True-love story, old flames reconnect thanks to article in News-Press

Tara Clydesdale and Mike Pettit pose for a picture much like the one they took in June of 1989.


Tara Clydesdale and Mike Pettit pose for a picture in June of 1989. They were high school sweethearts at the time but went their separate ways only to rekindled their love almost 9 years later.


Above is the piece of paper Tara Clydesdale was given as a message to call Mike Pettit (pictured).


Tara Clydesdale, 33, and Mike Petitt, 34, pose for a picture with their "kids" Jack, Austin, Megan, Fat Albert and Katie. Petitt was able to find Clydesdale, his high school sweetheart, after searching the Internet and finding a News-Press article about Clydesdale and parasailing.

By Alejandra Diaz
Tara Clydesdale, 33, works on Bonita Beach, but she doesn’t sell hot dogs or set up rental chairs ...

Those are the words that got Mike Pettit’s heart racing, the words that gave him the encouragement to search the Internet for his long-lost high school sweetheart.

Those were the words that brought back all the memories of years gone by when Mike Pettit and Tara Clydesdale were an inseparable pair in New Jersey.

“I just wanted to talk to her. I never forgot about her. I needed to know how she was,” said Pettit, 34, who was afraid that Clydesdale was married or in a serious relationship.

But he sat at his computer, anyway, and ran a computer search for Tara’s name.

Incredibly and fatefully, it popped up, from an article in The News-Press that ran on July 8.

Instantly, Pettit was nervous.

“I couldn’t believe it. She was the first three hits and after that it was about the Clydesdale horses but I knew it was her,” said Pettit.

“I said to myself that I’d see what happens and when I saw her name, I was like ... .”

Clydesdale sees it a bit differently.

“It was meant to be ... Kismet ... People always say that about things happening for a reason.”

Google Search

It was the middle of this summer and Clydesdale was living in Cape Coral and working on Bonita Beach with a parasailing company.

She was featured in the story for her ability to send passengers as high as 1,200 feet in the air.

Pettit was living on the water in Delaware. He loved to fish and boat, so much that he drove 200 miles round trip a day to his job as a carpenter.

His life was in turmoil. His eight-year marriage was ending. And Pettit missed his old soul mate.

It was time to reconnect. And thanks to Google, he did.

He just needed the courage to make the first call.

It took him a week.

“I looked at the story and I saw it had a phone number but I didn’t want to call. I just wanted to fly down there and see her,” he said.

“But my friends talked me out of it. I called that Thursday and she wasn’t at work.”

“I said her name and some guy on the beach had no idea what I wanted ... so I said ‘I’m looking for the girl from the newspaper’ and that did the trick,” he said about finally leaving a message with Lonnie Clark, the boat captain who worked with Clydesdale.

Clark forgot to pass the message along and it wasn’t until July 16 — Petitt’s birthday — that Clydesdale got the message and returned the call.

“I was shocked to get a piece of paper with his name on it. We talked for 20 minutes and it was just as it had been years ago,” said Clydesdale, who had thought about Pettit after realizing it was his birthday. “I wondered just that morning how he was and little did I know, he had called days earlier.”

They chatted constantly by phone for the next two weeks catching up.

That wasn’t good enough for Clydesdale. She quit her job at the beach and went to Delaware, to see first hand if two could really reignite their love affair.

“We talked about so many things and what we wanted out of life and everything just matched,” said Clydesdale about feeling relief that she got one more chance with Pettit.

For love, even Florida

Her intention was to move back to Florida. Not his, though.

“I had no intention, want or desire to move to Florida because it’s so damn hot but she said I could fish and I wanted to be with her so here I am,” Pettit said.

The two have settled in Bonita Springs with their five labrador retrievers and two cats.

“We’ve been having fun ever since,” Pettit said.

He’s found work here as an accoustic ceiling installer, and she went to work at a boat dealership in Bonita.

The fun has included a trip to a New Jersey theme park, parasailing on Bonita Beach and spending every Sunday on Dog Beach with “the kids.”

Their plan is to get married once Petitt’s divorce is finalized but the details of the wedding are still being worked out.

“She said I had to get her a ring before she came up to see me. We are thinking of getting married in Las Vegas but she said Elvis isn’t invited,” said Pettit teasingly as Clydesdale looked on and smiled. “She is what I wanted out of a relationship and I’m finally happy.”

System identifies sexual offenders

Barr Security of North Naples has an eye, a scanner and a list to identify sexual offenders on a national level.

Just ask Jennifer Boocock, the director of the Wonder Years Preschool at the First Presbyterian Church — the first school in Bonita Springs to catch a glimpse of the new technology.

Boocock got a first hand look at the new kiosk that was installed at her school by Barr Security as part of a visitor management system meant to stop sexual predators at the door.

“Our parents see safety as a priority and they ask us about it a lot so anything we can do to add an extra layer of security is a good thing,” said Boocock, who agreed to have the machine installed to supplement their current camera and keypad entry system.

The preschool was selected as a test site for the system because it gets enough traffic that Barr Security will be able to see the system work and test improved software. It is also close to Barr Security’s office on Tamiami Trail.

“This provides a level of security that you can’t beat. Even if you have a sexual offender list on the wall, it’s no good if you don’t look at it,” said Shaq Mughal, the owner of Barr Security.

Barr Security offers three models that screen visitors but its built in self-service feature allows visitors to check in without tying up office administrators.

“Visitors come in and check themselves in. I think people are more susceptible to self-service type technology and this lets them get in and get out,” said Mughal of the system that costs between $6,000 and $8,000.

Visitors are asked to use a touch-screen screen to put in their name, destination and scan a government issued ID before entering the school.

The system also asks for a fingerprint and a photo is taken of the visitor while the system scans the national database of registered sex offenders and a separate local watch list to ensure that the visitor is allowed on the premises.

The national database checks through more than 560,000 registered sex offenders in the United States.

“It automates the whole check-in process and runs background checks. Schools can even keep their own watch list or make notes based on parent requests or their own observations,” said Kristen Morse, the Barr Security vice president of marketing.

If a visitor were to be blocked from entry, the system alerts school personnel and they decide if security needs to be called.

“We just need to be sure about who our visitors are. The church will also be using the system when the preschool is closed,” said Boocock, who can have as many as 140 students at any one time.

Barr Security is talking to the Lee County school system about making their system a staple throughout the county, copmpany officials said. The Collier County school system has a similar visitor system.

“You can’t put a price on safety and schools know that,” Morse said.

Sensors warn of trouble at home

No matter where homeowners are, Global Security has figured out a way to keep them connected to their homes — be they next door or even out of the country.

Gregory Coury is the president of the company that is changing the way people view home security by introducing a digital home watch system that alerts homeowners of potential problems.

“Having a home watch system where people check on your home in Bonita Springs is really popular, but sometimes it’s not enough,” said Coury, who originally open the company in Miami in 1983. “A weekly home watch system will discover problems but our system works to prevent it.”

The system uses a series of sensors, an alarm, a temperature reader and a phone connection that watches over the house and contacts homeowners in case of floods, mold or heat.

“This is great for even people who just go to work and leave the house empty because it will send you a text message or call your work if the air breaks and floods the house or the temperature rises,” said Coury, who opened a Bonita Springs office in 1999.

Coury came up with the system after hearing stories of people who discovered water seeping into their homes too late to prevent costly damage.

A basic unit starts at $500 and the monthly monitoring fee is $25.

“I’ve heard lots of stories. This product can be utilized by everyone and we can even tie the system to the alarm they have or install a basic model,” Coury said.

Global Security also offers burglar alarms, fire alarms and a camera system that allows home or business owners to keep on eye on things from around the world.

“As long as you have the Internet we can set up cameras and watch from anywhere in the world using an IP address,” said Coury, who personally tested the system earlier this year during a trip to Moscow. “You can see everything that is going on and that gives people comfort.”

Global Security is a state licensed company and Coury offers a month free for customers who choose to pay annually instead of monthly.

The system, which was created more than a year ago, will be on display at the Naples Home Expo on Nov. 17-18.

“I knew there was technology out there that could keep people more connected and sometimes having somebody check out your home once a week or monthly isn’t enough,” he said.

Auxiliary plans Vets Day ceremony

American Legion Auxiliary Unit #303 will hosting a special Veterans Day ceremony at Riverside Park at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The ceremony will honor veterans and remember those who have lost their lives by securing 100 flags that represent fallen soldiers.

“These flags are from veterans and their families that donated them to the American Legion for (memorial day) ceremonies,” said Kay Pirucki, president of the Ladies Auxiliary from the American Legion Post, during a memorial day celebration that was held at Riverside Park earlier this year.

The Legion collected flags for the last two years until reaching 100 and is going to put them on display for the public during major holidays such as Veterans Day.

“It’s a lot of work for us to put them all up but we made sure that the city allowed this space just for us when they were building the park,” said Rudy Zannoni, the Legion’s post commander.

The Legion will also host a luncheon at 3 p.m. to collect proceeds to buy phone cards for troops overseas.