Sheldon Starman first came through Naples in 1969. There was something about this town he liked that made him return in 1971. Perhaps it was because he had a bigger plan and a vision of how to achieve it. A couple years later Sheldon joined an accounting firm and, nearly half a century later, he is still employed by it. Raised in a conservative Jewish environment in Detroit, Sheldon always placed importance on building a strong Jewish community in Collier County, where he resided, and served many years as treasurer for its largest Jewish congregation. Sheldon’s recall of names, places, players, facts is quite appropriate for a man of his profession, and he takes the audience down the memory lane with him.
We can almost experience the excitement of a late night bone fire on Wiggins Pass beach and walk into JCCC kitchen, where the Sisterhood ladies did not need any instruction on what to do – they knew it, because they were just going about their business as one large Jewish family. The film is premiering at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 23 in celebration of National Jewish American History Month.