Will Watts
| Special to the Eagle
Calusa Garden Club of Marco Island recently announced its annual scholarship program for seniors graduating in 2026.
The club awards two or more scholarships of at least $1,500 each to high school seniors residing on Marco Island, according to Sara Wolf, with the club. Students may attend high school at any local high school, who are interested in pursuing higher education in botany, conservation, ecology, forestry, horticulture, landscape design or architecture, marine biology, city planning, public sanitation, science, education, nonprofit or environmental law, or a related field.
Scholarship applications can be obtained from Marianne Foley by email request to jjmfoley@aol.com and are available on our Calusa Garden Club website, calusa.org.
The deadline for scholarship applications is March 15.
Calusa Garden Club’s 2025 scholarship recipients were Lily Tessarzik, Helen Totten, Michelle Acosta, and Ginger Roloff. All four recipients were 2025 graduates of Marco Island Academy.
Grant supports mental health, wellness programs for seniors
Collier Senior Center-Golden Gate was recently awarded a $30,000 grant from the nonprofit charity Jingled Elves, Inc.
“All seniors deserve to be safe, feel well and enjoy peace-of-mind and this $30,000 Jingled Elves grant ensures our county’s most vulnerable older adults, especially senior women, have access to life-transforming support through Collier Senior Center-Golden’s emergency direct financial assistance and UPSLIDE mental wellness programs,” said Collier Senior Center Director Esther Lully, MSML.
Since 2018 when it launched, Collier Senior Center-Golden Gate’s Emergency Direct Assistance Program has served more than 1,187 Collier County residents 60 years of age or older living within 175% of the federal poverty level ($23,783 annual income for household of one).
Learn more at CollierSeniorCenter.org.
Celebrate Lunar New Year at Le Colonial
In celebration of the Lunar New Year, Le Colonial, the French-Vietnamese restaurant located at 457 Fifth Avenue South in Naples, will offer special dishes on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
For Lunar New Year, recognized as one of the most important holidays in Vietnamese culture, Le Colonial will offer five dinner specials, consisting of two small plates, two large plates and one dessert.
Small plate specials include Bahn Khot Vit, Mini Rice Crepes ($22), with duck confit, scallion, butter lettuce and Vietnamese herbs; and Shumai Truffle, Black Truffle Dumplings ($24), with Berkshire pork, black tiger shrimp and black truffle.
Holiday entrees include Thit Kho Trung, Braised Pork Belly ($38), with Berkshire pork, quail eggs, coconut, Persian cucumber and pickled vegetables; and Ca Bon Chien Gion, Whole Flounder/Fluke ($72), served with crispy basil and chili lime dipping sauce.
The dessert special is the Lunar Fortune ($15), with Oolong Tea Namelaka, roasted black sesame japonaise, black sesame- almond praline and fragrant Pandan gel.
Le Colonial Naples will be open for dinner from 4 until 9:30 p.m. on Lunar New Year. For menu and reservations, call 239-372-9700 or visit LeColonial.com or OpenTable.
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