COURTESY OF SANDY STILWELL YOUNGQUIST
Kevin was generous to give back. There was a reception before the show where Kevin graciously posed with fans. In fact, 93X radio personality Sadie Barbara got a selfie with the star and he complimented her dress (“Can you believe it?” she says. “Kevin Nealon loved my dress!”). During the reception, Kevin doted on his mom, who beamed the whole night. “I’m so proud of Kevin and all our children,” she said. I loved running into so many supporters of Hope Healthcare, including Will Prather of the Broadway Palm holding hands with his girlfriend, Maureen Green; Eric Raddatz of the Fort Myers Film Festival; Realtor Craig Wolf (a close friend of the Nealon family, Craig introduced Kevin before the show); and restaurateur Daniel Kearns and his wife, Nicole. Darlene Grossman, development liaison for Hope Healthcare, tells me that the evening brought in $50,000 for the cause … A friend to many is Katie Haas , who worked for the Boston Red Sox Florida division for 20 years. As VP of operations, she oversaw the opening of JetBlue Park and made a huge splash in Southwest Florida, lending her time to a variety of nonprofits. Alas, the tennis world took notice, and Katie is now in Cincinnati as the chief operating officer of the Western and Southern Open, a United States Tennis Association tournament that draws about 200 of the world’s best players and almost 200,000 spectators. (I told her she has to send me a selfie of her and Serena Williams .) Katie, her husband, Danny, and their two little ones are missed—but luckily for Katie’s bestie, Lydia Black of Alliance for the Arts, Allegiant Air flies from Southwest Florida to Cincinnati for a song. “I’m so excited for the Haas family,” Lydia says. “New adventures, new places to explore and lots of awesome opportunities—but we’re sure going to miss them all.” —Stephanie Davis
STAR VISIT
Restaurateur and community mover and shaker Sandy Stilwell
Youngquist hung out with a celebrity this summer, as Wild Bill (Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski), star of the Discovery Channel’s popular fishing show Deadliest Catch, showed up on Captiva and Sandy and her husband, Tim Youngquist, happily played tour guides. Says Sandy, “We had so much fun showing Wild Bill around Captiva Island! We made the rounds from Sunshine Seafood Cafe to RC Otters and had dinner at Keylime Bistro. Then we headed over to Bimini Bait
There were lots of laughs FOR SURE!” — SA N DY S TI LW E LL YO U N G Q U I S T
T
Shack. He’s such a genuinely nice guy, and people recognized him wherever we went.” Sandy and Tim really hit it off with Wild Bill, so a few weeks later, they joined him and some friends at Harbor Island in the Bahamas. Famous friends are fun. —Stephanie Davis
OWERING OVER THE TURNTABLES , wearing a black tank
top and that million-dollar smile, it was him, all right. “DJ Diesel is Shaq !” That’s how Naples photographer Lane Wilkinson described her brush with the sun-drenched star while in the Bahamas. The SLS Baha Mar in Nassau brought in the basketball legend to enterLane Wilkinson (left) at a party with Shaq tain guests in between sipping rosé and canoodling in cabanas. It’s all about Food Network’s Best in Smoke 2012. An undercover operation by the Florida Fish whom you know. Tickets for Shaq’s poolside party cost $200 a person. Lucky for Lane, she and Wildlife Commission netted the arrest made friends with a guy who let her family and hit him with six misdemeanor charges, in for free. Then, next thing she knows, she’s including buying undersize snook from an “partying with a super DJ who just happens to unlicensed dealer. At the time, Erling was the be Shaquille O’Neal—wow!” A trip that started head chef of Cafe Luna … as an early birthday present for her daughter John Travolta turned heads on Fifth Avenue in Naples. No greased-back hair, ended with a mid-summer surprise … though. He was spotted on a sweltering Now that fall is here, it’s open season again for snook. An award-winning Naples Sunday evening in late July. Last year, Scene chef apparently couldn’t wait. In July, dep& Heard told you about Travolta sitting down uties hauled in Todd Erling, who won the for a piano session at Barbatella restaurant on Third Street. This time on Fifth, he wore a jean jacket, black trucker hat and scruffy beard—but it wasn’t enough of a disguise to keep people from stopping him and Chad Oliver is a prize-winning anchor for NBC2 News. Stephanie Davis is a posing for pictures outside Yabba Island freelance writer and columnist known for her passion for downtown Fort Myers. Grill. Indeed, a summer night to remember. —Chad Oliver OCTOBER 2018 GULFSHORE LIFE
GL_OCT18_084-085_SCENEHEARD.indd 85
85 9/4/18 10:29 AM