"The Ladies of Punta Gorda" Telling the Stories of the Women Who Helped Shape Punta Gorda

At the venerable building that stands on Sullivan Street, women from Punta Gorda have been meeting for nearly 100 years -- meeting to improve themselves and the community in which they lived.  It was a woman, Helen Wrobbel, who ran the Punta Gorda Woman's Club for many years and oversaw the caring of the building, who inspired Libby McDonald Schaefer to create "The Ladies of Punta Gorda: A Memory Book" which publishes this month on the 19th.

Helen gave Libby, a lady whose passion for Punta Gorda history effuses from every part of her being, the first names of women to interview for stories for the book. And it grew from there, as the former teacher met more and more of Punta Gorda's notable women or their children and recorded their tales.  "Many of the stories are very sad, many are incredible that have never been told before," Libby said talking about the book today.   Many women were members of the Woman's Club at one time or another, others were not.

"The Ladies of Punta Gorda," is a compendium of the Punta Gorda stories of 45 women who made an impact on the community. Libby's will hold a book signing on December 9 at Copperfish Books, 1205 Elizabeth Street.