Jill Kushner - Specializing in The Colony Golf & Bay Club, Bonita Springs, Florida FL - Downing-Frye Realty Inc. - Jill Kushner, Realtor: The Colony Women's Forum

The Colony Women's Forum came about when a Colony friend and neighbor shared an idea with Debbie Allegretto.

Although Debbie and her husband Paul, formerly of West Hartford, CT, are actively engaged in all kinds of events and activities with Colony residents, Debbie began noticing the more than occasional absence of some her neighborhood women friends at Colony gatherings.

Debbie reached out to some of these neighbors and asked why this was. Often she heard from these women they were too shy to get involved, unless their husbands were available to attend events with them.

A fair portion of Colony residents commute back and forth from their primary residences, as they are still in a work mode. By design, this arrangement offers the other spouse the opportunity to enjoy our paradise during the winter months. Commuting like this gives the working spouse, (often of a senior partnership position, a medical practitioner or a business owner) a more gentle transition from work into retirement. Some Colony residents have been doing this kind of commute/transition for years.

So we have a pretty constant population of independent residents. We have single people here too, of course. “They may be working out of their Colony homes and just need to get out and socialize”, Debbie reports.

News of this got Debbie working on an idea…a group for women, single, married, widowed, whatever, to just find each other thru no other membership affiliation than living in The Colony. Passionate about pulling these people together, Debbie began collecting names and emails and launched her first gathering about a year ago at The Bay Club, which was modestly attended. But within the first few get-togethers, The Colony Women’s Forum had blossomed to 35 Colony women attending a luncheon at The Golf Club (membership not required for this event). The Colony Women’s Forum is very interested in reaching out to our women, in particular, to let them know that a bevy of new friends and new opportunities are available to them, right here inside the gate.

"Every female at The Colony can meet, make friends and get involved with a variety of activities at the Colony and around the SWFL area. Members advise me of all sorts of events but we primarily encourage the group to support Colony events and resident's involvement with local organizations", said Debbie.

Debbie Allegretto

One of the upcoming Colony Women's Forum off-site excursions is to support, Forum member and La Scala resident, Cindy Walpole’s brilliant photography works at the upcoming Von Liebig Art Center’s Juried Art Exhibition, October 15-December 3^rd. All Colony residents are encouraged to attend the preview reception on October 14^th, 5:30-7:30. For more information on this and other Colony Women’s Forum events, please contact Debbie Allegretto.