With the exception of two very brief cold snaps, this winter may go down as the “winter that wasn’t.” As I write my weekly column, we are preparing to set a record high temperature of 85 degrees. This is, by far, the warmest winter I have experienced in my fifteen years in Naples. As a Florida native, I must also say that this may be the warmest I can remember in my 43 years. Several weeks ago I complained about the excessive heat, however, after speaking with many of our seasonal residents and visitors I have come to the realization that the majority seem to be quite pleased with the warmth. I constantly refer to Southwest Florida as “paradise” and I guess this must be the case. Although everything is relative and areas up north have had a mild winter also, 85 degrees sure beats 35 degrees any day of the winter.
We had two great playoff games last weekend and as a result, Super Bowl XLVI is going to be a repeat of Super Bowl XLII. The New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in what promises to be a great matchup of two outstanding quarterbacks. As of this past Wednesday, over 200 tickets were sold for our 14th Annual Super
Bowl Party to be held in the ballroom of the Parish Life Center. If you would like to attend, please purchase your ticket in the parish office. The cost is $25. Please see the flyer in this bulletin for further details. For those not able to attend, I will be out in front of church on Super Bowl Sunday selling squares for the big game. You may purchase squares for $5 or $10. Proceeds from the Super Bowl Party benefit our Youth Ministry Program. I look forward to seeing you on Super Bowl Sunday.
We now have over 40 ministries participating this weekend for the 2nd annual Ministry Fair to be held in the PLC ballroom this weekend from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 7:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. This will be your opportunity to come down and meet representatives from all of our ministries and sign up to join. There will be giveaways and raffles at the fair so make sure to attend. We will serve refreshments during the fair on both days. Our goal is to create 100% participation by our parishioners in ministries at St. John the Evangelist. With so many choices, we invite you to join us for this magnificent event.
Thank you to those parishioners that have submitted your email address. For those who found my request too cumbersome to cut out and drop in the basket, you may fill out a card at the ministry fair this weekend. In order for this new email campaign to be successful, we must have your email address.
In the last week alone, I sold eight new plots in the memorial garden to parishioners who felt that our garden was the ideal spot for their final resting place. Oddly, all of these parishioners also had plots at cemeteries up north. The fact that our Memorial Garden is located onsite and in a location that they will visit weekly was the main factor in their decision. They did not want to be buried in a northern cemetery where very few will stop by to visit. Many of these cemeteries will sell back the spaces at a discounted rate. In some cases, the money recouped from the sale was more than adequate to cover the meager cost of purchasing plots in our garden ($1,200.00.) If you are interested in purchasing a space in our garden, please contact me at your earliest convenience to make an appointment.
We are planning to paint the exterior and interior of the church doors in the next month. We will depart from the “pinkish hue” currently in place and repaint with a slightly darker, warmer color. We are not only painting all of the exterior doors but also the interior doors. We are confident that you will appreciate the new color scheme.
I have included a few new pictures of the triplets in this week’s bulletin for those wanting to keep abreast of their progress. As you can see, at only eight months of age, the girls are beginning to see the enjoyment of bothering their big brother. Mia is pictured pulling Nate’s hair while Ella is pictured by herself as happy as she can be. 
Due to my constant prodding, the girls have successfully mastered “Da Da” while Nate doesn’t seem too interested in speaking anything but gibberish. Thanks again for your prayers for the health and prosperity of our little ones.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager