The Ridge League of Cities April Membership Dinner Meeting was held on April 10, 2025, at the Turner Center in Arcadia. Two hundred city officials and guests had a fantastic time in our southernmost member city. Former Arcadia City Manager Terry Stewart was the entertainment for the social hour. What a great voice! Mayor Judy Wertz Strickland welcomed everyone to Arcadia and introduced the DeSoto County Commission and Arcadia City Commission. The Turner Center was nicely decorated with beautiful table settings from the Valley Florist. There were numerous signs around the Center promoting the advocacy efforts of the RLC, such as support for keeping local control of local issues. Terry Stewart provided the National Anthem.
Eighteen member cities were present for the dinner. A total of 203 city officials and guest were reported in the evening’s Attendance Report. In addition to the host city of Arcadia, those municipalities in double digits were Zolfo Springs, Dundee, Bartow, and Lake Alfred. Lake Alfred’s contingent of 45 included members from the family of long-serving City Commissioner Alburtus Maultsby. Commissioner Maultsby recently completed his twenty-fifth year on the Lake Alfred Commission. It was also Maultsby’s 94th birthday. As a special treat, Terry Stewart led the membership in “Happy Birthday” to Alburtus.
The evening’s special guests and program featured the Gator Wilderness Camp School located in Charlotte County in southwest Florida. Gator Wilderness Camp is a year around camping program designed specifically to serve adolescent boys from the ages of 11-15 years old. Greg Kanagy, Executive Director described the Camp as a private, non-profit (501C3) organization located on a 250-acre property, dedicated to sharing Christ’s unconditional love with families and their sons. It is the goal of Gator Wilderness Camp to pursue relationships with those in need and to offer a navigational beacon of hope and healing. In addition to the preparation of the dinner, the boys of the Camp entertained the membership with several camp songs. Thank you, Arcadia and the Gator Wilderness Camp School, for a wonderful evening!
