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They planned to attend a meeting in Naples and convince officials that the purchase would be a smart move. Locals planning to speak on behalf of the Barefoot buy included Thelma Bruce and Stanley Miller.

"The purchase of Barefoot Beach has been a top priority of our group," said Bruce, president of the Southwest Florida Federated Republican Women.

"I don't think there is anyone in Bonita Springs who doesn't want this purchase to be made," added Miller, who headed up the Bonita Improvement Group.

Officials with the Florida Department of Natural Resources were visiting Naples to get comments on Barefoot Beach as well as a proposed 3,200 addition to the Rookery Bay Sanctuary.

Bonita Springs Middle School, nearing completion on West Terry Street, got a boost that week with the news that it has been chosen to receive an $11,000 state grant for cultural activity. Made available through the National Endowment for the Arts, the Artists in Schools Dance Program promised to bring more than just dance into the school.

Principal Bob Durham was elated about the news.

"This same program presented at Fort Myers Middle School had phenomenal results," Durham said. "That's why I sought it for Bonita."

The grant, Durham said, would allow professional dancers to come into the school.

"Movement is a way of teaching," he said. "We try to use everything possible to perk a student's interest. Once we arouse interest, we can teach him anything."

A home on Bonita Beach sold that week for a hefty — at the time, that is — price of $107,000. The three-story piling home was sold by Douglas Keepings to Carol Martin.

In Police Beat, it was reported that thieves stole $3,000 in tools and equipment from Bonita Lumber Company.

At the Trail Drive-In, Kris Kristofferson was starring in "Vigilante Force" and "Jaws" was scaring the daylights out of audiences.