by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
The Sanibel Recreation Center is so much more than a Rec Center, thanks in large part to Recreation Director Andrea Miller, who definitely is helping to make Sanibel a special place. From bloodmobiles, mobile mammograms, dermatology screenings, body composition testing, free blood pressure screenings, and much more, the Rec Center brings numerous services to the Sanibel community for free, making medical services more convenient for people especially during season. Then there are seminars, learning opportunities, and even bingo.
Andrea has been the Recreation Director from October 2011 to December 2018, and again from July 2022 to the present, for a total of 10 years.
“I left the city in 2019 to take a step back and focus on my family,” Andrea said. “My mom had been battling cancer and unfortunately lost her battle with cancer. I wanted to spend time with my kids and helping dad.” She took a job that was more programming and less administrative, when Lee County Mosquito Control came calling seeking an education coordinator to oversee all the education and community outreach. Then when an opportunity arose to come back to the city, she took it.
Twelve full-time employees help carry out the many Rec Center responsibilities, which include, for example, front desk employees who have to handle membership, activity, and merchandise sales, as well as beach parking permits, dog licenses, resident hurricane passes, city facility rentals and special event permits, as well as the financial assistance program.
Then there’s fitness programming, programming at parks, health screenings, special events (4th of July, Egg Hunt, Tree Lighting, etc.), youth and adult programs (there is a youth afterschool program, summer camp, holiday break camp, fun days, and teen night), youth athletics, community lectures, games and crafts, day trips, and adult athletics. There are the aquatics classes and the ballfields and pavilion complex.
“It takes a village to keep everything going,” Andrea said. “I can’t say enough about our team at the Rec Center. It’s not me, it’s the team. They work just as hard as I do. They want to make sure everything’s done right. They truly love Sanibel as a community and want to give back what they feel Sanibel has given to them.” Two staff members have been with the Recreation Department for 30 years. “Everyone jumps in to do whatever is needed to keep things running as smoothly as possible. We are very short-staffed now,” Andrea added.
A deputy director position was added last year and is a huge help to Andrea.
Andrea had special praise for her marketing specialist Denise Dillon, who coordinates many of the special events with the different entities and puts together a calendar. “Lee Health has been great, too; we just received a designation as one of their Partners in Wellness because we offer so many lectures and screenings and health fairs in partnership with them,” Andrea said.
Andrea started out teaching for seven years after college, K-12, Health, then made the choice to leave education and come to the city of Sanibel in 2007 as aquatics manager, then interim director, and eventually Recreation Director. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Education (Health and Physical Education K-12) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s of Public Administration from Hodges University. She is a graduate of the National Recreation & Parks Association Directors School and the Leadership Lee County program. She is a Certified Park & Recreation Professional and holds numerous professional fitness certifications and awards too numerous to list in this article.
Andrea also has her own personal training business. Her youngest client is 65 and her oldest is turning 100 and still lives independently. “What they give to me is greater than what I give to them,” she said. “A lot of them I’ve been with over five years.” Her husband is the principal at Cypress Lake High School, her daughter is a senior studying education at FGCU, and her son is a ninth grader at Cypress Lake High School – and there are three dogs!
“I have a lot of different connections and experiences,” Andrea said. “But the greatest experience is just every day.”
New work keeps coming to the Recreation Department regularly: The Shared Use Path Education Initiative, new beach park signage, streamlining the segue permit process, and more.
“It’s an honor to be trusted and asked and gives me an opportunity to stretch my wings and do something that’s outside of my wheelhouse,” Andrea said. “It’s made me a more well-rounded public administrator. I like to learn. I always tell my staff, never stop learning, never stop listening. We all have things to learn from everyone and from each other.”
One of the biggest eye-opening moments for Andrea about what the Rec Center does for the community happened post-Hurricane Ian. “We re-opened about 60 days after the storm as a comfort station with a generator, air conditioning, showers, WiFi. Watching people walk in that front door and see our staff and break down in tears – just the emotional connection, the camaraderie, seeing the familiar faces. Things looked pretty okay here, and it was just so reassuring to so many people in so many ways. We all still get emotional about it,” Andrea said, starting to tear up. “You come to work and you don’t think, day in and day out, what it means to everyone. It means a lot to people, more than just exercise.”
In two years, the Rec Center will be celebrating 20 years of service to the island, half of which have been overseen by Andrea. Her family’s been on the island since the 1940s so for that reason, she feels she has a very special connection to it. “It’s a very special place. It’s changing and evolving, but I think Sanibel has done an excellent job, especially when you look at other communities managing that growth,” she said.
Andrea’s history on the island runs deep. Her grandfather Glen Rhodes was the butcher at Bailey’s General Store, her grandmother Eulah Rhodes sold food and crafts there as well as babysitting for island families. Her dad, Ray Rhodes, went to the one-room schoolhouse as was the first police officer hired by the city in 1974. Her mom taught at the Sanibel School, and her dad for a time was a bell hop at the West Wind Inn in his 20s. Andrea remembers growing up on Sanibel as a quieter time and has memories of riding in her grandmother’s bicycle basket. She taught her about shelling and gardening.
“I see the future of Sanibel continuing to navigate the best way to maintain what Sanibel is and why it’s so special to people, because it really is unlike anywhere else you can go,” Andrea continued. “At the same time, change is inevitable, growth is going to happen, businesses need that, but finding that happy balance is a challenge now and will continue to be in the future. But I think Sanibel is such a unique community in how it values nature, I have full faith that that will be protected.”
Andrea stressed the importance of acknowledging Sanibel’s history. “Continuing to share with the youth and residents the history of Sanibel, how we have managed to protect what we have, is important because there is a huge turnover post-storms. And people who were original islanders, founding fathers and mothers, are aging and passing on. We have to make sure newer residents understand why our history is so important.”
The Rec Center exists to serve the community in a hundred ways. Andrea, as Recreation Director, does that and so much more.
“It’s a gift to have a job where you can enrich people’s lives,” she concluded.
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