VanDyk Mortgage - October 2021

OCTOBER 2021

Letters From the Hart Give us a call! 239-437-4278 Or visit www.TimHartJr.com Corporate NMLS #3035 www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

MOVE OVER, BOSS BABY!

Baby Hulk Hogan Made My Halloween

When my oldest son was 2 or 3 years old, my wife surprised me by dressing him up in the best Halloween costume ever. No, I’m not talking about Batman, Superman, or a character from “Family Guy.” I’m talking about the legendary Hulk Hogan!

The costume was freaking phenomenal, right down to the long blond hair. But what made it really special and hilarious is that I’ve loved Hulk Hogan since I was a kid. He was one of my favorite ‘80s wrestlers on the WWF (now the WWE) along with Randy “Macho Man” Savage, André the Giant, and Ultimate Warrior. The 1980s wrestling scene is what got me through my childhood. We lived in the middle of nowhere and only had four TV stations, but every Saturday morning, WWF was on one of them. I loved the drama, the crazy friendships and rivalries, and the signature moves every wrestler did in the ring. Of course, I also thought the whole thing was real. I was convinced Junkyard Dog and André the Giant were mortal enemies off-screen, too, and every time a wrestling team broke up, I was heartbroken for weeks about the betrayal. Luckily, all of my friends felt the same way. To this day, some of our best memories are of watching Wrestlemania on pay-per-view and reenacting all of

the best moments in the living room. We stuck to the script right down to the signal each character made before their finishing move. It was awesome! If I pretended to be Jake the Snake Roberts, for example, I’d get my buddy in a headlock and then twirl my finger in the air (what Jake called “doing the DDT”). In the show, that’s the moment when the crowd goes wild because it means Jake is about to knock his opponent out cold! After I did it, my friends would cheer me on as I KOed my buddy on the living room floor. The network had me eating out of their hands. My favorite parts of the wrestling experience were the promos, which I never stopped loving even after I “outgrew” wrestling and went off to college. If you haven’t seen Randy “Macho Man” Savage’s “The Cream of the Crop” promotion, you NEED to look it up on YouTube. I’ve probably seen it a hundred times, but it still cracks me up when this giant wrestler — wearing

a bandanna, huge sunglasses, and a lavender T-shirt — starts pulling little cups of coffee creamer out of thin air and ranting about the WWF higher-ups. I put “outgrew” in quotes before because I never really outgrew wrestling. In my 20s, the network hooked me again with WWF Raw Saturday Nights and the “Attitude Era” — a rougher, tougher, more risqué kind of wrestling aimed at people my age (and that I’d never let my kids watch today.) I loved the heck out of it, and that combined with my childhood nostalgia has made me a lifelong fan. If you want to make my Halloween this year, feel free to swing by the office costumed up as Hulk Hogan or one of the other ‘80s wrestling greats. I’ll give you a high-five as soon as I can stop laughing!

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SELF-HELP BOOKS CAN’T DO IT ALL How Reading Fiction Can Benefit You

Many CEOs and other successful individuals continually espouse the benefits of regular reading. Many times, leaders read self-help books to improve their leadership skills and become more successful. This is all well and good, but even the most successful people in the world could be missing out on the unique benefits that come specifically from reading fiction. But what are those benefits exactly?

functioning at their peak capacity. We need breaks, or else we’ll stress ourselves out and negatively affect other areas of our lives. Stress tends to keep us from sound sleep, but reading fiction before bed engages the imagination, taking us away from the stresses of everyday life before we drift off.

More Comfort With Uncertainty

Even though many stories (particularly those portrayed in popular movies) have nice happy endings, most people would agree that life sometimes leaves things a little more open-ended. While this fact might stress out some people, researchers have discovered that fiction readers don’t need “cognitive closure” as much as nonfiction readers.

Greater Empathy

When a psychologist analyzed 86 functioning MRI (fMRI) studies, he found that the same parts of the brain that fire up when reading fictional stories also fire up when we’re seeking to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. That’s because when the characters in the book we’re reading are thinking or feeling a certain way, we tend to think or feel that way with them.

Greater Happiness

Even if none of the benefits of fiction interest you, everyone wants to find ways to make themselves happy — and for many, that is reading fiction. According to one survey, 76% of participants said that reading makes them feel good and improves their lives. So, what are you waiting for? Dust off that novel you’ve been meaning to read and crack it open!

Less Stress and Better Sleep

When we read fiction specifically, we tend to disengage from the world — and that’s a good thing! Our brains can’t always be

5 Low-Tech Tips for Lighting Your Jack-o’-Lanterns

3. Go bottomless. Another option that will solve the toppling candle problem is hollowing out your pumpkin from the bottom instead of cutting a lid out of the top. If you do that, you can set up and light your candle first, then place the jack- o’-lantern over it. As long as your pumpkin is on a hard, level surface, your candle should be stable. 4. Light up at the right moment. The easiest way to prevent burns is to light your candle at the right time and with the right method. If you like to hollow your pumpkins out from the bottom, light your candle first then place the pumpkin over it to prevent burns. If you hollow your pumpkins from the top, remove the “lid,” place the unlit candle inside, then light it with a long lighter or fireplace match. 5. Don’t forget the chimney hole. To prevent heat and smoke from building up inside of your pumpkin and cooking it slowly, light up your candle and peek inside to see which spot on the top is warming up the fastest. Then, cut out a notch or “chimney hole” in that spot to let the heat escape.

Halloween is almost here, and you know what that means: home- carved jack-o’-lanterns! Turning pumpkins into decor is an ancient tradition, but as any experienced carver knows, using real candles inside them can be frustrating. Cooking pumpkins, unstable candles, and accidental burns are just a few of the issues that often crop up. To avoid them this Halloween, try these five tips. 1. Choose your candle wisely. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, it's best to choose a candle that is at least an inch shorter than the hollow space inside of your pumpkin. To achieve this, you can buy long candles and trim them to size or learn to make your own from the book “Beeswax Alchemy” by Petra Ahnert. 2. Create built-in stability. There’s nothing less festive than a jack-o’-lantern going dark because its candle has tipped over. To prevent that, carve a depression into the floor of the pumpkin that’s the same shape and size as the base of your candle. Then, drop the candle in! This simple trick will hold it in place.

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quiet. He looked over at Rich and whispered to him, ‘Coach, I don’t think I’m going to make it to practice tomorrow.’

The Richard Hagy Memorial Fund, Inc. You can sign up to play or donate online at RichHagyGolf.com .

“Rich told him this was no excuse and he would see him in full gear in a few days. The kid just smiled — Rich fought back tears. The boy passed away the next day. Rich said afterward that was the hardest thing he ever had to do!” Losing a great guy like Rich hit Nancy and her daughters hard, but they’re tough cookies. They kept their chins up and decided to do what they could to carry on Rich’s legacy and help students in Lee County further their education. Here’s where golfing comes in! Rich loved to golf, so the Hagys created a tournament in his honor. Since 2011, the Richard L. Hagy Memorial Golf Tournament has raised scholarship funds for kids in Lee County. It has brought in more than $70,000 to date! That’s a lot of lives changed through golf swings. This year’s tournament is coming up on Saturday, Oct. 30 , at Magnolia Landing, and I’d love to see you there. You can register as a single player or four-person team, sponsor a hole, or even donate an item for the door prize giveaway or silent auction. The event is always a good time. There’s a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. followed by a buffet lunch, an awards ceremony, a silent auction, and a door prize raffle, all set up by Nancy’s nonprofit,

I know there are a lot of golf tournaments out there, but if you love the game (or even if you just love kids), I hope you’ll consider this one. Rich was a really special guy, and it means a lot to Nancy, her daughters, and her granddaughters to give out these scholarships every year in his name. Even in the craziness of 2020, they managed to host the tournament and give 14 scholarships to college-bound seniors! Every swing made and dollar donated makes a big difference.

Here’s a final word from Nancy about Rich.

“Rich liked to brag, but never about himself — always about his school, students, faculty, and/or his girls! … I believe the things that meant the most to Rich over the years were the many friendships and the love and sheer joy of working and playing together. Rich was not bossy, but he was strong. He wasn’t loud or aggressive, but he spoke when he had something to say. He encouraged students to work as hard as they could and learn as much as they could.” That’s the kind of guy I want to swing a club for! Remember, you can join me in donating or attending the tournament by visiting RichardHagyGolf.com before Oct. 30. Thanks in advance for supporting my friend!

NMLS #354676

Solution on Pg. 4

TRIVIA QUESTION: Which wrestler had "The Cream of the Crop" promotion?

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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

Tim Hart, NMLS #354676 8280 College Parkway, Suite #101 Fort Myers, FL 33919

Give us a call! 239-437-4278 Or visit www.TimHartJr.com

Inside This Issue

The Tale of Baby Hulk Hogan PAGE 1

The Unique Benefits of Reading Fiction

5 Low-Tech Tips for Lighting Your Jack-o’- Lanterns PAGE 2

Testimonial From the Hart PAGE 3

Join Us Oct. 30 to Golf for a Cause PAGE 4

YOUR GOLF SWING COULD MAKE A KID’S YEAR!

Join Us Oct. 30 to Golf in a Teacher’s Memory

I’m going to talk to you about golf today, but before I get to that, I want to share a story about someone who loved the game as much as I do. Just over 10 years ago, my good friend Nancy Hagy lost her husband, Rich. It was a sad day for the whole community. Not only was Rich a great husband, father, and grandfather, but he was also an awesome Lee County school teacher, coach, and principal for more than 30 years. He loved helping and mentoring kids — both his own and everyone else’s.

There’s one particular story Nancy likes to tell about Rich’s big heart that always gets the waterworks going. Here it is in her own words:

“One afternoon, Rich got an emergency phone call telling him that one of his players had severe burns on over 80% of his body. He was going to be flown to Tampa’s Burn Unit. The only person he wanted to see was Rich.

“When Rich got to the hospital, the doctors told him not to touch him and to be upbeat. When he went into the room, the kid was very

CONTINUED ON PG. 3 ...

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