2025 events/photos

May 6 FOCCL Volunteer Appreciation Event

The Friends of the Cape Coral Library Board of Directors held a luncheon to say thank you to all the members who have volunteered for our organization throughout the year. It was held in Cape Coral’s Gulf Coast Village auditorium/dining room. GCV served a delicious lunch, and everyone had a great time. FOCCL members Joanne E. and Rose B. helped put together the event that included a selection of some really nice door prizes.

Spring Book Sale Fundraiser in April, 2025

Our Spring Book Sale was a big success thanks to everyone in the community who donated books during the year, our many wonderful members who volunteered, our local media who helped get the word out, and to all the book lovers who came to shop.

March 22 General Meeting

An audience of 45 people that included members and guests came to our March General Meeting for an exceptionally informative presentation by Mr. Philip Flood, Legislative Liaison and Regional Representative for the South Florida Water Management District.

March 1 Southwest Florida Reading Festival

FOCCL sponsored best-selling romance writer Debbie Macomber at the festival. Our member Monica R. had the pleasure of introducing her to a big audience and was thrilled to get a photo taken with the author. Debbie’s presentation about the long journey to get her books published was informative, really entertaining, funny and inspirational besides. A big thank you to the wonderful FOCCL members and student volunteers from FGCU who assisted youngsters at our booth to enter the Children’s Environmental Art Contest, Coloring the Earth.

February 22 Burrowing Owl Festival

FOCCL had a booth again at the Burrowing Owl Festival in Rotary Park, and it was as busy as ever this year! Thank you to the wonderful student volunteers from FGCU who helped kids create their entries to our 19th Annual Children’s Environmental Art Contest. The theme this time is Let’s Protect Our Mangroves, and lots of pictures and materials about mangroves were on hand for the young artists to browse through for inspiration.

January 18 FOCCL General Meeting

We had a change on the program with short notice due to an illness and really appreciated that our scheduled presenter for March, Beverly Saltonstall, was willing to fill in at the very last minute for the January meeting. Beverly, a founding member of the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife and author of the book “Cape Coral Owls Don’t Hoot,” gave an extremely informative, very enjoyable, and often humorous presentation about our beloved Burrowing Owls. The 33 FOCCL members and 5 guests in attendance were fascinated as well as entertained. Thank you to Beverly for sharing with us her affection for these little creatures.

2024 Fall Book Sale

The Fall 2024 Book Sale Fundraiser was a smashing success thanks to our many volunteers, our members who came on the preview day, and all the book lovers who shopped during the sale. Thank you also to the local print and TV media that promoted the event.

November 16, 2024 General Meeting

The meeting was well attended, and everyone enjoyed the presentation about Staghorn Ferns by Garden Club of Cape Coral member Terry Fisher, a self-described ‘plantaholic.’ Her enthusiasm for the very unusual ferns that she had brought was evident. Terry shared many of the plants with attendees who happily took them home to their own gardens.

September 21, 2024 General Membership Meeting

Many members and guests came to our meeting on Sept. 21^st to hear WINK Meteorologist Greg Rule’s presentation. His fascinating talk and slide presentation were a big hit at last year’s September meeting, so we invited him back to give us an updated look at our weather in Southwest Florida and discuss hurricane preparedness. His knowledge and enthusiasm for the topic shown through again as he shared valuable timely information and answered lots of questions afterwards.