Chamber Deputy Sheriff of the Month: Capt. Ed Tamayo, third from left, was honored by the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce at its monthly luncheon last week. Tamayo is retiring and was selected Deputy Sheriff of the Month. Others in the photo include from left to right, Joe Whalen, president and CEO of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, Lt. James Loethen, second in command at the Bravo substation; Tamayo, Capt. Ron Curtis, the new commander in Lehigh, who was also introduced by Tamayo to the Chamber audience. Photo by Mel Toadvine

It was Capt. Ed Tamayo’s last day of wearing the Lee County Sheriff’s Office uniform as he stood before the audience as he was honored as the Deputy of the Month. He is retiring as the commander of the Brava District substation in Lehigh.

On many other occasions at the Chamber luncheons, held on the last Tuesday of the month, it was Tamayo who stood before the crowd announcing the deputy of the month to be honored.

But this was his day and the Chamber audience stood and gave the captain a tremendous applause for his duty to Lehigh Acres.

Lt. James Loethen, second in command at Brava Station, made the announcement and noted that after 25 years of service with the Sheriff’s Office, Tamayo had played many roles with the Sheriff’s Office ending his tour of duty as the commander of the Lehigh Brava District.

Tamayo, who lives in Lehigh, has served two different terms as commander.

Chamber Member of the Month: Suzie Dugan of Lady in Pink Photography was chosen last week as the Lehigh Chamber’s member of the Month. She is shown here at left receiving a plaque from Chamber President Joe Whalen recognizing her for her volunteer work for the Chamber. Photo by Mel Toadvine

“Capt. Tamayo for many years has been the back bone of the district taking on and leading Bravo District personnel through an unprecedented growth spurt within the local community,” Loethen said.

Because of that growth spurt, he was witness to an unprecedented spike in crime, soaring to numbers never seen in this area before, Loethen said.

“But Capt. Tamayo never wavered taking the challenge personally as he calls Lehigh his home community,” Loethen said.

“Capt. Tamayo’s relentless pursuit for perfection, along with his dedication and downright care for the citizens of Lee County, guided the troops within Bravo district, resulting in the crime rate steadily declining faster than the national average,” Loethen said.

Tamayo was singled out for his relentless pursuit of perfection and Loethen said he always lead by example with h is “get the job done attitude.”

Chamber introducing: Cape Ed Tamayo, left, the outgoing commander at Brava Substation in Lehigh introduces his successor, Capt. Ron Curtis, at the Lehigh Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon last week.

As Loethen paid homage to Tamayo, Capt. Ron Curtis stood a few feet away. He is the new commander of the Bravo District and after the compliments were aired for Tamayo, he introduced Curtis to the group and said he was a dedicated officer who would do well in Lehigh.

Curtis is coming from the Sheriff’s Economic Crimes Robbery and Auto Theft Division out of Cape Coral and has been working with Tamayo for the past month, getting to know the layout of Lehigh and being introduced to its people.

Also honored during the Chamber luncheon was Suzie Dugan, owner of Lady in Pink Photography as member of the Month. Chamber President Joe Whalen said she was being recognized for all the volunteer work she does for the Chamber.

Milly de Diego of Mike Arcentales State Farm Insurance, was named Employee of the Month, but was unable to attend the luncheon.

Two new members of the Chamber were welcomed. They were Take Shape for Life and the Victory Christian Center.

Edd Weiner, of the Lehigh Acres Economic Development Board, spoke about the future of Lehigh at the Chamber luncheon last week.

AT the beginning of the meeting, Edd Weiner, the CEO of the Lehigh Acres Economic Development Board, briefly spoke about the workings of the development board.

The Lehigh Acres Economic Development board is a division of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce and is located in the offices of the Chamber at 25 Homestead Road.

He described the objective of the EDB, as it has come to be known, as soliciting grants, gifts, endowments and investments and to provide general information to existing businesses in Lehigh for the purpose of expanding or improving their business.

Weiner said the EDB also mirrors the efforts of the Lee county Economic Development Board to broaden the interest level in , and the relocation of businesses to Lehigh Acres by working with builders and developers in coordinating the businesses with new leases and purchases.

Weiner said he was involved with 20 different business and hopes to be working with 40 by the end of the year.

One of the area in which Weiner is working is brining Hodges University to Lehigh.

“We have 396 students at Hodges University who live in Lehigh and we are working with looking for a place for Hodges to expand in Lehigh,” Weiner said.

He noted that the county is looking at purchasing lots and assembling them for sale to developers to bring more restaurants and shopping establishments to Lehigh. He said that things were changing for Lehigh, noting the widening of SR82 and the widening of Homestead Rd. being moved up closer to being constructed. He also spoke about a planned transit bus that would move people around Lehigh as a convenient way to help people to get to different areas of the community.

The guest speaker at the luncheon was Elissa Allen of Worden Farm in Punta Gorda, who spoke about the important of eating organic vegetables and fruits and noted that such products are grown on the organization’s farm in Punta Gorda.

She said citizens in the community may buy such foods from Worden Farm each month that a certain food or fruit is in season.

She noted that organic food is grown without the use of any synthetic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, hormones, fertilizers or other synthetic or toxic substances. Nor have artificial flavors or colors been added.

For more information, go to: www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com‘>www.wordenfarm.com. You can also contact Allen at 941-637-4874 to become a customer of the organic food produced at the farm. You can email her at: elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com‘>elissa@wordenfarm.com.