Community Groups Bring People Together

It was a marvelous evening when the Coast Guard Auxiliary held their joyous opening for their new office headquarters at Caxambas Park. These gentlemen have worked long and hard and fought their way to the end to make it happen! And it was my privilege and joy to watch the celebration. This was a long and hard road to travel, but they never gave up! And they are the winners for the people in the community. During this time they were building their new facility, and before the actual opening, the auxiliary members worked with over 300 boaters, giving them advice and safety education, even though their facility was in different stages of building. And they volunteer their time and easily teach one class a night! They teach classes on boater safety and local knowledge of the waters. They are always busy and love it. So do the students! You’ve gotta hand it to these people, they love what they do, and it shows! Thank you, Coast Guard Auxiliary! We’re all so proud of you!

• Another volunteer group of people are the Elks! I think there are a few clubs in this area, and the one I belong to is the Naples Elks Lodge on U.S. 41E.  They have a huge building, and at times they rent spaces out to people who need to hold a party or a meeting or a dance, etc. My daughter wanted to surprise her daughter with a baby shower. And yes, we can rent the place. Everything is inside, tables and chairs are available. Bring your own food, or possibly a caterer can prepare the food (they are looking at creating that convenience as we speak). You can bring your own band if you’d like and make arrangements. You can bring your own drinks, or if a member arranges the reservation, and they can vouch for you, you can buy the drinks there, and at a great price. It seems we are always looking for places to hold events, so remember this one! Oh! Let me tell you about Hot Dog Saturday. Personally, I won’t miss it (unless it’s the day of my granddaughter’s baby shower!) Quite a few of us go to the terrific Hot Dog Saturday at noon each Saturday. You get a small bag of chips, ketchup, mustard, cheese, and an iced tea for $3.00. You can’t beat that, and the hot dogs are GREAT! I just love them (so would Tom Cannon!)

• Our church, Lely Presbyterian on St. Andrews Blvd., is such a friendly church! I found them through this newspaper over a year ago, when Pastor Ed was just retiring from the military and moving to our area to become the new minister. After reading that column, I decided to look into it. It was a tiny congregation, but friendly. No children, just elderly, and no choir. That was less than a year ago. Now they have two services on Sunday morning, and a lovely choir who sing their hearts out, and talented music directors. And now they have a children’s service during the adult service with a beautiful youth leader that everyone loves! What a difference a person can make. And after each service, the congregation gathers for a few goodies together. Eating together always makes things feel happier! And during the week the church members will arrange to have a dinner at church once in a while, and also some will meet for a lunch here and there. Yup, they keep people together and help each other to know each other. Isn’t that what church is all about? I remember when I represented Marco Island, so I was there constantly and attended many social affairs at San Marco Catholic Church (thanks to Joe and Maria Granda). I wasn’t a Catholic, but they always welcomed me, and I loved it, and THEM! And Father Tim was an old friend from many years back at St Peter’s. I’d go to anything they invited me to!