Upcoming Events Wed, August 21- Social Media Planning Meeting starting at 6 pm. Salty Girls Island Cafe 10700 Stringfellow Rd in Bokeelia, close to center. All members welcome to hear about our new website design progress! Mon, August 26- September Board Meeting starting at 6 pm. Salty Girls Island Cafe 10700 Stringfellow Rd in Bokeelia, close to center. Wed, Aug 28- Pine Island Elementary Fishing Tournament and Derby Committee Meeting starting at 6 pm. Capt'n Con's Fish House 8421 Main St in Bokeelia. See details below. Mon, Sept 2- Labor Day Family Bash 11 am- 4 pm. Saint James City Civic Center 3300 Fourth Ave in Saint James City. Volunteers needed. See details below. Fri, Sept 6- Fort Myers River District Alliance Art Walk 5- 9 pm. Downtown Fort Myers. See details below. Mon. Sept 9- September General Membership Meeting starting at 5:30 pm. American Legion, 4106 Stringfellow Road, St. James City. See details below. Tues, Sept 10- Pine Island Elementary Fishing Tournament and Derby Committee Meeting starting at 6 pm. Capt'n Con's Fish House 8421 Main St in Bokeelia. See details below. Sat, Sept 14- Mrs. Roper Romp and Caftan Crawl starting at 3 pm. VFW 8150 Stringfellow Rd in Saint James City. See details below! Sat, Sept 21- Peace Day Pine Island 10 am- 4 pm. Saint James City Civic Association 3300 Fourth Avenue in Saint James City. Volunteers needed. See details below. Members are encouraged to visit the website for up-to-date news, meeting minutes, financials, merchandise and committee event forms. |
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PLEASE make sure you're loading this entire edition of The Herald! Depending on your device, The Herald may be getting "clipped" and not fully loading. The very last things you should see are the P.O. Box address and "Visit the Website" link at the bottom. If you're not seeing this, there are two things you can try. At the very top of the Herald, click on the option to View in a Browser. If that doesn't work, look for "View Entire Message" where it looks to be the end/bottom of The Herald. You should be able to click and load the rest of The Herald. Hopefully this helps some of our members, who haven't been able to hear about all of the awesome things that the Matlacha Hookers have going on! |
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What a busy month this has been and September seems to be even busier! Our Matlacha Hookers Board has been involved with brainstorming fundraiser ideas, as we keep with the theme “work smarter, not harder.” We continue to look at fundraisers from a Return-On-Investment perspective in regards to financial and member volunteer resources. Kudos to Darcy Conner and Tracy Chapple for their efforts in the You’ve Been Flocked fundraiser. Kudos also go out to Tammey Lynch and Stacy Sims for their endeavors with the First Annual Helen Goes Hooking with the Matlacha Hookers ~ Mrs. Roper Romp and Caftan Crawl. Lastly, Kudos to Tracy Chapple and Tiffany Noel on their creativity with the flyer and social media on this new event. Hookers Rule!!! Special thanks to Darcy Conner, who has taken on the chairperson role for the Pine Island Elementary Derby and Fishing Tournament. This is a major fundraiser with many moving parts. We need all hands on deck for this event. Kudos to the members who signed up early to help. Please attend the August 28th meeting as we delve into the specific needs of our volunteers. Madam LindaBo |
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Best Wishes, Natalie Gazda |
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Congratulations to Natalie Gazda, a 20-year member who has contributed her time and energy to impact our community. In honor of her commitment to the Hooked on Education Scholarship program, the Matlacha Hookers Board had established The Natalie Gazda Scholarship, which will be given to a student who demonstrates community volunteerism. At our August General Membership meeting, Natalie was also gifted a lifetime Hooker membership, a piece of Cape Coral wall art, a vintage ArtFest shirt, and a Matlacha Hookers 25th Anniversary party shirt. Congratulations again and best wishes to you with your move and the start of your next adventures. We will miss you! |
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Another Successful School Supply Drive Is In the Books! |
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The children of Pine Island are off to a great start to the 2024-2025 school year, which commenced last week. The Matlacha Hookers wrapped our annual School Supply Drive at the end of July, which included collecting and sorting all of the donated items. We distributed the supplies in backpacks to families at Pine Island Elementary at their Open House on August 8. The remainder of the supplies (including the much needed copy paper!) were divided up between the faculty and staff. The monetary donations we collected (totaling nearly $3K!) will be presented to Dr. G at the General Membership meeting on September 9. As many of you know, we also received a special donation from the Larry Lappin Foundation. This donation covered 4 of the 5 items on the Wish List that Madam LindaBo garnered from Pine Island Elementary administration, which included high-quality headphones, recess bags, principal party items, STEM project supplies, and the all-grades field trip to North Fort Myers Academy of the Arts live theater production. We just couldn't be more thrilled!! We'd like to extend a heartfelt and enormous THANK YOU to our volunteers: Sherry Ifill, Heidi Lutz, Tammey Lynch, Kathleen Marquis, Pam McCarty, Kimmy Rasmussen, Scottie Thomas, Lorie Tidwell, Cindee Tolliver, Donna Trusik, and Cindy Walton. Special thanks also goes out to the Stuff the Trailer team: Joanne Correia, DJ Ruscik, Deb Syring, and Anna VanKirk. Finally, we'd like to express sincere gratitude to everyone who donated supplies and funds. Christy Rau and Joyce Boyer School Supply Drive Co-Chairs |
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| | Larry Lappin and Joyce Boyer |
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| | Fishers of Men Noisy Offering: Julie Kayatta and Marilyn Moore, Joyce Boyer, Donna Trusik, & Cindy Walton |
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A Note from our Chaplain, Anna: Hurricane Season Is Here! |
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Hurricane season is here. If you or someone you know have special needs and require assistance evacuating to a shelter, you can contact the Lee County Special Needs Program at 239-533-0640. Please call in advance. You must register early. You may also contact Lee County Emergency shelters at 239-533-0622. For more information, click the link below. |
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Paint the Poles on Pine Island ~ Update |
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| | Check out our completed pole at Capt'n Con's! |
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| | Thank you to Linda Bohacek and Natalie Hetrick for your work on the bobber pole near Island Acres! |
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As previously announced, the Matlacha Hookers were approved to paint five electric poles at various locations on Pine Island. Stay tuned for more updates! |
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Pine Island Food Pantry ~ Stock the Box at Centennial Bank |
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The Pine Island Food Pantry is partnering with Centennial Bank for a special Stock the Box non-perishable food drive due to high demand and low inventory, and they are asking for the assistance of the Matlacha Hookers. Please help spread the word! This special drive runs until the end of August. Here are their needs: Dry cereal, diced tomatoes/sauce, crackers, chips, instant mashed potatoes, canned vegetables: peas, green beans, corn, and all types of beans, canned tuna/albacore, assorted pastas, canned soups, ramen noodles, rice, gravy mixes, macaroni and cheese, cookies, and pet food. Centennial Bank is located at 5551 Sunset Lane in Saint James City, not far from the center. They are open Monday- Thursday 8:30 am- 4:30 pm, and Friday 8:30 am- 6:00 pm. Pine Island Food pantry donations are also accepted at the following locations: Winn-Dixie, V.F.W., American Legion, Moose Lodge, the Matlacha Post Office or at the pantry when it is open on Monday and Thursdays, 9 am - 11 am. |
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Volunteers Needed ~ Labor Day Family Bash |
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Volunteers are requested at this community island event. Click the link below to see the Google Document for more information. Suggestions and different game ideas are welcome! Questions? Please contact Kathleen Marquis 978-766-4946 pineisland1965@gmail.com to find out how you can help. |
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Fort Myers River District Alliance Art Walk ~ September 6 |
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September 6 is our 4th of 5 opportunities to staff the beverage tent at the Fort Myers River District Alliance Art Walk. Matlacha Hookers sell beer and water under the Sun Coast Kona tent from 5-9 pm on the first Friday of the month thru October 4, 2024. Weather has not been our friend for the first 3 Art Walks; two of the 3 were cancelled. However, we've had a lot of fun and we're optimistic that we'll have better numbers for the last two Art Walk events in September and October. If you aren't familiar with the Fort Myers River District Alliance Art Walk, please click on the link below to learn more about the event, the venue, participating vendors and other details. We still need 2 more volunteers for the Sep 6 event from 6:30-9 pm. Please contact Lorie Tidwell at 202.294.4901 or lorah.tidwell@gmail.com for additional information or to volunteer. Thanks in advance for your support and participation. |
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Pine Island Elementary Fishing Derby ~ November 3 |
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If you would like to be on the Derby Committee, please attend our first meeting on Wednesday, August 28 at Capt'n Con's, 8421 Main St in Bokeelia. Some Breakout Committees will be: · Acquiring Donation Items & Sponsors o Soliciting / Cold calling & door knocking o Hook-A-Basket Items o Sponsorships /Vendors o Fishing Poles o Bikes / Helmets o Booze cooler · Registration o Kids Registration o Kids Derby Deputies o Adults Registration · Marketing o Website / signup o Social Media o Outside Media o Signage o T-shirts (adults and kids) o Posters / Flyers o Sponsor Banners · Entertainment o Music o Cast Net demonstration o Awards · Food/Beverage o Water/soda o Capt’n Cons – Kick off party & Day of food o Beer / wine · Permitting / Site Management o Permits o Layout o Port-o-potty o Tents o Flatbed for stage o Measure Master · Day of o 50/50 o Photography / drone o Awards o Goody Bags o Board / weigh in board for kids o Booze cooler o Mr Fix it = all Dad’s on deck! Contact Darcy Conner 954-816-9779 so we can send you information regarding meetings and day of event. |
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September General Membership Meeting |
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Monday, September 9, 2024 American Legion Post 136 4106 Stringfellow Rd in Saint James City Doors open at 5 pm to start ordering food and beverages. Reminder: the American Legion only accepts cash! The meeting begins promptly at 6:30 pm. We will presenting Dr Galbreath, Pine Island Elementary Principal, the School Supply Drive check at this meeting! **If you ordered a name badge this year, please don't forget to pick it up at the registration table when you arrive** As always, please don't forget to bring food pantry donations! |
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The First Annual Mrs. Roper Romp and Caftan Crawl will be on September 14th. The $20 registration goes toward the Hooked on Education Scholarship Fund. Locations are listed on the flyer above, and the event can also be found on Facebook by clicking the button below! Every Mrs. Roper will get a raffle ticket for prizes and 50/50’s will be held at each stop. We are looking for 4 volunteers to run the 50/50, two for the first two stops and two for the last two stops. Kits that include wigs, jewelry, and a caftan can be purchased in advance thru 9/01. Reach out to Stacey Sims 239-218-4652, Tammey Lynch 239-209-7445, or Tracy Chapple 317-501-9930 to place orders and with any questions. |
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☮️ ✌️ Peace Day Pine Island ~ Volunteers Needed✌️ ☮️ |
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Saturday, September 21, 2024 Saint James City Civic Association 3300 Fourth Avenue, Saint James City, FL A huge thank you goes out to Anna Van Kirk, who is managing the children's area for Peace Day Pine Island on September 21. She has a couple of wonderful activities planned for the children to participate in and they will be able to take home their creations. She is asking for 2 shifts of volunteers, each with 2 volunteers. Both shifts are 2.5 hrs long. The area is shaded by trees and a shade sail. There is seating on picnic tables, so you may want to bring a chair. If you are interested, please sign up on the link. We are also looking for volunteers in other areas of the festival, and those sign ups can be found in the link as well. If you would like to contact us directly, Jennifer's cell is 239-443-0244 and email is sacredsoulsllc@gmail.com. Thank you, Ronda Czarneke and Jennifer Bennett |
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Save the Date: Adopt-A-Road 10/5 |
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We are tentatively scheduled for our next Adopt-A-Road on October 5. As the construction on Pine Island Road continues, we'll update as to the plans for meeting that Saturday morning. We normally meet at 8:30 am, but depending on construction progress, we may meet in two different locations on Pine Island Road. We'll provide safety vests, pickers, bags, bug spray, water and plenty of smiling faces. This is a great opportunity to meet some fellow Hookers and get a little exercise and fresh air to start your weekend. Please feel free to bring your significant other, friends, or kids. The more, the merrier. The more that volunteer, the faster the clean up goes. We're normally done in about an hour and a half. Stay tuned for more info at the September General Membership meeting and in future Heralds. We hope to see many of you on October 5! Thanks for your support. Shirley Noble and Lorie Tidwell Adopt a Road Co-chairs |
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2025 Membership Dues and Voting Eligibility |
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We are now accepting dues for the 2025 membership year. To participate in the upcoming elections during the November meeting, please ensure your dues are paid by the October membership meeting. Timely payment is essential in order to be eligible to vote. |
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The password for our website has been updated! Members Only Area Password: HookM24 |
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Join our Members-Only Facebook Group! |
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Join us in the exclusive Matlacha Hooker Facebook Group! This private page is your ultimate destination for all things Matlacha Hookers. Stay tuned for event announcements, community news, and stories of how we're making an impact together. Plus, enjoy a glimpse into the fun and camaraderie that define our group. |
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Check out and Share our Public Facebook Page! |
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Herald and website content submissions, along with questions or concerns, should be sent to Christy Rau at christinaerau@icloud.com. Please do not email Christy by replying to, or forwarding a Herald publication. Since we use the free version of WIX for both our website and emails, the Herald emails actually go out under a different email address, which she does not have access to. |
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