Last Saturday, the Golden Gates Fire Department sponsored a chili cook-off at their Naples Fire Station. Fire departments and Fish and Wildlife Refuges from all over Florida organized a fun event. Chili, fire trucks, art and crafts, games, and much more encouraged lots of folks to join in the fun. There was a huge raffle with all proceeds from this and the chili cook off going to the families of the nineteen Granite mountain Hotshot Firefighters who died in Arizona. Over $11,000 was raised for them. This was also in cooperation with fund raising at Tarpon Bay Explores the day of this event.
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| Do you recognize these two rangers? |
J.N. Ding Darling and the Ding Darling Wildlife Society participated in the the chili cook off contest and had a fun interactive booth. We had a great time and had a chance to talk to two refuges who offer workamping program in Florida (Panther and Merritt Island) . Who knows one of them might be in our future too.
The kids liked climbing over all the fire trucks. There were some unusual ones on display. Fighting fires in the wilderness are a challenge and different equipment is required.
A girlfriend (Beth) from my Indianapolis book club was visiting nearby recently. We had a nice dinner together with her husband and caught up with each other lives. They have a lovely home in the Bonita Springs area which offers them a great retreat from their very busy lives. I miss and treasure all my friends from the book club and really enjoyed our visit.
I'll close the post today with a pretty sunset seen through the trees at our campsite at Ding. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Trails!
