WEEK OF OCTOBER 22, 2025 FLIER INSIDE
News from PIE
Books for young readers, donation from the Hookers and the Fall Fishing Derby
— INSIDE
PINEISLAND-EAGLE.COM
VOLUME 49, NUMBER 24
Celebrating Pine Islanders: Claude Memoli
By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Claude Memoli said he would describe himself as a husband, father and an island business owner, but he’s also a musician who enjoys racing and roller pigeons. He said he moved from Cape Coral to Pine Island 35 years ago, when he began his business, Uni-scape Landscape and Design. “I needed to find a bigger area — more room to create,” Memoli said.
Like many Pine Islanders, Memoli admits that he fell in love with the area as soon as he got here, as he and Debbie, his wife, bought the first house their Realtor showed them and they’ve been here ever since. “Once I came onto the island, it just had such a nice feel to it that I fell in love with it,” Memoli said. After Hurricane Ian, he said, it impressed him how the islanders pulled together, describing it as something truly
special to see. Recalling the terrible storm, he said he and his wife and in fact, their whole neighborhood, found themselves in St. James City. “Everyone got flooded on Pine Island. I remember there were no fire trucks on the island and we needed to get people off of the island. I was able to donate my box trucks that were here to the Fire Department, so they could dis-
PHOTO PROVIDED
Claude Memoli with one of his UniSee CLAUDE MEMOLI, page 14 Scape Landscape and Design trucks.
Bokeelia rum ambassador helps select new release for Privateer Rum By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
A new look
Matlacha tiny houses get makeover by local artist
By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
When Matlacha Tiny Village owners Taylor and Bri Johnson asked local artist Ashley Johnson to paint the houses in the tiny village on Pine Island Road in Matlacha, she was overwhelmed with excitement to do the job. Johnson said the job took her a couple of days per door, or a week in all to complete. “It is extremely humbling and inspiring,” Johnson said. When asked about her work, Johnson said while growing up, artistic expression was always a creative outlet for her. Although she admits the drawing medium is not one of her gifts, she said she always liked to doodle and was often found drawing on the walls or somewhere she should not be drawing. Shortly after taking a job at Tarpon Lodge, Johnson said she began “playing around” on canvases. Now, she adores helping plan events at the Tarpon Lodge, coordinating weddings many special events and looks forward to upcoming personal art events, such as painting murals. See TINY HOUSES, page 14
PHOTOS PROVIDED
The brightly-colored tiny houses in Matlacha.
Amy Snowden and her husband, Terri, moved to Pine Island from Atlanta in 2021. She explained that they’d always wanted to have a tiki bar, but lacked the space for one in Atlanta so, naturally, the tiki bar became a main point of focus for them once they moved here. In a tiki bar, you drink tiki-drinks, she said with a chuckle, going on to explain that although neither of them had been much into rum, with their new found space they are able to enjoy a different style of relaxation. “I found this Florida Rum Society and it’s been around since 2019,” Snowden said. Sign-up for this society is free, she said, as there are no membership fees and she found that they have a large social media following, which she found to be a good place to learn about different kinds of rum, she said. “I didn’t know that there were so many different kinds of rum from all over and they all taste different. The sugarcane, the aging process, the barrels they use and the climate all play a part in this, ” Snowden said. The many recipes for different drinks all call for different rums and various ingredients, she said, making them taste completely different. While she was learning about all the various kinds of rum was when the opportunity arose to be a part of the ambassador group. There are 50 ambassadors, Snowden explained. “Every ambassador pays an annual fee to have exclusive perks, like tastings and tickets to events like the Miami Rum Congress,” Snowden said. Although she is thoroughly enjoying it, since having retired as recently as this past July, she said there has not, until now, been much of a chance for her to spend time researching development of the many styles, flavors and brands of this new world of rum, in which she finds See RUM AMBASSADOR, page 12
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