Press Release...
So Long Charley
– You’re Going up in Smoke
City Marketplace to be Location of Bonfire
The thought of bidding Hurricane Charley a pyrotechnical farewell on October 30th is drawing a great deal of enthusiasm from residents in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte. Initiated by City Council Member and former Mayor Marilyn Smith-Mooney, the event is being organized by the volunteer community group Downtown Focus. “So long Charley – You’re Going up in Smoke” keeps expanding as new ideas are offered by residents. Originally planned as a block party to bolster the spirits of the communities, Marilyn’s husband Jack Mooney suggested the idea of another use for hurricane trash. Copywriter and recent transplant from Virginia, Beth Rexroad threw in the bonfire concept and best decorated roof tile art contest. Becky Bovell from the Charlotte County Visitors Bureau offered the “So Long Charley” totem pole as the center piece of the fire.
Smith-Mooney refers to herself as the pathetic-poetic writer of the clues to the different contests planned for the day (elsewhere on this page) and is the driving force behind the “best outfit fashioned from a blue tarp event”. “Every image we see of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte since Charley hit has been of the devastation left after the hurricane”, said Smith-Mooney. “Enough already! Let’s show the country that Punta Gorda and Charlotte County are alive and rebuilding.”
Ron Oskey, Sr. has volunteered the City Marketplace– the old Punta Gorda Mall - property for the event. “It’s a perfect location for both Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte to participate”, said Oskey. “I’m happy to support anything that will put Charley behind us”.
The official non-profit sponsor for “So Long Charley” is the Boys and Girls Club of Charlotte County. The Charlotte Sun is the media sponsor and Smith-Mooney has promised a host of major prizes for the various contests and events. Readers who followed the contest clues in last Wednesday’s Punta Gorda Herald know that four of the “Never Before – Never Again” contests are: Best Man’s/Best Woman’s Outfit Fashioned from a Blue Tarp; Most Unusual Hurricane Scene Inside your House Depicted on Plywood; Most Ingenious New Use for a Worn-out Generator; Most Attractive Electric Lamp made from a Red Plastic Gas Container. Additional contests and events are cryptically identified in a new poem with this article.
Contest participants are requested to make a $20.00 donation to enter the variety of competitions that will be occurring throughout the day. 100% of the funds raised will be distributed to local non-profits which were unable to conduct fundraising events as a result of the hurricanes. The Boys and Girls Club alone lost $40,000 as a result of missing two major fundraising events. “I’m making a list of all the non-profits that missed annual fundraising events and all will be included in the distribution of any funds we collect”, said Smith-Mooney.
For those interested in participating in “So Long Charley”, the price of admission is a small piece of burnable hurricane junk. It can be wood, cardboard, paper, plywood, or wet jeans. No toxic material, such as pressure-treated wood, tarps, plastic sheeting or flammable liquids will be allowed. For those with nothing to burn, Smith-Mooney suggests they bring a non-perishable food donation to replenish the food pantries of local non-profits or a $1.00 donation to the Hurricane Charley Relief Fund.
Clue # 2 for “Never Before – Never Again Contests”
Get busy on your entry for one of those four, OR READ CLUE #2 for more of what we have in store:
Are those dead batteries
you're chuckin'? Golly, what a waste!
Use your creativity; blend in some real cheap taste.
Now just a minute, 'fore you think I'm crazy in the head ...
imagine hearin' through that hole right above your bed
some nifty "D-cell wind chimes a-clunkin' in the breeze.
Make one that wins a prize -- or, at least, disturbs the peace.
There's the shingles and the roof tiles from at least a block away --
where they were once on houses to be re-roofed next May.
Did you forget how one of them through your glass door did sail?
"Got there that much quicker," you said, "Than if it came by mail!"
In fact it could be used to send a message down the street --
but write a "Charley" limerick on it, and you’re ready to compete.
And, then, that twisted metal that's all wrapped around your tree
could make a real fine sculpture; and best of all it's free!
Throw in some metal soffit lying out there in the grass;
maybe even add a piece or two of broken glass.
Whatever you come up with when all is said and done,
may win you a great prize; but if not, you'll still have fun.