Page 16 - Shell Factory News Today

Top 10 things to do in Fort Myers, Cape Coral this weekend Looking for some entertainment in Fort Myers, Cape Coral and the rest of Southwest Florida? Here are 10 fun things to do this weekend and beyond, including drag queen Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor, country-music stars Exile, the new Fort Myers Zine Fest and renowned Fort Myers artist Marcus Jansens first museum exhibit in Southwest Florida. If you go to an in-person event, the CDC recommends wearing a face mask, avoiding mass gathering...

Chamber cuts ribbon on Tommy’s By CHUCK BALLARO - | Apr 14, 2021 Pic of Pam Cronin cutting the ribbon on Tommy’s Tiki Bar on Thursday. The North Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce on Thursday got to do something it hasn’t done in well over a year, while the Shell Factory’s newest venue got what you could call its official grand opening. For the first time since February 2020, the Chamber held a Business After Hours networking event. It was held at Tommy’s Tiki Bar at the Shell Factory, w...

Nils Richter docked the boat. He climbed to the landing area on Lofton Island off downtown Fort Myers. Crews over the past couple of weeks have cleared all the non-native trees and plants and three damaged royal palm trees. Gone are hundreds of Australian pines. Visible instead: mulch from the downed trees and the few remaining palms and a strangle fig tree. “Now, you can see the land,” Richter said. “Now, we can determine what we want to do with it. We want to make it an amenity for down...

Chamber slowly resumes social schedule By CHUCK BALLARO - | Mar 10, 2021 The North Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce is dipping its feet in the water when it comes to bringing back in-person events. That started on Wednesday when a small group gathered at the Hungarian Kitchen at the Weaver’s Corner Plaza for the first Monthly Morning Mingle, an opportunity to network and see how everyone is doing. It was the first social event in a little more than a year. The last was the Business Leader’s...

Gumbofest to be held at the Shell Factory Sunday By CHUCK BALLARO - | Jan 27, 2021 The biggest event of the year at the Shell Factory returns for its 19th time on Sunday, when Gumbofest returns. Gumbofest will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with plenty of music, vendors and, of course, lots of gumbo, jambalaya, crawdaddies and gelatin shots. Pandemic safety precautions will be in place and there will be an emphasis on fun and food. “We’re trying to do everything right and keep it safe. We’r...

Tommy’s opens at the Shell Factory By CHUCK BALLARO - | Jan 27, 2021 The long-awaited Tommys Tiki Bar has opened at The Shell Factory & Nature Park. It took a year and a half from start to finish, but the Shell Factory was finally able to cut the ribbon on one of its biggest projects ever this month, when it opened Tommy’s Tiki Bar. Many friends and supporters were on hand to witness the opening of the covered outdoor bar on Jan. 13, which finally put a cap on the three big projects that w...

Civic honors Gardner, Yorde, Hoover Heroic group of students also recognized By CHUCK BALLARO - | Jan 20, 2021 LEFT: Linda Yorde with Civic president Doug Dailey after Yorde was named the winner of the Diamond Award, given to women of distinction. CENTER: Pioneer Award winner Ron Hoover, former head football coach at North Fort Myers High School, speaks at the awards ceremony. RIGHT: North Fort Myers Civic Association president Doug Dailey, Pam Cronin, owner of the Shell Factory, and Cronin Aw...

Robert Cacioppo, artistic director at the Players Circle, said there will be something for everybody this season. “When I do theater, I like to have a wide variety. I think the nightclub season we’ve chosen reflects that,” Cacioppo said. “We have a comedian who’s improvisational, another is a storyteller, we have jazz and country. We have a really nice mix.” Shows will run from Feb. 4 through April 1 at the venue that has reinvented itself from a 200-seat professional theater to a 5...

A sad reality of the COVID-19 pandemic means the cancelation of the annual New Bedford Day event in Fort Myers, Florida.

Shell Factory tells 2020 ‘You’re outta here’ By CHUCK BALLARO - | Jan 6, 2021 Dolly and Bill Wilson dance the rest of 2020 away at the “Good Riddance to 2020” party at the Shell Factory on Thursday. CHUCK BALLARO For many, 2020 was a year they would like to forget. So, it was only appropriate to give such a year the sendoff it deserved. The Shell Factory marked the end of the year with a “Good Riddance to 2020” party outside what will soon be Tommy’s Tiki Bar, where more than 1...