Page 42 - Life In Naples Magazine - November 2015

CARRYING ON

THE TRADITION
MAKING NAPLES A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE

by Lois Bolin
Old Naples Historian

I n 2013, Inc. magazine discussed why
businesses should build a culture of
giving back. The author wrote that
making charitable donations isn’t simply
a feel-good thing - it is a way to drive
change in our communities and within
our organizations.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the author
dove into the City of Naples archives and
found ‘The Make Naples a Better Place to
Live Plan”, which was later shortened to
The Naples Plan. This plan not only drove
change in 1948 - it solidified the Naples’
culture of giving back.

“The Naples Plan” captured the
attention of the Tampa Tribune’s editor,
James Clendinen, who wrote about a
unique community effort that showed
American ingenuity at its best. “This story
is about how the west coast town of Naples,
160 miles south of Tampa, pulled $250,000

URSULA PFAHL,TERRY HANSER AND KATHY BIGHAM

in town improvements out of a hat.”
The hat, Mr. Clendinen referred to, was not a magician’s hat; but an ordinary one - like

the ones that were passed around to take collections for office parties. He went on to say
the only thing this innovative plan needed was “preferably a 10-gallon hat” and a number
of “high-bracket” property owners with enough community interest to part with a wad of
folding money when the hat was passed.

Luckily, the town of Naples had both.
On Jan. 9, 1948 (at 8 p.m.), Mayor Roy Smith called a meeting to say that the IRS
had approved their unprecedented “pass-the-hat-plan” under IRS Code Section 28 as a
contribution to a political subdivision. At that time in Florida, 100 percent of political
contributions were tax-deductible.
The plan outlined several projects, including mosquito abatement; the construction
jetties; sand dredging; and street paving from Gordon Pass to Gordon Drive to the
Post Office to “First Street and the Street to the Pier.” The town’s leaders understood
their community’s most precious resource was not necessarily its beaches as parks and
playgrounds were listed as the No. 1 priority. Cambier Park and Lowdermilk Park were
completed in 1948 and 1950 respectively. Both were named after city employees.

JEANNE SWEENEY, JOHN COX AND VICKIE TRACY

42 Life in Naples | November 2015