Photos from March 28, 2006

  • Danny Quintana reaches for a library card at Tommie Barfield's media center March 27. He went wake-boarding in Miami and visited the beach at Biscayne Bay during spring break.
  • Rebeka Blanchette, left, and Alex Lowdermilk look over a paper pyramid display at Tommie Barfield Elementary's media center March 27. The two friends and classmates said they were glad FCAT was over and that they had a great time during the recent spring break — as other pupils at TBE also said.
  • Abbe Gault pours wine at Isles of Capri's 50th anniversary celebration at the community center.
  • Zachary Rodriguez, 8, hangs out with Lt. Dave Baker of the Isles of Capri Fire Department on March 25 at Capri's 50th anniversary celebration. Zachary wants to be a paramedic like Baker and become fire chief like his father, Emilio Rodriguez.
  • A festive Isles of Capri 50th anniversary cake was one of the highlights on March 25.
  • Isles of Capri resident Rob MacKenzie performs at the community's 50th anniversary celebration March 25. Attendees played horseshoes, viewed old pictures and newspaper articles, and reminisced with other residents.
  • After members of the Isles of Capri Civic Association cooked hot dogs and hamburgers, neighbors cut into a cake decorated with a map of the isles.
  • Papier-mache Dixieland musicians stand at the entrance to the casino on the <em>Navigator of the Seas.</em>
  • Ann Willson models a casual ensemble that's just right for upcoming weather at the Spring Fling style show March 27 at United Church of Marco. All fashions came from the Bargain Basket Thrift Shop.
  • The room is decorated in colorful balloons and blossoming flowers as the ladies of United Church and their guests enjoy an assortment of dainty desserts preceding the annual style show March 27 at United Church of Marco.
  • The room is decorated in colorful balloons and blossoming flowers as the ladies of United Church and their guests enjoy an assortment of dainty desserts preceding the annual style show March 27 at United Church of Marco.
  • The duet of Margaret Miller, left, and Roma Dalrymple perform music during the dessert extravaganza at the Spring Fling style show. Carolyn Kolstoe assists by turning pages for the two.
  • Arlene Heidings not only emcees the style show for the United Church Spring Fling, she also models the outfit seen here, her selection from the Bargain Basket Thrift Shop.
  • Catcher Joe Van Tuyle readies to catch a pitch while umpire Pat Reese gets ready to make the call. When Van Tuyle, 80, isn't catching for ADKOS, teammate Mark Nahabedian, 81, is behind the plate. They helped their team win the recreation division title on March 27.
  • ADKOS teammates Jerry Garrett, from left, James Cuevas and Nick Brooks show off the trophy the team won March 27 to claim the recreation division championship in the Marco Island Men's Senior Softball League.
  • Umpire Fred Carchietta watches John Arceri of Vandy's zero in on a pitch in competitive division playoff action in the Marco Island Men's Senior Softball League. Arceri slammed two singles and knocked in two runs in a losing effort against champion Sand Bar on March 25.
  • Maria Osorio and her daughter Karen sell produce at their table. Vendors pay $25 for space but keep their profits.
  • Kay Reynolds selects tomatoes before moving on to look for other fresh vegetables. 'I like them because you know they've just been picked,' she said.
  • New Jersey visitors Larry and Elaine Cherney check out the fresh-flower section at the market.
  • Karen Osorio, 9, gives a customer her change at the open-air farmers' market at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.
  • Immokalee vendor Maria Osorio hands a bag of tomatoes to a farmers' market customer at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. The markets, which benefit organizations that help poor people in nearby Immokalee, will continue from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. every Wednesday until April 26.
  • Lisa Nguyen Baldwin gets ready to take off down a slide with her 17-month-old son, Khai, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church's playground. Baldwin, a multi-age primary teacher at Tommie Barfield Elementary, plans to open her own school, called Island Montessori Academy, in August at the church's learning center wing.
  • In another post-hurricane photo on display, parishioners in Mississippi worship outside near the site of their destroyed church.
  • One of the post-Katrina photographs on display at the check presentation at St. Mark's Episcopal Church was this scene of devastation.
  • Mississippi hurricane relief worker Van Bankston, left, is seen with one of the founders of the Marco Island Disaster Fund, Bob Olson.
  • Reality check: Van Bankston, director of the Mississippi relief organization Camp Coast Care, holds the check presented by the Marco Island Disaster Fund.
  • Lydia McGugan, 8, studies a photograph depicting the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. Lydia, a Wisconsin visitor, was one of dozens of St. Mark's Episcopal Church parishioners who attended a ceremony March 26 when Marco Island Disaster Fund officials presented a $35,000 check for relief work in Mississippi towns.
  • Opi DeFalco won first place in her class for her 5-inch miniature arrangement featuring a rose with papyrus. In a tight competition the arrangement then was named the best in small and miniature arrangements, earning DeFalco the Petite Award at the 14th annual Calusa Garden Club Flower Show on March 25. DeFalco won the same award in 2004.
  • Barbara Messner, co-chairwoman of the Calusa Garden Club Show, presents the three calla lilies that won for the largest floral arrangement in the design division. Helen Shavlik created the design that won the Tricolor Award.
  • Flower lovers came in droves to see the creations at the 14th annual Calusa Garden Club Show on March 25. All entries were grown by amateur gardeners.
  • After clicking on the e-mail promising a tax refund, some residents went to this form, which asked for vital information that a real IRS document would not seek.
  • Some Marco Island residents received a bogus e-mail from March 16 to 20 announcing they were eligible for a tax refund. The message, which had the IRS logo, told them to provide financial information on a refund form.
  • The city contracted Cross Construction Services to remove 4 to 6 inches of topsoil from Site C at Veterans Memorial Park. The job should take about five days, Public Works Director Rony Joel said March 27.
  • Marco Island Moose Lodge 1990, which is more than 20 years old and has termite damage, was built to house a temporary sales office and was never intended to be the group’s permanent building, administrator Jeff Falerni said. Now that lodge members have received approval from the Planning Board, they hope to have a new home within 18 months. The City Council still must approve the building plans.
  • James Cuevas, manager of the ADKOS team in the Marco Island Men's Senior Softball League, shows the trophy the team won March 27 as recreation division champion. On the same day he played for Sand Bar, the winning team in the competitive division.
  • Merino
  • Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, center, is fouled by Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson, right, as Jermaine O'Neal tries to block the shot during the first quarter Monday night in Miami.
  • Andy Roddick celebrates after defeating Fernando Verdasco, 6-3,6-4, at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne on Monday.
  • Barron Collier's Evan Brezovsky fires a shot for a goal to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead over Community School during a Monday lacrosse game at Barron. The Cougars won, 4-2.
  • Community School's Danny Ross, bottom, tries to regain control of the ball after being checked by Barron Collier's Andrew Shields, top, during their lacrosse game at Barron Collier on Monday. Barron defeated Community School in the game 4-2.
  • Tampa Bay Devil Rays Carl Crawford, right, and teammate Greg Norton, top, take down Boston Red Sox pitcher Julian Tavarez, middle, after Tavarez fought Tampa Bay Devil Rays base runner Joey Gathright following an incident while trying to score.
  • Boston Red Sox pitcher Julian Tavarez, top, punches Tampa Bay Devil Rays base runner Joey Gathright in the head after he slid into Tavarez while trying to score on a hit by Julio Lugo in the eighth inning of Monday's spring training game in Fort Myers. Both benches cleared after the incident.
  • Now 26, Jason, left, and Jeremy watch a recent Detroit Tigers-Los Angeles Dodgers spring training game in Lakeland. Although the two brothers live far apart these days, baseball brings them back together every spring.
  • Jeremy Cox, left, and Jason Cox as 5-year-olds: At the time, it was difficult to tell the identical twins apart, but hidden troubles would lead to a more difficult life for Jason.
  • Maureen Gowen and Jessica Ong look at rejected card ideas at Hallmark in Kansas City, Mo., in January. The card ideas posted are funny, but didn't make the final cut.
  • Mikayla Anderson, left, and Nicole Coleman, both first-graders at Seacrest Country Day School, play in the back of the line at the school's library on Monday afternoon while Kate Talano, second from right, receives an 'I Voted' sticker from Cyndi Young, the education coordinator from the Collier County Supervisor of Elections Office.
  • Bodie
  • Kevin Nelson, 1, right, runs out the front door of his Sunnyland Garden Apartment where his mom has started packing their belongings to move out by March 31. All residents of the Golden Gate apartments were given 15-day notice to vacate.
  • Tracy Bakulski, from left, her daughter Brittany Bromme, 5, and boyfriend Steve Madsen along with neighbors Tomeka Maulden and her daughter Jakeela, 19, right, stand outside their apartments Monday afternoon and discuss how they have been given 15 days notice to move out of their homes at Sunnyland Garden Apartments in Golden Gate.
  • Marilaise Joseph holds her daughter Daphenie, 2, as her two other daughters, Yolanda, 1, right, and Davelyne, 3, not pictured, hang out near the front door of their Sunnyland Gardens home. Joseph is a stay-at-home mother with five children and her husband drives a taxi for work. She and her husband, Louis, and the other residents in the Golden Gate apartments, received a letter on March 15 giving them until March 31 to vacate their homes. 'Last week I cried every day,' said Joseph, who says she and her husband have not found another place to live and have no family in Naples.
  • Dominic Ramirez, 4, occupies himself in the front seat as Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Paul France instructs Dominic's mother, Anita, on how to install a car seat in her SUV on Monday morning at Station 70 on Golden Gate Parkway in Golden Gate. About 10 underprivileged mothers involved with the organization Grace Place were given car seats at cost — no more than $25 each — for their children and shown the proper way to install them. The Golden Gate Fire Control and Rescue District, the Collier County Sheriff's Office and the East Naples Fire District sponsored the event.
  • Megan Hutchins, center foreground, leads volunteers from Call to Action of Southwest Florida away from a McDonald's in San Carlos Park after delivering a petition to the restaurant manager on Monday. The petition calls for better pay for migrant tomato pickers.
  • Lucy Guzman, owner of Luz Miguel Cleaning Inc., works on one of the newly constructed homes at the Sun Village development in East Bonita on Monday. Eight homes are finished and another 12, background, are under construction.
  • 'Wow. I found the jackpot,' exclaimed Brent Plummer, 8, left, before devouring a large strawberry, while his father, Mark, and brother, Andrew, 5, collected his find at Farmer Mike's U-Pick off Morton Grove Avenue in East Bonita on Monday. The Plummers, on spring break from Ohio, visit family in the area each year and always make a stop for fresh strawberries. 'We use the strawberries in our cereal, with whip cream and dip them in chocolate,' Mark Plummer said. The U-pick will be open until mid-May.

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