Pioneer Picnic celebrates its 75th year in Lee County
It's the slowest countdown I've ever endured, but I'm willing to wait it out. Especially because, as happened before my 21st birthday, I've managed to sneak into the place that's supposed to exclude me.
Technically, I should be denied admission to the Lee County Pioneer Picnic. The sole annual event of the nonprofit Lee County Pioneers Club, the barbecue/social/old-timers reunion happens Saturday, April 27 at North Fort Myers Lee Civic Center.
The club's one membership requirement? You must have lived here half a century to join. (That's 1974, in case you don't have your phone handy to do the figuring, or it could even have been earlier if you left and returned; the half-century needn't be consecutive). Once you're in, you're welcome to attend the picnic dues-free (though you are expected to pay for lunch, which has remained at 10 bucks a plate as long as I can remember).
As for how I've managed to get in, though I didn't move here until 1987: I was invited one year to cover it, and last year, I helped man (woman?) a table for the Alva Library Association which runs the Alva Museum, of which I'm a volunteer board member.
Founded in 1949 by Lee County Bank Director R.A. Henderson, the club honors living people who've been residents of old Lee County for fifty or more years. The initial meeting was held in 1950 at the Lions Park on Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers and since then, has traditionally been the last Saturday in April.
As Theresa Clements wrote in her annual note about the event, it’s “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 and to have lunch together.”
The gatherings also celebrate the 50-years-ago graduating classes from area schools. That includes some that no longer exist, like the then-segregated Dunbar High and Alva’s high school. This year, classes of 1974 from Bishop Verot, Cypress Lakes, Evangelical Christian School, Fort Myers, North Fort Myers and Riverdale high schools will be recognize. Also recognized at the picnic will be the eldest pioneer man and woman born in Lee County; the couple married the longest (both spouses need to be in attendance); pioneer who traveled the longest distance to the picnic; and the eldest person in attendance.
Theresa reports approximately 1500 invitations are mailed out for the picnic of which two-thirds are sent to residents and the remainder to people who live out of the area. Some 600-700 people usually show up.
And, she writes, "Through the generosity of the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, free admission on that weekend is given to the members of the Pioneer Club by presenting their membership card to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates (General Admission) on Fri. 4/26/24 and Sat. 4/27/24 and Sun. 4/28/24. An invitation has also been extended to the members of the Pioneer Club to visit The IMAG History & Science Center (General Admission) and the Shell Factory/Nature Park (General Admission) on Fri. 4/26/24, Sat. 4/27/24 and Sun. 4/28/24."
Remembering a SWFL pioneer Citrus grower, cattleman and music lover, David Bull was an Alva legend
If you go
This year’s picnic will be on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at the Lee County Civic Center – Tinsley Pavilion which is located off Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers. Registration and visiting begin at 10 a.m., lunch will be served at noon followed by presentations and a raffle at 1 p.m.
Barbecue chicken or pork, baked beans, coleslaw, rolls, chocolate chip cookies and iced tea or lemonade is available to members for $10. Please email pioneerleecounty@gmail.com to receive registration information or you may register the day of the picnic.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Annual Lee County Pioneer Picnic is a chance to catch up, chow down
