Brand New

   Naples Illustrated strives to keep readers informed about what is happening in paradise—aka Naples—and that’s where I come in.

    My husband, Bob (Bob of The Bob Harden Show—formerly on WGUF radio and now on the internet at bobharden.com) and I are happily full-time residents of Naples and have been since 2002. In 2004, when Hurricane Charley marched through in August, we watched the entire storm from our family room windows—yikes. Charley was nasty all right—but not nearly as nasty as what the major television networks and the Weather Channel were portraying. I was really annoyed that they were not telling the whole story, so I took action. I went straight to my computer (we never lost power, by the way) and e-mailed friends and neighbors that we were very okay and so was almost everything else around here for the most part. I received return e-mails almost immediately expressing surprise—and MUCH relief that Naples was in far better condition than what was being reported.

    Fast-forward to 2005 and Hurricane Wilma. As far as the major networks were concerned, and yes, again the Weather Channel, Naples was TOAST and in total distress and destruction. Well, we were not. Yes, Naples had been smacked hard by Wilma, but we were in pretty good shape, all things considered. One more time, I made a beeline to the computer as soon as I could (we had lost power this time for 24 hours) to spread the good word that our paradise certainly had been spanked by this hurricane, but Naples was already on the mend. After this e-mail, I received at least twice the responses as the year before—yet, I had sent my “we are bruised but bouncing back” e-mail to the same amount of folks as I had after Charley! Friends and neighbors had forwarded my e-mail to their friends and neighbors, and that is how my newsletter, “Greetings from Paradise” began.

   After the huge response I received, with folks writing to ask how things were progressing, what had changed, what was new, what was gone, I decided it was a good idea to let everyone know all the “goings on” in this beautiful place while they were summering elsewhere. My emailing list mushroomed, and I have been keeping folks up on the latest with news ever since.

   Now Naples Illustrated has asked me to help keep its web readers “in the loop” about any and all news in paradise, and I am thrilled to do so.

   You will be hearing from me as news breaks. And it breaks far more often than you would think—especially in the summer. This should be fun.

   Until the next time. Cheers!

 

 

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