Articles of Interest

Court Challenges Get the Ball Rolling
Nautilus Residents Rise to Challenge

by Jeff Cory, CFP, ChFC,
Executive Director

Preston and Patty Haglin

It's easy to pick out Preston Haglin in a crowd. He's the tall man from Minnesota wearing the cowboy hat. Preston and his wife, Patty, came to Shell Point nine years ago from the frozen tundra of Minneapolis. While the Haglin's enjoyed a wonderful life up north, their license plate "IH8SNO," gives a pretty clear picture of one of the reasons they moved to Shell Point.

Preston and Patty live in a beautiful residence on the second floor of Nautilus, with a long view of the river. They are very happy with their decision to move to Shell Point and enjoy the busy life they live here. While the Haglins are involved in a number of things, they weren't too busy to say yes when they were asked to serve on The Heart of it All Steering Committee.

"We think this project is important," said Preston, "and we wanted to offer our support." As a retired engineer who owned and operated a commercial building company for more than 38 years, Preston built numerous commercial buildings, heavy industrial buildings, and public works projects, including two hospitals. His wife Patty ran the office and also served on numerous charitable boards and civic committees. The Haglin's have long believed in benevolence and "giving something back," and they continue to do so today.

When The Heart of it All campaign started, Preston and Patty were one of the first couples to come forward with a major gift. "We wanted to make a significant gift to this campaign because we believe in this project and the future vision for Shell Point," he said. Preston was glad to see that Shell Point was renovating The Pavilion, but he wanted to make sure it went further than that. "I think it is absolutely essential that we do the whole job. The Pavilion is important and all of us may need it someday and would benefit from its renovation, as well as the improved services offered by the vision."

Preston speaks from experience. Two years ago on New Year's Day, his son had a major heart attack while visiting his parents here at Shell Point. He was rushed to Lee Memorial Health Park, where he had quadruple bypass surgery. Fortunately he recovered, and when he was discharged, he came to The Pavilion (private pay) for his recuperation and recovery. More recently, Patty spent some time in The Pavilion following knee surgery.

The Haglins both agree, "the people work hard in The Pavilion, but they need a facility that is more efficient and a new, modern environment."

Being people who are willing to stand behind their convictions, the Haglins decided that they would participate in The Heart of it All campaign. But they wanted to do more than that. They wanted to encourage their friends and neighbors in Nautilus to participate as well. What started as a personal gift became an exciting opportunity to help further, as Mr. and Mrs. Haglin decided to provide a challenge gift.

"Our objective was to have the residents of Nautilus give more than $200,000 to the campaign, so we thought that by offering to match every gift up to $100,000, we would be able to help others get excited about the opportunity to double their money!"

"We sincerely wanted to encourage others in our court to be a part of something we may all need some day. Everyone will need this eventually - and if they don't, then they are truly the lucky ones."

"We'd love to see 100 percent participation by Nautilus residents at some level. Together, I think we can accomplish something wonderful!"