Sonny Koutsoutis, seated second from left, with her friends on her birthday. PAULETTE LeBLANC<\/p>\n
Sonny Koutsoutis is a very involved Pine Islander. She said she would describe herself as someone who was given the purpose to help people. Currently living under the care of Hospice, Koutsoutis finds herself unable to offer the help and kindness she would normally extend, which she admits is overwhelming. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents moved here in \u201976. I\u2019d been down for Christmas with my husband and before we left, I knew when the time is right I was gonna live on this island,\u201d Koutsoutis said.<\/p>\n
Koutsoutis admits that her husband would not have enjoyed living on Pine Island the way she suspected she would. After her husband died in 1999, Koutsoutis said she began visiting Pine Island. A friend of hers already lived here and asked Koutsoutis if she would mind staying with her after a knee-replacement. Koutsoutis agreed and found herself picking up mail for her friend from the American Legion Auxiliary, the Lyons Club and the Calusa Land Trust. Staying on the island with her friend soon led her to a Realtor\u2019s office where she asked if anything might be available on the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe showed me print-outs and when we came the next day to look at this house, I walked in the front door and said, \u2018I\u2019m home,’\u201d Koutsoutis said.<\/p>\n
Her love for the island, she said, becomes obvious when she recalls how desperately she\u2019d wanted to be a part of the Fellow Islanders Sending Help (F.I.S.H) organization. Having gone through many roles with the organization, such as administrative duties as well as a span on the board of directors, Koutsoutis said, brought much joy to her island life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe process is, someone interviews the client, gathers all the information, then goes to two other members of the committee to get their approval and I\u2019m on that second committee,\u201d Koutsoutis said.<\/p>\n
She has also served time on the Greater Pine Island Water Association board. <\/p>\n
\u201cI ran and I won. I was on for two terms,\u201d Koutsoutis said, adding that at the time, she\u2019d been the only woman on the board. <\/p>\n
In the last year Koutsoutis was GPIWA board president, she said, they hired a female general manager. Her love for Pine Island and the issues presented here have caused many days concern over things such as being taken over by developers, she recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I moved here, Walgreens was trying to take over the 4-way corner. All the Pine islanders would go into Fort Myers and Phil Buchanan would usually tell us what color shirt to wear that day. The (county) commissioners would look out on the audience and everybody from Pine Island was in yellow, if that was the color that day. We managed to stop that. I\u2019m very much against development on this island if it\u2019s not needed,\u201d Koutsoutis said.<\/p>\n
If describing Pine Island to someone who has not heard of this place, she said she would likely say it is Old Florida, where people work together and respect each other, achieving a very comfortable and calm feeling. When considering a dynamic wish for Pine Island, she admits she\u2019d like the island to stay true to itself as much as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got developers pushing to get in and after the storm, a lot of people converted the houses that were destroyed into larger residences and now they\u2019re renting them out, as if it\u2019s a giant play area and it shouldn\u2019t be that. It should be the wonderful, I love you island, it\u2019s always been,\u201d Koutsoutis said. <\/p>\n