In the Know: A Fort Myers Beach favorite is closing after almost a half-century. The island is losing a post office

When a contract post office was awarded to the Santini Marina Plaza in its infancy on Fort Myers Beach around Thanksgiving 1971, it made the front page of The News-Press.

The island had 4,300 residents then, and the late, honorable Ellis Solomon, the long-time five-county Southwest Florida postmaster and eventual Fort Myers mayor, noted the 75% jump of the previous decade.

"The heavy growth on the south end," Solomon said, "made the new branch necessary."

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A half-century later, the population has continued upward to 7,117, as In the Know reported this month upon the release of 2020 census numbers. Not to mention the hordes of tourists, among the 5 million who come to Lee County every year, jamming Estero Boulevard and the venues along it.

But it might not be enough to save the Santini post office that closes Wednesday when businesswoman and civic leader Lorrie Wolf also locks the doors for the final time of her gift shop, just short of a half-century old.

An uncertainty about a new one comes at a time when there's also the uncertainty of how the U.S. Post Office runs these days and plans to gut the agency. The service has been more likely to cut back in the past year or so than do anything else.

That has helped make Wolf's Gifts By the Sea, formerly known as the Golden Dolphin, a tough sell as the 75-year-old great grandmother prepares to retire from sales.

"I had 10 people who were seriously interested until they started talking to the post office," Wolf said. "You're kind of buying something without any guarantees that you're going to run the business the way it has been run. (So) it's 'I don't want to spend money for something, if I'm not going to get what I'm buying.'"

What is the option on the island? Drive 4 miles north to Carolina Avenue

Wolf knows it’s a setback.

"My customers are going to miss the post office probably a lot more than the gift shop, which is what I will miss more," Wolf said. "I really feel bad because the post office has been there for so long. And it's been a bit of a fixture on the beach for a long while, so it's rather bittersweet."

Now, the only option on the island will involve bringing an hourglass and braving the inevitable beach backup as you drive more than four miles north to Carolina Avenue. Turn right when you see Hooters.

"In season, it's over an hour. Most of us who live on this end of the island never head north at all, so it's just going to be traumatic for so many," Wolf said. "So that's the one on Fort Myers Beach, or they can go south off the island to the Bonita post office."

Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy said he hopes a local business person with an "entrepreneurial spirit" can make a mighty compelling case to the powers in Washington, D.C. to bring the postal service back.

"That would be the best of all worlds if that happened," the mayor told me. "On the other hand, so much of it is done online these days. People can buy stamps (online). A lot of it can be done remotely (but) there are a lot of people that still need to go into the post office and take packages in and do this and do that. It would be a loss to lose it. No doubt about it."

Murphy knows there's an uphill battle to reclaim it.

"I think all we can do is, like you say, make recommendations in support of such a thing happening, but I don't think we have any control, per se, with the postal service," Murphy said. "Maybe they'll come around and agree with us. But I don't think there's any stick we can hold over their head to tell them where they're going to locate or where they're not going to locate."

Postal service officials told me Monday they are researching the possibilities, and didn't have definitive answers.

Then later Tuesday, just before deadline, it followed up in response to In the Know questions with a statement that suggests all is not lost: "The Postal Service is willing to work with local businesses in the area to explore viable options,” the agency said. “We appreciate our customers’ business and their patience as we work to positively resolve this matter.”

The beginning of the end

Wolf has long had the kind of spirit the mayor referred to, but the pandemic took a lot of steam out of both her and the business she purchased more than 13 years ago.

"Because of the post office, we were essential so I worked all throughout the shutdown, but my staff all quit because of COVID. And so I was working six days a week, which was way too much for me quite honestly," said Wolf, who showed a little emotion in talking about the eventual return of enthusiastic and energetic employee Terry Callow. "I think he's more emotional about it even than I am because he has just really, he has taken ownership of his job, and his commitment to the business.

"It's just really a shame, that, you know, for him, because he's really enjoyed working there, and he's been such a wonderful positive addition to the staff, or of course, my only staff. He's my left hand."

With Fort Myers Beach being a retirement community and other factors that businesses are facing everywhere, the Cabrini University graduate said she had had a tough time finding workers for her eight remaining part-time positions.

The surging cost of housing, where potential employees could live, isn't helping. The typical home value in the beach's zip code sits at $527,768, a 16% increase over last year, according to Zillow. Across the street from Santini at the Creciente, where brand new condos sold for $48,000 shortly after the plaza's debut, there's a pending sale for a $700,000 unit. Inflation only takes that $48,000 in 1971 to about $327,000 in today's dollars.

Trying to keep the business afloat in the coronavirus age, Wolf cut back hours and even received a $5,900 PPP loan and "was able to hang in there" a little longer. All the quiet time with the slowdown in customers, particularly early, did have an unintended upshot.

"Over the last year and a half, with the COVID, with the plaza, all of the shopkeepers, we just all got closer. We all became family," said Wolf, who has faced challenges before, such as the 2009 loss of her loving husband and Lorrie Wolf Florist business partner, Bill. "I ran it for about 15 years also, but when my husband died it was really too hard to run a flower shop. I had to hire two and a half people to replace my husband."

During the grieving process and wanting to stay preoccupied, she did give it a go initially and during that time also purchased the gift shop:

"My husband died at the end of April. I bought the post office gift shop in July. My family thought I had gone off my rocker. But I just needed to be busy. I needed to be busy. I needed to be busy. I ran both for about three years, and realized, 'You're out of your mind.'"

She sold the florist and kept the gift shop that she's now going to miss, especially the folks who walk in the door.

"My customers, my neighbors, my friends. That's the great thing about living in a small town. Your friends are your customers. Your customers are your friends. That's going to be the hardest," said Wolf, a former Philadelphia area special education teacher who also had run a small boutique chain up there before initially retiring to the beach in 1995. "I'm hoping I can get it to stick."

Leaving behind the Cheez Whiz

One of the merchants she has drawn closer to can be found, appropriately, right next door at Annette's Book Nook.

"I will be sorry to see Lorrie and her store go but wish her a very happy retirement," said independent bookstore owner Annette Stillson. "When she talks about her family, her face always lights up, and I'm happy she will now have more time to spend with them."

Stillson, who's playing an important role in the community in promoting the lost art of reading at the enduring 30-year-old spot, has witnessed many of Wolf's good deeds.

"Her generosity to the community was evident in her annual Christmas event where she raised money to give a family in need a better holiday," Stillson said.

That meant a lot to Wolf: "We provide them a full Christmas, all the toys, all the presents, money for a big turkey dinner. Everything, and we'd do that through the school."

And she's not planning to put the brakes on the public service that has been so important to her since the Philly cheesesteak devotee ventured over the Matanzas Pass Bridge and left behind her Cheez Whiz.

"Laurie has been very involved with the town since the earlier days, and I wish her well," said Murphy, who also once hailed from the City of Brotherly Love.

Shortly after their arrival, Wolf and her husband, as county volunteers and master gardeners, got involved at improving Lakes Park, which eventually resulted in national media attention years later as a tourist attraction.

Then-County Commissioner Ray Judah referred to them as "wonderful ambassadors for the Lee County Parks system" in honoring the couple for their efforts. "It's critical to have a volunteer program, and one so aptly managed by the Wolfs," Judah said.

"It was pretty much full time, too, as director of the fragrance garden, and it's still going," Wolf said. "It has changed a lot over the years. (Hurricane) Charley caused a lot of the changes."

She continues to serve on other community panels.

"I retired from the library board, the elected board, several years ago. I had served on that for 16 years," Wolf said.. "Then the Friends of the Library asked me to serve on that board so I'm still serving. I still serve on CELCAB — that's the Cultural and Environmental Learning Center Advisory Board for the Mound House."

The latter is another island treasure that makes her giddy when thinking how far that preservation project has come in a relatively short time this century.

And then she reflects for a moment.

"I've had a number of careers, and I've loved every one of them. I've just had a really, wonderful life. I've got great kids. Beautiful grandkids who are starting out on their own, and two tiny, little wonderful great grandchildren. Life has treated me extremely well," said Wolf, her voice cracking a little bit. "I hope I stay young for as long as I can."

Hiring in Immokalee

As I mentioned earlier in the column, hiring is a challenge everywhere.

That's a reason why Immokalee's Seminole Casino Hotel plans an Aug. 4 job fair and offers are planned on the spot.

Plus, positions include a meal per shift, not to mention a weekly paycheck and a wardrobe department that provides uniforms.

The event is planned from 9 a.m. to noon and 4 to 7 p.m. in the Seminole Center, 506 S. 1st St.

Here's what you can pursue:

• Casino operations
• Culinary
• Food and beverage
• Maintenance
• Slots
• Table games

Candidates must submit an application before the event at www.gotoworkhappy.com. Face coverings are optional.

Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.