Former Marina Apartment Neighbors Stay In Touch

By Kelly Garrison
Features Editor

A fresh coat of paint. New blue awnings. Picnic tables that weren’t there before.

Things have changed at the Marina Apartments since the 1970s, but at least one thing remains constant, and it goes by the name of “Sorrento Remembered.” The group of about 20 people, who used to live adjacent to one another in the close-knit complex, gathered last month to talk about memories that they’ve held onto since moving away to different parts of the country.

“We had many laughs reminiscing over times we got our apartments mixed up, since each court looked so much alike,” said Bernie Gresko, who moved out of the complex but still lives in Belmont Shore.”

She said she remembered her property manager at the time introducing them to one another, forming “what grew to be a kind of happy family.”

The group of tenants, she said, turned out to be lifelong friends that shared both interests and laughs over get togethers and activities.

Among the neighbors, Gail Partida, said she remembered hauling her groceries into the wrong apartment by accident during her lease there.

“She thought it was her own, and when she saw the furniture out of place, she thought her friends were playing a trick on her by moving her furniture,” Gresko said.

Things as simple as chatting over carrot cake brought the group together, she said. In their leisure time, they embarked on boat races and learned the tricks to playing different board games.

“Games were big icebreakers,” Gresko said. “We played every kind of game popular at the time — Charades, Trivial Pursuit, bike rallies and weird games, like the ‘broom game,’” she said. “...We were all kind of the same age — in our 20s — with similar interests.”

As they grew older together, several couples formed from the group and later married. Another spin-off from the group called themselves the “Sorrento Sisters” and still meets regularly to catch up, she said.

Rent for each unit used to run at about $100 per month, according to several members of their group. The apartments, on East Sorrento Drive, still overlook Alamitos Bay from Naples Island.

“The layout of each one-bedroom unit mirrors the unit opposing the courtyard with all apartments close together,” she said.

“One could hardly live there unnoticed... In walking by, you can see a few changes, such as the blue doors and awnings, more landscaping, picnic tables on the beach and new windows.”