Carmen has the Spirit of 45

August 26 2015

 Living in SWFL is quite the adventure. There is so much to see and do if you know where to look for it. Luckily I know many locals and they know about some great events that happen around town.  Back in my little village, everybody knows what is going on because everything happens in the center of town but here in SWFL everything is so spread out that you just have to ask a local. There does seem to be something for everybody though…which is a good thing.

The people of SWFL are generous in spirit. There are many events designed to help the citizens of SWFL. Other events celebrate some aspect of SWFL culture.  What a diverse community we live in. Recently I went to an event that honored WWII veterans….The Spirit of 45.

This year’s celebration marked the 70^th anniversary of the ending of WWII. Our hostess and Spirit of 45 Lee County Chairperson was Eryka Aptaker. She spends countless hours coordinating this event. This year there were about 350 people in attendance 86 of which were WWII Veterans. Despite being the youngest one there, I had a great time and I felt I was a part of history that I am way tooooo young to know about.

It was held August 9 at the Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa. What a stunning setting for such a great event. SWFL has some great sunsets!!! I think I would like to go back there ad spend a weekend relaxing, sunning, eating drinking and generally enjoying what SWFL is about….but anyway…

The event consisted of a dinner with tribute to our Military Veterans. Guns N Hoses bagpipes performed all the military branches songs and Amazing Grace.  They had ceremonies for our Fallen Soldiers, P. O. W., wreath service and the story of the Poppies…do you know what the red poppy means? It is the internationally recognized symbol of Remembrance. It is synonymous with great loss of life in war. You can learn about story at the Red Poppy Story (http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/remembrance-poppy.htm)

They also had dancers and theater performances…..all to honor our WWII vets. It was truly impressive. There was an aerial salute and some WWII veterans shared their stores with us. Hearing about their experiences was very moving.

I did get to meet one WWII veteran who was all decked out in sparkles…. Gazo Nemmeth. I also met Angelo with the Lee County Sherriff’s office… he took a real liking to me….and Alex our bartender was a real cutie!!! I shared the evening with my new found friends Karyn, Debbie, Kim, Marsha and Earl….I was so glad to be able to share such a great event with them.

If you have a chance to attend next year I would go and experience this wonderful tribute to our WWII veterans.

I created this little video of the event and I hope you like my pictures. I did it in black and white as from what I was told films from back then tended to be in black and white. 

Carmen

Spirit of 45 - Kizoa Video Maker

Carmen Goes Off The Hook

July 29, 2015

Posing with some new friends. 

There is one thing this little cannoli really enjoys and that is good…off the hook comedy! So I traveled to Naples with my friends Debbie and Jacob to see some live and in person comedians. What a thrill! We do not have many comedians back in my village.  We cannoli’s are not known for being funny…sweet yes…funny not so much! 

We went to the Off The Hook Comedy Club which is located in Row Seafood by Capt. Brien and Crew. Let me tell ya he has one heck of a crew too.  The drinks are most yummy. Yes I did have my all-time favorite White Russian but the martini’s looked yummy to. The food is also really good. Sometimes you go to a comedy club and you get bar food but not here. One can have dinner and see a show. Now that is my idea of a good time…good food and drinks with friends and a live comedy show. Ahh life in SWFL! 

Me and Frank Del Pizzo

 The opening act was a paisan Frank Del Pizzo. He is a Jersey Boy. Now most opening acts well sometimes they are not so good…but Frank was hilarious! I laughed so hard as he would pick on people in the audience… luckily I am small enough he could not see me. Most were good sports about it but some well they tried to be as funny as Frank and this was an epic fail…never mess with a comedian especially if they are Italian and from New Jersey! 

 

Me and Adam Hunter...what a cutie!

The headliner was a little cutie Adam Hunter…he has that little boy cute look to him and the girls in the audience seemed to find him attractive….judging by how many want to meet him after the show. His show is not for the faint of heart and is rather sexual…lordy the things he talked about this cannoli had no idea people did such things….cannoli’s would never do such things….. ok maybe we do but we never talk about them…ok maybe we do but never in public…At first I thought I was the only one who did not understand his jokes but he did explain them from time to time but then I figured out it was part of his act.

After the show I got to meet both Frank and Adam as well as one of the owners Santo and his lovely wife…Capt. Brien was not there after the show...sigh…as I was so looking forward to meeting him. I also met some fans of Adam. Austin in particular was most interesting and taught me all about MMA fighting. He was a huge fan of it and so is Adam who does podcasts during the fights. Apparently it has a huge following. Us cannoli’s are rather a peaceful lot so we have no such thing back in our village. 

It was a really great evening and I so love meeting famous people, they never seem to mind having their picture taken with me. There were these 2 girls who were really frightened of me. One was from England and the other Alabama. They have never seen a cannoli before and I guess my beauty was too much for them….either that or they have no sense of humor.

I rather liked Off The Hook Comedy club and plan to return to see another show. My next planned adventure is going to be on August 9 when I will be meeting many WWII veterans at a Spirit of 45 event. But you never know where I will be showing up….so when you see me…stop and say hello and have your picture taken with me. I love to have my picture taken. 

Carmen

Carmen Plays Drag Queen Bingo

June 5 2015

I has been sometime since my last adventure but I am happy to say that I back in SWFL and ready for my next adventure!

A few weeks ago I got invited to attend a fundraising event by my friend Eryka. In August she is having an event for WWII veterans and was having this fundraising event so she can honor these veterans at no cost to them. So how could I turn down an invite for such a worthy cause????

The problem for this cannoli was I had no idea what Drag Queen Bingo was…if fact what is a Drag Queen… now don’t laugh…back in my little village I have never seen a Drag Queen but I must admit the ladies from where I come from do have the same fashion sense as these two ladies did!

We do not play much bingo in my village as pinochle is much more popular. They tournaments that last for days. However I have played bingo before so at least that would be familiar to me. Thank goodness though that many other friends were also there! Karyn Brooks was celebrating her 50^th birthday. She looks good for 50!!! So altogether there were about 12 of us who wanted to help Eryka out…. And do some celebrating.

It was a real joy and delight to meet Bootsey Cloverdale and Lady Licious our hostesses and Bingo gals for the evening. I can’t recall the last time I have seen so much bling on one person…and we all know how much I love my bling! Both ladies were gracious enough to pose for pictures with me! I wonder who does their makeup and those wigs…wow!!!!

Carmen Goes Lawnmower Pulling

April 18 2015

I never heard of lawnmower pulling before arriving in SWFL. So when my friend Roger Warren asked me to come by and see one….I just had to go and see what this is all about. Back in my village we do not do such things. Lawn bowling or bocce ball yes but lawnmower pulling never crossed our minds. 

So what is lawnmower pulling? Well basically you know the riding lawnmowers, they attach two together via a long strap and engage in a tug of war. So one driver tries to pull the other over the mark which amounts to a few feet. So I guess you can say it is a tug of war with riding lawnmowers. I was anxious to see what this is all about and why anybody would do this.

On the day I went it was a fundraiser for a local middle school girl who is battling Leukemia. Her name is Katelynn Rich. The Fraternal Order of Eagles organization in Lehigh Acres had a whole day event going on to raise funds for her. They had an auction, 50/50 raffle, food, games and the lawnmower pulling. Oh and a bake sale. I had to stay away from that….my girlish figure ya know!

They had tents sent up and there was a huge crowd. Even the Lehigh Acres Fire Rescue were on hand. I had heard that the fire men in SWFL are so handsome that they even pose for a calendar. Well it is true as these Lehigh Rescuers were real cuties… one was even Italian although he never heard of my village. I just had to have my picture taken with them. I also saw another friend Melissa….she was busy getting people to buy 50/50 tickets. The Eagles really did a great job….they had so many auction items that the poor auctioneer was losing his voice. It lasted for hours and raised over $5000!!!

I got to meet young Katelynn. She is a very gracious young lady and was so grateful for what everyone was doing to help her. Much like in our village the community came out to support someone in need. It was nice to see that. I miss that about my village.

So anyway….There is this group called SWFL Lawnmower Pullers who hold these lawnmower pulling contests so they were on hand and were raffling off a lawnmower for pulling. So I just had to ask them about these lawnmowers because they were of all different sizes. All the lawnmowers including the weight of the driver has to weigh in at 1,000 lbs. That is more than the total weight of everybody in my little village.

The contest involves drawing numbers to see who pulls against who. They do 2 out of 3 in a double elimination. There were 24 pullers that day. I really wanted to try my hand at it but they were all just too big for me. I did find one small enough but there was nobody else to pull against. They do have children pulling over the age of 8, under that they have a parent walk along side. I did speak with one young man of the age of 9 and asked him why he liked it so much and he said it was driving the lawnmower he liked best.

I was not sure why all the others do it…I mean…..picture it 2 1,000 pound machines each pulling in the opposite direction. That is until you see these machines begin to do wheelies, shake, rattle, and jump up and down….side to side… it is something to see. I tried to figure out what one had to do to be the winner of the tug of war…I guess it has to do with being quick on the gas??? Driving skills???

They keep pulling and pulling and pulling until they have winners in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place. So we are talking about hours of pulling and pulling and more pulling. I was very excited that my friend Roger won 1^st place that day. They also raised over $2,000 on the raffle for the lawnmower suitable for pulling that was won by Sunshine Rethurford. Overall over $9,000 was raised that day. That is a lot of money that I am sure will be put to good use.

So the lawnmower pullers can be found most Saturdays having their tug of wars with 1,000 pound machines around Lehigh Acres and other locations. You can find them on Facebook at SWFLLawnmower Pullers….if you want to check them out. You can find out more about the Fraternal Order of Eagles on Facebook at FOE3983  

She traveled from Sarasota!!!

The Rat Mobile

Even little ones participate 

Tugging for a win!