Hundreds attend annual Pioneer Picnic
Since 1949, the Pioneer Club of Lee County has honored those who have been part of our unique history.
These pioneers remember when Fort Myers was just a small town, when Daniels Parkway was a dirt road and when the Edison Mall, which opened in ’65, was the place to be.
On Saturday, April 26, The Pioneer Club of Lee County celebrated the 76th anniversary of its founding in 1949 by R. A. Henderson Jr. with the annual picnic at the Lee Civic Center’s Tinsley Pavilion.
Pat Mann, outgoing president of the organization, said it’s amazing the event has been so popular for so long.
“We were trying to figure out how we were going to get another row of chairs in. There are about 100 people per row,” said Mann, whose duties will be assumed by Keith Cary. “We feel really good about what we’ve done the last 10 years. It’s great that someone can shake hands with someone they haven’t seen in a while. It might be their last chance to be here.”
The Pioneers Club was formed to honor those living persons who had been residents of old Lee County for 50 or more years with the initial meeting held in 1950 at the Lions Park on Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers.
It is a social organization comprised of many of the old families of Lee County who get together annually to catch up on one another’s lives while enjoying lunch together.
Indeed, there were many areas where past graduate classes of Fort Myers High School got together for what served as an annual high school reunion.
For many of the older attendees, there were only two high schools — Fort Myers High and Dunbar, this year’s school of recognition, which was segregated until 1969.
Joan Taylor Wade, Class of 1966, said she came to see old friends she hasn’t seen in years.
In that time, things have certainly changed.
“When we were kids there was nothing here. Cape Coral didn’t exist. It’s totally different now. You lived in town, you wanted to go to the beach, it took 15 minutes,” Taylor Wade said.
Her friend, Pat Fuller Forstad, said she also enjoyed seeing those they haven’t seen in a long time.
“It’s like a class reunion and you get to do it every year and not every five or 10,” Fuller Forstad said. “Our 60th reunion is coming up next year.”
Even though they are sixth generation Floridians, Melissa Burks is new to the picnic, having been in the Class of 1992. She came with her sister, Michelle, Class of 1987. Even in that short time, things have changed.
“There were a lot less people. We grew up in Edison Park. It’s nice to come here to connect with people now that the county has gotten very large,” Michelle said. “There are still a lot of pioneers in the area and it’s nice to get with them this time of year.”
“It’s amazing how many people you see who have been here so long and are still here,” Melissa said. “It’s nice to talk to the older generations and listen to them talk about what it was like and hear the stories.”
Also recognized at the picnic were the eldest pioneer man and woman born in Lee County; the couple married the longest, the pioneer who traveled the longest distance to the picnic; and the oldest person in attendance.
It was pretty much one-stop shopping this year. Barbara Knowles and her husband Don, both 93, were the oldest male and female. They were also married the longest at 71 years.
Now residing in St. Petersburg, Barbara said she lived throughout Lee County and her father had a store on Bayshore Road near the railroad tracks.
“It was fun. We had a lot of good neighbors and friends I played with. I have a lot of good memories from those days in Bayshore,” said Barbara, who spent part of her later childhood in Illinois before returning. “There weren’t as many people and not as many cars.”
Approximately 1,500 invitations were mailed out for the picnic of which two-thirds are sent to residents. A barbecue lunch was available to the members for $10 per plate.
The eligibility requirement for membership is based on the person living in Lee County for at least 50 years.
Those years do not have to be consecutive.
A new website, wwwpioneerclubofleecounty.com/ , went live on March 10. Those attending or interested in joining can now register or submit a membership form online. Those approved will be officially added to the list.
As always, free admission that weekend was given to the members of the Pioneer Club to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and to the IMAG History & Science Center.