Upcoming Events 

Mon., Sept 19 - Luau Planning meeting is at SJCC at 6pm.  All are welcome.

Tues., Sept 20 - PIE Tournament & Derby Planning Meeting - Location TBD 

Sat., Sept 24 - Adopt A Road meeting behind the OFH at 8:30am. See post below for details

Fri, Sept 30 - Last day to nominate members for office

Mon., Oct 3 - Board Meeting starting at 6 pm at MPIFD#4

Mon., Oct 10 - October General Meeting starting at 6:30 pm. Location to be announced.

Tues., Oct 11 - PIE Tournament & Derby Planning Meeting - OFH front patio 6pm

Sat., Oct 15 - NFM VFW Car and Bike Show at Hurricane Grill and Wings. Sign up to volunteer.

Sat., Oct 22 - GPICC Adopt a Sea Turtle Auction from 4-7 pm at the Olde Fish House Restuarant and Marina, benefiting the Pine Island Food Pantry. RSVP is required due to limited seating. Call 239-282-9577 to reserve your seat(s).

Tues., Oct 25 - PIE Tournament & Derby Planning Meeting - OFH front patio 6pm

Sat., Nov 6 - 23rd Pine Island Elementary Fishing Tournament & Derby at the Olde Fish House. 

Members are encouraged to visit the website for up to date news, meeting minutes, financials, merchandise and committee event forms.   The new Merchandise Catalog is now available.

Madam Letter

Ladies,

OK, so I realize that many of you are retired but I'm not.  Next year!  I only mention it because Tom and I finally took the time to get away and spent an entire week unplugged.  We enjoyed things to do, and not having anything that had to be done for a change.  Staycations are great but getting away and not fussing or worrying about much is very nice.  (Note - If you need a great pet sitter, please give me a call.)

You should all feel very proud and confident in the Board of Directors that YOU elected for 2022!  I mention that for several reasons.  First, while I was unavailable for the September Board Meeting, your Board carried on business as usual.  Second, no ONE person is in charge of the Matlacha Hookers.  It starts with YOU being a member electing the Board.  Finally, our Annual Elections are coming up.   

Think about running!  Yes, YOU.  With all of the technology advancements that have occurred over recent years, you can attend Board and General Membership Meetings remotely over the summer.  We discovered a lot during COVID.  While we could not hold General Membership Meetings in person, we held Monthly Board Meeting by Conference Calls, and now we can accommodate by WebEx.

We are in full swing planning for the 23rd Pine Island Elementary Fishing Tournament & Derby on Sunday, November 6th at Olde Fish House.  The PIE Derby Committee has been meeting and have made several changes for this year.  But this event remains one of the most important with the most moving parts.  That means there are plenty of opportunities for your special talents and volunteers are needed.  Remember that family, friends and significant others are more than welcome to lend a hand.  If you know a child that needs volunteer hours, this may be perfect.

I'm so looking forward to seeing so many of you come home!!  Safe travels as your return.  Hey, we miss y'all! See you soon,  Madam DJ

Pine Island Elementary Fishing Tournament & Derby

We are still looking for day of event volunteers.

• Silent Auction and Hook A Basket - need volunteers to help with procurement.

• Site Management - needs volunteers to help with layout

• Tournament Shirts will be available for pre-sale at the meeting. They will also be available to the public at local businesses in the area.

General Questions about the event can be directed to Julia Gaylor 239-298-1113, Monica Kochel 239-470-0073 or Deb Syring 612-817-8972

The "Chic Boutique" Needs Your Jewelry!

Thanks to the generosity of Matlacha Hookers and friends, last year we were able to donate over $2,000 from “Chic Boutique” jewelry sales.  These funds went to Beacon of Hope Seniors Program [Island Luau], Bag ’n Tag and to our general fund.  It’s that time of year to once again consider donating your excess gently-worn jewelry for our upcoming fundraisers.  Jewelry may be brought to our monthly meetings marked “Chic Boutique” & given to Chris Buntin.

Ladies - if you love bling and want to join the team sorting, cleaning and pricing donated jewelry, please contact Chris Buntin, jcbuntin8209@gmail.com, 321 231-4557.  

Request for Booze and Wine  

Please bring to the General Meetings

Request for Booze or Wine for the Booze Wagon for the Derby event

We are requesting all Hookers donate a bottle of booze or wine, for the PIE Booze Wagon

Donations can be brought to the General Meetings, starting this month until Mid October

Our goal is to have 50 bottles by the event! Tickets are now on sale. Thanks, Joanne Correia

Bottles of Wine are also requested for the Island Luau Mystery Wine Table, valued over $10.  Our goal is to have 250 bottles by the event!  Thanks, Lucinda, Mystery Wine Chair

Next Luau Planning Meeting

Mon., Sept 19th at SJCC at 6pm

Everyone is welcome!

We'll equip everyone with trash pickers, safety vests, gloves, trash bags, bug spray and plenty of water.  The more people that show up the faster the clean-up goes. We're usually done in less than 90 minutes.  We team up in pairs and head out with half going on one side of Pine Island towards the Yucatan and the other half towards Micelli's.  

Feel free to show up with or without signing up ahead of time.  Thanks in advance for your participation.  We're looking forward to seeing your smiling faces on Saturday September 24th.

Grab your hubby, neighbor, best friend - this is an activity that nets immediate results.  Afterwards you can proudly drive through Matlacha knowing that you have made an amazing difference in our community.  Plus - a little fresh air and exercise is a great way to kick off the weekend.

Lorie Tidwell and Shirley Noble, Adopt A Road co-chairs

A Shout Out to our Awesome Hooker Volunteers

We all are aware of the incredible effort our Hooker sisters put forth on our many Hooker events. Are you also aware of how many Hookers do double or triple time for other philanthropic organizations in our community?

Many Hookers actively volunteer to make a big difference in the lives of many of our local residents - Veterans, Seniors, School age kids and many families all benefit from their efforts.  Just since August 2022, the Pine Island Eagle has featured Sandy Kerr (in her Hooker shirt) for delivering meals for the Beacon Bites program.   Hooker Beth Sowers was featured for her active participation on the Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce and Director Natalie Gazda, member of the Pine Island Moose Lodge 1954 was recognized in the Moose national magazine for sponsoring at least 25 new members into the Moose Fraternity.

In addition, the Hooker organization actively partners with other service organizations.  The Hookers are generously donating to VFW Post 10127 to help Auxiliary President and Past Madam Tenacious, Theresa Kramer and her sidekick Carol Ann Ainsco (also a Hooker) for an upcoming Car Show fundraiser to benefit the VFW.  The VFW is giving the Hookers a free booth and the Hookers are selling Hooker merchandise and staffing the 50-50 raffle at the Car show.  The Car show takes place on October 15 from 11-3 at Hurricanes Bar and Grill on Pine Island Road.  Sign up to volunteer or just show up and enjoy the car show, some music and fun food.

This is just a recent sampling and by no means a complete list, but we'll save more Hooker accomplishments for future Hooker Heralds.  Keep up the great work!

Thanks to you all for your contributions and for making a positive difference in our community.

Pine Island Food Pantry

The Food Pantry is in need of the following items: Soup, i.e. packages of Ramon noodles and canned beef and chicken broth, box dry cereal, small containers of regular coffee, canned or small pouches or bags of potatoes, canned vegetable soup, hamburger or tuna helper, peanut butter, canned fruit, and personal care products, such as dish soap, laundry detergent, deodorant, razors, feminine hygiene products (pads and tampons) and size 5 and 6 diapers or pull ups.

Please bring donations to the next General Meeting or drop off at one of 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. The 2022 Password is 20HMP22 and only needs to be entered one time on the Members only page. Members need to email the Secretary at 

matlachahookers@matlachahookers.org to have their membership verified before receiving the new password.  Questions?  Contact Vice Madam Julia

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.