Photos from May 23, 2006

  • <strong>Golden Apple</strong> — Carl Kolling was escorted to the podium by Patrick Trittler, left, of <em>n magazine</em> and Maria Burns of Naples Grande Resort & Club to accept his 2006 Golden Apple award May 16.
  • Lely High School seniors Nancy Rose Spector, left, and Kristen Cooke have a little fun before going up on stage to collect their scholarship awards on May 18.
  • Lely High School seniors Serena Sciallis, from left Jonathan Caruso, Samantha Scheeler, and Brian Fletcher capture a moment before learning which scholarships they'd been granted on May 18.
  • Kenny Finley makes a point during his solo spot in the third-grade presentation.
  • Performers Jessica Simon, from left Lexie Lundquist, Erin Homuth, Jessica Andrade and Tanner Fulcher enjoy their moment stage-front at the presentation.
  • Third-grade students at Tommie Barfield Elementary radiate how it feels in one of the songs they sang at their recent combined performance at the school May 19.
  • Carmen Fontdevila runs the child of an immigrant worker through an eye test at Manatee Elementary School as part of her mission to improve the lot of migrant worker children.
  • Carmen Fontdevila, left, and Marco Islander Karen Saeks display a simple pair of sneakers they say is the type of functional gift they want in order to improve the lives of children of migrant workers. Fontdevila helps with the home-school liaison migrant education program in Collier County, and Saeks is a volunteer who was struck by the plight of migrant worker families.
  • Grilled duck breast with grand Marnier sauce on fresh mini vegetables and roasted fingerling potatoes.
  • Numerous watercraft offer on the water activities or serve to take beach-goers from the lagoon area to Gulf-side beaches at Tigertail Beach.
  • Families use cabanas to help screen young children for a day of sun at Tigertail Beach on May 21.
  • New additions to Tigertail Beach's watercraft concession are sea squirts. These motorized boats send out 20 feet or more spray that allows water battles on the lagoon.
  • Looking much like a beach day at a fancy resort, the seashore of Tigertail Beach is lined with colorful cabanas. The park offers plenty of amenities to make beach-time pleasant and relaxing.
  • Lynn Switzer, owner of Everglades Ranch, displays the type of T-shirt participants will receive at summer camp. Switzer is scheduling both day camps and week-long sessions for horse enthusiasts and those who would like to learn to ride.
  • Lynn Switzer's 70 acres Everglades Ranch is next door to Picayune State Forest and Belle Meade Horse Trails.
  • Janet Kane, right, boards Winchester at Everglades Ranch. She is pleased with the stables and cleanliness. She had boarded her horse in Fort Myers but likes Lynn Switzer's philosophies on horse care and this environment much better.
  • Jordan Tantum of Marco Island on Snowman takes riding lessons May 20 at Everglades Ranch just west of Interstate 75. Tantum likes to ride bareback because it helps her learn to stay in balance on the horse.
  • Jordan Tantum, left, and Tanto learn respect for each other as they move around the arena at Everglades Ranch on May 20. This natural method of mutual understanding helps horse and rider bond for the next step, mounting the steed.
  • In the style of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans of radio and early television fame, Jordan Tantum atop Snowman and Lynn Switzer wave goodbye from the Everglades Ranch May 20.
  • This photo shows one of Marco's best performing talents, hard at work entertaining locals and visitors. If you can name the performer and the venue where she performs regularly, e-mail me immediately. Include your name and phone number in the e-mail.
  • Depiction of Native American Art titled At the Beach the Friends Saw Birds is a 56 inch by 27 inch fabric work.
  • A display of several items available under the state's Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday are on display at Sunshine Ace Hardware on San Marco Road. No sales or local taxes will be charged for items through June 1.
  • Entertainer Jerri Harris sings <em>Could I Have This Dance </em>to Bill Perdichizzi, president of the Marco Island Historical Society. Harris entertained for 125 people at the Marco Island Historical Society tea on May 21.
  • Linda Chute, from left, is fancily dressed for the Marco Island Historical Society Tea on May 21, as she signs in with Peggy Polson, Sally Wolliver and Fee Erskine.
  • The Marco Island Historical Society honored its founders at a fund-raising tea on May 21. Some of the founders include, from left, Pauline Staiano, Priscilla Penn, Arleen Soldano, Judy Kenney and Pat McKee, who was representing the late Jane Hittler.
  • <strong>Safe Boating Week</strong> — Other service groups including the Marco Island Civil Air Patrol, Marco Island Fire Department, Marco Island Power Squadron and Marco Island Police Department help the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary promote its open house and Safe Boating Week on May 20.
  • <strong>Safe Boating Week</strong> — Marco Island Civil Air Patrol's Pat Lammersfeld explains to Alex Saputo on May 20 how distress calls are handled in cooperation with Marco Island's U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. When emergencies are spotted from the air, the location can be called to the Coast Guard for rescue.
  • <strong>Safe Boating Week</strong> — Officer Hector Diaz helps Phyllis Stellman into a life vest before leaving the dock. The Marco Island Police Department participated in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's open house at Caxambas Park by taking visitors riding on its marine patrol boat.
  • Thirty-seven young athletes competed in Major League Baseball's Pitch, Hit and Run Competition at the city's baseball field behind Tommie Barfield Elementary School.
  • The cable and lock system distributed by Project Childsafe works equally well on all types of firearms. Unlike trigger-guard type systems, the cable lock not only prevents the weapon from being fired, but also prevents the weapon from being loaded.
  • Sgt. Dennis Sullivan and Cpl. Thomas Cole relax for a moment after a potentially tense call in the Country Creek neighborhood Monday night.
  • Lt. Morgan Bowden, left, introduces Cpl. Thomas Cole and Cpl. Mike Detar to the community at last month's San Carlos Park Civic Association meeting. Cole and Detar have been assigned to San Carlos Park as community officers to provide more in-depth law enforcement service in the growing community.
  • Cpl. Thomas Cole, one of two Lee County sheriff's deputies assigned to the San Carlos Park community, monitors emergency calls throughout his shift. He also patrols the streets and keeps tabs on known juvenile offenders.
  • Juan Andres Rios
  • Vultures roam the streets of Diamond Shores, eating out of dumpsters, or tossing items onto the street for more easy pickings. Some 20 trailers, with one or more families in them are still occupied in the mobile home park. Some are looking for new residences, others hanging on because they don't think they can find rental units they can afford.
  • Kandy Sweeney has been named communications director for the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors.
  • Amber Prange, a former Lely High School student and daughter of Jim Prange and Cheryl Bell, plans to run the 26.2 mile San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon on June 4.
  • Three African red river hogs, with eye-catching looks, make their home in the Naples Zoo.
  • This past winter, Erin Zampell and the Barron Collier Cougars won the first state basketball title - boys or girls - in Southwest Florida history.
  • Brown
  • Mike Phillips takes a break from fishing to change his lure after work on Monday in North Naples. Phillips heads to the inland waterway near the entrance to Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park frequently and said he took up fishing because he is relaxed by 'the rhythm of reeling.'
  • Heather Benton, who is graduating from Golden Gate High School, has played the trombone since sixth grade. Next year she plans to attend Florida Gulf Coast University to study environmental science.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning center Brad Richards, right, signs a five-year, $39 million deal as general manager Jay Feaster looks on Monday morning in Tampa.
  • Florida Marlins' Ricky Nolasco (47) is congratulated by Dan Uggla after Nolasco hit a home run in the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Nolasco pitched seven strong innings in Florida's 9-1 win.
  • A spotlighted group of Florida Everblades fans take notice of the team's 2005 ECHL American Conference championship banner as it is raised to the Germain Arena rafters on Oct. 28.
  • The Florida Everblades have consistently been at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to attendance in the ECHL, filling Germain Arena almost to capacity on a regular basis like they did here last month for Game 1 of the South Division semifinals. Florida's average crowd of 6,239 during the regular season would have ranked 10th in the AHL this year, which is why it is an attractive market to the Triple-A league.
  • Johnson
  • Masters
  • Last fall, Estero junior Bona Jones blew away the field to win this year's Class 2A cross country state title.
  • Bonita Middle School sixth-grader Daniel Vazquez shoots over fellow classmates, including Abraham Hernandez, top, at the Bonita Springs Community Pool on Monday as part of the school's rewards day program for students with good academic and behavior records. Students were recognized individually at school with an assembly before taking in a movie and finishing with a swim at the pool.
  • Dave Kellum stands outside his Dean Street home in 2003 shortly after he and his family learned the house would need to be moved to make way for the Imperial Parkway road project through Bonita Springs. Kellum and his family will be moving out of the home in the next few months, but local preservationist Chris Busk hopes to save the house, built in 1929, from demolition by moving it a few lots west.
  • Gustin
  • Workers at the Sun-N-Fun Lagoon place the last pieces of tile for the Lazy River water park ride in North Naples on Monday. The park's grand opening to the public is at 4 p.m. June 21.
  • Monday's Bonita Springs City Council meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd, mostly Worthington Country Club residents, who arrived by the busloads to urge the council to delay a vote on a 500-acre zoning density change that would allow up to 1,601 units to be built east of Interstate 75. The council approved the rezoning on a 5-2 vote.
  • Bonita Springs City Councilman John Joyce, middle, shakes hands with Brian Farrar, left, director of land development for Ronto Groups, and Dan Wagner, right, president of Worthington Country Club, following Monday's rezoning hearing.
  • Jay Speer, executive director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, leans next to the center's law library in his office in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday. Speer says payday lending businesses charge interest rates of 380 percent on an annual basis and trap the customer.
  • A pedestrian walks to a Cash Advance store in Richmond, Va., on Friday.
  • The City Council approved the rezoning on a 5-2 vote, allowing the Ronto Group to build the third and final phase on 1,299 acres the company owns on the south side of Bonita Beach Road.
  • The City Council approved the rezoning on a 5-2 vote, allowing the Ronto Group to build the third and final phase on 1,299 acres the company owns on the south side of Bonita Beach Road.
  • The City Council approved the rezoning on a 5-2 vote, allowing the Ronto Group to build the third and final phase on 1,299 acres the company owns on the south side of Bonita Beach Road.
  • The City Council approved the rezoning on a 5-2 vote, allowing the Ronto Group to build the third and final phase on 1,299 acres the company owns on the south side of Bonita Beach Road.
  • A black-eyed Susan.
  • A Gulf fritillary butterfly (agraulis vanillae nigrior) perches on a nuttall's thistle (cirsium nuttallii) along a CREW trail.
  • A blue heart (buchnera Americana) peaks out from the shadows along a CREW hiking trail in Estero. CREW lands are among the most diverse flora havens in the state, boasting several hundred species.
  • Peter Batts and Karyn Person walk along a Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed trail. CREW maintains more than 60,000 acres and has more than five miles of trails that weave through a diverse set of plant communities.
  • A black-eyed Susan droops lazily along a CREW trail. These wildflowers can be found on undeveloped lands as well as roadside ditches and backyards.
  • A queen butterfly caterpillar (danaus gilippus berenice) crawls along on an overcast morning in the Everglades near Gator Hook Trail off Loop Road.
  • An ant investigates a milkweed blossom (asclepias lanceolata). Milkweed is a host plant for butterflies that their eggs on the plant, giving the offspring caterpillars an immediate food source in the plant itself.
  • A marsh-pink wildflower faces the sun on an overcast morning off Loop Road and U.S. 41 in east Collier County. Heavy rains that mark the beginning of the tropical rainy season have prompted wet season flower blooms.
  • A blooming duck potato blossom stands open in a prairie near Loop Road in Big Cypress National Preserve.

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