“Mask Up Cape Coral” campaign (City of Cape Coral) The City of Cape Coral has launched a new campaign to encourage mask-wearing in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The “Mask Up Cape Coral” public awareness campaign will continue through the summer and will be extended if necessary. The campaign will focus on the importance of wearing masks as the city encourages residents and visitors to wear cloth coverings in public settings, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. “Masks have been proven to be effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Please do your part by wearing a mask. Spread the word, not the virus,” said Fire Chief Ryan Lamb. You may see some familiar faces encouraging you to “mask up.” Right in the heart of a plaza off of SE 47th Terrace, “Big John” stands tall. Big John (WINK News) “Big John is an icon and everybody knows it,” said Elmer Tabor who owns half of Big John’s Shopping Center. In blue jeans, big sneakers and with an American flag on his shirt, Big John has reigned over this Cape Coral parking lot for decades. Now, he’s taking on a new task. “Big John’s going to be wearing the mask,” Tabor said. “Me and my family aren’t big into masks. Big John isn’t either, but Big John and I had a long talk, but we decided for the chief to work that hard to not have another government rule on us, we’re going to support this campaign.” Spreading the word and not the virus. While the City of Cape Coral voted down a mask mandate, they’re still encouraging people to wear them. Business owner Frank Taylor supports it. “It’s just for the benefit of the community and provides safety. Putting it on Big John is going to be awesome,” he said. “The whole idea is to get the message out to the businesses, put a note on your door, come in wear a mask, or to the citizens, if you’re going to go out, we are close enough, let’s go ahead and wear masks and be responsible,” Tabor said. Big John got measured for his mask Thursday morning. The city still needs to sign off. To spread the message, the campaign will include several billboards, kiosk messages, social media posts and other digital and print messages. The city also said any businesses supporting the campaign and requiring masks can have their business listed on the City’s COVID-19 web page. Please send an email to ECOdev@capecoral.net if you want your business listed on the “Mask Up Cape Coral” page. We reached out to Cape Coral about what this education effort is costing taxpayers. As soon as we get those numbers, we’ll let you know.