PHOTO PROVIDED
\nRyan Easton with Ruth, his dog.<\/p>\n
Ryan Eaton said the most important thing to know about him is that he is a full-time firefighter who, like most islanders, is always ready and willing to help someone in need. He has been a fire captain for 20 years, but he first came to live on Pine Island in May 2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had our house built \u2014 for me and my two boys,\u201d Eaton said of his two teenage sons.<\/p>\n
He described his love for Pine Island as having transpired when he graduated from college in 2005 and bought a Gheenoe boat, which he spent an inordinate amount of time fishing on in the island\u2019s surrounding waters. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I said, \u2018This place is awesome,\u2019 and that is when I realized how cool this place was,\u201d Eaton said. <\/p>\n
Although he is and has always been willing to help, he admitted he also loves letting loose by hanging out and maybe going to local bars with other islanders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty friendly and outgoing. I like hanging out with people I can call friends,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a unique place where you can help one another. It\u2019s such a small community and you need to be willing to help someone else in a time of need.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained that his boat was in Cape Coral during Hurricane Ian, yet he found a way to get to it and got to a fellow islander\u2019s house to help his friend and his friend\u2019s family. He said in a small community like Pine Island, people may not have the resources they might have in larger cities, such as Cape Coral or Fort Myers, but it\u2019s nice to know good people are there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, our bridge was blown out, so I was able to get there and I was able to drop supplies off to other friends who were also stuck,\u201d Eaton said.<\/p>\n
He talked about Ruth, his redbone coon hound, and starting a business. He does deer recovery as Ruth is bred with an ability to sniff out a deer, if it is indeed dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do deer recovery for hunters in Florida and Georgia who shoot a deer and they try to track it themselves and can\u2019t find it,\u201d Eaton said.<\/p>\n
He began training Ruth for the job when she was only 4 months old. He said at just over 2 years old, she is now excellent at what she\u2019s been trained to do.<\/p>\n
In addition to recovering dead deer for hunters, he also has a company called Ruth Outdoors Coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re local in Pine Island, Cape Coral or Fort Myers and you buy a bag of coffee from us, we deliver and you get to meet Ruth,\u201d Eaton said.<\/p>\n
If he were to describe the island to someone who is unfamiliar with it, Eaton would first tell them that it is not an island with a beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nothing like an island that you\u2019re going to see in a magazine, yet it is a thing of beauty. This leaves the mind to imagine what you\u2019re going to see before you actually see it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an island of ups and downs, hopes and dreams, and good people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eaton said his greatest wish for Pine Island would be that people treat it with respect.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t litter, and leave it the way you found it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For more information about Ruth Outdoors Coffee, visit Ruthscup.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n