Grande Dames Tea honors former Beach resident
Former long-time Beach resident Helen Hendry will be among the three woman honored by the Lee County PACE Center for Girls at the Second Annual Grande Dames Tea on Tuesday, March 23, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre at 1380 Colonial Blvd. The annual event recognizes some of our community’s most revered women.
Hendry lived on Fort Myers Beach for 17 years and was the landscape designer of many private homes on the island (such as Fairview Isles) as well as Sanibel and Captiva. And, she’s still working at age 80.
Hendry is one of Florida’s top nurserywomen and manager of the former Everglades Nursery in Fort Myers for more than 30 years, which supplied tropical plants and flowering trees to DisneyWorld, Cypress Gardens, the New York’s World’s Fair and others. She’s been called the lady with the famous green thumb and, some would say, the leading expert anywhere on south Florida vegetation.
The other two women honored are Jeanne Bochette -an award-winning dancer who performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and Ballet Royal before founding Studio Bochette in Fort Myers, where she has taught the art of dance to thousands of youngsters for nearly 60 years- and Veronica Shoemaker -former Fort Myers City Councilwoman who was the first minority ever elected to office in Lee County and whose political career spanned 25 years, including replacing dilapidated housing in Dunbar, winning a federal desegregation lawsuit, and founding Source of Light & Hope Development Center to house abused or neglected children.
“We are delighted that these three women have agreed to join us for an afternoon of sharing their experiences with the audience and the girls of the PACE Center,” said Grande Dames Tea Chair Dena Geraghty, who also is a member of the Lee PACE Center Board of Directors.
The Grande Dames Tea was started by the Lee PACE Center for Girls last year to honor women who have played major roles in Lee County history through decades of service, philanthropy and helping others.
For information about the Grande Dames Tea, please contact PACE Development Director Melissa Simontis at 425-2366 (ext. 25) or Dena Geraghty at 851-1028 or visit www.pacecenter.org.