Good News Nov. 20, 2025
Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Recreation Center
It’s been a week of fun at the Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Recreation Center! 3 talented participants got to create and take home their own Autumn Diamond Art. The gym was a hub of activity with 127 pickleball players and clinic attendees, 3 dedicated walking fitness participants, and 9 basketball enthusiasts hitting the courts. Our self-paced programs continue to draw interest—68 guests used the fitness room, 3 dancers came for Line Dancing, and 10 gathered for games of Mahjong. We also had 3 dancers come for Solo Latin Dance Workout!
J.M. Berlin/Rotary Skate Park
Last week we had 64 skateboarders and 45 BMXers visit the park.
Recreation
Tringali Park Recreation Center
Paddle for a Purpose was a tremendous success, bringing the community together for a fun and meaningful day. A total of 32 teams competed in a lively double- elimination tournament, supported by a crowd of 50 enthusiastic spectators cheering them on. We also received a generous amount of food donations, showcasing the community’s kindness and willingness to help those in need. With great sportsmanship, strong turnout, and plenty of excitement, the event proved to be a wonderful blend of competition and community spirit.
Recreation
Good news from Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Pool! We had 120 dedicated lap swimmers, 141 fantastic recreation swimmers, 48 energetic participants for water aerobics, and 4 eager swimmers for swim lessons. Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Pool
Centennial Park Pool
Centennial Park Pool saw strong community use last week, welcoming a diverse group of swimmers across its programs. The facility hosted 131 lap swimmers and 105 recreation swimmers, keeping the lanes and leisure areas consistently active. Group activities were well attended, with 30 water aerobics participants, while local teams also made significant use of the pool: 44 Port Charlotte High School swimmers and 81 Sea Dragon Aquatics swimmers trained throughout the week. In addition, the pool provided 4 private swim lessons, rounding out a busy and productive week of aquatic activity.
Harold Avenue Regional Park Recreation Center
Harold Avenue Regional Park saw 62 for Drop- in Pickleball, 36 Basketball, 24 Table Tennis and 24 for Volleyball. The Aikido class started last night and brought in 7 curious patrons. There were 10 who enjoyed the cooler weather and walked the park for Walking Fitness. Our instructor led programs are holding steady keeping the patrons active each week. Silver Sneakers had 48, Zumba had 9 and Pilates had 7. Bonsai had a large group this week with 36 tending to their trees. The co-ed youth basketball league hit the hoops with the first games Saturday. We had 650 patrons for the games, 390 for practices and logged 64 volunteer hours for coaches and refs. The center is now preparing for 3 days of break camp next week.
Parks & Natural Resources
Land Management
This week staff continued maintenance operations including mowing, weed management and trail maintenance. Nearly half a mile of trails were trimmed and cleared to provide open line of sight. This is important to our guests but also improves safety. Additional operations include exotic/invasive plant treatments with nearly 14 acres treated. Properties treated include Oyster Creek Environmental Park, Charlotte Flatwoods Environmental Park and Tippecanoe and Tippecanoe II. E/I (exotic/invasive) species targeted this week include; B.pepper, Madagascar Periwinkle, guinea grass, rosary pea, air potato, balsam apple and wedelia. Many of these individual treatments were for small areas in terms of size. This is the result of consistent and ongoing E/I operations. One such area was only .05 of an acre but in terms of square footage it’s over 2000 square feet! In recent years land management staff have consistently put diligent effort into integrated pest management and the results are evident. On our environmental Parks and Preserves the treatment areas are fewer and smaller in size. Land management staff also conducted a gopher tortoise survey of nearly 4.5 acres at Oyster Creek Environmental Park. This survey was conducted as part of a baseline survey but also in preparation of upcoming planned vegetative reduction operations.
Parks & Natural Resources
Coastal This week coastal staff officially has four Bald Eagle pairs that have laid eggs and have begun their incubation for this nesting season. Staff also had a shadow from the Ambassador Program this week, so they were able to show the shadow where their shorebird nesting area is at Palm Island Resort and some Bald Eagle nests, all while explaining our job duties to the shadow. Coastal staff has begun their preseason process; ordering goodies, printing brochures and educational materials, and creating preseason goodie bags for all properties in the Sea Turtle Lighting Zone here in Charlotte County to prepare the coastal community for the upcoming beach nesting seasons.
Libraries & History
Here’s a quick look at what’s been happening across all our library locations this past week: Library Visitors & New Cards Charlotte County Libraries welcomed 5,102 visitors and issued 161 brand-new library cards At a Glance: Weekly Roundup for Charlotte County Libraries & History
welcome to our newest members! Curbside & Homebound Services Convenient services remain popular:
14 patrons used curbside pickup 3 received homebound deliveries Reference, Technology, & Research Support Our knowledgeable staff answered: 90 general reference questions 184 technology questions 3 local history-specific inquiry
Libraries & History
On Thursday, November 13, Punta Gorda Charlotte Library had Paper Making. Patrons learned about the history of paper before trying their own hands at making paper. Each of the created sheets came from repurposed paper and could be put toward future projects such as our Junk Journaling program! We learned all about Foucault's Pendulum in Kids STEAM as we pendulum bowled and painted. A glorious mess was made, but fun was had by all! Punta Gorda Charlotte Library
Libraries & History
Port Charlotte Public Library
On Wednesday, all ages enjoyed making origami bookmarks with Library Tech Mikayla. On Friday, our Tiny Tots made sticky turkeys, harvesting (balloon) corncobs, and doing the turkey freeze dance. In the afternoon, teens crafted beautiful autumn globes with sensory bottles. After staff tested the Dinosaur Investigators Escape Room, kids and families built their research skills while hunting down missing information about eight dinosaurs before T-rex came to destroy the science lab. On Monday night, Miss Ashley joined Liberty Elementary students for a fun Family STEAM Night and Book Fair. Littles explored aerodynamics with the wind tunnel, while the older kids folded cool gliders that flew across the media center! We screened Robert Altman’s film, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, giving moviegoers a chance to experience one of the great revisionist western films of the 1970’s.
Libraries & History
Englewood Charlotte Library
As we inch closer to Thanksgiving, Englewood is finding itself "stuffed" with activites. This past weeked Charles and out intern Jesse made their way to the 2025 Maker Faire where they learned about all the newest up and coming things in the world of makerspaces. We had our first 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten finisher as well! Congrats to Maverick who is also one of our Preschool Prep graduates from last year. Ms. Holly made her way to Myakka River Elementary School for her monthly outreach and Angie celebrated a birthday at Heritage Oaks for a patron who was turning 104! She is unfortunately not pictured as she "didn't have her face on". More excitement on the way!
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