Shell Club Spreads Holiday Cheer

They were like kids on Christmas morning. Smiles abounded as shell aficionados converged on New Life Community Church on Black Friday for the Marco Island Shell Club’s Annual Holiday Shell Art Sale. Blue skies and 80-degree temperatures greeted attendees.

A large crowd was already milling about 10 minutes before the event’s 9:00 AM start time. Not surprising considering local shellers are known to comb Marco Beach at daybreak in search of the best shells. It only makes sense for shell lovers to arrive early to discover the best shell art that the Marco Shell Club has to offer. They know if you get there late, you may be settling for leftovers.

Hands down the crowd favorite was a large table full of shell creations situated under the shade of the church’s entrance canopy. Shoppers swarmed the huge table like it was the carcass of a Thanksgiving turkey.

“We’ve been blessed with some beautiful weather,” said Cindy Wesolowski, president of the Marco Shell Club. "We’re very pleased with the turnout. We focus here on just our holiday items. March 10th and 11th we have our show. It’s a much wider range of products for sale that people have made. We also have our exhibits."

All of the items for sale were created by the Marco Shell Club's 80 members. The club meets once a week, January through March. During those meetings they create the items that are sold during their two annual sales.

"It’s kind of like Santa’s workshop,” Wesolowski said. "A lot of members work during the summer at home and during the fall when we have smaller workshops because there aren’t as many people here."

The popular club has to cap their membership.

"Our membership is limited because the meeting room at Mackle Park has a capacity of 80 people,” Wesolowski said.

All of the club’s efforts are for the benefit of others.

"The proceeds go toward our scholarship and education funds,” Wesolowski said. "We have a couple endowments we support at FGCU. We also support the local schools. We support the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel. We support their Mollusks on the Move program, where they go out to the schools in the area. We also work closely with Rookery Bay.”

One of the best parts of Friday’s event is that all of the shell art is created by members of the shell club. Most of the shells are found locally, too. 

“I enjoy sharing the talents of the local artisans,” said Karen Balacci, the club's publicity chair. "The shell art that they create is locally sourced. You talk about sourcing locally, you don’t get more local than shells from Marco Island."