The Forest Matters Another Seabreeze Publication VOL. 31 NO. 3
www.seabreezecommunications.com
MARCH 2024
FPOA President’s Update There have been many changes occurring in The Forest over the past few months. A personnel change of note is the addition of a new maintenance person. His name is Peter Greco. He is skilled in carpentry, plumbing, electrical service and you will be seeing him around our community fixing, painting and replacing many of the fixtures we use every day. One of our pride and joys is the beautiful Cuban laurel tree in the park at the big curve on Timberlakes. The electrical service to its lighting has been restored. Please take a moment to drive by and enjoy the sight. The annual meeting of The Forest community will take place on March 25 at The Forest Country Club. The first notice was sent out in January, and you will be receiving the second notice at the beginning of March. The long awaited repaving of four of our streets will have started by the time you read this. Following this work will be the removal of the speed humps and their replacement by speed calming tables. Once all this is finished the complete
restriping of all our roads will commence. None of this could occur until an agreement was made with the county to remove the illegal humps. The pressure cleaning of our sidewalks was delayed by the fact we had construction taking place at many homes. Contractors used them for parking and storage of materials. It was decided to wait until most of this work was completed. The problems with the coach lights in The Forest now have a solution. There may be some misunderstanding of these issues which needs further explanation. Each single-family home has a coach light system of its own. Each is independent of all other similar systems. The duties involved in each system have two entities responsible: the homeowner for maintaining the electrical service to the light and the FPOA for servicing and maintaining the coach light itself. The hurricane did damage to almost every system. The project of repair started last summer. Along with his other duties our maintenance person was not able to bring the project to a close, and, because the damage done to the wiring by the corrosive flood water continued unabated
Annual Hibiscus Show Covenant Presbyterian Church, Fort Myers The James E. Hendry (JEH) Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society announces its 71st Annual Hibiscus Show/Plant Sale on Saturday, April 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2439 McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers. This free hibiscus show is the oldest, largest and best attended of all Florida’s hibiscus shows, attracting several hundred people annually. This continuing show is made possible through the generosity of community sponsors. “The event will showcase hundreds of different hybrid hibiscus blooms in a variety of colors and forms which will be judged in several different classes including amateur, collector, open collector, commercial, miniatures and seedlings,” explains Beth Meehan, president. In addition, more than 400 hybrid hibiscus plants will be for sale for $20. All credit cards are accepted. Parking and admission to the Annual Hibiscus Show/Plant Sale is free. This is the best opportunity Southwest Floridians have to add to their hybrid hibiscus collection as these plants are not available in local garden centers. This delicate and beautiful plant grows abundantly in Florida’s subtropical climate. Members of the chapter who are experts in the care and growing of hibiscus will be available to provide advice. Several senior American Hibiscus Society judges will also be available to answer any questions regarding the rule for judging blooms. The Forest Matters
Four Of The Blooms That Will Be Available At The Sale
it was necessary to employ someone to concentrate solely on this job. We have hired such a person. He expects to have all the items which are the Association’s responsibility fixed by the end of March or sooner. It still will be the responsibility of the individual homeowner to maintain the electrical service to the light. After completion it will be possible for our maintenance person to maintain the coach lights themselves into the future. During the holiday season many of our residents flew what could be considered holiday themed flags. According to our Scrooge-like flag regulations, this was prohibited. An amendment to this rule was proposed and passed at our last FPOA board meeting. In the future from December 1st through January 10th holiday themed flags in good condition and good taste will be allowed. Stay Well, Chuck Patten, President, Board of Directors, Forest Property Owners Association
38th Annual All Florida Exhibition March 1 Through March 30
Blue Jean Baby
High Definition
Spectroflash
T. Spotted Sun
Anyone who would like to learn how to grow, graft and hybridize this attractive tropical flowering plant can do so by joining the James E. Hendry Chapter, AHS at the show. The show is the highlight of the year for the chapter; monthly meetings are held PRSRT STD at The Berne Davis Botanical US POSTAGE G a r d e n , 2 1 6 6 Vi rg i n i a PAID FT MYERS FL Avenue, Fort Myers on PERMIT 751 the second Sunday of each month at 1:30 p.m. Details on the JEH Chapter and pictures of all the blooms that will be available for sale can be found on the chapter ’s website www. hendrychapterhibiscus.com.
10091 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, Fla. This annual show is the most anticipated of the year. As the name suggests, this exhibition features pieces created by artists working in a wide variety of media from all over the 65,000 square miles that make up Florida. The juried entries come together for an award-winning and exciting exhibition representing today’s contemporary Florida artists. The exhibition will be on display March 1 through 30. 38th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition Dates Exhibit Dates: March 1 to March 30 Opening Reception: March 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. Pick up accepted work: April 1, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. $1,000 cash for Best in Show, Second Place – $300 gift certificate to Blick Art Materials, Third Place – $150 cash, Jurors’ Choice Award – Artist Membership ($75 value), American Art Collector Award of Excellence – One full page advertisement in American Art Collector Magazine Laura Guerrero is a Colombian-American curator and arts administrator based in Miami, Fla. She is the programs coordinator overseeing exhibitions at Oolite Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Virginia, where her specialty was contemporary Australian A b o r i g i n a l a r t a n d Laura Guerrero 38th Annual All Florida Exhibition on page 5