WEEk of may 24, 2023 FLIER INSIDE
Setting a date? Cape Coral says it will be ready for Chiquita Lock hearing after Thanksgiving — INSIDE pINEISlaND-EaglE.com
VolumE 47, NumbEr 3
Pine Island Playhouse to present ‘The BFG’ By PAULETTE LeBLANC
seven weeks, promises to be a good family friendly show, with a lot of laughs. Pichon is excited to bring yet another great book to life on stage. “It’s a little girl’s birthday, her name is Sophie and her favorite book is ‘The BFG,’ so she convinces everybody at her party to act out the whole story,” Pichon said. The story, which is about an orphan, she explained, becomes more and more real as the show unfolds, with a 15-foot giant taking the stage during the second act. It’s a really fun show, she said, complete with fun lighting and props. “It’s definitely an interesting story. Roald
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Pine Island Playhouse has been working hard on its upcoming production of “The BFG (the Big Friendly Giant),” based on the book written by Roald Dahl. According to Playhouse founder and director Nichole Pichon, the production includes roughly 30 cast members, nine of whom are students from Pine Island Elementary School, including the lead, Demi Khaleel, who plays Sophie. Playhouse co-founder, actor and IT specialist Paul Pichon has been cast as the Big Friendly Giant, she said. The show, which has been in rehearsal for approximately
Dahl is always interesting anyway — he wrote, ‘The Witches,’ ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ ‘BFG’ — lots of popular, strange stories,” Pichon said. She describes work on the production of this show as a really fun process, where the cast, other than (Paul) Pichon and Khaleel, haven’t had much rehearsal time, due to the large number of those cast in the show. “The kids all have a bunch of fun when they come to rehearsal. They love to play with each other on the playground after rehearsal. It’s a fun little group — all my parents have been helping with building the props for it, so it’s been a really close-knit cast for it being so large — which is always surprising,” Pichon said. “As always, Pine Island Playhouse is free to the public. See ‘THE BFG,’ page 11
Trader’s Hitching Post reopens in new island location By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ROLAND RUOCCO
Local artist paints mural for Fort Myers Mural Society
During Hurricane Ian, Trader’s Hitching Post became flooded. Store owners Jerry and Cindee Tolliver thought about relocating somewhere else, but the couple really didn’t have any desire to move their business from Pine Island, Jerry said. “It’s nice to have a lot of the people coming in that were old customers of ours. They are happy to see us open back up again. We’d like to thank everybody who helped us prepare this location so that we could get back up and working quicker — it’s the typical small community support that you find that’s missing in some of the larger cities,” Jerry said. Cindee said she is really glad to be reopened and wants to encourage everyone to shop locally. See TRADER’’S HITCHING POST, page 12
By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
According to local artist Roland Ruocco, the Lee County Visitors Convention Bureau approached the Fort Myers Mural Society asking to partner on several murals to be painted in an effort to stoke local tourism in the wake of Hurricane Ian. One of the locations, which was recently completed, was on Pine Island, at the Eagle’s Nest Restaurant. The mural, Ruocco said, is Pine Island-themed with an array of local activities. “The project took about three and a half weeks to do. It was a good amount of work, but, as always, it was a labor of love. I had some assistance from a local artist, Doug Steward,” Ruocco said. The Fort Myers Mural Society, Ruocco explained, has several artists, including himself, who do quite a few projects. The Lee County Visitors Convention Bureau has four locations where they plan to have murals painted, including the one on Pine Island. He and three other artists will collaborate on another
Island murals painted by Roland Ruocco. upcoming project, he said. “They want to do more murals. They’re very happy with the result of this one — because they’re so See MURAL, page 11
The front of the new Trader’s Hitching Post in Matlacha. PAULETTE LEBLANC
insidetoday Cats of the Week.............17 Island Mahjongg...............2 On the Water......................8 Classifieds & Obituaries Athletes of the Week.........6
Dolphin Tales.....................7
Obituaries..........................7