Upcoming Events 

Tues., Mar. 22 - Farewell to Robin (Little Lilly's) starting 6 pm at Goldy's Chicken Shack

Sat., Mar. 26 - Adopt a Road.  Meet at Olde Fish House in Matlacha at 8:30 am.

Mon., Mar. 28 - Island Luau Wrap Up Meeting at SJCC starting at 6 pm.

Thu., Mar 31 - Deadline to Vote for Bert’s Bar in the  First Horizon Contest!  Go to www.winwithfirsthorizon.com; select Ft Myers/Naples and scroll down the list the Bert’s Bar.

Be sure to VOTE, EVERYDAY until the deadline.

Sat., Apr 2 - Shred Day at Elks, benefiting the Pine Island Food Pantry. Time to get rid of those old documents safely to avoid identity theft.

Mon., Apr. 4 - Board Meeting starting at 6 pm.  Location TBD

Fri., Apr. 8 - “Hooked on Education” 2022 Scholarship Application deadline.

Mon., Apr 11 - General Meeting at House of Omelets with doors opening at 5pm and meeting starting at 6:30 pm.

Sat-Sun, Apr 23 or 24th - Islandfest Rescheduled with Mullet Toss and Kiwanis Fish Drop.

Sat., May 7 - Blood Drive, location to be determined.

Sat., May 14 - Stamp Out Hunger USPS Food Drive - to benefit the Pine Island Food Pantry.

4th of July Parade - the Matlacha Hookers will have a float.

Month of July - PIE School Supply Drive and FISH Clothing for Kids drive/adoption.

Sat., Jul 16 - Mini MangoMania at Fishers of Men Lutheran Church.  Save the Date!

Please read Fraud Alert at the bottom of this email and share if this happens to you! 

Members are encouraged to visit the website for up to date news, meeting minutes, financials, merchandise and committee event forms.  

Leadership Corner

Looking forward to all the Hooker planned events this year as well as the arrival of my 2nd

grandchild. It’s a boy and he is expected by April 9th. My first grandchild is now 9 months

old and crawling around like crazy. So glad my children live close by so I get to enjoy being a grandma. I have 2 boys who live in Ft Myers and a daughter in Sebring.

I am the Manager/Buyer for Bert’s Pinebay Gallery. I so love my job. I’ve been in this role

for a year now and what a year it has been with stock shortages and shipping delays. I told the previous manager she retired at the perfect time, as she would have been stressed out by now.

Sincerely, Monica Kochel, Director

PLEASE VOTE, EVERYDAY

until the deadline on Thursday, March 31st. 

DO NOT DELAY! 

Go to www.winwithfirsthorizon.com; scroll down to select Ft Myers/Naples, then scroll down to the bottom of the list of businesses to Bert’s Bar.  You only need to enter your contact information the first time you vote.

Card Shower

Our dear member Eileen Feldman passed away on Friday March 4th. She was a long time member who had a beautiful spirit and will be dearly missed. A card shower request has been made for her husband John Feldman 12166 Moon Shell Dr, Matlacha Isles, FL 33991

With so much going on this season, we're rescheduling Adopt A Road to March 26th.   Safety of our volunteers is a primary concern and the Chamber Mullet Toss event is also scheduled for March 12th so we're moving our clean up date to March 26.

Meet at 8:30am behind Olde Fish House in Matlacha.  We'll provide safety vests, pickers, bags ,bug spray, gloves and water.  PLUS lots of smiling faces and fresh air.  The more volunteers, the faster it goes.  Usually we are done in less than 90 minutes.  Bring your spouse, neighbor or kid(s). This is a great activity that yields immediate results. 

Enjoy the clean landscape as you travel through Matlacha and know you're part of the team that keeps it looking good.

See you on March 26!  Lorie Tidwell and Shirley Noble ,Adopt A Road co-chairs

Next Meeting for the Island Luau is March 28th at SJCC

The Postmortem Meeting for the Island Luau is scheduled for March 28th – Doors open @5:30 Meeting Starts at 6pm

Write up your thoughts about the Event – The good, it was a great event, but we still need to fix things to make it better.

Also send all your pictures you took to Sandy, Joanne or Lucinda so we can get them into our group folders for marketing

Get your expenses in to Deb so we can finish out the Project. And give the Beacon the $$ at the April General Meeting

We will make a decision on what to give the Beacon at that meeting, not before this meeting.

THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU FOR A GREAT EVENT – STAY TUNED

Island Luau Committee Online Meeting Information

Mon, Mar 28, 2022 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (EDT)

 Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://meet.goto.com/528990893

You can also dial in using your phone.   (For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.)

United States: +1 (312) 757-3121    - One-touch: tel:+13127573121,,528990893#

Access Code: 528-990-893

THE APRIL GENERAL MEETING

Monday, April 11

House of Omelets

 900 SW Pine Island Rd, Cape Coral, FL 33991

Doors open at 5 pm. Food will be available to purchase.  The meeting starts at 6:30 pm.  Please bring Food Pantry and Scholarship donations.  

Upcoming Events

“Hooked on Education” 2022 Scholarship Application

The Matlacha Hookers is looking to grant scholarships to qualified applicants again this year. Scholarships may be used for tuition, books or other acceptable costs of education for either a certification, licensing or technical program or toward a college degree. Notification of Scholarship winners will be made prior to the Hookers’ general meeting in May.  Application Deadline is April 8th, 2022.   For questions, please call Chairperson:  Natalie Gazda 239-322-9701

Secret Sisterhood Hooked on Education Fund is BACK!

We are asking all Matlacha Hookers to join us by to help our students succeed.  

You can donate on whatever payment option you choose.  If online, select the Scholarship Program in the drop down box and then let our Treasurer, Debra Syring deb_jordo@yahoo.com, know if your donation is for the “Secret Sisterhood Hooked on Education Fund" which can be for any dollar amount, or if you preferred to be recognized as a full Scholarship Sponsor.  Donations can be made online or by cash or check, with the latter either dropped off at a general meeting or mailed to Debra Syring, 2211 Banana Street SJC, FL 33956.  For questions, please call Chairperson:  Natalie Gazda 239-322-9701

Pine Island Food Pantry

Mark your calendars- Shred Day will be Saturday, April 2 at the Elks from 10 am- 12 pm.  Pine Island residents are invited to get their shred on to dispose of sensitive documents such as bank, legal and medical records – in a safe and secure manner while supporting the Pine Island Food Pantry.  Sponsored by the Greater Pine Island Elks, Lodge 2871, residents who bring five canned goods for each banker-sized box or 13 lb. plastic bag of documents to the Elk’s Lodge, 5630 Pine Island Rd, Bokeelia, FL 33922, will be able to have their documents shredded securely and safely by Shred It Direct. Monetary donations will also be accepted.  A drive-thru format will be used.   

The Food Pantry everyday pantry needs include small bags, pouches or boxes of potatoes or white rice, saltines, ramen noodle multi packs, bag or box noodles (any kind, except not spaghetti), canned beef, stew, spam or pork, strawberry or grape jelly, hamburger helper, kids size snack packages and personal care products, such as, toothpaste and toothbrushes, laundry detergent, shampoo, deodorant, razors, dish soap, feminine hygiene products and size 6 diapers or pull ups.  

Nonperishable donations can also be dropped off at the following locations: Winn-Dixie, V.F.W., American Legion, Moose, Elks, Centennial Bank, the Matlacha Post Office or at the pantry when it is open on Monday and Thursdays, 8:30 am - 10:30 am. Visit pineislandfoodpantry.org to learn more. Thank you!

**IMPORTANT WEBSITE ACCESS INFORMATION**

The website Members ONLY pages have been updated and are accessible on the HOME page in two sections. Drop down menu...More also located in middle of home page. This area now holds ALL of the pages previously protected by a password. You will now only be required to enter the 2022 Password: 20HMP22 one time on the Members only page. Each button on this page will open in a new window for you to easily navigate between pages without having to enter the password multiple times. Please do not give the password out.  Members need to email the Secretary at 

matlachahookers@matlachahookers.org to have their membership verified before receiving the new password.  Thank you, Vice Madam Julia

Fraud Alert!  Be Aware and Share if this happens to you!

One of our Board Members was at a local Salon on Thursday and was told that a ‘couple of women had stopped by earlier that day asking for a Gift Certificate for the Matlacha Hookers upcoming Painting Event.’ They were asked to leave information and they said that they did not have on them and left. We are NOT hosting an upcoming Painting Event nor soliciting for anything at this time.

The same day it sounds like the same two women walked into a restaurant a few doors down asking for the same; but this time they said that ‘it was for a fund raiser for someone (no name was mentioned) with cancer on the island.’ Again they were asked to leave information and gave the same excuse that they did not have with them and left.

This has been reported to the Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce, I’ll be submitting a notice to the Eagle and will be contacting the Lee County Sheriff’s Department.

I called the businesses and told them that any member of the Matlacha Hookers asking for a donation, will have printed materials to leave that describe our upcoming event, including the date and who benefits from the specific fundraiser.

If you happen to hear of any other incidents around the area, please let me know. The two have been described as women in their 50s and I’ll share more information as it becomes available. Share with anyone outside of the Hookers, too. Perhaps these two can be caught in the act, we can get a better description and we can put a stop to this.

You should all be proud to be a Matlacha Hooker, and we will not tolerate anyone outside of our organization using our name to solicit anything that has not been preapproved by the membership. Our relationships with our Businesses, Organizations and Communities are priceless. Our name is our reputation and we will continue to do what we do best; Make a Positive Difference in our Community!!    Thank you,  Madam DJ

Don’t forget that 0.5% of all of your purchases will be automatically donated to the Matlacha Hookers if  you,

1. Select Matlacha Hookers as your charity and then,
2. Enter Amazon through the Amazon Smile each time you shop.

Thank you for supporting us all year long!

Herald and website content submissions, along with questions or concerns should be sent to Karen Durand at MHwebmistress@gmail.com.  Please do not email to Karen by 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.