This ornament from 2013 is in memory of our "new store" as Granddad would say. For the rest of us, this was our second store, built on the shore of San Carlos Bay after the original store was washed off the wharf by a hurricane (yes, we see the irony). This store was built right next to Matthews' Wharf where the ferry landed. Mary Mead (Bailey) Johnson remembers making snowballs out of the shavings of the immense ice blocks that were delivered to this store on the wharf. Her snowballs were swiftly thrown at unsuspecting siblings before they melted in the southwest Florida heat. This building now rests at the Sanibel Historical Village, which also suffered from storm damage from Hurricane Ian. These ornaments were rescued from Bailey's after Hurricane Ian and were lucky enough to be placed on a shelf above the water line. They were untouched by storm surge.
