Five Burnt Store Marina Venues Share One Veterans Day Week This November

"This Veterans Day, Burnt Store Marina is coming together for something bigger than any one event, venue, or organization." That line opens Alyssa Eshleman's country club column in the October 2026 issue of The Beacon. The rest of the column explains it.

For one week in November, Burnt Store Marina Country Club, the BSM Fitness Center, Cass Cay, The Trading Post and Platinum Point Yacht Club are each hosting one part of a single program. It's called Salute to Service Week. The golf course, the gym, both marina dining spots and the yacht club usually run their own calendars. This time they share one event. It raises money for one Punta Gorda organization and collects goods for another.

One Week, Five Doors

Here is the schedule as The Beacon printed it in October 2026:

1. Friday, November 6 through Sunday, November 15. Walk of Honor signs go up around the community. Each sign recognizes a veteran residents have known and loved.
2. Friday, November 6. The BSM Fitness Center hosts a 5K Run/Walk that's open to all ages and abilities.
3. Friday, November 6, evening. Cass Cay Restaurant hosts an Evening of Honor Dinner that raises money for the cause.
4. Saturday, November 7. Burnt Store Marina Country Club holds a Salute to Service Golf Tournament.
5. Sunday, November 8. Platinum Point Yacht Club hosts the third day of events.
6. Wednesday, November 11, Veterans Day. The Trading Post serves a Veterans Day Breakfast to close the week.

Five venues host six events across four days, so you could do just one and still be part of the week. Each event "has its own personality," the column says, but all of them share one purpose. It calls the program "an intra-community effort" made up of restaurants, recreation spaces, the fitness center, the golf club, the yacht club and residents.

The Walk of Honor lasts longest. The signs stay up four days past Veterans Day, so they'll still be along the streets for anything else on the mid-November calendar.

Where the Money Goes This Year

The week supports two organizations in Punta Gorda, one with money and one with donated goods.

Funds raised go to the Military Heritage Museum, at 900 West Marion Avenue. Its mission is to preserve and share the stories of U.S. military service through exhibits, education and cultural experiences. The galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In an April 29, 2026 release, the museum said it had found and verified original and draft letters from Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. It is cataloging and preserving the papers and plans to digitize them.

The week is also collecting goods for Punta Gorda Veterans Village. Volunteers of America Florida runs the program, which provides transitional housing and supportive services for veterans in Charlotte County. Those services include case management, health services and help preparing for independent living. The organizers haven't published a list of needed items yet. The VOA Florida page doesn't list current needs either.

Veterans Day fundraising has a long history at Burnt Store Marina. The Burnt Store Veterans Day Weekend site says the community's Veterans Day events have raised more than $675,000 for WISH for OUR HEROES since 2010. That charity helps active-duty and veteran military families with basic needs. The site still shows the 2025 weekend, which ran November 14 to 16, 2025. Salute to Service Week points its giving at two organizations in Punta Gorda and puts five of the community's venues on the same calendar.

The Sunday Still Being Settled

The October issue says the details are still being worked out. The Beacon's column says event dates, registration details and ways to contribute "will be shared as plans are finalized." The October column itself gives no start times, ticket prices or registration links.

November 8 is the date with two descriptions. The web version of the column calls the Platinum Point Yacht Club event a "Cruisin' for a Cause Car Show." The print edition calls it a ceremony to recognize fallen veterans. Both versions place it at PPYC that Sunday. Check before you dress for it.

The organizers point residents to the Section 22 site, bsm22.org, and to each host's own website and social media for updates. For the Sunday event, call Platinum Point Yacht Club at 941-639-0733.

The Friday dinner has its own scheduling wrinkle. The Safe Harbor Burnt Store page lists Cass Cay as open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Cass Cay's own site lists Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Call the restaurant before you plan around either one.

The Hosts Spent the Summer Getting Ready

Several of this week's hosts have changed since last November. Residents who were away for the summer haven't seen the changes yet.

The country club has new leadership. Alyssa Eshleman started as general manager on February 28, 2026. In October, Chef Werner Dietrich took over the kitchen as executive chef. He trained in Germany and cooked aboard the Royal Viking Sun. He came to Southwest Florida in 2000, worked at the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort, and spent 15 years as executive chef at Olde Hickory Golf and Country Club. He says his plans for the season include "expertly curated wine dinners, themed interactive dining nights, and elegant carving stations," as well as the club's golf tournaments and awards banquets. The November 7 tournament will be one of the first big golf events of his time there.

The October Beacon's community update lists what else got done over the summer:

• Roads. After three summers of work, the Section 22 road repaving project is complete.
• Water. A new 800-foot well now supplies the irrigation pond at Osprey 5. Together with a new well for the BSMCC irrigation system, it's expected to improve water flow and quality.
• Entrances. A sailboat sign has replaced the old lighthouse sign at the entrances. The new signs are still going through permitting.
• Clubhouse. BSMCC has a new kitchen floor, and the men's restroom has been renovated.
• Fitness Center. There's a new yoga instructor.

Not everything is finished. In March 2026, the Section 22 board wrote in The Beacon that Safe Harbor had spent tens of millions repairing hurricane damage. Bulkhead and dock replacements are still ahead, and upgrades and added services for Cass Cay and The Trading Post are planned. The board gave no completion date. Salute to Service Week will run at the marina's two dining spots while that work is still to come.

The Calendar on Either Side of the Week

The week falls in a busy stretch for the community. Some of the events around it are open to the public, and some are for members:

At the November 5 talk, Platinum Point Yacht Club is partnering with the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center. Speakers will explain how Vertical Oyster Gardens improve water quality and create marine habitat. Admission is free and open to everyone. Non-members can register by calling 941-639-0733. The November 14 Coffee & Conversation falls while the Walk of Honor signs are still up. It's hosted by Jeri Butler, the club's 2026–27 membership committee chair.

Starting October 12, Linkside opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast. The Burnt Store Anglers are also back for their October-to-May season. They meet the first Monday of each month at the Tiki Hut beside Cass Cay and The Trading Post.

At My Digital Listing, we follow the Burnt Store Marina calendar every season, because the clubs and events here are part of what buyers come for. If you plan to sell this winter, we can put your home's listing in front of buyers alongside a picture of community life that's current to the week. Get your free digital listing plan.