A Vintage Naples Christmas… Lois Bolin tells us how

Lois Bolin

This beachside community began in the fall of 1886. The Town of Naples, like Marco, Everglades City and Immokalee were all originally under the county of Lee until May 1923, when Memphis born millionaire, Barron Gift Collier, came onto the scene. After the county’s name change, the citizens finally formed their township on May 25, 1925. Twenty-four years later, this “nothing to do in little” Town of Naples became a City.

Christmas in the City

This holiday season we will be celebrating 70 years of Christmas in a place that holds a mystique and magic unique unto itself. (If you are a true Townie, then 96 years and if you are a member
of the Weeks family, 133 years.)

In honor of this milestone, the Parade Committee reached out to local holiday experts to ask for input on this year’s theme. Students from Saint Ann Catholic School and Lake Park Elementary School received a brief history on the city, and it didn’t take long for their imagination to kick into high gear. Some of the ideas were Christmas in the Everglades, a kangaroo or Hawaiian Christmas, and Santa Paws. We had a student who no doubt will be running for City Council one day. He wrote, “I appreciate everything this city does for me so thank you Naples…one more thing…Happy Birthday,
Naples, you are great. And I really mean all of that!”

The winning 2019 theme, A Vintage Naples  Christmas, was drawn by Lake Park Elementary School student, Sophia Banas. Sophia’s class is looking forward to the Royal Scoop treatment from Matt Moen’s M&M Café at Tin City

The Classic Grand Marshall

We can think of no better representative to serve as the  2019 Grand Marshall than the classic beauty (inside and out) of Nancy Lascheid, founder of The Neighborhood Health Clinic. With their 700 plus volunteers, the Clinic has been delivering quality medical care to  uninsured  Collier County adults for the past 20 years.

On December 10th, from 6-8pm, the Christmas Parade takes place but not to worry if you don’t want
to fight the 10,000 “children” eager to capture the spirit of the season. Simply turn to Comcast
Channel 98 or tune into Facebook Live or the City of Naples website. It’s almost as good as the real thing. Veterans reserved seats are across from City Hall, where the filming occurs, and
the judges are stationed.

A special thank you to Life in Naples, our Grand Prize sponsor and to our go to Stewards who are always there to lend a hand with prizes. Special thanks to Lili Montes and Jenny Gezella for scoring and for Ingrid Aiello’s surprise pizzas.

Newsflash: Naples is not only No.1 in livable – it’s also No.1 in lovability.

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