost Muertos: A Juried Exhibit,’ an exhibition scheduled for October 5-November 3. Artists should create pieces that showcase traditional Mexican sugar skulls merged with the artist’s aesthetic. Categories are sculpture, painting (including oil, acrylic, collage, watercolor and mixed media), photography, prints and drawings. There will be an opening reception, free and open to the public, on October 5, 5-7pm.

In many parts of Mexico, Central and South America and the United States, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a time to remember and celebrate the lives of friends and family, to connect with loved ones while reflecting on the ties that bind the past to the present.

“Community participation is a powerful part of this holiday,” says exhibitions coordinator Krista Johnson, “That’s why we’re calling on local artists to contribute to this fun exhibit.”

All entries must be submitted online no later than September 20.

The Alliance for the Arts is located at 10091 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers. Galleries are open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm & Sat 9am-1pm. Call 939-2787 for information.

FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY Bower School of Music & the Arts

www.fgcu.edu/cas/bsma

10501 FGCU Boulevard.South • FORT MYERS • 239-590-1000

The Bower School of Music & the Arts provides art exhibits, concerts, plays and workshopsboth at FGCU and throughout the SWFL community for both the local and FGCUcommunity.24 faculty, 8 staff and approximately 400 majors, help BSMA fulfill our vision:Inspire, Create, Perform: Changing Lives through the Power of the Arts.

RASMUSSEN COLLEGE

www.rasmussen.edu

888-549-6755

9160 Forum Corporate Parkway • suite 100 • FORT MYERS 239-477-2100

Land O'Lakes/East Pasco:18600 Fernview Street • LAND O' LAKES • 813-435-3601

Tampa/Brandon :4042 Park Oaks Boulevard • suite 100 • TAMPA• 813-246-7600

New Port Richey/West Pasco:8661 Citizens Drive • NEW PORT RICHEY • 727-942-0069 4755 SW 46th Court • OCALA • 352-629-1941

Rasmussen College is a regionally accredited private college that is dedicated to changing lives and the communities it serves through high-demand and flexible educational programs.Rasmussen College offers certificate and diploma programs through associate's, bachelor's and master's degree programs online and across its 22 campuses including a location in Fort Myers.

FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN STATE COLLEGE

www.fsw.edu

239-489-9300

Lee

8099 College Parkway.• FORT MYERS

239-489-9054

Collier

7505 Grand Lely Drive • NAPLES

239-732-3702

Charlotte

26300 Airport Road • PUNTA GORDA

941-637-5654

Hendry/Glades Curtis Center

1092 East Cowboy Way • LABELLE

863-674-6001

Florida SouthWestern State College is Southwest Florida’s largest and one of themost affordable institutions of higher education.Annually serving nearly 22,000students globally, FSW offers a variety of nationally-ranked, career-focusedacademic programs with two- and four-year degrees, and professional certifications in School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences;Business & Technologies;Education;Health Professions;and Pure & Applied Sciences.Students are also active in clubs and programs catered to their interests.FSWdebuted its intercollegiate athletics program in 2016.

STATE COLLEGE OF FLORIDA,MANATEE-SARASOTA

www.SCF.edu

5840 26th Street West • BRADENTON•941-752-5000 8000 S.Tamiami Trail • VENICE• 941-408-1300

Lakewood Ranch • 7131 Professional Parkway East • SARASOTA •941-363-7000 State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) is a dynamic College dedicated tomeeting the educational and workforce training needs of citizens and businesses in theregion.SCF offers workforce baccalaureate degrees and highly respected associatedegrees that prepare graduates for university transfer and professional careers.Corporate and Community Development offers year-round noncredit classes inworkforce training, small business development, professional development, personalenrichment and driving safety through workshops, seminars, online classes and on-sitetraining programs at area businesses.

FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY

Continuing Education & Off Campus Programs

www.fgcu.edu/ced

239-745-4700

10501 FGCU Boulevard South Edwards Hall • suite 313

FORT MYERS

1010 5th Avenue South • NAPLES

Herald Court Centre

117 Herald Court • Suite 211

PUNTA GORDA

Continuing Education creates and delivers lifelong learning — personal enrichment,professional development, and training — for the citizens of Southwest Florida.Continuing Education addresses the needs of the community by offering non-crediteducational programming:personal enrichment single lectures and short courses foradults, seniors and retirees;private, public, and nonprofit sector on-site training andorganizational solutions;and, open enrollment skills enhancement, certification, trainingworkshops, and online and mobile education solutions for working professionals.

BARRY UNIVERSITY

www.barry.edu

239-278-3041

Sunrise Building

12381 South Cleveland Avenue • suite 502 FORT MYERS

HODGES UNIVERSITY

www.hodges.edu

2655 Northbrooke Drive •NAPLES

800-466-8017

4501 Colonial Boulevard •FORT MYERS

800-466-0019

KEISER UNIVERSITY

www.keiseruniversity.edu/fort-myers

239-277-1336

9100 Forum Corporate Parkway FORT MYERS

FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY

Renaissance Academy

www.fgcu.edu/racademy

239-745-4600

10501 FGCU Boulevard South

Edwards Hall • suite 313

FORT MYERS

1010 5th Avenue South • NAPLES

Herald Court Centre

117 Herald Court • Suite 211

PUNTA GORDA

Explore a world of ideas and nurture your creativity with non-credit courses, workshops,lectures, and adventures for the mind, body, and spirit offered through the RenaissanceAcademy Adult Lifelong Learning Program.The Academy is Southwest Florida’s premierlifelong learning program for adults, seniors, and retirees.Single lectures, short courses,day trips, computer classes, film series, life enrichment, and travel abroad are justsome of the programs we offer.There are no exams or grades, just learning for the joyof learning with your friends, neighbors, and peers.

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

www.nova.edu/campuses/fortmyers

239-274-6070

3650 Colonial Court FORT MYERS

RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN

www.ringling.edu

941-351-5100

2700 N.Tamiami Trail

SARASOTA

SOUTHERNTECHNICAL COLLEGE

www.southerntech.edu

239-689-2000

1685 Medical Lane FORT MYERS

www.ftmyersmagazine.com

GoodNight. HaveANiceSleep.

by Jan Nieman

MRS. Jacobs here. Did you catch the announcement in the Maryvale News? It says: “Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Jacobs celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary March 16 at Sonny’s Resort. When asked what contributed to their fifty years of marriage, Mr. Jacobs offered, “We never went to bed mad at each other.”

Don’t you believe a word of it!

Please note it was Mister Jacobs who recited that cliché. Missus Jacobs - that would be me - was biting her lip and stewing when Bill uttered those words. He has no clue as to how often I’m in a snit when I mumble, “Good night. Have a nice sleep.”

Lately, I’ve been in a constant state of irritation. How many times do I ask him to take out the kitchen trash before bugs invade? Instead, he smashes it down with his foot, cramming more in. “There,” he sez, “It’ll be OK till Tuesday.” It’s not OK. Trust me. It doesn’t stop the ants and his foot leaves garbage prints where he walks.

How often can he misplace his Bank of America card and tear the house apart before he phones them to report it missing. If he’d tell me when he first notices he lost it, I’d immediately check his shirt pocket before (not after) it goes through the wash.

Bill cannot carry a cup of coffee from the kitchen to the living room without a trail. Last night Bill fried a hamburger. As usual, he left spattered grease all over the stove, not to mention salt everywhere except on the hamburger. What do you think the odds are that come morning I’ll be greeted by the mess?

But, do I say anything? No!

“And why not?” you ask.

I’ll tell you why not. If it’d been the first time, I’d have drawn it to his attention, perhaps even the second or third. But, if you’ve been married fifty years and it hasn’t sunk in, what’s the point?

It’s not the big issues like losing your job or your youngest marrying a no-good druggie that creates bumps in a marriage. Nope! You get through that stuff. It’s the daily grind of denied expectations that eat away year after year until you explode.

I’m almost asleep when our mattress shifts. Guess Bill’s not going to wake me up to say, “Good night.” He must have forgotten something, because a few seconds later he tip-toes to the kitchen. I hear the spray of Lysol Kitchen and Bathroom Cleaner followed by a whisk of paper toweling. Well, how about that? Guess I’ll find a clean stove come morning. Bill can be downright sweet at times. He eases his bulk into bed. I pretend to wake up, give him a kiss, and say, “Good night. Have a nice sleep.”

Mr. Jacobs here:

Listen! Hear me out on this. Lily is an “A” type personality. Me? I’m definitely a “B.” She wraps her mind around putzy household chores that require daily attention. Of course, I’m the source of some of them. The problem is she’ll want them done immediately and I figure I’ll get around to them before the house burns down. For instance, if I leave my empty Miller Lite on the end table, she’s grabbing it and erasing the invisible ring before I’m barely out of my chair. Cripes!

Yep, we’ve been married over fifty years, so the paper says, and I’ve gotten used to the way she operates. See, the thing is we have different levels of expectation. Now don’t you smirk. It gets to be seri-

ous-like to adjust to one another and it doesn’t come out when you date. No, siree. Everyone’s on their best behavior and its kissy, kissy until one day all hell breaks loose over something trivial.

For instance, she’s late for everything. I can’t tell you how many times we sneak into the last row at church just in time for the sermon. You’d think someone who demands stuff done right this minute would be a timely person. But, that ain’t the case.

I tell her, “I’ll go out and get the car warmed up.” (It’s a little hint that we should be on our way.) It doesn’t do a bit of good. I sit out there running the engine for another twenty minutes. Does she think church begins at a different time every Sunday? I don’t get it. I’m so aggravated I can’t even open my mouth to sing and to top things off I leave my church envelope in the car.

Now maybe I’m telling tales out of school, but another thing that bugs me is the way she’s pleasant to everyone after we’ve squabbled. I still have hurt feelings when we arrive at some shindig while she swishes in

happy, happy. How can the woman fake that for three hours? Me? I find a corner where I nurse a couple of beers.

We get home from one of these, climb into bed, and she seems to forget we promised we wouldn’t go to sleep without settling things between us. But, when I say, “Good night,” she doesn’t even answer.

I know you’re wondering how we managed to last fifty years. I’m thinking one reason is we both have a good sense of humor and for some reason we go into survival mode to weather the big troubles like Jenny being born with Down’s syndrome. Then, it could be God getting us through, too. Although, I wonder where he is when we get bent all out of shape for the little things.

Nuts! I forgot to clean the stove. If there’s one speck of grease in the morning, Lily will have a hemi. See, I fried this big hamburger and…sorry, ‘scuse me a second.

Guess I’m not quiet enough. Lily wakes up and gives me a sweet kiss. She says, “Good night. Have a nice sleep.”

I reach for her hand, “You, too.” •

The River

by Carmine Lombardo

The river is like a dragon forked into fringes of frenzy, Lapping the shores in gulpsgorging a ghost-like figure out of a medieval tale, And yet, sometimes frail and silent, it sings like a flute on a moonlit night

Echoing the life of its past. Bending, winding, always rolling; strolling like a drunkard on a rainy night, Forever living, forever giving finding its home in the sea.

Marked For Life

by Sandy Dalhofer

AS the money floated down stream, snagging the edges of the riverbank, gathering bits of green moss and tiny twigs, Purvis Brown figured the gods were punishing him for his way of life. The smell of moist earth and honeysuckle hung in the air like wisps of the past and hints of the future. But Purvis wasn't feeling optimistic abouthis future since discovering the loot he had stolen was all in marked bills. He got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he dumped the last of the cash over the embankment into the swirling water below. He had spent the better part of his life in and out of jail, and each time he got out, he vowed to change his ways. But as the saying goes, once a thief, always a thief.

As the last bill caught a puff of wind and drifted skyward, Purvis reached out with gnarled fingers. He yearned to grab the greenback while at the same time ached to let it go when he heard the faint sound of yelping bloodhounds and muffled voices in the distance.

“I ain't going back to the slammer.” Purvis swore under his breath as he hightailed it into a nearby corn field, disappearing as quickly as a snake in a tangle of weeds. He ran, zig-zagging between the rows, ignoring the stalks scratching at his arms and the mud clinging to the soles of his prison issued sneakers. By now, every cop in Buncombe County was likely on the lookout for the bank robber and checking all the places they expected the perpetrator to break a hundred or pass off a twenty.

Purvis was a thin man. His awkward gait made him appear as if the small frame he was strung on had collapsed and the stuffing had shifted. A bar room brawl in his younger days left him with one eye that didn't quite look at you and a puckered scar that ran across his pale forehead. He was not a pretty sight.

Bobby Rubble sat on the three-legged stool daydreaming of pirates and swashbucklers. He gripped the cow's swollen teats, slid his hands downward in a pulling motion the way his real Dad had taught him, and a stream of warm milk splashed into the galvanized bucket at his feet. Without warning the barn door banged open. A wild looking old man, all bony and dirty, hurled himself inside. The boy jerked around causing the startled cow to kick over the bucket of milk. Spotting the lad, Purvis stopped short. Man and boy faced off like two prizefighters, neither knowing what chance he had against the other. Bessie bellowed and Bobby realized his hold on the cow's udder had tightened into a death grip.

Bobby stood up, knocking over the stool and inching his way behind the cow in case the crazy looking old geezer did something....crazy. The disheveled man wiped a crusty hand across dry lips, cocked his ear toward the door, then pulled it shut. “Sure could use a drink.” His good eye stared at the foam of white cream on the dirt floor while the other scrutinized something in the hayloft.

Bobby grabbed the overturned bucket, offered what little milk was left in the bottom. Purvis snatched it and drank thirstily.

“Who are you?” Bobby asked.

The old man held out his hand and chuckled, revealing a few missing teeth. “Purvis..Purvis Brown, man about town.”

The old guy seems friendly enough Bobby thought shaking his hand. “I'm Bobby Rubble and I'm in big trouble.” The boy hooked a thumb at the milk on the floor. “My stepdad's gonna kill me.”

“Guess it's my fault your cow knocked over the bucket.” Purvis reached for the stool, sat it upright, plopped himself down and stuck the bucket beneath Bessie, milking her as if he had milked cows all his life.

“Wow, I'm impressed.” Bobby said, crouching down beside Purvis. “Are you that escaped convict I heard about on the news?”

Purvis paused in mid-stroke. Turned his head in slow motion, zeroed in on the boy's face with his one good eye. “Don't you go telling your Pa about me, you hear boy?”

Suddenly, Bobby didn't feel quite so confident Purvis was just some harmless old coot. A driblet of fear bubbled in his chest. He stood quickly, tripping over his own feet. Purvis was fast for an old guy. The milk bucket caught the side of Bobby's head with a sickening thud. He collapsed as black spots darted in and out before his eyes.

Bobby felt as if he were drowning. He coughed and spat out a mouthful of water from the hose his stepfather was squirting in his face. Shaking his fist in disgust at the lump on the kid's noggin and the wasted milk seeping into the barn floor, Leonard Wilkes shouted. “Get up you idiot.” He jerked Bobby to his feet by one arm. “You're dumber than that cow. I told you a hundred times Bessie's gonna kick the crap out of you if you get behind her.” Leonard kicked at the empty milk pail. “Clean up this mess and you better figure out a way to get some milk on the table before your Ma gets home.” Leonard stomped from the barn, tossing a final warning over his shoulder. “No supper for you tonight either you stupid little shit.”

Bobby's head throbbed. He gingerly touched the lump on his forehead. He thought of trying to milk Bessie again but he was shaking uncontrollably and the poor cow was so spooked she wouldn’t let him near her. He should have told Leonard about the convict. Bobby sighed out loud. “Yeah, like he would believe me. No one ever believes anything I say.” Bobby shivered and glanced toward the dark stalls wondering what happened to Purvis Brown. He eased open the barn door, cautiously peaking around the corners, scouting the yard for any sign of bad guys. He whistled for Toby who immediately bounded to his side.

“Where the heck were you when I was getting clocked over the head?” The yellow lab licked his master's hand, let out a woof. “Yeah sure, now you bark.” Bobby stroked the dog's head and together they headed for the river. It was if a sign from God told Bobby to look down into the gorge. He could barely believe his eyes! A whole mess of soggy bills floated on top of the water. Fives and tens and twenties were stuck to the side of a log. A bunch of hundreds were caught in a tangle of fallen branches. Bobby let out a war whoop, scooted down the muddy bank on his behind so fast he practically tumbled into the rushing river. He grabbed handfuls at a time and stuffed the bills in his shirt and the pockets of his jeans. Bobby couldn't get over his luck. It was more money than he had ever seen in his life. Probably more than Leonard made in a whole year. Bobby ran home, hid the bulk of the money in the barn, jumped on his bike and pedaled as hard and as fast as he could to Conrad's Market. He rushed to retrieve a gallon of milk from the cooler and a Hershey bar from the candy rack. Slapping a five on the counter, he winked at 14 year old Janie Conrad and told her to keep the change. Bobby dashed home, full of hope that maybe this time Leonard would be proud. He slipped unannounced into the dimly lit kitchen. A broken plate of food lay upside down on the linoleum. Angry voices resonated from upstairs. The sound of a hand striking flesh permeated the air. He heard a scream and his Mother's sobs. He wanted to grab the shot-gun, race up the stairs and shoot his stepdad square between the eyes. Instead he opened the refrigerator door, stashed the milk inside and hurried out to the barn to count his windfall.

It was simple the way things ended. Not long after Bobby paid for the milk, the cops showed up at Conrad's Market. They went through all the money in the register and came up with the marked five dollar bill. Janie Conrad admitted the money was given to her by Wilkes nine-year-old stepson, Bobby. Early the following morning, Leonard Wilkes was arrested for robbing the local credit union two towns over. Three thousand seventy-five dollars in marked bills were found hidden in an old saddle bag inside Leonard Wilke's barn. Bobby watched the arrest from his hideout in the hayloft. He thought about telling the cops what really happened but they were too busy handcuffing Leonard who was too busy wailing his innocence at the top of his lungs. And why bother, no one ever believed him anyway. •

Swinging Back To Life

by Geneva Kelly

FIVE years after my son’s diagnosis with Type 1 Diabetes, I accepted the fact that a full night’s sleep was a thing of the past. Still, the lack of sleep was getting to me. When I woke up to check on him, the quiet of the night was like a tornado sucking me in. With one month until my 40th birthday, I wondered if I could be having an early midlife crisis. “This is your life,” said the voice in my head.

To say time flies is an understatement.

After moving a few times, breaking up with my child’s father, having a less than satisfying job, and no sleep; it took years to finally be content. Content and bored that is. Sure I had written some good stories, finally got my articles published online and tried dating again; which was interesting. But something was still missing.

My past was full of adventurous things. I had been parasailing, snorkeling, horseback riding, and had flown a small plane. I had even been skydiving! But now that I felt like an adult, it was different. Being a mom was great. Finding balance however, was hard. That carefree girl I used to be was gone. The thought of doing the same thing day after day, for one more year was painful. I started thinking. What were some things I hadn’t tried yet? I’d never been waterskiing. Never learned a new language. Never eaten Sushi or a Corndog. None of those seemed significant enough to change my life though. I remembered always wanting to do a back handspring, or join the circus. Then it hit me: The Trapeze!

If at 40-years-old I could fly through the sky and live, things would have to feel different. My body was in decent shape. But how would I hold myself up? How does anyone hold themselves up? I decided to worry about it in the morning and let myself dream of possibilities for the rest of the night.

With the sound of the alarm, came a nudge of excitement. Instead of feeling tired, I was eager to start the day. I made my son’s breakfast and sat down to watch some trapeze videos on YouTube. To my surprise, there were kids doing it. Granted, their bodies bounce back faster, but if a seven-year-old could climb a huge ladder and swing from their hands, what was I afraid of? (Besides broken bones or death?) After the first few snippets, it was official. For my 40th birthday, I would fly the trapeze!

As luck would have it, I’d be in New Jersey for my brother’s wedding that weekend. There was a school in New York that was only a half hour away. But who would go with me? Anyone? Would I be comfortable enough to do it alone? I decided to call some friends and ask them to join me on my new adventure. Each one told me I was crazy.

Not to my surprise, they each had a reason they couldn’t come. One was dealing with back pain, the other had shoulder issues and the next complained of not having extra finances. The last one pretended

she never got my message. I checked the year to make sure we were all turning forty and not eighty.

Again my inner voice spoke to me. This time it was more of a confirmation that change was necessary.

Part of me agreed I may very well be crazy. But the part that longed to be free couldn’t wait for the day to come. My birthday was one day before the wedding, so to avoid visible bruises, I scheduled the class with a week to recover just in case.

Never would I have guessed what happened next. Two days before going, I convinced my friend who’s terrified of heights, to let go of her worry and go with me. Lord knows miracles happen because that same night, when I told the story at my brother’s house, his fiancé said she would go too! My brother joked, with seriousness; that if anything happened to her he was not marrying a vegetable, and it was her choice to act like a child.

That is exactly what she did. The three of us made a day of it. We found exotic stores with trinkets and funny things that put us at ease before going.

Finally, with our hearts pounding, we showed up at the rooftop building where the trapeze stood about thirty feet in the air. A huge net spread out on the bottom of this long rectangular looking contraption. Still, we agreed it didn’t look as scary as we thought. Then the ground training started. They secured a belt around each of our waists tightly. It was thick and felt strange. Like most warmups, we started by stretching. We practiced how it would feel to balance our bodies in a completely unusual way. This was no regular swing we were about to get on. After our brief introduction, it was time to fly.

They called my friend first and by the time she made it up the ladder she was crying. The other people in the class cheered her on with encouragement. With tears in her eyes, she reached out for the bar swinging toward her. She grabbed on and swung forward, back, and forward again. And with a big swing she tucked her knees into her body to flip backwards and grab the bar with her legs. It was so close. Her left leg slipped off the bar and she hung upside down like a monkey, screaming. We couldn’t help but laugh hysterically! Nervous laughter, I guess. But it was one of those heart felt belly laughs.

My brothers’ fiancé, being about ten years younger than my friend and I, was next in line. You would have thought she’d done it before because she made it look easy. Her body went the right way and she listened to the cues perfectly. She dropped down with the biggest smile, and flipped out of the net almost like a dancer, taking her bow.

Then it was my turn. Adrenaline rushed through me with each step I took closer to the ladder. My fear was clouded by curiosity, and I was high on excitement. Until half way up, my body had its own reaction. My hands, my legs; even my mouth started shaking. After making it to the top, I was surrounded by a view of New York City. Everything looked small except the net in front of me. I felt numb standing at the edge of the open space. Now I understood why my friend started crying. It was scary! I prayed I’d remember to arch my body while holding on, jumping, and listening for cues to make the right moves… all while diving in to the intensity of the moment. Somehow I did it! Though there may have been some accidental words coming out of my mouth, on the way.

Instead of falling onto my back when dropping down from the bar, my momentum flew me forward. I dove superman style. My hands and knees slid for a brief moment on the net. Exactly what they said not to do. Fortunately, the exhilaration made it painless (at the moment). It gave everyone another good laugh. Especially us.

Forty was looking better already. And it was just the beginning of a new me. •

The Apartment

Tby Richard Urban

HEstench is what assails you first. The door is barely open when it hits you like a sharp slap to the face followed by a low jab to the gut. The strange part is, once you get past the initial shock you simply have to wonder what could be causing such foulness.

You observe everything as you step into the two-room, first floor apartment. A single dim light bulb over the stove offers a glimpse of the world you are entering. The pale yellow glow displays a multitude of food-encrusted pots and pans splayed across the burners. Filthy plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware form a mountain of plastic and ceramic rising out of a lake of fetid dishwater. The beam of your flashlight causes a stampede of cockroaches as they scurry for cover amidst the mayhem of what is the kitchen.

Caution is your guide as you work your way further into the apartment. The soft crunch of flimsy cellophane wrappers flattening under each step telegraphs your approach. A squishy feeling on your next step tells you that not all of the small pastry packages are empty. “Shuffle steps from now on,” you tell yourself. “Just like a snowplow in winter, move the debris aside and keep going.”

A quick scan reveals a beaten up Bark-OLounger in the far corner with its heavily stained and randomly ripped fake leather. Next to the chair is a large beer stein, half filled with a golden liquid. You try to convince yourself that it is beer.

Nestled on a hassock in front of the chair is a small box, filled to overflowing with pictures. Some look to be old black and whites, while oth-

ABOVE: Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Crystal’ comes to the Germain Arena in Estero, July 12-15.

ers are more recent color photos; but they are all of the same two people, a man and a woman at varying stages of life and love.

The stillness of the room makes you strain to hear any noise. The foul air is oppressive and deadens every sound. Then you hear it. Was it a groan, or maybe a jagged breath? Winding your way through the towers of daily newspapers and monthly periodicals, you peer around the partitioning wall and look into the sleeping area. If it’s possible, the rankness of the odor is worse here because now it’s mixed with the sickly sweetness of a lit, pumpkin and spice candle.

A king size mattress lies directly on the floor. There are no sheets to cover the yellow and brown splotches in its sunken middle. He’s sprawled across the mattress, askew of the obvious cavity formed after many years of two bodies sleeping next to each other. Half dressed in a crusty white t-shirt and wrinkled black trousers, his unshaven face is pale and drawn. With every breath, his lips are sucked into his mouth, past gums with no teeth, making his face seem hollow.

Calling out his name, you notice his eyes flicker as he tries to open them. Kneeling down to check his pulse, you find a prescription bottle of sleeping pills still in his right hand. It’s empty but had been filled yesterday. Your partner radios dispatch requesting extra manpower. This is now a race against time and chemicals if you are to have a chance to save his life.

Searching for other clues as to what else he might have taken, you look in his left hand. Wedged among his fingers is an obituary. You recognize the picture of the deceased as the woman from the photos in the box. She had been a part of his life for over fifty years. From the date on the paper, it appears she died one year ago today. As you start your work, you wonder if there will be another obituary written for this date. •

F ICTION • T HIRD P LACE

Pick Me

by Wendy Weiss

NANCYJean resisted pushing the colorful, cube-shaped button in the center of the TV remote, but only for a minute. It was Sunday morning and the weather cold, but sunny. I should be outside, she thought, sweeping the porch or raking leaves. But the need to just do nothing, the anticipation of finding a new TV series that she could watch all day, was just too compelling.

She arranged the sofa pillows and kicked off her sneakers, then slid the ottoman in close. Her body slouched into the soft furniture and she tossed a blanket over her legs.

The menu of programs was extensive and overwhelming. Nancy scrolled and searched, stopped and selected, read the descriptions and exited to the next. She sighed. But then she scrolled one more time, and an image and title caught her eye.

“Pick Me,” was a single episode, unique for this type of TV. A plain looking woman wearing an open trench coat stood with her hands in her pockets on an empty city street. The buildings loomed over her. Were they falling? This has potential, she thought.

Nancy pressed the remote button to select the program and read the description, but there were no words displayed, only the title, “Pick me.” She pressed the select button again to play the single episode. The show began with no title, no credits, no producer, just the woman on the empty city street. She took a step forward and appeared to be looking directly at Nancy, slumped on her couch. Her coat was pulled back from the wind and Nancy could see her clothes, a simple pencil skirt worn halfway between her ankles and knees, and a white blouse. Her shoes were black, maryjane style with a low heel. Her hair was coiffed in a fifties or early sixties style, and she wore bright red lipstick. Was she the only character in the show? She took another step forward and then pulled her hand out of her pocket. Was that a cell phone? It was out of place, in the wrong time line.

The woman looked at her phone and tapped with her thumb. A moment later, Nancy was startled by her cell phone ringing.

“Jesus!” She scrambled off the couch, her legs tangled in the blanket and she lunged for the phone that sat on the kitchen counter.

“Hello?”

“Pick me.” A woman’s voice said.

Nancy listened in silence for a second and then said, “Who is this?” The woman repeated herself, “Pick me.”

Nancy disconnected the call and set it back on the counter as if it was too hot to hold. A shiver ran up her back and she went back to the sofa then pulled the blanket over herself.

The woman on the TV was holding out her phone, aiming it at Nancy. Was that her? This is crazy! The woman took a few steps closer, and the buildings and street darkened behind her. She was so real, three-dimensional on the TV screen and the expression on her face was one of desperation. Nancy turned off the TV. She kicked off the blanket again and decided that watching TV was a bad idea. No binge TV today. I’m going for a walk.

She tied the laces on her sneakers and opened her coat closet, reaching for her black ski parka and spotted her trench coat pressed against the side wall of the closet. Her mind flashed on the creepy woman on the TV but before the coat could illicit a reaction, she was startled again by her ringing phone. She pulled her parka off the hanger and slid on the jacket walking back to the counter. The caller ID read, “Unknown.” Nancy sent the call to voicemail.

She decided to take the twenty-minute walk to her sister’s house and see if she wanted to have lunch together. Certainly, it was a better choice than watching some creepy TV show.

The cold air hit her face as she stepped onto the front porch. It felt good to be wakened from her laziness and a walk was exactly what she needed.

Nancy tapped her sister’s image on the phone, and the call was answered on the first ring.

“Jen?”

Jen didn’t say anything but Nancy could hear her breathing.

“Jen? Are you there? I can hear you breathing.”

Still no acknowledgment. Nancy disconnected the call and waited a few seconds, intending to call her sister again, but the phone rang in her hand. She accepted the call without reading the caller ID.

“Jen?”

“Pick me.” The woman’s voice said. The hairs stood on the back of her neck as the cold wind rustled the fallen leaves on the porch. Fear rose inside her.

“What is this? What do you want? Who are you?”

“Pick me.” The woman was pleading, drawing out the “Me.”

Nancy didn’t know what to do.

“Okay, okay...I pick you. Now please stop calling me!”

She quickly disconnected the call and then tapped her sister’s face on her phone. This time there was no answer. Something’s wrong. She tried again, and the call connected.

“Jen? Is everything alright?”

She heard Jen breathing again, and she also heard something in the background, a faint voice, a woman’s voice. THAT voice.

“Pick me.”

“Jen! Turn off the TV now! Do it now!” Nancy screamed into the phone. But her sister didn’t answer. She ran back into the house and grabbed the car keys. Tears broke free from her eyes, and she wiped one away from her cold cheek. Once in the car, she called her sister again, only this time she chose the facetime button. The call connected.

“Jen! Look at me!” But all she could see was the big screen TV with the woman in the trench coat walking toward her sister, waving her phone.

“Jen! Turn off the TV!” But then she remembered that the woman hadn’t called HER back.

“Jen, say I pick you. Just say it...I... pick...you! Do it!”

Her sister didn’t respond, and the call was disconnected.

Nancy drove as fast as she could in her busy, pedestrian neighborhood. She rounded the corner on her sister’s street screeching the tires and noted a man on the corner waving at her to slow down.

She left the car engine running and rushed to the door. It was locked. She banged on the door with the bottom of her fist and rang the doorbell. No answer. Where is she? The back door! Nancy ran around the side of the house and climbed through the thick hedge. Her jacket caught on a branch, tearing the fabric. She wrenched her arm free and shimmied around to the back, pinning herself against the sliding doors, cupping her eyes to see inside.

There she is! Nancy slapped her hands on the glass door but Jen didn’t flinch. Nancy screamed, “Jen, open the door!” No motion, no acknowledgment. Nancy moved to the far end of the door to see where her sister’s eyes were aimed. Oh, my God! The TV, the woman on the TV with her fists buried in her coat pocket, is gawking at my sister. Jen was frozen, staring. “Jen! Jen!” Nancy screamed. “Just say I pick you.” Do

it now! Jen, do it!” Jen was frozen, stuck in her stance, staring at the TV.

Nancy yanked the sliding door hard, and it popped open. She lost her balance as the door slid in the track, nearly falling, but she held firm on the handle with one hand and scrambled to her feet. She’s gone! “Jen!”

No answer. Nancy ran toward the front of the house, to the living room and dining room. Where is she? She went back to the family room and looked at the TV. Sweat plastered her hair to her head, and her heart pounded in her throat. She picked up the TV remote and pushed the colored, cubic shaped button.

“Jen!” There THEY were. Walking together, hands buried in pockets. They looked back at Nancy through the TV and smiled. •

Caloosahatchee

for Dan Gravely

by Gary McLouth

To be god of naming Mississippi, Appaloosa, Snake

To cling like red skin

Memory flush with pride

To fire the smoke of Tecumseh

A crazy horse

I'd gladly succumb to ash

Coal dust, the dried out skin Underworld

Deep in my throat, the songs

Measure notes, scores

By rote, bang drums

Dumb like heart beats

Who straights the bearing sea, tunes

the Golden Gate

If I knew, wouldn't you Seminole you, Caloosahatchee me

Scrawling onshore to see

Where The Action Is

by David Aiken

THENavy PBR patrol boat glides slowly and silently along the clong, barely making way, yawing slowly from one bank of the narrow waterway to the other. The ominous silence is broken only by the gentle splash of muddy water against the bow, the muted, low rumble of the twin diesel engines, and the occasional screeching of a tropical bird in the treetops. My muscles are taut, every nerve on edge, and my fatigues are soaked with sweat. I wait and watch and listen. The jungle canopy closes in over our heads like a malevolent, green shroud. I crouch low behind the gunwale and ready my weapon, flipping the selector lever from safe to full automatic.

This is enemy territory, Charlie country. No one talks, and the smoking lamp is out. The sound of a voice, the smell of burning tobacco, even a cough, could give away our presence and spoil the element of surprise. The Viet Cong is in charge here, night and day. Charlie owns this jungle, not us. “Victor Charlie,” the military phonetic slang for VC – Viet Cong. Charlie is our enemy, and Charlie could be anyone, any man, any woman, even any child. Anyone who is Vietnamese, that is. No Vietnamese national can be completely trusted, regardless of age or gender or position. The old man who cleans up our headquarters, the Vietnamese Army lieutenant who works alongside me, the little boy who comes by my hooch begging for candy. Any of them could be Viet Cong. And any one of them could put a knife between my ribs, or slit my throat, or plant a bomb in my quarters. There are no front lines here, as there were in other wars. Charlie is everywhere, in the cities, in the small villages and farms, and definitely out here in the boonies. But some places are a lot more dangerous than others. This narrow waterway through the jungle is one of those places.

After an hour of moving slowly up the clong with no action, the radioman taps the chief on the arm and hands him the headphones. The chief listens a moment, keys the microphone and quietly voices a short reply. He nods to the coxswain. The young sailor at the helm spins the wheel hard to port. There is no need for stealth now, and we make no attempts to conceal our presence. The wake generated by the PBR causes waves to spread out in a large “V” behind the boat. The waves crash hard against both banks as we race by. An old woman stands on the shore beside her hut, watching us. I can see the hatred she holds for us in her eyes. A hatred that comes not because our wake has just capsized her small fishing boat and destroyed her rickety dock, but because we are the enemy, foreign invaders in her land.

We quickly exit the narrow clong and pull out into a side channel of the Song Hau River. The coxswain pushes the throttles to full. The PBR lurches forward and its bow rises high out of the water as we speed

upriver. “What's happening, Chief?” I shout above the roar of the engines. “Is someone under attack?”

“We got a request to pick up wounded a few ‘clicks’ back up the river,” replies the chief.

Our boat suddenly slows, the bow drops back into the murky water, and we turn out of the main channel and into another clong, making our way more cautiously now. Sailors jump to man the twin fifty-caliber machine guns mounted fore and aft, their eyes searching the jungle on both sides for any signs of the enemy. The chief tosses me an M-79.

“It will be a lot easier to hit something with this than with that M-16,” he shouts. I lie down on the deck, resting the barrel of the grenade launcher against the gunwale, intently watching the impenetrable jungle. I can now hear the soft pop-pop-popping of small arms fire and the thud of mortars and grenades, their sounds muffled by the thick stand of vegetation.

The chief takes the helm himself now, skillfully steering the PBR along the maze of vegetation and mangrove roots that clog both banks of the waterway. The chief boatswain's mate knows all of the twists and turns of this river, all of the clongs and all of the villages along them. His knowledge of where the water runs deep and where the shallows will reach up and grab the thirty-two foot boat as it maneuvers can mean the difference between life and death for the chief and his crew. And, for me as well.

“There it is!” calls the forward lookout as we round another bend. Red smoke from a signal grenade wafts out across the water from somewhere in the jungle. As we draw closer, I can make out three men standing on the shoreline. They are Vietnamese, all wearing black pajamas, their faces streaked green and black with camouflage greasepaint. They have the hardened appearance of seasoned fighters. Vietnamese Rangers. The only way we can tell they are friendlies and not VC is that they are not shooting at us. The coxswain reduces power and the boat slows as it approaches the shoreline. As the boat reaches the bank, the coxswain reverses the thrust of the water jets. We glide into the bank, jerking to a sudden stop as the bow digs deeply into the mud. One of the Rangers shouts something in Vietnamese into the green wall of vegetation behind him and two more men suddenly appear from the cover of the jungle. One of them is a “snake eater,” an American, a Green Beret sergeant. He is the Special Forces adviser to these Vietnamese Rangers. He is dressed exactly as the Rangers he advises. His face also is streaked with green and black. He is recognizable as an American only by his Caucasian features and his height, over six feet.

The Green Beret sergeant is carrying a young boy. He is unconscious, and his arms, and legs and head flop down like those of a rag doll. Without saying a word, the Special Forces soldier passes the kid up to the Navy crewmen standing on the foredeck. They lay him on the

deck, face up. The coxswain slowly backs the boat away from the riverbank. The American advisor and his small group of Rangers instantly melt back into the jungle.

I kneel down beside the wounded boy. He is young, too young to be a soldier, even in the armies of this forgotten corner of hell. Twelve or thirteen. Maybe fourteen at most. He is dressed only in a pair of bloody, black shorts. A filthy field dressing covers the bullet wound in his abdomen. The medical corpsman, himself not much older than his patient, shoves a needle into one of the boy's thin arms and hands the IV line to me. I quickly connect a bag of sterile saline to the line. Opening the stopcock, I hold the bag high above my head, allowing the solution to drip into the boy’s vein, replacing the blood that has leaked away from the hole in his belly. The Navy corpsman inserts another IV into the boy's other arm and connects it to another bag of saline. “GO!” he shouts to the coxswain.

The PBR leaps ahead again. I grab the low gunwale to keep from sliding off into the water as we make full speed upriver, rapidly closing the distance between ourselves and the docks at Can Tho City. Dark clouds have started building up to the west.

“Who is this kid, Chief?” I ask. “Dunno,” comes the reply. “Too young to be a Ranger. Could be VC, could be a friendly who just got caught in the cross fire.”

The boy’s pulse is thready, an indication that his blood pressure is dangerously low. He has lost too much blood, has been too long in getting help. He has gone into shock. His organs are beginning to shut down, a prelude to death.

The Navy docks at Can Tho come into sight. A field ambulance is standing by to meet us, alerted to our approach by radio. Rain has already started to fall. We pull alongside the pier and gently lift the boy up to the waiting arms of the Vietnamese medics. The corpsman hands one IV to a medic, and I climb up after him, still holding the other. They put the wounded boy onto a stretcher and shove him into the rear of the vehicle. Siren wailing, the ambulance slowly leaves the dock, squeezing through the noisy crowd of bicycles, pedestrians, young couples on smoking mopeds, and children at play.

This is where I get off. I thank the chief for the ride. “Anytime,” he shouts above the noise, as he hands my M-16 up to me. “Next time, we'll take you out to where the action is.” •

Hurricane

by Sharon Whithill

Dressed in red on the map, that symbol with two wicked teeth, she feeds on the moisture and warmth of the sea. Cool and dry at the core, empty of heart, she pulsates,

she pumps, she rises. Wind-spun, cloud-swollen, obese, she rages, swashes her buckler,* spawns surges, spreads contagion, doles death by flood.

Oh, she is hungry, hungry. Chews whole cities to bits. Bites into buildings. Peels roofs like bananas, spits them out. Masticates mangroves. Spoils soil with salt.

Insatiable, belching, she gobbles gazebos. Gorges on gables. Gusts between louvres of roof-vents, exits crudely from drains with a drone like a drunkard’s fart.

Now she’s a Berserker bloated with frenzy. Foam at her mouth, she howls for blood like a beast, gnaws iron and steel. A machine, immune to fire and sword, she keeps grinding, churning.

The rampage forges her ruin. The land resists her. Friction slackens her speed. Stingy lakes, miserly rivers starve her of that which sustains her: ocean heat and humidity.

P OETRY • F IRST P LACE

Fed

by no fuel but her rage, she declines, dissipates, dies.

*To swash is to strike violently; a buckler was a small, round, handheld shield

Lola Bajola and The Fly Manuscript

by Laura Marske

The Curious Gray Mouse and the Christmas Tree

by Martha Jeffers

Pixel, the Filthy-Footed Feline

by Mariah Julio

ABOUTTHE GULF COAST WRITERS ASSOCIATION

The Gulf Coast Writers Association provides a forum for fellowship, education and information among writers in the community. It was founded to support, educate and encourage local area writers of all levels and genres, and to provide ideas, support, resources and networking opportunities to fellow writers.

The Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA) was founded in 1995 , incorporated in 2004, and granted not-for-profit status in 2006. There are more than 200 members of the organization. Scores of members regularly publish their work. Others matriculate into the ranks of published authors each year. Genres include fiction, nonfiction, play and screenwriting, poetry, commercial media and children’s books.

The general meeting is held the third Saturday of each month, often featuring guest speakers, workshop

presenters and member panels. In March the meeting is postponed one week due to the Fort Myers Reading Festival. They do not hold a meeting in December due to the holidays.

Meetings are held 10am-12pm at Zion Lutheran Church, located at 7401 Winkler Rd. in Fort Myers. First time guests are free. Newcomers are always welcome.

For information about membership, email membership@gcwa.org.

The GCWA has an annual Writing Contest. Information about the 2019 Writing Contest will be available in the autumn. Categories are Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Children’s Stories. The Writing Contest is open to GCWA members and the public. Winners will be announced in April 2019.

For information about the 2019 Writing Contest, email SpecialProjects@gcwa.org.

EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS

whatGoeson

July 1

SUNDAY

•20 Years of Hell – Mick Foley: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Lakeland Flying Tigers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 4p. 768-4210.

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

4

WEDNESDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Dunedin Blue Jays: Independence Day celebration.Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Freedom Fest: Live music, kids zone, fireworks. Along Hendry St btwn Bay St & Edwards Dr, downtown Ft Myers’ historic River District. 6-10p, fireworks 9:30p. Free.

•Scotty Bryan: Live music. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 6:30p. 282-3232.

5

THURSDAY

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Deb & The Dynamics: Blues band. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7:30p. Free. 282-3232.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Dunedin Blue Jays: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•John Charles: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

6

FRIDAY

•Art Reception: Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 5-8p. Free. 939-2787.

•Art Reception: Art League of Fort Myers, 1451 Monroe St, Ft Myers. 6-8p. Free. 275-3970.

•Art Reception: Arts for ACT Gallery, 2265 1st St, Ft Myers. 6-10p. Free. 3375050.

•Art Reception: Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. 6-10p. Live music. Free. 333-1933.

•Art Walk: Receptions, exhibits, demos, live music

at severalgalleries & studios in downtown Ft Myers’ historic River District. 6-10p.Free. 3375050.

•Exhibition Reception: Collier Museum at Government Center,3331 Tamiami Tr E, Naples. 67p. Free. 252-8476.

•John Charles: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•JP Soars & The Red Hots: Concert. Buckingham Blues Bar, 5641 Buckingham Rd, Ft Myers. 8-11p. 693-7111.

•Marty Stokes Band: Blues. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7:30p. Free. 282-3232.

•Summer Art Market: Indoor exhibits, demos, live music, kids activities, food.,Englewood Art Center, 350 S. McCall Rd, Englewood. 10a-3p. Free. 941-474-5548.

7 SATURDAY

•Art Reception: Center for the Visual Arts Bonita Springs, 26100 Old 41 Rd, Bonita Springs.6-8p. Free. 495-8989.

•Glam Bam Burleque –Show Me the Honeys: Erotic performances. Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. Cocktails 7p, concert 8p. 333-1933.

•John Charles: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Marty Stokes Band: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p-1a. 333-2225.

•Mike Imbasciani & The Bluez Rockerz: Blues. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7p. Free. 282-3232.

•Music in the Garden: The

Woodwork. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 24p.643-7275.

•Roots Almighty: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 7-10p. Free. 313-6576.

•Summer Art Market: Indoor exhibits, demos, live music, kids activities, food.Englewood Art Center, 350 S. McCall Rd, Englewood. 10a-3p. Free. 941-474-5548.

8

Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Hypnotist Gary Conrad: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Matt Walden: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 6:30-9:30p. Free. 313-6576.

•Scotty Bryan: Live music. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 6:30p. 282-3232.

12

SUNDAY

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Music in the Garden: The Woodwork. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 24p.643-7275.

9

MONDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Palm Beach Cardinals: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

10

TUESDAY

•Art Reception: Marco Island Center for the Arts, 1010 Winterberry Dr, Marco Island. 5:30-7p. Free. 394-4221.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Palm Beach Cardinals: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

11

WEDNESDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Palm Beach Cardinals: Hammond Stadium, 14400

THURSDAY

•Carmen Ciricillo: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Cirque du Soleil - Crystal: Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 7:30p. 948-7825.

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Palm Beach Cardinals: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Jamie & Shelly: Live music.Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7p. 282-3232.

•Sierra Club Calusa Group Meeting: Ft Myers Library, 1651 Lee St, meeting rm CD, Ft Myers. 6-8p. 5334636.

13

FRIDAY

•Carmen Ciricillo: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Cirque du Soleil - Crystal: Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 7:30p. 948-7825.

•Evening on Fifth: Live music, dancing, art demos

&exhibits, dining, shopping along 5th Ave S, Naples. 6:30-9:30p. Free.692-8436.

•Midnite Johnny Morana: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p1a. 333-2225.

•Sounds of Summer Concert Series: The Wodowork & Mountain Hollar.Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. 8-10:30p. 333-1933.

14

SATURDAY

•Carmen Circillo: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Cirque du Soleil - Crystal: Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 4 & 7:30p. 948-7825.

•Jason Haram Group: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p-1a. 333-2225.

•Lee County Sports – A Look Back: Panel Discussion. Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 10a. Free. 939-2787.

•Let Me Be There: Michele Pruyn & Patti Highland concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•MangoMania: Food fest, contests, live music, arts & crafts, kids’ activities, Mango Queenparade. German-American Social Club, 2101 Pine Island Rd, Cape Coral. 10a-5p. Free. 283-0888.

•Opposite States: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 7-10p. Free. 313-6576.

•Patriotic Pops: Gulf Coast Symphony concert. BB Mann Hall, 13350 FSW Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 4814849.

•Second Saturday: SoCo

Circus Arts Conservatory presents their ‘Summer Circus Spectacular’ thru July 28 in the Historic Asolo Theatre in Sarasota. For information, Call 941-355-9805.

Cultural District galleries, theaters, shops along Colonial Blvd, McGregor Blvd, Royal Palm Sq Blvd, Summerlin Rd. Ft Myers. 5-10p. Free. 877-9878.

•Sports, Diversity & Society: Panel Disocussion. Williams Academy Black History Museum, 1936 Henderson Ave, Ft Myers. 12p. Free. 939-2787.

•SummerJazz on the Gulf: Late Night Brass.Free waterfront concert on Watkins Lawn. Naples Beach Hotel, 851 Gulf Shore Blvd N, Naples. 6:309:30p. Free. 261-2222.

15

SUNDAY

•Cirque du Soleil - Crystal: Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 1:30 & 5p. 948-7825.

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Let Me Be There: Michele Pruyn & Patti Highland concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p & 7:30. 941-488-1115.

•MangoMania: Food fest, contests, live music, arts & crafts, kids’ activities, Mango Queenparade. German-American Social Club, 2101 Pine Island Rd, Cape Coral. 10a-5p. Free. 283-0888.

•The Greatest Love of All

The Whitney Houston Show: Belinda Davids concert. BB Mann Hall, 13350 FSW Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 481-4849.

16

MONDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs St

Lucie Mets: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

17

TUESDAY

•Breakfast with The Birds: Lecture. Rookery Bay National Research Reserve, Environmental Learning Center, 300 Tower Rd, Naples. 9:30a. Register. 530-5977.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs St

Lucie Mets: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six Mile Cypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

18

WEDNESDAY

•Art After Hours: Art exhibit & live music. ArtisNaples, Hayes Hall, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd, Naples. 6-9p. Free. 597-1900.

•Bobby James: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 6:30-9:30p. Free. 313-6576.

•Brennen Yetter Jazz Trio: Concert. Marco Island Center for the Arts, 1010 Winterberry Dr, Marco Island. 5:30p. 394-4221.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs St

Lucie Mets: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Robin Williams Tribute –Roger Kabler: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College

Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Scotty Bryan: Live music. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 6:30p. 282-3232.

19 THURSDAY

•Audubon of SWFL Meeting: 10868 Metro Pkwy, Ft Myers. 6p. Free. 410-6971.

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Deb & The Dynamics: Blues band. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7:30p. Free. 282-3232.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Lakeland Flying Tigers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•I’ll Be Seeing You: Eric Watters concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Jay Hewlett, BJ Odom: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Wild Coffee Duo: Concert. Shell Point, Grand Cypress rm, The Woodlands, 14441 Woodsong Ln, Ft Myers. 7p. 489-8472.

20 FRIDAY

•Ben Allen Band: Country music concert. The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon, 2158 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. 985-9839.

•Eddie Turner: Concert.

Buckingham Blues Bar, 5641 Buckingham Rd, Ft Myers. 8-11p. 693-7111.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Lakeland Flying Tigers: Post-game fireworks. Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•I’ll Be Seeing You: Eric Watters concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Jay Hewlett, BJ Odom: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Joey Tenuto Band: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p-1a. 333-2225.

•Kate Keys Band: Live music.Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7:30p. 282-3232.

•Music Walk: Live music & dancing at several cafes, clubs &galleries. Downtown Ft Myers’ historic River District. 610p. Free. 855-732-3836.

21 SATURDAY

•Dueling Pianos: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 7-10p. Free. 313-6576.

•Ellie Lee Band: Live music. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7p. Free. 282-3232.

•Florida Music Food Initiative Benefit Concert: Joe Virga, Roy Schneider & Kim Mayfield, Cindy Bear & Franc Robert, Frankie J & the Chicken Parade, James Hawkins, more. Americana Community Music Association Listening Room, All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, 2756 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. Free. 691-4069.

•Fort Myers Derby Girls vs Swan City: All-female roller derby. Ft Myers Skatium, 2250 Bwy, Ft Myers. 6p. 482-7789.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Lakeland Flying Tigers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 6p. 768-4210.

•Gulf Coast Writers Association Meeting: Guest speaker. Zion Lutheran Church, 7401 Winkler Rd, Ft Myers. 10a-12p. Free. 770-906-7885.

•I’ll Be Seeing You: Eric Watters concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-4881115.

•Jay Hewlett, BJ Odom: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 4795233.

•Mommy Needs a Drink: Alana Opie concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa

Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

•Sports, Diversity & Society: Panel Discussion. Williams Academy Black History Museum, 1936 Henderson Ave, Ft Myers. 12p. Free. 939-2787.

•The Comedianettes: Four female comics from Florida. Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 8p. 939-2787.

•The Livesays: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p-1a. 333-2225.

22

SUNDAY

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Mommy Needs a Drink: Alana Opie concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

25 WEDNESDAY

•Bobby James: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 6:30-9:30p. Free. 313-6576.

•Open Mic Night: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Scotty Bryan: Live music. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 6:30p. 282-3232.

26 THURSDAY

•Art Reception: Visual Arts Center, 210 Maud St, Punta Gorda. 5-7p. Free. 941639-8810.

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine

Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•It’s About Time!: Diana Vytell concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

•Jamie & Shelly: Live music.Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7p. 282-3232.

•Rich Shultis, Stacy Kendro: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

27

FRIDAY

•It’s About Time!: Diana Vytell concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

•JP Soars & The Red Hots: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p1a. 333-2225.

•Pro Bull Riders: Rodeo. Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 8p. 948-7825.

•Rich Shultis, Stacy Kendro: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Sounds of Summer Concert Series: Curate SWFL production.Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. 8-10:30p. 333-1933.

28

SATURDAY

•Brother Love: Live music. Bert’s Bar & Grill,4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 7p. Free. 282-3232.

•Charlie Moon Band: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 7-10p. Free. 313-6576.

•Family Day: Native Plants. Marco Island Historical Museum,180 S Heathwood

The Naples Players present ‘Chicago’ thru July 29 in the Sugden Community Theatre in downtown Naples. Call 263-7990 for information.

The Kate Keys Band perform at Bert’s Bar & Grill in Matlacha on July 20. Call 282-3232 for information.

what Goes on

Dr, Marco Island. 6-7p. Free. 642-1440.

•It’s Yesterday Once More: Michele Pruyn concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Mean Mary: Concert. Millie Van Horn opens. Americana Community Music Association

Listening Room, All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, 2756 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. Free. 691-4069.

•Music in the Garden: Kelly & Mason. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 2-4p.6437275.

•Pro Bull Riders: Rodeo. Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 8p. 948-7825.

•Rich Shultis, Stacy Kendro: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 4795233.

•Shaw Davis & The Black Ties: Blues band. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 9p-1a. 3332225.

• S t a g e 2 I m p r o v : Comedy. The Studio Players, Joan Jenks Auditorium, Golden Gate Community Center, 5701 Golden Gate Pkwy, Naples. 8p. 3899192.

29

SUNDAY

•It’s Yesterday Once More: Michele Pruyn concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W

Tampa Ave, Venice. 2 & 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Music in the Garden: Kelly & Mason. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 2-4p.643-7275.

30

MONDAY

•Henry Ford’s Birthday: Cake 10a, behind-the-scenes tours of Ford’s winter home 11a, 12 & 1p. Edison & Ford Winter Estates, 2350 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 10a-2p. Free. 334-7419.

•WWE Live SummerSlam Heatwave Tour: Pro wrestling. Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Pkwy, Estero. 7:30p. 948-7825.

31

TUESDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Jupiter Hammerheads: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

August

1

WEDNESDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Jupiter Hammerheads: Hammond Stadium, 14400

Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

2

THURSDAY

•Better Late Than Never: Carey Yaruss concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Jupiter Hammerheads: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 7684210.

•Frank Del Pizzo, Larry Venturino: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

3

FRIDAY

•Art Reception: Art League of Fort Myers, 1451 Monroe St, Ft Myers. 6-8p. Free. 275-3970.

•Art Reception: Arts for ACT Gallery, 2265 1st St, Ft Myers. 6-10p. Free. 3375050.

•Art Reception: Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. 6-10p. Live music. Free. 333-1933.

•Art Walk: Receptions, exhibits, demos, live music at severalgalleries & studios in downtown Ft Myers’ historic River District. 11a-4p.Free. 3375050.

•Cruising to the Movies: Michele Kasanofsky concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Florida Fire Frogs: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Frank Del Pizzo, Larry Venturino: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Sally Barris: Concert. Dan Philgreen opens. Americana Community Music Association Listening Room, All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, 2756 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. Free. 691-4069.

4 SATURDAY

•Art Reception: Center for the Visual Arts Bonita Springs, 26100 Old 41 Rd, Bonita Springs.6-8p. Free. 495-8989.

•Best of Broadway Summer Pops: Gulf Coast Symphony concert. BB Mann Hall, 13350 FSW Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 4814849.

•Contribution of Women in Sports: Panel Disocussion. Ft Myers Library, 2450 1st St, Ft Myers. 10a. Free. 939-2787.

•Cruising to the Movies: Michele Kasanofsky concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Florida Fire Frogs: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 6p. 7684210.

•Frank Del Pizzo, Larry Venturino: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Franny Lonesome: Francine Smetts concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-488-1115.

5 SUNDAY

•Better Late Than Never: Carey Yaruss concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-488-1115.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Florida Fire Frogs: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 4p. 768-4210.

•I Got Rhythm: Joel Broome concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

8 WEDNESDAY

•Steel Pulse: Reggae concert. The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon, 2158 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. 985-9839.

9 THURSDAY

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Franny Lonesome: Francine Smetts concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Greg Hahn: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Sierra Club Calusa Group Meeting: Ft Myers Library, 1651 Lee St, meeting rm CD, Ft Myers. 6-8p. 5334636.

•Summer Stock Late Night Cabaret: Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 11p. 941-488-1115.

10 FRIDAY

•Evening on Fifth: Live music, dancing, art demos &exhibits, dining, shopping along 5th Ave S, Naples. 6:30-9:30p. Free.692-8436.

•Greg Hahn: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Sounds of Summer Concert Series: Roots Almighty,

479-5233.

The Regulars.Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. 8-10:30p. 333-1933.

•Summer Stock Late Night Cabaret: Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 11p. 941-488-1115.

•The Piano Men: Elton John & Billy Joel tribute concert. Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 8p. 7725862.

•Venice Theatre Staff Cabaret: Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

11

SATURDAY

•Art Reception: DAAS Coop Gallery, Royal Palm Square, 1400 Colonial Blvd, # 84, Ft Myers. 610p. Free. 590-8645.

•Greg Hahn: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Music in the Garden: Kelly & Mason. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 2-4p.643-7275.

•Sinatra Songbook: John Larivieree concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-4881115.

•Singer/Songwriter Circle Show: Concert.Americana Community Music Association Listening Room, All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, 2756 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. Free. 691-4069.

•The Piano Men: Elton John & Billy Joel tribute concert. Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 8p. 7725862.

•Venice Theatre Staff Cabaret: Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

Comedian Carmen Ciricillo will be appearing at the Laugh In Comedy Cafe in Fort Myers, July12-14. Call

‘I Remember Marco’ is an interactive exhibition at the Marco Island Historical Museum thru October 4. For information, call 642-1440.

12

SUNDAY

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Music in the Garden: Kelly & Mason. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 2-4p.643-7275.

•Second Saturday: SoCo

Cultural District galleries, theaters, shops along Colonial Blvd, McGregor Blvd, Royal Palm Sq Blvd, Summerlin Rd. Ft Myers. 5-10p. Free. 877-9878.

•Sinatra Songbook: John Larivieree concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-488-1115.

•The Piano Men: Elton John & Billy Joel tribute concert. Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 3p. 772-5862.

13

Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Charlotte Stone Crabs: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 7684210.

•Not My Type: Liz Pacoe & Friends concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

•Steve Lazlow: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Trilliam Piano Trio: Concert. Shell Point, Grand Cypress rm, The Woodlands, 14441 Woodsong Ln, Ft Myers. 7p. 489-8472.

17

MONDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Charlotte Stone Crabs: Hammond Stadium, 14400

Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

14

TUESDAY

•Art Reception: Marco Island Center for the Arts, 1010 Winterberry Dr, Marco Island. 5:30-7p. Free. 394-4221.

•Breakfast with The Birds: Lecture. Rookery Bay National Research Reserve, Environmental Learning Center, 300 Tower Rd, Naples. 9:30a. Register. 530-5977.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Charlotte Stone Crabs: Hammond Stadium, 14400

Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

15

FRIDAY

•Big Red Nose Burlesque presents – Summer Beach Party: Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Clearwater

Threshers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Memories of Elvis: David Morin. Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 8p. 7725862.

•Music Walk: Live music & dancing at several cafes, clubs &galleries. Downtown Ft Myers’ historic River District. 610p. Free. 855-732-3836.

•Steve Lazlow: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

18

WEDNESDAY

•Bobby James: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 6:30-9:30p. Free. 313-6576.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Charlotte Stone Crabs: Hammond Stadium, 14400

Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Magician Nathan Coe

Marsh: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

THURSDAY

•Audubon of SWFL Meeting: 10868 Metro Pkwy, Ft Myers. 6p. Free. 410-6971.

•Dan Miller & Lew Del

Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. Show 7:30p. 9363239.

•Steve Lazlow: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•SummerJazz on the Gulf: T Bone Hamilton’s Big East Revue.Free waterfront concert on Watkins Lawn. Naples Beach Hotel, 851 Gulf Shore Blvd N, Naples. 6:30-9:30p. Free. 2612222.

19

SUNDAY

•As Time Goes By: Stephen Ditchfield concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-4881115.

•Big Red Nose Burlesque presents – Summer Beach Party: Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Clearwater Threshers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 4p. 768-4210.

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a-2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Memories of Elvis: David Morin. Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 3p. 7725862.

•Not My Type: Liz Ppacoe & Friends concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941488-1115.

22 WEDNESDAY

•Bobby James: Live music. Ft Myers Brewing Co, 12811 Commerce Lakes Dr, # 27, Ft Myers. 6:30-9:30p. Free. 313-6576.

23 THURSDAY

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 333-2225.

•Tim The Dairy Farmer: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

•Tony’s Girls: Kim Kollar concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

24

FRIDAY

•Sounds of Summer Concert Series: Singer-Songwriter Competition.Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers.8-10:30p. 333-1933.

•Tim The Dairy Farmer: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 4795233.

•Tony’s Girls: Kim Kollar concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

25 SATURDAY

•Dana Cooper: Concert. Ross Jordan opens. Americana Community Music Association Listening Room, All Faiths

Unitarian Congregation, 2756 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. Free. 691-4069.

•Fort Myers Derby Girls vs Molly Roger Rollergirls: All-female roller derby. Ft Myers Skatium, 2250 Bwy, Ft Myers. 6p. 482-7789.

•Music in the Garden: Roy Schneider & Kim Mayfield. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 2-4p.643-7275.

•Rodgers & Hammerstein

Songbook: Kristofer Geddie concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

•Tim The Dairy Farmer: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 4795233.

•Tony’s Girls: Kim Kollar concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-488-1115.

26

SUNDAY

•As Time Goes By: Stephen Ditchfield concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 2p. 941-4881115.

•Jazz Brunch: Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 11a2p. Free. 333-2225.

•Music in the Garden: Roy Schneider & Kim Mayfield. Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. 2-4p.643-7275.

•Rodgers & Hammerstein

Songbook: Kristofer Geddie concert. Venice Theatre, 140 W Tampa Ave, Venice. 7:30p. 941-488-1115.

27

MONDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Bradenton Marauders: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

28

TUESDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Bradenton Marauders: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•Symphonic Chorale of SWFL: Summer Sing! concert. Davis Art Center, 2301 1st St, Ft Myers. 7p. 560-5695

29

WEDNESDAY

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Bradenton Marauders: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

30

THURSDAY

•Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Quartet: Jazz. The Barrel Room, Twisted Vine Bistro, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. 7-11:30p. 3332225.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Bradenton Marauders: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•James Yon, Miguel Colon: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30p. 479-5233.

31

SATURDAY

•Cody Johnson: Country music concert. The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon, 2158 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 7p. 985-9839.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Clearwater Threshers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 6p. 7684210.

•Gulf Coast Writers Association Meeting: Guest speaker. Zion Lutheran Church, 7401 Winkler Rd, Ft Myers. 10a-12p. Free. 770-906-7885.

•Memories of Elvis: David Morin. Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 8p. 7725862.

•Repossessed: Performance & after show talk with playwright Theatre.

FRIDAY

•Art Reception: Wasmer Gallery, FGCU Arts Complex, 10501 FGCU Blvd S., Ft Myers. 5-7p. Free. 590-7199.

•Fort Myers Miracle vs Clearwater Threshers: Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six MileCypress Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7p. 768-4210.

•James Yon, Miguel Colon: Laugh In Comedy Cafe, 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. 7:30 & 9:30p. 4795233.

ongoing theater

•Agnes of God: Thru Jul

1.The Studio Players, Joan Jenks Auditorium, Golden Gate Community Center,

Roy Schneider &Kim Mayfield will be performing at the Florida Music Food Initiative benefit Concert on July 21 at the Americana Community Music Association’s Listening Room at the All Faiths Unitarian Congregation in Fort Myers. For information, call 691-4069.

what Goes on

5701 Golden Gate Pkwy, Naples. 389-9192.

•Annie: Thru Aug 11.

Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, 1380Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 278-4422.

•Chicago - The Musical: Thru Jul 29. The Naples Players. Blackburn Hall, Sugden Theater, 701 5th Ave S, Naples. 263-7990.

•Evil Dead - The Musical (High School Version): Jul 19-22. Laboratory Theater of Florida,1634Woodford Ave, Ft Myers. 218-0481.

•Hush Up, Sweet Charlotte: Thru Jul 1. Laboratory Theater of Florida, 1634 Woodford Ave, Ft Myers. 218-0481.

•Into the Woods: Aug 3-12. Venice Theatre, 140 W. Tampa Ave, Venice. 941488-1115.

•It’s Only a Play: Aug 3-26. Laboratory Theater of Florida,1634Woodford Ave, Ft Myers. 218-0481.

•Murder Most Elite: Jul 6Sep 29: Fri & Sat.

Seminole Gulf Railway Murder Mystery Dinner Train,2805 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 275-8487.

•No Mrs Jones I Expect You Die: thru Sep 2: Sun, Wed, Thu.Seminole Gulf Railway Murder Mystery Dinner Train,2805 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 275-8487.

•Summer Cabaret Festival: Jul 13-Aug 27. Venice Theatre, 140 W. Tampa Ave, Venice. 941-488-1115.

•Summer Circus Spectacular: Thru Jul 28.

Circus Arts Conservatory.

Historic Asolo Theatre, 5555 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota. 941-359-5700.

•The Bad Seed: Jul 20-22.

Cultural Park Theater 528

Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 772-5862.

•The Queen of Bingo: Jul 6-

8. Cultural Park Theater 528 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. 772-5862.

•The Savannah Sipping Society: Thru Jul 22. Off

Broadway Palm Theatre, 1380 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 278-4422.

•Zombie Prom: Jul 28-Aug 12. Venice Theatre, 140 W. Tampa Ave, Venice. 941488-1115.

THEATERS

•Broadway Palm Dinner

Theatre: Thru Aug 11: Annie. 1380 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers.278-4422.

•Circus Arts Conservatory

Thru Jul 28: Summer

Circus Spectacular.

Historic Asolo Theatre, 5555 N Tamiami Tr, Sarasota. 941-359-5700. 941-355-9805

•Off Broadway Palm

Theatre: Thru Jul 22: The Savannah Sipping Society. 1380 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 278-4422.

•The Naples Players: Thru Jul 29: Chicago. Sugden Theater, 701 5th Ave S, Naples. 263-7990.

•Venice Theatre: Jul 6-Aug

27: Summer Cabaret; Jul

28-Aug 12: Zombie Prom. 140 W. Tampa Ave, Venice. 941-488-1115.

art galleries

•Alliance for the Arts: 10091 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. Thru Aug 11: Hometown Teams - Sports in American Communities.

Mon-Fri 9a-5p & Sat 9a-1p. Free. 939-2787.

•Aldo Castillo Gallery: Miromar Design Center, 10800 Corkscrew Rd, Estero. Mon-Fri 9:30a5:30p & Sat 10a-5p. Free. 312-375-8887.

•Another Time: 1414 Dean St, Ft Myers. Daily 11a-6p; Fri & Sat 11a-8p. Free. 672-4607.

•Arsenault Studio & Banyan Arts Gallery: 1199

3rd St, Naples. Mon-Sat 10a-5p & Sun 1-5p. Free. 263-1214.

•Art Council of Southwest Florida Co-Op Gallery: Coconut Point Mall, 8074 Mediterranean Dr, Estero.

Mon-Sat 11a-5p & Sun 125p. Free. 267-3049.

•Art League of Fort Myers: 1451 Monroe St, Ft Myers.

Jul: Celebrate: Aug: Arts of Summer. Free open painting Wed 9:30-12p.

Tue-Sat 11a-3p & 6-9p 1st Fri of month. Free. 2753970.

•Arts For ACT Gallery:

2265 First St, Ft Myers.

Jul 6-30: Of Myth or Lore;

Aug 3-Sep 3: Tom

Breckinridge, Michael Klein. Mon-Sun 11a-4:30p, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Fri 11a-10p. Free. 337-5050.

•Arts on Fire Studio & Gallery: 6210 Shirley St, #103, Naples. Mon-Thu 10a-4p. Free. 914-4840608.

•Baker Museum: ArtisNaples, Hayes Hall, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd, Naples. Closed until further notice. 597-1900.

•Bert’s Pine Bay Gallery: 4332 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. Sun & Mon 10a5p, Tue-Sat 10a-7p. Free. 283-1335.

•BIG ARTS: 900 Dunlop Rd, Sanibel. No summer exhibits. Mon-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 395-0900.

•Bob Rauschenberg Gallery: FSW State College, 8099 College Pkwy SW, Ft Myers. Thru Aug 18: Jack Kerouac& Ed Ruscha - On the Road. Mon-Fri 10a-4p & Sat 11a3p. Free. 489-9313.

•Cape Coral Art League: 516 Cultural Park Blvd, Cape Coral. Meetings 1st Mon 9am. Open painting Wed 1-4p. Sun 1-4p, MonThu 10a-4p, Fri 1-9p, Sat 9a-1p. Free. 772-5657.

•Cape Coral Arts Studio: 4533 Coronado Pkwy in Rubicond Park, Cape Coral. Aug 31-Sep 27: Aquarium. Mon-Fri 9a4:30p. Free. 574-0802.

•Casa Art Studio: 5860 Shirley St, #104, Naples. Mon-Fri 10a-4p. Free. 2895070.

•Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs: 26100 Old 41 Rd, Bonita Springs. No summer exhibits. Mon-Fri 10a-4p & Sat 1-5p. Free. 495-8989.

•Clark Art Studio: Mercato, 9155 Strada Place, #5155, Naples. Mon-Sat 11a-9p &

Sun 1-9p. Free. 616-2601533.

•Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery: 52388 Tamiami Tr, Ochopee. Daily 10a-5p. Free. 6952428.

•Clyde Butcher’s Venice Gallery & Studio: 237 Warfield Ave, Venice. TueFri 10a-4:30p. Free. 4860811.

•Collier County Museum at Government Center: 3331 Tamiami Tr E, Naples. Jul 13-Sep 29: The Lure of Florida Fishing. Mon-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 252-8476.

•DAAS Co-op Art Gallery: Royal Palm Square, 1400 Colonial Blvd, # 84, Ft Myers. Jul: N Ft Myers High School Student Show; Aug: Union Artists Studios. Tue-Sat 10a-6p. Free. 590-8645.

•East West Fine Art: Bigham Galleria, 2425 Tamiami Tr N, #102, Naples. Mon-Fri 11a-4p & Sat 11a-2p.Free. 8219459.

•East West Fine Art: Mercato, 9115 Strada Pl, #5130, Naples. Jul 1-15: Color Me Happy; Aug 17-31: Crème Brulee & Champagne. MonSat 10a-9p & Sun 12-6p. Free. 220-7503.

•Elaine Murphy Art: 6240 Shirley St, #204 upstairs, Naples. Mon-Fri 10a-4p. Free. Naples. 941-320-1617.

•Emily James Gallery: 720 5th Ave S, # 111, Naples. Tue-Sat 12-8p & Sun 125p. Free. 777-3283

•Englewood Art Center: Ringling College of Art & Design, 350 S. McCall Rd, No summer exhibits. Tue 9a-9p & Wed-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 941-474-5548.

•Estero Art League: Estero Community Center, 9200 Corkscrew Palms Rd, Estero. 489-5216.

•Florida Gulf Coast University Art Galleries: 10501 FGCU Blvd S., Ft Myers. Wasmer Gallery — Aug 20-Sep 20: Eleven Voices – FGCU Art Faculty exhibit. ArtLab — Aug 30-Oct 4: The Nature of Typography & Literature. Wasmer Gallery in Arts Complex, ArtLab in Library.Mon-Fri, 10a-4p & Thu 10a-7p. Free. 5907199.

•Fort Myers Beach Art Association: 3030 Shell Mound, Ft Myers Beach. Thru Oct 17: Members show. Oct -Apr Mon-Sat 10a-3p, May-Sep Wed & Thu 9a12p. Free. 463-3909.

•Gallery Vibe: 851 Vanderbilt Beach Rd, Naples. Mon-Sat 10a-5p & Sun 12-5p. Free. 417-3450.

•Gardner Colby Gallery: 386 & 365 Broad Ave S, Naples. Mon-Sat 10a-5p & Sun 12-5p. Free. 403-7787.

•Guess-Fisher Gallery: 1187 8th St S, Naples. Mon-Thu 12-5p, Fr & Sat 12-9p, Sun 1-5p. Free. 263-3417.

•Harbour View Gallery: 5789 Cape Harbour Dr, #104, Cape Coral. Daily

11a-8p. Free. 540-5789.

•Hirdie-Girdie Art Gallery: 2490 Library Way, Sanibel. Nov-Apr: Mon-Sat

10a-5p. Free. 395-0027.

•Howl Gallery/Tattoo: 4160 Cleveland Ave, Ft. Myers. Mon-Thu 11a-8p, Fri & Sat 12-10p,1st Sat of month 711p. Free. 332-0161.

•HW Gallery: 1305 Third St S, Naples. Daily 10a-5p. Free. 263-6640.

•Iona Art Gallery: 16681 McGregor Blvd, #201, Ft Myers. Tue-Sat 10a-4p. Free. 246-5876.

•Island Conclave: 5101 Pine Island Rd, Bokeelia. TueSat 11a-5p. Free. 2828488.

•Island Visions: 4643 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. Daily 10a-5p. Free. 282-0452.

•John Ebling Veteran Art Gallery: American Legion Post #38, 1837 Jackson St, Ft Myers. Free. 332-1853.

•Lovegrove Gallery & Garden: 4637 Pine Island Rd NW, Matlacha. Mon & Thu-Sat 11-5p, Sun 124p.Free. 283-6453.

•Marc Harris Wildlife & Fine Art Photography Gallery: 1401 Lee St, #B, Ft Myers. Mon-Fri 10a-4p & Sat 12-4p. Free. 789-7027.

•Marco Island Center for the Arts: 1010

Winterberry Dr, Marco Island. Jul 2-31: Big Bold and Beautiful, Gail Coppock; Aug 6-28: Power It Up - The Art of Energy, Martha Fort. TueSat 9a-4p. Free. 394-4221.

•Marco Island Historical Museum: 180 S Heathwood Dr, Marco Island. Thru Oct 4: I Remember Marco. Tue-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 642-1440.

•Marianne Friedland Gallery: 359 Broad Ave S, Naples. Mon-Sat 10-5p. Free. 2623484.

•Michaela & Leigh Art: 6240 Shirley St, #103, Naples. Mon-Fri 10a-4p. Free. 272-6383.

•Michelle Kaytaz Gallery & Studio: 6230 Shirley St, #204 upstairs, Naples. Mon-Fri 10a-4p. Free. 817944-2407.

•Museum of the Everglades: 105 W Bwy,Everglades City. Thru Aug 3: Everglades City – Our Home; Aug 4-Nov 2: Abandoned Vehicles of the Everglades. Mon-Sat 9a4p. Free. 695-0008.

•Naples Art Association: 585 Park St, Naples. Thru Aug 3: Camera USA Photography; Aug 13-Sep 19: Your Choice. Mon-Fri 10a-4p. Free. 262-6517.

•Naples Depot Museum: 1051 Fifth Ave S, Naples. Jul 5-Sep 28: Mysteries of Nature – Artwork by Lois Selfon. Mon-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 262-6525.

•Ollie Gentry Mack Photography Studio & Gallery: 2180 W 1st St, #210, Ft. Myers. Tue-Sat 10a-6p & 1st Fri 10a-10p. Free. 332-1295.

•Os Urbanos Studios/Gallery: 1342 Colonial Blvd, #C24, Ft Myers. Sat 10a-2p & 2nd Sat 5-10p. Free. 8779878.

•Phil Fisher Gallery: 810 12th Ave S, Naples. MonThu 11a-5p, Fri & Sat 11a9p. Free. 403-8393.

•Quidley & Company Fine Art Gallery: 375 Broad Ave S, Naples. Mon-Sat 10a-7p & Sun 11a-5p. 261-4300.

Off-Broadway Palm Theatre presents ‘The Savannah Sipping Society’ thru July 22 at the Broadway Palm Theatre in Fort Myers. Call 278-4422 for information.

•Rene Miville Gallery: Franklin Shops, 2200 1st St, 2nd fl, Ft Myers. MonSat 10a-8p & Sun 12-7p. Free. 333-3130.

•Ringling College of Art +

Design Galleries: Basch Gallery (Academic Center, 2363 Old Bradenton Rd)— thru Aug 2: Petticoat

Painters. Stulberg Gallery (Basch Visual Arts Center, 1188 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Way, Sarasota) —no summer exhibit. Thompson Gallery (Keating Center, 2700 N. Tamiami Tr, Sarasota.) — thru Sep 21: Octavio Perez. Willis Smith Gallery (Academic Center, 2363 Old Bradenton Rd) — thru Aug 2: Petticoat Painters. Mon-Fri 10a-4p. Free. 941-359-7563.

•Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center: 300 Tower Rd, Naples. Thru Oct 22: Parallel

Harmonies. Free. Mon-Sat 9a-4p. 530-5940.

•Rosen Gallery & Studios: North Line Plaza, 2172 J & C Blvd, N Naples. Thru Nov 5: Group ShowResident Artists. Mon-Sat, 12-6p. Free. 821-1061.

•Sanibel Captiva Art League: Mon & Thu 9a-8p; Tue & Wed, Fri & Sat 9a5p. Free. 472-2483.

•Sheldon Fine Art: 460 Fifth Ave S, Naples. 10a10p. Free. 649-6255.

•Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center: 2301 First St, Ft Myers. Jul 6-25: There’s Something in the Water group show, Bradford Hermann - A Head of the Past; Aug 3-28: Abstracted. Mon-Fri 9a-5p & 6-9p & 1st Fri of month (summer Mon-Fri 10a-4p). Free. 337-1933.

•SmallWalls: 6240 Shirley St, #202 upstairs, Naples.

Wed 3-5p. Free. 402-2016160.

•Space 39 Art Bar & Martini Lounge: 39 Patio de Leon, Ft Myers. Tue-Sat 5:30-close. Free. 2049949.

•Sweet Art Gallery: 2100-A Trade Center Way, Naples. Mon-Fri 10a-5p & Sat by appt. Free. 597-2110.

•The Artist’s Gallery: 6240 Shirley St, #104, Naples. Mon-Fri 10a-4p & Sat by appt. Free. 5965099.

•The Ringling Museum of Art: 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota. Thru Aug 5: A Kaleidoscope of ColorCostume Designs of Miles White; thru Nov 1: The First 5 Years of Art of Our Time.

Aug 12-Oct 9: Volumes Gardens of Ringling Guided Tour: Thu 10:30a. Daily 10a-5p, Thu 10a-8p. 941359-5700.

•Thomas Riley Studio: 26 10th St. S, Naples. Mon-Fri 12-5p. 529-2633.

•Timeless: 2218 First St, Ft Myers. Daily 11a-6p; Fri & Sat 11a-8p. 332-8463.

•Tower Gallery: 751 Tarpon Bay Rd, Sanibel. Daily 10a-9p. Free. 340-6467.

•True Joy Studio: 6240 Shirley St, #201 upstairs, Naples. Mon-Fri 11a-4p. Free. 821-8806.

•Two Newts Gallery: 2502 2nd St, #104, Ft Myers. Tue-Fri 10a-6p, Sat 10a4p, Sun 12-4p. Free. 3322300.

•Union Artists Studios: Alliance of the Arts, 10051 McGregor Blvd, #202, Edwards Bldg, Ft Myers. Free. 826-3861.

•Unit A - Marcus Jansen Studio & Residency: 2633 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Ft Myers. Mon-Wed 11a-3p & by appt & special events. 240-1053.

•Visual Arts Center: 210 Maud St, Punta Gorda. Thru Jul 20: Member Showcase; Jul 21-Aug 24: Color; Jul 23-Aug 24: Florida and all its Facets. Mon-Fri 9a-4p & Sat 10a2p. Free. 951-639-8810.

•Watson MacRae Gallery: 2340 Periwinkle Way, #G1, Sanibel. Thru Jul 31: Summer Salon. Mon-Sat 10:30a-5p. Free. 4723386.

attractions

•

live reptile shows daily. Planetarium shows daily. Solar observing thru telescope Fri 11a. 10a-5p & Sun, 11a-5p. 275-3435.

•

•Everglades Wonder Gardens: 27180 Old 41 Rd, BonitaSprings.Botanical gardens, animals, art gallery. Daily 9a-4p. 9922591.

•Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples: North Collier Park, 15080 Livingston Rd, Naples. Special hours for children on autistic spectrum: Breaking the Barriers, 2nd Sat of month 8-9a & Sensory Night, 4th Tue of month 5-8p. Register. Mon-Sat 10a-5p & Sun 11a4p. 514-0084.

•Holocaust Museum & Education Center of SWFL: Sandalwood Square, 4760 Tamiami Tr N, # 107, Naples. Tue-Sun 1-4p. Guided Tours: 1:30p. Free. 263-9200.

•IMAG History & Science Center: 2000 Cranford St, Ft Myers. 3rd Sat: History Saturday. Thru Oct 28: Seminole Patchwork. MonSat 10a-5p & Sun 12-5p. 321-7420.

Tue 8a-5p Oct-Jun; daily 8a-3p Jul-Sep. 643-7275.

•Naples Depot Museum: 1051 Fifth Ave S, Naples. Jul 5-Sep 28: Mysteries of Nature - Artwork by Lois Selfon. Mon-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 262-6525.

•Naples Museum of Military History: Naples Airport, Commercial Terminal, 500 Terminal Dr, Naples. MonSat 10a-4p & Sun 12-4p. Free. 941-575-0401.

•Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens: 1590 GoodletteFrank Rd, Naples. Daily 9a-5p. 262-5409.

•Palm Cottage Museum & Norris Gardens: Naples Historical Society, 137 12th Ave. S, Naples. Walking tours of Naples historic district: Wed 9:30a; Guided garden tours: 1st & 3rd Thu of month 10a. Tours: Tue-Fri 12-4p & Sat 1-4p. Free. 261-8164.

Museum: 544 Cultural Pa rk Blvd, Cape Coral. Wed, Thu & Sun 1-4p. 772-7037.

• C o l l i e r C o u n t y M u s e u m a t G o v e r n m e n t C e n t e r : 3331 Tamiami Tr E, Naples. Jul 13-Sep 29: The Lure of Florida Fishing. MonSat 9a-4p. Free. 2528476.

u m : Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, 30290 Josie Billie Hwy, Clewiston. Daily 9a-5p. 87 7-902-1113.

• B a i l e y - M a t t h e w s S h e l l Museum: 3075 SanibelCaptiva Rd, Sanibel. Ongoing: Journey to the Center of a Shell, Raymond Burr Memorial Exhibit,Deep-Sea Mollusks, Henry DomkeNature Photographer. World record-sized Shells. Daily 10a-5p. 3952233.

• B a k e r M u s e u m : ArtisNa ples, Hayes Hall, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd, Naples. Closed until further notice. 597-1900.

• B u r r o u g h s H o m e & Gardens: 2505 First St, Ft Myers. Living history tours daily 11a & 1p, 5-9p. 337-0706.

• B u t t e r f l y E s t a t e s : 1815 Fowler St, Ft Myers. Butterfly release daily 10:30a; tours daily 11a & 1p. Tue-Sun 10a-3p. 6902359.

• C a l u s a N a t u r e C e n t e r & Planetarium: 3450 Ortiz Ave, Ft Myers. Museum, butterfly aviary, trails,

• C o n s e r v a n c y o f S W F L : 1495 Smith Preserve Way off Goodlette Frank Rd. Mon-Sat 9:30a-4:30p. Free. 430-2466.

• C o r k s c r e w S w a m p

Sanctuary: 375 Sanctuary Rd W, Na ples. Blair Audubon Center, Boardwalk Exploration & Exhibits. Daily 7a-5:30p. Free. 348-9151.

•CREW: Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Wate rshed. 23998 Corkscrew Rd, Estero. Guided walks: Tue 9a Nov-Mar, Marsh Hiking Trails, 4600 Corkscrew Rd, Immokalee. Trails open sunrise-sunset. Free. 657-2253.

•CROW: Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife. 3883 Sanibel-Captiva Rd, Sanibel. Healing Winds Visitor Education Center.

Wonders of Wildlife: Na ture presentations Mon-Fri 11a. Tue-Sun 10a-4p. Free. 472-3644.

•

•Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch: 1215 Roberts Ave, Immokalee. Tue-Sat 9a-4p. Free. 252-2611.

•Marco Island Historical Museum: 180 S Heathwood Dr, Marco Island. Thru Oct 4: I Remember Marco. TueSat 9a-4p. Free. 6421440.

•Mound House: 451 Connecticut St, Ft Myers Beach. Guided tours Tue, Wed & Sat 9a-3p; programs Tue, Wed, Sat 10a; free guided beach walks Tue 9a, Newton Park, 4650 Estero Blvd, Ft Myers Beach. Jan-Apr Tue-Sat 9a-4p; May-Dec Tue, Wed & Sat 9a-4p. 765-0865.

•MOTE Marine Laboratory & Aquarium: 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy, Sarasota. Daily 10a-5p. 941-3884441.

•Murder Mystery Dinner Train: Dinner & play during 3 hour train ride. Seminole Gulf Railway, Colonial Station, 2805 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 275-8487.

•Museum of the Everglades: 105 W Bwy,Everglades City. Thru Aug 3: Everglades City - Our Home; Aug 4-Nov 2: Abandoned Vehicles of the Everglades. Mon-Sat 9a4p. Free. 695-0008.

•Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center: 300 Tower Rd, Naples. Thru Oct 22: Parallel Harmonies. Daily programs: 11a & 2p. MonSat 9a-4p. 530-5940.

•Sanibel Historical Museum & Village: 950 Dunlop Rd, Sanibel. Oct-Apr Tue-Sat 10a-4p; May-Jul Tue-Sat 10a-1p; closed Aug-Sep . 472-4648.

•Shangri-La Springs: 27750 Old 41 Rd, Bonita Springs. 949-0749.

•Shell Factory & Nature Park: 2787 N Tamiami Trail, N, Ft Myers. Shell exhibits, Animal exhibits, petting farm, Christmas House, Natural History Exhibit, Money Museum, water games, video arcade, miniature golf, playgrounds, Soaring Eagle Zip Line. Daily 10a-5p. 995-2141.

•SWFL Historical Society: 10091 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. Wed 9a-12p & 4-7p, Sat 9a-12p. Free. 9394044.

•SWFL Military Museum & Library: 4820 Leonard St, Ft Myers. Mon-Fri 9a-5p & Sat 9a-4p. Free. 541-8704.

•

Wildlife Dr, Sanibel. Education Center. 9a-4p, 472-1100.

Estates: 2350 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. Daily 9a5:30p. 334-7419.

•Museum of the Islands: 5728 Sesame, Pine Island Center. Free. 283-1525.

•Naples Botanical Garden: 4820 Bayshore Dr, Naples. Dogs in the Garden walks Sun 9-11:30a, Tue 8-11a, Thu 3-5p. Daily 9a-5p &

•The Ringling Museum of Art: 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota. Thru Aug 5: A Kaleidoscope of ColorCostume Designs of Miles White; thru Nov 1: The First 5 Years of Art of Our Time. Aug 12-Oct 9: Volumes; Sep 9-Dec 2: StorytellingFrench Art from the Horvitz Collection; Sep 15Feb 3: Watercolors from the Permanent Collection; Oct 14-Feb 17: Coco Fusco –Twilight; Nov 18-May 5: Woodblock prints from Post War Japan; Feb 3-Apr 28: Knights. Circus Museum — thru Sep 10: 250 Years of the Circus in Print. Gardens

The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers’ Historic River District hosts the exhibition, ‘There’s Something in the Water,’ July 6-25. For information, call 337-1933.

Myers. Live music select nites. Free open blues jam Wed 8-11p & Sun 3-6p. 693-7111.

•Buddha Bar & Grill: 12701 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. Live music Wed-Sun. 4828565.

•City Tavern: 2206 Bay St, Ft Myers. Live music ThuSat. 226-1133.

•Cottage Bar: 1270 Estero Blvd, Ft Myers Beach. Live music nightly. 765-5440.

•Fort Myers Brewing Company: 12811 Commerce Lake Dr, #27, Ft Myers. Live music select Wed-Sat nites. 313-6576.

•George & Wendy’s Sanibel Seafood Grille: 2499 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel. Live music Wed-Sat nites. Free. 395-1263.

•Hotel Indigo: 1520 Broadway, Ft Myers. Wed: Open Mic. 337-3446.

•Howl Gallery/Tattoo Dive Bar: 4160 Cleveland Ave, Ft. Myers. Live music & burlesque select nites; Thu 8-11p: open jam. 3320161.

of Ringling Guided Tour: Thu 10:30a. Daily 10a-5p, Thu 10a-8p. 941-359-5700.

•True Tours: River District History Tours Sat 10:30a & Thu 6p; Haunted History Tours Wed & Sat 8p. Tours begin & end at 2200 1st St, Ft Myers. Reserve. 945-0405.

•Williams Academy Black History Museum: Clemente Park, 1936 Henderson Ave, Ft Myers. Thru Aug 11: From the Little Leagues to the Big Leagues. Mon-Fri 9a-5p & Sat 12-4p. Free. 332-8778.

parks

•Bonita Beach Park: 27954 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs. 533-7444.

•Bowditch Point Regional Park: 50 Estero Blvd, Ft Myers Beach. 463-3764.

•Bunche Beach: 18201 John Morris Rd, Ft Myers. 7076794.

•Caloosahatchee Regional Park: 18500 North River Rd, Alva. 693-2690.

•Collier-Seminole State Park: US 41 (Tamiami Trail), S Naples. Guided walks: Sat 10a. Hiking trail, self-guided boardwalk nature trail, exhibits, camping, fishing, boating canoeing. 394-3397.

•Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park: 11135 Gulfshore Dr, Naples. Beach, fishing, picnic areas. 597-6196.

•Estero Park: 9200 Corkscrew Palms Blvd, Estero. 248-1609.

•Everglades National Park: Gulf Coast Visitor Center,815 Oyster Bar Ln.Everglades City. 9a4:30p. 695-3311.

•Hickeys Creek Mitigation Park: 17980 Palm Beach Blvd, Alva.. 693-2690.

•Koreshan State Historic Site State Park: US Hwy 41 & Corkscrew Rd, Estero. 9920311.

•Lakes Regional Park: 7330 Gladiolus Dr, Ft Myers.

Guided walks: 1st Sat 8:30a, Garden tour: 2nd Sat. 5337575.

•Lovers Key State Park: South of Ft Myers Beach. 463-4588.

•Lynn Hall Park: 950 Estero Blvd, Ft Myers Beach. 2297356.

•Manatee Park: 10901 Palm Beach Blvd, Ft Myers. 8adusk. 690-5030.

•Matanzas Pass Preserve: 119 Bay Rd, Ft Myers Beach. 707-3015.

•Myakka River State Park: 13207 SR 72, Sarasota. Canoeing, camping, wildlife tours by air-boat & tram, scenic drive, guided walks. 361-6511.

•Naples Preserve: Ecocenter. 1690 Tamiami Tr N, Naples. Dawn-dusk. 2614290.

•North Collier Regional Park: 15000 Livingston Rd, Naples. 252-4060.

•North Ft Myers Park: 2021 N Tamiami Tr, N Ft Myers. 652-4512.

•Rutenberg Park Eco-Living Center: ‘Florida-Friendly’ Garden/Landscape Workshops: Wed 10:30a.

Free. 533-7515.

•Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve: 7791 Penzance Blvd, Ft Myers. 533-7550.

•Veterans Park: 55 Homestead Rd, Lehigh Acres. 369-1521.

•Wa-Ke-Hatchee Park: 16730 Bass Rd, Ft Myers. Flow Yoga & Mat Pilates: Mon-Thu 9a; Yoga & Meditation: Tue 4:30p; Tai chi: Wed 1p; Laughter Yoga: Wed 6:30p. Classes free. 432-2154.

live music & comedy

•Americana Community Music Association Listening Room: All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, 2756 McGregor Blvd, Ft Myers. Select Fri, Sat, Sun 7p. Free. 691-4069.

•Beach Records: 16120 San Carlos Blvd, Ft Myers. Live music select nites. Free. 878-7806.

•Bert’s Bar & Grill: 4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha.Live daily & nightly; Tue-Thu 12:303:30p & Fri-Sun 12:306:30p: Calypso Magic on the Dock. 282-3232.

•Big Blue Brewing: 4721 SE 10th Pl, Cape Coral. Live music Wed-Sun nites. 4712777.

•Bone Hook Brewing: 1514 Immokalee Rd, #106, Naples. Live music select nites 6-9p. 631-8522.

•Buckingham Blues Bar: 5641 Buckingham Rd., Ft

•Shark Bar: 17979 San Carlos Blvd, Ft Myers Beach. Live music nitely. 313-6012.

•Smokin’ Oyster Brewery: 340 Old San Carlos Blvd, Ft Myers Beach. Live music nitely 6-10p. Free. 463-3474.

•Sneaky Pete’s: 3465 Bonita Beach Rd, Bonita Springs. Live music nightly. 4988887.

•Society’s Treehouse: Bell Tower Shops, 13499 Bell Tower Dr, Ft Myers. Live music select nites. 3340900.

•Space 39 Art Bar & Martini Lounge: 39 Patio de Leon, Ft Myers. Live music Wed-Sat nites. 2049949.

•The Barrel Room: Twisted Vine, 2214 Bay St, Ft Myers. Live music ThuSun. Thu 7-10p: Dan Miller & Lew Del Gatto Jazz Quartet; Fri & Sat 7-11p:

•Laugh-In Comedy Café: 8595 College Pkwy, Ft Myers. Thu-Sat: comics 7:30 & 9:30p. 479-5233.

•Matanzas on the Bay: 414 Crescent St, Ft Myers Beach. Live music nitely 69p. Fri: Father Al & The Jazz Congregation. 4633838.

•Old Soul Brewing: 10970 S Cleveland Ave, #402, Ft Myers. Wed: Open Mic 810p. Live music or comedy select Fri & Sat nites. 3344334.

•Naples Beach Brewery: 4120 Enterprise Ave, #116, Naples. Live music select nites. 304-8795.

•Paradise Tiki Hut: 1502 Miramar St, Cape Coral. Live music nightly. 5421988.

•Point Ybel Brewing Company: 16120 San Carlos Blvd, Ft Myers. Live music Thu & Fri nites. 603-6535.

•Red Rock Saloon: 2278 First St, Ft Myers. Live music Fri & Sat nites. 6898667.

•Reserve Cigar & Wine Bar: 10950 S. Cleveland Ave, Ft Myers. Live music Fri & Sat nites. 2100300.

•Riptide Brewing: 987 3rd Ave N, Naples. Wed 7-9p: Irish music jam; live music select Fri & Sat nites. 2286533.

•RJ’s Bar & Grill: 1475 N. Tamiami Tr, N. Ft Myers. Live music nightly. 9979600.

•Roadhouse Café: 15660 San Carlos Blvd, Ft Myers. Live music select nites. 415-4375.

blues bands; Sun 11-2p: Jazz Brunch w Joe Delaney & Don Mopsick, select Sun 5-8p: Americana Sundays. 333-225.

•The Cigar Bar: 1508 Hendry St, Ft Myers. Wed 9p-12a: Electric Mud. Free. 337-4662.

•The Dek Bar: 4704 SE 15 Ave, Cape Coral. Live music nightly. 542-3745.

•The Joint at Cape Harbour: 5785 Cape Harbour Dr, Cape Coral. Live music Tue, Fri, Sun nites. 5420123.

•The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon: 2158 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. Live music select Fri & Sat nites. 985-9839.

•The Rhythm House: 16440 S Tamiami Tr, Ft Myers. Live music Tue-Sat 6:309:30p. 466-8326.

•The Veranda: 2122 Second St, Ft Myers. Piano Bar Wed-Sat 6:30-9p. 3322065.

Food & Drink

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DINING GUIDE

BERT'S BAR & SEAFOOD GRILL : 4271 Pine Island Rd, Matlacha. 282-3232. Dockside dining with a million dollar view and quality food at reasonable prices. Waterfront restaurant offering delicious and fresh local seafood, certified angus burgers, refreshing brews, and live entertainment Tue-Sun. 'All-U-Can-Eat' Fish Fry Wed & Fri 4-9pm. Open 7 days a week from 11am. www.bertsbar.com

BROADWAY PALM DINNER THEATRE: 1380 Colonial Blvd, Ft Myers. 278-4422. Southwest Florida’s premier dinner theatre features the best of Broadway, favorite shows of the past and the most recent musical hits. with nationally selected performers and a live orchestra. Featuring a delicious buffet. Tue-Sun: dinner 5:30pm, Matinees: lunch 11:45am. broadwaypalm.com

LATITUDE 26 BAR & RESTAURANT: Hyatt House Naples, 1345 5th Ave S, Naples. 775-1000. New menu of home-cooked comforts, including delicious entrees, gourmet sandwiches, a variety of snacks & sharables, premium beers and wines, and their signature ‘Smoke on the Water’ cocktail, served in nautical British West Indies-inspired décor. Wed: Prime Rib Night. Happy Hour Daily Specials 4-7pm: Lunch: daily 11am-4pm, Happy Hour: daily 4-7pm, Dinner: daily: 5-10pm. hyatthousenaples.com

LAUGH IN COMEDY CAFE: 8595 College Pkwy, # 270, Ft Myers. 479-5233. Laugh In's menu has everything from clams, mussels, crab cakes, and cod to house favorite chicken parmesan & Shrimp Orleans to strip steak. Late night menu features 4-cheese fried rigatoni, pulled pork nachos, hot wings, hot apple pie. Shows:Thu7:30pm,Fri&Sat 7:30&9:30pm. laughincomedycafe.com

THE VERANDA restaurant: 2122 Second St. (at Bwy), Ft Myers. 332-2065. Romantic setting in two turn-of-the-century homes, combined with their Southern Regional Cuisine, an extensive wine list, and first class service staff, provide a unique dining experience. Celebrating excellence since 1978 and consistently honored as one of the most award-winning restaurants in Fort Myers. Lunch: Mon-Fri 11am-2pm, Dinner: Mon-Sat 5:30-9pm. verandarestaurant.com

The Naples Art Association in downtown Naples hosts the exhibtion, ‘Your Choice,’ August 13-September 19. For information, call 262-6517.