Amy Bennett Williams, writer for the Ft. Myers News-Press and author of Along the Caloosahatchee River, will take listeners on a historical trip down the Caloosahatchee River with images she’s collected of the river. She will talk about the ways in which the river has changed over time, the role it played in human history in the region, and what we can expect, environmentally, moving forward. This program accompanies Water/Ways

Steve Noll, master lecturer, discusses Florida’s long and difficult relationship with water, its attempts to turn land into water and water into land, and the contentious issues involving the Everglades, the Ocklawaha River, political battles with Alabama and Georgia, and the potential impact of sea-level rise. This program accompanies Water/Ways Smithsonian exhibit on display at the Barron Library in LaBelle. Water/Ways is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration

LaBelle Fossil Camp leads morning and sunset kayak tours. These tours offer a unique, adventure-based, eco-program that offers fun and education for all ages and experience levels. Fossil hunting adventures take place along the Caloosahatchee River, where you’re guaranteed to find fossils with us. It’s a once in a lifetime, time-traveling trip through Florida’s ancient past. Learn about the history of the River, search for bivalves and gastropods from 6

This talk will explore the environmental history of the river, Lake Okeechobee, and the Gulf of Mexico while emphasizing how humans have shaped the waterways and how the waterways shaped human culture, economy, politics, and society over the last several thousand years. Water/Ways is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and Florida Humanities. Support for the exhibition and programming was provided through a grant

The Barron Library is hosting a weekly children’s storytime event in support of the Water/Ways exhibition. Every Wednesday from March 9th to April 27th at 10:30 a.m., kids of all ages are invited to come to listen to a water-related story. March 9th: The Great Big Water Cycle Adventure March 16th: Water Can Be… March 23rd: The Mess That We Made March 30th: Hey, Water! April 6th: We Are Water

Travel back into the last Ice Age and learn about Florida’s first people. Discover how they survived climate change and giant predators. Who were the archeologist that discovered these early hunters’ artifact sites? Were there people living here before the Clovis Tradition and what is the Solutrean Theory? What was their origin? These controversies will be examined, and actual Paleoindian artifacts studied.

Dr. Kitty Oliver shares how far we’ve come and how progress can be made that inspires our youth, drawing on an archive of over 125 oral histories of blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians and Caribbeans from a variety of heritages.