Children highlight this weekend’s event lineup
Two events on Fort Myers Beach this weekend will feature children in two different sporting activities: fishing and baseball.
In one, children ages 3-15 are invited to the docks at Bonita Bill’s Waterfront Café for the free annual Fourth of July Kid’s Fishing Tournament sponsored by the Ostego Bay Foundation. It will be held on Saturday, June 25. Registration is at 8:30 a.m., and the tournament goes from 9 a.m. to noon.
The event will include free hot dogs, drinks, snacks and prizes -all donated by local businesses- for all the children who enter.
In another, the Fort Myers Beach Little League Association is continuing District 18 all-star action with round robin tournament play in Bonita Springs for both the age 11-12 all-star baseball squad and the age 11-12 all-star softball team. The baseball all-stars will play qualifying games on Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Monday at 6 p.m., Tuesday at 6 p.m. and, if they advance, Wednesday at 6 p.m. for the championship game. The softball all-starts play qualifying games Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday at noon and, if they advance, Monday evening.
If you are interested in cheering on your Beach teams, the games will be played on the little league fields on Pine Avenue behind Bonita Middle School.
“There are six teams and everybody plays everybody in the round robin games,” said FMBLL President Charlie Whitehead. “The two teams with the best record and/or tiebreakers go to the championships.”
The District 18 all-star teams are from Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, San Carlos Park, LaBelle, Lehigh Acres and Immokalee. The all-star teams are assembled squads with selected players from each minor and major league team playing against same-age teams from other towns. The age 11-12 all-star softball team is comprised of players from the Beach and Bonita Springs.
“We had two minor and major league teams which we assembled for an age 9-10 team and age 11-12 teams,” said Whitehead, who will manage the age 11-12 all-star softball team. “It’s nice for us to have enough 11 and 12 year olds to have an all-star baseball team. We weren’t able to field one last year. We have a real strong class of 12 year olds this year.”
The age 9-10 all-star baseball team kicked off action in LaBelle last Friday…. (how did they do).
The senior softball all-stars, a combination of players from the Beach and San Carlos Park, begin play in Lehigh on July 9.
The Fourth of July Kid’s Fishing Tournament is the final listed community event to help light up the sky on the Fourth of July. Proceeds are benefitting the Fort Myers Beach Fireworks, which is aided by businesses and members of the community such as Semmer Electric, Surf Club, FMB Golf Club, Mermaid Lounge and Liquors, FMB Civic Association, the Town of Fort Myers Beach and the many volunteers that are involved in the fundraising process.
The fireworks will be shot off the Beach Pier by Lynn Hall Park at dusk (9:15 p.m.) on Monday, July 4.
Call Tracey Gore at 849-3603 or Joanne Semmer at 470-4993 for more information about volunteering or sponsoring.
“The 4th of July Fireworks Committee is always looking for volunteers to come out and help with fundraisers and activities leading up to and the day of the 4th of July, such as the the kid’s fishing tournament as well as selling t-shirts and other celebration items all day on the 4th of July. The committee also needs people to clean up the pier area after the fireworks,” said Gore. “The Fort Myers Beach Fourth of July Fireworks has always been possible because of the support of this community.”