EDITORIAL: We say goodbye, and thank you, to Jungle Joe
They say that everyone is expendable, when it comes to a job. No matter how well you do it, how long you’ve been there, whether there’s no one else there who even remotely has a clue as to how to do your job … everyone’s position is fluid.
Whoever “they” are never watched “Jungle” Joe Wier in action. Joe was a Lee County employee for about two decades, and in his time working in Boca Grande had one of the most demanding jobs imaginable. The only other job I can liken it to is being a mother … a single mother … of several hundred children.
Not many people know what the job duties are for the Lee County Parks & Recreation program director at the Boca Grande Community Center. That position includes being the department of transportation director for the Lee County portion of the island’s county roads (including beach accesses), a permitting liaison for special events on county property (weddings on Banyan Street, events at the Crowninshield Community House, festivals on downtown streets), making sure the bike path south of 1st Street is in good working order, managing the Wheeler Road ballfield property and the tennis courts that are located there, making sure the trash at county bins is picked up when needed, making sure storm drains are working properly and other DOT responsibilities I have no idea about.
Joe was also responsible for scheduling the events that take place at the Community Center. This may not sound like a bad job to those who don’t know the ins and outs of Boca Grande, but it’s actually a nightmare. Island organizations vie for space on prime days, at prime times and when you stop to think about all of the organizations we have, in conjunction with the traditional seasonal events that take place (the Spring Fair, the film festival, etc.) at that venue, and then you throw into the mix the slew of type-A personalities that run those organizations and events … you have a situation where compromise is key and sometimes a mediator is required.
Joe was just the man for the job. His laid-back demeanor may have worn thin at times, but he didn’t falter. His patience was that of Jobe; and no matter what, he always had a smile for anyone who smiled at him.
You could tell that one of the job duties he fit most easily into and loved was that of working with our kids. I have five children who attended school on that island, went to summer camp on that island and attended the Halloween carnivals, the Easter egg hunts and the Boca Bunch trips. My oldest is now 21, but I remember the first summer I started to get to know Jungle Joe, “Boca Bob” Green and “Coach” DJ Keisling … I believe it was 2005 or 2006. It was a true feeling of being blessed that filled me when I would often think to myself, “How lucky are we to have three of the kindest, funniest, most patient guys on the planet to deal with not only my kid, but about 60 others?” There’s not many people I could trust implicitly to take my small children on field trips to places like Lego Land or Jungle Gardens – heavily-populated tourist traps – without fear that they wouldn’t make it back on the bus at the end of the day. That kind of trust is not earned easily, but they deserved it.
I will sum this up in the best way I know how without babbling on. My youngest child is nine, and will not speak to adults she does not know. The first day I took her to summer camp after her brother and twin sisters had outgrown the program, I didn’t know how it would work out. She had relied on them to be her mouthpiece for so long, after all. But she came home with tales of how she tricked Jungle Joe with her fake cockroach, and went into great detail about his exaggerated reaction. “He almost fainted, I swear,” she said, with a huge grin on her face.
Joe could immediately find his way into the hearts of even the most callous or shy child … he didn’t even have to try. It just came naturally. The same held true for most of us adults, and we never even gave it much thought until he wasn’t there anymore. He was, quite literally, a part of our families. He was simply the best.
While we still have DJ and Khoreen and many amazing volunteers that have been there for us in many of the same ways that Joe was, it will be a strange thing not to see Jungle Joe around anymore. This hit me, and many others, like a ton of bricks. Aside from Coach DJ, Joe’s shoes are all but impossible to fill.
For every hook he baited at one of the kids’ fishing tournaments he organized, for every ribbon he handed out at a Halloween costume contest or bike parade, for every storm drain he stuck his head down to try to find a blockage, and for every child he made feel safe, confident and happy on a summer camp field trip far from home, thank you, Jungle Joe. You mean the world to us, even if we won’t be seeing you around here. You won’t be forgotten.
Marcy Shortuse is the editor of the Boca Beacon. She can be reached at mshortuse@bocabeacon.com.
