{"id":125818,"date":"2026-01-21T03:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/125818\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T03:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T03:23:14","slug":"event-wraps-up-anniversary-celebration-for-city-sanibel-captiva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/125818\/","title":{"rendered":"Event wraps up anniversary celebration for city – SANIBEL-CAPTIVA"},"content":{"rendered":"


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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nFrom left, Sanibel City Councilmember John Henshaw, Vice Mayor Holly Smith, Mayor Mike Miller, and Councilmembers Laura DeBruce and Richard Johnson.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nCity Manager Dana Souza addresses the crowd at the Sanibel Time Capsule: Honoring Our Past, Charting Our Future on Jan. 10 at City Hall.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nThe city of Sanibel and sponsor Bank of the Islands presented the Sanibel Time Capsule: Honoring Our Past, Charting Our Future on Jan. 10 at City Hall, followed by the Lunch & Legacy: Together At The Table.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nFISH of Sanibel-Captiva Executive Director Maria Espinoza speaks as a founding member of the Sanibel Captiva Young Professionals at the city’s Sanibel Time Capsule: Honoring Our Past, Charting Our Future.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nThe BIG ARTS Community Chorus performs the national anthem at the Sanibel Time Capsule: Honoring Our Past, Charting Our Future on Jan. 10 at City Hall.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nFrom left, SanCap Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer John Lai and the Rev. William \u201cBill\u201d Van Oss, rector for Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nBank of the Islands President Robbie Roepstorff commended community members for their legacy of caring for one another in her closing remarks at the Sanibel Time Capsule: Honoring Our Past, Charting Our Future on Jan. 10 at City Hall.<\/p>\n

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CASEY BRADLEY GENT
\nFrom left, Boy Scouts Wesley Harris, Liam Nuckolls, Evan Nuckolls and Charles Harris.<\/p>\n

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On Saturday, January 10, 2026, the city of Sanibel installed the new Sanibel Time Capsule. The commemorative event took place in front of city hall, where city leaders gathered with the community to seal the time capsule and emphasize the importance of community traditions. City Manager Dana Souza encouraged the community to participate in a lasting legacy, declaring, \u201cSave the date! Meet us back here in front of city hall on November 5, 2049.\u201d This invitation served as a call, to a new generation of islanders, to return in 25 years and honor Sanibel\u2019s enduring traditions of strength and resiliency. Souza sought out the youngsters in the crowd \u2014 those 18 and under \u2014 to whom he handed 50th Anniversary gold and green shell-shaped commemorative coins The current time capsule was officially sealed by Mayor Mike Miller, Vice Mayor Holly Smith and Councilmembers Laura DeBruce, John Henshaw, and Richard Johnson.<\/p>\n

Souza began the program of events with a reminder. He said it is important to honor Sanibel\u2019s founding mothers and fathers \u2014 those who established the city in 1974, \u201cto save it from the type of overdevelopment that was happening across Florida in Lee County at the time.\u201d Sanibel is a barrier island where people and nature live together in balance. During the morning\u2019s ceremony, leaders repeatedly referred to the resilience, compassion and determination of Sanibel\u2019s residents. Reverend Bill Van Oss offered the program\u2019s invocation. He referenced the wind and water; that their irreplaceable value sometimes exists along with loss and uncertainty. The hurricanes of the last three and half-years carried loss to many of Sanibel\u2019s home and business owners. However, under cloud-free blue skies during Sanibel\u2019s commemorative time capsule ceremony, Van Oss prayed, \u201cWe look forward to a future of promise. . .Here, beauty and life are braided together.\u201d Van Oss added his hope \u2014 upon the inevitable opening of the new Sanibel Time Capsule \u2014 that in it people will discover a testimony of love.<\/p>\n

Councilman John Henshaw told the gathering that Sanibel is proof: \u201cYou can preserve paradise.\u201d He emphasized the city\u2019s commitment to young families and to the continued efforts of conservation. \u201cNow is the time,\u201d Henshaw said, \u201cto build on the vision of a diverse multi-generational community.\u201d He predicted, over the next 25 years, that Sanibel will become a community thriving with tele-workers. And, in 2050, that the beach will remain Sanibel\u2019s most defining feature.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s program reached across generations and beyond the spoken word. Andrea Miller led the group of citizens who formed Sanibel\u2019s 50th Anniversary Work Group. In designing the program around sealing the new Sanibel Time Capsule, Miller\u2019s group included BIG ARTS Chorus singing The National Anthem, Sanibel School NJHS-vice president Charles Harris representing the island\u2019s next generation, a performance in movement carried-out by preschoolers from the Children\u2019s Education Center of the Islands, forward-focused addresses from Kendall Lutheringer and Maria Espinoza of the SanCap Young Professionals group and a final address on gratitude from Robbie Roepstorff. Roepstorff is president of Bank of the Islands. Bank of the Islands was the main sponsor of the event. In conclusion of the sealing ceremony, Roepstorff thanked Andrea Miller for being a dynamic chairwoman, adding, \u201cThe people of Sanibel show up. They care deeply and give generously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the morning\u2019s formalities, Lunch & Legacy: Together At The Table, began behind city hall. An abundant offering of tacos, hotdogs and brats, iced cookies, tea and lemonade, and ice-cream were available. Tacos LA ISLA, A Bit of Bailey\u2019s and Pinocchios Original Italian Ice Cream provided the food. Musician Danny Morgan provided the island sounds. Community attendees provided the smiles.<\/p>\n


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