Coastal Breeze News

The 23nd Annual Love of the Y Tennis Tournament is scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 8-9-10 at the Greater Marco Family YMCA Tennis Facility. Tournament Director Raul Saad says that events scheduled are very accommodating to work schedules and the matches will be played throughout the weekend. The events scheduled include Women’s and Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles for 6.0-7.0 and 8.0 levels. Players must play at their USTA Level or higher. The entry fee is $30 per player, per event. Players may only participate in two events and on of the doubles partners must pay for both ... Read More »

Friends of Tigertail Debbie and Marty Roddy invite you to the Rose History Auditorium on Monday February 4th at 10:30 A.M. for a virtual tour of Tigertail Beach and Sand dollar Island. They will also, include a brief survey of the history and an explanation of nature’s impact on the area. Immediately after their presentation, Mango’s Restaurant will provide picnic lunches for $11.00—these come with bottled water, but you may bring your own non-alcoholic drink if you wish. The group will then adjourn to the beach, and you may carpool from the museum complex. If you do not have a sticker ... Read More »

The Friends of Fakahatchee have announced two February dates for their popular cruises through the mangroves of the Ten Thousand Islands to historic Fakahatchee Island. The chartered boat tours will leave Everglades National Park Ranger Station at 3 p.m. on Friday, February 1 and Friday, February 15. The fee for the cruise is $75 and reservations are required. Cruise participants find getting to the island is often half the fun as dolphins frequently accompany the boat on its journey through Fakahatchee Bay. On the return trip, the cruise passes a bird rookery that frequently offers memorable glimpses of its residents ... Read More »

The 2013 Hodges University Diversity Festival will return to the Sugden Regional Park in Naples on February 23. The Festival, which runs from 12 pm – 6 pm, will bring together a broad array of vendors, entertainers and local artisans representing the cultural diversity of the Naples and Ft. Myers communities. The Festival will feature local high school marching bands, drummers, singers and dance performers from our diverse communities; an arts and crafts area, as well as a Fine Art gallery and several multi-cultural heritage exhibits. Local restaurants will provide a vast array of multi-cultural food samples for a small ... Read More »

READ MY TIPS Doug Browne [email protected] Nothing was more apparent last week during the big tennis exhibition showdown at Hideaway Beach than when veteran Franco Mata continually made strategic changes to confuse his young opponent and dominate the second set. In particular, he altered his speeds and placements and thus disrupted his foe’s tempo. As we delve into future CTA/USTA league doubles matches, players must be ready to completely change their game plan if the first set goes awry. Clearly, one of my favorite doubles strategies is to change return of serve positions. Why? This radical modification is obvious to the ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] Vacationers visit Marco Island to escape the cold weather, but often can’t escape the dreaded cold or flu. When this happens, where do they turn? Naples Community Healthcare Systems offers an Urgent Care Center on Marco Island to visitors, part-time and full-time residents of Marco in need of treatment of non-emergencies, illness and minor injuries. For over 20 years, NCH Healthcare Systems has provided Marco Island with quality urgent care services. Located centrally at 40 Heathwood Drive, NCH Urgent Care of Marco Island is “open 365 days per year – even holidays,” states Diann Chairge, Director ... Read More »

Submitted In an emergency, after calling 911, do you know how to administer CPR? Wouldn’t it be great if there were several people in any given restaurant with the ability to help save a life if someone was choking? Or, if one in ten enjoying a day at the beach knew CPR if someone was drowning? Many businesses and condominiums have Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs), when used during cardiac arrest AED’s can dramatically improve survival rates. Would you know how to use an AED if the need arose? When every second counts, these are critical life-saving techniques and they’re easy ... Read More »

PLANT TALK Mike Malloy [email protected] South Florida gardens are ablaze with color during winter months by two particularly spectacular vines. First, the Florida flame vine (Pyrostegia venusta) which is native to Brazil. This vine is well known in Naples for its brilliant show of color in the winter months along about a one mile stretch of Goodlette Frank Road in front of the Wilderness community just north of Golden Gate Parkway. To have a vine known by so many people, not so much by its name but by put its presence along the road, speaks to its showiness. The Florida ... Read More »

By Coastal Breeze News Staff It’s time to break out the wax and get that classic car of yours shined up and looking pretty. The annual Kiwanis Club of Marco Island Car show is coming and, as usual, it’s going to be a good one. Mark your calendar for February 17, and head over to the Marco Healthcare Center parking lot at 40 Heathwood Drive at 9:30 AM to see some true beauties. For the past eight years, the Kiwanis Club has hosted the Car Show to help raise money for the organization’s main cause: providing scholarships and other opportunities ... Read More »

As a former Buzzard Queen of Stan’s Idle Hour’s annual Mullet Festival, I feel as though it is my duty to inform the uninformed about this one-of-a-kind event. The year 2013 marks the 29th consecutive festival and the first year without its creator, Stan Gober. Stan will be “Buzzard Loping” in spirit as his three sons and four grandsons continue the tradition that celebrates the bait fish that created the fishing community of Goodland. Stan’s and Son’s 29th Annual Goodland Mullet Festival kicks off on Friday, January 25 and continues until the sun sets on Sunday, January 27. The usual ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy where six school teachers and administrators and 20 young students lost their lives, Ann Curry of NBC News came up with the concept #26Acts of Kindness. Encouraging people through her Twitter account to commit one act for each of the 26 lives lost, she wrote on her December 18 blog, “I know the truth: if you do good, you feel good. It’s the most selfish thing you can do. Right now, this country wants to heal. I think the only thing comforting in the face of ... Read More »

By Danielle Dodder For a relatively small city, Marco Island boasts a sophisticated water system. We’re a barrier island surrounded by saltwater and environmentally sensitive habitat. Consequently, getting water to paradise was never as simple as piping it in from Naples. Today, the city water utility encompasses an aquifer storage system, a reverse osmosis system, three drinking water facilities, two wastewater facilities and collection and distribution systems for both drinking and wastewater. Jeff Poteet is the general manager who oversees it all. On January 5, Poteet was elected president of the Florida Water & Pollution Control Association, a position that ... Read More »

By Coastal Breeze News Staff The Marco Island Utility (MIU) Aquifer Storage and Recovery System (ASR) is located about ¼ mile north of Route 41 along Collier Boulevard. The system consists of seven wells that are filled during the rainy season of July to November with storm water runoff in a zone of porous rock 735 to 780 feet below ground. Before entering the wells, the storm water is filtered to remove small particles, disinfected to prevent bacteria growth and to prevent plugging the porous space in the rock where the water is stored. During the dryer months of February ... Read More »

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CARES Lisa Honig Did you know that we have a local support group for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers? This wonderful group was started in 1989 by Jan Whitebook and she remains the leader of the group today. Jan has a very personal connection to cancer having been the loving caregiver for her sister who lived with lymphoma for 11 years. Her sister was so thankful for the love and support of her local group that Jan started the Marco Island Support Group in her memory. The mission of the support group is to support the whole person through ... Read More »

Donna Fiala [email protected] Happy New Year everyone! Let’s hope this year brings more peacefulness, progress, happiness and good health to us all. The Marco Chapter of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 95 held their “Change of Watch” ceremony on Saturday, January 5, 2013 at Hideaway Beach. The new Flotilla Commander is Arne Kelsey and the Vice Flotilla Commander is Skip Lee. I was honored to again be invited to view the ceremony and mingle with these distinguished servants to our community’s waterways. Not only do they hold search and rescues, as most would expect, but they monitor the weather, ... Read More »

By Monte Lazarus [email protected] A small group of itinerant archeologists and paleontologists has made a find leading to significant insights into Calusa governance and structure on Marco Island. The information has been kept secret for a few years until the discoveries and translations could be verified. They appear genuine. The group, led by professors Pierre Bouchard and John Chamollion, made the discovery among ancient clamshells at an undisclosed location on the island. Experts fear that amateurs will overrun the area and ruin the remaining shells. The shells are all inscribed with an ancient form of writing that took several years ... Read More »

By Danielle Dodder Major beachfront cities like Miami are banning them outright. The resort empire that is Walt Disney World in Orlando has replaced them with paper versions. The small bits of plastic straws and drinking cup lids discarded by people quickly accumulate into a giant toxic mess on beaches globally. The unsightly litter not only ruins the beauty of a pristine beach, but also strangles the birds, turtles and fish who mistake it for food. Straws and lids are the most widely and easily littered items along most beaches, but here on Marco cooperation will hopefully trump the need ... Read More »

By Natalie Strom [email protected] “I was a killer,” admits Jeane Lefebvre, Grounds Supervisor at the Marco Island Marriott Resort and Spa. “I thought if there was a bad bug, let’s shoot it. Anything I could spray, I would.” Recalling his early years, Lefebvre laughs as he describes his “180 degree turn” when it comes to the use of pesticides. Under the Master Gardener eye of Lefebvre, the Marriott’s grounds have been pesticide-free for 20 years. As Lefebvre battles the biggest pest invasion of his career – the spiraling whitefly – he shares his secrets for a pesticide-free landscape. For 23 ... Read More »

PROTECTING & PRESERVING Nancy Richie [email protected] Something is going on. Razorbills, an alcid bird or a web-footed, diving seabird, have been seen all over Florida by avid birders and beach goers. A few have been reported on Marco Island’s Tigertail Beach as well as in Caxambas Pass. Being a peninsula with one of the longest coastlines in the country, Florida has seabirds, so why is it so unusual to see the Razorbills? Historically, there have only been 14 documented sightings of this species in Florida. But since early December, there have been over 20 reports from Jacksonville to Marco Island of ... Read More »

GOODLAND LIFE Joanie Fuller [email protected] I am always getting questions about Goodland. Folks are curious about this place and about how I got here. I have even been asked by some, “Why would anyone want to live in Goodland?” I have thought about that question and when one of my readers recently told me she always looked forward to what I say, this time I thought I would say, “I love living in Goodland!” I came from a big city – Atlanta – and then Naples, and although I loved my life in both those places, I have found that a ... Read More »