Pensacola Magazine, March 2021

HOME&GARDEN

Secrets of Spring Gardening

Honey, the

Beekeepers

are in Pensacola

Insta

Shopping is the NewBlack

Style, Substance & Sustainability Also in this issue:

Business Climate

PENSACOLA’S BAYFRONT SMART HOME

On the Market A Real Estate Section

MARCH 2021 • PENSACOLAMAGAZINE.COM

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Editor’s Note Editor’s Note “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood Congratulations. If you’re reading this first 2021 issue of Pensacola Magazine, it means you have survived “In gardens, beauty is a by2020, which is no small feat considering the barrage product.

The mainuncertainty, business is loss sex and of pain, anxiety, divisiveness, and death.”

– Sam Llewelyn loneliness that 2020 brought to bear on the entire planet. Many have lost their lives, their loved ones, Theseafter twoanother, quotes always to mind their jobs—one the hitscome just kept Good morning, Pensacola!

What a strange in early spring.

No doubt you’ve read coming. And here we are—on the other side, at least placeisweitfind ourselves already? in this spring. The novel August them here before at some point in in terms ofHow thecoronavirus Gregorian calendar.

What will COVID-19 hasThese arrived in change our How is it still 2020? in 2021? Athe lot?

A little?

We have last 14 years of mymultiple tenure atsothis community and, although we havevaccines far been two questions may seem that we hope will eventually inthem the coronavirus, luckier than Still, many,reign fight to keep from publication.

Ithe love initpart contradictory, but I can assure you spreading continues.

We went the tofor print with put the country back to work and allow some because they do not reflect gooey I am feeling them both equally— this issue on MarchWhen 30. At that time,freely Escambia semblance and of social normalcy. can I don’t think I amwe alone. affirmations renewal that County had of 42 rebirth confirmedorcases and Santa visit again, are how will our lives be different?

What has so popular at this time of the year.

Rosa had 30. Those numbers rose quickly once This year is just too much. Allus? of it—the 2020 taught us?

How has it changed I suspect itis, testing was expanded.

Too quickly.

The fact Rather,the they reflect the gritty, downpolitics, pandemic, the pundits.

I’m over will take time to don’t unpack of the physical, we knowallwho might have the mental virus or be to-earth lovely realities of spring it.

So, this and month we chose to focus on a theof virus without That is and emotionalcarrying impacts 2020, but symptoms.

I hope time much more relaxing and playful “P” word: stay gardening and life in general.

When whythat it iswe essential that to we,grow as a community, will heal usPets. and are able in positive Who allingooey inside over I am bogged down thepossible--leaving day-tohome asdoesn’t much asgohumanly ways from an ouradorable individual and collective experiences. kitten or a playful pup?

Only only for absolute essentials.

I like idea, too, dayforegoing struggles of traditional life, I tend to the forget In 2021, I’m the resolutions the of most heartless among us, I suspect. practicing physical distancing rather than about the healing power of digging with specific, social measurable outcomes.

Instead, distancing.

We can remain social via Adoptions are on rise during the pandemic into the dirt. here infocus Pensacola many avenues inthe this modern world—phone I am hoping turn myThen, energy and andleast, it’s easy tovideo see why.

Pets alleviate the stress, spring blasting texts, calls—and I encourage to a few of at thecalls, themes thatcomes 2020 brought toout of boredom and loneliness of social distancing everyone to stay connected to their tribe.

Weand nowhere and I have a limited window forefront. No expectations.

No stress. uncertain futures. may be don’t know whatThere tomorrow willmany bring things and of comfortable and productivecan dirtprovide out we of all ourneed control in connected 2020, buttowesomething to feel digging before the stunning spectacle Relationships or someone in order to get through a loving home to a sweet pet and get this. more Losing mylove mom early insex 2020 brought home of botanical and death begins. than we could havereally imagined in return.

On the topic of physical distancing, in our the idea that time is Pensacola a limitedHumane resource.Society We have While the has had COVID-19 resource guide, you will see that Asand I success write my editorial on great withMarch adoptions and fostering this moment the future is always Pensacola neighborhoods anduncertain. community groups this year, those who love animals know thatways February 25, I am making a backIn 2021, I hope give several more attention to and my safe havetofound clever, unique the shelters are never empty.

There is always to stayfamily, connected toand make adesires difference a of-mind list offriends myandplanting relationships with community. pet while in need, so if snuggling up to a sweet kitty practicing physical distancing.

I must for the spring. This Saturday I will or playing a playful sounds say, I amfetch very with impressed withpup the outpouring Health visit Palafox Market to stock up likeofa the good waysupport to pass time, check love and I some have seen amongst my While we have always heard that good health is our on seedlings from East Hill Edible Pensacolians—yeah, out fellow our adoptable pet profilesthe ontoilet pagepaper 34. most valuable asset, 2020 madebut sure weare knew it.than hoarding was weird, more Gardening (because of there course I forgot We’ve got some feel-good pet stories for our up enough people giving of themselves to make to start my seeds in the freezing cold

weather that immediately preceded Clarification: this gorgeous spring). They have an In the article “Dismantling excellent selection of veggies and herbs Racism Through Obesity, diabetes and heart disease became death and I can’t wait to see what they have Education’’ (February, sentences for too many people battling Covid. While 2021), we wrongly cited the for this season.

In this issue they’ve genetics predispose some to these illnesses, many can acronym for the African also written a fantastic guide to spring be managed or eradicated by lifestyle changes. I’d planting here in Pensacola, so be like to focus on making healthy choices while still American Heritage Society sure to take and getgood digging. enjoying the notes bad-for-you stuff in moderation. as AAHSP. It should have

Editor’s Editor’s Note Note

Spring is also and featured roundabout first responders hospitalinworkers?

Thank Passion and Joy you for putting yourselves onand the front incredible special-needs pets their lines owners ways in other stories this month— I todon’t know about you, but 2020 keep us as safe asthat possible.

Also, a precious bigoffered shout far too and she discovered while these fromof local beekeepers tome. spring décor little either of these to I was so toconsumed out to all the teachers out there scrambling babies may take a little more care, the love upgrades and local Instagram artisans, with myinmom’s illness and then with putgive together online to keep our kidssurviving they return islessons worth every second. engaged learning worrying we’ve gotand you to get the grief ofeverything her loss instead and theofneed anxiety ofabout the things cannot control.

We appreciate Ifpandemic exotic animals are more your thing, head you inthey the mood for spring projects. and the sorrow of so manyyou! national on overstories to the that brandI spanking new andfor myself. news took you littleto time On that note, I encourage read our significantly enlarged Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Our cover story this month also COVID-19 Resource Guide, which provides This year, I hope to explore creative and personal The new location features all the hands-on, up resources for food, business, community works within the spring theme. John endeavors that help me rediscover myself and close interaction as the previous location plus and more.

The ever-changing nature of and Silvia Switzer’s Smart Home was discover new outlets for personal expression. added attractions, amenities and experiences this crisis necessitates that I mention that completed fall and it isbeboth a work that willresources makelast for a wonderful day out. these may or may not family available Procrastination oftoart and an homage to sustainability. you by the time you read this issue. I IfWhile you’reitmany interested ina conservation, check out people made on hope will provide place to glorious start, some With terraced organic gardens, a headway Dakota Parks story on local Panhandle Rooftop ideas or some inspiration either way. home improvement and personal projects in 2020, living pool, solar energy and a slew Nesting Biologist, Rebekah Snyder. Through IofYou did not.

I did not organize anything.

I did not building and maywith also notice that Florida, weproducts have some nonher sustainable work Audubon Snyder helps fix anything.

I did notis a language pandemic related stories inlearn issue.

We made concepts, thisshorebirds house athis testament to or a new to ensure local have safe nesting the call to include already planned articles that skill.

Nothing.

But that’s ok, too.

I’m still here. spaces anbe increasingly overpopulated region. what in can done to keep efficiency might an stillaccomplishment. be helpful, relevant or enjoyable in for2021, I’d That’s However, and the environment mind when our readers.

Weahope you in find them useful.

All of this, plus few DIY pet treat like to lighten my load and empty my house of building asome home—all without sacrificing recipes andthe goodand news from the much clutter unnecessary junk that fills As for of us, Pensacola Magazine has been comfort or aesthetics.

I hope you Florida legislature regarding protection enjoy one title or another for it.published It’s timeunder to make room for something new. for petsthan inabout abusive situations. reading this bayfront beauty more 40 years.

We have no plans on and We will continue to publish Ichanging hope it that. inspires you to incorporate In this of these So, turn issue, off thewe’ve news,covered put downallyour phonetopics and tosustainable bring you all features the information we can some in your and enjoy these heartwarming tales and own focus in and more to help readers shift their for as long as we can. Please reach out to us existing or new build. adorable ofhome photos ofyour local animals and 2021.

We hopeinspiration you enjoy. to your health! with story ideas, orHere’s just a quick

read AAHS. In addition, we would like to clarify that the quotes attributed to Mrs. Mathis were her individual and personal comments and they do not reflect the official voice of the African American Heritage Society. We apologize for any misunderstanding.

the folksWe who for them.

When hello. are care all working from homeyou’re and we Stay safe, Pensacola. done, give your little catnip and are missing our kitty wateracooler conversations. throw your dog a bone. It’s these simple Stay safe,that staywill healthy strong, Pensacola! pleasures keepand us stay all sane.

readers well.I get Gina Castro with some for it.asCan a big roundmet of applause for our

Kelly Oden Kelly Oden Kelly Oden Kelly Oden Executive Editor Executive Editor

Executive Editor

Executive Editor

/pensacolamagazine

@pensacola_magazine

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6 Pensacola Magazine

/pensacolamagazine /pensacolamagazine

@pensacola_magazine

@pensacola_magazine

Subscription Expiration Date is printed on the address label. Renew your subscription now online at www.ballingerpublishing.com: One year $14.95 and two years $22.75.

6 Pensacola MagazineSubscription Expiration Date is printed on the address label. Renew your subscription now online at www.ballingerpublishing.com: One year $14.95 and two years $22.75.

Subscription Expiration Date is printed on the address label. Renew your subscription now online at www.ballingerpublishing.com: One year $14.95 and two years $22.75.

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Contents INSTA SHOPPING IS THE NEW BLACK

13

Local makers are turning to Instagram shops, which have gained massive followings since the start of the pandemic.

Local art and vintage curations are just a like, follow, and save away!

RENTER-FRIENDLY DIY UPGRADES 16

16

How to give your space a makeover without the commitment.

VICTORIAN INTERPRETATIONS 19 The UWF Historic Trust launches its first tour since the pandemic began, featuring new stories and staged artifacts.

13

SECRETS OF SPRING GARDENING 22 East Hill Edible Gardening offers spring planting advice for the Gulf Coast.

HONEY, THE BEEKEEPERS ARE IN PENSACOLA

27

Three professional beekeepers share what motivated them to care for the bees.

STYLE, SUBSTANCE & SUSTAINABILITY

30

22

27

John and Silvia Switzer’s bayfront Smart Home mixes style, substance and sustainability.

IN EVERY ISSUE Editor’s Letter

6

Page 10 with DeeDee Davis

10

Community Events

40

SPECIAL SECTIONS Business Climate On the Market 8 Pensacola Magazine

43 53

30

MAGAZINE

MARCH 2021 Owner Malcolm Ballinger Publisher Malcolm Ballinger malcolm@ballingerpublishing.com Executive Editor Kelly Oden kelly@ballingerpublishing.com Art Director Guy Stevens guy@ballingerpublishing.com Graphic Designer/Ad Coordinator Garrett Hallbauer garrett@ballingerpublishing.com Editor Gina Castro ginac@ballingerpublishing.com Assistant Editor Dakota Parks dakota@ballingerpublishing.com Contributing Writers DeeDee Davis Tom Garner Renee Perry Editorial Interns Jesse Gann Fiama Mastrangelo Sky Rivera Sales & Marketing Paula Rode, Account Executive ext. 28 paula@ballingerpublishing.com Becky Hildebrand, Account Executive ext. 31 becky@ballingerpublishing.com

314 N. Spring St. | Pensacola, FL 32501 850.433.1166 | fax: 850.435.9174 ballingerpublishing.com Published by Ballinger Publishing:

magazine

Proud member of the

NW Florida’s Business Climate Magazine and Pensacola Magazine is locally owned and operated. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or use of the contents herein is prohibited without written permission from the publisher. Comments and opinions expressed in this magazine represent the personal views of the individuals to whom they are attributed and/or the person identified as the author of the article, and they are not necessarily those of the publisher. This magazine accepts no responsibility for these opinions. The publisher reserves the right to edit all manuscripts. All advertising information is the responsibility of the individual advertiser. Appearance in this magazine does not necessarily reflect endorsement of any products or services

by Ballinger Publishing. © 2021

OPINION

PAGE 10 with DeeDee Davis

Warmer weather brings on the craving for the inevitable spring-cleaning, which means a whole lot more this year than rearranging a closet. Covid, Hurricane Sally and the bridge nightmare added a whole new layer to the desire to refresh. Nothing seems too terribly conclusive yet, and I, like so many others, am desperate for order. Spring is the season of all things fresh, a new start, new opportunities and a new chance to be better in every way. I am trying to stay optimistic that the bridge will really open safely by the end of March. But every time I round the curve on the interstate where I have a full view of all three miles, I can’t stop the wave of distrust that overwhelms me. The temperatures may still be chilly, but it is the perfect time to make your plan for your own personal overhaul, bridge or not. Cleaning and organizing always makes me feel better, and with a boat dock still not finished, an office I still can’t move back into, a garden full of dead plants due to one measly freeze and Covid still rampant, I have plenty of work to do. I like to categorize the process with my home and yard topping the list as the most obvious targets of improvement.

But my office, my car and certainly my body all need appropriate attention as well.

Since the body requires more time for noticeable gains, unlike color coding your skirts or alphabetizing your spices, I suggest this is where you start with your plan. Weight loss is only a part of healthy living, and it sometimes takes far more than a calendar year to achieve much needed progress in this department. It is interesting that despite Covid, gyms have done much better than anyone expected. More than ever, people understand the importance of fitness. There are plenty of exceptions, but overwhelmingly deaths from Covid have been related to underlying causes, particularly obesity.

Physicians are the pros, but no one knows your body better than you. During so much social distancing, I have still maintained fairly regular contact with Lorenzo, our trainer. Fitness training has been a process and has involved strong language (from me), commitment, and a trainer who stays on top of new information and customizes workouts to meet the needs of his clients. There are plenty of days when it is

10 Pensacola Magazine

Without events to attend, it’s amazing how much stuff I have that has become unimportant.

pure agony to get out of bed early and haul my sorry self into that torture chamber. And he is always so cheerful even when I snarl at him or try to make up reasons to avoid a particularly grueling exercise. It’s not easy, but you will get results and without prescription drugs.

Maybe you already feel in your best condition.

Whatever improvements you desire, write down a road map of what you plan to do about it. I find it helpful after working on something as major as health or a new haircut to move on to something readily attainable. The second part of my plan is to show the love to my car, if I ever get it back. Yes, mine suffered the fate so many have during the long trek through Garcon. A careless driver rammed the front end and I have been driving a rental for what feels like almost as long as I have been out of my office due to Sally damage. I normally like to wash my own car but I rarely do things like polish the inside, vacuum the trunk or spit shine the tires. In the month of March, assuming I get it back, I am going to spend an entire Saturday doing all of the above as well as clean the floor mats and reorganize the console and glove box that holds no gloves. Oh yes. I will be riding in style. At least until it rains.

Part two will be easy to accomplish but the satisfaction is great. So on to Part three—my home. Everyone has a project begging to happen.

New carpet? Clean out the pantry or the attic?

Label all of the boxes of Christmas decorations so you aren’t fumbling for the right pieces next holiday season? Write down the tasks and put a timeline on them? When I refold everything in every drawer, I feel as if it is a new house.

No one else can see the results, but I can. It’s visibly rewarding and the organization cuts time from planning as you dress for any occasion.

Part four is my favorite part. I love getting into the dirt and planting new stuff. I am a regular at Lowe’s on Saturday mornings almost year round.

But come spring when the colors hit the tables and shelves, I am a complete sucker for all of it.

I have made enough mistakes over the years that I finally can be a little more discerning about what will actually survive a summer here. It is one of the joys of my life to plant and maintain a garden of flowers, herbs and vegetables. They never talk back or whine or complain about the news and when they thrive, all the world is good and beautiful. With no hard freezes the last two years, everything has been so healthy.

And then came the winter freeze that blanketed the nation. Goodbye flowers. Hello Lowes.

A big part of my universe is work, so the office must have the proper feng shui. I have been told it is not necessary to have colorful folders with matching paper clips, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, though this year I will store more files electronically. Our office took a major hit during the hurricane and repairs are not yet complete. But, we have a target date so I am amping up on purging the files and getting ready to organize my new desk. Heaven!

I know what you are thinking at this point— she has more problems than a crashed car.

Yes, spring cleaning this year will be like no other. But vaccines, bridges and warm weather can make anything better. Happy Spring!

MARCH BIRTHDAYS 22 23 23 25 26

Dax Noonan Hurst Butts Teri Levin Benjamin Nettles Will Bazemore, who turns 90!!!!

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Ballinger Publishing.

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Insta Shopping is the New Black

Online shopping has been on the rise, and Instagram shops in particular are gaining large followings. Local makers have switched to the online platform to promote their goods and curated finds. For a fresh restyle in your home, look no further than local Insta shops to invigorate your spaces with art and home décor.

by Fiama Mastrangelo

Uncommon Planters

No interior design Pinterest Board is complete without fresh greenery. “Uncommon Planters is a blast from the past of household items turned into homes for your plants,” said the shop owner. Each planter is a unique and upcycled find that repurposes quirky objects into functional home décor. The plants themselves are carefully hand-picked and included in the Instagram listings, as well as their specific care needs. Teapots, vintage mugs and retro candy dishes are just some of the planters that regularly become available through the shop. You can shop from Uncommon Planters on their Instagram @uncommonplanters and stay-up-todate on market appearances as well.

One man’s cooler is another man’s planter. Here, a thrifted cooler becomes a home to a Chinese Monkey Plant, complete with drainage holes for plant health.

Design by Stasia

For the pop culture enthusiast, Design by Stasia provides elegant art pieces that celebrate your favorite shows, movies, and characters. This shop is “a husband and wife team” by Kody and Stasia. Stasia designs the products, and Kody hand pours their beautiful candles. There’s something for everyone in this shop, and Stasia’s style is perfect for modern and minimalist homes!

In addition to home goods, Design

by Stasia also carries paper goods, accessories, and apparel. Shop virtually @designbystasia and keep up-to-date with regular pop-ups at the Palafox Farmers Market there as well.

Design by Stasia makes frequent pop-ups at the Palafox Farmers Market. These “Shop Local” stickers encourage support for small, local businesses.

MARCH '21

13

Insta Shopping is the New Black

Jade Tree Succulents

Succulents continue to dominate home décor trends, as it is nearly impossible to kill them (emphasis on nearly). For the plant lover that prefers a low-maintenance plant, Jade Tree Succulents provides a variety of creatively arranged succulents to brighten your interior spaces. Local artist and shop owner Catherine Boswell believes that these living art pieces “add a calming element to your home.”

Boswell plays with horizontal and vertical arrangements that add fun and innovation to the classic desk succulent. Reimagine these beautiful plants in your guest bathroom, kitchen or home office. Shop Jade Tree Succulents @jadetreesucculents or at the Palafox Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

Boswell reimagines the desk succulent into something greater. This old typewriter is updated with fresh succulents to bring life back into it.

The Seashellmichelle Shop Sustainable home décor is on the rise, and The Seashellmichelle Shop provides “thoughtfully curated vintage…with a beachy meets bohemian vibe.” Bring the beach just a little closer to home with Michelle’s unique finds that provide a warm and chic energy to any space. This shop has every variety of home décor for your home— from vintage furniture to retro vases and beautiful wall hangings. Michelle styles the décor in her photographs and listings, which is instrumentally helpful for anyone who needs a little extra inspiration when styling their interiors. Embrace “conscious consumerism” and shop virtually @theseashellmichelleshop or stop by the store inperson during business hours to browse.

The Seashell Michelle Store has vintage finds for every room in the house. Glass dishes, woven baskets, and retro dinnerware are just a few of the many home goods available at the shop.

Simplyemw

Scripted Calling

Callaway mixes elegance with wit in this door wreath.

Her calligraphy invigorates a classic home décor staple with personality and class.

Personalized décor really makes a house feel like a home. Mellissa Callaway, the shop owner of Scripted Calling, said that this business was “developed out of a passion for craftsmanship.”

Scripted Calling specializes in “modern calligraphy, signage, and laser cuts,” and these products range from quirky plant sticks to minimalistic prints of feminist and motivational quotes. Callaway’s Etsy is full of fun products to solidify your sense of home. Liven up your front door with a cute wreath or elevate your sink area with custom label glass pump bottles. Shop from Scripted Calling @scriptedcalling and browse the Etsy shop for endless inspiration.

Sometimes classic can be so modern. Simplyemw is a local “oil-painter with an impressionistic realism approach.” Emilie, the shop owner, brings beautiful flower paintings to life without the fussiness of real floral arrangements. While a fresh bouquet is a lovely addition to any creative workspace or living room, these “floral compositions have all the vividness and subtleties found These paintings in nature.” Emilie is also a talented capture Emilie’s skills portrait artist in composition, variety, and flow in her work. and conveys individual personality through her work. Shop these elegant pieces @simplyemw and get a behind-the-scenes view into Emilie’s artistic process.

Drunken Kitty Vintage Sometimes a space just needs that special quirky kick that only vintage finds can bring.

Drunken Kitty Vintage is operated by Pensacola local Alex Hollmig. The name was inspired by “a vintage figurine of a cat holding a bottle that I found when I first started my business,” she said. Hollmig curates “unique and fun” finds that “fit perfectly into a modern home.” These finds make great gifts for the stylish cat lady or dark academia obsessed reader. For an extra special touch to your home library or cozy living room, shop @drunkenkittyvintage.

MARCH '21

15

Renter-Friendly DIY Upgrades

by Sky Rivera

Our homes are a special place for us. Whether you are a renter or homeowner, your home is a place where you should feel not only comfortable, but happy and relaxed as well— even if you are renting. Many of these upgrades can be done without hiring a third party, but the problem many of us face when wanting to make these changes is that we do not own our homes and we are limited to the changes we can make. Here are few ideas for renter-friendly upgrades that anyone can do to their homes.

Don’t like your floors? No problem.

Your cabinets don’t have the look you are going for? We can help you there, too.

16 Pensacola Magazine

Even the smallest changes can make a drastic difference in one of the most important rooms in a home—the kitchen.

There are improvements that can be made without even picking up a paintbrush.

Cabinet fixtures are an easy DIY upgrade that can make a world of difference.

This is a change that can even easily be reversed in the future. It is as simple as a quick browse on the web or a trip to your local hardware store to find the cabinet fixtures that speak to you. Simply swap them out and admire your newest project, and don’t forget to save the old fixtures.

The kitchen upgrades don’t stop there.

Add a pop of color or a fun design to your kitchen with a peel-and-stick backsplash. Self-adhesive backsplashes take the effort out of the normal grunt work that goes with traditional tiled backsplashes. While it may not be a

permanent solution for homeowners, it is a great solution for renters who want to spruce up their kitchen.

Peel-and-stick doesn’t begin and end with backsplash. Almost any floor in any room can get a little makeover thanks to peel-and-stick vinyl flooring.

If you already have tile or wood floors, this is an easy upgrade you can make. Whether you want patterned tiles, modern wood, or something that disappears into the background, there is something for everyone.

Anyone who has spent copious amounts of time in the Target aisles may have noticed something new in the home décor section. Stick-on wallpaper. With bold prints and exciting patterns, their addition of stick-on wallpapers has many of us dreaming of an accent wall. Accent walls are a great way to add something to a room without being overwhelming or making a space seem smaller.

If you want to keep a room from feeling too small, mirrors have a way of opening a room. A wall mirror does not take long

to install, and the results are more than worth it. By hanging a mirror on a wall, or even by mirroring the panels on your cabinets you can open up a room.

Lighter colors will also give the illusion of a more open room. If you are able to paint your walls, “light and bright” does the trick. Lighter paint colors will reflect more light and make a room appear larger than it actually is.

Love hanging pictures but nails in the wall are not an option? Command Hooks are

the way to go, and there is an even easier way to make sure they can support your photographs and artwork. By skipping out on the frame and just hanging canvases, you take away a significant amount of weight while creating a more minimalistic look for your walls.

To make your home feel more like yours, add a personalized touch to it.

Whether it is a monogrammed doormat or wreath for your front door, adding something personalized can help your rented home feel more like your own.

Light fixtures are an additional way to bring a little something to a room.

Fixtures with a brighter lightbulb have a similar effect to that of light paint colors and mirrors, by airing out a room and giving it a more open feeling. As with your cabinet fixtures, don’t forget to save the old fixtures if you swap them out.

While many of these upgrades are more focused on what could be seen as more permanent or stationary objects within the home, it is important to not overlook the impact a simple decoration can have.

Making pillow swaps on beds, couches or other pieces of furniture can have a positive impact on a room as well as organizational pieces. Pipe shelving is a great DIY that is relatively simpleand has a payoff that is well worth it.

If you are looking for more ideas to upgrade your home, keep exploring on Pinterest or Instagram for more ways to make your home an extension of your personality.

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Victorian Interpretations UWF Historic Trust Reopens with New Tour

by Dakota Parks • photos courtesy of UWF Historic Trust

It seems like every day of the pandemic we are living through a new chapter of history books yet to be written. As the University of West Florida braced for impact amidst the pandemic, shutting down the campus and all in-person programming, Historic Pensacola, operated by the university, became a ghost town of cobwebs and closed doors.

No one could imagine those doors on the eight-acre historic campus would remain closed for nearly a year with staff working from home and historic tours cancelled for the inevitable future. While the staff worked remotely, they began to think of ways to adjust and refresh tours and suddenly found more time to research new historical periods to incorporate, including Pensacola in the Roaring Twenties. Modified from its previous four-building tour, the UWF Historic Trust is opening the Lear/ Rocheblave House, built circa 1890, as a standalone tour interpreted as the boarding house that once operated within the property in the 1920s.

Sheyna Marcey, director of education and Phillip Mayhair, living history coordinator have been working on this project to interpret the property and open the second floor of the house for the first time ever.

The Lear/Rocheblave House is a two-story wood frame, clapboard and vernacular home with ornamental Queen Anne design elements. As Marcey explained, the logistics of the previous four-property walking tour left the second-floor closed to the public: “This is the only property that has ever changed

interpreted time periods. It was previously interpreted as the 1920s boarding house, but then it changed to 18901910 to flow better in the tour. The four-property tour was chronological: you start at the Lavalle House in 1805 Colonial, you go to the Dorr House, which is 1870 Victorian, then you go to the Old Christ Church, built in 1832 and your last stop is the Lear/Rocheblave House.” The previous tour could last around two hours, and adding the second floor would make the

The kitchen of the Lear/ Rocheblave House features appliances and artifacts from the 1920s.

tour even longer. The second floor also isn’t wheelchair accessible; however, Marcey said they are working on some technological solutions to virtually record the tour once the final two rooms upstairs are complete in May. Marcey and Mayhair worked with the curatorial department to design, stage and exhibit artifacts that meet the historical interpretation and time period out of the Historic Trust’s collection of 400,000+ artifacts. Mayhair researched the 1920s and wrote the tour for the house that

includes stories of segregation, booming and busting economy, technological changes, women’s history and the suffragette movement and even entertainment in Pensacola including theatres, jazz music and early cinema. “We have taken this opportunity with us being closed and working from home to do more research so that when we finally resume our tours, we’ll have updated information. So, the house and artifacts may not change, but we’ll have new stories to tell,” Mayhair explained.

MARCH '21

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Victorian Interpretations modern utilities like electricity, gas, running water, sewer hookups, refrigeration instead of ice boxes and gas ranges instead of woodburning stoves.

“One of the things that most excites me about the tour is getting to incorporate some women’s history in Pensacola and the influences women had in history throughout Northwest Florida. Both from the small information we know about Emma Snowden who ran the boarding house and from the new bedroom we opened upstairs that is interpreted as a woman boarder involved in the suffragette movement,” Marcey said.

Emma Snowden’s bedroom, the operator of the 1927 boarding house.

The tour of the house lasts approximately 45-minutes and submerges guests in the 1927 boarding house operated by Emma Snowden, complete with tour guides donning flapper dresses and period-appropriate clothing.

Interpreters like Marcey and Mayhair begin to walk guests from room to room of the open-air house with artifacts naturally displayed and not restricted behind ropes or glass. The tour begins in the hallway, moves into the living room, then works through the dining room, kitchen, Emma Snowden’s bedroom and upstairs to a female boarder’s room and will eventually end in the final two rooms currently being worked on.

In the living room, the tour sets the groundwork for the massive changes happening in Pensacola from the population 20 Pensacola Magazine

In Emma Snowden’s bedroom,

size that doubled from 1910 to 1920, as well as changing demographics and the early history of segregation in the city of Pensacola. Moving into the dining room, the tour focuses on the economic changes between 1920 and 1930 as the lumber, fishing and brickmaking industries decline while the U.S. Navy expands operations on Corey Field and boosts job creation.

In the kitchen, guests learn about technological changes to

the tour leans into the history of women joining the workforce, which would have included around one in four women in Northwest Florida in the early 1920s.

The Lear/Rocheblave House is just one of many boarding houses from the Seville Square area along West Zarragossa Street that was considered a boarding/rental district.

“At this point in time, a lot of the wealthy individuals

were moving up to North Hill, a lot of the middle class were moving over to East Hill and the African American population had been pushed out of the downtown area and were living in the Belmont DeVilliers and Tanyard area.

So, this area along West Zarragossa was really a rental district for people working in the railroad or port as well as industrial workers and common laborers. We also know that several boarding houses by Fountain Park were run by widows making a living by renting out spare rooms,” Mayhair explained.

Upstairs, the tour tentatively concludes in the boarding room of a female tenant, staged as a suffragette. Here, guests learn about beauty trends, changing social customs and women working toward the right to vote, including the history of the Women’s Suffrage Association that held its first meeting in Pensacola in 1914.

The final two rooms on the tour will be completed in May and will focus on an immersive experience of entertainment in the 1920s including the prohibition, speakeasies, the rise of jazz music, theatre and cinema. While most of Historic Pensacola remains closed due to the inability to social distance in small spaces, the new tour of Lear/Rocheblave House is open to the public on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11 am and limited to 10 guests. To learn more and book tickets, visit www.historicpensacola.org.

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SECRETS OFSPRING GARDENING “YOU JUST CAN’T GROW TOMATOES HERE.” How many times have we heard this conventional wisdom stated as fact? One recently encountered skeptic continued to insist that you can’t grow tomatoes in Pensacola even as we showed him photo after photo of tomatoes that we grew ourselves, right here in Pensacola! They aren’t entirely wrong, though, these skeptics. You really can’t grow tomatoes successfully along the Gulf Coast unless you know the secret, that is. The secret to successful tomato growing is simply having the right information.

Once you have the right information, a wonderful world of tomatoes becomes available to you right at your gardening fingertips.

– by Renée Perry and Tom Garner

You can successfully grow the old favorites like Early Girl and Better Boy, of course. But if you’re like us, you might want to be a little more adventurous. There’s a huge variety of beautiful, interesting, and great-tasting tomatoes to try. We’ve grown dozens of varieties of tomatoes, each with its own unique flavor, texture and characteristics, tomatoes like Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Lilliput, Black Krim, Constoluto Genevese, Sungold, Moskvich, Ozark Pink, Tigerella, Hartmann’s Yellow Gooseberry, Matt’s Wild Cherry, Wapsipinicon Peach and many more!

One of the secrets to successful tomato growing along the Gulf Coast, and one of the secrets to successful gardening in general, is to understand our spring. Spring comes early to the Gulf Coast, in mid-February, much earlier than gardens farther north. If you follow planting advice designed for farther north, you’re likely to start planting here too late for real success. Much of the commonly available gardening advice you find online, in books, or on social media is geared toward someplace else. It simply doesn’t work well here.

If you’re a frustrated Gulf Coast gardener, this is likely an important part of the reason why.

22 Pensacola Magazine

Tomatoes provide a good example. Depending on the year, we generally try to plant our tomato seedlings anywhere from mid-February through March. If the year is colder, we might hold off a little, but if the year is warmer, we get our tomatoes in the ground as early in the spring as we can. Of course, even in a warmer year there can still be a chance of frost or a light freeze, but since the seedlings are still small, covering them overnight for protection is generally not a problem.

The reason for this early planting schedule is simple. Here on the Gulf Coast, we have a shorter spring growing season than other parts of the country, so the earlier we plant, the sooner we’ll have a harvest.

This allows us to have a bountiful harvest of beautiful, juicy tomatoes before the summer’s heat, humidity, pests and diseases inevitably appear in mid to late June. If you choose the right varieties, you can still get away with planting tomatoes after March, but for the best success, the earlier you plant in spring, the better off you’ll be.

Yellow squash and zucchini are another good example of the great value in planting early. These are two old favorites that we

try to get in the ground no later than March. Planting early in the spring season allows us to get an abundant harvest before the appearance of the squash vine borer, generally in mid May. The squash vine borer is the scourge of the squash grower; the damage it creates marks the end of yellow squash and zucchini season. The good news is that there are varieties of squashes, including butternut, tromboncino and Seminole, that are resistant to the squash vine borer and that will continue producing well into summer. Once the yellow squash and zucchini season ends, you can switch to these resistant varieties.

Spring is also a great time of transition. While we’re getting our warmer weather plants started, we can still grow lots of vegetables that like the weather cooler. This includes a great variety of lettuces, as well as leafy greens like spinach, collards, mustard and kale. You can also plant cool weather herbs in spring including cilantro, parsley and dill. And if you’re a little adventurous, you can even plant and harvest potatoes in spring.

Spring is also a time of transition for our garden friends—the beneficial insects. Although we tend to think of honeybees as visitors to the garden, there are literally hundreds of native bees, wasps, beetles and flies that perform pollination and pest control services in our gardens. A great way to attract these good bugs to your garden is to let some of the cooler weather plants flower, particularly herbs like cilantro and dill, rather than immediately removing them when the weather begins to turn warm. You can also intentionally plant attractive cool weather flowers like alyssum, calendula, cornflower and laceflower. These flowers will provide essential food sources of nectar and pollen, which can be scarce early in the year, for the many beneficial native insects that can be found in your neighborhood. If you pay attention, you’ll be surprised at the great variety of insects that come to visit your garden flowers!

Spring is a really great time to garden here along the Gulf Coast. The key is to remember that our spring starts earlier than other parts of the country. If you keep this timing in mind, you’ll be well on your way to an abundant harvest and gardening success!

Renée Perry and Tom Garner are the owners of East Hill Edible Gardening. We specialize in teaching gardeners how to grow their own fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs in the unique gardening conditions along the Gulf Coast. We offer a variety of gardening classes, garden consultation and installation, and one on one garden coaching. We also sell an extensive variety of vegetable and herb plants specifically suited to the Gulf Coast, including the largest selection of tomato varieties in the area! For more information visit our Facebook Page or www.easthillediblegardening.com.

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Honey, Beekeepers are in Pensacola.

by Gina Castro

A

lthough bees appear small and somewhat insignificant, they are the main insect pollinators. Bees pollinate approximately 130 agricultural crops in the US and add about $14 billion annually to improved crop yield and quality. Interestingly, the Gulf Coast is home to a rare species of bees called Hesperapis Oraria also known as the Gulf Coast Solitary Bee. This bee was discovered in 1993 and is known to exist only in the sandy dunes along the Gulf of Mexico, where it feeds on only Coastal Plain honeycombhead. There is much more to discover about the Gulf Coast Solitary Bee, but because this region constantly has something in bloom, the Gulf Coast is an exceptional location for bees. The area’s mild winters allow for plants like Coastal Plain honeycombhead to bloom all year through, which, in turns, supplies food for bees throughout the year. Florida is the fifth leading honey-producing state.

Pesticides, diseases, pests and loss of habitat are just some of the issues facing bees today. Beekeepers actually help bees grapple with these issues. Pensacola has dozens of beekeepers and even more are spread throughout Escambia County.

Pensacola Magazine spoke with a few professional beekeepers in the area about what motivated them to care for bees.

MARCH '21

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photo by Becca Hartgrave

Little Green Bees For as long as Becca Fritschle can remember, she’s had a sweet spot for bugs. So, when she received a message from God to start beekeeping in 2011, she happily took the challenge head on.

“I felt like God spoke to me to get honey bees. That is the true story. I didn’t know anything about keeping bees. I didn’t know anything about bees, but I’d loved bugs since I was a kid,” Fristschle said. “So I decided that the best thing to do was speak to other beekeepers in the area and see how to get bees.”

After some mentorship from local beekeepers, a few rookie mistakes and a stroke of luck on Craigslist, Fristschle had all the necessary knowledge and equipment to launch Little Green Bees.

For the past decade, Fristschle and her husband, James, have been growing their company Little Green Bees. They have more than 30 hives in their backyard and in other areas southwest of Pensacola. Aside from wildflower honey, they also have seasonal products, salves, balms, chocolates and other products produced by their hives.

26 Pensacola Magazine

Fristschle’s years of experience as a beekeeper and bumps along the road made her an excellent mentor for beekeepers in the area. She runs the Gulf Coast Beekeeping School. Fristschle only teaches about beekeeping in the Gulf Coast region because beekeeping differs depending on the climate.

Fristschle explained that she teaches her students about the beekeeping certification process, how to find equipment at an affordable price and the expenses of beekeeping among other topics. Since beekeeping is costly, Fristschle also teaches others how to catch wild swarms of bees.

“Catching swarms is the only way to get free bees,” Fristschle explained. “You just dig through the pile of bees with your hands until you find the queen, and you put her in a little cage. Once you have the queen captured, the rest of the colony will follow. I have stood in the back of a truck on a ladder with a bucket on a pole trying to catch bees. So it varies between safe and stupid.”

The cost of beekeeping isn’t the only thing that stings.

The bees do, too. Fristschle admitted her bees sting her daily if not more, but she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing.

“I consider it therapy at this point being stung. Bee venom is anti-inflammatory propolis. I use it as an immune

support,” Fristschle said. “I have a thyroid condition, and it seems like the bees just go straight for my neck.”

Bee venom has been used medicinally dating back to ancient Egypt. Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, used the venom to treat joint pain and arthritis. In fact, there is anecdotal evidence that bee venom may prevent or lessen the symptoms of COVID. A 2020 survey from Hubei Province found that of the nearly 6,000 beekeepers surveyed, none of them contracted COVID in the densely populated epicenter of the outbreak. Before you rush out to get stung, though, remember further studies are needed to determine the efficacy of this holistic approach.

Honey and venom aren’t the only other health benefits of bees. Fristschle said the sound of bees can also serve a medical purpose. If you believe there is any merit to sound therapy or sound bath meditation, you might find healing in the steady hum of bees busy at work.

Countries in Eastern Europe have created healing spaces that enable people to smell the hives of the bees and hear the bees swarming around them all while being in an enclosed space away from the bees.

“Bees vibrate at a certain frequency. They emit pheromones, and the honey and wax have certain fragrances.

Whether or not you put any stock in sound healing or frequencies or anything like that, the bees heal themselves that way,” Fristschle said. “If you have two colonies, a healthy colony and a sick colony, they vibrate at a different frequency. Researchers have taken recordings of a healthy colony and have piped it into a sick colony. The sound alone marked improvement in the health of the sick colony.”

Fristschle also went on to say how the sound of the bees benefits her. “I have taken so many naps in front of my beehives. I find it therapeutic,” Fristschle said. “The fragrance

in the summertime of a healthy bee colony is like nothing else.”

To learn more about Green Little Bees’ products or classes, visit littlegreenbees. com or follow them on Facebook @LittleGreenBee.

East Hill Honey Co. Today, you can find East Hill Honey all over Pensacola—from grocery stores, to retail shops to restaurants, but East Hill Honey’s road to success didn’t start out big. In 2011, Thomas “Tommy” Van Horn, the founder, started out with just two bee hives in his backyard. Before he knew it, Van Horn had more honey than he knew what to do with.

Van Horn began giving the surplus honey as gifts to friends and family. Eventually, he started delivering honey to his neighbors by bicycle.

Casey S. Dillon, Van Horn’s longtime friend and East Hill Honey vice president of sales and marketing, recalls when Van Horn was just starting outVan Horn wanted locally made honey to overpower the fake honey sold in grocery stores.

have a small amount of pollen mixed with corn syrup or fructose syrup as authentic honey.

“Honey, especially, has been taken advantage of. Most of the honey in stores might say ‘made in the USA,’ but it’s just packaged there,” Dillon said.

“Basically, they’re just bringing in what folks in the industry call ‘burnt honey’ because they treat it and heat it. They get rid of all the good amino acids and enzymes.”

really it starts with the beekeeper because the beekeeper is going to manage that.

Bees do exist in the wild but not at any

Dillon explained that for consumers who are interested in eating the real thing, it’s better to buy raw unfiltered honey from local beekeepers. Buying directly from beekeepers also benefits bees. There has been a decrease in certain species of bees, one of the most important pollinators, due to loss of habitat, pesticides and diseases. However, Dillon stated that by supporting beekeepers, consumers are supporting bees.

number that’s easily sustainable for everything.”

East Hill Honey has around 1,000 hives dispersed throughout the county.

Dillon explained that East Hill chases flows to produce flavorful honey such as Tupelo, wildflower and Gallberry. The flavor of the bees’ honey is impacted by what plants the bees forge. So, to get the typical light, sweet wildflower honey, East Hill will take its bees to the coast near swamps in Perdido. They also have hives around Molino, Garcon Point and Tiger Point, too.

“The only way that we can keep bees healthy and around us is if

“Basically, every flower has a different nectar and different

“He had this idea with a couple other area beekeepers that they would try to keep Pensacola in the region of local honey and try to block out all of the non-honey in the grocery stores,” Dillon explained.

Fake honey in grocery stores is an issue. The Journal of Food Science’s comprehensive overview of fake foods states that honey is the third most faked food in the world. The FDA refuses petitions to create a standard of identity for honey. These loose standards allow companies from around the world to sell products that

Dillon explained that it takes about two million flowers to produce a pound of honey, depending on the plant, so East Hill’s 16 oz bottles have pollen from over a million flowers in the area.

Types of honey like Tupelo honey and Gallberry honey have to be timed. Gallberry, a local favorite, flows for a couple of months, so it’s a bit easier for beekeepers to catch. Although Tupelo honey, a widespread favorite, is more challenging. East Hill’s Tupelo honey comes from only White Ogeechee Tupelo Gum found along the river basins of the Choctawhatchee, Chipola and Apalachicola River. This deciduous tree flows for around one to two weeks out of the year.

East Hill Honey has grown a great deal throughout the decade. The company recently came under new ownership.

A commercial beekeeper from Molino, Christopher Ziglar has been a beekeeper for a couple of years and runs around a 1,000 hives. Ziglar taught a workshop about queen rearing for Purdue University. Van Horn is still involved with the company.

“He [Ziglar] is really interested in taking East Hill to the next level and trying to do a few new products. There are a lot of similarities between both of them entrepreneurial,” Dillon said in reference to East Hill owner and founder. “They just go for it kind of people. They want what’s best for the bees and for local ecosystems.”

we support beekeepers,” Dillon said. “The people who produce, they’re going to treat their bees the best because they want to get their money’s worth. A lot of people worry about the bees, but

pollen,” Dillon said. “The pollen might not change that much in taste, but the nectar when it’s essentially fermented, that’s what honey is, you’ll have a different taste.”

To learn more about East Hill Honey Co, visit their website easthillhoney.com, or find them on Facebook @EastHillHoney.

MARCH '21

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Bee Sanctuary Honey Farm Beekeeping has been a trade for generations in William “Shelby” Johnson’s family. Growing up, Shelby remembers helping his grandparents, uncles and dad tend the hives, and his dad still runs the family farm today. As Shelby grew up and attended college, he broke away from beekeeping. In the early 2000s, he was drawn to beekeeping once more.

“What really spurred me to get serious about getting back into beekeeping was the varroa mites, actually,” Shelby began.

“It’s kind of strange, but the decimation of the bee colonies brought me back to it. I thought, ‘Well, I’m gonna get in there and help solve this problem.’ That’s what got me back on it again.”

Shelby’s daughter, Zoie Johnson, 19, recalled her dad bringing a couple of hives home to their backyard.

“I was eight or nine years old when my dad had brought home a couple of hives in our backyard. From then on, we’ve just kind of grown it. So that was about 10 years ago,” Zoie said. “It’s been in the family for a couple of generations.”

Shelby spent a few years growing his apiary and discovering ways to fight off varroa mites.

Around 2005, Shelby and his family launched Bee Sanctuary Honey Farm. Zoie helps with the marketing side of the business as well as making products like honey, chapstick and soaps. Zoie’s mom and Shelby’s wife, Rizza also assists with the business. While Shelby focuses on the scientific, genetic side of the business.

28 Pensacola Magazine

The varroa mites are a major issue for bees. Once a colony is infected with this parasite, the colony will die in one to three years. The varroa mites weaken the hive by multiplying in the brood cells where the queen laid her eggs. The mites then lay their eggs in the brood cell and the young mites feed off the bee larvae. This action often infects the developing bees with viruses that shorten their lifespan.

“That’s why there’s no more really wild bees. In the wild here, there are feral bees because they escaped from established apiaries. When we brought the European honeybee over from Europe—for a couple 100 years, they established themselves in the wild, but they’re pretty much extinct,” Shelby explained. “You might find a feral colony. But if you do, it’s one that’s only been there for a short period of time. It’s usually a swarm from an established colony or apiary that swarmed off and took up residence, but they won’t survive very long.

No more than a couple of years.”

However, with the help of beekeepers, bees can survive varroa mites. Shelby explained that because the mites are ubiquitous it’s virtually impossible to eradicate them.

So the key to preventing hives from a varroa mite infestation is monitoring the hive and treating it before and after each honey flow.

“There are organic treatments for varroa mites that aren’t pesticide

type chemicals,” Shelby said.

“Essential oils like eucalyptus and thyme can organically get rid of the varroa mites, but nothing is 100 percent or else we wouldn’t have any more varroa mites.”

Bee Sanctuary Honey Farm sells more than just honey and other bee products. It’s also a one stop shop for local beekeepers. They sell cypress hive ware that is durable and resistant to the Gulf Coasts’ humid conditions; bees and queens that are suited for the region and are exceptional honey producers; and also offer classes on requested topics. Shelby explained it’s important to purchase local bees because of genetics.

“You’re selecting the best traits for your weather, your environment, your seasonal cycles and those kinds of things.

In the

northern states, they go months and months and months, where the bees never leave the hive because they’re snowed in,” Shelby continued. “Well, bees with those types of genetics are great for that environment, but our environment is hot and humid, so bees fly pretty much year round, and there’s something blooming here

year round. You want to select genetics for that, and then build off of those genetics that do better in your environment.”

This same logic is applied to their queen grafting process. Zoie explained that they look for hives that are calm, not aggressive and produce a lot of honey and wax.

Hives with those characteristics produce the best queens.

If you’re considering becoming a beekeeper, Shelby and Zoie advise you join the Escarosa Beekeepers Association or another local beekeepers group.

The Escarosa Beekeepers Association is a nonprofit made up of beekeepers. They meet monthly to share ideas and discuss issues bees are experiencing in this region.

“That’s going to be the best place to find an actual mentor that can be hands on and help you with learning beekeeping,” Shelby said.

To learn more about Bee Sanctuary Honey Farm or to purchase products, visit beesanctuaryhoneyfarm.com or find them on Facebook @BeeSanctuaryHoneyFarmsLLC.

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Style, Substance & Sustainability

by Kelly Oden | photos by Guy Stevens

W

hen John and Silvia Switzer decided to build their dream house, one thought was at the forefront of all of their decision making: sustainability. The couple wanted to build a forever home that truly reflected their lifestyle and commitment to the environment while still allowing for all of the comfort and luxuries a dream home should contain. While it took over four years to be fully realized, the pair hit their mark with this bayfront bungalow that mixes style, substance and sustainability to create a truly unique and energy efficient home.

The property, approached by a winding labyrinth drive paved with old world style bricks, is located next to the home of Switzer family matriarch and beloved Pensacola philanthropist, the late Anna Lamar Switzer. Previously occupied by a Victorian home in need of untenably extensive repairs, the couple decided to tear it down and start over. However, they didn’t just toss the Victorian—they reused every usable part to build their new abode, including the hardwood floors and the ornate staircase, wainscoting, mantel, interior doors and cast iron clawfoot tub.

With the help of Smart Haus certified architect Rebecca Bryant of Watershed, builder David Butler

of Loxley Hawk Environmental Building, Project Manager Dave Robau and a multitude of mostly local contractors, tradesmen and artisans, the Switzer’s dream became a reality in the fall of 2019. Every aspect of the home has been considered in terms of efficiency—the foundation and decking (LiteDeck), the exterior walls (Sips panels), the roof (solar panels), the electrical grid (active and passive solar, whole house generator, fully automated, Alexa controlled everything), the HVAC (geothermal), the paint (American Clay), the water (whole house filtration, rainwater irrigation) and too many more to mention.

While the home was built for living and entertaining, the couple also wanted it to serve as a showcase to educate the public about the sustainable materials and techniques available when building a new home. Those parties and educational opportunities, however, are temporarily on hold until the pandemic is over.

The property was also one of the many local homes affected by Skanska’s Hurricane Sally debacle when a barge knocked out the dock and seawall and landed squarely in their yard. Although they lost a beloved old oak, thankfully the home itself was not damaged. F

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Style, Substance & Sustainability

Living Spaces In keeping with the couple’s interest in sustainability, the gorgeous stairwell, mantel, wainscoting, wood flooring and interior doors were removed from the original home on the property. Each was lovingly restored and used in the new home.

Silvia describes her design style as organic, bohemian, Mediterranean coastal. Silvia, who was born in Spain and spent all of her childhood summers abroad, has a lovely collection of heirlooms, family portraits and antiques from her family’s travels as well as an eclectic collection of paintings and art throughout the home.

In the living area, the portable bar keeps the television out of sight. With a quick request to Alexa, the television rises up and turns itself on.

The open flow of the home was designed so that water views are available from every room. The design also allows for great airflow and abundant natural light.

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HOME&GARDEN

Kitchen & Dining The kitchen is an entertainers dream. A long island hosts large double sinks that are perfect for cleaning the greens and other vegetables from Silvia’s organic garden.

The island also has a second faucet that dispenses clean, cool seltzer water with the push of a button. Brass stools offer plenty of guest seating when entertaining.

A Blue Star gas range, steam oven, wall oven and coffee station round out the kitchen’s unique offerings. A stunning tile mosaic that brings to mind the natural beauty of the outdoors flanks the back wall and brings a playful movement to the room. Near the kitchen door, a mini fridge, icemaker and glassware drawer offers easy access to refreshments for visitors using the pool or other outdoors areas.

“An open floor plan was important to me because we all know the kitchen is the heart of the home. When people congregate, it’s always in the kitchen.

We’ve all lived in houses where you may have had beautiful dining rooms and living rooms, but you end up with 15 people in the kitchen. So, we made an open kitchen area, but I made sure the pantry was right next-door with plenty of counter space. If we have a gathering, I can throw dirty stuff in there and it will at least be out of sight.” – Silvia Switzer The large dining area separates the living and kitchen area. The couple wanted this area to be flexible, allowing for both intimate dinner parties and larger fundraising affairs.

To keep the clutter clear, a hidden, walk-in pantry offers a second refrigerator, sink and dishwasher.

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Bed & Bath The cozy master bedroom features antique Chinese garden doors repurposed into a headboard as well as family portraits and heirlooms that create a personal oasis.

The master bath features a double vanity with hidden makeup compartment, a bidet, separate tub and shower and a living plant wall.

The showstopper of the bathroom is the cast iron clawfoot tub saved and restored from the Victorian home originally on the property.

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HOME&GARDEN

Entry While the mirrored wall entry is uniquely beautiful on it’s own, it also boasts a surprise twist.

A secret door in the mirrors opens up into Silvia’s personal space. This space houses more of her eclectic and spiritual collections and serves as a place for her to work, relax, read, create or just nap.

On the other side of the entry, a short hall leads to another surprise. A rich wooden bookshelf also hides a secret door. This one leads to John’s study, which offers office space with a rich, masculine tone.

Up the stairs, a sweet sitting area offers a cozy reading nook and bay views as far as the eye can see. The upstairs also houses a small exercise room and a guest bedroom as well as a large attic room that houses all of the smart equipment and other systems.

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Exterior & Outdoors It’s not only the home itself that offers plenty of energy efficiency and sustainability, but the landscaping and exterior features are eco-friendly as well. A living pool, the first on the Gulf Coast, uses no chemicals whatsoever—no chlorine, no salt. Rather, a biological system keeps the pool clean and bacteria free. The pool, which also features a swim jet, feels like slipping into a fresh, clean lake. An avid gardener and a member of the Pensacola Organic Gardener’s Club, Silvia has also planted a terraced organic vegetable garden and multiple fruit and berry trees on the property. Native plants and the natural flora and fauna of the bay landscape fill in the gaps.

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HOME&GARDEN

Patio The spacious screened-in patio is filled with Silvia’s gardening specimens and multiple seating areas.

The doors all open fully, which allows the patio to serve as an extension of the home. Ceiling fans and a twelve-foot roof keep the heat off in the summer and a cozy bed swing is the perfect reading and relaxation spot. The patio also features fully automated shutters, which can be activated remotely when dangerous weather is approaching.

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Smart Home Info We asked Smart Home Project Manager Dave Robau to highlight a few of the home’s sustainable elements and their environmental and/or financial impacts.

Dave Robau is a LEED certified building scientist and the CEO of Gulf Coast Energy Network.

Material Reuse/Recycling Recycling building materials is a great way to save money and give materials a new life. The previous home on the site had some amazing old-growth timber and other features. The builder (LoxleyHawk) carefully deconstructed the old house to salvage as much materials as possible. The architect (Watershed) used these materials and incorporated them into the design of the new home. Old trusses became new flooring. Old doors became art pieces. The charm of an old fireplace still lights up the room, but as a conversation starter.

The owners saved thousands of dollars by reusing these building materials and incorporating them into the new house.

This is what sustainability is all about.

Structural Insulated Panel System (SIPS) Creating an energy efficient home starts with a great building envelope. The SIPS system was erected in record time and will deliver significant operational savings compared to conventional construction. In just two days, a crew of 5 had framed all the first floor walls (structural and insulation).

This system offers a very “tight” building envelope for maximum efficiency.

SIPS construction offers a superior building envelope that helps to significantly reduce energy consumption in the home. In addition, the system is stronger, quieter and more draft free than conventional framing. Less air movement or leakage translates into less drafts, fewer penetrations for noise, lower energy bills and a significantly more comfortable and controllable indoor environment.

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LightDeck This is an insulated concrete deck system that is integrated into the home’s network of concrete pilings. The “Fortified for Safer Living” building standard is incredibly important for construction anywhere along the coast.

The home’s foundation is the first line of defense against extreme weather events and sea level rise. This method of fortified construction also helps to reduce insurance premiums.

Solar Photovoltaic + Battery Storage The home is designed as a Net Zero Energy Home, meaning that over 12 months of operation, the home will generate all the energy that it requires through the use of rooftop solar photovoltaic panels. 72 panels to be exact. The energy that is produced from the solar panels will charge the three lithiumion batteries so that in the event that we have persistent cloud cover with little energy generation, the home can continue to operate under normal conditions. Any excess power that is generated and not used can go back to the local utility grid and the owners receive a credit under what’s called “net metering.”

Solar energy has come a long way. The panel efficiency has increased significantly so you need fewer panels to power the average home.

In addition, the cost has dropped by 60% over the last 8 years and today many companies will lease equipment so there’s no out-of-pocket cost to the homeowner. A new 2,000 SF home could add 16 panels and generate 80-90% of its energy needs from clean, renewable energy.

With the Federal Tax Credit, on average, the return on investment is about 8-9 years.

Geothermal Heating + Cooling

by Energy Systems of Pensacola The home’s heating and cooling needs are met using an ENERGY STAR-certified geothermal system installed by Energy Systems of Pensacola. This means the equipment meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By choosing ENERGY STAR certified heating and cooling equipment, and taking steps to optimize its performance, the builder has enhanced the comfort of the home while saving energy for the homeowners.

An ENERGY STAR-certified geothermal system can save up to 50% on energy usage and provide decades of low maintenance operation since all the equipment is placed inside the home. Bonus: We added a desuperheater to the ultra-efficient geothermal to take advantage of free waste heat. This provides about 8-9 months of free domestic hot water and saving the owners even more money.

American clay paint

Smart features

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within the home, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of the occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce the risk of indoor health concerns. Using paints and finishes that are free of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) is a great way to ensure the health of the occupants.

Home automation is a key feature of the smart home and it gives the owners a lot of customization. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), Smart Home Pensacola will learn the daily habits of the owners and schedule certain functions around user preferences. This can include setting light levels, temperature, opening/closing blinds, activating security protocols, and so much more. With voiceactivated controls in each room, the home will follow the owners’ commands and make the home more livable and very convenient.

By setting scenes, commands like “Hey Alexa.

Let’s watch a movie” will dim the lights, close the blinds, and turn the TV on. You’ll have to make the popcorn yourself… for now.

The savings from healthy indoor air quality are difficult to quantify, but for people with compromised immune systems, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) maintains a program called Indoor airPLUS. We have used the program as a guide when selecting all the finishes in the home.

Living pool Pools can consume a lot of chemicals in order to maintain the proper pH level.

The owners elected to install eco-friendly BIOTOP pools that don’t require harmful chemicals or salt to maintain water quality.

A “living pool” is the perfect symbiosis of biology and modern technology. No itchy skin or harmful chemicals. Just clean water filtered with nature.

Did I leave the light on? Did I remember to close the garage door? Did I set the alarm? No worries. Your smart home has you covered.

These aren’t just conveniences, they also help you save money with the ability to turn off lights and turn off the air conditioning when it’s not being used. The owners can perform these functions from a smartphone from anywhere in the world. These features save money and offer peace of mind for the owners.

Water filtration

by SpringWell The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) regulates over 80 contaminants such as arsenic, e-coli, , chlorine, and lea, that may be found in drinking water from public water systems.

Smart Home Pensacola features an advanced water filtration system to protect the occupants of the home by delivering clean and safe water.

Rainwater irrigation

by Foxworth and Moore In Northwest Florida, we receive about 65 inches of rain each year. The challenge is that we don’t always get the rain when we need it. Smart Home Pensacola features two underground storage tanks with 7,500 gallons of storage capacity. This means that the owner’s will have access to water for irrigation during dry periods with little/no rain.

Did you know, in Florida ~50% of your water usage is outside the home?

Recycling rainwater has been done for centuries and it’s a great way to cut back on your water usage.

More information is available at: www.smarthomepensacola.com

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Community Events Constant Coffee March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Join Pensacola Poetry at the longest running open mic in Pensacola at Constant Coffee & Tea. Every Tuesday of the week poets and creatives come to flex their voices through poetry, rap and spoken word. Come out and support the local arts community and hear a beautiful bricolage of words. Doors open at 6:00 pm and mic starts at 6:30. Follow Pensacola Poetry on Facebook for updates and information.

Sun Belt Men & Women’s Basketball Conference March 5-8 All 12 conference members will compete in the single-elimination Sun Belt championships.

The women’s and men’s champions will be crowned on Monday at the conclusion of the tournament and will advance to the NCAA Women’s and Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The tournaments will be played March 5-8 at the Pensacola Bay Center and will mark the beginning of NCAA March Madness.

Pensacola Little Theatre presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream March 5-21 Shakespeare’s hilarious fairytale about the fickleness of love comes to life on our stage just in time for spring. Spend the evening in an enchanted forest filled with fairies, a quartet of confused royals, and a troupe of actors desperately trying to put on a play for the king. This Treehouse production is appropriate for ages 12 and up and is adapted and directed by Ashley McGlothren.

200 South Small Business Saturday March 6 On the first Saturday of each month, the 200 South will host the Small Business Saturday Promotion. This is an initiative to support local business friends and those that support them by buying their products, food and drinks. Bring in a receipt from a purchase made from another downtown business (it can be ANY downtown business) and receive 10% off your bill at 200 South. This is redeemable at Graffiti Pizza, World of Beer, Taco Agave and Blend Lounge.

40 Pensacola Magazine

*Must be a receipt dated that specific Saturday and can only be redeemed that same day.

2021 Spring Food Truck Fest March 6 Tempt your taste buds and come hungry at this year’s 2021 Spring Food Truck Fest. The fest will feature a number of the city’s finest food trucks!

The event will also have vendors exhibiting and selling gifts, crafts, jewelry, personal care products and much more. Held at the Community Maritime Park from 11 am to 8 pm. Admission is $2 and kids 12 and under are free. A portion of the proceeds goes to Feeding the Gulf Coast.

Pensacola Opera presents H.M.S. Pinafore March 10-14 Caught between her love for a lowly-born sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, and the unwanted attentions of the repugnant Sir Joseph Porter, Josephine’s future happiness rests in the secrets revealed by a mysterious bumboat woman.

Gilbert & Sullivan’s beloved comedy of class distinctions docks at the Saenger Theatre, promising hilarious high-jinks on the high seas for audiences of all ages! Unable to join in person? New this season, consider joining the show virtually for a special live stream experience!

Pensacola Habitat Food Truck Festival March 12-13 Join Pensacola Habitat For Humanity for its 5th annual food truck festival, celebrating Pensacola Habitat’s 40th year anniversary!

Support the mission of building homes, community, and hope by coming out to taste test some food and peruse some vendors. Held at the Community Maritime Park, Friday 6 pm-10 pm and Saturday 11 am- 9 pm. Follow Pensacola Habitat For Humanity on social media or check out pensacolahabitatfoodtruckfest. org for more information.

McGuire’s 5k Run March 13 The McGuire’s St. Patrick’s Day 5k Run is a Pensacola tradition and is known as the largest Prediction Run in America. This year, the 5k Run is following social distancing protocols

and taking it to the streets. All participants are asked to maintain social distance of 6ft while on the property and including at Packet Pickup. Additionally, all runners must wear a face mask at all times except during the run and bring their own water. The run starts at 9 am at McGuire’s Irish Pub and admission costs $25.

St. Patrick’s Day Pensacola Ice Flyers vs Knoxville Ice Bears March 13 The Pensacola Ice Flyers are hosting the Knoxville Ice Bears for St. Patrick’s Day at the Pensacola Bay Center! Wear green for good luck and cheer on the Ice Flyers. Tickets can be purchased online on Ticketmaster or in-person at the box office. Show starts at 7:05 pm.

Voices of Pensacola Hosts Jazz Expert March 14 Join the Voices of Pensacola, sponsored by the African American Heritage Society and the National League of American Pen Women in welcoming renowned jazz musician and expert Dr. Joan Cartwright virtually via Zoom at 2pm.

Dr. Cartwright will be giving a presentation on the blues women that pioneered the blues genre and spoke out against racism through their music. Her presentation will be based on her book Blues Women: The First Civil Rights Workers. Visit the African American Heritage Society website for the Zoom link.

Giveaway Night Pensacola Ice Flyers vs Knoxville Ice Bears March 14 The Pensacola Ice Flyers are hosting the Knoxville Ice Bears for Giveaway Night at the Pensacola Bay Center! Be sure to be one of the first in the door to get a chance at some awesome giveaways. Tickets can be purchased online on Ticketmaster or in-person at the box office. Show starts at 4:05 pm.

Pensacola VegFest 2021 March 23 Pensacola VegFest will be held at the Community Maritime Park from 11 am-6 pm on March 23. This festival features a wide variety of

vegan food, vegan desserts, meditation circles, cooking demonstrations, live music, face painting, free yoga and diverse vendors.

Military Appreciation Night - Pensacola Ice Flyers vs Macon Mayhem March 26 The Pensacola Ice Flyers are hosting the Macon Mayhem for Military Appreciation Night sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union at the Pensacola Bay Center! Join us as we celebrate our great service members and nation. Tickets can be purchased online via Ticketmaster or in-person at the box office. Show starts at 7:35 pm.

Pensacola Little Theatre presents Short Attention Span Theatre March 26-April 3 Short Attention Span Theatre is a fun evening of short plays revolving around love and relationships. This year you’ll see three stages in one couple’s relationship spanning about 3 decades, an improbable ill-fated Zombie romance and conversations between two paintings hanging in the Louvre. The directors this year are Clayton Habecker, Lisa Goodness, and Leslee Young. Tickets go on sale March 22.

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Small Dog Race Night - Pensacola Ice Flyers vs Macon Mayhem March 27 The Pensacola Ice Flyers are hosting the Macon Mayhem for Small Dog Race Night at the Pensacola Bay Center! Join the fun for a night of epic races and small dogs galore. Tickets can be purchased online via Ticketmaster or in-person at the box office. Show starts at 7:05 pm.

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SPECIAL SECTION

Magazine

March 2021

UWF Assists Businesses During COVID Financial Crisis

UWF taking the lead in AI technology

UWF plans to use $10 million grant toward local businesses.

UWF’s innovative programs prepare students for careers in cutting edge technology.

p.44

p.47

Around the Region Find out what is happening in business, government and cultural news in the greater Pensacola area and Northwest Florida.

p.50

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UWF Assists Businesses During COVID Financial Crisis The coronavirus pandemic has devastated two of Florida’s most profitable industries: tourism and hospitality. The Florida Chamber of Commerce estimates that tourism brings in more than $6 billion in state taxes and $5 billion in local taxes. Travel restrictions and limitations on bars, restaurants and retail stores caused the state’s tourism industry to decline. WalletHub found that Florida tourism ranks sixth in states most affected by COVID-19. Data from Visit Florida shows the year-over-year hotel revenue went from $33.9 million in February 2020 to $–343.2 million in April 2020.

However, this isn’t the Florida Gulf region’s first time experiencing a hit to their main industries. The 2010 BP oil spill decimated the region.

Moody’s Analytics estimated that the BP oil spill caused the region to lose 17,000 jobs and $1.2 billion. Throughout the years, the Gulf Coast recovered.

The Industry Recruitment, Retention & Expansion Fund Grant Program (IRREF) played a major role in that recovery.

recipient, brought ST Aerospace to Pensacola International Airport, which created 500 jobs and partial funding for a hangar facility at the airport.

The State Legislature established this $30 million program to create jobs in several counties directly impacted by the oil spill. The counties this program benefits are Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Walton.

Now, the IRREF, recently renamed Industry Resilience and Diversification Fund (IRDF), will be used to help the region survive the current financial crisis. There is approximately $10 million remaining in the IRDF. The UWF Research Administration and Engagement is coordinating and overseeing the program. Assistant Vice President of Research Administration, Dr. Matthew Schwartz explained the purpose of the program is to diversify the industries in the region so that the area can be more resilient to manmade and natural disasters.

This program’s funding helped companies expand or relocate to Northwest Florida. Navy Federal Credit Union, a recipient of the program, is projected to create 9,144 jobs by 2030.

Navy Federal’s expansion in Beulah is generating more than $700 million in new capital construction. The Singaporebased ST Engineering, another

“Our main goals are economic transformation, economic development and job creation.

We’re trying to make a more diverse and resilient Northwest Florida regional economy, so we’re not looking at the tourist industry or restaurants and others,” Dr. Schwartz continued.

“We are looking at avenues that are more around the idea of

44 Pensacola Magazine

manufacturing. We’re looking for industries that might be in wellness, manufacturing and manufacturing adjacent, which can also help increase the exports of products. So we actually have a range of different industries that we can bring in there.”

Both Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Donovan Chau, Director of Research Engagement, explained that they are open to applications from all industries that are looking to adapt.

“We’re looking for companies that are resilient, meaning not only could they possibly withstand economic shocks to the economy, but also they have a long term interest in the region and staying in the region and investing in the communities of our region,” Dr. Chau said.

“I think eager is an understatement. Our goal is to get this money out to the best industries that have the biggest impact as quickly as possible,” Dr. Schwartz said. “We are very interested in making sure that these funds are getting out to the industries sooner rather than later.”

Dr. Donovan Chau, Director of Research Engaement

Dr. Chau strongly encourages applicants to reach out to their local economic development organizations for assistance with developing an application. Dr. Chau explained that UWF Research Administration and Engagement has an excellent relationship with the economic development organizations located in all eight counties. These organizations also know

Dr. Matthew Schwartz, Assistant Vice President of Research Administration

Businesses that commit to creating jobs in one or more of the eight counties are eligible for IRDF. The requirements for recipients are a commitment to capital investment, minimum creation of 10 new jobs and a return on investment of at least $1.50 for every dollar funded.

The project cap per award is $2 million. Dr. Schwartz explained that applications are accepted on a rolling basis because UWF is eager to benefit the region’s economy.

“We would like companies to go directly to their respective economic development organizations and have that initial discussion, so this is really important because we want our economic development partners to help the companies,” Dr. Chau said. “If the idea makes sense, then they can submit an application for our program.”

For more information about the IRDF program, visit www.uwf.edu/irdf.

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UWF TAKING THE LEAD IN AI TECHNOLOGY As companies search for ways to power customer engagement and consumers continue to gravitate toward personalized services, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology increasingly dominates industries. In 2015, only 10 percent of organizations reported using AI technology.

By 2019, the number of businesses utilizing AI technology grew by 270 percent. Fortune Business Insights estimates the global AI market will reach $267 billion by 2027.

by Gina Castro | photos courtesy of UWF This growth in AI, in turn, has made knowledge and research in AI and machine learning essential. The University of West Florida partnered with the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition to offer a Ph.D. program in Intelligent Systems and Robotics, which is the first and only program in Florida. The program, which is one of few in the nation, launched fall 2019 and focuses on developing technologies that combine human and machine elements.

The Inaugural Program Director Dr. Brent Venable explained some topics students are working on. Some students in the robotics side are involved in developing exoskeletons to be more adaptive and flexible. Other students in the program are enhancing intelligence systems ability to filter out and recognize important information.

“Our students are immediately integrated in research projects. They have a somewhat lighter course load,” Dr. Venable said. “Most of the courses are personalized and designed to fit well with their research topic and to support the development of their research.”

UWF’s Department of Computer Science also studies AI. The undergraduate program offers a track in intelligence systems where students can take a course in AI and big data analytics. The department also offers a master’s degree in computer science and cybersecurity. The master’s in computer science program allows students to customize a specialization in a topic such as AI machine learning.

“AI is a hot topic nowadays. There is a lot of interest from the industry.

The people who have skills in AI, machine learning or image processing definitely provide an edge,” Dr. MARCH '21

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Competitions really help the students gain additional skills. The socializing aspect helps them, too. They get to network with others and people that go through the same program.”

Thomas Reichherzer, chair of the Department of Computer Science, said. “So some sectors in the industry, even big data analytics, require skills in AI or would like to have those skills.”

In February, graduate computer science students Tobias Jacob, Raffaele Galliera and Muddasar Ali placed third in the prestigious AI Tracks at Sea Challenge. The students won $35,000 for the department.

They participated in the competition as members of UWF’s AI and Data Analytics (AIDA) Research Group. Dr. Reichherzer, sponsored the group.

Dr. Sikha Bagui, a professor in computer science, served as the

of Intelligent Systems and Robotics placed fifth in the competition—winning $20,000 for the department. The ArgoTracks team consisted of Bhavyansh Mishra, a doctoral student from the department, and mechanical engineering majors Brendon Ortolano and Luke Fina. The Intelligent Systems and Robotics assistant professor, Dr. Hakki Erhan Sevil served as the group’s sponsor and faculty advisor. The students were also mentored by UWF alumnus Carson Wilber, who is research associate at Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.

The AI Tracks at Sea Challenge was hosted by Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific and the

the five teams who were able to find full working solutions.

Dr. Reichherzer explained that opportunities with competitions and student organizations benefit the students.

“We have cybersecurity competitions, AI competitions and programming competitions that [students] participate in. Competitions really help the students gain additional skills,” Dr. Reichherzer said.

“The socializing aspect helps them, too. They get to network with others and people that go through the same program.”

Since AI is gradually being integrated into a variety of industries from healthcare to marketing to financial markets, students with skills in AI have numerous career opportunities.

Dr. Venable explained that her students are very appealing to companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon because of their cutting edge research.

faculty advisor for the group.

A machine learning intern at Novetta Solutions LLC and UWF computer science major, Zach Mueller, mentored the students.

“We’re very grateful that they made third place. This is a really big deal because this is a national competition,” Dr. Reichherzer said.

Students from the Department

48 NWFL’s Business Climate

Naval Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Coordination Office. Thirtytwo teams of students from Ivy League colleges, private and public universities competed for the $200,000-prize challenge. The challenge was to create a software solution that would automatically generate tracks of maritime vessel traffic from cameras. The $200,000 was divided among

Dr. Reichherzer explained that there are local career opportunities for students, too.

“We do have some jobs here in the area. Navy Federal Credit Union offers internships and co ops for our students. They hire quite a few students from us. So that’s one huge employer,” Dr. Reichherzer.

“There is, of course, the military bases. The government in our area hires students in computer science and cybersecurity. We have quite a few smaller businesses, too.”

In February, graduate computer science students Tobias Jacob, Raffaele Galliera and Muddasar Ali placed third in the prestigious AI Tracks at Sea Challenge. The students won $35,000 for the department.

Dr. Venable expanded on the number of opportunities in Pensacola, especially in the healthcare industry.

“In the Pensacola area, there are so many industries cyber defense related like Lockheed Martin and Boeing that would be excellent avenues for our students,” Dr. Venable continued. “But let’s not forget healthcare. Healthcare is a huge opportunity now.

Students that have expertise in designing recommender systems or personalization tools that can extract and elicit preferences and special features automatically, or the students that work on exoskeletons for rehabilitation. Pensacola is growing more and more into a high tech health care hub.”

For more information on UWF’s Department of Computer Science, visit uwf.edu/computerscience.

For more information on UWF’s Department of Intelligent Systems and Robotics, visit uwf.edu/isr.

•

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Around the Region Warren Averett Asset Management’s Ashley Tucker Earns Certified Financial Planner™ Certification

Southwest Adds Service to Atlanta, Chicago, and St. Louis from Pensacola International Airport

Warren Averett Asset Management is proud to announce that Ashley Tucker, CFP®, has obtained her Certified Financial Planner™ certification with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board).

Tucker, a Financial Planning Associate serving clients across the Gulf Coast, is responsible for coordinating and interacting with clients on a variety of financial matters including retirement planning, investment management and estate reviews.

Ashley and her husband live in Pace, Florida with their son and are awaiting the arrival of their daughter.

For more than 30 years, the Certified Financial Planner™ certification has been the standard of excellence for financial planners. CFP® professionals have met extensive training and experience requirements and they commit to CFP Board’s ethical standards that require them to put the client’s best interests first.

In March 2021, Southwest Airlines will add three nonstop destinations to the services offered at Pensacola International Airport (PNS). Pack your bags this spring and take a trip to Atlanta, Chicago Midway, or St. Louis and enjoy the Southwest Promise.

“I am a people person. As a CFP® professional, I establish one-on-one relationships with each of my clients,” says Tucker. “Helping individuals and families find their financial footing is such a rewarding experience and it’s what motivates me every day.”

50 NWFL’s Business Climate

Starting March 11 and continuing through April 11, Southwest Airlines will begin one daily flight to Atlanta (ATL), one flight to St. Louis (STL) on Saturdays, and two flights to Chicago Midway (MDW) on Saturdays.

“Pensacola continues to be a place where airlines see potential and growth as we navigate through the health crisis,” Pensacola International Airport Director Matt Coughlin said. “Our airport staff and our many airline partners are dedicated to providing an easy, safe and healthy flight experience.”

Southwest® Promise was issued in May 2020 to highlight new and round-theclock efforts to support its customers’ and employees’ wellbeing and comfort.

Among the changes are enhanced cleaning

efforts at airports and onboard aircraft, and face covering requirements for customers and employees. Additional details about the Southwest Promise are available at Southwest.com/Promise.

The COVID-19 health pandemic has taken a toll on the airport industry across the world. With added safety precautions in place, Pensacola International Airport has seen a steady increase in air traffic. The number of passengers choosing PNS is exceeding national averages by 20-30%.

“This is yet another testament to the resilience of Pensacola International Airport and the desire for airlines to continue to expand their services here,” Mayor Grover Robinson said. “I am excited to see new destinations at our airport to not only provide more travel opportunities for residents, but also connect new visitors to our beautiful city.”

For more information about Pensacola International Airport, visit www.flypensacola.com.

Port of Pensacola Annual Report Highlights Port Success, Revenue Increases The Port of Pensacola has released its 2020 Annual Report, highlighting a prosperous year of revenue increases, business development and continued growth at the port.

waterfront development consistent with the Port of Pensacola’s Master Plan.

Other operations at the port include Offshore Inland helping with the bid for Space Command, GE Wind Energy advancing clean, renewable energy through the Port of Pensacola, and CSX continuing to move materials through the port.

Despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Sally, the Port of Pensacola saw an overall revenue increase of 13% in 2020, which included increases in both cargo tonnage and vessel dockage days.

“Given the trying times we all had to try to navigate, I am both pleased and proud that the Port of Pensacola team was able to drive growth in every major metric of port success,” Port Director Amy Miller said. “I have every reason to believe this positive momentum will continue in 2021.”

“We’re incredibly fortunate to have the Port of Pensacola as such a valuable asset for the City of Pensacola,” Mayor Grover Robinson said. “I’d like to

commend Port Director Amy Miller and her team for working hard to keep moving the port forward and create success, even during such a challenging year. I’m excited to see what the future has in store for the Port of Pensacola.”

About the Port of Pensacola The Port of Pensacola, strategically positioned along the northern Gulf of Mexico, is Northwest Florida’s most diverse and business focused deep-water port. Port Pensacola is a full-service port offering stevedore and marine terminal services for all descriptions of bulk, break-bulk, unitized freight, and special project cargo. Additionally, offshore vessel marine maintenance, repair, and overhaul, or MRO, services are also delivered by Port tenants and business partners. The Port of Pensacola’s motto is “big enough for any requirement but small enough to know you,” and the Port makes sure its clients’ goals are priority number #1.

Other highlights from the annual report include: • 110.6% increase in total tonnage* • 47.54% increase in total number of vessels* • 143% increase in total wind turbine nacelles* • 6.65% increase in total dockage* • *Percent increase from 2019 to 2020 The Port of Pensacola also continued to attract new business development in 2020, while cultivating a variety of existing industries at the port. Streamline Boats is joining the Port family of companies in 2021 after City Council approved their lease in 2020, and City Council also approved the lease renewal for Cemex. Additionally, City Council approved a lease for a hotel on Port of Pensacola property, expanding the port’s MARCH '21

51

Your Local, Hometown Lender AngelA lAne

Executive Mortgage Loan Originator NMLS #1249678

850.776.6094 Angela.Lane@SoutheastMortgage.com SoutheastMortgage.com/AngelaLane Southeast Mortgage of Georgia, Inc NMLS #103956 | FL #MLD718 244 E Intendencia St Pensacola, FL 32502 800.344.8788

ON ATHE MARKET Real Estate Section DIY IDEAS TO INCREASE YOUR HOME’S VALUE P. 56

By the Numbers: A Look at January’s Market Highlights page 54

Improve Wellness with 5 ways technology can make Affordable Bathroom Upgrades home maintenance easier page 58 page 62

MARCH '21

53

BY THE NUMBERS A LOOK AT JANUARY’S MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

750 44

Monthly Sales

Avg. Days on Market

850 245K

New Residential Listings

Median Sale Price

MARKET HIGHLIGHTS Total sales in January were up 21 percent compared to last January and were the best on record for the month

54 ON THE MARKET

At 44, average Days on Market (DOM) for residential and condominiums edged up 5 days compared to December

January median sale price remained above $240K for the seventh consecutive month

January’s pending sales improved 11 percent from December, and were 17 percent ahead of the same month last year, posting the most pendingson record for January

17 W. Cedar Street | Suite 2 Pensacola, FL 32502 phone: 850.434.2244 fax: 850.434.8081 www.BHHSPenFed.com

KNOWLEDGE OPENS DOORS

Berkshire Estates

8717 Bradfield Dr $315,000 | MLS# 584297 This striking contemporary has tomorrow’s styling for today’s people! Foyer with arched entry, open floor plan, main floor has vinyl luxury tile, a lot of natural light, dining area, 2 family areas, stunning kitchen with large island, kitchen bar for quick meals, several work stations, huge pantry. Front room office and a powder room located in the perfect spot. Upstairs opens to the second family area. 4 bedrooms a main bathroom and laundry room. The master suite is large enough for to allow for sitting room furniture. Master bath has double sinks, soaking tub, separate shower and a walk-in closet that is large enough to make the wife happy. Plenty of room in the fenced back yard for a pool, play set and of course the family dog. Convenient location to NAS Pensacola, Corry Station, Perdido Key beaches and downtown Pensacola.

Nancy Grogan • 850.377.7578 • nancy.grogan@penfedrealty.com

Gulf Breeze

114 Baybridge Dr $459,000 | MLS# 580742

Downtown Pensacola

12 E Strong St $585,000 | MLS# 584207 Southern Style Custom Built home with Modern Elegance. This home consist of an open floor plan, 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath with almost 2,200 sq. ft. of gracious living with 9ft. ceilings. As you enter the home thru the double front doors, there is over 200 sq ft. of cover patio with painted tongue and groove ceilings. The kitchen consists of large island with quartz countertops, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, gas cooktop and oven, farmhouse sink with touchless faucet, pantry and separate coffee/wine bar including wine cooler. French doors leading out to the gracious patio that consists of pavers, outdoor lights and ceiling fans. Backyard has privacy fence, garden bed, storage building, irrigation system and mature landscaping. Living room has a beautiful gas fireplace with shiplap & brick look tile with wood mantle. This beautiful home is centrally located, just a few blocks from Downtown Pensacola.

Jennifer Cobb • 850.602.7682 • jennifer.cobb@penfedrealty.com

Stonebrook Village

5632 Champions Dr $425,000 | MLS# 584420

This rare opportunity to own a waterfront retreat in Gulf Breeze “Proper” offers you the ultimate lifestyle- fabulous views of sparkling Pensacola Bay and the opportunity for your own boat slip. Enjoy the breezes from your two expansive balconies, or put your toes in the sandy beach or launch your kayak just steps away. This unit, with the convenience of a being on one level, is even more desirable with the privacy offered at the very end of the complex.

The beautiful updated kitchen, pantry, large walk in master shower, wood burning fireplace, crown molding and oversized 2 car garage are a few of the extra features you will find. Two bedrooms and two full baths, with an additional bedroom/study allow room for guests and a home office. You will love the ease of living in the luxury gated community of Baybridge with a pool, tennis court, cabana, pier, and boardwalk.

This prestigious Brick home is located in the Premier Stonebrook Village Golf Course community. Pride of ownership shows as soon as you walk through the front door. The home has recently been updated. Freshly painted. Neutral colors. Tile floors. No carpet and No popcorn ceilings! There is so much natural light that flows throughout. Split floor plan. The dining room is large enough for entertaining. Gourmet cooks kitchen. Granite countertops.

Stainless steel appliances. Kitchen opens up to the magnificent living room overlooking the backyard. The master suite is absolutely stunning. Featured in the room are two walk in closets. The other side of the home features 3 bedrooms. Spring is just around the corner and this home is ready for fun times and outdoor living. Move-in Ready.

Kathy Dreadin • 850.982.0140 • kathy.dreadin@penfedrealty.com

Michelle Carlson • 850.686.6588 • michelle.carlson@penfedrealty.com MARCH '21

55

DIY Ideas to Increase Your Home’s Value Now as much as ever, your home may be a sanctuary for all kinds of expression, from thinking and dreaming to working and playing.

Over the past year, homeowners began to consider the intersection of function and design in new ways.

Weekend warriors are dedicating themselves to creating more organized living spaces and making their homes better places for learning, working and living. If you’re considering upgrades to your home, consider these DIY ideas from the experts at Royal Building Products that can increase beauty and resale value.

Home Office: Spending more time at home may mean storage space is at a premium, especially if you’re relying on a makeshift home office.

You can add a high-impact and functional element to your office with a built-in bookcase or workstation.

Consider your materials carefully since they have a big impact on your final results. For example, a versatile alternative to wood is synthetic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) trim, which you don’t need to sand or prime before painting, ultimately saving time, energy and money. While PVC is slightly more expensive than some wood options, it also requires less maintenance long-term.

Bathroom: By updating worn-out items, modernizing fixtures and creating a more functional space, you can expect to recoup up to 50% of a bathroom’s remodel cost, according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. If you’re considering an on-trend look like shiplap, a practical solution like Royal prefinished PVC Shiplap can help create a clean, comfortable space.

It’s waterproof, mold resistant, flexible and works well in spaces with many slants and angles. Plus, it’s lightweight and easy to install.

56 ON THE MARKET

Entryway: A home’s foyer offers the first impression of its interior, teasing the personality of architecture and decor found with each step deeper inside. Whether bold and dramatic, tranquil and serene, or something in-between, the entryway often sets the tone for a home’s ambience.

Details like decorative molding and lattice trim can create a striking entryway for almost any home style.

Photos courtesy of Honey Built Home

to adorn family room floors, walls and ceilings.

Cape Cod: This practical and quaintly unassuming design can be accented by subtle interior trim such as transom windows and sidelights that surround multi-paneled entry doors, casings for double-hung windows, picture rails and frame walls.

Exterior: Whether you’re sprucing up an outdoor living space or simply want to boost curb appeal, subtle enhancements can make a big impact.

For example, board and batten shutters offer an attractive, low-fuss way to highlight your home’s windows.

Painting the front door is another low-cost way to freshen up your exterior. Or invite a touch of nature by adding flower boxes to your front porch or windows.

Find more creative inspiration, tools, tips and practical steps for every level of DIY-er at buildroyaldiy.com.

SELECT A TRIM STYLE TO MATCH YOUR HOME STYLE The right style of trim can transform a room into a whole new space. A good rule of thumb is to keep the style of trim consistent with your home style and from room to room.

Craftsman: The craftsman home style pairs well with simple, tailored and purposeful doors and minimally ornamented window casings while white, light beige and cream-colored crown moulding can create roomier spaces.

Colonial: This home style’s rustic simplicity and rich detail call for interior trim that lends a touch of stately courtliness. Choose multipiece trim and wider baseboards, wainscoting and crown moulding

Modern: The clean expansiveness of this home style lends itself to unadorned window and door casings as well as baseboards. You can go minimalist and use trim merely to protect walls and floors. Alternatively, you could rely on trim to create an appealing contrast with the wall colors.

Ranch: Open, informal and inviting, this style needs trim work that flows from room to room. Many styles work, from simple baseboards to more formal trimmed windows and cabinetry in the kitchen, fireplace mantels in the family room and passageway casings.

IT’S HERE! We are excited to announce that our Men Who Cook charitable cookbook, presented by The Law Office of J.J. Talbott and Brown Helicopter, Inc., is now available FOR SALE!

Order Online TODAY at PaceCenter.org/MWCCookbook

The perfect gift for friends & family!

Order yours today!

One Cookbook: $40.00

Sweet Deal: Buy 2, Get One 1/2 Off! All proceeds of the cookbook will directly benefit Pace Center for Girls Escambia-Santa Rosa.

Cookbooks now available for pickup or delivery.

Questions about how to get yours?

Contact Rachel at rachel.mock@pacecenter.org

Pace Center for Girls Escambia-Santa Rosa 1028 Underwood Ave, Pensacola, FL 32504

$515,000

6566 Carlinga Dr MLS # 584019

4 Bed | 4 Bath | 2,148 sq ft Wolfgang Hucklenbroich

Upscale Resort Villa featuring three levels in a prime location in the gated community of Lost Key Golf and Beach Club with deeded access to the beach.

Perfect for private use or as an investment for short term or tong term rental income. The Villa offers an open floor plan with beautiful plank tile flooring in the kitchen and living area.

Oversized 2 car garage with room for golf cart or additional storage.

Outside maintenance is taken care of by HOA.

$519,000

917 Palafox St MLS # 582287

4 Bed | 2.5 Bath | 3,892 sq ft Wolfgang Hucklenbroich & Susan Carol

A PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK!

UNDER CONTRACT

The owners of this Victorian Queen Anne style home in the North Hill district have tastefully remodeled and updated this historic home into a livable and lovable space that meets all modern standards and allows for a living/working combination. Downtown Pensacola, the historic center, restaurants, theaters, public buildings and beach are within reach!

“Put my experience, knowlege, service and professionalism to work for you.”

Wolfgang Hucklenbroich

Susan Carroll

850.530.5133

850.384.8292

WolfgangSellsHomes@gmail.com

305 W Gregory St. Pensacola, FL 32502

susan.carroll@cbcnrt.com

NRT

and viruses using safe and effective means. Not only are they helpful in preventing asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments, but they are a low-cost way to improve overall indoor air quality.

models are available if wall space is at a premium. Another advantage: Since the racks dry towels, they’ll stay mildew-free longer and don’t need to be washed as often, which helps save valuable natural resources.

What you use to clean yourself is just as important. Using green or organic personal care items can help reduce toxin exposure and lessen the likelihood of an allergic reaction.

Enhance Air Quality

Reduce Humidity

Improve Wellness with Affordable Bathroom Upgrades Wellness is at the forefront of nearly everyone’s mind, including keeping germs at bay and creating surroundings that promote mental and physical health.

Even small, but important, spaces like the bathroom can benefit from changes with wellness in mind.

A bathroom can be one of the easiest rooms in your home to give a little extra TLC toward creating a healthier lifestyle.

These cost-effective measures can turn your bathroom into a more practical, functional space that promotes your well-being.

58 ON THE MARKET

Switch Up Surfaces The countertops in your bathroom, much like the flooring, must be able to withstand a lot of water.

Nonporous vanity tops, such as those made from quartz, hold up to being wet constantly and can help keep germs from breeding. In addition to being easy to clean, a solid-surface option like quartz never needs to be sealed or polished, making it an aesthetically pleasing, long-lasting option.

Clean Green Bathrooms are often hot and steamy places, and water vapors in the air can carry potentially harmful chemicals from cleaning products. Green cleaning products are made to control the spread of bacteria

All that steam can affect your health in other ways, too, since it creates a humid environment that encourages mold and mildew. A heated towel rack is an inexpensive way to add a touch of luxury to your space while generating heat that helps reduce humidity and the growth of mold and mildew, therefore benefitting indoor air quality.

Heated towel racks like those from Amba Products come in a variety of finishes and styles to coordinate with your decor.

For modest accommodations, the Radiant Small is a spacesaving choice, and freestanding

Creating a green, spa-like oasis with plants can bring wellness benefits that don’t break the bank. Indoor plants help rid the environment of pollutants, and the energy and ambiance they add may have mental health benefits, too. Plants like mother-inlaw’s tongue or peace lily are popular options to incorporate as natural air purifiers.

Explore Color A bathroom’s color palette can also play a role in your wellness goals. Warmer shades like red and orange enhance energy while cooler colors like green and blue can be calming.

Begin planning bathroom upgrades that improve your health and well-being with more tips and ideas at ambaproducts.com.

Sydnee Johnson Sydnee Johnson Going above and beyond to find your next home.

Going above and beyond to find your next home.

SYDNEE JOHNSON RealtorJOHNSON SYDNEE

22ARealtor Via DeLuna 4475 Bayou Blvd.

Pensacola Beach, Pensacola, FL 32503FL 32561 22A Bayou Via DeLuna 4475 Bayou Blvd.

4475 Blvd. sydneejohnson.cbintouch.com Pensacola Beach, FL 32561 Pensacola, FL 32503 (850) 712-6772 Cell sydneejohnson.cbintouch.com sydnee.johnson@floridamoves.com

(850) 712-6772 Cell Follow me on sydnee.johnson@floridamoves.com Follow me on

©2017 DBA. All Rights Reserved. DBA fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Operated by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

spring into your ho me! new

Join - Connect - Grow

contact

Renee Borden

850.393.6396

renee.borden@penfedrealty.com

17 W Cedar St, Suite 2 | Pensacola, FL 32502 phone: 85 0. 434. 2 2 44 | fax : 85 0. 434 .80 81

B H H S Pe n Fed . c o m

WWW.PENSACOLACHAMBER.COM 850.438.4081 SUPPORT@PENSACOLACHAMBER.COM

Thousands of Homes Sold! We Can Sell Yours Too!

With over 35 years of experience, we know how to get the job done.

Using traditional approaches along with modern technology and marketing, we get proven results for our clients. Let us help you with the sale of your home.

Give Us a Call Today!

Sam Rogers Pat Boudreaux Broker/Associate Broker/Associate 850-572-0057 850-291-1001 samrogers@cox.net patsells@outlook.com

www.GulfCoastHomeSales.com

Sam Rogers and Pat Boudreaux: Experience and Integrity you can count on.

T H E

H E I G H T

O F

LUXURY R I G H T

I N

T H E

H E I G H T S

1700 SCENIC HWY. UNIT 902

UN

DER

CONTRA

CT

2,352 SQ. FT. 3 BED/3 BATH $100,000+ REINVESTED VIEWS FROM 3 DIRECTIONS & 2 HUGE BALCONIES UNIT 404 (3 BR) SOLD 6/2019 UNIT 301 (3 BR) SOLD 12/2020 UNIT 302 (2 BR) SOLD 2/2021

CALL TEAM EAST HILL BILL BILL CHAVIS- 850-501-0771 · AARON CHRISTINE 850-777-8264 BILL@EASTHILLBILL.COM · AARON@EASTHILLBILL.COM

Could you be our next

COVER

Bride?

We’re looking for the perfect Pensacola bride for the cover of

Pensacola Magazine Weddings 2021 Submit up to three of your individual wedding photos to weddings@ballingerpublishing.com

Submissions due by

March 15, 2021

Editorial-style shots by your professional photographer are prefered. Please include the names of the bride, groom and photographer.

Make full use of your digital calendar by inputting all these items on a recurring basis, so you’ll never forget about one of these crucial tasks again. It can give you peace of mind knowing you’re up to date on any and all important safety and maintenance tasks.

5 WAYS TECHNOLOGY CAN MAKE HOME MAINTENANCE EASIER

E

VEN IF YOU’RE NOT THE TECH SAVVIEST PERSON, you probably already use some technology to make your life easier, from your smartphone giving you directions to a digital calendar that keeps track of appointments. Today’s technology has made staying on top of many tasks a whole lot easier.

If you’re interested in exploring more ways to make your busy life a little less complicated, here are some ideas to get you started on automating essential household tasks.

1. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES From HVAC filters to batteries or other products you need for your home on a regular basis, see if your preferred vendor now offers a subscription service. You can set up how frequently you want the items delivered, and most will allow you to adjust the frequency of delivery over time.

And there’s a bonus: Most vendors offer discounts for anyone signing up for a subscription service.

2. USE A SMART APP TO MONITOR APPLIANCES LIKE YOUR WATER SOFTENER How do you remember when to refill your water softener with salt? Most people don’t think about it until the dishes get spotty or the laundry comes out stiff and scratchy. Then suddenly you’re arranging a special trip to get more salt.

62 ON THE MARKET

Those last-minute trips to buy salt are a thing of the past with the Connected Salt Level Sensor and the Pentair Home app.

A simple Wi-Fi-enabled device clips easily into your softener’s brine tank and monitors your salt level. When salt starts to run low, it sends alerts to your smart device, so you can buy salt when it’s convenient for you - not when it feels like an emergency.

With life being super busy, it’s nice to have to think of one less thing, like refilling the salt in your water softener.

Learn more about how the Connected Salt Level Sensor works at Pentair.com.

3. USE YOUR DIGITAL CALENDAR FOR HOME REMINDERS Similar to keeping up with your water softener’s salt level, it can be hard to remember when to check your smoke detector’s batteries, when to have your gutters cleaned, or other annual or semi-annual maintenance chores.

4. LEARN TO USE PROGRAMMABLE FEATURES From your smart thermostat to programmable lights or a security system, once you’ve learned how to use them, you’ll appreciate their benefits.

Programming your thermostat to keep your home’s temperature on an even keel - lowering it at night and when you’re away - will save both money and energy, helping your wallet and the environment.

If you “set it and forget it,” you’ll eliminate family squabbles about turning the heat or air conditioning up and down.

And if you can program your lights and security system to help protect your home, especially when you can’t be there, you’ll have even more peace of mind.

5. UPGRADE TO A SMART APPLIANCE Next time you need a new appliance, take a look at recent smart technology innovations. From laundry you can monitor on your phone while you’re away from home to ovens you can preheat from anywhere or refrigerators that can adjust temperatures via your phone or even keep inventory for you, the latest connected appliances may have you relying on tech to make every aspect of your life simpler.

Embracing technology can be a plus for your daily life, especially if you learn to use tools that are the most helpful to you.

Smart apps can not only simplify that endless “to do” list - making sure you never forget anything important - but can also help your house stay safer, cleaner and healthier for your entire family.

Now Building Huntington Creek Just West of the Equestrian Center

Free Design Service Build on our lot or yours!

• Parade Winner 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 • Builder of Dream Home 2015 • Builder Of The Year 2015

Award Winning Homes!

Come visit our furnished model homes Monday - Saturday 10am to 6pm Sunday 1pm to 6pm

T: (850) 944-6805 • E: chopllc@yahoo.com • classichomesofpensacola.com

KNOWLEDGE OPENS DOORS 17 W Cedar St | Suite 2 Pensacola, FL 32502 phone: 850.434.2244 fax: 850.434.8081 BHHSPenFed.com The most incredible panoramic views of Pensacola Bay embrace you when you enter this magnificent property. Way up in the Big Blue Sky on the 10th Floor and with perhaps the best Water Views in the building, this Condominium unit has nearly 3000 sq ft of ultra-convenient living space. This unit has the Largest Floor Plan in the building along with 10’ ceilings. Unique to this 10th Floor level is the Dramatic Sunrise viewed from nearly every room, making every morning pure bliss. Three large bedrooms, two with their own balconies offer you plenty of decorating options that reflect your special touch and compliment the expansive views. The Galley Kitchen has Granite Counter Tops and a Breakfast Bar adjoining the Laundry. The 29 X 14 foot Living Room with Floor-to-Ceiling Water Views is perfect for entertaining. There is a large Outside Storage room for your convenience and the amenities include a huge Swimming Pool and Lovely Landscaping all Maintained by the on site Maintenance Crew, Community Room with Kitchen, TWO assigned Parking Spaces Inside Garage, Storm Shutters, Fitness Center, Steam Room, Sauna, and an Emergency Generator servicing the entire building.

Scenic Terrace

1700 Scenic Hwy - Unit # 1000 $895,000 | MLS# 582963

Linda Turner

850.324.4235

linda.turner@penfedrealty.com

LUXURY L I V IN G — Selling the Gulf Coast —

900 Fort Pickens Rd Unit 812, Pensacola Beach

FOR SALE $500,000

800 Fort Pickens Rd Unit 602, Pensacola Beach

UNDER CONTRACT $625,000

78 Baybridge Dr, Gulf Breeze

32 Calle Hermosa, Pensacola Beach

PREMIER COASTAL TEAM Jenn Cole 850-712-4084 Stephanie Harrington 850-816-6684

26 YEARS

AND COUNTING “I’ll take the time you need to make informed real estate decisions.

I know the business inside and out.”

SHARON HESS HERRICK Owner & Broker SINCE 1994

Commercial & Residential

850.477.7050 hessrealtypensacola.com

FOR SALE $494,900

SOLD $1,700,000

Home & Auto go together.

Like you & a good neighbor.

Michael Johnson, Agent 3127 E Langley Avenue Pensacola, FL 32504 Bus: 850-478-7748 www.michaeljohnsonagency.com

1601975

Some things in life just go together. Like home and auto insurance from State Farm®. And you with a good neighbor to help life go right. Save time and money.

CALL ME TODAY.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, State Farm Indemnity Company, Bloomington, IL State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas, Dallas, TX State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm General Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL State Farm Florida Insurance Company, Winter Haven, FL State Farm Lloyds, Richardson, TX

COME BUILD YOUR BEACH DREAM HOME!

8213 Gulf Blvd, Navarre MLS # 576728

$995,000

110 x 130 sq ft - large lot for your dream home or investment property.

The supply of undeveloped Gulf Front lots along the sugar white sand beaches of the panhandle is seriously limited. Of those that are available, very few offer 110 feet of Gulf Front. That extra 15 feet verses the other Gulf Front lots currently available on Navarre Beach creates some unique opportunities. Act now to take advantage of the opportunity to secure the perfect setting to build your dream home, vacation home, or investment property.

Joe Billingsly 850.291.6761

Kathy Ray 205.527.6696

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29 Via De Luna Dr

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