Recovering County Hitting Home Runs
Just before Christmas, the Charlotte
County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department has
received a $15,000 grant award from the Florida Sports Foundation for
the Second Annual Port Charlotte Invitational 2005 College Baseball
Classic, which will be held February 26 through April 2, 2005 at the
Charlotte Sports Park, Charlotte County painfully realized there are
too few places to stay for the fifty visiting college baseball teams.
Hurricane Charley removed many of the rooms that were available in
2004. In fact, only two of the hotels or motels listed in the
Williams College homepage are in Charlotte County. Check
http://www.williamsrecord.com/portcharlotte/
for information and schedules about the games, which were a huge
success for everyone last year. The returning teams and families
have found a friendly, comfortable area to visit and play baseball.
They will see the fallen light tower at the main stadium that reminds
us of our past year.
Our County employees suffered just like
everyone else, but their response has been pretty much above and
beyond just “normal.” Many had their homes completely destroyed;
almost all suffered damage of some kind. Just about everyone with
the County has been pretty much stretched to the limit, and still
doing what we expect them to do everyday, and often more.
We have a County Commission that has
dealt with the unexpected crisis of a natural disaster while trying
to implement a bold, if controversial economic and cultural expansion
of the county. The voters last fall said, “Yes!” and the
direction Charlotte County has taken is forward while holding true to
the comprehensive planning and growth plans.
We now have one of the finest Sheriffs
in the State. Someone the entire department and the community can
respect. The Sheriff’s Department has suffered from the
inappropriate actions of a few, but the others work even harder to
erase those effects and have proven to be more than worthy.
Charlotte County School Board and all
the teachers and employees have earned the respect of educators
around the state. The juggling and rescheduling has been monumental.
The students and parents who have endured the rescheduling and the
travel have been as patient and hardworking as anyone else.
Many of our development problems
resulted from sales planning for maximum profit per available acre.
Those decisions were not made by or for the people who are now
Charlotte County. Now, we have the people and we have the direction.
The decisions aren’t easy. Developers want to maximize profits
from available properties while homeowners want to see their
neighborhoods protected against change. This has been, and will
always be, the battle for Florida
Traffic may double before your 4th
grader graduates from high school. That is a simple economic
forecast. Don’t blink, that 4th grader will be asking for the car
keys the next time you turn around. Hopefully, he or she may want to
drive to the stadium to watch a College Invitational baseball game.
George Mindling © 2005
George Mindling © 2005
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