Civic Celebtates 45 years

Civic celebrates 45 years in Cape;
Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp attends event recognizing oldest organization in city
LILIANE PARBOT-JOHNSON, lparbotjohnson@breezenewspapers.com

Judging by the number of handshakes and hugs he received at the 45th anniversary celebration of the Cape Coral Civic Association, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp left many friends behind when his new job took him to Tallahassee.

The former state representative acknowledged this at the podium: “I could not have made it without your help,” he said. “Thank you all so much for helping me to get elected to the House of Representatives. You made me a better representative. Being lieutenant governor goes beyond my wildest dream. I am deeply humbled.” Kottkamp said Gov. Charlie Crist has done a remarkable job of “turning Tallahassee on its head ... he is fatigued with the politics. He says no matter what you are, Republican, Democrat, we need to focus on the people.” The latter advice, to focus on the people, Kottkamp said it reminded him of what he had heard years before at civic. “Tom Clark used to say, ‘It does not matter if you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, we are going to do what is right for the people.’”

City Councilmember Alex LePera, who introduced the lieutenant governor, said Kottkamp has been a member of the association for quite some time, no matter how busy he is. Kottkamp said the civic association always has pointed questions for government officials and they insist on getting answers to these questions. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart to be the voice of the city,” he said, emphasizing the importance “to keep in touch with our roots ... we must maintain contact with our past to know where we have been.”

Later Saturday evening when leaving the Cape Coral Italian American Club, where the event took place, Kottkamp said: “It is always good to be home. I have so many friends. These are real people who have been with me since the beginning. They are very special. They have a special place in my heart.” Kottkamp also said whether it was when he was at the state House of Representatives or today as lieutenant governor, “the focus is on lowering insurance rates and lowering property tax.”

“Civic,” as the Cape Coral Civic Association is often called, is the oldest organization in the city of Cape Coral. In fact, the small group of people who created civic in 1962 was most instrumental in getting Cape Coral incorporated as a city. The goal was realized eight years later in 1970. The president of the association, Leelo Bush, welcomed the celebrants filling to capacity the huge ballroom of the Italian American Club. She said in recalling the history of the association: “No one can deny that we have stood for the right of Cape Coral people ... encouraging dialog between residents and officials. I am proud to be associated with civic, and I look forward to see many more accomplishments.”

Going to the podium, ex-Officio Ralph LePera said the civic association was an offshoot of the Taxpayers Association. A group of 25 to 30 people held an organizational meeting March 1, 1962 and a month later on April 2 the first board of directors was elected. “At the time, 1,600 people lived in Cape Coral and 40 (400) of them were children,” LePera said. “Today, 166,000 people live in Cape Coral and 25,000 of them are children.”

Mayor Eric Feichthaler said he often hears people saying, “Cape Coral does not have a history,” but it is not so. “This civic association is the history of Cape Coral,” he said. “Government is just one facet. The city is blessed to have people like you ... ” Then, turning towards Bush standing near the podium, he added in a serious tone, “And President Bush.” This brought much laughter among his audience. Then Feichthaler read a proclamation passed by the city council naming Saturday, March 31, “Cape Coral Civic Association Day.”

Kottkamp was praised for “being so gracious” to the Cape Coral delegation in Tallahassee the previous week. Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah was among those complimenting the lieutenant governor, and Judah thanked him for coming to the celebration despite being “a very busy individual.”

Also among the speakers was Lyndia Bradley, a former civic association president. She said: “It is a privilege and honor to be part of civic’s history. The organization works very closely with governmental bodies. We may disagree, but we respect each others.”

When Paul Sanborn, the city historian, went to the microphone, he asked: “How many people were here when we started?” Only one hand went up. “You know, Betty and I were the only ones.” Sandborn was referring to Betty Graf, who came to Cape Coral even before Sanborn on May 2, 1961.

“There were less than 1,000 people,” she said later. “I came here by chance. We were vacationing in Lehigh Acres because we owned property there at the time. We were leaving to go back to Wisconsin when we saw all those signs about Cape Coral. We came down Del Prado for seven miles. There was not one gas station, and the gas tank was almost empty. We ended up buying gas from (developers) Gulf America Corp.” They only bought gasoline during the 1960 visit, but the next year they bought property. “We came back in 1961 and bought the outdoor laundromat,” Graf added. “It is still here, behind Wendy’s, but it is in a building now. The first year here was difficult, but I made it. There was nothing here.” Her late husband, Donald Graf, was mayor of Cape Coral from 1975 to 1977, she said.

According to Sanborn, from 1962 to 1971, the civic association was the sole representative of the residents of Cape Coral. “It was very important because we did not have a city,” he said. “The civic association got things done. The leaders of the community were the driving force of what we have now — the city of Cape Coral.” Sanborn mentioned a 1969 picture found in the program. It showed Clarence Sprott passing the gavel to Millard Bowen Jr. “We had difficulties with the county commission, and Millard was the first one who went before the commission and said: ‘We want you to have meetings in Cape Coral.’ From that, we had communication from our citizens to the county commission. From that time, the county understood what our problems were.” This was one of many things civic accomplished in 45 years, Sanborn said. Throughout the years, what civic has accomplished has been reported in the Cape Coral Breeze, which was a weekly publication early on. Recently, the Cape Coral Daily Breeze helped put together a CD recording of a historical scrapbook relating to civic.

A widow of one of the organization’s early members lent the newspaper the scrapbook which contained photographs and clipped articles, many straight from the pages of the Breeze. The entire content of the scrapbook was documented and placed onto CD. The original scrapbook is to be given to the Cape Coral Historical Society, Sanborn said. The CD recording is available for viewing by whomever is interested. At the anniversary celebration Ralph LePera presented a plaque to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze. It reads: “In appreciation for the documentation of the History of Cape Coral Civic Association beginning in 1962 to the present. “Civic expresses our sincere thank you to Publisher Jack Glarrow, Executive Editor Valarie Harring, Photographer Michael Pistella, for their contributions in preserving that History on compact disc. “March 31, 2007.”

Kottkamp said there have been three constants in the city: the Cape Coral Civic Association, Sanborn and the Cape Coral Daily Breeze.

Civic Celebrates 45 years of community service to the City of Cape Coral.
Saturday March 31, 2007 Cape Coral Italian American Club
Special Guest of Honor Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp