Inc., would each take separate floors in the freestanding outparcel at 5377 Tamiami Trail N., the building will be divided more vertically instead, according to the
architectural plans created by In
terior Architects for The Forbes Co., the Michigan-based owner of Waterside Shops. An L-shaped, 2,033-square-foot outdoor terrace with a custom pergola will be created on the second-floor of the northwestern corner for displaying patio furniture, slightly decreasing the building’s overall square footage, plans show.
Demolition work involving a large crane towering over the corner of Waterside Shops has been highly visible lately at U.S. 41 North and Seagate Drive, and plans show many more changes
See ATEN KNOWS, Page 9A
Celebrating life at NCH Neonatal Intensive Care Unit reunion
By Therese McDevitt terry.mcdevitt@naplespress.com
For new parents, few things can be scarier than learning your newborn needs to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. And for the physicians and other medical staff, taking care of these tiny, helpless patients also means making sure the anxious parents know what to expect every step of the way during a time of great fear and stress.
That high-stakes atmosphere of the NICU can lead to extraordinary bonds between the medical providers and the families whose fragile babies are fighting for survival. Those bonds were apparent at an early March reunion hosted by Naples Comprehensive Health for former NICU patients and their families, doctors, nurses, volunteers and other staff.
The 19-bed, Level II NICU at NCH North is the only such facility in Collier County. It offers 24hour board-certified neonatologist coverage and neonatal ICU-trained nurses, and respiratory therapists
in collaboration with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Strong bonds formed in NICU Newborns can require time in the
NICU for a wide range of reasons, including being born prematurely, having respiratory issues or being born with an infection passed on by the mother.
Neonatologist Dr. Bridget Buzzella, who serves as medical director of the NICU at NCH, said families go through “lots of different stages” when their baby is admitted to the unit.
“The very first stage is fear of the unknown,” Buzzella said in an interview at the reunion held outside on the NCH North campus. “Their baby is born small and fragile and needs all kinds of tubes and wires and equipment that you can’t even imagine as a parent when you come and visit your baby in the NICU. They’re fearful if their baby is going to survive. So, we teach them; they learn little by little and the babies get better, and the
Page 6A
Dr. Bridget Buzzella, NCH NICU medical director, meets with the Cary family at NCH North. Photo by Liz Gorman
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Chamber to host Wake Up Naples
The Greater Naples Chamber will discuss artificial intelligence during Wake Up Naples on Wednesday, March 19. The event begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Hilton Naples, 5111 Tamiami Trail N., and will feature Heidi Cramer, AI integration strategist; Arthur L. Allen, CEO of ASG Software Solutions; Anthony DeBono III, founder of d3 creative studio; and Evan Graj, founder of Fusionads.ai. “AI has become a huge topic nowadays, so it is important for our business leaders to learn how we can effectively manage and integrate AI into their operations to drive productivity,” said Kristina Park, president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber. “We are excited to have such a diverse panel that can speak to AI and offer attendees actionable takeaways to work confidently in the age of AI.” For more information on Wake Up Naples, visit business.napleschamber.org/ wake-up-naples
Naples’ $86M storm water project aims to prevent beach flooding
Crews are working on stage two of The Naples Beach Storm Water Outfall Project, an $86 million initiative that has been in the works for decades and seeks to prevent future floods. The state Department of Environmental Protection said no further beach renourishment will occur until all outfall pipes are replaced. Construction of stage two, primarily affecting Gulf Shore Boulevard, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Detour signs guide drivers onto the main roads on Third Street North, Fourth Avenue North and Fifth Street North. The project aims to improve the quality of filtered water discharged into the Gulf of Mexico and prevent future flooding on Gulf Shore Boulevard.
Save the Florida Panther Day set
Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge announced its annual Save The Florida Panther Day celebration. Families, environmental groups, and wildlife enthusiasts are encouraged to attend the annual event at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, March 15 from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. This event grants the public exclusive access to areas of the refuge that are normally closed to visitors. Guests will have a rare opportunity to explore the hidden world of the critically endangered Florida
panther and experience restricted trails, remote wildlife habitats and conservation zones that are essential to panther survival. Registration is free, however, space for many activities is limited. To secure tickets, register on the Friends of the Florida Panther website, floridapanther.org/events.
Marco works to improve water quality in canals
Residents of Marco Island are urging town leaders to do more to protect their water supply. A significant concern is runoff into the canals, which creates an environment conducive to algae blooms. The city initiated several projects to improve water quality, including a canal aeration pilot study. This program aims to increase oxygen levels in the waterways and is funded by $300,000 in legislative support. The project is currently out to bid and scheduled to start in May.
Moorings Women’s Golf Association raises $35K Moorings Women’s Golf Association raised $35,000 to support STARability Foundation at a recent charity golf tournament at Moorings Golf and Country Club in Naples. STARability provides innovative, results-driven programs designed to accommodate the unique needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Southwest Florida. Its work ensures families have access to programs, resources and an inclusive community, providing opportunities to lead meaningful and productive lives, according to information provided.
Baker Senior Center to present geriatric mental health conference
Baker Senior Center Naples, a nonprofit that provides comprehensive programs and social services for older adults and their families, will present the Southwest Florida Conference on Mental Health on March 21. The keynote speaker is Dr. Marc E. Agronin, a nationally recognized expert on Alzheimer’s disease, memory disorders and geriatric psychiatry at Miami Jewish Health. The conference is ideal for friends and family members with older loved ones who are facing challenges coping emotionally with the aging process. Social workers and
mental health professionals will earn 2.5 continuing education units provided by David Lawrence Centers, and nurses will earn 2.5 CEUs provided by NCH. The event takes place from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Baker Senior Center Naples, 6200 Autumn Oaks Lane. The cost is $50 per person and $25 for students. For details, email mhconference@ bakerseniorcenternaples.org or call 239.325.4444.
Cancer Alliance Network outdoor yoga fundraiser returns An annual outdoor yoga fundraiser that supports the nonmedical needs of Southwest Florida cancer patients is returning to Baker Park in Naples this spring. The 11th annual YogaCAN Naples benefit on behalf of Cancer Alliance Network is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 6 on the lawn of Baker Park, 100 Riverside Circle. CAN is devoted to providing dignity to local cancer patients and their families in Collier and Lee counties through financial aid, resources and support. Individual tickets are available for $55 ($65 the day of the event) or $20 for children ages 4-12.
LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort continues recovery from hurricanes LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort has made progress in restoring areas of the 189-room North Naples hotel that were damaged by hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024. On Jan. 16, LaPlaya reopened the upper floors (59 rooms) of its 79-room Beach House building, with the remaining 20 ground-floor rooms set for completion in the second quarter. Despite the disruptions from restoration efforts, LaPlaya generated $19 million in hotel earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for 2024, including $1.2 million in the fourth quarter, according to an earnings report from hotel owner Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. In the fourth quarter, the company successfully finalized its insurance claims related to Hurricane Ian. As a result, the company realized an additional $5.4 million in unforecasted business interruption insurance income. This amount increased total BI income in 2024 to $23.8 million. Including the $33 million of BI income recognized in 2023, Pebblebrook realized more than $56 million in BI income associated with Ian.
Multilevel protest takes on numerous issues, with Ukraine foremost
By Harriet Howard Heithaus harriet.heithaus@naplespress.com
protest
The block in front of Collier County Government Center became a sea of signs and placards Saturday afternoon, most of them in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.
on numerous issues,
Some 250 people, by its organizers’ estimate, came in and out to support the country and its fight to retain its independence against a Russian invasion. But demonstrators in a wide spectrum of ages were there with a list of other grievances over the actions of the Trump administration and its advisors.
“We’re outraged by the actions of our President and how he’s turned on our allies and tar-
iffing our friends — why? And destroying our government with the help of [Elon] Musk, with this indiscriminate slaughter of government agencies,” said Hazel Hilliard, 80 of Bonita Springs. “I watch and I see what’s going on and I’m outraged. And I’m afraid.”
She waved a sign at passersby that read: “Wake up America! Trump is Putin’s pet.”
“I was born in the Netherlands, went through the war [World War II]. I was 5 to 11 years old. My parents immigrated here because they said they didn’t want to be dealing with communism,” explained Neal Oussoren, 90, who had tucked a Ukrainian flag in the back of his ball cap.
“I cannot understand how a person like Trump can just let Putin go and take everything away from the people out there. I live in Gettys-
See UKRAINE, Page 8A
Board approves The Avenue
Project sits at entrance to city’s downtown
By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com
The architectural and landscaping design for The Avenue, a significant redevelopment project on Fifth Avenue South, received unanimous final approval Feb. 26 by the Naples Design Review Board.
Developer Aprea, led by Andy Penev, formerly of M Development, began demolition of the remaining three office buildings Feb. 21 to make way for the upscale mixed-use project that is targeted to begin construction this quarter on
a nearly two-block area of Fifth Avenue South from the former longtime property of St. George & the Dragon restaurant near the city’s Four Corners to 11th Street South.
“The start of demolition is the first of many milestones to come,” Penev said.
The sprawling pedestrian-friendly project at the entrance to the city’s downtown consists of four three-story buildings combining 50 luxury condominiums on the upper floors with 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurant units on the ground floor. The site is bordered by Fifth Avenue South, Sixth Avenue South, 10th Street South and 11th Street South.
“We’re excited the project is moving forward,” said ar-
chitect Ian Mills, executive director of Morris Adjmi Architects, who presented plans for The Avenue to the board with design director Matthew Lewis of L&ND landscape design. MHK Architecture serves as New York-based MA Architect’s local partner on the project.
“The circulation paths around the site — sort of bisecting the site north-south and east-west — are something that has formed a sort of parti and really [is] the impetus for the design of the building and bringing people across the site in many different ways, connecting Tin City to the shopping
See THE AVENUE, Page 11A
Collier Planning Commission
By Aisling Swift
Multilevel
takes
with Ukraine foremost By Harriet Howard Heithaus
STARability creates pathways to independence
advocate and celebrate diversity, accessibility and equality for all.
Developmental Disabilities
Awareness Month is a nationwide month-long observance dating back to 1987, that unites individuals, organizations, advocates and communities to remove stigmas and promote understanding, acceptance and the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Aiming to build a more welcoming and inclusive society, it’s an ideal time for everyone to come together to educate, Karen Govern STARability
According to recent studies by the Administration for Community Living, more than 7 million Americans are faced with physical or mental challenges related to IDD that affect their learning; limit their mobility; inhibit their expression; and render them dependent on others for care and assistance. In Collier County alone, the Florida Department of Education reports more than 6,000 students are affected by IDD, with a growing number seeking support as they age out of the school system at 22 years old.
For people with IDD, independence is a journey — not a destina-
tion. It takes community support, dedicated effort, time spent practicing and meaningful opportunities that empower individuals to reach their unique goals.
That’s where STARability shines.
Formed by a small community of caring parents, STARability Foundation has been shining a light on abilities for four decades. Today, our organization is opening a world of possibilities for hundreds of individuals ages 14 and older by offering a variety of inclusive programs focused on vocational training, continuing education, teamwork, social engagement and community involvement. Our compassionate
team supports people with IDD by providing life-transforming opportunities that emphasize teamwork and a connection to the community while strengthening awareness and respect for individual abilities.
We understand the crucial role we play in paving the way to create vital opportunities for our participants, lovingly referred to as STARs, to learn, grow and be active parts of their community. This March, we’re asking you to join us in raising awareness and taking meaningful steps to ensure that people with IDD and their families have the tools, resources and connections they need to thrive.
With the right support, people with IDD can have hope for a brighter future and greater opportunities to realize their full potential in school, at work or at home, as contributing and valued members of their communities. Together, we can break down barriers, opening new doors to helping people of all abilities lead independent, productive lives and feel valued and included. I invite you to visit starability. org to learn more about our incredible STARs and the life-transforming programs and resources available.
Karen Govern is CEO of STARability Foundation.
Three organizations to co-host forum on building storm resilience
By Naples Press Staff
The Collier Community Foundation, Greater Naples Leadership and Naples United Church of Christ are joining forces to present “Taking the Punch out of Powerful Hurricanes: A Forum on Building Resilience” 3:30-5 p.m. March 18 at Naples United Church of Christ.
This community forum will delve into the profound effects of hurricanes on our quality of life and local economy, and the unprecedented challenges facing our coastal community. Attendees will gain invaluable insights into the science behind these powerful storms and learn actionable steps and proactive
measures the community can take to prepare for, respond to and build resilience against future hurricanes.
Keynote speakers for the event include Matt Devitt, chief meteorologist of WINK News; Jennifer Jurado, chief resilience officer and deputy department director of the Resilient Environment Department in Broward County; and Dan Summers, director of the Collier County Emergency Management Division.
The event will be moderated by Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Collier Community Foundation.
“The profound challenges hurricanes bring to our community require a united approach, and that’s why the collaboration [among] the Collier Community Foundation, Greater Naples Leadership and Naples
United Church of Christ is so important,” Connolly-Keesler said. “Together, we’re bringing diverse perspectives and expertise to the table to host a forum that dives deeply into the lasting impact of these storms on our lives, our environment and our future. This partnership embodies the spirit of resilience and collective action needed to foster understanding, share solutions and build a stronger, more prepared community.”
Several local environmental and resilience organizations will host tables to inform visitors about how they are working to address resiliency concerns and how the public can get involved.
Attendees for this free event may register by visiting colliercf.org or gnlwebsite.org. Walkups are welcome as space allows.
Plans for 83 Naples Beach Club condos clear final hurdle
By Aisling Swift
The second phase of Four Seasons’ Naples Beach Club — 83 homes in four buildings — received final approval from the city and can now head toward construction.
The city Design Review Board unanimously approved final design plans for Golfside Residences at 1090 Crayton Road, four buildings ranging from four to seven stories atop parking, in addition to amenities that include a pool, pool house, garden and lake pavilion.
The six DRB members praised New York-based architects Hart Howerton Ltd. and O’Donnell Dannwolf & Partners Architects for listening to their concerns about site views, landscaping and pedestrian and bicycle safety.
“You have documented this thing from every corner possible, leaving nothing to the imagination,” said DRB Chair Steve Hruby, an architect and urban planner. “It was really tinkering and adjusting and I think you did a very successful job … It improved the facade and a few of them improved the whole asset.”
The 216-room beachfront
Four Seasons Resorts hotel, a
The
216-room beachfront Four Seasons Resorts hotel, a Market Square with dining and entertainment open to the public, HB’s on the Gulf restaurant, Sunset Beach Bar, three residential buildings and golf and tennis courts have been approved.
Market Square with dining and entertainment open to the public, HB’s on the Gulf restaurant, Sunset Beach Bar, three residential buildings, golf and tennis courts have been approved; pickleball plans were abandoned.
Last month, the DRB approved preliminary plans for tennis courts, renovated buildings that will preserve their old Florida style, and an 18-hole golf course designed by Tom Fazio, which is expected to open next year.
Tennis players lobbied to keep the Old Florida-style Mary C. Watkins Tennis Center, so that building and golf buildings will be renovated in the style of the old hotel, and parking will be expanded. The six clay Har-Tru tennis courts will be refurbished.
Redevelopment already has
begun, with several sites under construction, including the hotel, three residential buildings and amenities.
Preliminary design review for redevelopment of the entire Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club property was originally heard by the DRB in November 2018. Once completed, the project also will include 150 condominiums, restaurants, a two-level spa, ocean-front pools and numerous Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts amenities. In addition to rooms, the hotel will feature 47 suites.
Originally built in the 1880s, the 319-room Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, which features 1,000 feet of sand along the Gulf of Mexico, was owned and operated by HB Watkins’ family for more than 70 years until the 124.4-acre
property was sold for $362.28 million in October 2021 to The Athens Group, a Phoenix-based luxury resort developer. The Watkins family chose TAG over 14 other proposals.
In November, the group signed an agreement with the city to preserve more than 104 acres of recreation and open space and recorded the conservation easement with nonprofit North American Land Trust. The easement, which remains no matter who owns the property, was prompted by several homeowner associations, including Old Naples Association, Coquina Sands, The Moorings and Aqualane Shores, after The Athens Group sought deviations to allow greater density.
Throughout the design process, The Athens Group proposed site plan revisions on various tracts, refined building design and locations, enhanced amenities and enriched landscape and hardscape design connections. The project is being developed in partnership with BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank based in New York and Chicago.
Architect Tim McCarthy, of Hart Howerton, told the DRB the massing of the buildings will step down, like a wedding cake, as it approaches Coquina Sands to the north.
“The new buildings fit seamlessly into the Gulf Shore Boulevard neighborhood, complementing nearby homes with consistent architectural details, proportions and materials,” McCarthy said. “… The proposed Golfside Residences are designed to incorporate the benefit of natural resources and protect the residents, the guests and the service team from undesirable weather.”
Instead of just balconies, he said, outdoor living spaces are deep enough to furnish an extension of the living room to take advantage of beautiful weather. Condo interiors will range from 13,134 square feet to 19,810 square feet.
City Planner Erica Martin noted the project team made substantial changes to the 6.28-acre golf-side phase since DRB preliminary approval in September, and satisfied conditions required by the DRB, Planning Advisory Board and City Council. She said staff requests three conditions: continuing to work with them on required siteplan conditions; ensuring signs comply with requirements and are consistent with the beach club and golf course; and allowing staff to certify that the finished landscaping matches what was proposed and required.
WINK News Chief Meteorologist Matt Devitt
By Kelly J. Farrell
Crisis Care K9s provide
Naples Police Officer Jeff Perry and his partner Max of Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs bring ease to people on their hardest days. They’re part of the growing Crisis Care K9 team in Collier and Lee counties, expanding throughout the state.
“I find with calls involving deaths, we, as people and police officers, can say, ‘We’re so sorry for your loss,’ and mean it,” said Perry. But people don’t really feel relieved by the uniformed officer in comparison to a visit by one of the golden furry Crisis Care K9s — which now also includes K9s with Collier County EMS; Readington with Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Ubbie of NCH Healthcare System. The expanding team of Crisis Care K9s of Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs now also includes golden retrievers Wynn and Rollie with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. They are all trained specifically to put people at ease in times of emergency, crisis and trauma — including relieving emergency responders on and off the job.
The most influential is when Max comes to a call of a lost loved one, Perry said.
“When I bring my dog up, he leans against you and it’s different. Golden retrievers are very intuitive,” he said, as Max leaned against the reporter for a group interview at Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs training center and headquarters. Golden Paws is located in Naples, on Pine Ridge Road, in the remodeled building of the former Harley-Davidson dealership.
“If you enjoy animals, if you like dogs, endorphins are released and it’s pleasing,” Perry said of time with Max.
The Crisis Care K9s are a regional team of highly trained golden retrievers and their handlers. They all meet at least once a month to network, share information and continue training together.
Many of the dogs, which cost $50,000 to $100,000 each in continued life care, are named after or by their sponsors — such as Ubbie, named by and sponsored by the generosity of the Ubben family of Naples.
Max joined the Naples PD in early 2024 and celebrated his third birthday on Feb. 28 with his Crisis Care
K9 friends, wearing birthday hats and all. The celebration offered a chance for their handlers to get together again.
Luckily, there doesn’t have to be a crisis to meet Max. The Naples Police Department and Officer Perry offer Mondays with Max at rotating local parks. The announcement of the next date and location is made on social media, including on fb.com/naplespolice, with reminders and updates as the next date nears.
People often visit just to destress and children especially enjoy picking up one of the Crisis Care K9 cards, which are like collectible baseball cards for each of the K9s.
Golden PAWS was founded in 2012 by Jeannie Bates, who serves as CEO. Bates selects the top breeders in Florida and Texas; hand-selects the puppies after testing for physical and cognitive aptitude; and has trained the Golden PAWS trainers and thus offers dogs highly skillful in their particular areas of expertise.
“She [Bates] is a small person with a big presence,” said Arden Vorperian, Golden PAWS director of devel-
“The quality of life for our dogs is number one.”
—Arden Vorperian, Golden PAWS director of development
opment. “She is extremely intuitive. She’s a quiet trainer. She will just walk into the room and kind of command it.”
Golden PAWS participants remain the nonprofits’ dogs, receiving all the care they need for life, including veterinarian care, food, grooming, continued training, whatever it may be. They are fully sponsored by donors at little to no expense to recipients, outside of treats or other gifts.
“The quality of life for our dogs is number one,” Vorperian said.
The Crisis Care K9 Unit collectively contributes to the quality of life of thousands of people.
Interaction lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, and increases oxytocin, the bonding hormone, promoting feelings of calm and connection, Bates said in an email.
Just petting a dog often reduces blood pressure and heart rate, helping to ease anxiety and improve overall cardiovascular health, Bates said. Additionally, the rhythmic act of breathing alongside a calm dog can regulate the nervous system, fostering a sense of safety and emotional stability.
This, plus the training of how to read when to get close to people and when to back off a bit, can add up to a great contribution to people in need.
There is a calling for more Crisis Care K9s from Golden PAWS, officials said.
“The demand is very high, and meeting that demand is challenging,” Vorperian said. “The big picture is to expand throughout the state.”
Since inception, about 200 dogs have been placed, with the vast majority of them paired with veterans for support with PTSD (post-trau-
matic stress disorder) and physical demands.
Max’s trainer, Mary Chaffee, walked into the training center and Max greeted her like old best friends reuniting. She had fostered and trained Max for the common twoyear training period prior to placement with Perry.
Max was placed with Perry for Naples PD about a year ago, and Chaffee still sees Max and Perry quite regularly.
“Max chose Jeff [Perry],” Vorperian said. “All of our dogs pick the recipients.”
Perry beams when talking about Max.
“Chief [Ciro Dominguez] wanted to start this program. I always wanted to have a dog,” Perry said.
Not everyone likes dogs, but once it’s established, the people on a call do like dogs. Max gets right to work, he said. Whether he leans against a person’s legs, lays at their feet, makes a child smile or a grownup weep, Max knows how to make people feel at ease — even through the toughest forensic interviews, Perry said.
parents eventually get comfortable caring for the baby.”
Buzzella said the goal in NICU is to “get the baby to a baseline that’s a happy, healthy baby,” while making sure the parents have all the knowledge they need before bringing their little one home.
“It’s really an evolution from stress, fear and anxiety to — eventually — comfort,” she said. “It’s still concern, and they worry, ‘Am I going to be able to do this at home?’ but we hold their hands along the way. And the staff nurses are instrumental in that process, because they are there at the bedside 24/7 with the families, teaching them how to change the diaper and check the temperature and feed the babies, so they are a big part of that bond.”
Cindy Mitchell is the nursing director at the NCH NICU, and she said the bond is definitely a strong one.
“The nurses do create special bonds with the families,” she said. “This [having a baby] was supposed to be one of the greatest times of their life, and now they’re entrusting the care of their newborn to a stranger. You develop this relationship with those families because you’re there taking care of their most precious joy. You help the families get comfortable with taking a temperature, changing the diaper of these small, tiny, sick babies.”
Mitchell said that if the babies are born fullterm, they may only stay for a few days if they need NICU care, but some born prematurely may stay much longer.
“If they’re born prematurely, say if they’re born at 30 weeks, they can be here for sometimes three months at a time,” Mitchell said. “And that leads to these bonds: You see these families on a daily basis, and for hours at a time, and you develop that relationship with them and see their baby grow.
“That’s why we like to do the reunion, because then we get to see them thriving after they’ve left the NICU. We just really like to see all the hard work that the staff and the families have put in to make the children thrive.”
NICU reunion brings family fun — and lots of hugs
At the reunion, held at NCH North and billed as a “Celebration of Hope and Life,” families of NICU “graduates” from 2020 to 2024 took part in games, face painting and other activities — including the chance to visit with Collier County firefighters and “drive” a fire truck — while reconnecting with the doctors, nurses, volunteers and other staff who played such a big role in their babies’ early days.
Kristin and Jason Frooshani were there with their 11-month-old daughter, Adaline, who was born six weeks premature at 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and spent 30 days in NICU before going home.
During an interview at the reunion, Kristin described the “whirlwind of emotions” she and Jason went through when Adaline was born so early and then immediately admitted to the NICU.
“We thought we had six more weeks, or at the very least, another few weeks,” she said, “so it was just very surprising.”
Jason saw Adaline first in the NICU while Kristin was still recovering from the birth.
“They had her on a ventilator, with some sort of bubbler that was helping with the humidity,” he explained. “That is not the best first image of
“These are folks that we saw every day, morning and night, during our visits for 30 days. Even with them rotating, having days off and days on, you begin to know everybody’s names and faces and learn about them as people, not just as staff or doctors. So, it’s great to see them. It’s powerful.”
—Jason Frooshani
your child you could expect, but we took a lot of solace in the fact that she was well cared for.
And from that point on, every step of the way, they gave us a lot of really great direction on what to expect. We knew that 24/7, she would be cared for.”
Kristen said the NICU nurses and doctors answered all their questions, “no matter how
big or small,” and gave them confidence when it was finally time to take Adaline home. And Jason said the reunion gave them a chance to say “thank you” to the nurses and doctors who helped give her a fighting chance.
“These are folks that we saw every day, morning and night, during our visits for 30 days,” he said. “Even with them rotating,
having days off and days on, you begin to know everybody’s names and faces and learn about them as people, not just as staff or doctors. So, it’s great to see them. It’s powerful.”
For Dudelene and Dieuvenel Tanis, seeing their son, Zander, admitted to NICU right after he was born was extremely stressful. They were at the reunion with Zander, now a thriving 15-month-old, who was fascinated by the fire truck on display.
“I had the best delivery experience with Zander,” Dudelene said, “but I was not prepared for the NICU experience. I had never had friends or family members with babies in the NICU, so it was just a learning experience for me, and I was stressed and freaking out about it. But all of the doctors and nurses explained what was going on with him. He had jaundice, and they explained it to me, and all that anxiety kind of went away.”
Dieuvenel said he was impressed with the high level of care in the NICU during the five days Zander was there.
“They were really taking care of all the kids that were there,” he said while holding Zander. “I would say it was a good experience, although as a new father, it is not the way you want it to be. But now we’ve got our big boy, and he’s running around, jumping around, climbing and dancing. That’s his favorite thing right now: Once he hears music, he wants to dance.” It wasn’t just doctors and nurses who were delighting in the reunion of the parents and babies they had helped care for. Volunteers were also on hand, including “snugglers,” whose role is exactly what it sounds like: Snuggling and comforting the tiniest patients.
Shelia Davis, who has been a volunteer “snuggler” at the NICU for two years, described the role as providing comfort and closeness while the babies are awake.
“But it’s really just love,” she said. “Lots of love.”
Davis said the reunion was “joyous beyond all comprehension.”
“The parents see you and they say ‘We can’t tell you how much it means to see you here; you changed our lives. You gave us comfort in a time of uncertainty.’ And it’s just wonderful to be able to see them now that the babies are older and they’re running around, and they’re healthy,” she said. “It makes your heart so happy.”
Sheila Davis, volunteer at the NICU unit, meets with baby Adaline, Jason Frooshani and Kristin Frooshani.
Photos by Liz Gorman
Dieuvenel, son Zander and Dudelene Tanis pose next to a fire truck at the NCH NICU event.
Jose Gomez of the Naples Fire-Rescue Department stands with the LaGrasta family.
SNIP Collier: What 10 years has done for pets
By Larissa Rodriguez
Spay and Neuter Initiative Program, better known as SNIP Collier, is a nonprofit organization that works with animals to stop the domestic overpopulation crisis. SNIP’s founder, Tom Kepp, is a big advocate for this cause. He decided to do something about it in 2013 when he created Tom Kepp Spay and Neuter.
“It didn’t take long for me to understand that you have to cut the numbers down before you can get anything solved,” Kepp said. ”I would just go out into the field and find examples, get people to let me take them in, spay and neuter, bring them home if it was a reasonable home.”
Two years later in 2015, he was convinced to grow this little hobby into a 501(c)(3).
“It’s made me care about it more, because I understand just how much of this neglected abuse is out there, and we can fix it by enforcing our rules, spay and neuter and really good feral cat programs,” Kepp said.
Every year, SNIP spends about $70,000 to $80,000 to help people who can’t afford to keep their pets. It also works with foster programs to try to establish feral cat programs, and focuses on advocating and educating for its mission.
“I have seen a reduction in animals that come into our shelter
because of what we’re doing. Not enough yet, but I see the results of it,” Kepp said. “There’s a lot of people out there that want to do the right thing, but they can’t either afford it or they don’t have the knowledge of it, and that’s what we do a lot of.” Additionally, SNIP partners with the Gulf Coast Humane Society, Cape Coral Animal Shelter, Domestic Animal Services and Volunteer Services for Animals.
Recently Kepp attended a conference in Orlando about shelter practices, where he continued to advocate for what SNIP is trying to do here in Naples and learned more about safe animal enforcement practices. He noticed the classes he was attending that weekend were mostly taught by animal control officers, but none
were from Collier County.
To Kepp, the most important thing his organization can do is advocate at the Board of County Commissioners level to get the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, code enforcement and others involved. He hopes to see Collier County more represented at large events such as this in the future, for enforcement to increase and to further expand his program to other counties.
“I hope that in the next five years, we can turn Collier County into an example of how it can be done,” he said.
Last month, SNIP held its second annual gala where it collaborated with Bark & Build. Kristin Day planned both of these galas but had some additional help from the cofounders of Bark & Build
Heather Hobrock and Julie Gebhardt this year.
“I have four rescue dogs, and I wanted to develop a fundraising idea that would marry my love of animals and real estate,” Hobrock said. “I thought it would be a great way to showcase some of our incredible talent from the Naples real estate industry, all while helping fund a local organization I believe in.”
People could register for a doghouse building contest that raised $400,000 for SNIP to reach its goal of building its first large-scale campus in Immokalee. The new building will have a medical facility, medical rescue building and education center.
Hobrock is passionate about SNIP and what it does, so she created Bark and Build to show her appreciation and give back to what she loves.
“They are small but mighty in their approach,” Hobrock said.
“After meeting Tom several years ago and spending the day with him on rescues, I knew I wanted to help fund their vision.”
Nine Bark & Build teams, made up of Naples architects, real estate agents and interior designers, worked together to construct the doghouses. The results were showcased before the event throughout January at local businesses, and attendees of the gala voted on which one they thought was the best.
“Bark & Build is not only a cel-
ebration of creativity and compassion; it’s about saving lives and giving animals the chance they deserve, one paw at a time,” Gebhardt said. “Every contribution, every bid and every moment of support made an incredible difference. It truly was a celebration that evening and amazing to be part of something special.”
This was the first time Bark & Build was involved in an event because it’s the first year the organization is active. As of now, the competition was only geared toward dogs, but in the future Hobrock and the team would love to see a mix of houses for all kinds of pets.
Kepp is thankful for all the people who made the gala possible and have helped SNIP grow in the past 10 years. He said his wife also plays a big role in this organization, supporting him and helping him in everything he does.
“Everyone says ‘Good job, Tom,’ but in reality, Tom couldn’t do any of this without all these people,” Kepp said, referring to himself in the third person.
After the gala with Bark & Build, SNIP is now planning a golf tournament in May as another fundraising event to benefit its cause. They are raising money for both the new facility and SNIP’s overall mission.
“Since we grow, we’re getting a lot more attention, period. SNIP Collier is leading in this program,” Kepp said.
From left to right, Heather Hobrock, Julie Gebhardt and Kristin Day look on as Tom Kepp announces the results of the doghouse auction and call to action. Kepp gave a speech thanking Hobrock, Gebhardt and Day for a job well done and thanked attendees, sponsors, volunteers and donors for their support.
Photo courtesy Erik Kellar Photography
“Paw Cottage.” Architect: Erin Paul, Erin Paul Designs, LLC. Builder: Thomas Martin, Thomas Martin Construction, Inc. Interior designer: Kara Vasquez, Home Essentials. Real estate agent: Maria CarusoMartin, Sunset Realty of South West Florida, Inc.
“Dogaritaville.” Architect: Juan Rubalino, Juan Robalino Planning and Design. Builder: Garett Hyman, Simplify Home. Interior designer: Lina Chiodo, Simplify Home Services. Real estate agent: Ryan Chiodo, Chiodo Group, Compass Florida.
“Great Woof Lodge.” Architect: Brandt and Michaela Henning, HLevel Architecture. Builder: Alair Homes. Interior designer: Gloria Black, Gloria Black Design. Real estate agent: Jamie Chang, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. Doghouse photos courtesy David at Rick Bethem Photography
BRIEFS
Naples ratifies AFSCME contract, with pay raises
The city of Naples has ratified its contract with AFSCME union employees, providing raises over three years for 254 blue- and white collar employees.
City Council unanimously approved the three-year contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council No. 79, Local 2017, after its one-year extension expired Sept. 30 of last year. The new contract is retroactive to Oct. 1, continues through Sept. 30, 2027, and includes public service and administrative workers, clerks and billing, telecommunications and utilities employees.
AFSCME employees work in all departments, except administrative offices for the city manager, city attorney and human resources.
“This is an important day,” City Manager Gary Young said before the vote. “It’s one of three [contracts] we hope to be completing soon … This is a monumental step in caring for our employees.”
The raises were planned since the city analyzed pay rates 15-17 months ago and Council approved percentage- and lump-sum increases mid-contract, he said, adding, “With the inflation that everyone is facing, there was an immediate need.”
The bargaining unit unanimously ratified the contract Feb. 27, City HR Director Charlotte Loewel told Council. City officials are still negotiating police and fire contracts. Young made it a goal when he was sworn in Feb. 1 to ratify all three within 90 days and was on the negotiating team. Naples has 492 active employees and about 50 temporary or seasonal workers, including police and fire-rescue personnel.
Under the contract, all AFSCME classifications will be moved to a new pay and classification system based on the salary survey and receive an average 13.3% increase, or move to the minimum of their new pay range. On Oct. 1, pay grade minimums and maximums will increase 4%, with possible further increases on April 1 of next year, and employees will receive the same increases in those months during 2026. Changes also were made to the retirement plan.
Utility maintenance, stormwater, wastewater collections, water treatment and water production subdivision employees will receive a $3,000 yearly hazard-pay stipend, paid bi-weekly at $115.38, and water plant and wastewater plant operator employees will receive $0.70 more on top of their hourly pay for working a second shift and $1.10 for the third shift.
County working on waste management options
An estimated 75% of Collier County’s solid waste is being recycled, but the county landfill is expected to hit capacity in 2059, so county leaders are seeking a long-term trash solution.
The Board of County Commissioners heard recommendations by SCS Engineers, a California-based environmental consultant, during its March 4 workshop, and agreed to consider landfill options on land it owns in southern and northern areas of the county.
“We already own the land to the south, we already own the land to the north, so those are the most cost-feasible places that I think we should focus our energies on right now,” Commissioner Bill McDaniel Jr. said.
Commissioners also asked staff to continue researching other landfill options, including bioreactors, which use liquids and air to speed waste breakdown, stabilize it and reduce needed space. Currently, they’re not allowed at the landfill. Commissioner Rick LoCastro recommended not ruling out any options and to analyze the east, north and south.
Collier County’s landfill, which opened in 1976, is located at 3730 White Lake Blvd. in East Naples and totals 311 acres, but only 184 are being used to handle waste from unincorporated Collier and incorporated cities. A 120-acre landfill in Immokalee, which reached capacity in 2003, operates as a transfer station, temporarily storing and consolidating waste that’s transported outside the county. The county also operates five recycling centers.
Collier considered expanding landfills in 1998 to 1999, but after three properties were considered, it was sued and instead opted to increase recycling efforts and to maximize existing sites.
Last year, 106,000 customers with 493,000 tons of garbage were served countywide, with 291,000 tons going to the landfill, bringing in $30 million in revenue, according to a report written by Public Utilities Director George Yilmaz, Solid Waste Director Kari Ann Hodgson and SCS Engineers. Collier achieved the statewide goal of 75% recycling based on weight in 2021, a year after the 2020 target, then hit 78% two years later. Only three Florida counties have reached the goal.
If Collier considers out-of-county disposal, the closest private landfill is 2.5 hours away, which would increase costs 135% or possibly 200% in less than a decade, Daniel Dietch, of SCS Engineers, told commissioners. That would cause a “significant traffic impact,” with about 50 tractor-trailers hauling waste out of the county daily, he said, calling that option cost-prohibitive.
Other options are building a new landfill; technology conversion such as waste-to-energy, which the county considered several times; landfill reclamation, which Collier did twice; or expanding the unlined Immokalee landfill, possibly with land purchases — an option that would help the county’s continued eastern development while reducing environmental liability. Dietch estimated an eastern expansion would last 15 generations, 300 years of capacity.
Reclamation is the process of excavating and reprocessing waste from a closed landfill to recover valuable materials including metals, plastics and glass, reduce the overall waste volume and potentially repurpose the land for other uses, essentially extending the lifespan of the landfill site while mitigating environmental effects.
CSAB’s Foster receives Sam Noe Award
Anne Foster, who served on Naples’ Community Services Advisory Board from 2015 through 2024, has been awarded for her years of service as the city’s 2025 Sam Noe Award winner.
City Council member Linda Penniman, who nominated her, cited Foster’s work helping to improve Charles B. Anthony Park, and noted that under her leadership, CSAB began holding meetings in various neighborhoods to gather input on how to improve them.
“It was immensely successful and as a result, some neighborhoods began to focus on their entry ways, with plans … to make them more appealing, most especially with proper plantings and signage,” Penniman wrote.
She noted Foster also worked with the city and Conservancy of Southwest Florida to halt fishing one day weekly to protect pelicans. “There was too much competition from the Pier for the pelicans to be able to feed,” Penniman said.
The other nominee, former Planning Advisory Board member Fredric “Ric” Phillips, said he was grateful that Council member Ray Christman nominated him but withdrew from consideration and asked Council to unanimously vote for Foster.
“I cannot imagine a more deserving person to receive this award than my good friend, Anne Foster,” Phillips said in an email to City Clerk Patricia Rambosk. “Her service to the city exemplifies what this award is intended to honor.”
City Council established the annual Sam Noe Award in October 2006 to honor the certified planner’s service to the city. Noe, who served on the Planning Advisory Board from 2002 to 2006, was a strong supporter of community revitalization and historic preservation. He became an advocate “for master planning the city’s gateway” at the Gordon River and worked on legislation to save historic structures.
Past winners include the late Willie Anthony, an activist who worked to improve River Park; Lodge McKee, who ensured the George Washington Carver Apartments remained subsidized housing and was the city’s longest serving board member at 35 years; and Design Review Board Chair Steve Hruby, an architect who has guided the DRB since 2014.
~ Aisling Swift
From page 3A
PROTEST
burg, Pennsylvania. They have a lot of dead people lying over there, and that is what Trump is doing to Ukraine,” he declared.
“He’s a cheat. He’s a liar. He’s absolutely not right at all. And then the team he built around himself, it just ruins the whole country.”
Supporting two homelands
“What brought me here today is standing for American values — peace, liberty, defending justice, honesty, honoring his commitments. And what’s happening right now —” said Julia Sullivan, and paused.
“I have no words to describe how awful it is.”
Sullivan is now an American citizen — “I’m as American as they come!” she said proudly — but a native Ukrainian, and she and her American-born husband had come out to support her homeland.
Marsha Hopkins was emotional for dual reasons. Her daughter is — “or was,” she said — in foreign service for USAID in Bogota, Colombia.
“People in USAID are people who give of themselves to help,” said Hopkins, 68. “They live in the worst places in the world to help the poorest people in the world. And what Trump and Elon Musk are doing is absolutely criminal,” she said.
“These people have families. They didn’t know what was going on from one day to the next,” she added.
Her daughter’s 4- and 6-year-olds had to be pulled from school. But the family doesn’t know what is in their future. Their Arlington, Virginia, home “is going to be so overloaded with unemployed government workers that she’s coming back to Ohio.” Her parents live in the suburbs of Cleveland.
“This is going to bring me to tears because I am watching my country be dismantled by a crazy person and his sidekick and I’m doing what I can,” Hopkins added. “Benjamin Franklin said, ‘We’ve given you a republic, if you can keep it.’ And the studies show the form of government we have lasts about 250 years, and we’re at 248 years.”
Rights for everyone
Demonstrators carried umbrellas to shield them from the afternoon sun and temperatures that had crept up into the 80s, or wore ball caps such as Sarah Glass, 19. Glass had come to campaign against the administration’s treatment of minorities and support the Ukrainians.
“I believe that everyone should have equal rights, no matter their race, their religion, their sex, their gender. Everyone deserves equal rights, including Ukrainians, and our country isn’t doing that,” she said. “I think our country is falling into fascism, and we’re closely following what 1930s Germany did, and that scares me as a Jewish person.
“They say ‘Never again,’ so I’m fighting for never again for anyone.”
“We’re anti-Russian. We’re anti-communism. So we don’t understand why the Republican party has flipped sides. They support Russia,” said Charlie Taylor, 58, who had come with his girlfriend to support Ukraine.
The abrasive tone of Trump’s public meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 was disturbing to some protestors: “Zelenskyy is a war hero. We need to honor him. And, as that sign right there says, dump Trump,” said Laurie Orlando, 59, of Naples.
June Samson, a Naples volunteer with indivisible.org, was pleased at the turnout, organized, she said, entirely over social media. When the march to U.S. 41 East began, the line stretched all the way back to the steps of the main building, she said:
“The reason why we chose today is because every day for Ukraine has gotten worse. Every single day got worse,” she emphasized. “So, we’ve had it.”
Nearby, a woman named Nadia, who would only give her first name because she still has family fighting in Ukraine, waved a full-size Ukrainian flag covered in signatures. She’s an American now, “but I didn’t forget my country of birth. I didn’t forget my parents, my country of birth, my land,” she said.
This was an older flag, she added, sent to her the year after the Russians moved into and annexed Crimea in 2014. Still, most of its soldiers are dead now, she said, shaking her head.
“The war goes on and on.”
Supporters of Ukraine gather outside the Collier County Government Complex on Saturday,
Protesters gather outside the Collier County Government Complex and stand facing the street, so that passing drivers can honk to show their support. Photos by Liz Gorman
are in the works and coming soon to the open-air mall.
Dior development
The most notable change to Waterside Shops’ interior involves the former inline space of Williams-Sonoma, which quietly closed in January a year ahead of its reopening in the former Barnes & Noble space with Pottery Barn, a retailer that Williams-Sonoma also owns. The interior of Williams-Sonoma’s former space and three smaller adjacent units were recently demolished to make way for the launch of other new stores at Waterside.
Christian Dior, the French luxury fashion brand that has had a longtime boutique inside the nearby Saks Fifth Avenue anchor store at Waterside Shops, is taking the majority of the newly vacated space, plans show, but information about other specific retail changes is not yet available.
“This is an exciting time for us. There’s a lot happening,” said Waterside Shops General Manager Nick Fabregas, who said he cannot specifically comment on developments at the mall and referred inquiries to the property’s marketing department.
But Chelsea Pittman, the manager of events and merchant relations at Waterside Shops, also could not provide details about pending store changes at the mall.
“As a company, our hands are really tied about how we’re allowed to announce stores coming. They are in full control on when and how they announce their arrival to the mall, and we follow their lead,” Pittman said. “So, unfortunately, I can’t disclose any information about those stores prematurely.”
Nevertheless, plans filed with Collier County Growth Management show Dior will have a new 5,888-square-foot store created by combining more than a third of the former Williams-Sonoma space with adjacent units vacated by three other luxury retailers in the “E” section of the mall. Dior’s storefront will have about 145 linear feet abutting Saks, plans show.
In addition to the longtime space vacated by Williams-Sonoma, adjoining units also were freed up by stores for Italian brands Panerai watches and 120% Lino clothier recently moving across the mall to neighboring units between Santa Fe Café and Yamron Jewelers. A fourth space was created when the adjacent Anne Fontaine fashion boutique moved out of Waterside to a new location on Fifth Avenue South in Naples.
That leaves about 4,000 square feet of the former Williams-Sonoma store available for another new retailer.
Scaling up
Demolition progress has been made on two other projects on the western edge of Waterside Shops in Pelican Bay.
Interior demolition and buildout continues to convert a former 9,896-square-foot bank building on the corner of Seagate Drive and Myra Janco Daniels Boulevard into Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, a 361-seat restaurant with outdoor dining. The single-story site will
be the first regional location of Eddie V’s, an upscale brand from Florida-based Darden Restaurants, which owns and operates area locations of Bahama Breeze, The Capital Grille, Cheddar’s, LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Seasons 52 and Yard House. On the other side of the parking garage, the former footprint of Nordstrom department store is cleared and ready for the development of RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, which plans a unique one-story gallery in that open space.
The California-based high-end home furnishings retail brand features furniture, lighting, textiles and decor designed for an upscale look and displayed in spaces with a luxurious wow factor.
Conceptual plans and renderings for RH show it divided into six galleries with courtyards, glass-roofed walkways and outdoor seating spaces, with fountains and palm trees connecting the different areas.
At the center of RH, a wine bar and restaurant are proposed beneath an elongated glass atrium. Each individual gallery also includes a skylight atop its vaulted ceilings, plans show.
The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim. aten@naplespress.com.
The two-story building formerly occupied by a Barnes & Noble bookstore at Waterside Shops in North Naples is being converted into a new freestanding location for Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn. Photo by Tim Aten
A rendering shows the
OUT & ABOUT
Naples Pathways Coalition hosted the 19th annual TD Bank Naples Bike Brunch, with 62-, 30-, 20-, 10and 5-mile biking and walking routes around Naples. More than 400 riders signed up for the rides throughout the morning, and convened in Cambier Park after their rides for lunch and drinks.
Photography by Liz Gorman
A bicycle locked up to the Cambier Park sign during the Naples Bike Brunch.
Karen McCallister and Caleb pose with their bikes before their 20-mile ride around Naples.
Naples Pathways Coalition executive director Michelle Avola Brown and Naples Pathways Coalition founder Joe Bonness.
David Webb, Pat Rosa, Cindy Miller, Jill Backman
Bill Taylor and Stacy Taylor fill up before a 20-mile bike ride around Naples as part of the brunch.
John and Patty Paduano
Pam Nicholson, Melinda Sullivan, Diane Sullivan
Riders Manuela Vissepo, Roberto Vissepo, and Juan Carlos Pun smile after completing the 20-mile bike ride.
Riders set off from Cambier Park for the ride around Naples.
Riders convened in Cambier Park for lunch after the 20-mile ride.
district on Fifth Avenue,” Mills said. “We thought that was really important, both just to liven the site and also to provide that sort of connection.”
Not only will the project create a tree-lined Oak Row on the existing east-west alley between the buildings, but a northsouth “via” also cuts through both buildings. Retail shops and restaurants will be accessible to pedestrians and vehicles along both passageways, as well as along the perimeter of the buildings.
At its recent meeting, the Design Review Board approved the two buildings and alleyway for the 1000 block of Fifth Avenue. The other two smaller buildings and parking garage planned for the 900 block were previously approved.
“As you know, this project is the subject of a settlement agreement between City Council and the developer,” Naples Planning Director Erica Martin said. “That settlement agreement did detail the process that this project would take, and this is the final step for the project.”
City Council approval was granted Feb. 20 for the project and architects presented revised plans addressing the 14 conditions for final approval the city outlined during the preliminary design review process.
For instance, the architect added breakfast nooks to the residences as functional spaces that help to visually divide the horizontal span of the long buildings. “I think it’s an improvement. It does break up that massing and gives it a different proportion,” DRB chair Stephen Hruby said. “So, I think that was a good move.”
Between the preliminary and final design approvals, the petitioner obtained administrative approval of a site plan and City Council approval of a subdivision replat to create the two parcels on either side of the platted alley, Martin said.
In granting final design approval, city staff outlined additional conditions, including increasing the density and cadence of the trees on the north side of the 1000 block building to be consistent with the 900 block; considering the expansion of granite at the base of the building; and ensuring that the landscape plans are consistent with the renderings.
The Dawn McKenna Group began sales in January for the two- to four-bedroom residences at The Avenue, priced from nearly $3 million to $8 million. Each building will feature distinctive amenities, including pools, state-of-the-art fitness centers and five-star, hotel-level concierge services.
Retail tenants have not been announced for The Avenue, which is expected to be completed within two years, Penev said.
City of Naples to define underground parking
By Aisling Swift
The city of Naples plans to define “underground parking” after being sued over denying an underground garage and discovering its codes don’t provide a definition.
Mayor Teresa Heitmann noted Miami is now building an underground garage 50 feet below ground near Biscayne Bay. “We’re a little behind the times on underground parking,” Heitmann said at a Feb. 18 City Council workshop, adding that members need to educate themselves.
City Manager Gary Young noted that in 2023, Vice Mayor Terry Hutchison urged Council to establish criteria, yet nothing was done. Young suggested staff and City Attorney Matthew McConnell research the Florida Building Code and what other cities are doing, and come up with criteria for a workshop before May.
A legal consultant’s opinion said underground parking isn’t a permitted use in any Naples zoning district and requires a special approval, variance or deviation. Five projects with underground parking were approved by Council before Naples was sued in December 2023.
M Development filed its lawsuit three months after Council halted all underground-garage plans due to flooding concerns after Hurricane Ian. The lawsuit alleged Council imposed an illegal moratorium that prevented its development from being approved.
M Development settled in June 2024 and in October transferred its interest in the project, now called The Avenue, which has street-level parking.
The legal consultant also said Senate Bill 250 doesn’t preempt Naples from adopting an ordinance to allow permitted or conditional uses for underground parking or enacting regulations.
In February 2000, voters approved a commercial building height amendment to the City Charter that bars buildings higher than 42 feet, excluding public-service districts. Commercial buildings in Naples are limited to three stories,
and height is measured from the first floor Federal Emergency Management Agency elevation.
But in February 2024, City Council voted 4-1, with Hutchison voting nay, to allow NCH Baker Hospital to rezone from a medical district to public-service, and approved a conditional use allowing NCH to build a five-story, 87-foothigh heart center, with Hutchison and Council member Beth Petrunoff dissenting.
This month, Petrunoff said she didn’t want to violate the height amendment, but agreed they could consider underground parking as a conditional use.
Removing water from the garage below 465 5th Ave. S. was a “debacle,” she said, and Spring Lake, a city retention pond designed to filter stormwater, turned black overnight — costing taxpayers more than $1 million to remediate. She pointed out Council intended that garage for public use, yet it’s closed to the public, with No Trespassing signs.
She noted city code is silent on the definition of a floor and opinions over the years vary, so they must defer to Florida Building Code, which says an underground garage is a first floor. She also cited dangers of flooding, including lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, and urged city officials to learn from past hurricanes and mistakes.
“It’s as clear as mud on that in terms of what opinions different people have had over time,” added Council member Ray Christman, who noted it isn’t economically feasible for developers to build an underground garage if they’re only allowed two floors above.
Council member Bill Kramer contended underground parking is better than surface parking because it reduces intensity, but Council member Linda Penniman said no matter what they do, they will “run amok” of the charter amendment.
The city planner is adamantly against underground parking.
“It increases density and intensity and I think it places our residents, property and life safety at risk,” Erica Martin said, noting it doesn’t fit the comprehensive plan and other guiding documents.
August 20 – September 3, 2025
August 30 - September 14, 2025
INSIDER’S JAPAN
September 8 - 20, 2025
PARADORES AND POUSADAS: PORTUGAL & SPAIN
September 15-29, 2025
MACHU PICCHU TO THE GALAPAGOS
October 28 - November 12, 2025
EGYPT AND ETERNAL NILE
November 17- December 1, 2025 MOROCCAN DISCOVERY: FROM THE IMPERIAL CITIES TO THE SAHARA November 18 - December 1, 2025
A view of The Avenue proposed mixed-use development looking south from Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples. Rendering by Morris Adjmi Architects
An aerial view of The Avenue proposed mixed-use development near Four Corners and Tin City and across from Naples Depot in downtown Naples.
Rendering by Morris Adjmi Architects
The Art of Living Vibrantly
Naples protest
Photos by Liz Gorman
TWO VIEWS. ONE PARADISE.
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REAL ESTATE
Helping protect large investments Group brings trust, communication and privacy to home-watch industry
By M. Melanie Pefinis
Leaving a seasonal home to return north is routine for many part-time Floridians. To add peace of mind once you leave your Naples home, it’s advantageous to hire a reputable home watch company to keep an eye on your property in your absence. March is National Home Watch Month; a perfect time to investigate this valuable service.
Jack Luber, founder and executive director of the National Home Watch Association, said the purpose of National Home Watch Month is to educate homeowners about the benefits of hiring a reputable home watch service.
“There are three pillars of the home watch industry,” Luber said. “The first is trust. A relationship is developed, and personal preferences are learned. Second is communication. The reason why you pay a home watch service is to communicate with you if something goes wrong. And the third is privacy and confidentiality.”
When Luber founded the organization in 2009, home watchers were a disjointed group of businesses, each providing different levels of service. He saw the need to set standards, procedural guidelines and codes of ethical conduct. These all serve to protect clients from any legal ramifications arising from damages to their unoccupied properties.
The association now includes hundreds of member companies in the U.S. and Canada and serves homeowners worldwide. “Trillions of dollars’ worth of real estate goes unchecked for months at a time,” Luber said. This leaves homes and properties vulnerable to undiscovered issues, such as water dam-
TRANSACTIONS
Week of Feb. 17-Feb. 21
SALES
age, mold and even squatters.”
All members pass a criminal background check and are vetted for consumer com-
HBH Farms LLC and Land Logic LLC purchased 17 acres on Kam Luck Road in Rural Estates from Albert Maturo for $127,500. Fred Kermani, CCIM, AIA, of CRE Consultants represented the buyer and seller.
LEASES
Ice Miller LLP leased 2,030 square feet of office space at 5150 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 300, in Naples from Tamiami Newgate Ltd. Dave Wallace, CCIM, SIOR, and David Wallace of CRE Consultants represented the lessee, and Tara Stokes of Investment Properties Corp. represented the lessor.
Fox Retirement Services Inc. leased a 742-square-foot office space at 1004 Collier Center Way, Suite 104, in North Naples from Triple C Partners LLC. Matt Stepan, CCIM, and WT Pearson of Premier Commercial Inc. represented the lessor and lessee.
“The public’s trust in their local government is critical … If the public is apprised of what their local government is doing and has an opportunity to be heard, to pass on their input and interests, in the very vast majority of instances it is left with a sense that the local government is legitimate — regardless of the outcome.”
If everything is done in the sunshine and commissioners justify their decisions, public participation should not be seen as interference, but “essential,” he said, adding: “The best way … is to invite and welcome input from electors and make decisions that are required by the law.”
The amendment now heads to the Board of County Commissioners for a hearing. If passed, it also will increase density within “activity centers” — preferred locations for commercial and mixed-use developments
plaints. The NHWA website provides consumers with the names of its member companies. This assures them that all the members
With each issue of The Naples Press that includes a real estate page, we will ask a real estate professional a question about issues of the day. For this edition, we spoke to David J. Stevens , Chairman of Investment Properties Corporation of Naples.
Q: What is the current SWFL commercial investment outlook for 2025?
A: After a fairly sluggish 2024, in which many [people] delayed actions awaiting political clarity and interest rate cuts, 2025 is off to a vigorous start. Significant investment and development capital is flooding the market with a strong demand chasing the continued growth
— from 16 to 25 units-per-acre if affordable housing is provided, and expand opportunities to increase density in developments along bus-transit lines.
No residents spoke out, but land use attorney Rich Yovanovich sent the county an email suggesting a clarification that was incorporated.
Since the Urban Land Institute in 2017 concluded Collier County had an “affordable housing problem” and recommended six core strategies, planners have worked to remedy that. Commissioners that year accepted a community housing plan and asked staff to prepare a growth-management plan and land-development code amendments to address five initiatives the plan identified: Provide regulatory relief to certain housing applications, which commissioners approved in 2021. Allow commercial-to-residential conversions through the county Hearing Examiner. Develop guidelines to incentivize
listed have passed a strict vetting process.
“We have formalized what we call our ‘National Home Watch Boot Camp,’” Luber said. “When NHWA accredits you, we are endorsing your company. Carrying our logo carries weight.”
This accreditation includes criminal background checks on all company principals, proper insurance coverage including general and professional liability, proper bonding, consumer complaint checks, truthful website and advertising content, adherence to the NHWA’s Code of Ethics and a commitment to the NHWA’s mission statement.
“Think of it,” Luber said. “A barber has a license. He cuts your hair. We have your keys. We have your alarm codes and access to your private property. Shouldn’t someone act as an overseeing body to assure everything is professional?”
That’s where NHWA comes in.
Holding this accreditation is especially important in areas such as Southwest Florida where many people own homes not inhabited year-round, and where visual inspection can observe any irregularities from weather or storm damage. It might come as no surprise that the largest chapter in the U.S. is right here in our area. The Southwest Florida chapter boasts 150 members located in Naples, Marco Island, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Punta Gorda.
With estimates of more than 10 million second and vacation homes in the U.S. and Canada, a home watch service can mitigate the risks of owning a home that often sits empty. With industry unregulated by any federal, state or municipal government, the NHWA provides an added level of security for homes by vouching for its members. The association’s website is at nationalhomewatchassociation.org
in the area. All asset classes such as multifamily development, tax-driven investments (1031s), industrial speculation, retail and office leasing are particularly active — one notable exception being the fairly slow recovery of a soft year in hospitality (hotels and restaurants). The residential market is also maintaining a sluggish pace, with large inventory and few transactions. While this may have a trickle effect on the commercial market, it does not appear to be hindering the current pace. Overall, investors remain highly bullish on the SWFL marketplace; continuing to lobby and hope for more interest rate reductions, but moving forward, nonetheless.
David J. Stevens specializes in investment properties, exchanges and land development. For inquiries, contact him at 239.261.3400.
mixed-income residential housing.
Develop a process to designate certain strategic-opportunity sites to allow increased density, which commissioners approved in 2023.
Provide an increase in density to Community Redevelopment Agency areas and along transit routes — transit-oriented developments.
The 2021 amendment clarifies that clustering development for affordable housing doesn’t require a conditional use permit in Residential Multi-Family 6 districts, and creates alternative affordable-housing design standards. The 2023 amendment allows affordable housing by right in certain commercial zoning districts.
“The board … wanted to provide for byright affordable housing, to be able to eliminate the public hearing and eliminate the NIMBYism to help promote the provision of affordable housing,” Mike Bosi, planning and zoning director, said of the amendment countering the not-in-my-backyard mind -
set of many residents opposing nearby developments.
Bosi said this will allow mixed-use and affordable housing by right in commercial zoning districts. Up to 16 units per acre would be allowed if all units are affordable.
“That’s the gift, that’s the benefit — and that’s the justification for having the proposal be approved without a public hearing,” he added.
The amendments are geared toward nonprofit developers, such as Habitat for Humanity, McDowell Housing Partners and others, who utilize tax credits and government subsidies. They develop housing for residents earning 50% to 100% of area median income ($104,300), while full-profit providers target 80% and 100% of AMI.
“We want to allow for high-density residential opportunities with affordable housing to be developed within those high-employment areas,” Bosi said, noting it improves roadways because workers live close to their jobs.
David J. Stevens
A picnic for Southwest Florida members was held in Fort Myers last month.
The Fort Myers conference taught members new ways to serve their clients. Photos courtesy The National Home Watch Association
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A rts & LEISURE
Ongoing events
‘Noises Off’
Various times through March 20 at Gulfshore Playhouse, 100 Goodlette-Frank Road S., Naples. Gulfshore Playhouse production of the classic British farce of an eccentric troupe of actors stumbling through a flop called Nothing On. As the company moves from rehearsals to performances, things go from chaotic to spectacularly catastrophic both onstage and off. $39-$109. gulfshoreplayhouse. org or 239.261.7529
Those historic little homes
9 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdaysSaturdays now through June 7 at the Marco Island Historical Museum, 180 S. Heathwood Drive, Marco Island. Marco Island Historical Society presents “The Florida House,” a trip back in time to 1960s Marco Island. See the homes as the Mackle Brothers envisioned them, as the latest and greatest Florida architecture for Marco. “The Florida House” marks and celebrates the 60th anniversary of modern Marco Island and the construction of the island’s first model homes by the Mackle Brothers and Deltona Corporation. Free. colliermuseums.com
Matisse at NAI
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; 11 a.m.4 p.m. Sundays through April 13 at Naples Art Institute, 795 Park Ave., Naples. “Art in Balance: Matisse and His Illustrated Works” features a selection of more than 140 works that reveal Henri Matisse’s genius as a printmaker and his unique approach to composition, color and form. Spanning from the late 1930s through his final years. $15, $10 members. naplesart.org or 239.262.6517
Everglades exhibition
10 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdaysSaturdays, noon-4 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 21 at The Baker Museum, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples. “Entangled in the Mangroves: Florida Everglades Through Installation” features the work of nine Florida-based artists who explore the critical importance of the Everglades through diverse media, including painting, photography, ceramics, film, poetry and installation. The exhibition highlights its ecological and cultural importance and the urgent need for its preservation. Curated by Dianne Brás-Feliciano, curator of modern art. $10, $5 students or full-time military with ID, $1 for SNAP benefits visitors. artisnaples.org or 239.252.2611
Florals exhibition
1-4 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays through April 30 at North Line Plaza, 2171 J & C Blvd., Naples. Viewers can see Melissa Belz’s acrylic floral paintings. Free admission. naplesart.studio or 239.821.1061
This weekend (March 14, 15, 16)
Naples Flower Show
9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 14-15 at The Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Drive, Naples. See Hot Ticket
CALENDAR
A ‘WILD’ CINEMATIC RIDE
7 p.m. May 20 on the Great Lawn of Paradise Coast Sports Complex, 3940 City Gate Blvd. N., Naples. It must be spring when Paradise Coast announces the annual free films on the lawn on third Thursdays through May. This month the family-friendly animated feature is Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot , featuring Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal in the story of a robot shipwrecked on an island where he learns to survive with the animals. There are food trucks and plenty of space to spread out your blankets or lawn chairs to enjoy the film on a 40-foot video screen. 239.252.4386
‘Man of La Mancha’ Various times through April 13 in the Kizzie Theatre at Sugden Community Theatre, 501 Fifth Ave. S., Naples. Naples Players’ production of the popular musical inspired by Cervantes’ 17th-century masterwork. The play-within-a-play tells the story of the elderly knight’s slightly addled but chivalrous quest to right all wrongs in the world. It includes the classic numbers such as “The Impossible Dream” and “Dulcinea.” $50$55. naplesplayers.org or 239.263.7990
‘The House of Doors’ 10 a.m. March 15 at Artis— Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples. Elaine Newton gives a lecture on Tan Twan Eng’s The House of Doors, a novel set in 1920s colonial Malaya. $50. artisnaples.org
Beethoven’s Ninth returns 7:30 p.m. through March 15 at Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples. These performances bring two choruses — the Naples Philharmonic Chorus and the Chancel Choir of Moorings Presbyterian Church — as well as the Naples Philharmonic and four soloists, together with Alexander Shelley, artistic and music director at Artis—Naples, conducting. $29-$79. artisnaples. org or 239.597.1900
Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade
11 a.m. March 15. You don’t have to be Irish to love this parade, said to be the largest south of Savannah. Neapolitans gather for the annual Naples St. Patrick Foundation parade, which starts at the corner of Third Street South and 10th Avenue, turns east onto Fifth Avenue South and then east
on Eighth Street South to end in front of Naples City Hall. It is the largest privately funded parade in Florida. naplesparade.com
‘Sleeping Beauty’
2 p.m. and 6 p.m. March 15 at Wang Opera Center, 2408 Linwood Ave., Naples. Opera Naples’ Festival Under the Stars puts on Sleeping Beauty with Gulfshore Ballet. $39-$119. operanaples.org or 239.963.9050
The Lew Del Gatto All-Stars
4 p.m. March 16 at North Naples Church, 6000 GoodletteFrank Road, Naples. “Jazz in the Afternoon” brings sax virtuoso Lew Del Gatto and his friends — James Suggs, trumpet; Herb Bruce, trombone; pianist Jerry Stawski; bassist Kevin Mauldin; drummer and vocalist Patricia Dean. Free general admission, $25 VIP on eventbrite.com
Nathan Gunn, baritone
4 p.m. March 16 at Trinityby-the-Cove Episcopal Church, 553 Galleon Drive, Naples. Operatic baritone Nathan Gunn is acclaimed for his diverse career bridging the genres of opera, musical theater and recital. His portrayal of Papageno in The Magic Flute was in the firstever live HD broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera. He was the winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s first Beverly Sills award and has worked with musical theater stars such as Kelli O’Hara and Audra McDonald. Free, but registration required at trinitybythecove.com
Next week (March 17-20)
“Ghost” trio
3 p.m. March 18 and 23 at Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay
artisnaples.org or 239.597.1900
Art exhibition, live painting 4-7 p.m. March 20 at Republic of Decor, 1810 J&C Blvd., Naples. Live demonstration by avian artist Holly Wach, including an artist talk and Q&A, with sketches of local birds and fauna inspired by the Naples Botanical Garden. Free.
Jodi Keogan sings 5:30 p.m. March 20 at Marco Island Center for the Arts, 1010 Winterberry Drive, Marco Island. Classical and Broadway fare from a soprano who has sung both internationally and for Naples performances. $25 and $30. marcoislandart.org/musicalinterludes or 239.394.4221
Mississippi Delta blues 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. March 19 at Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples. FGCU and Artis— Naples host a night of authentic Delta blues. James “Super Chikan” Johnson and Anthony “Big A” Sherrod and his All Stars band perform. $68. artisnaples. org or 239.597.1900
Sons of the Pioneers
6-8:30 p.m. March 20 at Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples. “Home on the Range” singers bring the sounds of the Wild West to Naples. $62. artisnaples.org or 239.597.1900
Free film: ‘The Wild Robot’ 7 p.m. May 20 on the Great Lawn of Paradise Coast Sports Complex, 3940 City Gate Blvd. N., Naples. See Featured
Pedro Pascal, Boone Storm and Lupita Nyong’o in The Wild Robot (2024) Photo courtesy Universal Pictures
At last, Beethoven’s best, the ‘Ode to Joy’ symphony No. 9 returns
By Harriet Howard Heithaus harriet.heithaus@naplespress.com
From a piece of poetry that bounced around Beethoven’s brain for 20 years before he took a music quill to it — and spent 20 more years composing around it — the Symphony No. 9 has emerged as the world’s biggest success story.
It is certainly one of the bestknown works of classical music. The Ninth is considered the first to incorporate a chorus and soloists. It’s acknowledged to be the unofficial bridge between the classical and romantic music era. (Felix Mendelssohn thanks you, Ludwig.)
Its “Ode to Joy” in the final movement hits nearly everyone’s ear as a familiar tune: More than one person in the audiences who are hearing it Thursday through Saturday at Artis—Naples could sing it from memory.
And finally, it’s versatile enough to follow Bruce Willis’ enemies around when they’re cracking open safes in Die Hard — or to bring 10,000 singers together for an annual stadiumshaking performance with various symphonies in Japan. Note to globetrotters: The next one is April 13 in Osaka.
Closer to home, Beethoven’s Ninth comes to Artis—Naples after a longer-than-usual hiatus. It was to be performed in May 2020, two months after all of Florida was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic epidemic. All the rehearsals, the extra musicians, the ticket sales were shut down.
It is generally programmed here around every 10 years. The expansive symphonic work demands two choruses, four soloists and extra musicians to envelop the audience in the famous “Ode to Joy” message of the final movement.
There are larger symphonies — Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, tellingly nicknamed “Symphony of a Thousand” — but none with such a message of peace and harmony. That Beethoven instilled his with a profound blessing for the human family from Friedrich Schiller’s
MAKE A DATE WITH ‘JOY’
When: 7:30 p.m. March 13, 14, 15
Where: Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples
Admission/tickets: $29-$73 at artisnaples.org or 239.597.1900
Good to know: There’s a 30-minute conductor’s prelude discussion at 6:30 p.m. and The Baker Museum offers free admission to sameday ticketholders 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
Need to know: Bag size limitations have been eased, but are still in effect, and no bag check is available. Size limits are 14 by 14 by 4 inches; exceptions can be found on the website under “Safety and Security.”
poetry gives it an emotional depth like no other.
Infused with community
“Beethoven’s Ninth is always special,” declared Alexander Shelley, artistic and music director for Artis— Naples and the Naples Philharmonic, who will be conducting the performances. “It was a work that, to
this day, is this incredible, incredible political statement … It emanates from the spirit of that time, from the Enlightenment, the sort of ‘We want to break the bonds of monarchical and hierarchical.’
“This idea — that, everybody, we’re brothers and sisters! We’re all one beneath God. It’s something that now is taken for granted because of these
ideals that then became, at the very least, part of Western culture and political heritage, but they’re now a worldwide norm in some senses.”
That call to become a family did not end with a 19th-century declaration.
“It’s a piece that’s so wonderful as a community builder,” Shelley continued. “You get to work with a couple hundred or 150 singers, many of whom are from our community, but love music, they love to sing. And we will have an unforgettable experience together for our audience. It will build a network of friends, of colleagues, that is new and is different from the Philharmonic.
It’s part of our passionate sort of musical community.
“Many of the audience will have heard Beethoven’s Ninth before,” Shelley said. “It’s a piece, though, like great books, or great plays or whatever, great movies — you always find something new in it. Especially it is [so] with music; it’s always exciting in a new interpretation. I know I’ll be approaching it differently from whoever did it last.”
Beethoven 9: Myths and quirks
Q. Was the “Ode to Joy” movement of the Beethoven Symphony No. 9 taken from a drinking song?
No, but there’s a kernel of truth here: The Friedrich Schiller poem from which its lyrics were taken was written in the structure of a drinking song, ready for a melody.
Q. The amount of material CDs could hold was set as the time required to record Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. True?
The oft-repeated story is that an executive or an executive’s wife at the Sony company, a collaborator on the size of the first compact disc, insisted it should be big enough to hold the famous work. That resulted in the 12-inch disc, which could hold 74 minutes of music. However, no source would give that as a definitive answer.
Further clouding that story is that most recordings of the Beethoven Ninth are between 50 and 65 minutes. There’s no 74-minute version we’ve found.
Q. Is the Beethoven Ninth the most used symphony in popular culture?
The Ninth has been used in at least five films, including Dead Poets Society, Sister Act 2 and Die Hard. That occasionally could be labeled abuse as much as use. It was used behind Ace Ventura, Pet Detective and to condition the central character in Stanley Kubrick’s grim morality tale, A Clockwork Orange
It’s not as popular as another Beethoven symphony, the Fifth (“Fate Knocks at the Door”), on film. Still, the Ninth has made the rounds of cinema, TV and radio commercials. Even the Muppets took a wacky crack at performing it; the video is on YouTube.
The Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, with Artis—Naples Artistic and Music Director Alexander Shelley, will be joined onstage by at least 100 singers (below) for the performance of the Beethoven Symphony No. 9.
Photos courtesy Artis—Naples
‘Jersey Boys’ unearths the realities behind The Four Seasons’ fame
All of us who listened to The Four Seasons in their prime knew little of them in an era without a 24-hour news cycle. No Meta. No Instagram. Not even selfies. We did not know what we know today — whether our favorite stars use Sriracha or Cholula on their tacos and what their children’s bizarre names are.
That means much of the material in Jersey Boys, closing this weekend at TheatreZone, may be a revelation to us. We were pinching our noses and imitating Frankie Valli’s sonic falsetto without an inkling the pop group’s leader, Tommy DeVito, was running them into a half-milliondollar IRS debt and bankrolling his gambling habit with income meant for bill payments. We didn’t know their marriages and families were becoming tinder. Or that even some of their members fought recording hits such as “Walk Like a Man.”
This makes Jersey Boys an enlightening, and not always happy, look into the history of a group that took the baby boom sock hops by storm. Their updated approach to harmony, their vocalizing on sensitive topics — “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man” — and the unmistakable stamp of Valli’s soaring voice were a bulwark against the British music invasion of the 1960s.
That they churned out hit after hit — among them “Dawn,” “Rag
Doll,” “Save It for Me,” “Stay,” “Big Man in Town,” “Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye),” “Let’s Hang On” — amid the strife is a miracle. That TheatreZone Founding Artistic Director Mark Danni recruited a cast that looks and sounds so much like the originals is also a miracle. Chris Oram exudes the falsetto and style of Valli smoothly. (The only quibble: This Valli sharpens his New Jersey accent as the play develops, while the actual Valli seems to have worked at smoothing his out.) As Nick Massi, Mason Hensley delivers the musical’s most powerful speech, rebuking his bandmate DeVito after the group learns he has dug
them into a nearly $1 million financial hole. And Mike Backes is a brassy, bullying DeVito, done so forcefully we want him gone in the first two minutes. Still, he gets his due for pulling together most of the unmistakable sound of the Four Seasons, as does Bob Gaudio — here in a thoughtful portrayal by Quinn Corcoran — for composing its chart-topping music. Kudos also to Frank Blocker and Brent D. Keuning, who glide seamlessly into roles from Jersey crime boss Gyp DeCarlo and producer Bob Crewe to the brass section on “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
If you wanted to hear “Candy
Girl,” you’re out of luck. But nearly every other Four Seasons Top 40 tune gets a professionally robust pass here. Music Director Anthony Brindisi, who worked on the Jersey Boys Las Vegas and national touring productions, has its arrangements covered flawlessly. TheatreZone never skimps on its band, and Brindisi makes every instrument count.
Lea Pick’s set is fairly static, a brick wall with fire escape catwalk, chain link fence and an arched opening into which the band is tucked behind a scrim. With tables and chairs being whisked in and out by the players and lights behind them to suggest locations,
‘Noises Off’ builds to a dual-stage laugh fest
If the lifeblood of good comedy is its choreography, Gulfshore Playhouse has the Ballets Russes in its current production of Noises Off Comedy, in many ways a more difficult and sophisticated endeavor than drama, depends on timing and movement as much as its script, and this Michael Frayn farce on theater productions from inside as well as out spares no horses. There are doors slamming, head-pummeling, dropped china — from a second-story landing — a hatchet chase and endlessly abused plates of sardines.
Wisely, Gulfshore has brought in director Peter Amster, who three years ago turned its production of The 39 Steps into an advanced class in LOL. It also returned Michele Ragusa, the social-climbing matriarch of Anything Goes this season, as her diametric opposite in dual roles as theater troupe veteran Dotty Otley, and the chatty housekeeper
she plays, Mrs. Clackett.
Nearly every actor has dual roles; Noises Off follows a theater troupe as they prepare for, perform and close their own tour of a farce called Nothing On. We see each as both the actor behind their roles and in those roles, all of them Velcroed into place by a hard-working backstage staff and shepherded by an acid-wit director who is dallying with women in both cast and crew.
Disaster begins to germinate during a dress rehearsal in which Otley can’t keep straight the whereabouts of a plate of sardines and a newspaper prop; nor can leading man Garry Lejeune (Dan Fenaughty) explain any of his good ideas for final adjustments past “Well, you know.” And no one can please director Lloyd Dallas (Edward Staudenmayer), who likes to remind them he’s directing Richard III elsewhere.
The fact that they can’t corral liquor-loving Selsdon Mowbray, the inner play’s cat burglar (lovably played by Tom Aulino), and that the self-deprecating Freddy (Jordan Sobel) has just been dumped by his wife will pale in comparison to Act 2’s opening night. A jealous Brooke Ashton
(Tess Frazer) threatens to decamp as her character, Vicki, is getting her entrance cues and quickly costumed crew members rush in to temporarily fill parts while they placate her and save Freddy. He’s being pursued by Garry, Dotty’s paramour, who construes a long evening of her consoling Freddy as something quite different and has the fire hatchet as his revenge tool. Fortunately, he’s slower than Freddy. By the third act, when the play has finally come around to its
closing performance, the little fires have become explosions. The plated sardines end up on Mrs. Clackett’s head; a crucial door loses its knob. Freddy, who goes faint at the sight of blood, tumbles down the stairs; every entrance is at the precisely wrong time.
And those are fewer than half the mishaps that turn Nothing On hilariously into Nothing Right.
The set is a critical component of the physical comedy. This play within a play is set in an English country manor with more doors than a Home Depot showroom and a landing staircase combination that allows wonderful physical comedy. The coup de grace comes when Freddy, playing the manor’s owner, leapfrogs them two at a time — an act of amazing agility from Sobel — in a vain attempt to shed solvent-burned trousers that have dropped around his ankles.
The set is on a turntable that revolves from the inner play set to its backstage for the second act, and this production lets Brian Atwood, who plays the group’s scenic director, frolic over its surfaces as though he’s doing the moving. It’s an excellent mood setter
What: Juke box biomusical of The Four Seasons presented by TheatreZone
When: SOLD OUT, but waiting list may be available; 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday
it fits the play like a glove. The sum of this production is that the same audience who shuffled in bounced out to an encore tune. Even after an extra performance was added, it is sold out, and ticketholders will be happy they got to the box office in time.
If you’re one of those who doesn’t have a ticket, we’ve got fingers crossed the waiting list isn’t too long.
Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and culture for The Naples Press.
for what’s coming up.
The cast of strong actors includes Larissa Klinger (Belinda Blair/Flavia Brent) and Angie Janas (Poppy Norton-Taylor) as the sincere actress and stage manager who seem to be everywhere on the stage trying to hold the crew together. Tess Frazer (Brooke Ashton/Vicki), who is the eye candy of the troupe, shines in a different way as a linebound, self-aware prima donna with a shrill voice and contact lenses that won’t stay in.
If there’s a quibble, it’s with the play, which uses its first act to build the character personalities, a necessary endeavor but not hysterically funny. The laughs come at more of a TV pace. (Frayn has extensive creds there, too, including writing for the grandaddy of all satirical news reports, “That Was the Week That Was.”)
As soon as the curtain opens on Act 2, however, the audience members who have stuck with the play will be rewarded in spades. Or rather, in endorphins.
Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and culture for The Naples Press.
Playing the Four Seasons in the TheatreZone production, from left, are Mason Hensley (Nick Massi), Mike Backes (Tommy DeVito), Chris Oram (Frankie Valli), Quinn Corcoran (Bob Gaudio).
Photo by Nick Shirghio
Front Row
Harriet Howard Heithaus
Front
Heithaus
By Jean L. Amodea
Meditation as a doorway
Seeking the cyclic connection of sound, art and self
Eager participants gathered in the Baker Museum at Artis—Naples on Feb. 26 for a unique guided meditation session in “Field Atmosphonia,” one of 14 Rafael Lozano-Hemmer “Obra Sonora (Sound Work)” exhibition installations.
The artist’s goal is to encourage participants to immerse themselves in an interactive experience of sound and light driven by the creator’s biometric research and technology.
The 60-minute session served as an entryway to the other elements of “Obra Sonora” and was led by Laurie Lyons, who took Zen Buddhist vows in 2010 and went on to become authorized to teach Zen.
“Lozano-Hemmer’s inspiration for ‘Field Atmosphonia,’” Lyons explained, “is based on Charles Babbage’s theory that the atmosphere is like a library that carries every word ever uttered and exists forever in molecules; we just don’t hear them. I’m treating these meditations as an opportunity to experience his art more intimately.”
Lyons held court perched crosslegged on black cushions in the gallery, a dimly lit space with black walls featuring a blackened ceiling blanketed with a field of mini, motion-sensor-activated LED speakers. The space encouraged the suspension of the ordinary and the adoption of alternative modes of sensory input geared toward self-refection while urging the listener to connect with all that surrounds us in the here and now.
The session
The group of 30 settled onto plush cushions or side benches that circled the room, some covered with furry throws while others lay prone. All were to experience a Zen-driven meditation fueled by the input of a panoply of sound frequencies under the canopy of intermittent lights flickering in free-flowing wave patterns, triggered by movement and mirrored onto the high-gloss black Marley flooring.
The technologically outfitted gallery also featured 3,000 audio channels and 2,300 micro-SD cards; each mini speaker was programmed with 17 soundtracks of field recordings such as 200 insects, 300 birds, cathedral bells, bombs, fire, ice, a lava flow, wind, rivers, thunderous rainfalls and more.
Lyons led the group into a 15-minute guided meditation of quiet and reflection — a glimpse into Zen, an unending journey never reached but constantly evolving and ever in the moment. She next encouraged the group to take a 10-minute walk-through of the other 13 installations, before instructing everyone to return to the gallery for an ending meditation.
As many exited for the selfpaced mini-tour, Lyons offered a bit of wisdom from Shakyamuni Buddha: “The past mind is ungraspable. The present mind is ungraspable. The future mind is ungraspable.”
“Lozano-Hemmer’s inspiration for ‘Field Atmosphonia’ is based on Charles Babbage’s theory that the atmosphere is like a library that carries every word ever uttered and exists forever in molecules; we just don’t hear them.”
—Laurie Lyons, meditation session leader
Lyons’ hope for the session, she said, was to provide an opportunity for meditators to step away from their busy lives into a place of peace and stillness. “I’d like participants to leave having felt a genuine connection to the art and a deeper part of themselves,” she said. “Art and meditation can act as mirrors, showing us parts
of ourselves previously unseen. I hope folks walk away with a sense of ease and stillness and leave with more questions than answers.”
Thoughts from a participant
Danka Davies, who practices meditation, was drawn to the session because it combined medita-
tion and interactive art. “The idea of using sound and art to deepen presence and awareness resonated with me,” Davies said. “Experiencing ‘Field Atmosphonia’ with the light and audio channels was a fresh way to meditate — one that expands beyond stillness and into active participation.”
Davies fully grasped Lyons’ goal of helping meditators find the connection between art and the inner self. “The most impactful moment occurred when Lyons invited the group to tune into a specific sound of our choice,” Davies recalled.
“That simple act of conscious listening transformed the experience into something deeply personal. It was a great reminder that presence is something we actively choose.
Just like tuning into certain sounds, we can also tune into different perspectives, emotions and ways of being in our daily lives.”
Davies further described the experience as creating a sense of presence while revealing life as a continuous, interconnected expe-
Lyons founded Zen for Arts, a non-profit that offers meditation and creative arts classes. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance and performed with the Naples Philharmonic for more than 20 years. She teaches piano and is training to become certified as a professional organizer using the KonMari Method, a decluttering and organizing system created by Marie Kondo.
MEDITATION SESSIONS WITH LAURIE LYONS
When: 9:30 a.m. March 18 and 25; April 16 and 23
Where: “Obra Sonora” (“Field Atmosphonia” gallery), The Baker Museum Gallery (third floor), 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., Naples
Admission: $20 Ticket information: artisnaples.org or 239.597.1900
ZEN & THE ARTS
Who: Laurie Lyons, founder
Meditation classes: Visit the website or call for information
Contact: zen. artsflorida.com or 239.961.2491 or practice@zenartsflorida.com
rience. “I was reminded that each moment holds meaning while contributing to a larger whole, and it reinforced the concept that each of us can choose where we place our attention, whether in meditation or life,” she added. “The experience invited reflection on self-expression and how we find and share our voice in ways beyond words.”
Attendees to the “Field Atmosphonia” event at the Baker Museum meditate in one of the installation spaces of Rafael LozanoHemmer’s “Obra Sonara” exhibition. Photo by Liz Gorman
Gift underscores reserve’s role, value
By Larissa Rodriguez
Friends of Rookery Bay received
a $240,000 estate gift from Elizabeth A. McCarthy, an art teacher in the Detroit area who retired to Naples in 1987 with her husband. McCarthy passed away in 2022 and left estate gifts to six nonprofit organizations across the country.
“We are extremely grateful to Betsy for her generosity and to her brother, John, the trustee of her estate, for such an impactful gift,” said Athan Barkoukis, executive director for the Friends of Rookery Bay, in a press release. “One of the largest individual contributions in our nonprofit organization’s 37year history.”
With this gift, the Friends of Rookery Bay hopes to continue supporting education, research and conservation programs.
“Very generous community, and they see the value of legacies, of ensuring an investment, the activities here for today and the generations to come,” Barkoukis said. “So, we are very grateful to all the supporters of Rookery Bay.”
McCarthy was influenced by Rookery Bay Research Reserve as she spent her time canoeing there often. Many others benefit from Rookery Bay and the various services it provides, as well, whether that be recreational activity in Henderson Creek or educational learning in the Environmental Learning Center.
One of these people affected so much by the mission of Rookery Bay decided to become one of the organization’s many dedicated volunteers.
‘Appreciation for the beauty’
“Wherever you go, there are people like me that are doing this; not because we’re paid, but because we love this, and we want to share our appreciation for the beauty,” volunteer Kathleen Donagrandi said. “It’s not crowded and it’s not noisy, and it’s not machines going off.”
Donagrandi is a retired special education teacher who lives in Michigan. When she retired, she decided to live in Naples for a few months out of the year. She discovered Rookery Bay because she never taught science and wanted to get involved and learn more about it somehow. Now she volunteers at Rookery Bay as a greeter; she loves every minute of it, especially seeing the reactions of guests when they come for the first time.
How Friends of Rookery Bay benefits from –
and is aided by – Naples community
“One of the things that is most amazing to me is that people come in and they go, ‘Whoa, what is this place?’” Donagrandi said. “I can tell on their face they’re in for a real treat.”
Many volunteers and those who visit, similar to McCarthy and Donagrandi, are from out of state. They understand the importance of the property and they decide to stick around.
“They’re so committed to this place, because it’s beautiful, and it’s so educational, and it gives people a different understanding of nature,” Donagrandi said. “It’s just like no place else.”
Barkoukis was also changed by the environmental and educational power of Rookery Bay. He found it accidentally.
“I actually visited here [eight years ago] and spent one day, took a kayak and came down Henderson Creek and stumbled upon this center, came in and fell in love,” he said. “I have a background in nonprofit management and environmental science, and six months later, the executive director position opened up, and I was lucky enough to get it and moved my whole life down here.”
The Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve opened in the 1960s as a result of a petition
against the connection of Naples and Marco Island through a series of roads and bridges. The petition helped raise $500,000 to buy 2,500 acres of land. The Reserve now includes 110,000 acres, which encompasses 40% of Collier County’s coastline.
“There are still about 3,000 acres that are privately held that you see in different areas,” Barkoukis said. “Those can be developed and redeveloped, but you cannot expand boundaries, so everything
else is protected. And that’s our footsteps.”
‘Hand in hand’
The primary mission of the Friends of Rookery Bay is to protect Southwest Florida’s estuaries, because 80% of all marine life spend a portion of their time in estuaries.
“If you have a healthy environment, we have a healthy economy,” Barkoukis said. “If you don’t have a healthy environment, you’re not
going to have a healthy economy. So, they go hand in hand.”
The organization’s efforts in protecting nesting shore birds at Second Chance Island are nationally recognized by the Audubon Society, the national organization that supports avian conservation. The Friends of Rookery Bay also protects sea turtles at Cape Romano, manages invasive species, initiates prescribed burns, offers recreational activities and works to educate the public on these issues.
“It all comes down to education. The more we can educate the young, the more important they are to the stewards of our environment,” Barkoukis said.
One way Friends of Rookery Bay does this is by offering field trip programs for children in the fourth, seventh and 11th grades. Fourth graders learn in a “mock-up” boat inside the Research Center and view plankton in the water through a microscope. Seventh graders sample water quality in a field station and high schoolers go out on a boat and do mini-trawls to discover what is under the surface.
Barkoukis recently received 98 handwritten thank-you notes from students at Barron Collier High School and their teacher, thanking the Friends of Rookery Bay for helping them gain hands-on experience beyond the classroom.
Rookery Bay Research is a state agency under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection with the support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The research data it collects is made public and shared through NOAA, as well. With the current presidential administration and the Department of Government Efficiency proposing cuts to NOAA, its future involvement with Rookery Bay is uncertain. “Federal resources are a necessity, not just here in Naples, but there’s still users around the country that fall under that umbrella of NOAA and provide critical funding and support for all the programs and activities, and I hope that continues for years into the future,” Barkoukis said.
Admission to Rookery Bay is free. Guests can enjoy nationally recognized kayaking tours, boating, a butterfly garden, various trails and more. The busiest time is mid-December through mid-April, so plan accordingly if you plan to go; learn more at rookerybay.org “If this wasn’t here, my life would be so different,” Donagrandi said. “I am proud to be here. I am thinking it’s one of the best things that I do.”
Boaters enjoy the day riding along Henderson Creek. Photos by Larissa Rodriguez
The Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center provides a hub for children and adults alike to learn about Southwest Florida’s wildlife and estuaries.
Grammy-level blues artists to perform at Seminole Casino Hotel
By Jean L. Amodea
Get ready for a once-in-a-lifetime experience as Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Samantha Fish share the stage at 8 p.m. March 28 at an outdoor concert at Seminole Casino Hotel in Immokalee.
Fish, a Grammy-nominated singer, guitarist and songwriter, is known for her unique self-expression, channeled through explosive riffs, visceral rhythms and spine-tingling vocals, according to her promoter, Gold Entertainment. Both artists will perform live, backed by their bands.
Ingram goes by a signature stage name, “Kingfish.” He was named by his father after one of the lead characters in the 1950s television show “Amos & Andy.” In 2019, in his 20s, he was a Grammy nominee for Best Traditional Blues Album for his debut album, Kingfish. In 2022, he won the Best Contemporary Blues Album award, which recognized his sophomore album, 662. Ingram is a seven-time Blues Music Award winner who has recorded with artists such as Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo and Bootsy Collins.
Kingfish: His start and message
Citing musical influences such as the “King of the Delta Blues,” singer Robert Johnson (“Me and the Devil Blues Take 1”), and Otis Redding (“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”), Ingram’s age of 26 belies his mature taste and appreciation for the genre. His journey into the blues began in the city of Clarksdale, Mississippi, which Ingram fondly calls home. He picked up the guitar at the tender age of 13 and also plays drums and bass. His early years were steeped in the gospel music scene, with a mother who was a singer (and cousin to Charley Pride) and other family members who played and
sang in church.
“I am not ashamed of and am solid about the Christian influence in my lyrics,” Ingram said. “I don’t have any set formula for writing lyrics.
When I write a song or blues tune, I try to channel my life and write about my experiences.”
His message, which differs with each song, carries its own meaning.
“I want to show people that you can be young and can still understand the blues,” Ingram explained.
“I’m in a gray area as I am still young and can appreciate certain elements of rap and the influences of blues in rap even though I am with the blues.”
This message, resonating with the struggles and experiences of the younger generation, adds a distinctive depth to his music.
Tech and the future of blues
Ingram’s artistry extends to his technical choices. He prefers a
BLUES TO USE
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Samantha Fish blues concert
He uses a wah-wah pedal that alters the sound of an electric guitar, resulting in a “wah” sound that mimics the human voice, and an overdrive pedal for a little distortion.
“I try to take a little from (Robert) Johnson and B.B. King and Eric Gales and from my practice, and I work things around to make it my sound,” he said.
Ingram is passionate about the future of blues within the contemporary music landscape. He is dismayed that too many people “pigeon-hole” blues as guitar music, but sees a trend toward a focus on vocals.
“Blues is all about the voice and singing,” he said. “These days, people are more focused on making great songs rather than making a song. That’s one of the elements that you need to make a great song — it’s all about having lyrics and a voice.”
His voice, stage presence and guitar chops will be on display under the stars on March 28; he said, “with a lot of fun, blues and good guitar.”
Next weekend
(March 21, 22, 23)
Richard W. Rosen Meet & Greet
2-6 p.m. March 21 at Guess Fisher Gallery, Naples Design District, 985 Central Ave, Naples. Attendees can meet sculptor and painter Richard W. Rosen. Free admission. naplesart.studio or 239.821.1061
Annual barbershop show
7 p.m. March 21 and 2 p.m. March 22 at the Pulse Center of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 625 111th Ave., Naples. The Paradise Coastmen bring their annual barbershop harmony show to the Pulte Center, and there’s harmony for every genre under the ABBA-styled theme, “Thank You for the Music.” Special guests 3 1/2 Men, international winners in the Society for the Preservation and Propagation of Barbershop Quartet Singing competition. $25 at paradisecoastmen.org
Art-in-the-Glades
10 a.m.-1 p.m. March 22 at Everglades City Hall near McLeod Park, 102 Copeland Ave. N, Everglades Hall. ECity Arts & Crafts host event. Attendees are able to buy items from local artists and crafters. Free admission. 239.451.0265
Naples Motorfest
10 a.m.-3 p.m. March 22 at Paradise Coast Sports Complex, 3940 City Gate Blvd. N, Naples. Car show, live music, VIP brunch, trophies and vendors at the 11th annual
Naples Motorfest. Free general admission. $95 VIP tickets. playparadisecoast.com
Movie Music 3 p.m. March 22 at Moorings Presbyterian Church, 791 Harbour Drive, Naples. Performers Carolann Sanita and Mark Sanders, along with the Naples Community Orchestra, will play Broadway hits and music from movies. Reception follows. $40. naplescommunityorchestra.org
“Kingfish” Ingram will perform
with Samantha
Immokalee. Photo courtesy Colin Hart
Fender Telecaster, known for its sustain and resonance, used by Bruce Springsteen; and a Gibson Les Paul, famous for the sound of the humbucker pickup, preferred by blues artists and used on tours by Prince and Eric Clapton.
Samantha Fish is a Grammy-nominated blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.
Photo courtesy Doug Hardesty
First Bite: Celebrity Chef Dale Talde opens Tigress at The Perry Hotel
I’ve always been surprised Naples doesn’t have celebrity chef-driven restaurants. Why shouldn’t Thomas Keller or Jean-Georges Vongerichten want to have an outpost on Fifth Avenue and an excuse to fly south for the winter?
The Perry Hotel must have felt the same. In January, the new Naples property quietly debuted Tigress (the official grand opening is March 19), a Cantonese restaurant from Dale Talde. The multihyphenate chef, restaurateur and television personality rose to public consciousness on “Top Chef,” quickly becoming a fan favorite. He translated that buzz into a fleet of Asian-inspired restaurants in New York, Miami and elsewhere; a James Beard nomination; and a coveted spot on Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants in America” list in 2020 for Goosefeather, his Hong Kong-inspired eatery in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Tigress follows Goosefeather’s lead, leaning into Cantonese flavors with several signature dishes, such as the dry-aged Wagyu beef potstickers and chilled lobster bao, shared across both menus. “It all starts with a deep respect for Cantonese cuisine and a genuine love for Chinese food,” Talde said. “We bring elements together in a way that honors tradition while offering a fresh, modern take.”
As a fan of Goosefeather (I was a restaurant editor in the Hudson Valley when it debuted), I’ve been looking forward to Tigress since it was announced last year. The restaurant is booked solid until 9 p.m. most nights, but a friend and I nabbed a 5:30 reservation on a recent Wednesday.
Easy Tiger, the open-air bar that leads into Tigress, was shoulder-to-shoulder when we arrived. Sweeping views of tangled mangroves that stretch toward the Gulf lead from the bar into the restaurant, where a wall of windows is flanked by tables. Looking inward, the space is a little jewel box of
thoughtful details — cozy banquettes, little tigers tucked among the foliage on patterned wallpaper, vintage black-and-white photography and soft lighting that makes everyone (and every plate) look good. Every meal at Tigress should start with a cocktail. Award-winning mixologist Lynnette Marrero, the creative force behind some of New York City’s top cocktail programs, created the drinks for Tigress and Easy Tiger. The clever infusion of Asian ingredients including oolong tea, tamarind-black vinegar caramel and Szechuan peppercorn into a foundation of classic cocktails easily makes this one of Naples’ best new bars.
Drinks in hand, we set out to conquer an unreasonably large swath of the menu. In
keeping with Chinese communal dining traditions, everything is portioned into individual bites or slices for sharing. Of the 10 dishes we tried, the favorites were the sizzling vegetable fried rice, a seemingly simple staple elevated by crispy edges and winter black truffles that grounded the dish without feeling gimmicky, and some of the best lamb chops I’ve ever had. Seasoned with mala (a blend of peppercorns and warm spices) and served with dollops of mint salsa and brown-butter labneh, the chops were perfectly charred with melting fat and centers that were rosy from edge to edge.
We also enjoyed the hamachi crudo with pineapple and chili crisp; juicy Berkshire pork belly char siu; lacquered, dry-aged duck perched atop a stack of golden Hong Kong
French toast; and the crispy smashed fingerling potatoes with turmeric caramel, an unexpectedly sweet pairing that turned out to be addictive.
Already quite full, we decided to broach dessert. The options are few but memorable. We ordered the warm mochi waffles with sweet, almost floral mango sorbet and the shaved calamansi and yuzu ice with meringue and winter citrus, passing them back and forth as we debated which was better.
“The experience encourages interaction — passing dishes, discussing flavors and engaging with your dining companions,” Talde said of his take on Cantonese cuisine. “In a time when dining can feel disconnected, we wanted to create a space that naturally fosters conversation and connection.”
Tigress, which sits atop The Perry Hotel, is a Cantonese restaurant from Dale Talde, who rose to public consciousness on “Top Chef,” quickly becoming a fan favorite. Contributed photos
Easy Tiger, an open-air bar that leads into the restaurant Tigress, offers views of mangroves that stretch toward the Gulf.
By Samantha Garbarini
Dale Talde
Irish dance finds home in Naples
By Alexandra Cavalier
Passed down over generations, the rhythmic footwork and rich heritage of Irish dance have found a local home at the Celtic Spirit School of Irish Dance in Naples.
Sisters Claire Gorman and Catherine Gorman-Cordova grew up with a strong Irish heritage. The two started Irish dancing when they were young and participated in feiseanna, a Gaelic word for festivals or competitions.
The two opened the school in 2009 after Gorman received a Teagascóir Coimisiún Le Rinci Gaelacha, a teacher qualification that allows dancers to compete in feiseanna under a commission called An Chomdhail.
At the time, the Celtic Spirit School of Irish Dance was the first competitive school in Southwest Florida.
“We are both a competitive and a performance-based Irish dance school,” Gorman-Cordova said.
The dance requires a special athleticism, as dancers keep a rigid upper body with their arms by their sides to highlight the intricate footwork of the traditional style. The contrast between the rapidly moving feet and still torso is referred to as “fire and ice.”
Irish dance consists of a variety of styles including jigs, reels, the hornpipe and the group dance called ceili, an Irish version of square dancing in which many adults participate. Dance masters traveled throughout Ireland to pass down their cultural skills, and these traditional steps are the same used in Ireland and across the world today.
When teaching, Gorman-Cordova dances alongside her students.
“My favorite part of teaching is the choreography, and I think the reason is because that’s where some of the strongest creativity comes through,” Gorman-Cordova said. “What I love is that it’s not only creatively designing the steps but then putting that to music. So, it all comes together in a composition of footwork and teamwork, put to Irish music.”
Helen Totten started dancing at the school in the second grade. She’s now a senior in high school.
“We have and hour and a half classes once a week, which is actually kind of tame compared to a lot of other dance schools,” Totten said. “Our school has always had a family part of it. I’m just having fun learning; our coaches always just wanted us to learn and have fun with it.”
For a feis, which are offered in the U.S. and overseas, the school participates in ceili and solo dancing. Each school has its colors and Celtic knots. Beginner dancers start out wearing leotards or skirts with their school colors; over time, dancers can earn their own traditional Irish dance costumes, called a school dress.
Solo dresses, made in Ireland, are bright and extravagant.
“The reason they are so bright and colorful is because it’s meant to attract the judge’s attention alongside the bouncy curls and the sparkles in competition,” Gorman-Cordova said.
The weight of the dresses ranges from five to 10 pounds. They are worn with ghillies, which resemble ballerina shoes, and poodle
socks. The audience can hear the beats the dancers create with their feet because they are wearing trebles, which are heavier shoes with fiberglass on the tip and heel.
The school has had the opportunity to perform overseas: It received an invitation to perform for the Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, after being scouted at the Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2015. The dancers and their families were among 75 people who traveled for the occasion.
“We got to perform in Cork in Ireland and be a part of the 2015 St. Patrick’s there, and that was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and experience,” Gorman-Cordova said.
Dancer Alexis Borduas attended the trip, and recalls how they prepared to walk in the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“We would take our class onto the streets,” Borduas said. “We would dance up and down the street so that we could get used to being on the road and going up and down in one line. We spent hours and hours on the streets working and making sure that we were all together. It was super fun.”
The dancers at the school are currently between the ages of 6 and 20. Although the primary location is in Naples, Gorman-Cordova provides classes online and in Ave Maria and Marco Island, and the dancers perform all over Southwest Florida.
“I am so grateful for our families and how much I truly believe in that team spirit and family mentality,” Gorman-Cordova said. “It really is a privilege to work with our dancers, to see them grow — and I’m grateful to be part of their lives and get to dance alongside them.”
ST. PATRICK’S DAY EVENTS
Classic Irish-American fare
March 12-17 at The Village Pub, 4360 Gulf Shore Blvd., Naples. Customers can enjoy a traditional Irish plate of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. villagepubnaples.com
Eat, Drink & Be Irish
5:30-7:30 p.m. March 13 at Boston Beer Garden, 2396 Immokalee Road, Naples. Attendees can enjoy delish Irish food and will receive two drink tickets. $20 for members; $30 for non-members. Register at nabor.com
Naples St. Patrick’s Day Parade
11 a.m. March 15. You don’t have to be Irish to love this parade, said to be the largest south of Savannah. Neapolitans gather for the annual Naples St. Patrick Foundation parade, which starts at the corner of Third Street South and 10th Avenue, turns east onto Fifth Avenue South and then east on Eighth Street South to end in front of Naples City Hall. It is the largest privately funded parade in Florida. naplesparade.com
St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance
6-10 p.m. March 15 at The Serenity Club, 12435 Collier Blvd. Suite 107, Naples. Enjoy Granny Callahan’s world-famous corned beef and cabbage. $25. serenityclubswfl.org
Guinness and Grappa
7 p.m. March 15 at the Norris Community Center, 755 Eighth St. S., Naples. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with “Guinness and Grappa,” featuring the Carl Granieri Orchestra with The CGO Voyces, blending the traditions of Irish and Italian music into a single festive night of celebration and sing-alongs. Enjoy Irish favorites such as “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” “Whiskey in the Jar” and “Danny Boy,” as well as Italian classics including “That’s Amore,” “Volare” and “Mambo Italiano,” with a finale of “The Irish Blessing” and the sentimental Italian farewell, “Time to Say Goodbye.” $40, $45 reserved seats. eventbrite.com or 239.213.7120
St. Patrick’s Fest at The Pub
11 a.m.-2 a.m. March 15, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. March 16 and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. March 17 at The Pub at Mercato, 9110 Strada Place, Naples. Brunch, Cars and Coffee, live music and other festivities are planned all weekend. Free admission. experiencemercato.com
Marco Island Half Marathon and 5K 7 and 7:15 a.m. March 16 at 1818 San Marco Road, Marco Island. This 14th annual event benefits Marco Island schools, Our Daily Bread and the Gulf Coast Runners Youth Development Fund. $90 half marathon entry fee. $35 5K entry free. Price increases after March 15 at 10:59 p.m. gulfcoastrunners.wordpress. com
St. Patrick’s Day Outdoor Bash 11 a.m.-10 p.m. March 16 at The Mini Bar and The Alley, 1200 Central Ave., Suites 103 and 106, Naples. All day long, there will be live music and drink deals, including $5 Guinness and green beer. Visitors are able to collect green necklace beads. theminibarnaples.com
Dancing with Marcia St. Patrick’s Day Party 7-9:30 p.m. March 17 at 5600 Tamiami Trail N., Naples. Join Marcia Barrett, a respected dance instructor in Naples, for a St. Patrick’s Day dance party. $20. dancingwithmarcia.com or 239.597.7012
ShamROCK Social feat. The Rowdy Bards 2-6 p.m. March 17 at 9110 Strada Place, Naples, between Bar Tulia & Dunkin’s Diamonds. St. Patrick’s Day block party featuring live performances from Irish dancers, bagpipers and The Rowdy Bards. The Pub’s outdoor bar will be serving drinks. Free admission. All guests will be directed to main parking garage unless using valet. experiencemercato.com
Celtic Spirit School of Irish Dance performs in traditional Irish dress. Photos courtesy Catherine Gorman-Cordova
COMICS & PUZZLES
By
1. TELEVISION: Which 1960s sitcom was about a TV comedy writer, his job and his family?
2. AD SLOGANS: Which candy slogan urges consumers to "Taste the rainbow"?
3. COMICS: Which superhero gets his power from a ring?
4. GEOGRAPHY: Which country has the most islands?
5. MEASUREMENTS: How many cups are in a pint?
6. MOVIES: Which scary 1980 movie contained the phrase "red rum" and what does it mean?
7. ANATOMY: What is the outermost layer of human skin called?
8. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the first president to ride in a car to his inauguration?
9. HISTORY: When did India gain its independence from Great Britain?
Emi Burdge
The Next Generation of
OUT & ABOUT
Fun Time Early Childhood Academy held A Storybook Gala: Building Dreams for Every Child Feb. 20 at Grey Oaks Country Club. The largest fundraising event in the organization’s history raised $800,000 in support of Fun Time Academy’s mission to provide affordable, high-quality early learning for underserved children from working families, preparing them for success in kindergarten and beyond.
Photography courtesy Celeste Polin and Gunter Fernandez
Peggy Lavigne, Carol Munro, Phil Lavigne, Nancy Zink, Skip Zink, Barbara Mead
Liz Brennan, Karen Hopper, Klaus Harvey
Dawn Haye, Fran O’Sullivan, Donnie Haye
Cindy and Tom Gayer
Kelley Aldrich, Ellie Witham
Julia Zucks, Connie Messner, Lynn Messner
Rick and Beth Anne George
Bill and Karen Lutz
Mary and Bob Polizzotto
Burt and Rhonda Eisenberg
FC Naples ties Chattanooga 1-1 in inaugural match
Head coach
Matt Poland pleased with team’s play
By Randy Kambic
The game was barely two minutes old when FC Naples’ midfielder Kevin O’Connor’s header off a crossing pass skipped just wide of the Chattanooga Red Wolves goal.
Just three minutes later, fellow midfielder Jayden Onen booted a line drive off his right foot that was caught by Red Wolves goalkeeper Jason Smith, the home team’s first-ever shot on goal.
A short time later, the first widespread chant of “Let’s Go Naples” rang out from the crowd of 4,618.
Yes, the long wait was over as professional soccer finally arrived in Naples Saturday evening to the tune of end-to-end action encompassing 104 minutes (including 14 for extra stoppage time). And while the game ended in a 1-1 draw, it promised plenty of exciting, high-quality action under the bright lights and on the fast artificial surface of the Paradise Coast Sports Complex for months to come.
“The fans were incredible,” Matt “Gaffa” Poland, FC Naples head coach and sporting director, said after the game. “Our players should be confident in the way that we play, staying true to how we want to play and continuing to be resilient when things aren’t going our way. We have a game under our belts.”
With plenty of crisp passing, including among FC Naples midfielders Chris Heckenberg, Luka Prpa and O’Connor, the home team controlled the ball for most of the first half — with more shots on goal and corner kicks than Chattanooga — but couldn’t score.
The visiting team came out strong right after halftime. Two minutes in, Omar Hernandez accepted a pass from a corner kick and delivered a long, left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area past FC Naples’ goalkeeper Edward Del-
gado’s outstretched hands into the lower right-hand corner of the net for a 1-0 Chattanooga lead.
The Red Wolves continued their solid play, but FC Naples began to regain momentum with solid midfield play feeding both wings for crosses. Coming within inches of tying the score, defender Jake Dengler headed a corner kick from O’Connor off the crossbar in the game’s 64th minute. Twelve minutes later, ongoing aggressive play led to a handball by Eric Kinzner of the Red Wolves in the penalty area. FC Naples midfielder Andrés Ferrin decisively converted the subsequent penalty kick, tying the score and causing an eruption of cheers from the home crowd.
Late in the game it seemed FC Naples would take the lead when forward Tyler Pasnik headed the ball into the net after a series of successful passes, but officials denied the goal, ruling offsides.
Reflecting on the first game, Heckenberg said it was an “amazing scene” and “a great building block. So many fans, so much energy,” he said.
“We fought back. We stuck together,” forward Karsen Henderlong said. “It was a relief to see the first goal go in.”
Poland cited the strong play of O’Connor and his steadying influence on his mostly younger teammates throughout the match. “He has the experience and pedigree. He delivers good set-piece balls.”
O’Connor previously played on several Ireland national teams and four Cork City title teams, and competed in 13 USEFA Europa League qualifiers.
The crowd was treated to other attractions, too: The national anthem was sung by Thomas Gabriel, a grandson of Johnny Cash. A group of FC Naples supporters banged drums and waved flags behind the northern goal area for much of the game. At halftime, members of the Barron Collier High School boys’ soccer team aimed kicks at the crossbar of one of the goals, with Emerson Laorden successful.
FC Naples’ first-ever match ended in its first-ever tie. The team’s next home game in USL League One will be Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m. against Forward Madison.
Photos by Chris Tilley
FC Naples Luka Prpa goes in for the header over Chattanooga Red Wolves
midfielder Michael Knapp (66).
Lyles excelling in maiden season as FGCU women’s basketball coach
Speaking of Sports David Wasson
Those who have never been behind the wheel of a Formula 1 machine or a NASCAR competition rig can easily sit back in their recliners on the weekend and muse out loud in between fistfuls of chips that auto racing looks awfully easy.
How hard could it be to drive fast, right? Heck, just point the wheels in the right direction and mash on the gas!
Chelsea Lyles probably doesn’t know a whole lot about auto racing, but what she does do — better than anyone else in the Atlantic Sun Conference — likely looks just as simple from a La-Z-Boy.
Make no mistake, coaching a college basketball program is anything but simple. Fox Sports Radio commentator/current University of Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb (he of the woeful 4-28 Phoenix) can certainly attest to that.
And when the entire snow globe you inhabit expects you to win? That’s gotta weigh on even the most stable of souls.
Following a standout playing career and a multi-level apprenticeship at the side of Karl Smesko, Lyles finally got the FGCU women’s basketball gig in 2024 — albeit in a particularly challenging time. The Eagles began the season 0-2, losing to Davidson by a point and to Columbia by 11 on the road, but that was nothing compared to the loss that was about to happen.
Smesko was being courted by the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, and he made his decision official two days after the Columbia loss; with FGCU immediately installing Lyles at the helm of the Green & Blue. For just the second time in program history, FGCU had a new coach.
Not that Lyles was a stranger to Alico Arena, of course. She played the final two seasons of her collegiate career under Smesko in 2008-10, and then immediately found a spot on the bench alongside the legendary FGCU mentor — first as a student assistant, then assistant coach and recruiting coordinator and on up to associate.
But there is a vast gulf between second-in-command and the one the entire team looks to in times of crisis, celebration and all points in between. Smesko leaving for the ATL meant Lyles — even though she was ready for the job ahead — being thrown headlong into the deep end
From page 3B
At last, to hear it
Christopher Dekker, music director for Moorings Presbyterian Church, has brought some 30 of the chancel choir members into the performances by the Naples Philharmonic Chorus under Director Jeffrey Warner. It’s not one the entire 55- to 60-member chancel choir could do because of time commitments or its vocal demands.
“The Beethoven Nine vocal parts are ridiculously high. They’re very hard to sing, very taxing,” he said.
“Probably 80% of the vocal parts
of the pool.
What happened next might make even those recliner potatoes arch an eyebrow. Lyles’ Eagles rattled off 27 victories the rest of the regular season, including a season-ending 20game winning streak, and won all 18 ASUN conference games to earn yet another regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the ASUN Tournament.
That ASUN roll meant that Lyles and FGCU were sleeping in their own beds and enjoying home-court advantage in the conference tournament — something that goes away starting next year when the ASUN tournaments move to Jacksonville.
But it also meant that, even though no ASUN team could touch the Eagles in the regular season, it is an entirely different ballgame in March.
“You’re always going to see everybody’s best game,” Lyles said in advance of the tournament. “They prepare the best for you because everyone wants to take out the top team. I think we have a good understanding of that, and some of our veterans have made that clear with some people who maybe haven’t experienced it. Just going into March, it’s anybody’s game.
“Everyone is 0-0. You just have to keep winning and executing. That’s why it’s so important to win the conference, so you can at least be at home and host and be on your home
are not very hard. They’re pretty high from start to finish. But it’s the fugue two-thirds of the way through that final movement,” Dekker pointed out. “The fugue is like a marathon movement. It’s only five minutes long, but it’s some of the most challenging five minutes of choral singing that’s out there in the repertoire.
“The familiar ‘Ode to Joy’ tune is broken up and put into triple meter instead of duple, and all my sopranos are staring at me like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are you doing to me?’” he said. “And then, at the very end of the fugue, just to cap it off — as if Beethoven hated his sopranos — the sopranos, for like three pages, have to hold a high A.”
Still, Dekker called these performances “a real special treat for me.”
He was director of choral activities at Hope College in Michigan when he, with all its choirs and the Holland Symphony Orchestra, joined forces on a production of the famous symphony.
It was 2020, the year of the pandemic.
As happened in Naples, after 2½ months of rehearsal — “after you’ve done all the hard work and you’re getting into the fun stuff” — the concert had to be canceled, Dekker recalled.
“This is like a coming home for me, to prepare a choir and actually have them sing it,” he said.
At the end of the day, though, it all cycles back to the coach. And Chelsea Lyles has made the transition from Smesko to herself as seamless as possible for the Eagles.
court with your home fans.” FGCU’s conference performance was dominant on both ends of the floor, night after night. The Eagles averaged 75.9 points per game against ASUN foes while allowing just 54.6, and the most they gave up in a conference game was on Feb. 8 when Eastern Kentucky gave FGCU a scare in a closer-than-expected 6865 victory.
Lyles has pulled the 2024-25 Eagles together by cycling as much talent into games as possible. Backto-back ASUN Player of the Year Emani Jefferson (14 ppg, 3.4 apg) and Dolly Cairns (8.8 ppg, 2.5 apg) are back-court forces along with Casey Santoro off the bench. Lauryn Taylor, Cerina Rolle and Khari Mitchell-Steen also pose problems on the perimeter, and Skyler Gill and Alahna Paige are earning valuable opportunities, as well.
At the end of the day, though, it all cycles back to the coach. And Lyles has made the transition from Smesko to herself as seamless as possible for the Eagles this season — putting as much emphasis on their experience as possible rather than enjoying focus on her first head coaching season.
Can the Eagles make it back to the NCAA Tournament for an 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 14 seasons? That guy on the recliner would say that’s an easy journey, but Lyles and FGCU know that hard work is what makes something that special look awfully easy.
Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson airs weekdays from 3-5 p.m. on Southwest Florida’s Fox Sports Radio (105.9 FM in Collier County) and streaming on FoxSportsFM.com.
From page 3B MYTHS
Q. Was Beethoven deaf when he wrote his Ninth Symphony? By all accounts, he was so deaf that another conductor was brought in to work behind him for the premiere. At the end of the performance, one of the vocalists had to turn him around to see the rapturous shouting and applause from the audience.
The composer lived out his last years in poverty and was inclined to drink when he finished the famous symphony.
“At the time when he was writing this piece he had very little money. He wore the same coat. His clothes were ripped and torn. He’s sitting in the corner — this is documented — he sat in the corner of a bar drinking and working. His hearing was completely gone. He was sort of a misanthropic creature there,” observed Artis—Naples Artistic and Music Director Alexander Shelley.
“And yet inside was this burning humanistic power that has become an anthem for countries, for continents.”
FGCU women’s basketball coach Chelsea Lyles, who had served as an assistant to Karl Smesko, was named head coach of the Eagles when Smesko took a coaching position with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. Photo courtesy FGCU Athletics
Eagles head coach Chelsea Lyles has pulled the 2024-25 Eagles together by cycling as much talent into games as possible.
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