To the editor:

Thank you very much Charles R. Appler for your letter to the editor that appeared in The Lehigh Acres Citizen on March 23, 2016.

He expressed the feelings of many many Lehigh Acres residents when he wrote: “It was a sad day when there was no parade marking the culmination of Spring Festival Week.”

Our family, also has not missed a parade in 20 some years.

No way as stated by the officials of the Spring Festival Committee that interest in the parade has dropped off.

It was the one event all the members of a family could enjoy together and feel proud of our town and its many organizations – some we never knew about before. Now all of that is gone.

Another apparent sign of the lack of civic pride and spirit in our community was the lack of only Christmas decorations through the center of town. Even smaller, local areas had Christmas greeting on their light poles.

As Mr. Appler wrote: “Community pride and spirit do matter.”

Betty J. Stickle

Lehigh Acres