Honor the Free Press Day at the Hilton Naples Hotel

Save the Date for Honor the Free Press Day at the Hilton Naples Hotel being held on Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mark Russell

The Marine Corps League of Naples annually honors a journalist as a way to emphasize the importance of a free press in America, something U.S. Marines have fought to preserve for more than 200 years. The annual observance was the idea of Michael Trephan, a member and former Public Information Officer of the Marine Corps League of Naples, ET Brisson Detachment #063. Trephan is a former member of the working press and a current member of the Naples Press Club.

Trephan: “One of the most important parts of our country and who we are as a democracy, is a free press.”

The Hilton Naples Hotel is located at 5111 Tamiami Trail North in Naples Florida.

10:15AM – Registration
11:00AM – Luncheon

This year’s Guest of Honor is Marine Mark Russell, political satirist, social commentator, entertainer and PBS veteran.  Mark began his show business career at a young age in Buffalo, NY with his brother, Dan.  Mark got this break at the famed Washington, DC Shoreham-Americana Hotel, as the cocktail lounge piano player, where he began inserting hilarious song parodies of the nation’s power brokers.  Mark Russell has also enjoyed his own TV show, appeared on many PBS specials over 30 years, recorded comedy albums, written a newspaper column, as well as a humorous autobiography “Presenting Mark Russell” in 1980.

There is also an article titled “Mark Russell….Still a Marine at Heart” in the August 2010 Leatherneck magazine.

The Free Press Day at the Hilton Naples Hotel .. Click Here to make your Reservations
For more information, contact:  John Connelly -- 239.352.0772 or email him at conly1@mac.com