A car in every garage, a boat in every back yard

A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage was good enough for Herbert Hoover in 1928, but two years later the Walker men — Forest and his sons, R.L. and Lorenzo — had a new and improved slogan: "A car in every garage - a boat in every back yard." Now that was the American dream in Naples.

Dare to dream

Few saw the terrain as the Walker men did. They saw unlimited promise; they saw that car in every driveway and that boat in every back yard. They just needed to make their dream a reality.

The post-war years would be good for Naples. When R.L. and Lorenzo came back from the war, they joined their daddy to launch Walker Construction. At first, they primarily hauled fill to developers, but that was soon to change.

In 1949, Lindsey Crayton sold The Naples Company to Henry Watkins, Sr. To finance the purchase, Mr. Watkins sold 294 acres to Philip Rust, who later sold it to the Walkers for $30,000.

The Walker men were hands-on developers and worked the land together. R.L. ran the drag line, Lorenzo ran the dredge and Daddy Forrest ran the bulldozers.

They were not as flush with cash as Glen Sample, the new guy down the road who was developing Port Royal. When money was short, the Walkers would work for Sample until they had enough money to go back to their developing their dream.

They didn't have a public relations team, but they knew how to have fun. To launch their new development, they invited everyone to a good old-fashioned barbecue and held a naming contest for their project. They liked the sounds of Aqualane and added Shores themselves (the Walker men also developed Bonita Shores and Little Hickory Shores).

Fourteen years later, their development was a reality. Now it was time for the sons to leave their mark on their home town.

A brother's love

Lorenzo had been valedictorian of his class, but schooling was not for R.L. "Daddy used to wear three pair of pants to school on Fridays because he knew he was going to get a whipping because he couldn't spell his words," his daughter Jean Walker Humphries says. R.L. had had enough pain from education and did not want any more — education or pain.

Lorenzo was a Collier County Commissioner from 1950-1956 and State Representative until 1974; R.L was one of the most respected all-around mechanics in the county. He could fix anything, and it was this skill that kept Lorenzo in those fancy starched white shirts he so loved to wear.

Lorenzo never forgot how his brother's skills helped him. In the state legislature, he pushed for schools for those who were not necessarily good at book learning but who had other talents. It took three tries to get the bill passed, but Lorenzo's determination achieved an educational milestone for Collier County and Florida.

Naples Backyard History celebrated this Christmas season with a ginger bread decorating contest between restaurants on Third Street South and Crayton Cove. The Lorenzo Walker Culinary Institute graciously made 28 ginger breads for the event and also entered a display in the contest.

Their legacy will live on, although many will never know just how much the Walker men did for our community. One thing is for sure: A brother's love created the opportunity for hundreds of children and their families to feel the love these culinary students put into their baking and these restaurants put into their decorating.

There was no pain in education that night — only the delights of families enjoying a new Naples Christmas tradition — compliments of Lorenzo Walker.

Lois Bolin is the co-founder of Naples

Cultural Landscape, a fund at the Commu- nity Foundation of Collier County. Naples

Backyard History is the fund's educational

For more information, visit the

NBYH Mini-Museum at 1300 Third St. S.,

call 594-2978 or visit www.naplesbackyardhistory.

org.