Doc Ford’s employees decorate Lakes Park’s annual Halloween Express route
Team members from Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille on Fort Myers Beach recently helped transform Lakes Park from delightful to frightful for Halloween. Employees volunteered their time installing decorations along the milelong train track – a labor-intensive project that begins months ahead of the park’s annual Halloween Express and Fall Festival.
“Our team members love the celebrations and events at Lakes Park and look forward to helping park employees decorate,” said Ryan Cook, the restaurant’s general manager. “Setting up for the Halloween Express has become an annual tradition for us.”
Doc Ford’s Fort Myers Beach location is also the trail sponsor of the park’s 2025 Scarecrows in the Park, featuring scarecrow displays created by businesses, youth and community groups, schools and individuals. The restaurant is hosting a kick-off dessert party Oct. 10 and is donating lunch to the first-place winner of the People’s Choice Award for best scarecrow.
Doc Ford’s team members frequently donate their time at Lakes Park. In 2024, they decorated the park for the holiday season and also created and installed a miniature version of the beloved Fort Myers Beach restaurant along the route of the Railroad Museum of South Florida’s mini train ride which winds around lakes and small villages.
Offered Oct. 10-31, the Halloween Express operates weekdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. and weekends, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Lakes Park is at 7330 Gladiolus Drive in Fort Myers.
Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille is owned and operated by HM Restaurant Group, which has a long history of philanthropy and community outreach, assisting local charitable groups committed to conservation, community, education and the environment. With locations on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, Jungle Terrace in St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg Pier, the restaurants have raised over $133,000 for the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers and John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg through $1 donations from the sale of select cocktails. Renowned for its legendary guest experience, Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.