There were 93 people at this year's awards ceremony who came to honor the winners of our 20th Annual Children's Environmental Art Contest, "Coloring the Earth." The event was held in the Meeting Room of the Cape Coral Library. Upon arrival, each family received a free raffle ticket to win a Florida Black Bear toy that came with a certificate of adoption, and the lucky ones whose numbers were drawn expressed their delight. 

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary, Art Contest Chairperson, Alessia Leathers of the Friends of the Cape Coral Library, who founded the contest back in 2006 and has continued to run it, gave an overview of the history and thanked those individuals who have provided support to the cause over the years. The audience enjoyed an interactive presentation on this year's theme, "Protect Our Florida Black Bears," by Keynote Speaker Cris Costello, state campaign director of Sierra Club Florida. 

The winning artists received their prizes of high quality art supply kits, and everyone enjoyed delicious refreshments at the end of the memorable evening. The contest was sponsored by the Friends of the Cape Coral Library and the Cape Coral-Lee County Public Library. (BE SURE TO SEE IMAGES OF ALL 20 WINNING DRAWINGS THAT APPEAR BELOW THE PHOTOS FROM THE AWARDS CEREMONY.) The winning artwork has also been framed and is on display in our gallery.

All meetings are open to all and held in the large meeting room of the library. Light refreshments will be served at 9:30 followed by a short business meeting and our program.

Join us on Saturday, July 25th for the always popular Books We Have Read program. This program is open to all and we ask all members and guests to bring one or two of their favorite books to share. We’ll create a list of all books presented so we can grow our summer (or fall) reading list! (Don’t worry if you’re not comfortable sharing, you can still attend and get recommendations.

Looking for another way to support the library, use some of your valuable skills and meet new people? Look no further, the Board of Directors has an opening for Assistant Treasurer. The A/T will learn all the duties of Treasurer to serve as backup, assist with banking duties, and ultimately assume the role of Treasurer.

Requirements are basic computer skills, experience with spreadsheet software and ability to learn financial reporting software (Quicken). A summary of Assistant Treasurer and Treasurer duties is attached to the button below.

Send email to president@capefriends.org or leave a message on our FOCCL Facebook page.

Alan Watts, a British American writer and speaker famously said “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” This is good advice for the FOCCL in the days to come because we are in for some big changes. We are sadly saying goodbye to our treasurer and former president Dawn LaVaque along with our Membership Chair of seven years Joanne Eddy. We will miss them both but we know that our new treasurer Barbara Nightingale and new Membership Chair Sandy Caldwell are ready to step up and do great jobs. After twenty years (!) of coordinating the Children’s Art Contest, Alessia Leathers and Monica Rahman are stepping down and our library team will be taking over. We are grateful to Alessia and Monica for all of their hard work but we know that the contest will go on and children will continue to have the opportunity to learn and create.

We are also making some big changes in the ways we sell books. Replacing our November and April book sales will be one sale at the end of January. First Dibs and online sales will be expanded and we will be selling books in the library throughout the year in new and creative ways. We know that our loyal team of volunteers- old and new will be available to help us implement these new ideas and with your help they will be successful! So get ready to plunge in, move and join the dance- we can’t wait!

Teresa Goulding 
President
FOCCL

TThe FOCCL are happy to sponsor in part with other Lee County Library Friends a program of online author events. Each month a bestselling, award-winning, and highly acclaimed author from around the world will be featured in this new program.. These featured writers and thought leaders cover a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. Participants have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the author. All presentations are available on demand after the live event. Registration is required.

For more information and to register go to LSC | Watch | Lee County Library System Online Author Events (libraryc.org).

The theme for the 20th Annual Children's Environmental Art Contest, "Coloring the Earth," was Protect Our Florida Black Bears. The artwork created by the 20 winners, selected by a panel of five judges from the 455 contest entries, have been framed and are hanging in the alcove area of the Cape Coral Library art gallery. In celebration of the art contest's 20th Anniversary, there's a presentation about its history in the gallery hallway. Included are some examples of youngsters' art entries, contest flyers, and laminated press clippings from past years. Here are our first place winners by age group, but some see all the children’s work- you’ll be amazed!

  

Website: CapeFriends.org
Photos from Events: CapeFriends.org/events-photos-2026
Annual Calendar: CapeFriends.org/calendar
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Hotline Message Ph.# 239-349-2572

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PO Box 152471
Cape Coral, Florida 33915-2471
USA