GMarie's Page

Monday, October 23, 2023

Sarasota Water Lantern Festival

I heard about and have always wanted to attend the Water Lantern Festival. The event is held in many cities throughout the United Stated and abroad, so I decided to attend one when it came to an area near me which happened to be at Nathan Bendersen Park in Sarasota, Florida.

The park is about 600 acres of paradise and features a 400-acre lake. Although the park is used for activities such as world class rowing events, kayaking, paddleboarding and fishing this was a perfect setting for this lantern festival.

I checked in with the staff to get my “swag bag” which contained a marker to decorate the lantern, the lantern parts and light which had to be assembled, two sets of playing card; one with inspirational messages and the other set was a deck of cards that had engaging questions to inspire conversation and create connections. There was also a questionnaire that promoted conversation with whomever you attended the event with or new-found friends which had to be turned back into the check-in tent for a raffle.

Even better, the lanterns were made from rice paper and wood. All eco-friendly material. The LED lamps would be reused and recycled and the wood collected at the end of the event.

I brought my lawn chair but as I was walking to find a spot near the water, I was invited by an extremely nice group of women to sit with them at one of the park benches which was fairly co-located near the water. They were the coolest group of seasoned retirees and so much fun!

The launch of the lanterns would take place at sunset. In the meantime, food trucks were on site to have dinner, there was some musical entertainment, conversations, connecting and decorating our lanterns with messages of hope, love, dreams, goals remembrance or whatever your heart desired. We shared stories and experiences and laughed like playground kids.

As the sun began to set, we all turned on our lanterns. We walked to the water and set our lanterns in to drift across the water. When I saw all of the lanterns on the water, it was a spiritual and overwhelming moment. Almost no one spoke. We just watched the lanterns light up the lake.

What a nostalgic moment! Such positive energy. The event was simply beautiful. It was well organized and just an all-round incredible experience that brought thousands together from all walks of life to celebrate life and reflections of those present and past.

Most of us came to this event as strangers but left as friends,… a community. What an inspiring and well spent evening that I will never forget. Check out when the Lantern Festival will be hosting an event near you. Trust and believe you will be left spiritually fullfilled.

All the best,

GMarie

Saturday, July 15, 2023

61 Years Around the Sun!

Aging by Rupi Kaur

I often daydream about the woman I'll be

when I leave the rush of

my insecure twenties

and pick up self-assurance on the way

I can't wait to make

my eighteen-year-old self jealous

of the hell I raise

roaring into my thirties and forties

my soul becoming

more potent with age

at fifty I'll sit with

my wrinkles and silver hair

laughing about the adventures

we've had together

talking about the countless more

in the decades ahead

what a privilege it is

to grow into the

finest version of myself.

Making my years count instead of counting the years,

Happy 61st Birthday to Me!

All the best,

GMarie

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Sarasota Jazz Festival, Sarasota Florida.

The Jazz Club of Sarasota in which I am a member and volunteer held its annual festival. The venue has been entertaining audiences for 43 years! Its conception was started by Hall Davis who began his P.R. career in the publicity department of CBS. He handled top talent like Benny Goodman's tours abroad. When he and his wife Evelyn retired to Sarasota, they began the club in their condo living room which later grew to the condo meeting room and eventually grew to be a three-day festival which quickly morphed into yearly week-long event.

This year's festival director was acclaimed trumpet player Terell Stafford hailed as "one of the great players of our time".

This infamous soiree featured world renowned artists opening with five-time Grammy nominee Christian Sands who was accompanied by Phil Norris on bass and Ryan Sands on drums.

Lizz Wright was present with her band that included Kenny Banks Sr. (keys), Ivan Edwards (drums), Adam Levy (guitar) and Ben Zerwin (bass).

The Allen Carmen Project with Gumbi Ortiz (who played with jazz guitar giant Al Di Meola) is a group of friends since 1980 but have been gigging since 2015.

Two-time Grammy award winner, Marcus Miller was backed up by trumpeter Russell Gunn, saxophonist Don Hayes, drummer Billy Kilson, guitarist Jordon Long, keyboardist Julian Pollack and on vocals was Leon Timbo.

Friday night's main stage concert featured Dick Hyman, 2017 NEA Jazz Master and 2001 Satchmo Award was accompanied by Grammy nominated Diego Figueiredo.

Another two-time Grammy winner, Kurt Elling, a renowned jazz vocalist was accompanied by Charlie Hunter on guitar, Cory Fonville on drums and DJ Harrison on piano.

The closing night of the Sarasota Jazz festival wrapped up with Paquito D'Rivera, an NEA Jazz Master award winner and recipient of the National Medal for the Arts from President George W. Bush and winner of 14 Grammy and Latin awards. Playing with him was Alex Brown (piano), Hamish Smith (bass), Diego Urcola (horns) and Mauricio Zottarelli (drums).

Along with the four main stage performances, the venue included a trolley pub crawl which showcased ten artists; Five Point Quintet, Hot Club SRQ, Michael Ross Trio, Eddie Tobin, Panama Drive, Mark and Anne Burnell, The Barker Project, Barbara Jordan Quintet, Melanie Massel Band and the La Lucha Trio who hosted the late-night jam session on Friday.

The Synia Carroll Band hosted the late-night jam session on Saturday. Both jams featured up and coming local artists.

The Sarasota Jazz festival had a line-up that drew the attention of true jazz aficionados near and far! I am definitely looking forward to next year's arrangement!

All the best,

GMarie

Thursday, March 2, 2023

March is Women's History Month

The month of March celebrates the accomplishments of women from all walks of life and how in their endeavors paved the way for the future generations of young women. I like to say that I was one of those bold women that played a part in that movement through my career, volunteerism and philanthropy. 60.5 years young and still going strong!

Sharing and enjoy!

36 Women's History Month Quotes To Share With Kids (today.com)

Women's History Month (womenshistorymonth.gov)

All the best,

GMarie

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Hurricane Ian – the Aftermath

Residents who weathered Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm that ripped through Punta Gorda and Arcadia in 2004, said that Charley had nothing on Hurricane Ian!

Hurricane Ian, a category 4 storm, made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 and is said to have been one of the most powerful hurricanes in American history; with winds above 150 miles per hour, and one of the most powerful storms to reach the United States mainland.

As Floridians were deciding to either ride the storm out or evacuate, we prepared; boarding up the windows, ensuring adequate hurricane type supplies was plentiful and gassing up the vehicle just in case we had last minute thoughts to leave. I made sure I had the bathtub fill with water to flush toilets, plenty of ice in the freezer to keep the food cold in case of power outages and for the first time, an axe and saw, just in case I had to cut a hole in the roof to get out of my house due to storm surges, since I live on a canal.

All the prep and anxiety got the best of me. Just when the storm made its way past Cuba and into the Gulf, I decided to evacuate to Ruskin, which is located northeast of Port Charlotte, to take refuge with some friends.

The fastest winds recorded in the region was 124 mph on Wednesday in Punta Gorda shortly after Hurricane Ian made landfall. Later, 110 mph winds were recorded along the east side of Charlotte Harbor. Port Charlotte sits across Charlotte Harbor from Punta Gorda.

Hurricane Ian's ferocious winds hit Port Charlotte with a vengeance and left a path of destruction trapping people in flooded homes and knocking out the power for millions. Ian left may buildings flattened and streets unpassable due to severe flooding and many with only the clothes on their backs!

I decided to return home to Port Charlotte on Thursday and face the challenges and destruction Ian had bestowed upon my town. The drive back was nerve wrenching to say the least but as I turned the corner of my street, I saw that while my house was mostly spared from this monster storm (roof shingles downed fence uprooted from the cement!) there were a lot of my neighbors who did not fare as well. A neighbor, who also evacuated, asked me to take photos of their home and text them so she could be mentally prepared on the trek back home. Her home had similar damages to mine. I changed my clothes and immediately began cleaning up the debris that had totally overtaken our small community.

While cleaning, you could hear the stream of fire truck and ambulance sirens and helicopters overhead responding to many residents who had to be rescued from their flooded and splintered homes by boat and by air. Rescuers continued to search for survivors in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. The surge was extremely broad, so it pushed a great deal of water inland. The streets were turned into rivers and there were downed trees and powerlines everywhere.

More than two million Florida homes and business were left without electricity. But even as I cleaned up as much debris as possible, all you could see was a plethora of volunteer organizations helping with this massive cleanup and linemen from out of our area assisting with getting the electricity back on.

To date, the statewide storm related deaths in Florida (most due to drowning) is at 123:

Lee County (Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Sanibel, Lehigh Acres, Estero and Pine Island), the death toll is at 59

Charlotte County (Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Englewood), 24 deaths

Collier County (Marco Island, Naples and Golden Gate) is at 5 deaths.

May they rest in peace. Condolences to their families and prayers that their fond memories of their loved ones comfort them.

Ian has left a trail of destruction and a huge emotional toll on all that were affected by this horrific natural disaster. But WE WILL continue to clean up the messes, WE WILL navigate the bureaucracy for financial assistance, WE WILL maintain our stress levels while dealing with the insurance companies and WE WILL rebuild! Things may seem bleak for those whose homes and livelihoods were hit hard and displaced due to Ian but the big picture view is OUR communities WILL recover and WILL flourish again!