The Goods on Goodland

This year flew by so fast I couldn’t keep up with it! Only a few weeks left of 2021, and I’m not ready. But we can’t stop it, so we’d better prepare! Lots of stuff to do at this time of year with holidays and family and shopping, etc. But we make it every year, and this year will be no different, so we’d better shift into high gear and get this show on the road!

*The speaker for the East Naples Civic Assoc. this month will be talking about Human Trafficking, and we might even have some of that going on right here in Collier County, but a major portion is north beyond the borders of Collier County, which means it might even be drifting into our area! We need to know what to look for and how and where to report it. The meeting is Thursday, November 18th at 11:30 AM at The Players Club in Lely Resort. The cost for members is $22 and for guests is $25. Reservations are strongly suggested, but we always find a way to welcome guests who had to make last minute decisions to attend. The food is always good, and the atmosphere is very friendly. Reservations can be made and paid at their website - eastnaplecivic.com.

*I don’t know how many of you know about Goodland…it is almost an Historical place who do not care for updated and improved rules. They like to preserve the past, and they work at it! They’ve had to fight hard over the years to remain the quaint fishing village with food and drink. Others came in (sometime government) to try to change their signs and their way of life, but they hung together to resist that, so when you get there you kind of step back in time, and it’s a wonderful feeling! They still have pancake breakfasts here and there, and they are really into the arts! Lots of talented people there, and it shows. I went to the Artists Bazaar last week and had the time of my life. There were quite a few people there for a Sunday and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. I went with a girlfriend and found lots of good things to buy. While I bought, she talked with people and alerted me to other finds. We sat down for a hot dog and a couple people came by to ask about some Goodland background and what it was like. We talked about the years and years of trying to get the road into Goodland improved to meet Government standards and also to be approved for their environmental standards, with the Conservancy there watching every step we took. It took years before we could obtain all the permits we needed, but that finally came to be. The Goodland residents worked with those permitting agencies (thanks so much to all, like Greg and Jim and Mike Barbush, and so many others) but the permit was finally obtained! The biggest hurdle were the Mangroves, but other big problems also lurked there, plus the County didn’t have control of the road at that time and had to pay Marco Island $1 million a year for “maintenance”! After 13 years of that, and a million dollars a year, they finally agreed to give us Goodland Road back again, finding out how much it would cost to bring it up to safe standards. There was a LOT of money needed to protect the Mangroves, to pay for the Engineering to lift the road up a couple feet, yet not flood the Mangroves, and so much more. It was NOT a simple project! (Thanks for all your dedication, Jay Ahmad, from the County’s Growth Management, to keep this project moving forward! What a great guy!) So, this week at the Arts event, some people stopped and asked questions about the road, and luckily, I was able to answer the questions. I noticed a gentleman with a good-sized beard and blue eyes leaning against a post and listening carefully. I’d never seen the gentleman before, so I was curious as to why he was listening so intently. Then there was a question about Bayshore Road in East Naples, and they wanted to go back to the late 80s/early 90s, so the conversation took a turn to the east. The gentleman never left his position, and finally he jumped in and said, “She’s exactly right!” I wondered how he would know, being that I’d never seen him before, so I just bluntly asked him, and he smiled a great smile and said he was here all that time and watched it all! His name is Merle (not sure of the spelling though) and he’s lived here all those years and always kept his eye on this area – Goodland and East Naples! This guy is going to be my friend one of these days because he has too much knowledge to let him walk off into the sunset. I don’t have his last name nor his phone number, but he lives in Goodland, so they’ll know him and I’ll find out. I want to hear some of the history HE has packed away in his brain. I bet he could go on and on, and I want to HEAR him tell me whatever he can. You know, I bet he’d be a good speaker at a meeting! Just sayin.’ While at the Arts Festival, I couldn’t resist another Goodland t-shirt, and the” Goodland Cooks” Cookbook. The first 12 pages were all about beverages (you know the kind) and appetizers and sounded intriguing and lots of fun! You can buy the cookbook from the GCA (Goodland Civic Association) at one of their meetings or hang a note on the board at the post office looking for the location, and someone will get back to you, as long as you leave your email address or phone number. Not only did they have very unusual recipes, but they had loads of pictures from the past!! The book is about 100 pages long, and once I got it home, I was glued to it, reading about the history of Goodland, and the people who have lived there over the years. This book is a keeper. While talking about Goodland, I have to mention Stan’s! I think everyone in Florida and surrounding areas have heard of Stans, and they love going there on Sunday’s! Stan was a GREAT guy, but what impressed me more than his adventurous life, was his Patriotism; and his son, Steve, has continued his legacy after God took Stan up to entertain in heaven! He was a religious man and a patriotic hero! A man I greatly admired!

*I belong to a few Veterans groups, and one of them is the MOASWF.org – Military Officers Association of Southwest Florida. We’ll never know how many people wish they knew of groups dealing with the military, but here’s an outstanding group, and they have small events pretty often, BUT they plan a huge, marvelous event every year that is well known among the retired military people in this area. It is the Military Ball which will be held February 19, 2022. I’ll tell you more about the event in the Coastal Breeze in the next couple of weeks, but for information about the organization you can pull up info@moaswf.org. Lots of people use that so they may be busy but they’ll get back to you if you are looking for answers. Their website is www/moaswf.org and for their calendar: www.moaswf.org/calendar.