On Monday, November 13, the City of LaBelle held a ‘give back to LaBelle’ evening hosted in the Barron Park. The evening was kicked off by the American Legion Post 130 who opened by leading those in attendance with the pledge of allegiance. The Firehouse Singers then came on the stage under the gazebo and entertained the audience with an array of vocal selections, followed by a lively set by the Sheriff Steve Whidden and His Posse Band.

There was tea and hotdogs served under the food pavilion for everyone in attendance.

I spoke with Bianca Burke Ross, President of the LaBelle Chamber of Commerce and she told me “Tonight is about giving back to the community of LaBelle. Our chamber board consists of thirteen people who are heavily involved into getting LaBelle back to working order after the hurricane. Our annual dinner was cancelled because the Civic Center was being used as a shelter. We didn’t want to be disconnected from the community for that long so the thirteen of us wanted to do something to recognize those people in LaBelle whose jobs are to help everyone to recover.”

Sheriff Steve Whidden & the Posse offered up some great entertainment at the event. (Submitted photo/Amanda Nelson)[/caption]

The evening was sponsored by First Bank, The City of LaBelle, and McDonalds.

“We just really wanted to thank the people of the LaBelle Fire Department, the LaBelle City employees, and the Hendry County Health Department who lost the use of their building and have been displaced since the hurricane,” Ross added.