After bragging about our lake filling up from a plethora of precipitation only two weeks ago, we have encountered a dry stretch and levels have dropped considerably since that time. In addition, the grass parking areas that were beginning to rebound have turned brown once again. Hopefully, by the time you are reading Scott’s Corner, we will have resumed our typical summertime pattern of afternoon thunderstorms. We have a substantial deficit with regards to rainfall for the year to date. There is a developing tropical system in the Eastern Atlantic that could bring much needed rainfall to our area by next week. Other than that, I feel that further water restrictions are imminent.
Can you believe that Collier County Schools begin again on Monday, August 20? That is only two weeks from this coming Monday. Since most people associate the beginning of the school year with the end of summer, one could surmise that we have only two weeks of summer remaining. Is it possible that our summer is already over? I thought it was only just beginning! Even though public schools are resuming shortly, I refuse to recognize this as the end of summer and will instead defer to the Labor Day Holiday as the true end of summer. Or better yet, we could use the Autumnal equinox as an end date and postpone the true end of summer to September 22. I know that summer in Naples is not what it used to be only ten years ago when the month of August rendered our sleepy little town nearly void of everyone other than only true full time residents. These days, I have a hard time differentiating between August and February with the exception of the fact that an August walk from the parking lot to Mass will drain upwards of a pound of water weight from one’s body. It is true that the face of Naples has changed with the recent influx of more young families and full time residents.
Work continues on the bathrooms in the Parish Life Center. The new travertine flooring was installed this past week in the men’s room and looks fantastic. What a difference this is going to make. We will not polish the travertine following installation but will apply an enhancer which will bring out the vivid colors of the stone. The finish will be a semi gloss. Due to the commercial nature of the bathrooms, we don’t want the surface to be too slippery. The finished product will be very similar to what you would find in a high end hotel. Attached is a picture of the progress as of this past Tuesday.
Work began this past Monday to refinish the dance floor and stage in the Parish Life Center. As the attached picture shows, there was nearly eight years of “gunk” built up on the dance floor. Work will be finished by this past Friday. The process involves sanding off the old finish and then applying three new coats of polyurethane. Did you know that our dance floor in the PLC is a floating dance floor? What does this mean? The dance floor is not directly installed on the concrete slab but instead there are wood “ribs” underneath the flooring. This process provides some “give” and cushioning to the hard wood surface. If you ever noticed that your feet are not sore after a long night of dancing on our floor, you can thank the floating floor.
With five months remaining, we have officially reached the two-thirds mark with regards to the Catholic Faith Appeal. As of this past week, we have pledges totaling $294,679.20. Our goal is $443,000.00, which means we must come up with another $148,320.80 by the end of December. For those that have not made a pledge, I urge you to do so. The amount of your pledge is inconsequential as there is power in numbers. Every dollar counts and every penny of your pledge will be used to directly offset our assessment. My hope is that every parish family will find a way to make a pledge no matter how small the amount. For those who have already made a pledge, thank you very much for your help with the CFA.As a continual reminder, if you are a seasonal resident or visitor, please make your check payable to the Catholic Faith Appeal with St. John the Evangelist in the memo line.
We are going to install a beautiful kneeling angel statue (see picture) in the memorial garden by the end of August in memory of Andrea Costain who passed away on September 30, 2011. Andrea was 
a fixture here at St. John the Evangelist and was loved by everyone who knew her. This statue will be a beautiful way to remember Andrea’s presence as an angel in our lives. If you would like to make a donation towards the purchase of this beautiful statue, please contact me at 566.1678.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager