Coastal Breeze News

GOODLAND LIFE Joanie Fuller  [email protected] Remember those days when we all wanted a new frock at Easter time? I do. As a teenager it was important to have a new dress, shoes to match, white gloves (absolutely!) and, of course, a bonnet with lots of frills upon it. That tradition has certainly waned, hasn’t it? Wonder what happened? I guess the fast lane and more casual living happened, but we still have the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs, don’t we? All that is really fun and both are definitely spring time traditions. In Goodland, the Easter Bunny makes an appearance at ... Read More »

CHEF’S TABLE Chef Anne Feinman  [email protected] Easter always brings me such a fuzzy, warm feeling. From the Easter egg hunts, the pretty dresses and bonnets Mom dressed us 5 sisters in, to the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. Easter Sunday has always been such a wonderful family day of great food! This year I will be enjoying Easter with our extended family…our wonderful customers, employees and friends. We want to share some great recipes with you to make your Easter dinner one to remember! Lets start with: Jack Daniels Baked Ham • Fully cooked bone in ham 4-6 lbs. • ... Read More »

FOLLOW THE FISH Capt. Pete Rapps [email protected] There are so many different species of fish that we catch here in the 10,000 Islands and the Everglades National Park. Some fish that are targeted for food purposes, depending on their open season, are Redfish, Snapper, Trout, Flounder, Mackerel, Tripletail, Cobia, Pompano, Snook, Grouper and more. Some fish we target for sport. Tarpon are a great sport fish that are never eaten, however others like Snook, Permit, & Shark are mostly targeted for sport and sometime for food. Others like Ladyfish, Jacks, & Catfish can be considered sport, however are typically just bi-catch ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] The “Homeland Dolphin” that has greeted guests at Marco Island’s City Hall since 2003 has recently moved. Created by Marco Island Academy High School teacher, Rob Eder, the dolphin sculpture can now be found at the entrance to the Community Center at Mackle Park. In a grand fundraising effort for The Marco Island YMCA and The Art League of Marco Island, 36 dolphin sculptures were created by various local artists in 2003, in what was known as the “Dolphin Debut.” On April 13th of that year, the sculptures were auctioned off at an event hosted by ... Read More »

ART UNCOVERED Tara O’Neill In the spirit of pure indulgence, I’d like to share some observations about working in the arts community; in particular, thoughts on the benefits of collaboration. Example: all artists require a place to work, and a place to exhibit/perform. Three years ago it was certainly true for a group of Marco Island artists who held monthly salon meetings in the home of artist JoAnn Sanborn. At one such meeting Sanborn presented a vision she had of studios for working artists filling the vacant retail spaces at a local upscale plaza – vacancies indicative of the economic crunch ... Read More »

BOOK REMARKS Diane Bostick [email protected] Author: Téa Oberht. Publisher: Random House, 2011. If you want to read a book in which a butcher beats his wife to a bloody pulp and is then punished for it, you can probably find dozens of books of that genre in any library or book store. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, life disappoints, man beats girl, man is punished…or not, as the case may be. That’s it. No deep analytical discussion of why he did it. But if you want to first learn the tragic story behind how the man became a lowly ... Read More »

By Carol Glassman New Marco City Council Chairman Larry Magel addressed a group of homeowners at Hideaway Beach, attempting to illustrate the true situation about water usage and costs, and kill negative, overblown rumors about increases, embellished for “political purposes.” When newly-elected City Council Chairman Larry Magel addressed homeowners at Hideaway Beach, he opened his remarks by promising to keep the avenues of communication open, thereby stopping the “misinformation” about the city being bandied about and “embellished for political purposes.” In order to do this, he is offering to speak to any community or civic group and to answer their ... Read More »

ALL THAT GLITTERS Richard Alan [email protected] March wound up being a busy month of making diamond purchases. Actually, it was amazing! Diamond sales have been sluggish to say the least in the past few years, yet all my diamond vendors are claiming demand is up and business has been improving steadily. The demand for my diamonds was in earrings, pendants and several engagement rings, the Halo design being the most popular style. The Halo design is a center diamond, round, square or cushion shaped. It’s surrounded by smaller diamonds or precious stones and very affordable because the center diamond does not ... Read More »

READ MY TIPS Doug Browne [email protected] One of the key tactical mistakes doubles teams frequently make, is that they completely underestimate their opponent’s ability to execute a variety of shots during a big tennis match. Inexperienced doubles teams assume that all doubles teams will hit lobs when they are in trouble and this is simply not true. “There are not enough Indians in the world to defeat the Seventh Cavalry.” George Armstrong Custer. Over the course of the last five weeks, I have viewed four different tournaments and have also observed several league matches and I have noted one huge mistake ... Read More »

By Coastal Breeze News Staff In a ceremony at the Community Room on Monday evening, March 26th, Police Chief Don Hunter promoted officer Hector Diaz to sergeant and appointed officers Paul Keys, Joe Mack and Nick Ojanovac to be detectives. The actions were replacements for vacancies, and no new personnel were added to the Police Department. Family members, fellow officers, city councilmen Jerry Gibson and Wayne Waldack, former Chief Thom Carr, and a number of members of the Marco Island Police Foundation attended the ceremony. The newly designated officers were each “pinned” with a new badge by a family member. ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] One thousand miles in one hundred days. This is the goal of The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition. Whether it be hiking, kayaking, horseback riding or wading through knee-deep swamps, Carlton Ward Jr., Joe Guthrie, Elam Stolfutz and Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, have been trekking across the state to raise awareness towards the need of a viable corridor, or natural passageway, from the Everglades to Georgia. This diverse team of four began their journey on January 17, right in our own backyard. Beginning their trek in the Everglades National Park, the team is now only two weeks away ... Read More »

Digging up the past at MarGood By Natalie Strom [email protected] A recent archaeological dig at MarGood Park in Goodland salvaged more than 1,000 pieces of ancient artifacts. The dig, which took place only a week prior to the official opening of the park, went by rather unnoticed for four days. A group of four archaeologists and archaeological technicians chose a very small section of the park for a very specific reason. This is not the first dig that has taken place at MarGood Park (also known as Goodland Point), let alone, Southwest Florida. According to research by the Archaeological and ... Read More »

Donna Fiala  [email protected] We can already see that our winter residents are heading back up north, and I say that with a little sadness because all of the festivities we have been enjoying will slowly grind to a halt, all of the entertainment and performances, the fund raisers and dinners, the events at places like the Botanical Garden and the Conservancy, the art shows, etc. Everything slows down to a crawl until the winter residents start coming back. This has been a fantastic year for everyone! We have been busier than we’ve seen in almost five years and our economy ... Read More »

By Jane A. Marlowe [email protected] “The Fire Department is like the Police Department, a base core of community services. On the fire side we are the life, health and safety component of city government. We deal with issues from the beginning of construction of homes, multi-family residences and commercial properties, from permitting all the way to completion and/or demolition of properties. Our focus is with the occupants of these residences and the users of commercial buildings.” Thus began a conversation with Chief Mike Murphy of the Marco Island Fire Department. Modern day fire departments and their personnel do not fit ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus  [email protected] This year I nailed it. Or so I thought. My tax papers for 2011 were carefully arranged. Or so I thought. My bank stuff and credit card stuff was perfectly organized. Or so I thought. I was ready to fill out my tax form, get a HUGE refund and spend my days eating bon-bons and enjoying the eternal sunshine of Marco Island. It was going to be a slam-dunk this year. With glee I set about preparing to fill in the blanks on my form. My big “tax box” was overflowing with receipts, W-2 forms, 1099’s, ... Read More »

COASTAL HISTORY  Craig Woodward  [email protected] An article titled “The Headstone Project” was published in this column on October 7, 2011. Donations were requested for the purchase of a headstone for Elizabeth (Lizzie) Weeks Barnes Sawyer. Granny Sawyer, as she was known before her death, was buried in an unmarked grave at the Marco Island Cemetery. She died in 1939, in the middle of the depression and her family had a simple burial at the cemetery, later adding a tabby mortar slab, where her name had once been scratched in the surface. For over half a century there was no visible clue ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] The Beautification Advisory Committee has chosen recipients for the 2012 Marco in Bloom Landscape Awards. Awards were given in five different categories: Single Family Home, Condominium, Commercial Non-Residential, Institutional and Cul-de-Sac. In choosing the winners, the Beautification Advisory Committee considered the use of native and water-wise plant material, use of color and contrasting plants, visibility to the public and overall creativity. Each nominee submitted an application, ten photos of the property and an essay on why the the area deserved recognition. The recipients were announced at the April 2nd City Council meeting by the Beautification Advisory ... Read More »

BEYOND THE COAST Tarik Ayasun [email protected] Spc. Dennis Weichel, 29, of the Rhode Island National Guard died in Afghanistan last week with what the Pentagon news release said was “due to injuries received in a noncombat related incident.” I did not know Spc. Dennis Weichel. I do not know his family or the three young children he left behind. However, I decided to write this piece about him because I think he is an American hero who embodied everything our country stands for and more. In the aftermath of the incident where a US Army Sergeant allegedly massacred nine Afghan ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] Point… Counterpoint. That’s the name and idea behind one of Marco Island’s newest social groups. The interactive meetings take place at the Marco Island YMCA from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM on the last Wednesday of each month. All are welcome to attend this free “meeting of the minds” where controversial topics are discussed in an educational, open forum. Only three months old, Point… Counterpoint has already created quite a stir. With topics such as “Will a Republican defeat Barack Obama in the upcoming election?” and “The 1% vs the 99%,” the conversation is anything but ... Read More »