Celebrity Chef Night supports charity for children with cancer

Three hundred guests walked the grounds of Rumrunners in Cape Harbour on Wednesday night, sampling fine dining and bidding in live and silent auctions.

It was all to raise money for Barbara's Friends, a charity dedicated to helping children with cancer.

The eighth annual Celebrity Chef Night featured culinary talent from across the area, including Chefs Todd Johnson and Ralph Centalonza of Rumrunners and The Joint, Chef Fabrizio Aielli of Sea Salt, Chef Harold Balink of Cru, Norman Love of Norman Love Confections and culinary teams from Yabo and Chef Brooke's Natural Cafe.

"People were here before 5 o'clock because it's so popular," said Duane Higgins with the Lee Memorial Health System Foundation. "The quality of the chefs, the food, the wine. ... It's a fun night."

The foundation and Johnson have helped plan the event since 2004. Johnson said the foundation approached him wanting to do a benefit dinner with celebrity waiters.

Barbara's Friends is part of the Lee Memorial Health System Foundation. The charity - named in honor of Barbara Haskell, who died of breast cancer at 32 - is dedicated to providing local treatment for children with cancer at The Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida.

To make a donation, call 343-6950 or visit leememorial.org/foundation and click on Barbara's Friends to learn about donating online.

Instead, he modeled the event after a benefit he attended in Aspen, Colo.

Guests at Rumrunners went from station to station in three different rooms sampling scallops, beef tenderloin, tuna and chocolate bread pudding. They mingled and meandered through the restaurant while sipping on wine and top-shelf liquor.

Johnson said last year, the night raised $48,000 for Barbara's Friends, and this year's goal is $60,000.

This year, the night had its first Child of Hope. Caliah Russell, 4, was all smiles decorating cookies and eating vegetable scones during the event.

"She went straight for the Norman Love chocolate," joked Caliah's mom, Mindy Russell.

Caliah has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She has recently gone into remission, but still needs about 15 months of treatment. She has just started voluntary prekindergarten and resides in Cape Coral.

Russell said it's an honor Caliah was chosen.

Emad Salman, medical director of the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida and the oncology center, said treatment of ill children often creates huge demands financially and emotionally.

"Events like this help build facilities, help pay for some of the expenses and make sure we can take care of every patient and not turn one away," Salman said.

He said Barbara's Friends and the hospital have a symbiotic relationship.

"We can't survive without the other," Salman said.

MangoMania on in Cape Coral

The annual festival of the tropical orange and green hued fruit continues today.

MangoMania, a two-day celebration of all things mango hosted by the Greater Pine Island Chamber of Commerce, can be found at the German American Social Club in Cape Coral.

Lisa Benton, executive director of the chamber, said she expects 11,000 people this weekend.

The festival features food and craft vendors, a children’s area, live music, plant sales and a tasting station.

At the station, Benton said, “They’ll get to taste different varieties of mangos.”

Doug Flowerree, owner of the Mango Factory, is helping to man the station. He said valencia pride and kent mangos are in season but keitt mangos will come in in a few weeks.

Gina Celso, a Cape resident, said she was surprised to find different varieties of mangos.

“I thought a mango was a mango was a mango, but I was wrong.” Celso said.

Tropical plants and mango trees also can be found at the festival. Ross MacDonald, director of the Koreshan Botanical Society, brought different varieties of mango trees to sell.

He said mango trees are a hearty plant, and summer is a great time to plant them.
“We’re almost sold out of half of them already,” MacDonald said.

A highlight of MangoMania is the noontime crazy hat parade.

Participants create crazy mango hats and strut their stuff in a parade led by the Mango Queen, Melissa Koferl.

Koferl was riding on her carriage, a golf cart, greeting her subjects Saturday. “It’s really turning out to be a really good day,” she said.

All Dogs Can Go to Heaven at Shell Factory

The ramps and tunnels are in place, the pool is cold and the racetrack is waving the green flag.

Doggy Heaven, a new dog park in the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers, is holding a grand opening from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday with demonstrations and fun for everyone.

"People love their dogs and they want to come," said Richard Dunmire, chairman of Doggy Heaven. "It's like bringing your child to a picnic or a time out together."

The event will start off with a half-hour non-denominational Doggy Church for pets and their families. Church services will become a weekly occurrence at the park, Dunmire said.

After services, local dog clubs plan demonstrations. Doggy Heaven houses the Southwest Florida Wiener Dog Club, Suncoast DockDogs and the Calusa Dog Agility Club, as well as holding obedience classes.

The park also has a public area that is always available to dogs and their owners.

Doggy Heaven has bleachers, picnic tables and shade trees where spectators can watch the action and enjoy the event.

"It's so much fun to watch," Dunmire said.

Each club has a special area of the park and brings a unique aspect to Doggy Heaven. For example, wiener dog club members will race their dachshunds on a small track.

"(It's) the cutest thing to watch them run," said club president Peggy Kay. "They're pretty quick."

She has two dachshunds, Botsey and Bailey.

Suncoast DockDogs will have a large pool set up and will be hosting "Your Dog Can Do This," where the club will be showing visitors the dock jumping competition. Club president Vicki Tighe said that if there's interest, the club will host "DockDog 101" later.

The agility club will have "Agility 101" as well for those unfamiliar with the sport. In agility, dogs maneuver around a course with ramps and tunnels and other obstacles.

Thinking about getting your dog in on the action? The consensus among all the clubs is to test out the sport before getting too committed.

"Try it to make sure your dog likes it," Tighe said.

The dog clubs have a friendly relationship, often recommending new members to the club that fits them best.

"We have a calendar, we don't interfere with each other because we're in different spots," pet trainer Kelly Legarreta said. "(We're) trying to promote each other."

The idea for the park came about a year ago and the clubs really helped the park's progress, Dunmire said.

"We started this all together," Kay said. "(We have) different interests but the main interest we have in common is that we love our dogs."

The Shell Factory is happy to have the dog park. Tom Cronin, owner of The Shell Factory, said the store and the restaurant are dog-friendly.

"We see more and more people adopting dogs," Cronin said. "There is a market for it and we're going to cater to it."