“May the works I’ve done speak for me.
When I’m resting in my grave,
There’s nothing more to be said;
May the works (the works I’ve done)
Let it speak for me.”
— Sullivan Pugh
After a seven-year hiatus, the Luxury Home Show returns in January, with more than 100 exhibitors poised to welcome people back with the latest in products and design trends for the home. Presented by Home & Design Magazine and Ronto Group, the expo takes place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 8-9, at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples.
Once upon a time, a lighthearted conversation turned to the subject of bad country ham and gelatinous fruitcake. These are gifts often given during the holiday season by friends and families with the best of intentions.
White and red.
My wife says each numeral has its own color, and multi-digit numbers are composites of those colors.
To believe his critics, Donald Trump has ripped up the U.S. Constitution and sprinkled its shreds on the smoldering embers of what was once the Statute of Liberty.
The second annual Holly Jolly Gingerbread Challenge resulted in some spectacular confectionary constructions by local students and professional chefs.
¦ The Naples Chapter of the Americans United for Church and State and the ACLU of Florida-Collier Chapter host a presentation by editor and author Rob Boston, director of communications for the national AUCS organization, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples, 6340 Napa Woods Way. All are welcome.
A new season of garden workshops presented by the UF/IFAS Collier County extension service starts Thursday, Jan. 7. Classes take place from 10-11:30 a.m. every Thursday for 10 weeks at Unity Church of Naples, 2000 Unity Way. Cost is $30 for the series or $10 per session. For more information, visit collier. ifas.ufl.edu. Here are the first four programs:
Learn how prescribed wildfires benefit wildlife and people when Greg Curry, an environmental specialist at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, presents the next Lunch ‘n’ Learn lecture from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the Rookery Bay Environmental Education Center, 300 Tower Road off Collier Boulevard.
Tom and Dianna Skinner have let their feet do the walking for the Harry Chapin Food Bank for seven years, and they’re not stopping now. They’re going to join the thousands who will step up to fight hunger in Southwest Florida by stepping out to take part in the 2016 WINK News Feeds Families Hunger Walk.
Adonis Autism Inc.
One-man arsenal
Marine archaeologist Jeff Moates returns to the Marco Island Historical Museum, this time with “Dispatches of the Deep,” an exploration of Spanish shipwrecks off the Florida coastline, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5.
The Jewish Federation of Collier County and the Zionist Organization of America presents Mordechai Kedar and “Life in the Shadow of Islam” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, at the Chabad Jewish Center of Naples, 1789 Mandarin Road.
This January, you can experience the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve four different ways. Wet or dry, walking or riding, it’s your choice with the Friends of Fakahatchee adventures scheduled throughout the month.
Avow invites the community to the celebratory groundbreaking for its newest building, The Lyon Palliative Care and Hospice Center, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, on the Avow campus at 1095 Whippoorwill Lane in Naples. Guest speakers include Drs. Diane Meier and Sean Morrison, national leaders in the field of palliative care, and Avow benefactress Thelma Lyon.
The 2015 Monitoring the Future survey shows decreasing use of a number of substances, including cigarettes, alcohol, prescription opioid pain relievers and synthetic marijuana. Use of other drugs, including marijuana, remains stable, with continued high rates of daily use reported among 12th graders and ongoing declines in perception of its harms.
Inside every cat is a lion. Or a tiger. Or a lynx. Or, really, all of these great hunters. And in your cat’s mind, he’s a wild predator, too.
Registration for the winter 2016 spiritual intensive program based on the teachings of Eckhart Tolle (“The Power of Now”) is underway. Facilitated by Linda Allen, who has been a student of Mr. Tolle for 13 years, and managed by Donna Carty, the six-week program with the theme of “Living from the Depths of Being: If Not Now, When?” meets from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursdays, Jan.
To adopt or foster a pet
LIKE A MUSICAL GARland eternally effervescing on the wing, birds encircle our airy days from beginning to end. Life is not bound by local, regional or even national boundaries, they seem to tell us.
In the American cultural vernacular, which may prove as confusing to you as it frequently does to me, the first Christmas did not occur 2,015 years ago.
Instead, the first Christmas took place exactly 238 years ago on a frigid night a few miles north of Philadelphia.
During the 6 p.m. news broadcast on NBC-2, senior chief meteorologist Robert Van Winkle described recent weather conditions in Southwest Florida in such technical terms as “warm and soupy” as well as “hot and sticky.”
As the days of December cascade toward the year’s end, there is redemption in the celebration of the season. We are prompted to remember and model behaviors and attitudes that renew our spirit of giving and goodwill towards all. We enforce a definitive pause in the habits of life that otherwise usurp our time.
Saving the planet has never been so easy.
The Paris climate talks concluded in a rousing round of self-congratulation over an agreement that, we are told, is the first step toward keeping Earth habitable. If generating headlines and press releases about making history were the metric for anything, Paris might be as consequential — if misbegotten — as advertised.
More than 200 volunteers transformed the cafeteria of North Naples Middle School into a holiday party for two hours one day earlier this month with a goal of packing 75,000 Meals of Hope bound for Haiti.
Neapolitan Penny Wigglesworth has been named Ooh La La Jewels Du Jour Lady of the Month for December. The recognition is part of a 2015 yearlong program in which the boutique has honored one local woman per month who exhibits the three Cs: character, community involvement and charitable giving of time, treasures and talents.
The Naples Woman’s Club Juniorettes recently made 10 blankets for the babies who receive diapers from Baby Basics of Collier County. The Juniorettes is a group of high school young women learning leadership skills by planning and participating in community service and volunteer projects.
Are we safe?
¦ The Naples Doll Club meets at 11:30 a.m. on the first and third Wednesday of the month at Mayflower Congregational Church, 2900 County Barn Road in Naples. the next meetings are Jan. 6 and 20. Meetings and workshops are open to all who love and enjoy the beauty of dolls from antique to contemporary.
AARP offers classes to help older drivers learn about new traffic laws, refresh their driving skills and reduce their risk for tickets and accidents. Drivers over age 55 might be eligible for a discount on auto insurance.
Go ahead and scratch your head the first time you look at this contradiction of a car. We sure did.
Here’s where Collier County Sheriff’s Office traffic-enforcement deputies will be the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 1:
Monday, Dec. 28
Airport-Pulling and Pine Ridge roads: Red-light running
Bayshore Drive and U.S. 41 East: Aggressive driving
Rattlesnake Hammock Road and Collier Boulevard: Aggressive driving
If you’re trying to avoid holiday weight gain, nutrition expert Michelle Cardel has some tips, tricks and advice to help you succeed.
¦ Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida hosts the 2016 WINK News Feeds Families Hunger Walk on Saturday morning, Jan. 16, at Miromar Outlets.
It’s every kid’s dream to wake up to a puppy or kitten beneath the tree on Christmas morning. Last year, Clifford R. Robinson and his family helped make that dream come true for two families.
To adopt or foster a pet
This week’s adoptable pets are from Brooke’s Legacy Animal Rescue, an all-volunteer, foster home rescue organization. For more information, call 434-7480, email Admin@BrookesLegacyAnimalRescue.org or visit brookeslegacyanimalrescue.com.
So I hear a few good movies opened in theaters this past weekend just in time for Christmas, including the long-awaited fourth chapter in the animated chipmunk saga, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.” Word has it that folks are really chirping about this one.
Thousands of Southwest Floridians struggle with homelessness or the threat of it while a network of local agencies tries to deal with the issue. Inside is a view of the struggle from the front lines.
Most European snowbirds as well as our frequently baffled winter visitors from such restrained nations as Canada or Dubuque, Iowa — foreign places where people often exhibit a modicum of polite and reasonable behavior, especially in public — probably do not understand.
You know how the holiday season is supposed to incorporate more giving than getting, right? Perhaps we can interest you in augmenting your generous spirit by linking it with mutually beneficial shopping.
With the holiday season upon us, a spirit of generosity fills the air. The joviality is perhaps nowhere more enthusiastic than in Tallahassee.
A funny thing is happening on the way to the GOP meltdown.
According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, the two most popular and broadly acceptable candidates in the field are perhaps the most talented and most reliably conservative. Oh, and by the way, they are Hispanics in their 40s.
Friends of Foster Children Forever has partnered with Naples Auto Donation Center for an “auto roundup” this season to raise funds for academic mentoring programs FFCF provides for foster children in Southwest Florida.
Members and staff at Country Club of Naples partnered with Youth Haven and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District to help make the holidays happier for deserving children in Collier County. The club’s Ladies Golf Association spearheaded the annual toy drive for GNFRD, and members also donated new blankets to Youth Haven.
The holidays are looking pretty bright for 90 Golden Gate and East Naples students after an anonymous member of the Jewish Federation of Collier County donated $9,000 to allow kids to do their Christmas shopping alongside officers from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
Owning a 4x4 truck is like being in an exclusive club. There’s a small nod you instinctively know to give another pickup owner if you pass them on a secluded dirt road. It acknowledges the few people who can trek through the mud, sand and other muck like the two of you can.
Animal Specialty Hospital of Florida welcomes donations of pet-friendly items to benefit local shelter animals. For its inaugural Presents for Paws effort, the hospital will match all donations 100 percent through December and deliver them to Gulf Coast Humane Society.
AARP offers classes to help older drivers learn about new traffic laws, refresh their driving skills and reduce their risk for tickets and accidents. Drivers over age 55 might be eligible for a discount on auto insurance.
Here’s where Collier County Sheriff’s Office traffic-enforcement deputies will be the week of Dec. 21-25:
Monday, Dec. 21
River Ranch Drive: Speeding
Radio Road and Donna Street: Redlight running
Santa Barbara and Davis boulevards: Red-light running
Tuesday, Dec. 22
Champions For Learning, the education foundation of Collier County, announces the Teachers of Distinction for the 2015-16 Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program. These 26 educators will continue in the Golden Apple selection process, with five of them ultimately being named Golden Apple teachers.
It only takes a few seconds.
Credit card thieves are targeting shoppers, especially those who use a shopping cart, while they aren’t looking this holiday season.
These thieves usually work in teams and are scouting for shoppers who leave their purses in shopping carts. When the shoppers turn their back, the thieves reach in and steal a wallet.
¦ The Naples Model Yacht Club welcomes all who love to race radio-controlled model sailboats following the Racing Rules of Sailing that are used by full-scale boats. Membership in the American Model Yacht Association is required.
Neapolitan Peggy Wigglesworth has been named Ooh La La Jewels Du Jour Lady of the Month for December. The recognition is part of a 2015 yearlong program in which the boutique has honored one local woman per month who exhibits the three Cs: character, community involvement and charitable giving of time, treasures and talents.
Professional golfers from across the United States and four foreign countries recently joined nearly 100 of the most philanthropic players in Southwest Florida to benefit the youth of Immokalee at The Immokalee Foundation’s Charity Classic Pro-Am.
Suncoast Credit Union, the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and the local education foundation, Champions For Learning, will award five $2,000 scholarships to 2016 high school graduating seniors in Collier County. The scholarships are made possible by a $100,000 investment in scholarships this year by the Tampa-based Suncoast Credit Union Foundation.
In the United States, and throughout the world, men drink more alcohol than women. But a recent analysis by scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, indicates that longstanding differences between men and women in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms might be narrowing in the United States.
Parents and grandparents looking for a fun and educational way for kids to spend time over the holiday break should consider the Conservancy of Southwest Florida “Wonderous Wildlife” winter camp. For kids in grades 2-5, the camp takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 29-30.
Barry Seidman, an internationally celebrated photographer with the rugged good looks of an Al Pacino and the hybrid wit of a Woody Allen-Jerry Seinfeld Jewish kid from New York, refuses to divulge his age.
But he doesn’t have to because he’s fast, and he knows what any speed lover knows: You may have to get old, but you don’t have to get slow.
In their new home, the Donis family is just steps away from Sugden Park, where they can ride bikes, take walks and have fun. In their last apartment, cars speeding through the jammed parking lot made it difficult to even walk outside.
It might seem surprising, but electric cars are not a new idea. At the turn of the last century, gasoline, electricity and steam power were all on U.S. roads vying for public acceptance. In fact, the first few years of the 1900s saw many signs that battery power might have been the future of the automobile.
The Paris attacks have occasioned a wide-ranging debate about what they mean and how to respond, involving Islam and its role, military strategy and, oddly enough, how Muslims in New Jersey reacted to Sept. 11 (thanks, Donald Trump). It’s all very interesting and, for the most part, quite important.
