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Naples Botanical Garden through local artists’ creative lenses

Naples Botanical Garden through local artists’ creative lenses

Harriet Howard Heithaus – Naples Daily News | June 30, 2021

There’s no sneezing in this garden. All the pollen is confined to images on canvas or photo paper, depictions of fascination with Naples Botanical Garden.

“Looking West At The Garden,” by Tanya Trinkaus Glass
But like the gardens outside of its Kapnick Hall location, it will probably stimulate some smiles.

“Artists in Bloom” brings local artists’ eyes to the garden’s grounds, from its River of Grass to its water lilies and the smallest of its buds. You could possibly even see a garden resident here or there, a bee making its happy way among the blooms or a bird in flight.

Organized in partnership with the United Arts Council of Collier County, the show holds 32 widely different interpretations of the garden, all from 28 local artists.

“It serves as a reminder of how art and nature are intrinsically linked, and gently prompts the viewer to experience the Garden in a new way,” says publicity about the exhibition.

To Erin Wolfe Bell, the garden’s director of exhibitions and special programs, it’s also testament to the spectrum of perspective among local artists.

“Bismarkian Sway,” by Susan Nardine Pratt
“There’s such a wide variety of styles and subject matter — charcoals, photographs, paint, watercolor, oils,” she said. “Some are the size of a piece of paper and some are five feet across.”

The styles range from semi-abstract, as in Tanya Trinkaus Glass’ “Looking West at the Garden,” to Susan Nardine Pratt’s detailed, magical palm dance in “Bismarkian Sway.”

While the idea was Bell’s, they relied on the UAC for the process.

“They are kind of experts in this kind of project. We formed the idea. We had the space. They helped us with us with logistics of getting the call to artists out and finding a guest juror.”

Applicants were limited to members of the Naples Botanical Garden or the UAC. Still, the organization had to cull from more than 100 entries, for which local artist Lauren Amalia Redding served as juror.

The garden allows artists to paint on the grounds, and among the most popular times is during the early members-only hour from 8 to 9 a.m. But this isn’t all plein-air work, Bell said: “Some of the artists came here to work. Some just came, went back to their studios and created. Some of them took photographs that they worked from.”

The garden has traditionally featured local artists for its summer exhibitions in Kapnick Hall, and this year, it is showing some special love for local visitors as well. There’s a deep discount from its $20 adults, $10 children admission to $12 for adults and $3 for ages 4-17 from Collier, Lee and Hendry counties.

And for those who can’t come, Naples Botanical Garden now has an Earthcam link that allows people to look in on its Brazilian Garden 24 hours a day. Some of the more interesting views may be under full moonlight when the animals that aren’t out during the day feel free to wander around.

The camera will also treat viewers to the process of heavy equipment packing up one of the giant rootlike sculptures from Steve Tobin’s “Nature Underground.” Its stay at the garden ends Sept. 6.

‘Artists in Bloom’
What: Local art inspired by the garden from artist members of Naples Botanical Garden or United Arts Council

When: Friday, July 2-Sept. 6; garden hours are 9 a.m.-2 p.m. daily with one hour, 8-9 a.m., for members only; registered and paid dogs are welcome with their owners 9-11 a.m. Tuesdays and Sundays

Where: 4820 Bayshore Drive, Naples, FL 34112

Admission: Discount June 1 – Sept. 30 for residents of Collier, Lee, and Charlotte counties — $12 for adults, $3 ages 4 – 17, 3 and younger free; regular price $20 adults, $10 ages 4-17; there are also free admissions for Bank of America cardholders on first weekends and for veterans and their families during the summer; see the garden website for details under Plan Your Visit

To buy: Online at naplesgarden.org under Plan Your Visit

Information: 239-643-7275

Something else: The garden has a dining spot, the Fogg Cafe, and the Berger gift shop.

Tourism in Collier County breaks records in 2019

Tourism in Collier County breaks records in 2019

palm treesFrom the Naples Daily News

Collier County saw record tourism last year.

The county had more than 1.9 million visitors in 2019 — an increase of 5.8% over the year — and the highest number on record.

With more visitors came more room bookings and more spending.

Spending increased 8.1% to more than $2.3 billion, while room nights rose 6.4% to more than 2.5 million over the year. Both numbers set all-time records.

“We saw growth across the board from all of the major markets that we look at,” said Ann Wittine, director of data analysis for Research Data Services, at a Tourist Development Council meeting Monday.

In neighboring Lee County, tourism numbers for 2019 are still being crunched. The statistics are expected to be finalized and released in February.

Wittine zeroed in on increases in visitation from the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, saying they were the most significant.

Those numbers rose:

  • 6.8% from the Midwest to 295,673
  • 4.5% from the Northeast to 360,832

The report reflects overnight stays at hotels and other vacation rentals.

Wittine pointed to other positives in the annual report. From 2018 to 2019 the county saw:

  • A more than 27% increase in visitation from Canada to 47,090
  • A more than 5% increase in visitation from Europe to 309,349

While the percentage increase from Canada seems large, Wittine pointed out it’s a much smaller market for Collier County, accounting for less than 2.5% of its total visitation. The growth from that market last year equates to roughly 10,000 additional visitors, which she said is still “certainly a good sign,” as it marks the reversal of a negative trend.

In 2018, the county saw fewer visitors from Canada and Europe than it did in 2017. At the time, analysts with Research Data Services attributed those declines to their weaker economies and a stronger U.S. dollar, as well as a fallout from red tide in Southwest Florida.

Red tide in Collier County wasn’t as severe in 2019 as it was in 2018, so it had little impact on visitation, said Jack Wert, the county’s tourism director, by phone.

“There just seems to be an overall demand for travel right now,” he said, “and we certainly are seeing it in Southwest Florida. All of Florida really is seeing that, but I think we are certainly exceeding even the average numbers for Florida.”

Wert attributed some of the growth to a new marketing campaign launched in the fall with a “vacation well” theme, centered around health and wellness activities and offerings.

In December, the bureau’s marketing agency launched a Chicago Winter Takeover promotion, which is reaching Chicagoans as they’re going about their day and making their cold commutes to work. The campaign includes everything from warming stations blowing out hot air and showing sun-drenched scenes at train platforms to branded coffee sleeves served with cups of hot Joe at local coffee shops that showcase the Paradise Coast.

Occupancy falls
Not every metric in the 2019 Collier County tourism report was positive. Overall, occupancy fell 0.7% over the year to 74.7% in the county.

Wittine attributed the occupancy drop to having more rooms. According to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the county’s inventory of rooms has grown by 533, or 5.3%, since December 2018, driven mostly by the opening of new hotels.

“You guys have had more product to sell,” Wittine said.

While occupancy fell in 2019, it didn’t take as big of a hit as it did in 2018, when the national economy showed signs of slowing and the negative publicity surrounding red tide lingered through the end of the year.

Collier County finished 2019 strong, with a busy December.

Here’s what the county saw in the final month of last year, when compared to a year ago:

  • A 6% rise in visitor numbers to 181,000
  • An 8.4% increase in room nights booked to 221,000
  • A 10.6% spike in total spending to more than $244 million
  • A 2.9% increase in occupancy to 76.9%
  • A 1.4% rise in average daily rate to $256.60
  • Cold weather hit the north sooner in 2019 than it did in 2018, which helped drive more visitation in the final months of last year, from other parts of the United States, as well as from Canada, Wert said.

As for Europeans, he said, they don’t seem to be as concerned about exchange rates anymore.

“The Germans certainly seem to want to travel,” Wert said. “We’ve heard that from our tour operators.”

Tour operators in Belgium and Austria are reporting the same kind of strong demand, which bodes well for Southwest Florida and its international airport, he said.

“The direct flights certainly help but there is a lot of connecting service as well that brings that European visitor to the area,” Wert said.

Another positive when it comes to international visitors? Brexit — Britain’s proposed split from the European Union — doesn’t seem to be having much of an impact on British travel these days, as its residents have grown weary of waiting for something to happen and shrugging it off saying, “I’m taking my holiday,” Wert said.

“The future could change that, when they finally figure out what Brexit is all about, but so far it’s just speculation,” he said.

With more meeting space available, including the addition of first-class space at the JW Marriott Marco Island, Collier County saw strength in its groups and meetings business in 2019, while also attracting more leisure — or vacation — travelers.

While happy with the positive tourism report, council member Clark Hill, general manager at Hilton Naples, expressed a few concerns, including the statistic showing the average age of visitors to Collier County is roughly 50.

“At some point, the 50-year-olds aren’t going to be as plentiful as are the millennials,” he said, suggesting a need for the tourism bureau to continue looking for ways to attract younger generations.

Wert agreed.

“The millennials are getting older too,” he pointed out.

Looking ahead, Wert said he expects to see a strong finish to the busy season, which traditionally runs from November to April.

In the most recent survey, nearly 62% of Collier’s lodging managers said their reservations for January through March were up from a year ago, with 11.2% saying they were down — compared to 24.9% saying so a year ago.

“I think we’re in for a good couple of months here,” Wert said.

By the numbers
Here’s a look at visitor numbers in Collier County by market for 2019, compared to 2018.

  • Florida — 686,680, +4.1%
  • Southeast — 126,193, +5.4%
  • Northeast — 360,832, +4.5%
  • Midwest — 295,673, +6.8%
  • Canada — 47,090, +27.4%
  • Europe — 309,349, +5.3%
  • Other — 102,783, +12.8%
  • Total: 1,928,600, +5.8%

Source: Research Data Services

‘Irrational generosity’: Naples Winter Wine Festival raises more than $20 million

‘Irrational generosity’: Naples Winter Wine Festival raises more than $20 million

Wine bottles in a rowTo call the 20th Naples Winter Wine Festival at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples a celebration would not quite capture the fundraiser’s atmosphere.

And with an unofficial fundraising total exceeding $20 million, the outpouring of cheer makes sense. As one of the festival’s founders and trustees Valerie Gargiulo said, the tone of the event is one of “irrational generosity.”

From the auction: How much did each 2020 Naples Winter Wine Festival auction lot go for?

“It’s not about what (bidders) are getting,” she said. “It’s about what they’re going to do for the children.”

Jeff Gargiulo, Valerie’s husband, are both founders and trustees of the Naples Winter Wine Festival and Naples Children and Education Foundation. In the festival’s 20 years, the couple said, it’s grown tremendously. And, prior to the auction, they hoped to break a fundraising milestone of $200 million since the festival’s conception.

With the help of auction lots and the generosity of those attending the auction, they succeeded.

The 20th Naples Winter Wine Festival followed the theme of “Celebrate: 20 Years of Cheers.” It was a multi-day affair, beginning Thursday with a pre-festival wine tasting and luncheon, moving to Friday with a meet-the-kids day and peaking with a live-auction Saturday before ending with a celebration brunch Sunday.

Previous coverage: Meet the Kids Day stars little superheroes, soccer players and gymnasts

The tone of celebration was evident: chandeliers dangled from an air-conditioned enclosed tent full of tables for more than 700 guests. Tablecloths ranged from teals to greens to layered with purple sequins, while live music and cuisine like a tuna and watermelon Dashi with an avocado jalapeno salsa delighted guests.

The 2010s: A look back at the biggest stories in Collier, Lee counties

The 2010s: A look back at the biggest stories in Collier, Lee counties

Barefoot Beach, Bonita Springs, FloridaRyan Mills and Melanie Payne, Naples Daily News | Published 7:00 a.m. ET Dec. 31, 2019

There wasn’t a lot to celebrate in Southwest Florida when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, 2010.

The region was still reeling from The Great Recession. Southwest Florida’s economy – built on real estate, construction, tourism and agriculture – was hit particularly hard. In 2010, banks, retail shops, movie theaters and restaurants continued to shutter.

Collier County’s unemployment rate hit 12.7% in January 2010. Lee County’s was even higher: 14.1%

Nearly 60,000 people in the two counties were out of work.

What a difference 10 years makes.

Heading into the 2020s, the economy is red hot again. The unemployment rate in Collier and Lee counties is under 3%, a mark so low that some experts say its unsustainable.

Over the last 10 years, the Collier and Lee population has swelled by nearly 200,000 people. More than 1.1 million people now call the area home.

Southwest Florida’s economic turnaround has been one of the biggest stories in a decade full of them.

Many still recovering from the recession 10 years later

As we leave the 2010s and prepare for another go-round with the Roaring Twenties, The News-Press and the Naples Daily News wanted to take a look back at some of the most important local stories of the last 10 years.

Politics and Government

Naples businessman Rick Scott elected governor
Bill McCollum, Florida’s attorney general, appeared to be next in line to be the Republican nominee for governor in 2010 after then-Gov. Charlie Crist announced he wouldn’t seek re-election and would instead make a U.S. Senate run.

But everything changed when Naples businessman Rick Scott jumped in the race.

Scott, a former hospital executive and political novice, vowed to create jobs at a time when the state’s economy was in the tank and unemployment was rising.

Riding an anti-incumbent wave and blanketing the TV airwaves with an estimated $30 million in ads, Scott swooped in and won the Republican nomination.

Scott narrowly defeated Democrat Alex Sink in the general election, despite questions about his role in a Medicare fraud scandal at his former hospital company, Columbia/HCA. He squeaked out a re-election victory in 2014 against none other than Crist, who had switched parties and is now a Democrat.

In 2018, after two terms as governor, Scott won a U.S. Senate seat.

Congressman Trey Radel’s cocaine scandal
In 2012, Trey Radel, a former TV news anchor turned conservative radio jockey, was the surprise winner in a packed race to succeed Connie Mack in Congress.

A year later, he was busted buying cocaine from an undercover officer in Washington,  D.C. and pleaded guilty in court. He went to rehab, resigned in January 2014 and is back on the radio.

Lee’s long lines on Election Day 2012
As the polls closed on Election Day in 2012, lines of people waiting to cast a ballot were still winding out the doors of several Lee County voting locations, with some in line up to six hours.

Then-Lee County Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington gave a tearful apology during a news conference the next day, saying her staff didn’t anticipate the large turnout or equipment problems.

Commissioner Tammy Hall sent to prison
Lee County Commissioner Tammy Hall resigned in September 2013 after she was accused of using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses, including her mortgage and credit card bills.

She was sentenced to six months in prison and three years of probation.

Estero residents vote to incorporate
For the first time in 15 years, Southwest Florida incorporated a new community when Estero residents overwhelmingly voted to form their own village in November 2014.

The village held its inaugural election in March 2015, and named councilman Nick Batos the village’s first mayor.

Business

Hertz relocates to Estero
At first it was known only as “Project A,” a plan to lure an unnamed Fortune 500 company to Lee County with a $19 million incentive package.

In May 2013, it was unveiled: Hertz, the rental car giant, was relocating its corporate headquarters from New Jersey. Commissioner Frank Mann called the announcement “the most significant economic event in Lee County history.”

Hertz built its new headquarters in Estero, and brought hundreds of jobs to the region.

Arthrex keeps expanding
Arthrex just kept growing and growing and growing over the last 10 years.

In 2011, the international medical device manufacturer unveiled plans to build a manufacturing and biomedical plant near Ave Maria and a logistics center in Lee County. Five years later, Arthrex announced a massive expansion of its North Naples headquarters, which will include ultra-modern office space, a university-style campus, as well as a hotel and a wellness center.

Weiss out at NCH
Longtime NCH Health System CEO Allen Weiss stepped down in 2019 after a vote of “no confidence” by the system’s physicians.

Weiss was proposing a pilot program that would have limited the ability of non-hospital staff to admit and treat patients.

Environment

Hurricane Irma hits Florida
Somehow, for more than a decade, Southwest Florida was spared a direct hit by a hurricane.

But our luck ran out on Sept. 10, 2017, when Hurricane Irma made landfall near Marco Island as a Category 3 storm after first ravaging the Florida Keys.

Thousands of people fled before the storm hit, clogging the interstate. A record number of evacuees packed into shelters as the hurricane approached.

Irma’s storm surge flooded Everglades City homes with filthy, bacteria-laden water. The storm overwhelmed the region’s septic systems, toppled trees, ripped roofs off homes and caused 123 hurricane-related deaths in Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Red tide and blue-green algae foul waters
Southwest Florida was hit with a double whammy of a large red tide bloom in the Gulf of Mexico and toxic blue-green algae fouling the Caloosahatchee River in 2018.

The lingering red tide killed hundreds of sea turtles, dozens of manatees and even a whale shark. It left a stench of dead fish in the air, shut down beaches and harmed the local tourism industry.

Gov. Ron DeSantis responded by creating two task forces to tackle water quality issues, and Florida Gulf Coast University created the region’s first water school.

Hughes oil company stops drilling
Activists celebrated in July 2014 when the Dan A. Hughes oil company abandoned plans to drill in Southwest Florida and when the Florida Department of Environmental Protection revoked the company’s permits.

For months, environmental groups fought to stop the Texas-based company from drilling near the Everglades.

Wildfires tear through rural Collier 
Two large wildfires tore through Collier County in 2017, burning down the homes of at least eight families.

The 7,200-acre Lee Williams fire erupted in early March near the Interstate 75 and Collier Boulevard exit.  A month later, the 7,000-acre 30th Avenue Fire was ignited by a lawnmower hitting a rock in Golden Gate Estates.

Crime and Courts

Crime and corruption in Fort Myers
Murder and corruption in Fort Myers kept the city in the news nationally and even internationally.

Five-year-old Andrew Faust Jr. was shot and killed in a drive-by on Oct. 13, 2014 while playing at home – one of seven victims shot that day in four incidents.

In 2015, a shooting at the popular Zombicon festival in downtown Fort Myers, left one man dead and five others injured. In 2016, two teens were killed and dozens injured in a shooting at Club Blu nightclub.

Two years later Fort Myers police officer Adam Jobbers-Miller was killed, shot with his own weapon while in pursuit of a suspect with a long history of severe mental illness.

Amid allegations of a toxic culture, corruption and racial discrimination, the city hired a new police chief, Derrick Diggs, to lead the Fort Myers Police Department in 2016.

Mesac Damas sentenced to death 
In October 2017, after more than eight years behind bars, Mesac Damas was sentenced to death for killing his wife and their five young children in September 2009.

Even though Damas confessed at the time of the killings, the court case was repeatedly delayed by questions about Damas’ mental health and legal challenges to the state’s death penalty law. Finally, in September 2017, Circuit Judge Christine Greider allowed Damas to plead guilty to six counts of first-degree murder.

Dr. Teresa Sievers killed, husband convicted
In late June 2015, Dr. Teresa Sievers was found bludgeoned to death after returning from a family reunion to her Bonita Springs home alone.

Investigators soon jailed two men on murder charges, alleging that Curtis Wayne Wright and Jimmy Rodgers had traveled from Missouri for the killing. The twist — authorities believed Sievers’ husband, Mark, orchestrated the killing with Wright, his childhood friend, and stood to collect millions in life insurance payouts.

Wright turned state’s evidence and testified against Rodgers and Mark Sievers, who were both convicted in 2019. Mark Sievers could be sentenced to death in January.

VR Laboratories scandal
Naples residents Kay and Robert Gow, founders of VR Laboratories LLC, were convicted in 2019 of bilking Lee County out of $5 million in development grants.

The company was supposed to make nutritional drinks at a plant that never opened.

Robert Gow committed suicide shortly after sentencing. Kay Gow could spend most of the 2020s behind bars after she was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Entertainment

FGCU basketball advances to Sweet 16
The Florida Gulf Coast University men’s basketball team made history in 2013 with the players’ soaring dunks propelling the Eagles to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.

FGCU – dubbed “Dunk City” by fans and players – became the first No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16 round, captivating Southwest Floridians and basketball fans nationwide.

The Eagles started off the tournament by downing No. 2 seed Georgetown, and then knocked off No. 7 seed San Diego State before losing to No. 3 seed Florida.

The FGCU men’s team returned to the NCAA tournament again in 2016 and 2017, but hasn’t again advanced out of the first round.

‘The Phil’ changes name to Artis—Naples
In April 2013, Collier County’s Philharmonic Center for the Arts – or simply “the Phil” – was no more. The arts center would from now on be called Artis—Naples, the center’s leadership announced.

The rebrand was supposed to better reflect the center’s commitment to a wide variety of arts. But the name change didn’t go over well and the backlash was intense.

A group calling itself “Save the Phil” organized to lead the opposition, circulating a petition to restore the original name. Eventually the naysayers backed down and Artis—Naples remains.

To read this story in its original format with photos and linked content: https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2019/12/31/2010-s-look-back-collier-lee-biggest-stories-decade/2740881001/