WEEk of NoVEmbEr 8, 2023 FLIER INSIDE
Best of Pine Island winners announced — INSIDE pINEISlaND-EaglE.com
VolumE 47, NumbEr 27
Whitney wins first place in Junior Duck Stamp Contest By PAULETTE LEBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Pam Whitney admits she had no idea what a big deal it was when her daughter Brianna won first place for the state of Florida in the Junior Duck Stamp art competition until she attended the ceremony. Put simply, in order to hunt waterfowl, you have to purchase a duck stamp. Every year, there is a contest to see who's drawing will be on the stamp that the hunters will need to purchase. The Junior Duck Stamp raises funds to educate and engage our nation’s youth in wildlife and wetlands conservation and outdoor recre-
Celebrating Pine Islanders: Winn-Dixie’s Dan Loughren By PAULETTE LEBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Pine Island Winn-Dixie store manager, Dan Loughren has been working for Winn-Dixie for 38 years. He has been at his Pine Island store for 19 years now and is certainly not shy about his desire to help anyone he can. He sees being the manager of his store as having been put in a unique position to be able to help people in any way possible and admits the corporation is always encouraging about him and his team being a useful and often thoughtful resource to Pine Island. “I’m in a great position, where the company supports me doing so much for the community—the food drives, the events—after Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Ian, we were giving away truckloads of food and ice and water—I just love being a part of that,” Loughren said. Some years ago, when Winn-Dixie acquired Sweet Bay, Loughren said he was moved from Pine Island for 7 months. Once he got the chance to come back, however, he jumped on it, saying there was no hesitation on his part. Although coming to Pine Island was not his first time working for the corporation, it simply felt like home to Loughren. The feeling had to have been mutual, as members of the community made calls to the corporate See LOUGHREN, page 20 PHOTO PROVIDED BY DAN LOUGHREN
Dan Loughren
Left to right: Tom Milligan Ding Darling Repriser, Brianna Whitney, Ranger Toni Westland and Anne Wildman Executive Director Ding Darling Wildlife Society. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PAM WHITNEY
ation. A panel of judges choose the entry, from among best-of-show entries. Students from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. Territories participated in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program. “They have age groups, and this year, Brianna competed in the tenth through twelfth grade age group,” Whitney said, adding that Brianna recently turned 18. Although her daughter learned she’d won back in spring, the award ceremony was delayed until October, Whitney said. See WHITNEY, page 14
Stone Crab Fest 2023 to be held Nov. 12 By PAULETTE LEBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
The Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Stone Crab Festival, Sunday, Nov. 12, at Calusa Cay Publix Plaza from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. According to Chamber board member Cynthia Welch, This event will be a fun filled day with food, live music, stone crabs, island businesses, crafters, local seafood, and adult beverages. There PHOTO PROVIDED BY will be live music CYNTHIA WELCH all day, she said, F OU O starting with Jumping Fences at What: 11 a.m. Matt Lee Stone Crab Festival Crew follows around 1 p.m. with When: Brother Love comSunday, Nov. 12 from 11 ing on stage at a.m. to 8 p.m. approximately 3 p.m. Headliner Where: band Deb & the Calusa Cay Shoppes Dynamics will hit Publix Plaza, the stage at 5 p.m. 5100 Pine Island Rd., “This is our secBokeelia, ond year holding it, since the hurricane came along and we couldn’t do it last year. It is bigger and better than the first one, which was a great event in 2021. This one is on a Sunday and it goes later—until after dark,” Welch said. Over 70 island businesses and organizations will be represented at the festival with a great range of crafts, arts, and business information, she said. There will be
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See STONE CRAB FEST, page 18
Athlete of the Week.........17 Island Mahjongg..............11 Local Tides......................20 insidetoday Editorial..........................4 Letters to the Editor..........4 On the Water......................7 Classifieds & Obituaries