Shell Factory holds carnival to celebrate milestone
The Shell Factory & Nature Park is a North Fort Myers institution. Nobody could imagine this area being without it.
Back in 1997, however, it was possible the attraction was going to end up as a shopping plaza. It was in bankruptcy and foreclosure when Pam and Tom Cronin came in to buy it.
Rather than keep it as a tourist trap, they turned it into a family destination, adding a nature park, fun park and much more.
To celebrate, the Shell Factory held a 25-cent carnival to commemorate 25 years of the Cronins’ ownership. Even though Tom is gone, Pam has continued to put the family stamp on the attraction.
“We’re very excited that after 25 years, it’s become a fun place to come. The carousel was a fabulous addition for us and we’re trying to figure out the next step,” Cronin said. “We’re trying to come up with more events like this for families.”
Many items were 25 cents, including the carousel, snow cones, popcorn, some of the games available and 25-cent children’s admission with the purchase of an adult pass.
The nearly century-old carousel was the place to go for Lynn Saboe of Port Charlotte, who came with some friends and their kids.
“We had a really nice lunch at the Southern Grill and now we’re doing the rides,” Saboe said. “We have friends who came all the way from Louisiana for the carnival.””
“We’ve been here a bunch of times,” said Judy Perry, who brought her granddaughter, Chloe Christmas, who is from Louisiana. “We go to the Nature Park and then the Shell Factory and the zip line.”
Ashley DeShields came with her family from Naples for the carnival and to visit in-laws. The family spent much of its time in the fun park, riding the zip line and bumper boats. The kids also got out their quarters to play some of the games available.
“We love it. We did the zip line twice. It was a little scary but very thrilling. We had a good time doing that,” DeShields said. “I think we’re going to do some miniature golfing next and some of the other things.”
Cronin said the idea of the carnival was to give families a chance to have a good time without having to spend much money, as money is tight for everyone.
“We wanted to do something fun. People are leery of what’s going on with the economy and gas prices,” Cronin said. “We thought to have a little fun and bring in families when they don’t have much money.”