Members Welcome Back Party 2017 Part II

The Members Cocktail Party
Part II
More thoughts and pictures by UseppaGin

Faces tell the story.  Couples dancing looking at each other with love and happiness.  People around a table enjoy each other’s company.  Inside the Collier Inn, guests are served shrimp, stone crabs, salmon, prime rib.   At the bar inside, Roxie and Rachel pour drinks, outside on the patio glasses of wine.  Conversations, stories, laughter and hugs…A toast and thank you to the Useppa Island Club

Members Welcome Back Party 2017 Part I

Useppa Island Club Welcomes Members Back
For Another Season
Part I
Thoughts and Photos by UseppaGin

The votes are in.  It was the best Members Party ever.  The combination of food, fellowship, music and people made it a great evening.  It was easy to have fun.  There was a natural flow between the Izaak Walton Bar and the Collier Patio.  Homeowners, back from up north, mixed in with boaters back from their summer adventures.  Year-round members and residents enjoyed the new energy after a lazy Florida summer.

A thank  you to Useppa Island Club is well deserved.

Island Ghosts and Goblins 2017

Ghosts, Goblins and More
Halloween on Useppa
By UseppaGin

Ghosts, Goblins and more met at the Collier Inn’s Izaak Walton Bar to celebrate Halloween.  Children and grownups in costumes prowled around laughing and having fun during Friday’s Happy Hour.

Croquet with grandchildren Friday morning and Golf Croquet on Saturday for members of the Southwest Florida Yacht Club, lunch on the patio by the pool, Bocce and swimming – a weekend of fun for all ages.

Faces of Fall 2017

Faces of an Island Fall
By UseppaGin

Islanders returning for the season, guests for lunch, children decorating for Halloween, families staying with Island grandparents, a couple married sixty years visiting on a sailboat, Useppa is almost back to normal after Hurricane Irma.  We all have something to be grateful for as another Fall begins.

Island Time Again

Thoughts and Photos by UseppaGin

A normal island weekend!  Something to never take for granted.

Happy Hour at the Collier on Friday, a birthday party on Saturday, lunch on the patio, swimming in the pool, golf carts driving along the beach, neighbors and friends being together on Useppa…two weeks ago we wondered if this would ever happen again.

From Recovery to Clean Up

Useppa Rebounds
Photographs and Thoughts by UseppaGin

In two weeks, we have gone from Island evacuation to return, recovery, and now to clean up.  When the last boat left Useppa, Hurricane Irma threatened destruction of the entire island.  We were lucky, and spared her wrath.

But on the first few days after the storm, there was no electricity and no water.  Bit by bit recovery began.  Machinery and manual hard labor began clearing the debris.  Electricity came back on and then water.  The amount of work that needed to be done was daunting.  Buildings were structurally sound, but trees, branches, and thousands of coconuts littered the island.

Hard and thoughtful work by everyone – homeowners, management, and employees insured our recovery.  Thanks to their efforts, we have moved from recovery to clean up.

Congratulations Useppa!

Hurricane Irma Recovery Continues

Pictures and Thoughts by UseppaGin

Team Useppa doesn’t give up.  Members only take breaks.  Happy Hour at the Collier Inn on Friday, Tarpon Bar crew meals, and first lunches served at the Collier were the times we stepped back and relaxed a bit.  Then the job of hurricane recovery continued.

Cleanup of two reclamation ponds, a carefully controlled burn of debris, home inspections and repairs are ongoing.  Everyone is involved and giving more than asked.  Faces of homeowners, employees, construction workers and management smile despite exhaustion.

Another hurricane, and Useppa’s winning record continues.

Post Irma 1

Useppa Cleans Up After Hurricane Irma
Photos and Thoughts by UseppaGin

Management, homeowners, and staff have spent the last few days working together to clean up debris left by Hurricane Irma.  No one on the island ends the day with a clean shirt or clean hands.

These pictures show some of the mess we’ve had to contend with, but most of the homes are fine.  Only a few minor problems.  Water and electric are back on, but it’s not the time yet for everyone, pets and children to return.  There are too many heavy vehicles on the roads and pathways.  There will be a Happy Hour Friday night and limited food service Saturday, but that’s it.  There is no internet.

Useppa is lucky to have the men and women working tirelessly on its recovery.  We will post more pictures tomorrow.

Beastly Hot and Wickedly Wet

Beastly Hot & Wickedly Wet

Photos and Thoughts By UseppaGin

Hot days and storms are all part of summer on Useppa, but so are family island reunions, croquet, landscaping, and lunch on the Collier patio.  We said good-bye to Shane Felts, our Food and Beverage Manager and celebrated a new baby about to arrive in the lives of former Sous Chef Josh Wainwright and Meagan Nolan.

The rain will be gone by the weekend.

Come on out and join us for Labor Day.