The following is a written account by Betty Tricker in March of 2011, of some of her memories of Leisure Time Park. Betty and her husband Gerold “Gizz” Tricker first came to Leisure Time in 1984 from Warren, Ohio.

Gizz and I came to Leisure Time in 1984. We rented for two years, then bought. There was nothing on 41 except tomato and strawberry gardens. There was one grocery store at the corner and if you wanted K-Mart or other stores, you had to go to Ft. Myers or Naples.

Fishing was good then, so Gizz started having “Fish Frys” free of charge. We had almost a one hundred percent turnout, so we had to start charging $1.00. The clubhouse kitchen was very small and contained a home-sized frig and stove. When Gizz had his first spaghetti dinner, he had to go to the hardware store and buy pans. There were big windows looking out to the pool and the cooks would open them, cook on the grills outside and pass the food into the kitchen through the windows! Over the years in Leisure Time, there have been several major remodels of the kitchen until we arrived at the beautiful facility we have today. The Social Club has been a mainstay in providing equipment.

We were the first to apply for permission to pour a driveway. There was a great deal of opposition to it because the Red Book said “no additional edifices allowed”. It was taken to the Leisure Time lawyer and he said it was permissible because an“edifice” had to have walls. After that cement driveways became very popular (about 1985-86). The next issue that caused turmoil in the park was “No Smoking” in the Clubhouse. The smokers fought it, but the rule was passed (State enforced in 1991). There are the types of issues which came up early on in the park and were settled peaceably for the good of the park.

The pool originally had a plastic cover that had to be rolled up in order to swim. Eventually, the insurance company had us take it off because of the slight danger of someone falling in under it and drowning.

For us, Leisure Time was like stepping back in time. We were among people with good moral issues. We never locked our door in the daytime because neighbors watched out for each other. There is a “caring” here that the World has lost. Being 55 or “older” also means when you say goodbye in the spring, you never know who might not be back in the fall. So you learn to flow with it. We started coming for a month and are now coming for seven months. It gets to be more “home” every year.

I do hope that as younger people buy in and become a part of us, they will participate in cooking, heading up committees, etc. They will find it pure joy.

Originally typed by Bonnie Bagget, March 2011