Coastal Breeze News

SPEAKING OF TRAVEL Vickie Kelber [email protected] We have been to Key West before and we have also taken the Key West Express passenger ferry before; it was my birthday and we thought it would be fun to go to Key West for lunch! It was fun but we both agreed that we should have made plans to stay over for a few days. Recently, we at last got around to following through on those plans. The Key West Express operates out of both Ft. Myers and Marco (seasonally) and its fleet is comprised of 3 high speed catamarans. All are ... Read More »

Donna Fiala [email protected] Hats off to the oldest, er – richest in years, or, ah – most mature………well, whatever you want to call him – Our own John Arceri has just graduated from Ave Maria Law School, and is the oldest student on record in the State of Florida to have ever earned a law degree. Now that’s called perseverance and dedication – not only to John but also to Liliana, his precious wife of almost 50 years! At times he never thought he’d make it, but he never quit, nor did she! She supported him every step of the ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus [email protected] This week’s rant is about INSURANCE, legalized gambling in which we bet against our longevity, bodies and minds, homes, cars, art and jewelry, ability to avoid hurting other people or their property, and myriad other things. Consider life insurance. Whether we buy whole life, term or other form, we rely on our knowledge that, so far, nobody has lived forever. We pay insurance companies to make lucrative investments so they get very rich and our survivors are paid off when we kick off – and then they have even more reason to tell everyone how wonderful ... Read More »

The Marco Island Fire Rescue Foundation would like to thank our sponsors, volunteers and the Island community for their contributions in making our April Pancake Breakfast a huge success. Thank you to Coastal Breeze News, Cocomos, Pyramid AmSan, Marco Eagle and Mutual of Omaha Bank for their support. And a very heartfelt thank you to all of our Fire Fighters and EMT’s who assisted that day. Their commitment to our community is why the Foundation was created. Hope to see you all in November. Dianna Dohm, President   I see the Kmart at the junction of Rts. 41 and 951 ... Read More »

Wow, what a year so far! I hope that you all agree it has been a great “season” for most of our businesses and retailers with record numbers of visitors finding their way to our beautiful Island this winter. As we approach our “summer season”, it is expected that our popularity will continue with the coming months being prime “holiday season” for our international visitors and summer being time for family travel. It hasn’t hurt that Marco Island has been in the news repeatedly over the past few months. In February, Marco Island was included in the newly released book ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] From late spring until early winter, we are blessed with a dazzling tropical plant known as Angel’s Trumpet or Brugmansia spp. A member of the Solanaceae family and originally native to tropical South America, Angel’s Trumpet has since become naturalized in North America. Its name refers to the giant pendulous flowers that this plant produces. Its large, lavish flowers are very fragrant, even more so at night in order to attract moths for pollinating. One variety in particular, the Super Nova, is so big it can be worn as a hat. Angel’s Trumpet are available ... Read More »

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CARES Lisa Honig One-hundred years ago, the word “cancer” was not spoken, and we lost almost all patients to the disease. Physicians sometimes did not tell their patients they had cancer, and patients often did not tell their friends and families if they had been diagnosed. A group of 15 prominent physicians and business leaders in New York City knew they had to raise public awareness about cancer if progress was to be possible. Despite the enormity of their task, these determined trail-blazers started writing articles for popular magazines and professional journals, published a monthly bulletin of ... Read More »

FITNESS DIVA Crystal Manjarres [email protected] or those of you who have been following my fit pregnancy journey, here is a recent update: I am now going to prenatal appointments twice a month and while I was shocked that I had gained five pounds last month, I was in for an even bigger surprise this time! Throughout my journey thus far, I had gained one pound, then two pounds a month, then one month three pounds, then last month five pounds—my midwife said that the baby went through a growth spurt and he’ll be putting on those last layers of fat ... Read More »

ARTFUL LIFE Tara O’Neill [email protected] In nature, as in life, it’s always breathtaking when fledglings take flight. The Goodland Arts Alliance, our area’s fledgling cultural non-profit, has just taken its first flight ‘over the bridge’ (that’s island-speak, by the way). For the month of May artist members of the GAA are exhibiting at the Norris Center in Naples. The exhibit features four of the twelve founding members: photographers Celeste Navara and Jim Freeman, seashell mastermind Judy Wittwer, and myself, the oil painter. It’s not always easy for Island artists to get their work displayed on the other side of our ... Read More »

GATOR NATE’S MUSIC NOTES Nate Augustus [email protected] Men-tor (noun) – “A trusted counselor or guide.  A tutor or coach.* Richard Pierce Havens: January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013. “I start strumming my guitar and the word freedom comes out of my mouth as FREE-dom, FREE-dom, with a rhythm of its own. My foot takes over and drives my guitar into a faster, more powerful rhythm. I don’t know where this is going, but it feels right and somehow I find myself blending it into an old song, ‘Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,’ a great spiritual song my ... Read More »

ALL THAT GLITTERS Richard Alan [email protected] Another steamy off season day on the rock, and while I’m still trying to recover from six months of a busy season, I’m counting the days until I have returned to the Balearic Island in Mallorca, Spain, a small coastal village called Cala Fornells. My idea of paradise is being perched on a Mediterranean seaside cliff overlooking the beach with my derrière parked in a lounge chair complete with a good book, a (legal) Cuban cigar and an ice cold pitcher of freshly made sangria…. Excuse me, now where were we? Back to reality… ... Read More »

Well, there are so many techniques and ways to catch a Snook that the answer is not all that cut and dry. To really be able to effectively target Snook, you have to know their habits, eating patterns, tides, water temperatures, moon phase, and a few other things. They migrate and move around a lot so you have to know where they typically spend time during different times of the year. Since we are now about to enter summer here in the 10,000 islands, I would recommend that you fish the outside points of the mangrove rivers where you have ... Read More »

CRUISING LIFE Frances Diebler [email protected] My last article reported us leaving St Lucia and sailing to the island of Bequia which is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Wow, what a sail we had that day! As long as we were in the lee of the islands, we had little or no wind and a calm sea. We poked our nose out first into St. Vincent Channel and later Bequia Channel into the “Bequia Blast.” We were flying with a reefed mainsail, a reefed Genoa, and a staysail! Eventually, we rolled in the genny. For many years prior to ... Read More »

“I’m not confused, I’m just well mixed.” Robert Frost Question: With current market activity, should I review my portfolio? Answer: Yes, let me use an example to illustrate why periodic monitoring is important. Until recently, our home decor was a mix of “contemporary cocker spaniels” and “early grandkids.” The kids are no longer toddlers and the dogs are well past puppy stage. External circumstances changed and it was time to respond. We enlisted the help of a professional, choosing to work with a woman who understands our lifestyle and priorities. Establishing this sort of relationship was a little scary and ... Read More »

by Herman Koch Hogarth Books 2012 The Dinner is a feast for anyone with a taste for dark humor and satire. I found it to be a positively enthralling story. It is the type of book hard to describe without giving away too much. When I read it, I had no prior knowledge about it except the blurb I read in the public library’s newsletter. Two couples, each with a 15-year-old son, meet at a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam to discuss said sons who may be facing grave legal consequences for some recent impulsive behavior that resulted in the death ... Read More »

READ MY TIPS Doug Browne [email protected] On a quarterly basis, the area tennis professionals get together to share ideas and offer insights to improve their coaching methods and yearly planning. Each pro has an opportunity to discuss the strengths of their programs and their biggest challenges. Without a doubt, my peers tell me that my club is an anomaly because we run weekly men’s clinics. Translation: Men, as a rule, do not have a scheduled weekly team practice or clinic. Naturally, I had to quiz my buddies about this phenomenon because it doesn’t make sense to me. After all, doesn’t ... Read More »

By James M. Lang, Commander, Marco Island VFW Post #6370 A Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at Veterans Community Park on Bald Eagle Drive on Monday, the 27th of May at 11:00 am. All are invited to attend and honor veterans for their service to our country. There will be members of the Marco Island fire and police departments, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol, the Boy Scouts and the VFW Post. Music will be provided by the Marco Island Strummers, including patriotic songs and a double-bugle taps. The Civil Air Patrol will be doing a fly ... Read More »

The race is on to find a professional city manager for Marco Island. On the heels of City Manager Jim Riviere’s retirement announcement last month, the Marco Island City Council voted 6-1 to issue an RFQ for head hunting firms interested in helping the city find his replacement. Councilman Chuck Keister was alone in his dissent. “I don’t agree we need to hire a search firm,” Keister told City Council. “I don’t think we need to spend the money for a search firm.” After nearly an hour of debate, though, council ordered city staff to issue the RFQ and coordinate ... Read More »

By Coastal Breeze News Staff Keller Williams put out a call to their local agents in preparation for their annual Red Day. The challenge: help a child with autism. Red Day (which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate) is a local service day for Keller Williams agents held in communities around the world. So, the call went out, do you know of an autistic child who could use our help? There was no response. Finally, one agent, Ellen Henderson, responded, “If you don’t find anyone, my daughter has three year old autistic twins.” Plans were immediately set in motion to ... Read More »

By Noelle H. Lowery [email protected] Last week, the Marco Island City Council unanimously approved to spend $976,143 to replace its water utility’s Marco Lakes Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR) Pump Station. Council also gave a nod to the three-pronged team to complete the project. The decision to replace the 48-year pump station could not have come soon enough for Marco Island Utilities’ General Manager Jeff Poteet. “The pumps in this station are obsolete,” he explained to council. “The parts must be manufactured, and that causes extended down time and higher repair costs.” Originally slated to be completed in 2011, the Marco ... Read More »