Coastal Breeze News

Soccer not only took the world by storm, and its popularity has filtered right down to the littlest tyke on Marco Island. John Patterson has joined forces with the Greater Marco Family YMCA to form the Soccer Coaching Academy, a program which attempts to instill a lifetime appreciation for the game of soccer, beginning with the “Golden Years of Learning.” The “golden years” deemed to be between four to eleven years of age. So far, two levels of the Soccer Academy have been arranged: Level I ,for four to six year old youths and Level II, for seven to eleven ... Read More »

P.E.O. is a philanthropic educational organization which aids deserving women reaching educational goals through loans, grants, and scholarships. Money is raised for these causes through donations and various other means, including raffles, cookbook sales, garage sales, auctions, and working at polling places during elections. The organization also owns Cottey College which is located in Nevada, Missouri. One special scholarship is especially dear to the hearts of Marco Island’s Chapter GT of P.E.O. It came about at the death of the chapter’s oldest active member, Jane Vee. Jane was 86 years old when she died in a tragic accident. She was ... Read More »

The Marco Island Community Sailing Center is teaching kids to sail. But over two weekends in early February, in conjunction with US Sailing, MICSC helped the students to become teachers. John “Jabbo” Gorden has been a US Sailing Instructor Trainer since 1998. “Overall, US Sailing teaches about 100 [Level 1 training] courses per year and about 1,000 people are certified.” Gorden, along with John Newman taught the two-weekend course held at the Marco Island Yacht Club and the MICSC Sailing Center which is only accessible by water or through the Yacht Club entrance. Only a year and a half ago, ... Read More »

Lovers of pets and aperitifs be prepared! The Fifth Annual Mutts & Martinis is coming to the Esplanade on March 6, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. The “Yappy Hour” benefits Bedtime Bundles, an all-volunteer organization that supports the basic needs of migrant children who call Collier County home. Last year, more than 300 people and more than 100 pups participated in the event. All in all, $24,000 was raised. “We’re hoping to surpass that number this year, because every year we have surpassed the previous year’s goal,” explains Karen Saeks, Founder of Bedtime Bundles. “This is a fast and furious ... Read More »

Marco Island’s Calusa Garden Club has scheduled an all day field trip to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens and the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Del Ray Beach on February 28. The event is open to the public. Cost of the trip is $65 and includes motor coach transportation, entrance fee to the Morikami Museum and Gardens, docent led tour and a Japanese style lunch prepared by master chefs from the museum’s famous Cornell Café. This will be followed by a stop over at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. Snacks will also be provided. During the trip, time will be allowed to explore ... Read More »

By Carol Glassman The Marco Island Code Enforcement Board met on Tuesday, February 12 at City Hall with Chairman Lou Prigge and members Phil Kostelnik, Rony Joel, Dawn Henderson, Richard Adams, and Debra Shanahan. Martin Roddy exchanged his seat on this board for one on the Planning Board. Sitting in for city attorney Burt Saunders was legal assistant, Daphnie Ricobene. The board voted 5-1, Rony Joel disagreeing, to mitigate fines against a property at 1001 Valley Avenue for failing to connect to the sewer system. As the house has been purchased in a foreclosure sale, the new owner’s attorney, Mr. ... Read More »

Step into the past on Saturday, March 2nd, when the Marco Island Historical Society presents Viva La Marco. Celebrating the 500-year anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s discovery of Florida, the “Flowery Land,” Viva La Marco will run from 6 pm to 10 pm, and will be held on the “Mound” of the Marco Island Historical Museum. For $85 per person, attendees can go back in time, while enjoying cuisine from some of Marco’s best restaurants and listening to some “Floribbean” music provided by Marco’s own JRoberts and the Raiford Starke Band. There will also be an old-fashioned photo booth and ... Read More »

The Marco Island Center for the Arts will hold its second in a series of four lectures on February 28, from 1:30 to 3:30 PM. As the eighth location to be designated a part of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Renaissance Academy program, the center will feature speaker Viviana Dominguez, who has worked as an art conservator-restorer since 1983. The impact of World War II on various art treasures lead to the creation of a new profession: Scientific art conservation and restoration. Fixing, repairing and mending these treasures became a critical part of sustaining our cultural heritage, and microscopes, spectrometers and ... Read More »

The Island Country Club has had a rich tradition of supporting charities in the Marco Island and Naples area. The Foundation has its roots dating back to the Gene Sarazen Foundation. Gene was a member of the Island Country Club. After his death, the Island Country Club’s Foundation was formed in 2000. It was established that year as a tax-exempt charitable organization. Therefore, any contributions to the Foundation are tax deductible. Since its inception, the Foundation has given over $1,100,000 to local charities. The Charities, to name a few that have benefited from the Foundation’s support include: Marco Island Healthcare ... Read More »

The Marco area of Caxambas, also known as “The Estates,” has been disrupted for quite some time as the sewer project travels through the hilly area built up with shells by the ancient Calusa civilization. Advanced Archaeology, Inc. has been with sewer contractors, Mitchell & Stark, every step of the way, especially when it comes to the zoned areas known to be artifact-rich. Financed by the City of Marco Island and the Marco Island Historical Museum, work including shovel testing, unit testing and column sampling has now led to the final phase of the sewer and archaeological process. Caxambas is ... Read More »

By Donna Fiala [email protected] AND THE WINNER IS: Lou and Linda VanMeter of Goodland are very proud of their 3 year-old granddaughter, Arden Jean DeShazor, who won the title of 2013 Buzzard Princess and also took 2nd place for best costume. Congratulations Arden, Lou and Linda! On Thursday, Feb. 21st, I hosted a Town Hall Meeting at 6:30 PM at the Historical Society’s Rose Auditorium. The meeting brought folks up to date on county issues regarding roads and new developments coming to our area as well as a message from our County Manager and information on the County Parks on ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus [email protected] A week ago I began writing the obituary for my Genuine Imitation Rolex Watch. After four years my Beloved Watch appeared to be on life support. Its arms were limp and running way behind other watches and clocks. No amount of sympathy and cajoling seemed to help. I was ready to pull the plug. My memories of that Genuine Imitation Rolex are sweet indeed. It began with a trip back to China after 30 years. Many things have changed, but some have not. Shopping is a universal addiction. No tourist is safe or secure. We are ... Read More »

Suggested Economic Reforms By Roy Eaton In 1975, healthcare expenditures accounted for 8.4% of America’s GNP. Thirty-five years later, in 2010, at an average cost of $8,233 per person, healthcare costs were 17.9% of our GNP, nearly 2.5 times that of the remaining developed nations of the world. If action is not taken to drastically reduce this trend, by the year 2020, this percentage could very well approach 25% of the value of all goods and services produced in our country. Spiraling healthcare costs are the concern of every American. They are detrimental to the individual who now has less ... Read More »

The Wall Street Journal reported from the Yokota Air Base in Japan that the highest ranking U.S. Military commander in Japan, Lt. Gen. Sam Angelella, expressed his concern about Tokyo’s intensifying territorial dispute with China, calling it a “very bad situation” and blamed the Chinese navy for what he termed “a provocative act that can become dangerous.” “The Senkaku/Diaoyu Island territorial dispute is the greatest crisis in Japan-China relations in 60 years,” reported Stephen Harner in Forbes magazine. The readers may already know that in the last few issues of the Coastal Breeze, I have been focused on troublesome regions ... Read More »

The Saul I. Stern Cultural Series opens the 3rd and last event of the 19th season, with a presentation about “Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls”, Wednesday, March 6, 2012, at 7:30 pm at the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island, located at 991 Winterberry Drive. How did the scrolls ends up hidden in caves for 2,000 years? The speakers, Roz Davidson and Howard Hoffer will present us with the fascinating program. This exiting talk and visual documentary explains the amazing history, the people behind them and how DNA unraveled the mysteries of these ancient sacred scrolls. Ms. Davidson is an international ... Read More »

It’s not often one gets to meet a celebrity like Dr. Oz, let alone learn a famous physician will be performing your surgery… That’s exactly what happened to the Oztimurlenk’s of Marco Island. Audrey Oztimurlenk’s brother was in a New York Hospital about to have heart surgery when Dr. Oz walked in. Little introduction was necessary and the family was even more pleased when he told them he was going to be the surgeon. Shown in the photo is Nicki Oztimurlenk with Dr. Oz. Read More »

By Noelle H. Lowery The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has moved to defer implementation of a new law that would require all foreign driver’s license holders who rent a car or drive in the Sunshine State to have an International Driver’s Permit, or IDP. Marco Island Police Department Lieutenant Tony Spina says foreign drivers can rest easy on the island’s streets. “If you have a valid license from your country, you are allowed to drive on Marco Island,” he notes. The Collier County Sheriff’s Department is adhering to the same philosophy. The law, which quietly went ... Read More »

By Noelle H. Lowery Everyone knows it takes a village to raise a child. Well, one could say it takes a community to help fight breast cancer here on Marco Island. That’s the philosophy behind the Fifth Annual Hope Love Cure Fashion Show benefiting the American Cancer Society Marco Island Unit. “It’s about being a community player,” says Lisa Meurgue, owner of Bistro Soleil, where the event will be held on Tuesday, March 5 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. “Our family has always tried to be a community player.” Together with Joyce and Bob McFarland, owners of Marco Island ... Read More »

By Carl Kelly Question: Which big band holds the Guinness World Record for the Largest Dance? Question: Which big band received the first Gold Record? Answer to both questions: The largest dance was 25,000 people; the first Gold Record was Chattanooga Choo Choo; and the band was Glenn Miller, arguably the best of the big bands. The modern version of the Glenn Miller Orchestra played to a house of something less than 25,000 people at Lely High School recently. Some of these people may well have been among those who danced to the music of the Glenn Miller Orchestra when ... Read More »

A Photojournalist’s Journey With Mother Teresa By Jane Marlowe San Marco Catholic Church’s new faith based group, Marco Faith and Wine, sponsored an evening with Linda Schaefer on February sixth for women of all faiths. Linda is a photojournalist who was granted full access to the work of the Missionaries of Charity, the order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India in 1950. Linda is on the faculty of East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma and has had an extensive career as a photojournalist. She has won a number of awards for her work including her book, Come ... Read More »