Page 6 - Palm City Spotlight - December '23

Page 6, Palm City Spotlight

Good Works

House Of Hope Serves Some Stanley; Ashley Capital; Florida Power & Light; John and

Hope At Tennis And Pickleball Brigite Babine; Deborah Lovequist, Pink Ladies Charity;
Maureen Holley, DMD; and C.O.R.E. (Comprehensive
Tournament Offender Rehabilitation and Education).
“A successful tournament depends on the work of
Tennis and pickleball players brought their best game to a lot of people. We want to give a special shout-out to
the 2023 Serve Some Hope Charity Tournament in November everyone at Harbour Ridge for giving us access to their
to benefit the programs and services of the House of Hope. beautiful location,” Ranieri said, “and especially to Fabio
In fast-paced play, 190 participants battled for bragging Vasconcellos and his dedicated team for managing the
rights on the Harbour Ridge Lakeside Center courts while tournament details and keeping the courts clean and
raising more than $29,000 in donations. ready for our players, as well as Jessica Agee-Bradshaw
“The competition was friendly but fierce,” said House of at IRMSL Tournaments, who helped recruit and register
Hope CEO Rob Ranieri. “We’re grateful to the players and our players and manage the pickleball segment of the
to Harbour Ridge for their efforts to raise funds that will go tournament.”
directly into helping our friends and neighbors in need.” The tournament’s pickleball winners were:
House of Hope reaches more than 21,000 people each Men’s 2.5 Cesar Solorzano and Paul Watson
Men’s 3.0 Tom Miller and Gil Zanchi
Men’s 3.5
Taylor Marsh and Pavel Rokhin
Treasure Coast Finalists Brigite Babine and Sue Whittington along with Men’s 4.0 Brian McEnnis and Rich Scripture
Women’s 2.5
Sophie Chatonet and Audrey Hand
Outdoors the winners of the 3.5 Women’s Doubles Kathy Galla and Women’s 3.0 Teena Lee and Laurie Rinker
Nicole Erickson and Mia Fredericks
Maureen Holley flank Fabio Vasconcellos of Harbour Ridge
Women’s 3.5
Women’s 4.01 Stacey Cleary and Marcia Jacobs
Yacht & Country Club after another successful Serve Some
Hope Charity Tournament. Sue Whittington with Espinal, Mixed 2.5 Audrey Hand and Jack Walsh
We Need An Offshore Fishing Stern & Whittington at Morgan Stanley; Brigite Babine Mixed 3.0 Sonita Herath and Shane Bowell
Mixed 3.5
Sookie Shields and Steve Ackerman
along with her husband John, Harbour Ridge Yacht &
Club In Martin County Country Club; and Maureen Holley, DMD, were also Mixed 4.0 Kali Denty and Edgar Tovar
sponsors of the event. The tennis winners were:
By Jim Weix 3.0 Doubles (Co-Ed) Kari Lange and Lindsay Morales
Once upon a time, we month, empowering them to overcome hunger and hardship. Men’s 3.5 Doubles Adam Horvit and Steve P. Froggatt
had the Martin County Last year alone, House of Hope distributed nearly 1.3 million Women’s 3.5 Doubles Maureen Holley and Kathy Galla
Angler’s Club. We used to pounds of food, including more than 500,000 pounds of Men’s 4.0 Doubles Kevin DiLallo and Mike Owen
meet once a month. I even fresh produce; allocated more than $104,000 in financial Mixed 4.0 Doubles
had the privilege of serving assistance; supported 30 area nonprofits with food and Tanya Mikel and Christopher Burkhardt
a term as president. The club clothes closet items; and helped 8,000 individuals through its Women’s 4.0 Doubles – Gauff
had featured speakers and basic needs, enrichment, workforce development, financial Tanya Mikel and Regan Chatel
even hosted a members- assistance and nutrition education programs. Women’s 4.0 Doubles – Sabalenka
only fishing tournament and Tournament sponsors include Lichtenberger Family Christina S. Trammell and Dominique Le
fundraisers like an auction. Charitable Fund at The Community Foundation Martin- “We congratulate all the participants,” Ranieri said,
Yes, we do have the St. Lucie; Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club; Treasure “not only for their skill and determination on the courts
Stuart Rod and Reel Club, but that is primarily about river Coast Legal; HBKS Wealth Advisors; Alan B. Miller but also for giving their tremendous energy to helping
fishing. There is also the Stuart Sailfish Club, which would Medical Center; Espinal, Stern & Whittington at Morgan the people we serve.”
come close. Nearby we have the Port Saint Lucie Anglers.
Even The Villages has a saltwater fishing club and they are
two hours from any kind of saltwater.
One observation that I made about the Martin County
Angler’s Club was that the general membership was getting
old. Without fresh blood, things go downhill.
On a positive note, the Martin County Angler’s Club
gave birth to the MCAC Artificial Reef Fund. This group
still exists and is responsible for many of Martin County’s
newest artificial reefs. Unfortunately, their annual fundraising
fishing tournament fizzled out. They now rely on sponsors to
support new reefs.
So why is a fishing club important? It promotes fishing
and teaches people how to do it. When I moved here
from Wisconsin, I was an accomplished bluegill and carp
fisherman. I didn’t know squat about offshore fishing.
So I joined the Martin County Angler’s Club, which was
also hosting a fundraising auction. I bought a fishing trip
donated by Founder and President, John Burke. Between
that and fishing with Tom Flynn, of Palm City, I learned to
fish offshore.
So what happened? Perhaps the average age of Martin
County is getting older. We certainly don’t have the affordable
housing that would attract a younger population.
So here is my challenge: Create a Martin County Fishing
Club.
Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer. Jim is included
in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s Hall of Fame for
helping restore thousands of acres of wetlands. Jim is a broker
associate with The Keyes Company. He can be reached at
(772) 341-2941 or by email: jimweix@jimweix.com.