Median Landscaping & Ben Allen's BBQ

Hold on!  The year is going too fast! It’s almost the turning point of the year as we head back down to the end of the year! Too fast!

 * Here is some long-awaited good news! Many of you on this side of the bridge noticed how sad the median landscaping has looked this past year, and it seemed the complaints were overlooked, but WAIT! They heard us! A major overhaul has begun to the median landscaping along U. S. 41 East, from 951 to the Government Center, and along parts of 951 toward Marco Island that still needed attention (thank you Pam and so many others!), the dead plants are being removed, the defunct sprinkler heads are being replaced, the trees are getting the attention they so badly needed, and soon this area can also be looked at with pride! Thanks everyone for all your help! Team work at its finest!   

* Much of what I write at this time of year is especially for those living up north for the summer, but some even live here but don’t get all the news from other sources, so here is a GREAT piece of excitement!  Everyone has heard of Ben Allen and his band, and most saw his performance on “The Voice”. No, he didn’t win, but he was sure up there with the final top 9 winners! We couldn’t tear ourselves away from the TV whenever he was performing. Well, Ben and the co-owner of Brooks Burgers, Todd Brooks, will open a new local pub for us!!! It will be located at the epicenter of East Naples and Marco Island. It was mentioned as South Naples, but there IS NO South Naples…try to find it on a map or on signs on I-75. Try to find it in local stories.   You’ll find it mainly where the realtors have tried to rename it so “it will sound better to others”. We are East Naples, and we are making it BETTER! I always said don’t change the name; change it to a better place, which is happening right now! Look at Bayshore, for goodness sake. What a difference from then and now! We are changing and improving, and we are making East Naples GREAT! (not south Naples) I have newspaper first edition stories describing with pictures when they moved the County Seat from Everglades City to East Naples after Hurricane Donna wiped out Everglades City in 1950. No one ever heard of South Naples. So, they will be re-opening the improved former Brooks Burgers to the newly named “Ben Allen’s Backyard” Grill & Pub at 12655 Tamiami Trail East in Freedom Square. They have completely redone the inside of the restaurant after Todd Brooks approached Ben Allen about the idea of collaborating on a restaurant. Ben and his band will be entertaining there frequently. They plan on holding trivia nights and open mic nights among other things! That’s a favorite with so many people! And it certainly is the right location!!! In the works are Ben Allen t-shirts and/or hats. They will have 20 TV screens inside, plus a 10 by six-foot screen in the restaurant’s back yard! Their menu has been greatly expanded, and their “margarita’s will be made the right way!” The Ben Allen Band will be performing at the new place (but same old location as Brooks Burgers in the Freedom Square shopping center) on Friday, June 25, and Saturday June 26! You won’t want to miss this!  That’s another great venue coming to East Naples! We keep growing bigger and better as the months go by! I’m sure Todd Brooks & Ben Allen will bring out the whole community with this entertainment. It will be an easy drive for Golden Gate and East Naples and Marco Island, but just as easy for Goodland, Isles of Capri, and Bayshore! I have a funny feeling they will expand so fast they’ll have to buy Publix to hold all the people! Well, that may be exaggerated just a little, but I’m sure it will grow immediately. Smart move on Todd Brooks’ part!  Great move to entertain the people with Ben Allen and his band, plus there may be many other entertainers as time goes by.