Inside the Planning of the Eagle Lakes Pool

Well, the car carriers are coming back in full force and keep coming! This year I suspect many more will be coming from New York, California, Wyoming, Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc. We don’t usually see people moving to this coast from the west coast, but they’re on their way. They are showing up in church as well. While I was visiting in Ohio this summer, I read a Coastal Breeze Column about a new minister coming to Lely Presbyterian Church, a church I attended many years ago, before I heard the choir and organ at First Presbyterian in downtown Naples and joined that church instead. That was about 40 years ago, but after reading that article about Lely Presby and their new minister who had just joined them upon retiring from the National Guard after 32 years of service, I decided when I returned, I would try that church, which is so much closer to where I live. Pastor Ed Brandt met people at the sidewalk coming in and preached a sermon that spoke just to me! Immediately I felt welcome and they even offered bakery with their coffee afterward so you can sit around and meet and talk with people (I visit most of the festivities at San Marco Church on Marco because they are so friendly, always make me feel so much like I’m family, even though I’m not Catholic and I’ll probably always visit with them as long as they’ll have me. A special thank you to Father Tim and my very good friend, Joe Granda). Anyway, the new minister at Lely preaches a great sermon, which I look for. I couldn’t believe how many people had returned since last week! The place was almost full this Sunday. Their choir even started back up again, and their piano player plays a mean piano! He could be an entertainer!

*Does anyone know of a fitness center that accepts Medicare for exercise programs like Tai Chi for arthritis sufferers? If you do, please drop me a line at this newspaper. They’ll get the message to me, and if I find one, and it’s a good one, I’ll pass it along to others as well.

*On Saturday October 16, seven public high schools participated in a swim meet at our park here in East Naples, and you never heard cheering like that! It was so much fun. There were so many people there and it was very exciting! Of course, we had our own Lely High School swim team, as well as Naples High School, Gulf Coast High was ** the winning team **, Barron Collier High, Golden Gate High, Palmetto Ridge, and Immokalee High, and please note: this was the first time Immokalee had a swim team. That was terrific for them to join with the other teams. I got so busy watching and talking with parents that I really had an extra special time. But I don’t think I ever told my readers an inside story when the county was beginning to plan the pool at Eagle Lakes. We held a Town Hall Meeting to take the pulse of the community about building a pool and what they felt was needed. Over 350 people showed up at the South Regional Library. They were leaning against the wall, 200 plus chairs were already filling the room, then people sat on the floor, and found anything they could sit on, or they just plain stood. This was such an important issue for the East Naples area, and THEY TURNED OUT!! Beforehand I called the Lely High School Principal and asked if there was anyone there who was familiar with what a swim team would need for this pool, and she said she’d send someone. I had no idea who it was, but I was happy that a person would show up. When we got onto the subject, and believe me, that pool was being planned to be a completely different project, and after reading what the plans were, I asked if the person from Lely High School was in the audience to give their comments on what a swim team needed, and this fella stood up, (that’s the first time I met Adam Peterson, a teacher at Lely) and he came prepared!!! He had a tablet with all the information and dimensions that a swim team would need, plus other info for divers, and even helped cover another person’s question from the audience! This retired lady wanted to know why we weren’t planning things for retired people, and with that the project took another huge turn to become this magnificent pool we now all enjoy! In fact, Mr. Peterson was so knowledgeable, that the county engineers asked if he would join them in their planning meetings to make this a truly successful pool. He did, and the rest is history! It’s one of the best pools in Collier County! Thanks again Adam!! YOU were the one that made this pool so successful, to meet all the needs of swim teams, divers, pool exercising, and much more. The staff is now going to follow this plan for the park they are building way out in Golden Gate Estates! People give me credit for this pool, but it was ADAM PETERSON who showed us how to do it! I was just on the team. Our kids are really benefiting from this pool, as well as adults and seniors and retirees. Adam, take a bow!

*Rookery Bay has been busy these days, and many people are already discovering and enjoying our National Estuarine Reserve, and our season is only beginning. The season events from October to December are online already at RookeryBay.org. And did you know, which I wasn’t aware of until I became a board member for the Friends of Rookery Bay, that Rookery Bay oversees all of the 10,000 Islands, and the waters that surround them! They offer an Environmental Learning Center for adults and children alike. They have photography classes, the very popular naturalist guided boat and kayak tours, the 2021 Classic Car Show on Saturday, November 20, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, where last year they hosted over 100 classic vehicles, Festival of Birds from January 1 through January 31 and on Thursday, December 2 is the Holiday Hootenanny. For the 2021 Car Show schedule on November 20, shuttles will be running continuously to and from Walmart on Collier Boulevard. The doors open at 9:00 AM and food trucks will be on site from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. At 2:00 PM the People’s Choice Award will be presented, and the Environmental Learning Center will stay open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Tickets are cash only. Spectators 13 and up - $10; Spectators aged six to 12 - $5; Car registration is $25. Free parking at the green tent at Walmart Supercenter with shuttles to and from the event. Also offered at Rookery Bay is an exciting new program in partnership between Florida Humanities and Rookery Bay. Florida Humanities provides the funding and is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. 

Rookery Bay also offers a Lunch and Learn Program through the Online Webinar or in person at Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center. 

October 21, 2021 is the Hidden History of Florida. James Clark, Senior Lecturer from the University of Central Florida History Department uses dozens of stories to tell the little-known facts of Florida. 

November 5, 2021 features “Made in Florida: Artists, Celebrities, Activists, Educators and other Icons in the Sunshine State.”  Journalist Art Levy, the Associate Editor for Florida Trend will tell us his stories about his journey across Florida. 

December 8, 2021 the topic is Florida Soul presented by John Capouya, Professor of Journalism and Nonfiction Writing at the University of Tampa. This presentation looks at the people and the music that defines Florida soul, from Ray Charles to Sam and Dave, James Brown to Bobby Purify and more. The State of Florida’s rich, but underappreciated musical heritage comes to life in music, words, and vintage photos.

Register for all these events now at RookeryBay.org.