Annual Community Meeting
2024 Annual Meeting
TEAM held a successful Annual Community Meeting on January 25, featuring keynote speaker Charlotte Economic Development Director Dave Gammon, Nancy Johnson, TEAM CEO and Punta Gorda City Manager Greg Murray
Photo credit Larry Cairns
TEAM holds successful Annual Community Meeting, Jan 26, 2023
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Click on thumbnails to see photo caption
Photo credit: Alicia Oates and Kathy Oberle
2022 TEAM Annual Community Meeting
“Moving Forward Together”
The theme of TEAM Punta Gorda’s January 27 Annual Community meeting, hosted at the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association, was “Moving Forward Together.” TEAM Punta Gorda volunteers and community leaders provided information and updates about matters of concern to citizens of Punta Gorda and Charlotte County.
Betsy Spagnolo, TEAM Vice-President and hostess for the evening, introduced CEO Nancy Johnson, who presented details about numerous TEAM community projects including Punta Gorda in Bloom, Community Gardens, the Free Loaner Bicycle Program, and others. She reminded everyone of upcoming events of interest including the March 19 TEAM annual golf outing and the Pedal and Play in Paradise cycling event to be held on March 26.
Punta Gorda Assistant City Manager, Dr. Melissa Reichert, served as moderator for presentations from Dave Gammon, Director of the Charlotte County Economic Development Office, Greg Murray, Punta Gorda City Manager, and Joan LeBeau, Punta Gorda Urban Design Director.
The speakers described the challenges and opportunities faced by a community experiencing tremendous growth. Murray and LeBeau reminded the audience that the updated Punta Gorda Citywide Master Plan will soon be available for citizen input.
Read about the meeting in the Charlotte SUN article by Dan Sutphin.
TEAM 2020 Annual Community Meeting puts a Spotlight on the Arts
January 23, Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association Auditorium
From Ballet to Hip Hop, Beethoven to Ellington, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” to the dueling brushes of two noted artists, it was a magical evening. The applause from the crowd was testimony to the talent in the room.
Produced by TEAM’s board Vice President, Betsy Spagnolo, the artistic vignettes shared throughout the evening highlighted the depth of dance, music, drama and fine arts available in our community.
Charlotte Players’ actor Gene Callan served as the evening’s narrator. Studio Seven, founded by Casey Nemec, presented ballet performed by Ana Rivadeneira, hip hop performed by Sammi Jo Colburn, Maya Hawes, Ellie Jobbers and Melia Rodriguez, and contemporary dance performed by Gianna Gregoire.
The Charlotte High drama department, directed by Bill Olson, enacted scenes from “Twelfth Night” and “The Importance of Being Earnest”, featuring students Jessica Sanders, Alyssa Hasler and Mansion Warden. The Charlotte High School music department cast of “Once on this Island” previewed their upcoming show with “We Dance.”
Cindy Scaruffi-Klispie, principal trumpet with the Punta Gorda Symphony, performed Puccini, Beethoven, Duke Ellington and the theme from Superman by John Williams. Thanks to Craig Badinger for orchestrating the night’s performance.
The production culminated in a 10-minute artists’ duel in acrylic and oil. The theme was Monet. The noted artists were Marquelynn Raposa and Zoe Hale of the Visual Arts Center. Janet Watermeier arranged the performance. It was an energetic conclusion to an event designed to promote civic engagement in the future of the arts in Charlotte County. Will it include a performing arts center in Punta Gorda, a space that would serve the entire artistic community?
The evening began with a “mix and mingle” of volunteers of TEAM, friends and City officials who enjoyed light refreshments. TEAM committee chairs were available to discuss their individual projects and initiatives. Special guest Cahal Dunne opened the meeting by singing his popular song, “Punta Gorda.” TEAM CEO Nancy Johnson recapped the outstanding 2019 efforts of more than 550 volunteers and touched on new initiatives for 2020. TEAM’s donors were recognized for their financial support. Special recognition was given to the Charlotte Community Foundation and the evening’s host, the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association.
TEAM would like to thank the behind the scenes personnel from each of the organizations who created and directed each vignette as well as the TEAM volunteers who helped in front and behind the scenes. TEAM’s Outreach Committee provided the logistics for this event. To learn more about the arts in the community, visit www.charlottecountyarts.org (The Arts and Humanities Council of Charlotte County).
Images from our 2020 Annual Meeting