Everything Amelia The people, events, and history that make Amelia a special place

everything Amelia

PEOPLE, PLACES, HISTORY & MORE

BY JULIE SIMMONS

LES DEMERLE’S BIG BAND BASH RETURNS MAY 1 AND A NEW LIVE ALBUM

Amelia Island’s favorite jazz artist, Les Demerle, has just released a new album called Hot Night In Venice! Th is live set was recorded at the Venice Jazz Club in Venice, Italy and features the Les Demerle Quartet with Bonnie Eisele entertaining a packed room of fans. “We are playing jazz classics: Perdido, Night Train, Down By Th e Riverside, plus Bonnie’s wonderful interpretations of Th e Very Th ought Of You, Peel Me A Grape, Th e Lady Is Tramp, Girl From Ipenema, and many more, for over an hour’s worth of music,” says Les with a smile. Amelia Islanders can enjoy this great set today by picking up a CD at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro.

If you want a taste of this great set live, join Les and Bonnie at the Amelia Island Jazz Festival Big Band Bash on Saturday, May 1 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Omni Amelia Island Resort. Featuring the Les DeMerle 17-piece orchestra with Bonnie Eisele performing classics from Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and a tribute to Harry James, the group is ready for a crowd! For tickets and more information, visit ameliaislandjazzfestival.com. GRAND OPENING OF THE COURTYARD AND SPRINGHILL SUITES BY MARRIOTT AMELIA ISLAND

If you’re vacationing or staycationing and looking for something unexplored, two new Marriott properties will open on Amelia Island in May: Courtyard and SpringHill Suites at Atlantic and South Fletcher Avenues near Main Beach. The 239-room dual-branded property is adjacent to Fort Clinch State Park, close to the historic downtown, and steps from the Atlantic Ocean. A resort-style pool deck, in-pool seating, fi re pit, many dining options, full bars, and a fitness room are just some of the amenities. For those of us not on vacation, the properties have lots of flexible spaces for meetings, events, and special occasions with on-site catering.

Committed to the community, Courtyard and SpringHill Suites is the title sponsor of “2020 – A Look Back,” a community-wide project that assembled 100 photos from hundreds submitted to tell the story of the year 2020 on Amelia Island and in Nassau County. The community is invited to tour the two new properties and view the exhibit as part of its opening events. Created by the Plantation Artists’ Guild and Gallery, the exhibit is free and will benefit Arts Alive-Nassau, a non-profi t providing after school arts programing to the children of Nassau County. For more information or to book a stay, call (904) 261-1919.

LOCAL AUTHOR TOM HITCHCOCK RELEASES HIS LATEST NOVEL

Local author, Tom Hitchcock has a new novel which lands right here on our Island! Four of his five novels are set partially or wholly on Amelia Island. His explanation: “A story needs a location, and Amelia Island is one I’m familiar with, so why not?” Yet Hitchcock and his wife, Susan, lived on another island for nearly 20 years—a small, remote spit of land on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. “Back then, Tilghman Island was populated mostly by watermen,” he continues. “Kind of a sleepy place. Not that it couldn’t have been the scene of murder, mystery, or intrigue, but it would have exceeded the limits of my imagination at the time.” His latest novel, Drowning, is the story of three people who embark on an ill-fated sailing voyage. Tom thought it needed wider horizons than Amelia Island, so the story begins on Tilghman Island and concludes here for its climactic ending. When an illicit love affair turns an idyllic sailing trip into a nightmarish ordeal of torment and guilt, it hounds an adulterous couple through a string of island hideaways landing on our Island. The book is available at Story & Song Bookstore Bistro and The Book Loft. Learn more at tomhitchcockwrites.com.

Craft Beer & Artisan Pizza

Fernandina Beach’s newest craft brewery has opened its doors. First Love Brewing is a community centric microbrewery that features 20 rotating taps all brewed on site. First Love Brewing also offers artisan pizzas made with their signature dough recipe. We are inspired by the community we live in and the people we meet. We look forward to seeing you soon.