Coastal Breeze News

The economy may be facing some challenges, but that didn’t stop many buyers from investing in vacation properties last year. The National Association of Realtors® 2010 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey shows vacation home sales rose 7.9 percent to 553,000 in 2009, compared to 513,000 in 2008. Susan Ackerson of Marco Island Area Association of Realtors stated, “Statistics from the Marco Multi-List Service, Inc. show the median sale price of a single family home on Marco Island in June 2010 was $545,750, up 21.28% from May 2010, and up 4.15% from June 2009.” “The average sale price for a ... Read More »

Medflight, located at Naples Municipal Airport, covers the 2,000 square miles of Collier County, and provides mutual aid response to surrounding counties. Ninety percent of responses are on-scene calls, assisting ground units in transporting patients from rural to local and non-local hospitals. The Collier County Department of Emergency Medical Services is a consolidated agency that provides emergency medical services for the cities of Naples, Marco Island, Everglades, as well as all unincorporated areas. According to Florida Trend (Oct. 2007), Collier County EMTs achieve an  annual save rate for cardiac arrest patients of 37% compared to the national average of 6% ... Read More »

When I met Sgt. Jim Hassig, he had just completed a patrol of the Marco beach and was seated in the Polaris ATV that the MIPD uses to monitor the beach. As he chatted with me about how he came to Marco and about his background, it was evident that Sgt. Hassig was comfortable in his role of protector of Marco Island’s residents and visitors, and very happy to be here. Like many of his colleagues, Hassig brings excellent credentials to his position in our local PD. A city kid, Hassig was born in Fort Wayne, IN, where he spent ... Read More »

No time for summer doldrums, there’s a new pARTy in town that I know you‘ll want to be in on. Art League, Marco Island’s Center for the Arts is busily getting ready for the upcoming 2010-11 season: new installations, new classes, new exhibitions and big celebrations…and they really need to make some room. Just leave it to the creative minds to turn house-cleaning into a blockbuster event! It seems for years their storerooms, closets, cubbies, cabinets, and bins have been slyly filling with original 2- and 3-dimensional works of art, artists’ materials, frames and display items. There’s a huge assortment ... Read More »

It may be a quiet time of year for most residents and businesses here on Marco Island, but things certainly have been busy at City Hall. Over the past few weeks, Interim City Manager Dr. James Riviere has made several changes in the organizational structure of the departments and personnel at the City’s administrative level. Also, the many people, who have volunteered to participate on advisory boards and committees to bring the voice of the residents to the decision-making process, have been very industrious. They have been scheduling meetings and doing the research necessary to make sure informed decisions are ... Read More »

An important leg of the Marco Island Area Association of REALTORS (MIAAOR) is the Realtors Support Network (RSN). RSN is made up of approximately 50 Affiliate Members of MIAAOR and is composed of businesses in the community who have the means to contribute towards successful real estate transactions. The attorney, lender, title insurance provider, appraiser, inspector, interior decorator, contractor, mortgage broker, banker, gardener, and many other local businesses form a cohesive team ensuring a smooth and trouble-free transfer of property, which can turn out to be a win-win situation for all. When the seller and the buyer agree on the ... Read More »

Guest Commentary Sanitasole recently received their final Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Marco Island and is now one step closer to opening an Assisted Living Facility on Marco Island.  Sanitasole has been providing healthcare services to seniors for more than three years. “The ALF will be a tremendous asset to our community,” said Paula Camposano Robinson, RN, co-founder and owner with her husband Richard P. Robinson. The idea of an Assisted Living Facility came about after Sanitasole’s Adult Day Services were opened. The Robinsons designed and developed the current facility after extensive research traveling across the U.S., and ... Read More »

Craig Jones’ vintage 1949 Wolseley Six Eighty has made her longest journey to date, traveling half-way round the world from Australia to her new home here on Marco Island!  When they moved here in 2002, Island residents, Craig and his wife, Bronwyn, were not happy to leave their unique automobiles behind in Tasmania, and are thrilled to finally have this one here with them. According to Craig’s understanding from his research on the Internet, his six-cylinder, 80 horse power car is one of only four Wolseleys in the U.S. and probably the only one of this particular model. Craig tells ... Read More »

Last week most Americans were “surprised” to hear that up to forty-six Afghan soldiers, some of whom are pilots, went missing from Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas over a period of two years. A few days later, they were further surprised to hear the FBI announce the arrests of ten Russian spies. These spies allegedly lived every day American lives in typical American neighborhoods! If one looks at these two events separately, one may not be too alarmed. Spies have been around for as long as there have been countries and borders. Foreigners have come to America ... Read More »

Summer Camp has started in Everglades City and approximately forty children are taking advantage of this program sponsored by our local charity organization Reach Out & C.O.P.S., Inc. The camp is six weeks long, and Beth White has been leading the kids with lots of different activities planned. Our local Sheriff’s office is organizing outings to Sun ‘n’ Fun Lagoon, King Richard’s Amusement Park and Wannado City. What a treat for our children again this year! Everglades City School’s art students are exhibiting their wonderful oil paintings in the Pauline Reeves Gallery at the Museum of the Everglades through the ... Read More »

For the past several years oil (more specifically, gas) prices have been an issue at this time of the year. It seems as though for the summer months the gas companies, not just BP, have wonderful profits—compliments of the American vacationers. Even those of us who fly to that once-in-a-lifetime vacation have a tendency to take other “short drive” vacations in the form of long weekends; and that adds to the demand on fuel and oil company profits. Today we’re witnessing a tragically different story about oil. The economy of the communities on the northern coast of the Gulf of ... Read More »

The “Greatest Storms on Earth” – Part V This is a continuation of a series on the history of hurricanes in our area. If you missed a part, you can find it online at coastalbreezenews.com under Tales told Twice archives. Similar to other major hurricanes described in this series, Hurricane Donna’s impact was much more than just the physical damage it caused as it passed through Southwest Florida the storm had enormous social and economic impacts as well. While other hurricanes ended chapters in our local history, Hurricane Donna closed the book completely on the pioneer era and opened a ... Read More »

Have you ever had trouble recalling certain words? Do you remember your first grade teacher? Could it just be a “senior moment” or is it something more serious? We all have trouble recalling particular things like these on occasion. We may not remember where we left the car keys, or even why we went into a room; we get there but scratch our heads trying to bring to mind why we went there in the first place. Sound familiar? These incidences are not normally caused by a mental deterioration but are most likely part of the typical aging process, but ... Read More »

Cruising with pets is one of the most enjoyable activities you can experience. Pets are pets whether they are in your home or on your boat. My family has cruised with pets at one time or another since 1975. If you are planning to introduce a dog or cat to sailing life, it is best to do it while they are young and agreeable to a lifestyle change from a stable home to the moving platform of a boat. Dogs are innately agreeable to life at sea. As a matter of fact, they love the fresh air, and the variety ... Read More »

To date, we have been so fortunate in avoiding oil and tar balls on our beautiful beaches. Marco Island and its environs is incredibly important nursery ground for many different coastal species. There is an amazing amount of wildlife on our beach that is thriving and reproducing in this window of oil-less opportunity. Abundant bait and game fish are in the near-shore waters; invertebrates, such as our favorite shells’ egg casings (Horse Conchs, Queen Conchs, Sand Dollars, etcetera) litter the beach; the Turtle Lady’s posted sea turtle nests can be seen (thirty-four to date) near the dunes; and the three ... Read More »

The efforts involved in a successful campaign have never been so evident as the recent results of, not only the grand opening of the Marco Island Historical Society state of the art and most beautiful and gorgeous museum, but of the Marco Island Art League, Center for the Arts Project Rescue triumph. For many volunteers of the various community endeavors, the passion of the project doesn’t suddenly end once the goal is met. There is always something more to do. Unfortunately, the numbers of volunteers and the interest within the community do actually wane. There always seems to be something ... Read More »

Most of my loyal readers know that I’m primarily a goldsmith, but I am also an entrepreneur and also run a gift and clothing boutique on the island with my wife and there is no more joyful experience than dealing with the public. Please don’t misunderstand the slight sarcasm. I have worked with the public from the tender age of fourteen in my home town pumping gas, checking the oil and tire pressure, and cleaning the windshield in the dead of winter (when there were full service gas stations!) I also worked two days a week learning the jewelry trade ... Read More »

As so many writers have said of Goodland in the past, “As if we need another excuse for a party.” Well guess what? It was Independence Day – an excuse for the whole nation to party! So Goodland did and we did it right! While our little corner of the world grows quieter as summer begins, there was plenty of noise in our town on the Fourth! The festivities began at Stan’s Idle Hour, the first restaurant as you head into Goodland. If you’ve ever been there on a Sunday, you know the day begins with an extended version of ... Read More »

Brittney Van Sandt is the great niece of Ellen and Frank Hall, my Goodland neighbors. Brittney, who lives in Homer, Alaska, completed Culinary School in Anchorage and then came to Tampa to take the required safety and seamanship course for tugboat crews. During her visit to Goodland, she told me, “I will be purchasing provisions, planning menus, and cooking three meals a day, plus a snack for a crew of ten.” Each ‘hitch’  (time aboard the boat) is six weeks long. By the time I arrived in Homer in late May, she had already been hired, done her ten-day trial ... Read More »

Taking leave of the Everglades, the wide open spaces, the freedom which that long straight road beckons opening to seemingly unknown vistas, Jeane’s Jaunts heads to North Naples to the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts with excitement and enthusiasm. It was at the Phil in Naples when I first realized I loved the ballet. That was the time, nineteen years ago, when I had to pay my youngest son, Michael, who was then fifteen, $10 to come with me and an extra $10 to wear a tie. My hope that he would at least love the experience turned out ... Read More »