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2009 Our World

Chocolate creations -- At 6 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday in January, Collier Center Way, an industrial park in North Naples, is deserted. The auto body shop has an empty lot. The tile and marble store is cloaked in darkness. The storage facility is locked up tight. But halfway down the road, a solitary light pours out from a business, illuminating Ingo Wullaert, who is standing outside shivering. He’s taking a break with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Wullaert has been working for two hours, with no end in sight. That’s because he’s got an order of almond chocolate bars to finish making. Wullaert is a Belgian chocolatier.

Photo by GREG KAHN, Staff

Chocolate creations -- At 6 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday in January, Collier Center Way, an industrial park in North Naples, is deserted. The auto body shop has an empty lot. The tile and marble store is cloaked in darkness. The storage facility is locked up tight. But halfway down the road, a solitary light pours out from a business, illuminating Ingo Wullaert, who is standing outside shivering. He’s taking a break with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Wullaert has been working for two hours, with no end in sight. That’s because he’s got an order of almond chocolate bars to finish making. Wullaert is a Belgian chocolatier.

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  • The Crazy Fit workout class at the Bonita Springs and Naples locations of the YMCA of the Palms keeps participants pushing their boundaries of mental fortitude. David Albers/Staff
  • Saved by the grace of God and a 1940 Plymouth: Truly Nolen car that stopped a motorist from crashing into the IHOP on Davis Boulevard.
  • ‘I just love riding bulls’: As the lights at Germain Arena dimmed, a red glow of flames emerged from the dirt covering what usually is ice or field turf. As the flames spread, they quickly spelled out three large letters. P-B-R. Professional Bull Riding.
  • One in 1,000: On a calm August morning, Bryan Kaczmarek reaches his entire arm into the sand during a sea turtle nest excavation. Kaczmarek, 39, is a park naturalist at Delanor-Wiggins Pass State Park.
  • Cues from Dad: Brian Straub teaches his son Nick, 19, the game of nine-ball.
  • Child of God: Rev. Phil Simcosky, pastor of East Naples Baptist Church, asks Anthony Owens, 6, if he's ready to be submerged in the Gulf of Mexico to be baptized on July 12, 2009 just north of the Naples Pier. Owens was one of three members of the church to be baptized this day. 'It is very important that he understand what it means to be saved at such a young age,' said Michael Owens, Anthony's father. 'I wanted him to understand the baptism is not what saves you. It's asking Jesus for forgiveness of your sins.'
  • The linebacker: Naples High School football lineman Tyler Costa.
  • ‘Who do you love?’: Jhane Wright, from left, Atiana Williams, Shakira Perry, Darwin Dumas, Kyleigh Bolden, and Cornelius Jonathan blow kisses while singing songs in vacation bible school at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Naples. The preschool-aged students were practicing for a presentation to give during the Sunday service.
  • All work, some play: About a dozen members of the grounds crew at Royal Palm Country Club meet at the baseball field at Gulf Coast Park in east Naples, right off St. Andrews Boulevard, as the sun nears its peak. Most wear their uniforms — muted green pants, white button-up shirts and tan caps.
  • The candy man: Fort Myers resident, Derek Richards, 36, operations supervisor for Patrick E. Shallow concessions, walks out into the open air to cool off and feel the breeze while taking a break from making cotton candy under the stairs of Hammond Stadium before a Miracle baseball game May 28, 2009 in Fort Myers.
  • Sign language: Michael Combs, 39, owner of North Naples Country Club, bought the establishment with his parents after moving to the area from Edwardsville, Ill. in 1995. He says the bar has been in operation in one form or another since 1938. Combs came up with the idea of the off-color messages a couple years back by ribbing the power company after a hurricane.
  • Big wheels: The truck that Mark Hoagland and his friends — Dave Morlin and Harry Ridenour — purchased in January stands as a testament to the hours they put into transforming the cobalt blue and pearl 1992 Ford F-150. For five months, from dawn until dusk, the threesome turned the plain pickup into a monster truck.
  • Farewell - Naples High School Band Director Melvin Maxwell pauses at the end of the band's performance to look onto the crowd during the 2009 Spring Band Concert on May 14, 2009. The concert was Maxwell's final of his career, which started at Lely High School in 1974.
  • The devoted: Ramade Robles, 19, and his girlfriend Tanya Lyristakis, 20, have been through thick and thin. He was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in early January 2008, one month after they started dating. He has been in the hospital a total of seven month since that time. She says she knew two weeks after their relationship started that she wanted to be with him forever and has not once thought of leaving, despite the care he's needed with his illness. 'I would have died if I didn't have her,' Robles said. 'I had no reason to live (otherwise).' Robles will continue treatment for the leukemia until April 2011.
  • Mass on wheels: Naples Bike Mass, a weekly edition of the Critical Mass event, gathers the last Friday of the month to raise awareness for cyclists on the streets.
  • The cobbler: Silvio Palomba, 62, stands inside his store Silvio's Shoe Repair just before closing time on a recent evening. Palomba has been in the same location on 9th Street south of Central Avenue in Naples since 1980. 'I was a plumber in Italy. So when I come to this country, no language.' Palomba said. 'My father-in-law made the offer - you come work for me, I pay you 60 bucks a week. I was married. I have three children. Gave me 20 dollar raise (with) every kid.'
  • Old Glory - Flag Day is coming up on June 14.
  • Full throttle: Chaz Davies flies up a short straight on the north side of 100 miles per hour before slamming on the brakes and dropping three gears in a cacophony of v-twin noise as he matches his engine's speed with that of the wheels.
  • Not forgotten: The name on the cross says Lee Bumrok. His age has been worn thin. I didn't know anything about him accept that he died. But, with a simple internet search he came alive. His name is actually Bumrok Lee. He moved to the United States with his family from South Korea when he was 4-years-old. He grew up in Cupertino, just outside of San Jose, Calif. He died at age 21 on June 2, 2004 after suffering injuries from car-bomb in Iraq while serving as a Corporal in the U.S. Marines Corps.
  • Sumo showdown: Spanish teacher Mary Farr celebrates the first point of the night during the first Sumo Night at Barron Collier High School on March 27, 2009. The event was to raise money for the senior class.
  • Taking flight: Pablo Herzberg is embarking on a new leg of his journey. Herzberg came to the United States from Cuba with his father in 1957, and though he went to junior high in Miami at that time, it took him 45 years to complete the high school part of his American education.
  • Laughter unlimited: Chuck Sidlow and Skip Land are clowns for Circus Sarasota and the two were here to provide smiles and laughter one would expect of children. It's a program funded by the proceeds of the not-for profit circus and it's called Laughter Unlimited.
  • Fight Club: Bill Oliver is the sensei for a class practicing Shijou Ryu, a raw, no-rules style of Jiu-Jitsu. The literal translation of the technique means, “The way of the street.”
  • Cherry blossoms: Audrey Weston, 74, of New Jersey, throws her head back laughing as she participates in the water aerobics class offered at the Naples/Marco Island KOA Kampground in East Naples.
  • In love with the tango - Pablo Repun, 43, is an incarnation of Argentine tango.
  • Someday ... - A little girl aligned by light and composure, a fleeting moment as she looked over to the other side of the fence where big kids played big games.
  • ‘Old Florida, the way it used to be’ - Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in 2009
  • On pins and needles -- Griffin looks up at Dr. Foster with his big brown eyes, wet at the nose acting a little antsy. Dr. Foster strokes his back then places a small needle in his forehead. He doesn’t seem to notice much. She places two more needles at the back of his head, just behind each floppy, black ear of the 5-year-old miniature dachshund.
  • Strong dance frame -- Ballet mistress Liliam Gomez goes through movements with her beginners ballet class at the Naples Academy of Ballet on Jan. 21, 2009. The new 5,000-square-foot, two-story facility opened recently and has classes for children and adults, teaching the classic ballet Russian Vaganova method.
  • Orange reminder -- It started as a way for Missouri resident Becky Gibbs to remember her husband. She planned the release of 1,000 orange balloons on Veteran’s Day as a reminder of how Agent Orange had affected her husband and Vietnam War veteran Bill Gibbs.
  • Chocolate creations -- At 6 a.m. on a chilly Wednesday in January, Collier Center Way, an industrial park in North Naples, is deserted. The auto body shop has an empty lot. The tile and marble store is cloaked in darkness. The storage facility is locked up tight. But halfway down the road, a solitary light pours out from a business, illuminating Ingo Wullaert, who is standing outside shivering. He’s taking a break with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Wullaert has been working for two hours, with no end in sight. That’s because he’s got an order of almond chocolate bars to finish making. Wullaert is a Belgian chocolatier.
  • Keeping the bees -- A back stairwell to my condominium was covered in dead honeybees last week. The hundreds of bees looked as if they dropped straight from the sky.
  • Digging the dirt -- Seventy eight-year-old Betty Grissett, of Hillsboro, Ore., pulls weeds the planters of the ''urban rooftop garden' at ECHO Global Farm on Dec. 30, 2008, in North Fort Myers. Grissett and her husband, 79-year-old Charles Grissett, travel to Florida for four months a year to volunteer at the faith-based organization. ECHO aims to end world hunger by developing farming techniques feasible to citizens of third-world countries.

Daily News photographers capture slices of life from the world around us.

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