Good News Dec. 4, 2025
It was an exciting week at the Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Recreation Center! 9 imaginative participants created and took home their personalized projects during a cheerful craft potluck. The gym was alive with motion as 71 active pickleball players and clinic attendees participated, along with 3 motivated walking-fitness regulars and 27 energetic basketball players. Our self-paced offerings remained popular—33 guests visited the fitness room, 2 eager patrons joined Line Dancing and Table Tennis, and 11 relaxed players gathered for Mahjong. Our lively Latin Dance class also brought in 7 participants this week! Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Recreation Center
South County Regional Park Recreation Center
South County Regional Park Recreation Center hosted 30 fall break camp kids this week. They enjoyed taking advantage of the nice weather with outdoor games and Thanksgiving theme crafts. 33 Pickleballers and 22 Basketball players came out for one last game before their holiday meal. 9 gentlemen made their RC planes soar during their Monday night RC Planes program. The community garden is looking very bountiful leading into the holidays. Our gardeners will have plenty of fresh veggies on their plates!
Recreation
South County Regional Park Pool enjoyed the 180 patrons who used the pool this week. 24 joined in on morning water aerobics. The Lifeguard staff has been pitching in to train their newest trainee this week! South County Regional Park Pool
Good news from Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Pool! We had 74 dedicated lap swimmers, 113 fantastic recreation swimmers, 47 energetic participants for water aerobics, and 3 eager swimmers for swim lessons. Harold Avenue Regional Park Recreation Center Harold Avenue Regional Park saw 59 for Drop-in Pickleball, 48 Basketball, and 13 Table Tennis. Aikido brought in 5 patrons learning the art. There were 10 walking the park for Walking Fitness. Our instructor led programs are keeping the community active each week. Silver Sneakers had 35, Zumba had 15 and Pilates had 7. We had 11 campers for the break. There were no basketball league practices or games due to the holiday. Ann & Chuck Dever Regional Park Pool
Centennial Park Recreation Center Good news! This week we had over 50 people come out to play pickleball. Plenty of them hit the courts on Black Friday to get their bodies moving after their big Thanksgiving feast!
Recreation
Tringali Park Recreation Center
Centennial Park Pool Despite the winter chill settling over Centennial Park, the pool was bustling with warmth and activity this week, welcoming 109 determined lap swimmers, 66 fun-loving recreational swimmers, and 16 upbeat water- aerobics participants who kept the energy high. Even a private swim lesson added a personal touch of progress and encouragement. With frosty air outside and cheerful splashes inside, the pool proved once again that winter can be one of the brightest seasons of all. Also this week at Centennial Park Pool, the lanes were filled with the vibrant energy of 36 swimmers from Sea Dragon Aquatics, whose enthusiasm brought a lively rhythm to every practice. Alongside them, 2 dedicated masters swimmers from the team added their steady determination and seasoned focus to the mix.
The Rec Center had a steady and upbeat week. Zumba welcomed 9 participants who brought great energy to the class. Pickleball continued to draw strong interest with 42 players enjoying court time throughout the week. Stride and Stretch also saw 42 participants, making it another well- attended and active session for our community. The Community Center continues to grow busier each week, with steady rentals and a lively flow of events. Recent highlights included a large baby shower and a gathering of the BNI Premier Professionals, both bringing great activity and energy to the space.
Parks & Natural Resources
Coastal This week coastal staff received their new window clings for properties in the sea turtle lighting zone to help remind homeowners and renters to closet their blinds and turn off their lights at night between May1- Oct 31. The art for these new window cling designs was from our two art contest winners from this summer’s PNR Sea Turtle Art Contest. Staff is also still diligently monitoring 35 Bald Eagle nests in Charlotte County and are officially up to 15 active nests- meaning the Eagles have officially laid eggs and are incubating! Our Bald Eagles will incubate for roughly 34-36 days before we start to see the Eaglets.
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.
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 3,502 visitors and issued 108 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:
26 patrons used curbside pickup 1received homebound deliveries Reference, Technology, & Research Support Our knowledgeable staff answered: 60 general reference questions 108 technology questions 0 local history-specific inquiry
Libraries & History
Punta Gorda Charlotte Library kicked off December with another Cricut program. In this illuminating program, patrons were able to create paper star lanterns. They learned how the Cricut cuts shapes and creates easy fold lines. Then they assembled their own festive, shining star! Punta Gorda Charlotte Library
Libraries & History
Port Charlotte Public Library
Preschool Prep took a break for the holiday, but we still saw some our little preppers at the Kids’ Holiday Photoshoot on Saturday. Staff and volunteers set up scenes for families to shoot their own holiday photos in the large meeting room. Everyone enjoyed exploring the props, staging the scenes, and sipping hot cocoa while waiting. Our Thanksgiving displays have come down now but our Feathers of Gratitude turkey grew a lot of feathers over the course of November! Our display case now has the winter village which is helping to get all our patrons into the holiday spirit! On Tuesday afternoon, Grant led a group of seniors through an overview of Microsoft 365. Later on, Drums of Unity came to PCL and the whole building was rocking!
Libraries & History
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday with their families and friends! Our sewing and quilting groups are finishing up their holiday projects and having fun. A big thank you to David V for helping to clean up our beautiful learning garden; it’s a lovely place to sit on a warm, sunny afternoon. Englewood Charlotte Library
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