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    News for Neapolitans

    Bakers’ gifts help area pets in need
    Main
    FOR THE LOVE OF ANIMALS
    Bakers’ gifts help area pets in need
    By Therese McDevitt terry.mcdevitt@naplespress.com 
    16 May 2025
    When Jay Baker decided to surprise his wife, Patty, with a $5 million gift in her honor to what was then called Humane Society Naples, he was concerned that the news would leak out before it was announced at the organization’s gala in March. “I’ve done surprise parties for her for other things, and she’s always found out,” Jay Baker said during a recent interview with the couple at the newly renamed Patty Baker Humane Society Naples. “But this, she didn’t find out.” The small number of staff members at the Humane Society who knew about the gift had been sworn to secrecy, with a plan to make the announcement from the stage at the March 21 gala while thanking the Bakers for serving as honorary co-chairs. On the night of the event, before Jay could make his surprise announcement, Patty spoke up with a $500,000 pledge to the organization on the couple’s behalf. “I was thinking, ‘Patty, hold your horses!’” Jay said with a laughing glance at her. Asked how surprised she was by Jay’s gift that night, Patty said she was “totally gobsmacked.” “If I had been wearing socks, it would’ve knocked them off,” she said with a smile. “I had no idea, and usually I can figure out when he’s up to something. Not this time; it was a total, total surprise.” Shared love of animals leads to major gifts Sitting side by side at the shelter under a sign bearing the new name — and kept company by two frisky 6-month-old golden retrievers up for adoption — the Bakers talked about how their commitment to the Humane Society grew from a shared love of animals, as they both grew up in households with beloved family dogs. As a couple they have had several treasured pets, including a beloved shih tzu named Kizzie who they had for more than 15 years. They currently share their home with two other shih tzus, Diana, whose full name is Princess Diana, after the late Princess of Wales, and Tina, named for the late, legendary singer Tina Turner. “As a young kid I had little, tiny puppies, which is probably why I love shih tzus so much, because they’re small,” Patty explained. “I just always loved animals; I still do. If we had a farm, we would have all these [shelter] animals out there, you know.” And since, according to Jay, a rescue farm isn’t in the Bakers’ plans, he said he was receptive when Humane Society CEO Sarah Baeckler approached him with the idea of a naming opportunity gift. “We had talked about how we wanted to do something bigger here and it never quite happened,” Jay said. “Then I got a call from them, and it was just perfect.” Baeckler said she and her staff at the no-kill shelter had been brainstorming on ways to honor the Bakers for their support and modeled their idea on the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach. “That was named after a really influential person in that organization’s story,” Baeckler said in a phone interview. “And it just came to me one day that we should do that for her [Patty], if he would be willing. So, we put it together and I sent ...

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    Bear attack comes as human encounters increase
    Collier now
    WILDLIFE
    Bear attack comes as human encounters increase
    By Aisling Swift 
    16 May 2025
    When 89-year-old Collier County resident Robert Markel and his dog were mauled and killed May 5, it ...
    KC American Bistro charts new course as Amber Cove in Naples
    Business & Real Estate
    HOSPITALITY
    KC American Bistro charts new course as Amber Cove in Naples
    By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com 
    16 May 2025
    After more than 15 years in North Naples, KC American Bistro is charting a new course under new owne...
    Luxury home market thrives
    Local News
    PORT ROYAL
    Luxury home market thrives
    By David Dorsey david.dorsey@naplespress.com 
    16 May 2025
    Typical ebbs and flows of the single- family home real estate market do not have much of an effect o...
    Rolling Art: Offering hood’s eye view of aesthetics
    Arts & Leisure, Cover Story
    Rolling Art: Offering hood’s eye view of aesthetics
    Offering hood’s-eye view of aesthetics
    By Harriet Howard Heithaus harriet.heithaus@naplespress.com 
    16 May 2025
    These women, warriors and wild animals were the stars of a selective high society, born to spend the...
    Key to Everblades’ success is brick wall
    Sports
    Key to Everblades’ success is brick wall
    Speaking of Sports David Wasson 
    16 May 2025
    The very best people in the world at what they do, essentially, take something that is exceedingly d...
    Naples permit firm denies fraud
    Main
    FRAUD ALLEGED
    Naples permit firm denies fraud
    By Aisling Swift 
    16 May 2025
    A Naples permit and design plan firm accused of fraud contends that the use of a 91-year-old retired...
    Home Depot clears land for new store
    Main, Tim Aten Knows
    Home Depot clears land for new store
    The southern side of Home Depot’s narrow property borders the Marco Naples RV Resort, whose residents have been vocal about the loud noises and thick clouds of dust created by earthmovers clearing the previously undeveloped land.
    By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com 
    16 May 2025
    Q: I see trees coming down across from Lely. Is that where Home Depot is going to build? – Kim Phill...
    SWFL Insider
    Local News
    SWFL Insider
    16 May 2025
    Village School of Naples building athletics program The Village School of Naples, an independent sch...

    Tim Aten Knows

    Businesses coming throughout Collier
    Main, Tim Aten Knows
    Businesses coming throughout Collier
    By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com 
    9 May 2025
    Q: Do you know what’s going in the old Stein Mart space by Publix? Thanks! – Dana Laskowsky Bilicki,...
    Tree Farm Plaza nears completion
    Main, Tim Aten Knows
    Tree Farm Plaza nears completion
    By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com 
    2 May 2025
    Q: What is going into the new buildings just east of Aldi on Immokalee going toward the CVS? – Bob H...
    New Sprouts supermarket coming to Naples area
    Main, Tim Aten Knows
    New Sprouts supermarket coming to Naples area
    By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com 
    25 April 2025
    Q: Any new information about the vacancies in “Bed Bath & Beyond Plaza”? – Chris Wowk, Naples A: Fou...
    Preschool construction underway
    Main, Tim Aten Knows
    Preschool construction underway
    By Tim Aten tim.aten@naplespress.com 
    11 April 2025
    Q: Do you know what is being built in front of Naples Classic Academy on Immokalee Road? – Elizabeth...
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