‘Be like Nancy’: Coral Springs honors late vice mayor’s legacy at Earthfest
As tributes to Nancy Metayer Bowen continue to pour in, Coral Springs officials are honoring her with their own memorial efforts.
During the city’s annual Earthfest celebration on April 25 at the Sawgrass Nature Center and Wildlife Hospital, they focused on the late vice mayor’s extensive advocacy for a cleaner, greener world by planting a tree in her honor.
Metayer attended Earthfest every year, a city Facebook post said.
The tree stands near one of the center’s main buildings, with red berries dotting its branches.
It is marked with a plaque bearing Metayer’s name a phrase spoken often at her memorials: “Be like Nancy.”
City officials were photographed with a new banner honoring the late vice mayor’s memory, which reads, “To be more like Nancy is to lead with heart. To create space for others. To stand up for what matters. To show up for your community. To listen. To advocate. To care deeply. To serve boldly. To bring people together, especially when it is not easy.”
Other individuals and organizations are taking action, too, including a domestic violence roundtable discussion organized by South Florida’s Haitian leaders and Representative Jared Moskowitz’s effort to dedicate the downtown Coral Springs post office in Metayer’s name.
Her family has also established an endowment to carry on her legacy, which has collected nearly $50,000 as of April 27.
Metayer’s husband, Stephen Bowen, has been charged with premeditated murder and evidence tampering. He is scheduled to face a Broward judge this week in his first public appearance since his arrest on April 1.
