Don Wildman, Dru Doyle, and Tim Gardner have joined the Ding Darling Wildlife Society Board of Directors.

Congratulations Dru on your election to the board of the Ding Darling Wildlife Society!

A shady spot to work, catch up with friends far away or post a blog comment. Our beach front pool is only steps from the sparkling gulf waters and your Sanibel cottage condo at Ocean’s Reach. Our wireless, high speed internet access is complimentary from your condo, lanai and pool!

Discover Bunche Beach which is located just a couple of miles from the Sanibel Causeway and only a short drive from Ocean’s Reach. It is located at the end of John Morris Road. Bunche Beach is a county-owned park which offers a long, narrow strip of sand that stretches from just south of the Sanibel Causeway to a residential area behind Fort Myers Beach. Bunche Beach has a wonderful view of San Carlos Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The waves are small and water close to the beach are very shallow. it is a popular spot for wade fishermen and kayakers, windsurfers and kitesurfers.

Low tide at Bunche Beach…

Sunset over Sanibel from Bunche Beach.

Discovery from the Golf Course at Lexington Country Club, Fort Myers
Sunday night, was a real eye popper as the participants of the “Barbara’s Friends” Charity Golf Tournament were treated to a spectacle in the sky from the Discovery launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. What an amazing sight to behold. It lit up the sky at around 7:30 p.m. with an outburst of cheering from the spectators!

“Barbara’s Friends” is a well-known charity dedicated to cancer research and care in Fort Myers and led by Barbara’s father, Frank Haskins.

Winter visitors to Ocean’s Reach enjoy many activities. Among them is a ladies golf group, that has been active for 10 years. Each Wednesday the ladies depart in several vehicles to head off island to the golf course. Along with Ocean’s Reach ladies, there are friends of the ladies from off island who join the group as well. Play is at Myerlee Country Club with an 8:30 shotgun. Each week the lady with the fewest putts wins the “pot” which consists of a dollar contributed by each participant. The highlight of the day is lunch where the discussion runs from golf to grandchildren and many of the worlds problems are solved at this gathering. Anyone interested in being a part of this fun group can notify the office who will in turn let Mary Ellen Paulson know. She is the group leader and handles scheduling duties, vehicle assignments and pairings. It is always a fun day with many laughs and definitely many fond memories. A good time is had by all!!

I did a double take when I saw juggler #2 on Sanibel. Must be a new Sanibel pastime!

Meet Juggling Jeff! He entertains the family dining crowds Wednesday and Friday nights at the popular and newly opened “Biddles Bucket”. I have yet to verify their promised “Best Crunchy Grouper on the Islands” but they do pack the families in for dinner! They also have buckets of family games that can be picked up at the hostess station to play on the dining tables while you wait!

Hopefully, by the time you arrive, I will have taste tested the crunchy grouper unless somebody out there has already beat me to it. Can anybody let me know about their crunchy grouper sandwich? How many calories, etc?? Just kidding…

Elene Brown, who is from the Chicago area has been spending her winter at Ocean’s Reach for the last 25 plus years. On a day when the temperture is near zero in Chicago, Elene prepares for her morning walk.

It was everything you could ask for—a pre-Christmas musical showcase of carols, theatrics, costume and exquisite talent!  All in a Sanibel setting of night twinkling lights, breezy palm trees and 75 guests, friends and neighbors chatting, sipping, tasting, attentively listening and then quietly joining in a choral sing-a- long of everybody’s favorite Christmas tunes.

My favorite was the final sing-a-long carol, “Silent Night”.  The song never disappoints and fit our setting well.  The crowd favorite, though, was a parady of “The Night Before Christmas”.  I must get the words to “The Day After Christmas” for you. It was a hit that rang through and through about the trials and stresses of the season.

The only thing missing was more.  More of Jim, Debby and Mark.  They were fantastic!  Our guests could not believe that such professional voices would come and sing for all of us!!

Another professional vocalist and Ocean’s Reach guest from Indiana wrote me after just having finished her own concert schedule of 3 “Festival of Carols” concerts and the sold out “Messiah” with the Symphonic Choir in Indianapolis.

She says, “We are truly with you in spirit” as you host your own concert tonight.  “How we wish we could have joined you in the Grove to hear the Dickens carolers.  What a wonderful holiday celebration for everyone there, and such an imaginative offering for your Ocean’s Reach guests.  You will surely have many requests for a repeat next Christmas.”

Thank you, Carole.  We missed you, too, but I’m happy that good Christmas music is being sold out both in Indianapolis and Sanibel!  And you are right.  Based on the overnight reaction to our Christmas Carol Concert, “First Annual Christmas Carol Concert” strikes the right chord.

Dru Anne Doyle

See a slideshow of the event here

A couple of weeks ago I celebrated a birthday I thought I would never reach.  I wish I had suffered amnesia like I did four years ago when I thought I was a year older than I actually was.  My, that was a grand celebration of relief.  You see, I’ve never been much for remembering dates.  It is my brother that can recall every family member event with exact date detail—birthdays, weddings, school graduations, vacation trips—even job starts and relocations.  He doesn’t say, “Remember our trip to Hawaii?”  Rather, “Remember in May, 1992 when we went to Hawaii?”

So, I had this birthday that most would declare as “middle age”.  I am officially middle age!!  My father won’t discuss it.  He cannot admit that he is old enough to have a daughter as old as I am.  Fortunately, I work around people who are older than I am who give new meaning to growing older.  No complaints from guests and co-workers about the aging process down in Sanibel at Ocean’s Reach.  We regularly host guests and owners who are on the northern side of 80 and 90.  And you would never know.  They are as hard to catch up with as our youngsters flying kites or chasing salamanders.  Warm weather, sunshine, social contact, recreational activity and vitamin D all play an important role in the “youthing” process.  Not to mention the beach.  The beach!

So, don’t ask me how old I am.  I’ll admit only that I am younger than my age and that I feel more energetic and I smile more each day.  But sadly, I think I celebrated my last birthday for awhile.  I just can’t get any older.  Maybe I’ll celebrate an anniversary instead.  Like Charlie does.  He hasn’t had a birthday in over 39 years.  Imagine!  But he loves his anniversary cards and anniversary celebration.   Ask him how old he is and he’ll reply, “I’m celebrating my 31st anniversary of my 29th birthday.”  We all laugh and chuckle but, if you look at and work with Charlie on a daily basis like I do, you will admit that a 31st anniversary never looked so good.

Dru Anne Doyle  11/30/08