Volunteering is a simple way to improve your health, ease feelings of loneliness and broaden social networks. Nature lover and Lemon Bay Conservancy Wildflower Preserve’s volunteer chair, Lucia Schattleleyn, is a lifelong volunteer and considered by those who know her well as an expert on the subject. Three in five Americans surveyed in a recent polling report felt lonely. Researchers attributed these findings to a variety of factors, including a lack of social support, infrequent meaningful social interactions, poor physical and mental health, and an imbalance in daily activities. Furthermore, studies show that volunteering not only helps people feel less lonely, it can also improve physical well-being.
Loneliness often times stems from unwanted solitude. A potential cure? Kindness toward others and our environment. Opportunities to give back are becoming more readily available than they were last year, and the need for volunteers steadily continues to grow. “Volunteering is one of the best, most certain ways that we can find purpose and meaning in our life,” shares Lemon Bay Conservancy member Marian Schneider.

The guest speaker on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 19 at the Boca Grande Community Center was the focus of a very appreciative and attentive audience – an audience that filled every chair and two additional rows in the auditorium … and the Houghton Room … and the Boca Grande Woman’s Club. The presenter spoke of his newest book and his artwork with a relaxed, casual demeanor and at many points had the crowd howling at his antics with his sister, who joined him. Their family looked on from the first two rows and seemed to enjoy the presentation as much as the audience did.
Former President George W. Bush and his sister Doro were the pair who took the stage Wednesday night, with the focus of discussion centered on his book titled, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants.” With a cover adorned by several of President Bush’s portraits of the people interviewed on the inside, it is a beautiful book … inside and out.

The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to accept a $120,000 grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for the construction of an artificial reef approximately 15 miles off the coast of Captiva.