Garry Overbey

Port Charlotte

Editor, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda at Charlotte Sun

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Articles

Tools of the Trades

1 week ago | charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com | Garry Overbey

The Englewood Charlotte Library recently hosted “The Trades at the Library,” a career fair offering job seekers a chance to explore a variety of skilled trades. About a dozen representatives from local technical schools and trade associations set up informational booths at Tringali Community Park to answer questions about training, apprenticeships, tuition and other topics related to fields like aviation, roofing, plumbing, welding and auto repair.
At a Crossroads - Town Chronicle

2 weeks ago | townchronicle.com | Garry Overbey

Police officers working out of storage closets. Storm debris piled high on city streets, bringing rats and frustration. These are just some of the challenges North Port officials say residents were facing as the city geared up for a crucial vote on May 13. On the ballot: a series of referendums that would allow the city to secure short-term loans for emergency storm response, as well as fund long-term infrastructure projects — including a long-overdue new police station.
Keeping watch over Wellen Park’s homes

2 weeks ago | townchronicle.com | Garry Overbey

Linda Trull has had many jobs in her lifetime, but the one thing she hasn’t been good at is staying retired. The seven-year resident of Wellen Park’s Gran Paradiso neighborhood recently launched Honest and Fair Home Watch Care LLC, a new business providing home watch services for all 21 communities in Wellen Park. A home watch service looks after properties while the owners are away, checking the exterior and interior for leaks, damage and other issues.
105-year-old WWII veteran honored with pinning ceremony

2 weeks ago | townchronicle.com | Garry Overbey

Richard “Dick” Palmer was part of that generation of young men who saved the world but didn’t talk about it much. His daughter, Mary Palmer, remembers him putting on his old Army uniform for veterans’ parades and other patriotic events. But talk about his time in the service during World War II? “He really didn’t,” she said. One day, she asked him why.
Economic Milestone

2 weeks ago | charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com | Garry Overbey

Lane Valente Industries, a nationwide facility management and general contracting company, recently celebrated the grand opening of its new facility at 8228 Northup Drive in Punta Gorda. The opening marked a “major milestone” for the county’s economic development, according to Kay Tracy, director of the Charlotte County Economic Development Office. “It’s a significant investment for our local economy, our workforce and the future of Charlotte County,” Tracy said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
At 100, Madeleine Ibberson has much to reflect on

1 month ago | charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com | Garry Overbey

Days shy of her 100th birthday, Madeleine Ibberson wonders if it’s finally time to lose her French accent. “Yesterday we had a friend coming … from Germany,” she said. Her voice carries a musical lilt. “The whole time, I understood not a word he said, and I kept thinking: ‘Poor people in America, they have to listen to me.’”She’s kidding. But then she tells a story about how she gets surprised looks from people when she pronounces the word “sheet.”“So, I don’t buy bedding,” she said with a laugh.
New Wellen Park emergency room boosts North Port’s health care

1 month ago | townchronicle.com | Garry Overbey

Wellen Park’s first free-standing emergency room opened in March. HCA Florida Wellen Park Emergency is an 11,300-square-foot facility open 24 hours a day, where residents can go for ailments ranging from broken bones and upper respiratory infections to chest pains and strokes. “This is a great opportunity for HCA Florida Englewood Hospital to be able to serve the community of South Sarasota County with access to emergency care,” hospital CEO Kelly Lindsay said.
One Shell At A Time

1 month ago | townchronicle.com | Garry Overbey

Some people look at a plate of oyster shells and see only dinner. But the young men and women of the Sarasota-based nonprofit Oyster Boys Conservation see a way to keep the region’s waterways clean and sustain habitats vital to marine life. The Oyster Boys have visited the Rotary Club of Wellen Park a few times to discuss their mission to restore the area’s oyster reefs. At their recent talk in January, the organization received a $500 donation from the club.
North Port mayor’s “State of the City” address touts Wellen Park

1 month ago | townchronicle.com | Garry Overbey

North Port Mayor Phil Stokes delivered the “State of the City” address to a standing-room-only crowd at Downtown Wellen Park’s Solis Hall in March. In addition to telling residents about progress made in the sectors of health care, education and economic development, Stokes pointed the way forward with a litany of projects slated for coming years, including many in Wellen Park.
The Life of Riley

2 months ago | charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com | Garry Overbey

Mike Riley’s first rock star was his mother. At the age of 18, Margaret Stapleton marriedRoy G. Riley, a paper mill worker in Hamilton,Ohio. Sixteen years later, Riley, their second child, was born. The course of his life changed when he was 10 years old. That’s when his sister, Patricia, with her husband, Ed “Whitey” Shackelford, exposed him to the sounds of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Lonnie Mack and Troy Seals.