Circumnavigators Club – Christmas Gala Festivities

by Barbara Roy
President and Co-Founder

Naples Chapter of the Circumnavigators Club is preparing for their annual Christmas Gala dinner and entertainment. This year the festivities will be held at the Naples Sailing and Yacht Club on December 16th. The event is black tie optional. And like the group of enthusiastic world travelers who make up the organization’s membership, the event promises to be one of Naples finest.

The Circumnavigators Club is open to people who have traveled around the world. Today, the group includes a vibrant group of people who enjoy travel, meeting new people, exploring cultures and like to share their experiences.

The oldest travel club in the world, the Club began in 1902 with notables such as the legendary William Jennings Bryan, President William Howard Taft, John Phillip Sousa, Harry Houdini and many others as members. The national headquarters is in New York and presently is housed in the Yale Club where we are invited to use their amenities. Every year in New York the Magellan Award is given to an outstanding person deemed worthy.

Recent recipients have included Sandra Day O’Connor, John Glenn and Ted Turner. That meeting is held at the League Club in New York.

In addition to the Christmas gala, the Naples Chapter has a very active group. We meet the second Sunday during the season at the Club at Pelican Bay. Meeting at 11:30 a.m. we have a social time followed by brunch and an outstanding speaker. The second Saturday of the month our ladies meet for lunch at Brio’s to share travel stories, plan trips and chit chat. In the fall, we usually take a cruise through the Bahamas. In the summer, our “Getting to Know You” informal parties are where we mix and mingle. And our Christmas party is a formal affair at one of the fine country clubs in the area.

We are proud to be the largest chapter of Circumnavigators Club among 15 clubs around the world. In fact, the Wall Street Journal recently named the Naples Chapter of
Circumnavigators Club the number one in membership for the Circumnavigators Club.

The Circumnavigators Club Foundation sponsors select University students to go around the world on special projects. The goal for our club is “through friendship, to leave this world a little better then we found it.”

Our program features such unusual travel topics as: “Captured by pirates while sailing on the high seas”, “I was married to a General directly reporting to the Shah in Iran, before I escaped to the USA”, “My job was to personally guard the President throughout the years”. “Being Doctor to the USA Olympic team”, “Cuba, on our own”, “Going through a prison in La Paz, Bolivia with a convict”. and “Sailing Around the World” to name a few of the presentations shared by our members.

For information or tickets to the Christmas gala, contact Barbara Roy at BRoy55@comcast.net. Interested potential members who have been around the world can contact the Membership Chairman, Joe Donahue at joedonahue26@comcast.net or by calling 239.435.9134 to receive an enrollment package. For more information about the club, visit www.NaplesChapterCircumnavigatorsClub.com.