NAPLES — When vintners attend January’s Naples Winter Wine Festival, they’ll be adorned with one-of-a-kind necklaces made especially for them in Collier County.
The designers? The children of Collier County.
Using corks collected at several restaurants and bars in Collier County, the children set to work splashing colors and pasting glitter on them.
The work was done by children in after-school programs and other charities sponsored by the Winter Wine Festival. The necklaces made out of the old wine corks will become gifts for the visiting attendees given on Meet the Kids Day during the wine festival.
“Meet the Kids Day, from the very beginning, has always been an important part of the festival,” said Cynthia Sherman, co-chair of the 2011 Naples Winter Wine Festival. “Every year something is made by the kids to give to the festival attendees.”
“Uncorking a New Decade’’ is the theme of this year’s wine festival, which takes place Jan. 28-30. The necklaces — corks strewn on brightly colored strings — are a physical representation of that theme for those vintners and others in attendance.
“The cork necklaces created by our kids symbolize the promise of helping children in our community uncork their dreams and hopes for a future full or promise,” Sherman said.
Children from the Boys and Girls Club of Collier County, the YMCA after-school programs and Fun Time Early Childhood Academy will give out the cork necklaces.
“Festival proceeds help more than 20,000 children in Collier County each year,” said Anne Welsh McNulty, Naples Children & Education Foundation trustee and 2011 grant chair. “While it would be impossible to get all of those children involved, those who create art projects like the cork necklaces reflect the support and thanks of all the children who benefit from festival guests’ generosity.”
This year on Meet the Kids Day, patrons of the wine festival, with cork necklaces adorning their necks, can select a book and read a story to a child from one of the local charities that will benefit from the festival’s fundraising.
The day will be centered on the fundamentals of learning, particular reading, Sherman said.
“Many of the children have so little, so it’s really wonderful to see how this festival affects the community,” she said.
With patterns of all types to random creations of brilliance, the necklaces range from blue and green, yellow and orange, with beads strewn in between, sparkling with the glitter hand-placed by the children.
At Manatee Elementary School, children enrolled in the YMCA after-school program spent a Thursday afternoon creating necklaces after completing their homework.
Glitter and stickers covered one table, Elmer’s glue and other craft materials scattered about. Children asked their teacher, Manatee Elementary YMCA site director Crystal Gober, for help, their fingers sticky with glue, looking for assistance in stringing the cork necklaces.
“They enjoyed making the necklaces,” Gober said. “I explained that the people who would be receiving the necklaces help out our program. Without them it would be hard to do a lot of the activities we do.”
Seven-year-old Kevin Antoine held up his necklace, the pattern thoroughly thought out, a smile of pride adorning his face. Others had created necklaces with just one color, some with a variety of colors throughout. While the process may have been messy, the children seemed happy with their creations.
For (the kids), it was their way to thank them for helping them have this program, she added.
“We have more and more people, every year, who attend the festival and also attend Meet the Kids Day,” Sherman noted. “It’s an integral part of the festival, especially for the people outside of Naples to see what we’re doing with their donation.”