After a 4-year hiatus, North Collier Fire Chief Eloy Ricardo announced that the annual
Halloween party would return on October 29, 2022. Chief Ricardo explained that the party had
been planned for months. Then Ian hit, “we thought we would have to cancel the party so we
could focus our efforts on the recovery of the community, which includes many of our team
members who have suffered extensive loss, but then our CERT (community emergency
response teams) members stepped up and took over the party.”
North Collier Fire’s CERT program manager, Heather Mazurkiewicz, met with the CERT
members last week, who expressed the desire to carry on the party. The party will be on a
smaller scale than the original plan, but it will go on. The CERT members, in conjunction with
the FSW/North Collier Fire Academy students and Explorer members, will have tables for the
kids to visit for trick or treating; there will be a Junior Combat challenge and a Fire Truck
available for tours and more. Fire Chief Eloy Ricardo will grill hot dogs, and the department’s K9
“Tank” will appear. The event is open to the public and is FREE.
CERT member Patricia Maguire stated, “the children in Collier County have been through so
much with Covid, and now Ian, we could not allow another event to get canceled. I am a proud
member of the North Collier CERT and have participated in many of our missions; this may be
one of the most important we have done.”