The Midnight Hour

At midnight on August 5, Collier County high schools were allowed to begin their football practices on the field. From now until November, football mania will run rampant. To show the first day, I went to Golden Gate High School to photograph their "Midnight Madness."

Thanks for looking!

Cleveland Winn

Recently, I spent the day with Cleveland Winn for a series the sports department is working on about the top 25 athletes to come out of Collier County. In the late 1960's, Cleveland was setting records as a running back and defensive end for Naples High School. Being from Fort Myers and since their schools hadn't integrated yet, Cleveland attended school in Naples. After high school, Cleveland played ball at Central Missouri State. Since then, he's moved back home and helped to coach high school football and to this day people still call him coach.

Fast forward to today and Cleveland is now 62 and volunteering at Salvation Army at the security post and also helps with nightly dinners and devotion. I didn't have to spend the entire day with Cleveland, but just being around the guy made me feel good. People come to him with their troubles and he councils them or helps in anyway he can. They also come with him just to say hi and it quickly turns into a conversation. I swear that every person he introduced me to was either a Ms. or Mr. no matter if they were a resident at the Salvation Army or the director. Even I was dubbed, "Mr. Scott." Every conversation ended with either "The lord is good," or "God bless."

My day with Cleveland is one of those days that makes my job great. I got to spend time with a great man who in return made me examine my own outlook. I generally like to think that I'm a positive person but spending time with Cleveland made me think further about being grateful and looking forward to a positive future.

One last bit of praise I have for Cleveland Winn is from his devotion before nightly dinner service. While his sermon to the men and women stressed improving themselves and changing the ways that were bringing them to the life they were leading (drug problems, causing trouble, etc.), he also gave thanks for the people that have been good to him. In the line of people he thanked he said, "I'd like to thank you lord for Mr. Scott and what he does, he truly humbled me today and I pray for him and the work he does."

That hit me right in the heart.

As always, thanks for looking.

The 4th In Naples

I shot the annual Fourth of July parade in Naples recently and wanted to share some of my favorites. Parades can be tricky for me at times. It's go, go, go and sometimes it can be a whirlwind. They usually set themselves up for some gems though. Here are some that I enjoyed. Thanks for looking!

Elvis Fest VI

I've always liked Elvis. His hip shaking and rockin attitude paved the way for many musicians and eventually became a cultural icon. He made such an impact that there are festivals like the one in Immokalee this past weekend where Elvis fans (some could be considered fanatics) put on their favorite Elvis gear to pay homage to the King. A handful of folks participated in an impersonator contest and let me tell you, these guys are the real deal. Some were old and some were young, but when it was their turn to take the stage, their voices changed and they became the King for two songs. The fans cheered and some lucky ladies were even passed a scarf, much like Elvis did for his female fans in the past.

Below are some of my favorites from the day out there. Thanks for looking!