Naples’ Extremes for Better or Worse

Jeff Lytle

Happy New Year! Hang on tight, as we size up Naples’ extreme winter season crammed with non-profit and charitable events.

They are stacked with no space to spare –as dense as condos on a beachfront lot.

The City of Naples remains the hub of this extreme activity even though it is dwarfed by growth beyond the city limits.

Keep in mind the following summary of highlights includes only events on public city property such as Cambier Park and Fleischmann Park. There are others spread throughout Collier County parks and countless fundraising galas at local hotels.

Check online to see which ones require tickets.

Fundraising festivals kick off Jan. 3 at Cambier with the Naples Art Institute’s New Year’s Art Fair.

Eight days later, the Naples Artcrafters take over Fleischmann, while at Cambier, also on Jan. 11, the Nash (short for Nashville) to Naples songwriters festival/concert raises money for Habitat for Humanity in Collier and Hacienda of Hope for children in Ecuador.

The Empty Bowls showcase charity event is set for Jan. 18 at Cambier, featuring one-of-a-kind handmade ceramic bowls for sampling savory soups from restaurants and country clubs. Founded in 2007, Empty Bowls has awarded more than $1 million in grants since 2018 to food charities such as Meals of Hope and Our Daily Bread food pantry.

On the same weekend, at Fleischmann, the 28th Annual Naples Art Festival holds court.

Cars on Fifth, with 400 luxury vehicles on display, cruises into town on Feb. 8, for what organizers call the largest event of the year, to benefit St. Matthew’s House homeless shelter. The expo has grown to a whole weekend, starting on Feb. 6 with a concert by Jay Leno, one of America’s most famous car fans, at Hertz Arena. There is even a raffle to win a new Corvette.

Add in the various farmers markets, food festivals, Evenings on Fifth, a swamp buggy parade, India Fest, opera and a Girls of Motown revue, and you have a sample of what’s coming up in and out of downtown.

A calendar to keep track might be a good last minute or belated gift idea.

Another side to extremes

Meanwhile, local extremes transcend festivities and fundraising.

Extreme weather leads the way.

Before many areas of the state could bounce back from Hurricane Ian in 2022, Florida got whacked by three of the five Gulf hurricanes of the past year. Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton came in August, September and October respectively.

Extreme damages to homes and businesses sent insurance companies and legislators scrambling.

Rainfall alone, from storms and normal summer downpours, illustrates the extremes of our state’s wet and dry months – with the dry months coming when we need water the most to meet demands of tourist seasons’ peak populations.

Temperatures also come in streaks, with blazing heat setting new records and cold snaps threatening cash crops.

Likewise, Florida’s economy is prone to soaring highs and rippling lows – boom or bust — tied to the housing market, despite perennial calls to diversify what makes us tick.

Blips in tourism resonate in service industry employment and tax receipts, reminding us how much the economy depends on the guests we love to resent.

Driven in part by tourism, even the restaurant industry is given to extremes. Eating places cluster in locales such as East and North Naples, while other areas remain dining deserts.

Two prime examples of extremes seem related – wealth and the arts.

The arts require money to launch and thrive, and there is lots of money coming together simultaneously to unveil a refurbished Naples Players home base on Fifth Avenue and an all-new Gulfshore Playhouse a few blocks to the east – with a total cost nearing $100 million.

Successful fundraising for those and more arts projects taps a philanthropy tradition for residents who move here with money rather than earn it here.

Many of those residents invest in other philanthropy for education and medical care to help the legions of the poor, many of whom work at service industry jobs on which the whole community depends.

Irony: many of the laborers who build, maintain and re-roof our homes and manicure our country clubs will never own homes or play golf.

The notion of extremes even shows in the rankings of America’s best places to live or retire. One recent tribute to Naples cautioned that the draw for the well-to-do comes at the cost of more affordable housing.

Florida’s reputation as a state of extremes remains intact.

Being average sometimes might be more sustainable?

Jeff Lytle has covered and commented on Southwest Florida since 1979. Reach him at jlytle1951@gmail.com