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General Meeting – join us at the PGICA on Sunday, October 8 at 5:30 for the nomination of next year’s board and
committee members, some refreshments (BYOB) and socializing with your friends. Watch for emails with more details.

Sunday Funday – Here’s something to look forward to in October. Join your Paradise Friends for a Sunday Funday
event at the Vivante Clubhouse. Our Booze n Bunco Bash will be held on October 8 from 3 – 5 p.m. Please BYOB and a
small appetizer to share, if you like (not mandatory). Also, bring a set of dice (if you have them). The Sunday Funday
committee will bring some tasty goodies, in addition to some fun prizes for the top teams. Look for an email blast and
please sign up online.

Membership - The Paradise Friends Club is open to all PGI Civic Association members. If you would like to join us, we
would love to have you. Dues are $20 per year/per person and you can order name tags for $11 each. You can get a
form from the PGICA lobby or from Julie Scharpf. Leave the completed form and check at the PGICA office or send it to
Julie. Her contact information is 908-917-2264, julie.scharpf@gmail.com, 2714 Mayaguana Ct, Punta Gorda, FL 33950.

Send photos for possible inclusion in The Commentator to Ann Slattery, annfs63@yahoo.com.

CELEBRATE LIFE Ladies Cancer Support Group Carol Davidson , 941-575-0956, dcdavidson@earthlink.net

Our Celebrate Life ladies will be meeting on October 4 for the first time this season.
During the summer months, those who remained in Florida enjoyed monthly luncheon
gatherings. We enjoyed having special speakers each month including: Dr. Lubiner
from Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute, Ellen Pinger and Wendy
Rivera from Relay for Life, Dr. Dosoretz from 21st Century Oncology, Dr. Khakpour
from Moffitt Cancer Center, Dr. Bachle from the Center for Woundcare and Hyperbaric
Medicine, and many more professionals involved in cancer treatment.

There are no dues to belong to Celebrate Life. The only requirements are that you are
a woman and a cancer survivor. Each year we participate in the Relay for Life to raise
money for other cancer survivors in the Charlotte County region. We sign up as a
team and we all proudly march with the survivors at the spring Relay for Life at Port
Charlotte High School. I am proud to be the captain of this special team. For the past
four years, our team has raised money for the cancer society by selling chances on a
quilt made by our members. This year we are very excited to have received a quilt donated by the Peace River Quilt
Guild (PRQG).

The PRQG asks each of its members to make and
donate one quilt a year as part of their membership.
Many members donate more than one quilt. These
quilts are given to those in need in the community and
to nonprofit organizations to use as fundraisers. Last
year 625 quilts were given away. Some of the
beneficiaries were: Baker Head Start, police CARE
center, Crossroads Hope Academy, Habitat for
Humanity, Douglas T. Jacobson Veterans’ Nursing
Home, Quilts of Valor, various nursing homes, Healthy
Start, and the hospital NICU (infant ICU). We are so
appreciative Peace River Quilt Guild has chosen us to
be recipients of their generosity this year. As survivors,
we are blessed with many special moments. The
attached photo shows Pat Brettschneider and Sheila
Wurst of the Peace River Quilt Guild presenting the
beautiful quilt to Molly Miller of Celebrate Life.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2010. It was a shock. No one in my family ever had cancer. My
grandmother died at 99, one aunt died at 96, and another at 102. My mother was 93 when she died. None of them had
cancer. I went to church to pray for support. I knew the woman in the pew in front of me was a cancer survivor. I told her
about my diagnosis. She was very supportive, put my name on the church prayer list, and supported me through my
journey. Then she told me about the Celebrate Life group. It was Sara Benson, one of the original members of Celebrate
Life.

Please feel free to drop in and join us on the first Wednesday of each month at the PGICA. If you would like more
information about our group, please call Diane Mabey 941-575-7746 or Carol Davidson 941-575-0956.
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