“Draining the Everglades”

The Marco Island Shell Club is welcoming neighbors and visitors alike to its final seminar of the season on March 6, 2026, featuring guest speaker Thomas Lockyear. As part of the club’s well-loved monthly speaker series, the program offers an opportunity to learn more about the waterways that shape our region and the natural systems that support them.

Lockyear has been a museum professional for 20 years and is currently the manager of the Museum of the Everglades in Everglades City, where he has served the community for the past nine years. Lockyear is also involved in preserving the history and culture of the Everglades region, ensuring that the museum remains a vital resource for both residents and visitors.

In his presentation, Lockyear will take audiences back in time to explore the early efforts to drain the Everglades, a landscape once widely dismissed as “worthless swampland.” Through engaging storytelling and historical insight, he explains how that misconception fueled development schemes that failed to recognize the Everglades’ true value. The result was lasting environmental damage to what we now understand to be a vital natural water filter and one of Florida’s most important ecosystems. In his presentations, Lockyear often reflects on the long history of these initiatives and the ongoing efforts to reverse the damage done, underscoring the importance of preserving this unique environment.

Residents with an interest in local history, environmental issues, or the unique natural beauty of Southwest Florida are encouraged to attend this informative and thought-provoking program, which brings the past into clearer focus while highlighting lessons that still matter today.

This is the final seminar for the 2026 season of the Marco Island Shell Club. The seminar will be held at the Marco Island Public Library located at 210 S. Heathwood Drive, Marco Island, FL 34145. The seminar will be held from 3:00-4:30 and is free to the public.

While this seminar ends our season of presentations, we have our Spring Expo and Shell Art Sale coming up the following weekend on March 13-14 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Expo will be held at the New Life Community Church located at 489 W Elkcam Circle, Marco Island. The $3 donation and monies raised at the sale underwrite scholarships, grants, and educational programs.