Pensacola Magazine, Dec. 2018

Grover Robinson: Pensacola's New Mayor

Holiday Event Guide pg. 16

The Nutcracker Ballet Pensacola offers a fresh take on a classic tradition

Also in this Issue:

On the Market

Ashton Hayward The Exit Interview

+Business Climate a real estate section

DECEMBER 2018 • pensacolamagazine.com

Blaze past mediocrity.

RIP THROUGH THE STATUS QUO.

There is no energy more powerful than sheer will. It is unshakeable, unstoppable, undeniable. Harness your will. Push beyond your fears.

Rush toward your greatest potential.

Let’s show the world what it means to live life without fear, without limits.

uwf.edu/NoLimits

OUR MISSION DEPENDS ON YOU. As Pensacola’s only locally owned health care organization, it’s in our heart to care for communities throughout the region.

Since 1975, the Baptist Health Care Foundation has served the Gulf Coast community to help improve the quality of life and health of families living in our service area. We depend on gifts from individuals, families, organizations and local businesses to continue our proud tradition of service to others.

This holiday season, consider helping us further that tradition by making a donation. For more information visit us at BaptistHealthCareFoundation.org or call 850.469.7906.

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Editor’s Note As 2018 comes to a close, I am astonished at how quickly this year flew by. Perhaps it was the insane news cycle or busy work schedule or the immense amount of multitasking I’ve been doing the last few months. Who knows? While 2018 certainly had its ups and downs, one thing that was consistently “up” was the quality of our Pensacola Magazine covers. Although we strive for great covers every month, through the years there have always been one or two that you just feel okay about—not terrible, but not exciting either.

This year, all 12 of them were beautifully photographed and expertly designed. Kudos to our design team—art director Guy Stevens and graphic designer Bara’ah Jaraiseh—for their eye-catching, inspiring and talented work. Take a look at all of the covers from 2018. Do you have a favorite?

That brings us to this month’s cover and cover story.

Pensacola’s first strong mayor Ashton Hayward has handed over the keys to the city to new mayor Grover Robinson. We caught up with Hayward about a week before his term ended to reflect on his eight years in office and to discuss many of his big wins, a few missteps and what might be next for him professionally. We’ve had the pleasure of featuring Hayward many times over his mayoral career, and we enjoyed covering his time in office. Thank you for your service, Mr. Mayor, and best of luck in your future endeavors.

As we wave goodbye to one era, we usher in another. Former County Commissioner Grover Robinson took the reins at city hall in November. Our business editor, Will Isern, spoke with Mayor Robinson about his vision for the City of Pensacola.

Welcome, Mayor Robinson. We wish you the best of luck in your new role.

Beyond politics, this issue is chock full of everything you need to know about local holiday happenings. From tree farms and art markets to The Nutcracker and New Year’s Eve—we’ve got all of your holiday festivities covered.

We hope you have a fantastic holiday and that the New Year brings you all of joy and happiness you deserve.

Happy Holidays!

Kelly Oden Executive Editor

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@pensacola_magazine

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SANTA ROSA KEEPS THE TROPHY Sheriff Johnson’s Team Wins the 2018 Sheriff’s Challenge Charity Golf Match for the Children.

Sheriff Bob Johnson of Santa Rosa County and Chief Deputy Chip Simmons of Escambia County hold the coveted Sheriff’s Challenge charity golf tournament trophy at the Nov 2 tournament held at Stonebrook Golf Club. The second annual golf tournament in which the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s office challenged the Escambia County Sheriff’s office was presented by the NW FL Guardian Ad Litem Foundation, the Guardian Ad Litem Non Profit of the Year for 2018. Pensacola Police Chief Tommi Lyter and

his teams participated as well as Gulf Breeze Police Chief, Rick Hawthorne and his team.The proceeds benefit the Guardian Ad Litem Program of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Okaloosa Counties.

Contents holiday Events

Your guide to celebrating the holidays— Pensacola style

16

find your party 18 this new year's eve Pensacola is ready for 2019. Are you?

the nutcracker

21

the family tradition of the christmas tree

24

Ballet Pensacola offers a fresh take on a classic tradition

Fish River Trees serves as the beginning to the Christmas season for families all over the Gulf Coast

30

Grover robinson: 27 pensacola's new mayor Pensacola Magazine sat down with the new mayor as he prepared to take office on Nov. 27

Ashton Hayward: 30 The exit interview One final interview with Pensacola’s first strong mayor

In Every Issue

Editor’s Letter 6 Page 10 10 Pensacola Scene 13 Play/Live/Give 41

16

18

Special Sections Business Climate On the Market

45 61

On the Cover: Former Mayor Ashton Hayward at Bruce Beach photo by Guy Stevens

8 Pensacola Magazine

24

27

MAGAZINE

December 2018 Owners Malcolm & Glenys 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 Bara’ah Jaraiseh baraah@ballingerpublishing.com Editor Will Isern will@ballingerpublishing.com Assistant Editor Kaitlyn Peacock kaitlyn@ballingerpublishing.com Editorial Intern Gina Castro gina@ballingerpublishing.com Contributing Writers DeeDee Davis Pat Boudreaux Sales & Marketing Paula Rode, Account Executive ext. 28 paula@ballingerpublishing.com Geneva Strange, Account Executive ext. 21 geneva@ballingerpublishing.com

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

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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. © 2018

PAGE 10 with DeeDee Davis

Where has this year gone? It seems like only yesterday that I was packing the ornaments to go back into storage and here I am schlepping all of the boxes back out again. Well, I schlepped them in October as I like to decorate and have time to actually enjoy the results. Nothing screams Christmas like early October heat and hurricane season. Once upon a time my husband expressed serious concerns about my timeline for decorating, but those days are gone. True, he has gotten used to Halloween décor by Labor Day and Christmas by Halloween but that is not what changed things. Hallmark changed things.

When he first got hooked on the Hallmark Christmas movies, there were only a handful of them played repeatedly through the month of December.

Now, however, there are something like 4,000 of them and they go full-time 24/7 by, go figure, October! I was way ahead of my time. So now he enjoys the movies, surrounded by lovely Christmas decorations.

Additionally, my husband has most of our family addicted to the channel as well.

He also takes manly fishing trips several times a year where he and his friends go deep into the swamps or Everglades or rivers or whatever water they decide to conquer. We are talking limited technology in these remote regions. His friends are doomed. They leave for the trip with all of their gear, talking trash about the fish, you know the drill. And guess what? They come home trying to act normal, but they have this texting network going on because they all were exposed. To Hallmark. They 10 Pensacola Magazine

compare notes on the characters (Yes, Candace Cameron-Bure is their darling) and curse the villain, because every one of the movies has one. They even act as if they don’t know how the movie will end.

It’s very suspenseful. Lovely girl has a jerk for a boyfriend. Her work requires her to go at Christmas time to a place with a name like Evergreen. While there she enters gingerbread contests, gets flour smudges on her face, stands under mistletoe and takes a hayride and falls in love with a local guy and they live happily ever after in Evergreen. There is usually some drama while she is in the town and this is when it really gets good. Most nights my husband starts the waterworks about this time. Yes, tears. Not like sobbing or anything, but sniffly, emotional, can’t help himself tears.

This took me some getting used to. I was so surprised at first because this is just not like him. Now, however, the only surprise is when he doesn’t require a hanky. And he’s not alone. The second the movie is over, his phone starts beeping like crazy because his “network” is all checking in to debrief about the “film.” I kid you not. I will not name names in order to protect the guilty but the Hallmark phenomenon is far more prevalent that you would think. And I am right in there with them now. I have my own favorites as they have several that

involve a Royal. Now these are the real deal.

Girl goes to Europe and falls in love with a guy who turns out to be a prince. There is always a gala involved with beautiful gowns and a perfect ending. Sigh. What’s not to love about a story like that?

Real life includes far too much… reality.

Aging issues, ugly politics, children with their own crises, health scares—what the world really needs is a heavy dose of Hallmark. And, evidently, plenty of people feel the same way. They now have not one, but two channels, and they have movies all year long. To think it all started with simple greeting cards and now we have a multi-gazillion dollar business—all created to play on emotions, sentimentality and love of holidays. What a country. And while Hallmark may have set the stage, Publix isn’t far behind. Have you seen any of their holiday ads? I can’t even get past a 30 second spot without a lump in my throat.

Soldier comes home for the holidays.

College kid comes home and instead of going out with his friends, has pie with his mom. Pie! They know just what resonates.

I hope that every one of you have a lovely Hallmark, Publix kind of Christmas and that you get to spend it with people you love. Take time to check out the magnificent lights in downtown Pensacola and take a Winterfest trolley tour. Enjoy the beautiful shops along Palafox Street and check out the old and the new restaurants that are popping up (and thriving!) It’s our own version of the Evergreen experience and is every bit as good.

Merry Christmas!

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1. Award winners at the AFPPhilanthropy Awards Luncheon 2. Friends gather to congratulate Jessica Lee.

Wreaths of Joy sponsor party

3. Malcolm Ballinger, Abbie & Nels Offerdahl 4. Mayor Mike Wiggins, Mary Ellen Wiggins & Gail Torgersen 5. Keith Hoskins, Belle Bear, Mary Henriques 6. Don & Marny Needle, Teri Levin, John & Marianne McMahon & Malcolm Ballinger

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Pensacola Scene Foo foo festival / Cubed Luminous

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The Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival

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1. Sharon Cope 2. Athlone Clarke 3. Susan Rand 4. Abigail Nnaji 5. Paige Whitcomb 6. Aaron Hequembourg

14 Pensacola Magazine

Pensacola Scene Pierrettes New Member Party

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Pierrettes New member party

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1. Pierrettes' board members 2. Susan Finger, Ann Scott and Julie Dyson 3. Mary Hembree, Amy Hoffman, Laura Boyles, Laura Belsinger, Cozy Coleman 4. Neely Brown, Beverly Vaughn, Gaye Overholtz, Jill Harper and Cynthia Booker

Swearing-In Ceremony of Mayor Grover Robinson

Winter has finally arrived in the city of Pensacola, but strangely enough for a city in the Sunshine State, we love everything winter wonderland and we love the holiday traditions of decorating gingerbread houses, keeping up with the Elf on the Shelf and spending time with loved ones. From Ballet Pensacola's The Nutcracker to Winterfest, holidays in Pensacola are always a dash of fun and a sprinkle of cheer. So, here's your guide to celebrating the holidays—Pensacola style. – by Gina Castro

A Christmas Carol University of West Florida’s Theatre Department is putting on its 12th annual production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Jerre Brisky, director at the Center for Fine & Performing Arts at UWF, noted, “This theatrical and spirited version puts the phantasmagoric qualities of Charles Dickens' classic tale center stage. A swirling, dancing chorus of ghosts weaves through this uplifting holiday story of redemption, magic and hope.” The Theatre Department will be performing Dec. 7, 8, 14 and 15 at 7:30 pm and on Dec. 9 and 16 at 2:30 pm. For tickets and information call 850-857-6285 or visit uwf.edu/cfpa. Tickets are $18 for adults, $14 for seniors/active-duty military, $12 for non-UWF students and $6 for youth (18 and under). UWF students get in free with a valid Nautilus card.

‘Twas The Night Before Little Spruce Market If you are looking for a fun date night or for something to do with the family, this event should be on your list. This charming old

16 Pensacola Magazine

world market features booths of handmade items from small local businesses like Muffy & Trudy Jewelry, Straight-up Cake and Panhandle Wax Co. There will be free warming winter wine and festive hors d’oeuvres as well as a live performance from the Blue Anchor Belles. Twas The Night Before Little Spruce Market is open Dec. 14 through 16 at Pensacola Museum of Commerce. For more information on this event, visit their Facebook or find them at eventbrite.com.

Winter Wonder Ride If you’re looking for something athletic this holiday season, the third annual Winter Wonder Ride on Dec. 15 is right up your alley. Winter Wonder Ride is a five-mile slow bike ride through downtown Pensacola and all the money raised from the ride will go to purchase bikes for children in need in Northwest Florida. There is no age limit on this event and the purchase of a ticket allows you access to the post-ride celebration in Seville Square following the

ride. For more information on this event, visit their Facebook or find them at eventbrite.com.

Miracle on Palafox If you are looking for a more old-fashioned Christmas, check out the Miracle on Palafox. Miracle is a pop-up holiday cocktail bar from New York City that is setting up shop in Pensacola for the first time. These holiday drinks are more than just spiked eggnog. They specially crafted holiday drinks such as Gingerbread Flip, the Kris Kringle Colada, the Christmas Carol Barrel and so much more.

The Miracle on Palafox will be in town from Nov. 23 to Dec. 31 at the Old Hickory Whiskey Bar. For more information on this event, visit their Facebook page.

Ballet Pensacola: The Nutcracker Ballet Pensacola is bringing the enchantment of The Nutcracker to the Saenger Theatre Dec. 21, 22 and 23. Ballet Pensacola invites you

to come along with Clara as she dreams of her Nutcracker Prince. Based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, this holiday favorite includes a cast of more than 125 people. Richard Steinert, the production’s Artistic Director and choreographer, noted, “Each year brings new surprises and changes as Clara begin her journey through the magical Land of the Sweets. The Nutcracker is a great way to get into the holiday spirit!” Tickets are available for purchase through Ticketmaster or in person at the Saenger Theatre Box Office. For more information, visit balletpensacola.com or call 432-9546.

Winterfest Of course, Winterfest is one of the biggest Christmas events to go to this season as well.

From Polar Express mini tours and caroling trolley rides, to hanging out with Santa and experiencing snow in the streets, Winterfest is the ideal place for children, visitors and locals this Christmas. Activities for the event will take place from Nov. 18 to Christmas Eve on select dates—check out the Winterfest schedule on pensacolawinterfest.org for more details on when and where to go for specific activities.

2018 Winter Brewfest Instead of hunting all over Pensacola for seasonal beer, swing by O’Riley’s Irish Pub’s 2018 Winter Brewfest on Dec. 15 at 5 pm.

At Winter Brewfest, you’ll get to taste an assortment of seasonal beers such as Ace Space Cider, Christmas Drooler, You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out and more from places like Big Top Brewing Company and Gulf Coast Brewery.

O’Riley’s will also supply appetizers. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. For more information on this event, visit their Facebook or find them at eventbrite.com.

Pensacola Children’s Chorus: Christmas on the Coast Pensacola Children’s Chorus will once again perform their seasonal favorite “Christmas on the Coast” on Dec. 7, 8 and 9 at the Saenger Theatre. “It’s a Broadway-style production, complete with sets, costumes, lights, sound and the lot. The sound audiences experience will be far beyond the stereotypes the label of ‘children’s choir’ denotes,” Alex Gartner, Artistic Director of PCC said. This performance brings a mixture of classic holiday carols and new favorites to audiences. “Christmas on the Coast” is the perfect holiday event for the whole family.

For more information, call 434-7760 or visit pensacolachildrenschorus.com.

2018 Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade Blue Angels; 50,000 people; 90 parade entries and bands from all across the tri-state area—the Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade is one of the biggest Christmas events in the area and it is one you do not want to miss. All profits of the Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade go to local high school band booster organizations. The parade will be held Dec. 8 at 5:30 pm, immediately following the Christmas Parade Dash sponsored by the Pensacola Runners Association. The event is free and open to the public.

Wonderland of Lights The Pensacola Interstate Fair is hosting the Wonderland of Lights this year from Nov. 22 through Dec. 29. This event is sure to get you in the holiday spirit with almost a mile drive of stunning Christmas light displays and Santa’s Village—an indoor holiday market with activities and treats for the whole family.

In Santa’s Village visitors can ride ponies and camels, get photos with Santa and of course, there will be a ton of holiday treats available as well. Tickets for the Wonderland of Lights include admission to Santa’s Village Holiday Marketplace and can be purchased at the event or online. For more on prices or to purchase tickets, visit thewonderlandoflights.com.

2018 Christmas Parade Dash One Mile If packing on holiday weight just isn’t your thing, try the Pensacola Runners Association’s Christmas Parade Dash. This family friendly event is a quick one mile run through the heart of downtown Pensacola. The first 300 people registered will get signature Christmas Dash swag. Come kick of the Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade on Dec. 8 at 5 pm. For more information on this event, visit pensacolarunners.com.

2018 Santa Pub Crawl Join O’Riley’s Irish Pub for some downtown Pensacola tradition at this year’s sixth annual Santa Pub Crawl. All participants must be decked for the holidays in Santa gear.

The participation fee is $10 plus a donation to Shriners International or Toys for Tots. Participants will receive a T-shirt, while supplies last, a 22 ounce stein and a passport for the raffle. This pub crawl includes Blend Lounge, Beef O’Brady’s Downtown and much more. Come spread the holiday cheer at Pensacola’s largest pub crawl on Dec. 1 at 4 pm. For more information on this event, visit their Facebook page.

Pensacola Magazine

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FIND YOUR PARTY THIS NEW YEAR'S EVE

by Kaitlyn Peacock

Ready to celebrate the New Year? Pensacola has a party for you. Whether you’re looking for family fun or a romantic night, there are plenty of options for you to ring in the New Year with style. All events listed will take place New Year’s Eve night, Dec. 31, unless specified.

Kazoo’s Rockin’ Eve 6 pm to 8 pm Surprise! The Pelican Drop, a Pensacola New Years tradition, will take place at the Blue Wahoos Stadium for the second year in a row. This celebration is family-friendly and will feature live music, mascot appearances, and on-field activities for children and families, with the night culminating in a fireworks display and the Pelican Drop. For more information, visit BlueWahoos.com or call the box office at 934-8444.

including songs from Elton John, Ray Charles, John Lennon and more.

Tickets start at $23 and are available at pensacolasymphony.com.

New Year’s Eve at Jackson’s 7 pm and 9 pm If New Year’s for you mean lots of food and good company, Jackson’s Steakhouse will be celebrating with two special dinner seatings, held at 7 pm and 9 pm.

The dinner will be a fixed-price, threecourse menu with bottomless Piper Sonoma champagne. Cost is $125 per person with complimentary favors and valet services included. For a look at the full menu or more information, visit jacksonsrestaurant.com or call 469-9898.

New Year’s Eve Fireworks at Pensacola Beach 8 pm If you are on Pensacola Beach for the New Year or within viewing distance on your porch, look to the skies at 8 pm for the greatest fireworks display in Pensacola. The fireworks can be seen throughout the city and this event is free and open to the public.

Pensacola Symphony Orchestra Presents Celebrate the New Year 1987 New Year’s Eve 7 pm to 9 pm For those who want a relaxing New Year, the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra will have a performance featuring pianist and vocalist Tony DeSare. DeSare and the orchestra’s performance will include more than a century of the greatest piano hits, 18 Pensacola Magazine

8 pm to 1 am Plan on ringing in the New Year with style? The Court of DeLuna will play host to a 1987 Prom Night New Years Eve party. Get your groove on with the hottest tracks from the 80s, snow cones and live art drawings. Cover charge

for the night is $25 your first drink is free. 80s attire is requested. For more information, call 712-1951.

Skopelos New Year’s Eve Bash 9 pm to 1 am The biggest party in downtown Pensacola will take place in the Skopelos Grand Ballroom, with premium open bars, midnight champagne toasts and party favors.

There will be live music and after the midnight toasts, start your New Year will a gourmet midnight breakfast buffet. All guests must be 21 years of age or older. For more information, visit skopelosatnewworld.com.

Polar Bear Plunge Jan. 1, 2 pm Looking for the right way to start the New Year? Try taking a dip in the chilly Santa Rosa Sound waters with hundreds of participants and spectators. Dress up in fun costumes and take part in this long-standing Pensacola tradition.

Registration begins Jan. 1 at noon and the fee will be $15 per adult and $5 for children fifth-grade and under.

Participants will receive a Polar Bear Plunge t-shirt.

2018-2019 CONCERT SEASON Opening Night!

The Envelope, Please

Jennifer Koh, Violin

Chris Confessore, Guest Conductor Susan Egan, Soprano

Mozart & Brahms

Mahler: Symphony No. 6

October 13, 2018

February 2, 2019

November 3, 2018 Alon Goldstein, Piano

March 9, 2019

Celebrate the New Year!

Russian Spectacular

Tony DeSare, Piano and Vocals

Elissa Lee Koljonen, Violin

Beethoven & Blue Jeans

Concerto for Orchestra

Robert Sheena, English Horn

Gabriela Lena Frank, Composer Alessio Bax, Piano

December 31, 2018

January 19, 2019

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April 6, 2019

April 27, 2019

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Ballet Pensacola offers a Fresh Take on a Classic Tradition

By Gina Castro

Every family has their own Christmas traditions—whether it is hand-picking this year’s Christmas tree or driving around town to see Christmas lights. For many in Pensacola, Christmas means seeing The Nutcracker at least once.

For a ballet made in 1892, The Nutcracker remains an American classic. Although The Nutcracker and ballet in general is beautiful and classical, ballet can sometimes be hard to follow for those not immersed in the form. However, Richard Steinert, Ballet Pensacola’s artistic director, makes an effort to liven up this traditional piece and

make it more accessible to a variety of audiences.

new accessories and modernizing the costumes.

"I think this production was born more out of fear than inspiration,” Steinert said. “I was afraid of people leaving my production of The Nutcracker feeling tired. We set out to do something classical and fun by adding more entertainment values that fit today’s audience more than the people from 1892.”

“We got new Flower costumes that are a little more contemporary but still inspired by the classics,” said Christine Duhon, Ballet Pensacola costume director. “They are a little shorter and a little more formfitting. The dancers love them and it makes them feel inspired, and it makes us feel inspired.”

One way Ballet Pensacola keeps The Nutcracker fresh is by making sure the piece feels new to both the dancers and the audience by adding

Ballet Pensacola’s production of The Nutcracker is a balance of tradition and contemporary. Duhon makes small changes to modernize the Pensacola Magazine

21

that just borders on offensive. I don’t want anyone to go to my ballet and ask, ‘does anyone else find this offensive?’”

Ballet Pensacola makes an effort to update the content and message for their audiences. One way they achieve this is by changing the ethnic-based dances to dancing sweets that represent people from all over the world. The ballet also changed the scene from Clara’s brother breaking her nutcracker toy to Clara breaking the toy herself.

They decided to make this stylistic decision because they didn’t want to send the message that boys are villainous. Steinert said that this alteration also encourages the audience to sympathize with Clara.

The ballet also reduces violence in The Nutcracker.

“I think it is time to have no guns in The Nutcracker,” Steinert said.

“We have made an effort in our productions to reduce the amount of violence. We did Romeo and Juliet without all of the sword scenes and all of the killing because I don’t want killing on my stage.”

Steinert replaces the violent scenes with humor to amplify the Christmas feelings of joy and love.

The ballet’s alterations focus on the family friendly and fun aspects of holiday stories. Ballet Pensacola’s alterations present The Nutcracker with a unique Pensacolian twist. classic piece. Usually the tutus in the Snow Realm are just white, but the Pensacola production uses shades of pale pink, blue and white along with rhinestones to present a shimmery snow and ice inspired tutu. These subtle changes in the length and color of the tutus keep The Nutcracker fresh and new, Duhon said.

“You often don’t think about the impact the set and costumes have on the audience, but the audiences are a little bit more sophisticated than they use to be,” Steinert said.

“So they want it to be a tutu, but they don’t want to look at the same tutu on every girl all of the

22 Pensacola Magazine

time. They expect changes in the costumes. They expect for things to move a little more quickly. They expect some sort of magical things to happen with the lighting or with the set.”

The audience today is far more accustomed to technology than the audience in 1892. In order to cater to a modern audience, Ballet Pensacola spends more time and money on their production of The Nutcracker than any of its other productions. Their use of technology in the set transports the audience into the story of The Nutcracker via unique set designs including a two-story house split

on stage and a Drosselmeyer toy shop rising from below the stage all before the audience’s eyes.

Their snow machine also brings the ballet to life by adding life-like snow to the wintery scenes. The influx of technology puts a spin on tradition without losing the magic of a classic.

Including unique technologies isn’t the only way Ballet Pensacola updates The Nutcracker.

“Most companies when they go to the land of the Sweets, there will be a Chinese dance and a Spanish dance and an Indian dance,” Steinert said. “And to me,

“You really must, if you work with any classical pieces, find a way to balance being respectful to and inclusive to the original style and intent and still market it to your audience,” Steinert said.

Performances of The Nutcracker will be held at the historic Saenger Theatre on the following dates.

December 21 at 7 pm December 22 at 7 pm December 23 at 1:30 pm For more information, visit balletpensacola.com or pensacolasaenger.com.

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24 Pensacola Magazine

The Family Tradition of the

Christmas Tree

By Kaitlyn Peacock

The first thing you think about when someone says “Christmas” is probably a great, big, green tree decorated with shining ornaments and glittering garlands with presents piled high underneath it, waiting for Christmas morning to be opened. The tree is the central part of any Christmas celebration. It serves as both the beginning and the end of the celebration, with the decorating of the tree signaling the beginning of Christmas to the unwrapping of presents under the tree at the end. For many people, they begin their holiday season with a trip to find the perfect tree at a Christmas tree farm. Fish River Trees, located about an hour away in Summerdale, Alabama, is proud to be the start of any holiday celebration.

“The thing that is kind of unique about the farm is something I can’t quite put a finger on, but I use the term ‘magical,’’ Steven Mannhard, the owner of Fish River Trees, said. “There’s something about it. I see it when these kids get here. There’s something about the thousands of trees in a row, the kids seeing them in a row, that is just magical.”

Fish River Trees has been a staple of holiday tradition since opening in 1981, when Mannhard was convinced by a neighbor to get into the Christmas tree farming business. At the time, Auburn University was pushing Christmas trees as an alternative crop for people to farm, as the trees grow much faster in the south than they do in the north. At the time, Mannhard was an English teacher, but he found that he liked having the farm, even if he didn’t have the time for it. He said it reminded him of spending time on his family’s farm and that he liked being able to work outside.

Along with enjoying the farming life, there was something else about working with Christmas trees specifically that drew Mannhard to continue his farm even when his neighbor closed his own farm. He enjoyed the family building and the

tradition of going out to find a Christmas tree.

He found that Fish River gave that experience to families all along the Gulf Coast.

“It’s different from other kinds of farming, where you’re growing corn or raising hogs or whatever.

There’s not that personal relationship that you establish with that customers,” Mannhard said.

“That’s what makes Christmas tree farming a little different.”

Fish River is separated into five distinct sections: the “choose and cut” farm, the nursery, the shipped-in trees, the wreath, garland and centerpiece center and what Mannhard calls the “agritainment” farm. The “choose and cut” farm includes trees that customers can cut themselves to take home. The nursery includes trees grown in special containers that allow customers to plant them in their yard once the Christmas season is over. The shipped-in trees include the traditional Christmas fir tree that Mannhard brings from up north as they don’t grow this far south. Customers can find farm-grown garlands and wreaths at Fish River, along with special centerpieces for their holiday table. And finally, the “agritainment” part of the farm includes a manger scene with real animals, pony and camel

rides, visits from Santa and other events that happen throughout the holiday season. Together, the entire farm works together to make an experience for families who come every year to get their tree.

“At the heart of the experience is a family thing,” Mannhard said. “I see it all the time, day after day, customer after customer. You see why people come and the reason is to create a family tradition. In the process of going to the farm to get a tree, they are establishing a family tradition that goes back years. They are giving their children an experience that will last their whole life.”

As the customers enjoy creating family traditions, the farm also brings together Mannhard’s family for the holidays; his two daughters come down from Birmingham every year to help with the farm and his wife runs the business side of the farm. Every part of Fish River centers around family fun and tradition, something Mannhard attributes to the holiday spirit.

“It’s hard to put a finger on the emotion of that, but it is connected to the entire Christmas experience,” Mannhard said. “It really is a matter of families and Pensacola Magazine

25

memories and tradition, the whole idea of gift giving, the whole idea of putting up a tree and decorating it. Those are all traditions. Just like going to the Christmas tree farm to get the tree.”

Fish River is one of the few Christmas tree farms left, many of them having closed only a few years after opening. While the convenience of an artificial tree appeals to many nowadays, according to Mannhard those who prefer to get a real tree say they enjoy the smell of the tree, which brings back memories of Christmas from their own childhoods. The presence of the tree, with its unique smell and glittering decorations, signals the start of what many people consider their favorite part of the year.

To Mannhard, the tree represents something bigger, and something he said most people understand even if they don’t necessarily talk about it during their holiday celebrations. The Christmas tree has represented the renewing of life at the end of the year nearly since its creation. Even in pagan times, when people thought the tree was magical as it remained green while everything else turned brown in the winter, the Christmas tree has been seen as a reminder that life continues.

“That is the message of Christmas – bringing new life to the world,”Mannhard said. “That’s why the Christmas tree tradition is so strong because I think in everyone’s heart they understand the green tree and decorating it and what it means, because it is a symbol of new life.”

26 Pensacola Magazine

Fish River Trees is open now until Dec. 23, 8 am to 5 pm daily. Specific holiday events hosted at the farm can be found on their website fishrivertrees.com.

Looking for the perfect Christmas tree? Here’s a guide on how to pick the best tree for the holidays.

Virginia Pine: Want a traditional Christmas tree? Look no further. This pine closely resembles the fir trees typically used for Christmas trees where they grow in northern states. It’s not quite as bushy as some other trees and tends to shed, but will look great with presents piled underneath. Unlike some of the other trees at the farm, this tree has stronger outer limbs and can handle the weight of heavy ornaments. If you want to show off your collection of hallmark ornaments on a traditional Christmas tree, this should be your first pick.

Cypress Tree: Love having a real Christmas tree but hate having the clean up all the pine needles after? This tree is big and bushy and will fit right in your home for the holidays. With several varieties, including the bushy Leyland to the stronger Murray, you can find the right cypress for any household. While the cypress trees are loose tipped, meaning the outer branches will not support heavier ornaments, this tree doesn’t shed when it is young, meaning you can keep your vacuum put away for the holidays.

Carolina Sapphire Cypress: Enjoy the traditional Christmas tree, but looking for something a little different? The Carolina Sapphire is a bushy blue-green tree that will be a stand out addition to your home in the holidays. This tree will still look great with your decorations while being something different from all your neighbors’ trees.

Want something that is a little thinner, but still with a blue tint? Try the Blue Ice Cypress. Along with being a bit different in color, this tree has all the benefits of being a Cypress as well.

Green Giant Arborvitae: Picturing a huge tree you can spend the holidays with, then maybe enjoy for the rest of the year? This great tree is more of a landscape tree, but can support a large number of decorations for your holidays.

And, if you want to add it to your backyard in memory of the Christmas season, you can plant it after the holidays and watch it keep growing.

Living Christmas trees: Fish River offers a variety of Christmas trees as a part of their Living Christmas Tree selection.

These trees come in a large container that can be set up for the Christmas season, then planted and left to grow. Want to have trees to decorate in the yard? These trees can be planted and decorated with lights every year with a little bit of care and a bit of rain. They can also be used to teach children how to care for something living beyond the holiday season.

Now you know which tree you will be bringing home. Here’s a few tips on how to keep it healthy through the end of Christmas dinner.

Cut a thin layer off the bottom: Have a stand ready, if you can, full of water when you get home with your new tree. The sooner you get it in water, the better. Before you put it in the water though, make sure to cut a little off the bottom of the stem. Just like with flowers, cutting a little off the bottom makes it easier for the tree to take water from the stand and will ensure it can live to see the end of the holiday season

Water, water, water: A tree will take more water the first week than the next couple of weeks, especially on the first day in its stand. Make sure to check frequently that water levels remain stable and double check before you go to bed at night. Trees will frequently dry up overnight if not given enough water to last. Put a note to yourself on your fridge or set an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the water levels before you go to sleep and when you wake up in the morning, especially for the first week.

Close nearby air vents: With the weather cooling down, you will start to lean more on your home’s heating systems.

The warm air vents act almost like a hair dryer to a Christmas tree and will dry out the pines, causing them to fall off the branches. Close any air vents that are near the tree, or make sure it is kept cool during the holidays. This will save your carpet and your vacuum.

Keep your tree in a cool place: Got your tree early, but not quite ready to decorate it? No problem! If you have time before you decorate it, consider keeping your tree in the garage or storage shed, where it is cooler and more humid than the inside of your home. If you store your tree, make sure you keep a close eye on its water supply. While it won’t take as much water if it is humid, trees can still dry up very quickly and can shed if not properly cared for.

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grover Robinson

Pensacola’s new Mayor

by Will Isern

Following a roughly yearlong campaign, longtime Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson was elected on Nov. 7 to become just the second strong mayor in Pensacola’s history. Robinson campaigned on better community engagement, public safety and his long history of public service. He defeated Pensacola city councilman Brian Spencer by roughly 3,000 votes. Pensacola Magazine sat down with the new mayor as he prepared to take office on Nov. 27.

Well, Grover, we are 14 days out from your inauguration as the city’s second strong mayor. How are you feeling?

Excited and anxious at the same time.

The new challenge is very exciting, but with new challenges there’s a little bit of anxiousness because you’re leaving somewhere where you’re very comfortable and moving into something that’s maybe a little more uncomfortable but I think human growth requires you every now and then to move into something that you’re uncomfortable with.

It seems not that long ago that you announced you wouldn’t be seeking reelection to the county commission. I think a lot of us felt at that time that you would run for mayor. When did you make that decision?

From there I spent about a year just talking to people across the city and said, “Hey, what do you think?” And the results that we got were that we think there’s some disconnect within the city. We felt that the inability for there to be a relationship between the council and mayor to really translate to how that happens with the community in more of a broader sense of working together. Nobody ever said everybody’s got to agree but we think we could do better if we had folks working together. My experience being with the county and what we’ve done we though, “Hey, this kind of falls right in with what we’ve been able to do, find ways for people to work together even people who have differences of opinion at least we can work together and start agreeing on some things and we can start moving some stuff

photo by Bara'ah jaraiseh

forward. So when we talked about it and we looked at it I said, “Hey, I think I can offer something at the city.”

I’m sure you’ve talked to Mayor Hayward since election night. What did you two talk about?

We began talking about how we do this (transition). It was interesting, I went to the clerk’s office to talk about it and they said, “This is the first time we’ve transitioned in the strong mayor (form of government),” so there are sort of a lot of quirks that we’re working through and it’s the first time they’re working through them. But to his credit, Ashton has been great to work with. He said, “Call me anytime.”

I said from the very beginning one of the best things I think came out of the Pensacola Magazine

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"My whole belief in leadership is if you find leaders who can pull people together—even with differences of opinion —and you can get them working together, you can accomplish great things."

I’ve heard you talk a bit about the transition. I understand you’ve hired Chris Holley to serve as your city administrator?

That’s correct. Chris has had experience at Okaloosa County for 10 years and in running the Florida Association of Counties – that’s where I got to know him. He puts together a good team. I’ve been impressed I think the thing that you hear most everywhere he’s been. He’s always managed people talk about is maintaining the to pick good people, put good people momentum we’ve built over the last eight together. So from my standpoint, I thought, years. How do you keep that going? man, what a good person to have at the city We think one of those ways – we to help me put together a team. I told him campaigned on it – is connection with to handle all the internal and I’ll handle all citizens. How do we get out and get more the external and if we do that I think we can active and integrated with our citizens? We do good things for the city. believe we should be out there connecting with them in the places they live. We In all your time on the county shouldn’t be asking them to come down to commission, you’ve been one of five votes.

City Hall. We believe we should be having Now, the buck stops with you and you town hall meetings in every neighborhood. make the decisions. Is that a little scary?

We want to do work days, we want to take It’s exciting. That’s what I was looking for a specific department and go into every when I started looking at this two years ago. So district and see how they do their job. As from my standpoint, it’s what I’ve been talking far as for me as mayor, I think I need to about this whole time. It’s a new challenge; it’s be doing that. I need to be figuring out a new level. There are things that are going to how we deliver services and how we can be be totally different. (At the county) I was only doing better. responsible for two people, and now I take over the responsibility for 780 people, so that’s big change. So we’re looking forward to that but it is going to be different so we’ve just got to be prepared to handle it. campaign, one of the biggest winners I think was the city. A lot of new ideas came to the forefront – a lot of things that we could do better. Ashton has done a good job, and we’ve had a great eight years, but we could be better. That’s what we’re focused on, how do we take it to the next level.

30 Pensacola Magazine

What are you most looking forward to as mayor?

I think it’s just the ability to work with the citizens. I’ve seen our community struggle with an inability to work in common on some things that we’ve had.

My whole belief in leadership is if you find leaders who can pull people together—even with differences of opinion—and you can get them working together, you can accomplish great things.

Last thing, we can expect to see you at council meetings?

I will be there. I will say one thing, we would love to see with the council how to make meeting more efficient. I agree with (going back to two meetings a month) and also have a little more consent opportunity like the county does. I’m not saying we’re perfect at what we do over here, but I am saying we handle a lot more efficiently then what I’ve seen them handle. I’m sensitive to the fact that that’s the council’s position. I’m not going to run over them. But I am going to suggest to them that there are better ways for us to handle stuff more efficiently.

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Pensacola Magazine

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32 Pensacola Magazine

Ashton Hayward

The Exit Interview written by Kelly Oden • photography by Guy Stevens

I

N 2010, a fresh face with a hip perspective and an even hipper wardrobe hit the political landscape of Pensacola with a bang. After advocating for a strong mayor form of government, Ashton Hayward decided to throw his hat into the ring and run for the office himself. A newcomer to politics, many citizens were won over by Hayward’s charming personality and genuine interest in making Pensacola a better place. Through the years, he faced triumphs and criticisms— big wins and missteps as he might say. All things considered, however, it’s evident that Hayward is leaving the city a better place than he found it. His enthusiasm for our town combined with his passion for urban planning and design undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the renaissance currently booming in downtown Pensacola. Additionally, his charisma and willingness to sell Pensacola has helped to bring unique industries and plenty of good jobs to a city that desperately needed them.

In late November, one week before he handed the keys to the city over to new mayor Grover Robinson, I sat down with Ashton Hayward for one final interview with Pensacola’s first strong mayor. Over his eight years in public service, I’ve interviewed Hayward many times and he was always prepared, personable and thorough in his responses. This time was no different, but as we ran through his many accomplishments there was also an acknowledgment of the bittersweet nature that comes with the end of his time as mayor. Although he chose not to seek reelection, it’s clear that this journey meant much more to him than self-promotion or political ladder climbing. As Pensacola’s first strong mayor prepares to leave office, he leaves proud of his contributions to the economy, infrastructure and cultural growth of our town, but undoubtedly he is even prouder of the opportunities he had to impact the lives of his constituents.

Pensacola Magazine

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Ashton Hayward: The Exit Interview PM: As the city's first strong mayor there was no blueprint for how to govern or what exactly the position should look like. How did you navigate that?

AH: I knew what I wanted for the City of Pensacola in part because I had the good fortune and privilege to move away. When I moved away, it wasn't about wanting to move out of my hometown. It was about wanting to get educated outside of traditional academia. I wanted to explore the world and see the diversity in the world. That was very important to me and it helped me be a better person. When I moved back, we started a small company and we were very successful. I don't think anyone anticipated the Great Recession coming on in 2008 and that was a big hit for the global economy, for America and for every small town including Pensacola. So, timing is everything in life and I think the community was ready for someone to be the CEO—to take over the reins, to tell the story and to be accountable. I knew we had so much potential and people always talked about it. Pensacola is just such an easy place to live and the access to I-10 makes it so accessible. I moved home with this energy to really make an impact in my community—never thinking I was going to be the mayor. I was so fortunate growing up in Pensacola and meeting a lot of our business leaders. I loved Vince Whibbs. His daughter was my second-grade school teacher, Kathy Whibbs.

Mike Wiggins is a great guy, too. Mike was very instrumental in helping me get on a lot of boards here in the community, whether it was the Architectural Review Board or the Zoning Board or the Planning Board. A lot of these people are people that I really looked up to and had a lot of respect for.

I also felt like our community was kind of stuck in its own way. We had all these assets and we weren't exploiting them for the right reasons.

When some of us in the community got together to talk about a strong mayor form of government, that really sparked my interest. I campaigned for the strong mayor form of government because I believed in it. I was fortunate to work with bosses that were accountable for results. I think in a town with 50,000 people, you have to have someone at the top that is going to make these decisions—good, bad or indifferent.

I also think when you don't tell your story and try to grow your community, you die.

From Okaloosa down to Walton County, they were beating us out on growth—whether it was tourism or development or population growth.

And so were our friends to the west—in Mobile, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. That really kind of drove me internally to say, ‘Hey, listen, we're better than them.’ I mean in a fun way. I'm a very competitive person. I was doing business in both those places, but I felt like Pensacola was the hub.

34 Pensacola Magazine

We were the driver, but we really weren't telling that story and so I got behind the campaign.

We won the citizens of Pensacola who supported the strong mayor form of government.

The folks that were in office before really didn't support that. I did and it wasn't personal. You know, there were plenty of people that were smarter than I was in that room and probably knew more about local government, but I felt like I could be that person to drive the community.

Maybe it was bigger than I anticipated, but the citizens got behind us and they took a risk. I think that we've delivered more than I could have ever anticipated. We created jobs, we worked on beautification, improved stormwater and drainage, lowered taxes, increased the general fund, took on pension reform—we did all those things. But, I think it was also about culture and behavior. When I look back at what we've done I’m really proud of changing the culture and behavior in Pensacola. They knew that we could be winners and we could succeed and we could we could feel good about our community. I'm out in the county all the time and people believe in

our community. They come up to me and chat and share their opinions and their beliefs. They say thank you a lot and they believe in us now, and that was an important shift in culture.

PM: What did you learn in your time in office about leadership, team building and vision?

AH: When I was a young person growing up in Pensacola, I had the good fortune and opportunity to work for the Woodbury family. Their father Charles Woodbury was one of Pensacola’s first business leaders in the community. He was a Marine Aviator and a visionary. He was in the Insurance Business on the West Coast and here in Pensacola. They also owned three banks here, Bank of the South on the West side of Pensacola where I worked as a teenager and Warrington Bank and First Navy Bank, now Bank of Pensacola downtown on the corner of Palafox and Main. He was also a hotelier, he taught me a lot about the customer experience, how to put the customer first and about being a selfless leader. Work ethic is very important if you want to be successful

he would always tell me. He looked like old Hollywood. Amazing man with a generous soul, I will forever be grateful for that opportunity.

I also worked for my dad and he would always say, ‘Ashton you need to get out there in the lumber yard and meet the folks that are doing the hard work. You need to get out there and learn from people that didn't have the same opportunities that you've had.’ So, I always knew for me to be successful in city hall, I had to get buy-in from the people that are doing the smallest to the largest jobs—from our sanitation and public works crews to our gas company crew, digging ditches and laying pipe. I had to really get their buy-in to let them know that I cared.

They had to believe in me. I think human capital is the most important thing in any business because people have to believe in what you're doing. People have different skill sets that you need to apply to different roles. I had to make sure the team was behind me running the city because I needed to make sure the gaskets get turned on, the lights get turned on, your garbage gets picked up, your roads get paved—those things are important because the taxpayers are busy with their own lives, but they want to know that those essential services like the police department and the fire department are going to show up.

We all have to work together and collaborate and communicate. Leaders need to put people first. That will help them be better leaders and that has helped me because it wasn't about Ashton Hayward. It was about the community.

PM: How much of the job was administrative and how was it about being an advocate for the city?

AH: Really, the mayor's job is not to run the day-to-day operations of the city. The mayor’s job is to go out and set the policy, set the vision and execute it. I think we can look back on Ashton Hayward and what we've done in eight years—I know that we've executed in a very positive way for the citizens and the taxpayers of Pensacola. A big part of that was advocating for the city. I think if you're a pastor of a church, you're selling your church. If you're the university president, you're selling your university. If you're the chairman of the hospital, you're selling your hospital. That's a big part of what you have to do.

I also think the administrative side is very important. My CFO Dick Barker has done an incredible job. I had an incredible transition team that worked for me as well. We assessed the organization and looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and we made a lot of big decisions.

PM: That brings us to your proudest moment in office. What is it?

AH: We've been fortunate to create an aerospace

“We all have to work together and collaborate and communicate. Leaders need to put people first.

That will help them be better leaders and that has helped me because it wasn't about Ashton Hayward. It was about the community.” industry in Pensacola. One of the first places I ever visited in an official capacity was the Pentagon to meet Ray Mabus who was the Secretary of the Navy at the time. I went over there with Sam Jones, who was the mayor of Mobile. We wanted to collaborate and work together to create the I-10 Aerospace Corridor. Airbus had just come into Mobile and that was inspiring. We wanted to recreate that in Pensacola—the Cradle of Naval Aviation. We are a proud military town. We wear it on our sleeve. I did a lot of reading and saw what the trends were in terms of people coming out of the military and where job training was going in America. I knew that the traditional trend of going to get a four-year degree was starting to change and I knew that more people were going to trade schools. So there was a great company in Mobile, which was ST Engineering and I knew they were looking for a new home. We got together and I said, ‘Hey, we can really achieve something great if we create that industry in Pensacola because we have the resources to do it.’ We have the airport, which is a huge economic asset. I actually got UPS to come over Pensacola. That was one of my first wins was to get their sorting facilities. Now, we have two Airbus 300 flying in and out every day. I knew the industry was small and I knew that everyone kind of talks to each other. When we were able to really get STE engaged, we really started moving in and we put the right team together here locally to really push that. Scott Luth and my consultant Dave Penzone and myself—we really made it intimate. We got laser focused on what they wanted to do and what we wanted to do. I looked out 10, 20, 30 years from now and how we could help young people build their skill set and be able to have a quality job.

I think the biggest thing about STE is potentially the job creation. Politicians don't create jobs. We create the environment and the support mechanisms and advocate for them to bring their company to Pensacola. Initially, STE produced 400 jobs and we're in talks right now that could add another 1,300 jobs. So, at the end of the day, we'll have two thousand jobs in Pensacola at our airport and we'll build a whole maintenance and repair operator campus. We’ll have maintenance and repair operators out there working on all the major airlines that we fly as consumers. Another great thing is that this company also invests in other businesses and we have the opportunity to bring them to Pensacola as well. They're in the trucking business, robotics and artificial intelligence and marine enterprises. So, there are big opportunities here.

I always like to peel the onion back to see if there are other opportunities—not just one-offs because we have to build this relationship to last long after I'm gone.

I’m also proud that my administration had an incredibly diverse staff. I appointed the first female fire chief, the first female port director, the first African American female city attorney and the first African American police chief. Inclusion is really important to me and I’m proud to have made the 7th floor more diverse than ever before.

One decision I’m also proud of is that very early on in the debate, I decided to remove all Confederate flags from city property. I may have been one of the first mayors in the state to do so.

While the county floundered, I acted—and I did it because it was the right thing to do.

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Ashton Hayward: The Exit Interview PM: You've also had some criticism— early on for not attending City Council meetings and later for the recycling debacle and Bayview Park construction costs, among others.

What do you see as your biggest misstep? Is there anything that you would like to do-over?

AH: To be honest, one of the smartest decisions I feel like I made was not going to City Council meetings. Government was my favorite subject growing up and one thing I understood is that I ran for the executive branch. I did not run for a legislative role. I don't vote in city council meetings.

The President of the United States doesn’t vote in legislative meetings. I wasn't going to go to these meetings and tie them up or start trying to run the meetings. I respect the legislative branch because I understand that I have no vote. I went to the meetings when I needed to advocate for policy that needed to be passed and that was very important.

Now, I never received any public criticism.

There are a couple of folks in the media who thought it was a good story to write about, but the public is smart and they didn't ever bite.

They'll never look back in history and say the mayor didn’t go to meetings. The mayor went to the critical meetings. And here's the punchline— the majority of what we've done needed city council approval. You know what? They voted for me almost every time. I can't sit here today and even tell you what they didn't vote with me on because we've had so many wins and the relationship has been very good.

As far as things I might do differently, I think you can always improve. I'm probably the harshest critic of myself, excluding the media and being in the public eye. I would have probably relaxed a little bit and not been as intense. You know, I think it's a marathon—it's not a sprint.

I had a lot of success early on and I was very fortunate. I was so determined to put Pensacola out there in a good light that sometimes I could have made better decisions. There's a few that I wish I would have made better. You know, it's a small town—as much as we've grown. It’s one of those things where you should probably just get the two principal players in the room and kick everybody out and kind of just hash it out yourselves instead of having these intermediaries.

But, that's life and you learn from your failures. I think success is truly how we handle our failures.

PM: In your statement announcing that you wouldn't run for reelection, you mentioned your 20 Solutions and you said that most of them have been completed or are in progress. What is still in progress and which of those will not be achieved by the time you leave office?

AH: I've thought a lot about that. We ran on a

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State of the State in Tallahassee, with mayors Buddy Dyer/Orlando, Bob Buckhorn/Tampa, Randall Henderson/Ft. Myers & Lenny Curry/Jacksonville platform of creating jobs, restoring trust, taking action and improving neighborhoods. We did a lot. We improved our natural gas company.

That was big. I mean, we built three natural gas fueling stations and brought a lot of attention to Pensacola—more than was really reported here locally, but it was reported all around the United States. Other municipalities were taking notice and asking, ‘Who's this young mayor building three natural gas fueling stations and converting vehicles to natural gas?”

We just recently announced the Garden District Cottages on the Blount School property—that’s a public/private partnership.

I was hoping that we would get that finished quicker than we did. I would like to see more affordable housing in our community. I think that's a trend across America and I think if we can get creative as a community, we can do more market-rate housing—which is a better term. A lot of folks that have a passion to teach school or be nurses. These are real heroes and they don't get paid a lot. We need to make sure there's really cool market-rate housing for them that can be creative. I think there are other cities in

America that are doing that. We have so many people that want to live in our city now. The walkability, the density—all those things I talked about when I was running. I knew that people liked to have that human and social interaction.

That's why big cities are dense—people like to be around a lot of other people. I think now we have that, so we have to do creative things with housing. I wish I would have been able to do more, but the private sector was able to fill some of that in. Southtowne is an incredible development and kudos to Quint and Rishy Studer for taking on the project. We’ve been fortunate to have a really good relationship with Quint Studer. You know that didn’t get reported on a lot. Southtowne is big and these singlefamily cottages on the Blount School property are going to be big as well.

All those things are going to be important, but I think we need to do more and we can't forget about the part of the community that doesn't have the same opportunities. That's why a big part of what we did in the first term was to focus on the west side of our community. We did a lot of things to bring the citizens in the west side

into the conversation. Community centers are important, but people really want to have a seat at the table and be part of the conversation.

PM: You focused a lot on infrastructure and you accomplished a lot in that arena. What’s left to be done in terms of roads and drainage?

AH: I knew when we got in office, we had to up our game on stormwater. We actually made quite a few important improvements. Then it was just a perfect storm with the 2014 flood. None of us in Pensacola thought that we were going to have that much rain in 24 hours. The neighborhood that I grew up in was wiped out. That morning, I was down there with Governor Scott and we could have swam down Piedmont. We knew we had to get intelligent because a lot of times we would build stormwater ponds for 25-year floods instead of 100-year floods. We upped our game and we started doing it far more intelligently. We received over $200 million in grant funding alone from 2011 to 2017—that's phenomenal. We need to do more of it, to answer your question. You can really never stop doing stormwater development or doing it more intelligently. I wanted to focus on quality. So when I'm long gone, they might say, “Well, Ashton did this or didn’t do that, but what we did do is quality’—whether that was stormwater or making sure the amphitheater was done correctly or narrowing Main Street to create more of an urban environment.

PM: Since you came into office, this town has transformed—particularly the downtown area. What part do you think you played in that transformation?

AH: Well, it definitely hasn't been one person's show, but I feel like I brought the leadership to the office. The citizens overwhelmingly spoke— they wanted a CEO Mayor and they wanted to move the city forward. I think I did that. Vision without action is a daydream and action without vision is a nightmare. I felt like I had the vision.

I was the only candidate in 2010 that talked about creating an urban environment—creating a downtown where people wanted to be, where they want to socialize. I talked about the need to beautify our community and to focus on growth and create that density downtown. I was one of these folks that just loved reading about downtowns—how they were revitalizing themselves, what was important, what good development looked like. I was always chatting about that when I was on the campaign trail and I knew that's where our growth had to be. The east side of Pensacola was already built out, so I knew it had to be downtown. I knew it had to be west of City Hall and I knew we had to tie all these areas together. I wanted us to be a community that walked, a community that got healthier and smarter.

Ashton Hayward at the Candlelight Vigil for Blue Angel Captain Kuss at Veterans Memorial park.

I feel like I've had a big part of telling that story. I've built a great relationship with our governor. That's very important. No matter if the governor is Republican or Democrat; I knew that we had to have his ear in Pensacola. You have to develop relationships that can help our community and the taxpayers. I felt like I always work for the taxpayers every day. They were paying the freight and I had better deliver. I'm always one of these that are scared to fail, so I like to work extra hard.

PM: More recently you advocated for the fish hatchery project on the Bruce Beach property. But when that was taken off the table, you quickly refocused and pushed hard for public beach access at Bruce Beach. Why was that important to you?

AH: Well, you’ve got to know when to fold them.

We've been here eight years, but right out of the gate, I got $30 million out of a $100 million pot of money. I was able to get that for Project Green Shores and for the fish hatchery, which was more research. My vision was to bring research to the waterfront from an ecology standpoint and from a water quality standpoint. I visited Rick Baker, who was the first strong mayor in St. Petersburg.

They have research on the water; they have the

Coast Guard and the University of North Florida on the water. So they were combining these assets that were beneficial to the community. For me, it wasn't really about a hatchery—it was about the environment and research on the water. It was about teaching young people and getting them engaged. Having Florida Fish and Wildlife does a lot for our community from the environmental and educational standpoints. I knew that and we were awarded $20 million for the project, but listen, things change and you’ve got to readjust.

I got after it immediately and I said, ‘Let's get it open to the public so that the public can enjoy this asset.’ Our team at City Hall knew how I visualize things and they got after it. They didn't want me to visit Bruce Beach until the last week before we opened it. I just said keep it natural and keep it rugged. I didn't want this to look like an institutional park. I wanted it to be more rugged—a place to throw the kayak in. So for me, did I want $20 million for Pensacola? Sure, because we got it, but we've also got a great relationship with the Fish and Wildlife Department and maybe we can work with them in the future. But this is still a big win. The turnout was tremendous on opening day. I love seeing all the people down there. Now you have access to the waterfront again.

We turned it into a positive and we're just getting started with Bruce Beach.

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Ashton Hayward: The Exit Interview PM: You ran on fiscal responsibility, but you’ve also faced some criticism for creating the largest budget yet. In what ways were you fiscally responsible and to what extent are budget increases beneficial to the citizens?

AH: When we got into office, we reduced the millage rate by .25 mills, which was a savings of $6 million to the taxpayers. We increased the general fund by $5.8 million, which I think is huge. That's a story that really doesn't get talked about. To your question on the budget, we cut the budget many times and then the budget has increased, which is basically to fund the city. We have three businesses that run on their own—the gas company, the airport and the sanitation company. Those three enterprises are self-sustaining and that's a big deal for us. Another thing we wanted to do is put money back into the community. It’s the taxpayer’s money and values have increased since I've been in office, so I've had more money to do things.

When you have more money to do things, the budget does increase a little bit because we want to put money back into the community. I mean if you look at the infrastructure projects— that we've done from paving roads to stormwater—its added value. We’ve put more money into the airport.

That's one of the big stories—ST Engineering and UPS are important stories, but the direct flights that we've got now are huge as well. We want to put more money into our assets because a government is good at building assets, but we have to maintain those assets. Thankfully we've been on a booming economy and the timing has been good. But at the same time we've had a vision that's paid off—more people have moved into the city limits and property values have gone up. We also consolidated all our departments from 17 down to nine and we went from overall city employee positions of 875 to 774. That's a hundred positions. That's shrinking government, which is tremendous because we ran on that.

PM: You mentioned renegotiating multiple city employee pension plans.

Why was that such a priority and how difficult was it coming to terms with those unions and organizations?

AH: I think the messaging of the story is important. I looked at the City of Pensacola not just as this little town in Florida. I looked at us as a city in America and I looked at our city as a city that needed to compete and be a place where people wanted to move—where people wanted to live, work and play. I knew that many people were moving out of high tax states and Florida was very advantageous in that way. Cities across America were going bankrupt after the 2008-09 recession and they were upside down when it came to their pensions because the government had to do more with less. I understood that and we had a $125 million dollar unfunded liability. Since I've been in office, we've decreased that close to $15 million.

38 Pensacola Magazine

Ashton Hayward at the Heroes Among Us Series at Veterans Memorial Park

That's a big win. We renegotiated all of our fire and police pensions. We got people into the FRS. We closed our pensions for many of them. We got rid of the Civil Service Act since I've been in office.

Those are big wins when it comes to the efficiency of government. It's not sexy to talk about, but these are big things that we ran on. We wanted to be very focused on the finances of the city and our CFO Dick Barker has done a great job. Our city was run very well, but we needed to do better in certain areas. That’s why we eliminated a lot of positions. We needed to get our reserves up, which we did. We needed to cut that unfunded liability, which we did. We needed to renegotiate with our fire, our police and our general employees, which we did. All these things are needed to run a government of our size. Pensacola is a very unique town. We're kind of an anomaly in the United States and the state of Florida. We’re a town of roughly 55,000 people and we have a natural gas company, a port, an airport and a sanitation company—and we run the whole thing. It's a very unique operation. A lot of towns our size sub out a lot of that work.

But in terms of the negotiations, they were difficult. It was very contentious. It was tough, but I think at the end of the day people will go to battle with you if they really believe you have their best interests at heart. I think my firemen and my police officers knew that I understood how important public safety was and that I cared about their families and their children and that I wanted them to have a good career in the City of Pensacola. I needed them to work with me, too.

We always had a great relationship, but it’s been tough. They've been mad at me, but I had the interest of 55,000 people to consider as well.

I think once they learned that the mayor really cared about Pensacola and the whole community, their culture changed within their organizations and their mindset changed. I think they knew that I cared about their families and their kids and I

wanted them to be successful, but there has to be a give and take, just like in a family.

PM: What lessons do you hope the next mayor, Grover Robinson, will draw from your years in office and do you have any advice for him?

AH: Well for one, he and I grew up together in Cordova Park and we’d pass each other on the way to school on our bikes. We've known each other a long time and I supported Grover when I moved home and he ran for County Commissioner. I want Grover to be successful and I want our town to continue to be successful and he knows that. I just want him to know that he's the chief executive officer now. He's not a legislative body member anymore. He's the CEO and he's the executive branch. You're running a $200 million organization. You've got roughly 55,000 constituents and 774 employees. Their kids are depending on you. Their families are depending on you. You have to have the will to make those difficult decisions and they're not easy and you'll have some lonely times. I told Grover that I’d support him in any way I can if he wants me to because I want him to be successful as our next mayor. He’s my mayor now, so that's important for me.

PM: What do you think is going to be his greatest challenge in terms of what challenges are facing the region?

AH: We're going to have to continue to sell ourselves to bring businesses here. The bar has been raised and expectations have been raised.

Our constituents have higher expectations because they've seen the growth and they've seen the private investment. He's going to have to continue to go after businesses and to focus on economic development because the revenues from these businesses help to get revenues into the community to do more things for the taxpayers.

Parks, community centers, roads sidewalks, bike lanes—those things are very important to the constituents. So he’s going to have to be the CEO. In terms of challenges, our friends and neighbors to the east and west of us have seen how we've upped our game in a big way. Now they're competing even harder for the same resources we are. At the same time, I try to go to the eight counties to the east of us to talk about Pensacola and about the community and working together and collaborating together. We have to work as a region as well because there's close to 1.7 million people west of Tallahassee. So, I always like to tell that story—that Pensacola is kind of a leader within that region and we need to own that. We can't stop beating our drum.

PM: In your role as mayor, you got to meet a lot of interesting people that you didn't know prior to serving. Who was the most exciting person you were able to meet because of your job?

AH: I've met President Clinton, President Bush and President Trump. I met Governor Bush. It's interesting how people affect you. Everything that you've read about Clinton is true. He captivates you.

He listens. He's an interesting character. George W. Bush was amazingly engaging. I immediately understood why he was a successful politician because it was all about you—‘Why did you run for office,’ etc… He never talked about himself.

That was really interesting to me and I learned a lot from that conversation. Jeb Bush was interesting, too. I mean, he was extremely bright, but he and his brother were polar opposites in terms of the immediate moment of meeting somebody. It was just a different kind of conversation, but then after 10 minutes, you're like man, this guy's brilliant.

I was also very fortunate to meet Governor Askew in his later years and I spent some real quality time with him. I asked him what I needed to do to be successful. He kept it real simple. He said, ‘The people are who you need to listen to. Think big and try to always remember to put your constituents first.’ It was that selfless kind of conversation and that always stuck with me.

Rick Scott and I have become good friends. I really enjoyed working with him. I’ve talked to him once a week or so since I've been in office and so that was big for me.

What’s interesting though is that all of them wanted to offer something to help me be successful.

“…politics can be visceral. You never know who is angling for power and that was interesting to me. There were times I got suckerpunched just like all of us do–feeling the wind get knocked out of you. I was like, ‘Whoa, I didn't know it could be like that.’ And so, you have to get tough. Yeah. I had to get used to that.” us do–feeling the wind get knocked out of you.

I was like, ‘Whoa, I didn't know it could be like that.’ And so, you have to get tough. Yeah. I had to get used to that.

PM: What will you miss the most?

AH: Probably just the interaction of the employees—getting the team motivated and helping them. I think my employees have been amazing. We all believed in something bigger than us. And I’ll miss the constituents. I'm going to live here so I'll be one of them. They say the light gets turned out sometimes, but you know, I'm not giving up a run for public office in the future.

PM: What will you be happy to leave behind?

AH: The schedule. I'll get back to my family on a regular basis. I think every politician tells you that. I mean, Aiden's growing up. He started this game at six years old. He's in high school now. He has been amazing, you know, a rock.

I'll be able to get back to them more and do more things with my family and my immediate family—my sisters and my parents. You put your friends and your family on hold even though it's PM: What surprised you most about a small town. I mean a lot of these folks are my this job?

AH: I guess what surprised me is how fast it went. closest friends and I haven't been able to visit with or interact with them or my own family as I think that's probably life and people say that a much as I’d like. I think all of us spend more time lot, but it went by in the blink of an eye. Eight with our employees and our colleagues than we years flew by and I feel like there are still things do with our own families. I like to work all the to do. So, it went by too quickly. And, politics time, but I'll be able to do it differently. can be visceral. You never know who is angling for power and that was interesting to me. There were times I got sucker-punched just like all of

PM: You've been very successful in your role as mayor and you’ve said there are still things to do. So, why did you decide not to run again?

AH: It's interesting. I made that decision in my mind probably in August or September of last year. This is the longest job I've had out of college and I think it's important sometimes to leave it all out on the field. I've kind of always been one of those people who is always looking for the next challenge. The best thing I can do as an individual is to grow as a person and to learn something different—to use the gifts that I feel like I've been given by God and maybe impact someone else or something else. I kind of look at it like that. Where can I be a benefit others? I was so fortunate to win and to get this job and it's just been incredible.

PM: What do you want your legacy as Pensacola’s first strong mayor to be?

AH: It's such a big question when you talk about someone's legacy. For me, I want my legacy to be that people know the time that I served Pensacola—from the time I won in 2010 until 2018—every single day my goal was to improve Pensacola. I focused on how we could be better as a community, how we could grow on different levels.

I left it all out on the field and I want Pensacola citizens to know that I really cared about them and I really cared about the success of our city and where we were going as a community. I strongly feel that our best days are still ahead for Pensacola.

But, I was willing to take a risk for them and I was focused on how Pensacola could be better. I mean, I obsessed a lot of times on how things could look and how could they feel and what was going to be the better experience for Pensacola’s citizens. So, I guess I’d like my legacy to be that I gave it all I could give and we're a better place than we were before I was the mayor.

PM: You alluded to this a little bit earlier. What's next for you?

AH: Well, I'm fortunate to have some opportunities. I'm not ready to announce that right now, but I will in the near future. It’s positive.

We're going to stay in Pensacola. Pensacola has been so great to me and my family. I had some opportunities to go other places, but I'm going to stay put. Aiden loves high school and An loves Pensacola. She's the one that got me to move back to my hometown and I just want to keep giving back to the community in any way I can.

PM: But, you’re not ruling out future runs for public office?

AH: One thing that I've learned is that we need good leaders on the local, state and federal levels more than ever before in the history of America.

I'm looking for my next chapter in the private sector, but I’m not ruling out running for office.

That's for sure.

Pensacola Magazine

39

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play/live/give Winterfest Polar Express Mini Tour

PSC Holiday Experience

November 24 – December 24

The fourth annual Holiday Experience, hosted this year by the Pensacola State College Warrington campus, will be held Dec. 6 starting at 5:30 pm until 9 pm The evening will being with a hands-on tour of the Mary Ekdahl Smart Simulation Center and Department of Nursing and Emergency Medical Services facilities followed by stops at the Veterinary Technology program and the dental clinic. At 7:15 p.m., a live auction, silent auction and Christmas tree auction of jewelry, artwork, and entertainment and vacation packages will be held in the Harrison Student Center, Building 3600. Attendees will enjoy mingling while enjoying assorted desserts, coffees and holiday cocktails. At the end of the night, the PSC polar express will transport guests to their vehicles. Tickets are $75 per person. To buy tickets or for more information, visit https://foundation. pensacolastate.edu/the-holiday-experience-december6-2018/#tickets.

Catch a ride on the Polar Express with the Winterfest dedicated Christmas Week tour. This 30-minute tour immerses you in the story of the Polar Express with visits from your favorite characters. Join the Conductor for a magical journey to a life-size steam engine with snow swirling all about. Share in the adventure as the Conductor recounts the story of the boy who received the first gift of Christmas – a bell from Santa’s sleigh. Rekindle the wonder of the beloved storybook, along with the belief in the magic of Christmas. All passengers will receive a mini-cup of hot chocolate and your own keepsake bell. For more information, visit pensacolawinterfest.org.

Lighted Boat Parade December 1

The Lighted Boat Parade will set sail at 6:30 p.m. from Sabine Marina and make its way around the Santa Rosa Sound to the Pensacola Bezach Boardwalk where it will dock by about 7:30 p.m.

Directly following the boat parade, Santa will make his way to the Quietwater Shell to greet the children and a dazzling firework display will take place from the boardwalk at about 8 p.m.For those wanting to participate and compete in the Lighted Boat Parade, the deadline to register will be Monday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. The entry fee is $35 per boat. Compete for cash prizes and bragging rights. A Captain’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. at the Sandshaker Lounge and Package on Pensacola Beach for all boat parade participants. For more information, go to www.pensacolabeachchamber. com or contact Alison Westmoreland at 932-1500.

Surfing Santa Beach Parade December 2

Thousands of children, parents and other spectators make their way to Pensacola Beach Dec. 2 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to see Santa Claus making his way down Via De Luna Drive at the annual Surfing Santa Beach Parade. Starting at 2 p.m. from Avenida 10, the parade will make its way down Via De Luna toward Casino Beach and end at the Gulfside Pavilion, where kids will be able to meet and greet with Santa until 3 p.m. For more information, go to www.pensacolabeachchamber.com or contact 850932-1500.

Santa Paws December 6

Get in the holiday spirit with spirits and your best furry friend. Bring your pooch to 500 East Heinberg Street, then jump in line to get your dog’s picture with Santa Claus. The photographer will take photos with your camera. It’s free to attend; donations are welcomed. Pensacola Humane Society and Gulf Coast Brewery team up to bring you Pensacola’s newest favorite holiday tradition. It’s a community get-together for a great cause. Join the Humane Society Dec. 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Pensacola Humane Society is located at 5 North Q Street and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. For more information, visit www.pensacolahumane.org.

December 6

Pensacola Children’s Chorus Presents: Christmas on the Coast December 7, 8 and 9

Christmas on the Coast is a sparkling holiday spectacular that celebrates the magic and music of the holiday season. Pensacola Children’s Chorus will be performing this show Dec. 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 9 at 2:30 p.m. Frequently nominated as one of the annual events in Pensacola, your family does not want to miss this. For the protection of patrons, the Saenger Theatre has implemented added security measures for admittance to the Theatre. To accommodate for the additional time needed for the new measures, plan your arrival accordingly. Ticket prices are $41 for orchestra rows A through L and balcony rows A through D, $35 for orchestra rows M through V and balcony rows E through M and $25 for orchestra rows W through DD and balcony rows N through V. For more information, visit www. pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box office at 595-3880.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever December 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15 and 16

Musical directed by Roxie Smith with musical direction by Tina Buran. A Treehouse production.

A perennial PLT favorite. The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.pensacolalittletheatre.com.

Holiday Youth Extravaganza December 8

Join Escambia County and District 3 Commissioner Lumon May for the second annual Holiday Youth Extravaganza Dec. 8, featuring singing, dancing, giveaways and more for the community to enjoy.

The event will take place at 6 p.m. at the Brownsville Community Center, located at 3200 W. De Soto St. Youth who are interested in performing at the event

should contact Community Center Coordinator Leroy Williams at 426-1156 to register. Singers, dancers, rappers and instrumentalists are encouraged to bring their talents to the stage. Escambia County’s Holiday Youth Extravaganza is free and open to the public, and everyone is welcome to attend this fun, festive event. For more information, contact Leroy Williams at 426-1156 or e-mail lewilliams@ myescambia.com.

Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade December 8

The 2018 Cox Pensacola Christmas Parade will be held Dec. 8 starting at 5:15 p.m. The parade will start at Spring and Garden Streets and proceed through downtown Pensacola. This event draws more than 50,000 people each year, including parade floats and bands from Escambia County, New Orleans and Mississippi. For more information, visit www. coxpensacolachristmasparade.org.

Sign and Dine Book Signing December 8

Duh for Garden and Home will be hosting a “Sign and Dine” event Dec. 8 from 11 am to 3 pm. This book signing and tasting event will feature co-authors of “The Flavor Matrix” James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst and co-authors of “Generation of Love and Food” Meme Inge and Sarah Davis. Attendees will be able to taste some recipes from both cookbooks and light beer and wine will be served during the event.

For more information, call 439-0640.

Sinfonia Gulf Coast Youth Orchestra Fall Concert December 9

The Sinfonia Gulf Coast Youth Orchestra will perform at their fall concert Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church Destin. The Sinfonia Youth Orchestra program is the premier training orchestra in Northwest Florida and consists of more than 50 students who participate in a variety of ensembles that perform throughout the school year in one of two ensembles: The Sinfonietta Strings and the Sinfonia Youth Orchestra. The fall concert will feature both ensembles performing traditional classical as well as everyone’s favorite holiday selections. Attendance is free and open to the public.

For more information, call Sinfonia Gulf Coast at 460-8800.

The Wizard of Oz December 12

There truly is no place like home as the greatest family musical of all time, the wonderful WIZARD OF OZ, twists its way into Pensacola! The entire family will be captivated as they travel down the Yellow Brick Road and beyond with Dorothy, Toto and their friends the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow. Don’t miss the chance to travel “Over the Rainbow” and experience this national treasure on stage. For the protection of patrons, the Saenger Theatre has implemented added security measures for admittance to the Theatre. To accommodate for the additional time needed for the Pensacola Magazine

41

play/live/give new measures, plan your arrival accordingly. Ticket prices start at $58. For more information, visit www. pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box office at 595-3880.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Tour December 13

Everyone’s favorite holiday classic comes to life in the all-new touring production A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage. Join Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the whole Peanuts gang as they produce their own Christmas play and ultimately learn the true meaning of the season. For the protection of patrons, the Saenger Theatre has implemented added security measures for admittance to the Theatre. To accommodate for the additional time needed for the new measures, plan your arrival accordingly. Ticket prices start at $32. For more information, visit www.pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box office at 595-3880.

White Tie Rock Ensemble Presents: A White Tie Christmas December 15

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A White Tie Christmas is an annual holiday concert series featuring music from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Paul McCartney, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis and other holiday classics. The Tied Up Quartet will add a classical touch to the White Tie Rock Ensemble as they recreate these timeless songs in the White Tie Sound tradition. For the protection of patrons, the Saenger Theatre has implemented added security measures for admittance to the Theatre. To accommodate for the additional time needed for the new measures, plan your arrival accordingly. Ticket prices start at $28. For more information, visit www. pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box office at 595-3880.

Tis the Season to Sing Along December 16

Don your gay apparel – or your ugliest holiday sweater, gather friends and family and join the Choral Society of Pensacola as they raise their voices in a holiday sing-along hosted by Generation Church Dec. 8 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Choral Society will meet for an hour of favorite carols and songs, followed by hot chocolate and cookies. You know all these tunes, but lyrics will be on the big screen and Amanda Pangle of the Choral Society will help the crowd start and stop together. It’s a community effort – and all ages are welcome. Admission is free, but the Choral Society will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items for the MANNA Food Pantry. For more information, www. choralsocietyofpensacola.org/sing-along.

Holiday Lantern Tours Ballet Pensacola Presents: The Nutcracker

historic pensacola

December 21, 22 and 23

Follow the adventures of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince as they battle the Mouse King and embark on a journey through the Land of the Sweets with the guidance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The Nutcracker is a holiday classic, perfect for the entire family. For the protection of patrons, the Saenger Theatre has implemented added security measures for admittance to the Theatre. To accommodate for the additional time needed for the new measures, plan your arrival accordingly. Ticket prices start at $27. For more information, visit www.pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box office at 595-3880.

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Join Coastline Calvary Chapel for a special nondenominational Christmas Eve service at the Pensacola Saenger Theatre at 5 PM. This event is free and open to the public. No tickets required to attend.

For the protection of patrons, the Saenger Theatre has implemented added security measures for admittance to the Theatre. To accommodate for the additional time needed for the new measures, plan your arrival accordingly. For more information, visit www.pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box office at 595-3880.

Gatsy Girls Speakeasy Ballinger Publishing December 29

The Krewe of the Gatsby Girls invite you to attend the fifth annual Speakeasy Ball, Dec. 29 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. This event is sure to dazzle your senses and delight your date. If you have previously attended this event, one thing is for sure –you haven't seen anything yet, Old Sport. There is a new location for the ball, which is yet to be revealed. Tickets will include an open bar, signature cocktails, champagne tasting room, bootlegger man cave, nosh – and as always – a night on the dance floor. For more information, contact Megan Millican at megan. millican@supremelending.com or Jennifer Belcher at jennifer@mythl.com.

Kazoo’s Rockin’ Eve and the Pelican Drop December 31

Surprise! The Pelican Drop, a Pensacola New Years tradition, will take place at the Blue Wahoos Stadium for the second year in a row, Dec. 31 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.. This celebration is family-friendly and will feature live music, mascot appearances, and on-field activities for children and families, with the night culminating in a fireworks display and the Pelican Drop. Tickets for this even are $75 for adults and $20 for children. To buy tickets or for more information, visit www.BlueWahoos.com or by call the box office at 934-8444.

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55. Stem Success, UWF Success UWF receives $3 million grant for STEM programs

· OTHER STORIES ·

47 Escambia Voted Yes

51 Bruce Beach

Next Escambia County School Superintendent will be appointed by school board in 2020

A historic slice of Pensacola’s waterfront is once again open to the public after sitting dormant for nearly 50 years.

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

Business Climate 45

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Bruce Beach Reopens:

by Will Isern

A historic slice of Pensacola’s waterfront is once again open to the public after sitting dormant for nearly 50 years.

Plans that had called for a $19 million fish hatchery and research center have been scrapped, and the 10 acres of waterfront property known as Bruce Beach have been reopened to the public.

Despite initial pushback at the demise of the hatchery plan, local leaders now say the future of Bruce Beach is one that will ensure public access to the only stretch of beach in downtown Pensacola.

Located between Maritime Park and Joe Patti’s seafood, Bruce Beach was once home to a bustling dry dock in the city’s early history and later a public swimming pool for the city’s black and immigrant communities.

The construction of the former Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant caused the

Bruce Pool to close in the 1970s and the land has sat unused ever since.

The city embarked in 2013 on a partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to build a $19 million fish hatchery at the site, and Mayor Ashton Hayward called the plan a “huge win for Pensacola.” Roughly $1.7 million was spent on planning and site cleanup.

But public sentiment for plan soured in 2017 when Quint Studer pulled support for the project and began advocating that the hatchery be moved. Two local residents, Jerry Holzworth and Dan Lindemann, sued the FWC claiming that it had voided its lease of the property on a technicality. Sensing the waning public support, the FWC terminated its lease of Bruce Beach in June.

Business Climate 47

photo by Guy Stevens

Beginning in the 1950s, the beach was among the only recreational areas open to black residents under segregation.

Following advocacy from within the black community, The Bruce Pool was built at the site in 1956 and served throughout the 1960s as a gathering place for the city’s “Public access to our waterfront is incredibly black residents. important,” Hayward said at the ceremony.

“The beach started, really, as a swimming “We all want our community to be able to hole for black people and people in this visit our beaches, visit our waterfronts and area, so it is really reflective of all of us,” said get down on the water… Today is just the local historian Dr. Marion Williams. “…In beginning of what Bruce Beach is going to this area, blacks swam, they crabbed, they look like.” fished; but they did not do that alone. The Pols, the Italians and the Greeks created Returning Bruce Beach to public access recalls the history of the property when fishing industries and this area boomed.” thousands of the city’s black and immigrant residents sought refuge from the summer The pool was eventually closed following heat at the Bruce Pool. It’s believed the the construction of the Main Street beach was man-made as a result of dredging Wastewater Treatment plant and Bruce operations at the turn of the century. The Beach fell into disuse. Developing the area takes its name from the Bruce Drydock property once again into a valuable public Company, which serviced ships at the beach asset could prove a boon to the ongoing starting in the early 20th century. The development of downtown. company ceased operations at the outbreak of World War II and the beach went unused City Administrator Keith Wilkins said the for a decade. city has plans for further improvements at the site and will apply for $1.5 million in With the hatchery project dead, Hayward quickly pivoted and directed city staff to prepare the property for public access.

The improvements made to the beach are sparse, but a ribbon-cutting and reopening ceremony was held on Nov. 3.

48 Business Climate

grant funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for improvements to Clubbs Street and the gravel path leading to the beach.

“Phase 1 is what you see now,” Wilkins said.

“The concept for Phase 2 would be to come in and do some restoration with native species, so taking out some of the invasive species and putting native species in there.

Phase 3 would be the rest of the property.

We want to leave it as natural as possible, but it needs a lot of vegetative restoration work.”

It will be up to the newly elected mayor, Grover Robinson, to guide future development of the beach and surrounding property. Robinson said on the campaign trail that seeking state funding to construct additional amenities at Bruce Beach would be a legislative priority for his administration.

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Escambia Voted Yes: New School Superintendent to be appointed in 2020 written by Kaitlyn Peacock

While the spotlight of Election Day was on the race for Florida Governorship and the U.S. Senate seat, Escambia County had its own neck-and-neck race. The question: should the Escambia County School District Superintendent be elected or appointed? The results: by a very slim margin, 62,395 voted for appointed and 61,480 voted for elected. With less than a thousand votes, Escambia County decided the Superintendent after three-term elected Superintendent Malcolm Thomas will be appointed by the school board in 2020.

This is not the first time the question of elected or appointed School Superintendent has been on the ballot. The referendum failed five times previous to this, with the last vote held in 1994.

In February of this year, Thomas decided to bring the issue of the referendum to the school board, where it passed and was given to the County Commissioners. All five Commissioners voted to place the referendum on the ballot.

Thomas said it was important for him once he decided he was not going to run for reelection in 2020 to let the community decide on who would replace him, and how.

“The question becomes how are you going to select this new superintendent?” he said. “Well, there’s two methods – you can elect them, which is what we have been doing, or you can appoint them. I believed that was a question the

community should have debated and then weigh in on to make that decision. That was why I felt like it should be on the ballot.”

Proponents of the referendum campaigned on the fact that an appointed Superintendent is more likely to have higher qualifications than an elected Superintendent, while those in opposition said an appointed Superintendent would require a higher salary and citizens would lose their right to vote for this important county official. The referendum had loud voices on both sides, however Thomas said the process is less important than the person. While the process of finding a new Superintendent will be different than what Escambia County has historically done, the end result will still be to try to find the best person for the job, and that is the most important part.

Business Climate 51

“The truth is both systems can work and both systems can fail,” Thomas said. “I think what is more important than the process that you use to select your superintendent will be who you select. It’s not the how.”

Supporters of the referendum included the Pensacola Young Professionals (PYP), who campaigned for the appointed Superintendent in hopes that a more experienced person in the job will be able to help raise the standard of schools for the district.

Whether you are a parent with a child in the school system, want to be a parent or don’t want or have children, the quality of schools in the district still affects the entire county said PYP Vice President of Membership Ruthie Speight.

“We want people to move here, so whether you have kids or not, the school systems will affect whether you will relocate for a job here,” she said. “Navy Federal is trying to bring more and more people from Vienna, Virginia, which has really excellent schools, so why would you want to move here? That’s just one example. It really does affect everyone whether they realize it or not.”

52 Business Climate

PYP President-Elect Walker Wilson said that the PYP membership voted on whether to support the referendum in September, and that many of their members either strongly supported it or didn’t know much about it.

Once the decision was made, the campaign began, with the end goal always being to help improve local schools.

“The reason we got into this is because we knew we could do better,” Wilson said. “This brings up the accountability factor for the school district and moving forward we hope to see our school district begin to move up in the ranking from where they are now because we think we can do better than where we are now. We need somebody that’s going to come in here and really focus on what’s going on in these poverty-stricken areas, and if they’re not going to go work with the state to secure funding for that, then it’s not going to work.”

Now that the referendum has passed, PYP will bring its focus more on educating people who didn’t know much about the referendum and how it will affect the county moving forward.

With the results being so close, as they were expected to be, there are fears in the community on both sides about how smoothly the process will run, and whether or not this vote was for the better of the community. Both PYP and

“I know we are split, I know a lot of people have angst in both directions. I think what they need to know now is allow the school board to build a process. Let’s trust that. Stay informed, keep your ear to the ground, but give it a chance to develop.

This is what the voters decided, even though it was by a narrow margin. In a democracy, we respect that.”

– Malcolm Thomas Thomas spoke to the importance of letting the school board look for and find the right person,

and that the first person they find might not be the right one.

The process will take time, but Thomas asked the community to let it run its course.

“I know we are split, I know a lot of people have angst in both directions,” Thomas said. “I think what they need to know now is allow the school board to build a process. Let’s trust that. Stay informed, keep your ear to the ground, but give it a chance to develop. This is what the voters decided, even though it was by a narrow margin. In a democracy, we respect that.”

In his last term, Thomas said he will focus on wrapping up several initiatives, including moving West Florida High School to the former Woodland High School location, continue to improve lowperforming school and a few other programs. He also has offered to be as involved or as separate from the hiring process of the new Superintendent as the school board wants. As 2020 approaches, he has said he wants to see this vote bring the community together as Escambia County focuses on finding the best person for the job.

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STEM success, UWF success written by Kaitlyn Peacock photos courtesy of UWF/Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering

The University of West Florida has received a $3 million grant from the Department of Education Title III Strengthening Institutions Program.

The program is designed to help colleges improve infrastructure and teaching practices in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM fields, classrooms. The grant was awarded to the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering (HMCSE) for their “STEM success, UWF success” proposal, which was submitted in April 2016.

Despite receiving a perfect score from the Department of Education, the proposal was actually not funded in 2017. However, after extra funds were found for the grant, UWF’s proposal was accepted and now HMCSE is preparing for the changes the grant will fund.

The Interim Assistant Vice President of Research Administration for HMCSE Dr. Matthew Schwartz said the grant will go toward purchasing new equipment, changing some of the lecture rooms and laboratories, curriculum redevelopment for targeted courses among other pursuits. The main goal of the grant is to upgrade the laboratories and curriculum of entry-level

classes, including biology, chemistry and physics.

The importance of upgrading the most basic of classes ensures that the impact of the grant is felt not only for STEM students but students going through their general education courses. These courses are required of all students to graduate from UWF. “Part of the reason for these courses, and not just science courses, but history and English and all those general education, is to create informed citizens,” Schwartz said. “We just came through Election Day and we want to have citizens who have some knowledge of science, history, writing and communications, all these things. A lot of times, the only time we are going to have time we are going to have a chance to do that is in these entry-level courses. So they are hugely important, either for recruiting majors or for just distributing specific knowledge and skills.”

The courses selected for redesign include General Chemistry I and II and the corresponding labs, Biology I and II and the corresponding labs, Business Climate 55

UWF students conducting experiments in the laser lab

equipment, the upgraded teaching practices and the new and continuing education of faculty orientates UWF with some “best practices,” or known ways to engage and educate students, seen at other universities.

“What we are trying to do is take some of the best practices that are out there, many of which are developing out of the private universities, and seed them into the public sphere,” Schwartz said.

“That’s one of the things that the Department of Education Title III proposal is set up to do, is get those practices, get that technology where it is needed.”

Over the past few years, HMCSE has received around $5 million in grant money from various sources. The money allows the college to expand and update its programs, but it also shows that the college continues to improve and can stand toe to toe with other universities vying for these grants. It also shows the college’s commitment to focus on student success and improving key areas of concern for the university, such as graduation rates.

Statistics and Calculus I and II. Several of these courses were suggested for the redesign by Interim Dean for HMCSE Dr. Jaromy Kuhl when the proposal was first being written. He believes improving these key courses will lead to greater student success and a better graduation rate for the college.

“As a new dean, I have goals for the college and one of those goals is improving pass rates in key STEM course; General Chemistry, Biology I, Calculus,” Kuhl said. “This grant allows us to do just that. It’s going to help the college meet its goals for improving pass rates in those key courses.”

“The college has known that it needs to do something,” he continued. “And we know the key courses where if students don’t pass the first time, they are a year behind. Whether we got the grant or not, I was planning on doing some things to redesign some courses and get the faculty working toward that. This grant helps.”

The impact of this particular grant will be felt within two years, when Kuhl said they intend to begin a pilot curriculum for some of the courses ready for students. While this was a goal of Kuhl’s with or without the money, it greatly sped up 56 Business Climate

the processes and within the five years the grant will be distributed, the college intends to have restructured and piloted all the new courses in the program.

“It actually provides funding for us to add resources that our programs know we need but is very difficult to come by,” Schwartz said. “Money is not easy to come by at a public university.

Money for expanding programs and for enhancing program is challenging. You do what you can, you make the best with what you have.

This is an opportunity to get a significant amount of external funding in that allows us to improve our program that we know is important, that we want to do, both at the infrastructure and the curriculum level, but we haven’t had the resources for. Now, we can send faculty to workshops to learn how to better teach their classes, we can bring in new equipment, we can renovate spaces.

It provides the resources to match our goals, and boy, that’s exciting.”

Along with the update to curriculum, the grant will also pay for new equipment in the undergraduate laboratories. This will allow students a hands-on experience with technology they typically wouldn’t be able to use until graduate school. The combination of the new

“This is a great testament to the fact that the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering has made a strategic decision to pursue funding that helps the way we teach and the way our students learn,” Schwartz said. “That’s a choice. It’s built on successes, but it’s a choice.”

Kuhl said as a new dean, his focus will be on helping the students succeed, with particular focus on getting them through their programs within the four years undergraduate degrees typically require. In the future, he said if the college does receive more money, it will go to continuing this goal, specifically to help redesign other key courses not covered by the current grant.

“In the last four or five years, the college (HMCSE) has received over $5 million in grant money that is geared toward student success, student engagement,” Kuhl said. “It says a lot about where our interests lie and the work we’re trying to put in to improve what we are doing at the teaching level.”

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Around the Region Gift from UWF alumnus names University Park Center, establishes scholarships The University of West Florida has announced a major gift to name University Park Center the Darrell Gooden Center and establish scholarships for UWF students, in honor of UWF alumnus Darrell Gooden and his wife, Debbie Gooden. The Goodens’ gift commitment, along with their planned gift, are a continuation of Darrell Gooden’s legacy at UWF. “Darrell and Debbie Gooden's investment in UWF reminds us of the transformative nature that higher education brings to a community,” said UWF President Martha Saunders. “We continue to see how Argos are changing the world. New facilities that are supported by gifts to the University shape an institution and produce high-quality graduates.

We are so thankful to the Goodens for their inspirational legacy.”

A Pensacola native, Gooden graduated in UWF’s undergraduate class of 1973 with a degree in accounting.

He contributed his first gift to help start the football program in 2016 and became a Platinum UWF Football Founder. He continued to support UWF Athletics and donated in support of building the new University Park Center. His support of this facility helped create a new locker room and sports performance center for all student-athletes. Gooden is also a member of the UWF Athletics Sword and Shield Council and the founder of Gooden Homes.

“I am very fortunate to have attended and earned an accounting degree from one of the top programs in the nation,” Gooden said. “I could not have achieved all the success that I have had in the development and home construction business without the knowledge I obtained from the UWF College of Business.”

In addition to naming the University Park Center, the Goodens’ gift supports capital improvements in athletics and establishes a range of scholarships for accounting and other UWF College of Business students, 58 Business Climate

as well as athletic scholarships and First Choice Excellence scholarships, which attract the best and brightest to UWF. “The Goodens’ gift will allow us to move forward with initiatives that will benefit our student-athletes and provide scholarships for the future,” said Dave Scott, UWF athletic director. “Darrell has been a great friend of the program and has supported Intercollegiate Athletics in building champions for life.”

University Park Center, which opened in April 2018, is a $7 million, 32,700-square-foot facility, located adjacent to Pen Air Field on the UWF Pensacola campus. It serves UWF Intercollegiate Athletics, the UWF Usha Kundu, MD College of Health and the Florida State University College of Medicine’s Pensacola Regional Campus.

Baptist Health Care Foundation Announces Hollinger Award Recipients The Baptist Health Care Foundation announces the 2018 Hollinger Award recipients for outstanding service contributions to Baptist Health Care. The awards are presented to individuals, families or organizations that have exhibited exceptional generosity and community leadership through gifts of their time and/or financial support.

The award is named in memory of long-time supporters of Baptist Health Care, Pick and Alberta Hollinger. The couple worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for those served by Baptist.

The 2018 recipients were recognized at the Baptist Health Care Foundation annual meeting on November 8 at the Pensacola Yacht Club.

Volunteer of the Year: Kara ElliottJordan Volunteer of the Year: Marjorie Stone Women’s Board Volunteer: Tara Rollins Health Care Professional: Dr. David Josephs Physician of the Year: Dr. Charles Roth Lifetime Achievement: Fred Donovan, Sr.

UWF partners with IHMC to develop first intelligent systems and robotics Ph.D. in Florida The University of West Florida has partnered with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition located in downtown Pensacola to develop a doctoral program in intelligent systems and robotics. The program will be the first of its kind in Florida and one of only a few in the nation.

“We are very excited about this new doctoral degree program,” said UWF President Martha D. Saunders. “The program brings together the strengths of UWF engineering and computer science programs with the expertise of a world-class research center, IHMC. It’s a game changer.”

The new doctoral program will begin Fall 2019 and aligns with the University’s strategic vision for research that impacts Northwest Florida’s economic development and technology enterprise. It will serve the manufacturing, health care, defense and other high-tech industries, providing critical support to highdemand career fields.

“I’ve envisioned a program like this for a long time,” said Ken Ford, director and co-founder of IHMC. “It will attract top young talent from the world. This is such a great move not only for UWF and IHMC, but also for Pensacola and the state.”

According to a 2012 study by the National Robotics Initiative, robotics technology holds the potential to transform the future of the U.S. and is expected to become as ubiquitous over the next decades as computer technology is today. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook projects a 19 percent growth rate for computer and information technology research scientists over the next 10 years.

"The national demand for experts in intelligent systems and robotics is large, yet universities and technology firms such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon struggle to find

people with the expertise and skills their organizations need," said Dr. Mohamed Khabou, interim program director. "In a Spring 2018 survey of UWF engineering and computer science students, 66 percent of the 149 respondents indicated their interest in this new program."

The program will attract talented students from around the world, as it will be one of only a few in the nation, joining institutions like Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh and Georgia Institute of Technology.

“This program sets a precedent as the first of its kind in the state,” said Dr. Jaromy Kuhl, interim dean of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering. “The groundbreaking program will focus solely on research and build upon our excellent computer science and engineering programs. Students will flourish by learning from award-winning IHMC scientists, and graduates will be highly competitive in a job market with a growing demand for experts in intelligent systems and robotics.

UWF and IHMC will educate the next generation of researchers to develop innovative technology that combines human and machine elements.”

The Doctorate in Intelligent Systems and Robotics will train the next generation of professionals who will develop technologies combining human and machine elements through hands-on, leading-edge research – leveraging the proximity and worldclass talent at UWF and IHMC. A not-for-profit research institute of the State University System, IHMC is a pioneer of technologies aimed at extending human capabilities through a unique approach combining computer science, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, engineering, medical sciences and related disciplines.

"UWF is blessed to have such a high-caliber institute nearby, and establishing an official partnership with them to help launch this new Ph.D. program is a win-win for both institutions," Khabou said.

Junior Achievement of Northwest Florida Names Rishy Studer & Stan Connally Hall of Fame Laureates Junior Achievement of Northwest Florida announced its annual award recipients for distinguished service to its mission to inspire young people to succeed in a global economy.

Junior Achievement’s annual individual Hall of Fame Laureates for 2018 are Stan Connally and Rishy Studer.

This year’s Laureates were selected on criteria including support of Junior Achievement’s mission, volunteering in the classroom, assistance with fundraising for the organization, dedication to improving the community, and distinguished community leadership that directly impacts young people.

Junior Achievement also chooses distinguished local businesses and honors them with annual leadership awards.

The 2018 Business Leadership Hall of Fame awards included: The Marshall Blaise Adams Give Back Award: Michelle Salzman Large Business of the Year: Republic Services Small Business of the Year: IMS ExpertServices Professional Business Partner of the Year: LandrumHR Community Partner of the Year: Seville Rotary Entrepreneurial Spirit 2018: DC Reeves and Perfect Plain Brewery Leadership Council Member of the Year: Alan Ritchie Volunteers of the Year: Darin Southard & Sara Wiggins Junior Achievement’s Hall of Fame Laureates were honored on November 1st at its largest annual fundraiser which generates more than $60,000 in programming support.

During the event, SunTrust pledged $10,000 to Junior Achievement for 2018-2019 K-12 financial literacy programming.

A long-time supporter of Junior Achievement, SunTrust Regional President for the Florida Panhandle Bob Anderson said, “SunTrust is

pleased to be able to support Junior Achievement here in Northwest Florida. This is a great organization that shares our passion for financial literacy. We are most excited about how Junior Achievement will impact our community for years to come.”

Join - Connect - Grow

Hall of Fame Laureates are chosen each year by a special committee which consists of members from the Junior Achievement Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers. Past Junior Achievement Laureates also provide input for consideration by the selection committee.

Pensacola Businesses Receive National Recognition from Department of Labor VetCV and EBI Management Group were both recognized by the Department of Labor (DoL) as HIRE VETS medallion award winners. VetCV received a Platinum Medallion and EBI received a Gold Medallion. The awards recognize job creators for their leadership in recruiting, employing, and retaining America's veterans.

In 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing (HIRE) American Military Veterans Act, creating the HIRE Vets Medallion Program.

"America's veterans are proven leaders who bring skills, dedication, and determination to our nation's workforce," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. "To earn a HIRE Vets Medallion Award, job creators must demonstrate a solid commitment to providing veterans with the opportunity to build a meaningful career. This program recognizes a standard for excellence in veterans hiring, and helps veterans identify employers who are committed to advancing veterans in the workplace."

The Department of Labor recognized 238 companies across the nation including large, medium and small businesses. Sixteen companies from the State of Florida were recognized and two from Pensacola.

EBI Management Group is a specializing in providing financial, business, project management

WWW.PENSACOLACHAMBER.COM 850.438.4081 SUPPORT@PENSACOLACHAMBER.COM and technology services to the Department of Defense and Federal Agencies. EBI’s President, Travis Goins, stated “Mark and I are humbled by this national recognition.

As Veterans ourselves, it is part of our DNA to seek out Veteran employees and Veteran business partners like VetCV. We recognize the value of our Nation’s Veterans and the skills, experience and leadership they bring to the workforce. The long-term success of EBI will be based on the strength of our Veteran workforce.”

VetCV is a tech company that has built a free highly secure online “personal data-vault” software platform to support our Nation’s 23.9 million active US military and Veterans as well as their 46 million family members. VetCV will grow into a place where they will have a voice and will be heard. VetCV helps Veterans and their family’s transition to civilian life in two major way: First by personalizing and matching them to patriotic employers that understand the value of service and genuinely want to hire them “right now!” And second, connecting them to the healthcare, VA benefits, and

other important resources, quickly and in real time. Users can also safely store and control their most important documents related to their careers, healthcare, military service, and family so they can get to them where and when they need them.

“Successful transition starts with making sure people can support their families, that usually means getting a great job, and keeping it, so that’s where we start too. With more than 240,000 job postings already, people can join their next team. Veterans helping Veterans is the core of what are trying to do. We have lots of plans in store, but we are off to a really good start. This HIRE Vets Platinum Award means a lot to us because it validates our mission here,” said Niels Andersen, VetCV President & CEO.

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SUN JAN 13 8PM Also streaming: Anytime.

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On the Market A Real Estate Section

A Healthy, Winter-ready Home

In This Section By the Numbers: A look at October's Market Highlights page 62 Refresh your Space: 5 steps to simplify your next paint project page 64

Page 71

Expand Your Kitchen page 67 Now you're under contract: Whats next? page 68

On the Market 61

BY The NUMBERS a look at october's Market Highlights

700 65

Monthly Sales

Avg. Days on Market

2600 $190k

Quarterly Sales

Median Sale Price

Market Highlights October sales slipped eight percent from September totals and virtually tied last October's.

Median sale price jumped up to $197,500, a four percent hike from the previous month.

Information courtesy of Pensacola Association of Realtors

62 On The Market

October days on market (DOM) crept up 10 days compared to last month, settling at 65 days.

Sales in the $160k–$199k price range suffered the most, falling 61 units from September.

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

KNOWLEDGE OPENS DOORS

Gulf Breeze Proper

129 Eufaula St. $970,000 | MLS# 543671

Pace

3317 Gleneagles Dr. $322,500 | MLS# 543222

It’s all about Location! Million Dollar property at a bargain price.

Premium water front lot 95’ on Pensacola Bay. The opportunity to create ever lasting memories with those you love is here. Swim, fish, crab, boat. Live in the quiet secluded neighborhood near great schools, parks, recreation facilities. Close to Pensacola, a fast boat ride to Pensacola Beach - not many get this opportunity. Built in 2006 to stand up to Mother Nature. Designed with views from almost the whole house.

A Quality Built Custom Home. It features a 3 car garage. Huge gourmet kitchen, with hard surface counter tops, real wood cabinets, tile back splash, a double oven and builtin microwave.

- a very open floor plan with no wasted space. Plant ledges w/ indirect lighting. Cathedral ceilings in the family room. Trey ceiling in the master bedroom. Master onsuite has double vanities, his and hers walk in closets. Separate tile shower and garden tub with glass block for natural lighting.

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

Randall Graves • 850-516-6763 • randallsellspensacola@gmail.com

Pensacola

3413 Chantarene Dr. $1,275,000 | MLS# 537454 Your Ticket to Paradise is waiting for you in Chantarene, a Quiet Sophisticated Coastal Village located on Pensacola Bay off of Country Club Road with Spectacular Sun Rises & Sun Sets...3413 is a jewel with private waterfront lot (separate parcel included with sale) that allows you access to the Bay via the stairway...a covered walkway leads to an open waterside patio. The main residence sits on two lots with manicured landscaping.

Linda Turner • 850.324.4235 • linda.turner@penfedrealty.com

Pace

5035 Forest Creek Dr. $549,000 | MLS# 544043 Luxury & Quality in a Beautiful Natural Setting! This custombuilt home is situated on over 4 wooded acres in the heart of Pace.

Constructed for endurance, this home was built with Structurally Insulated Panels covered with Red Pine Logs to withstand the winds of time and hurricanes. Features include a 1st Floor Master Suite, a 2nd Floor Master Suite, separate 1/2 bath, an open concept kitchen perfect for entertaining, soaring tongue-n-groove heart pine ceilings, hand-scraped wood floors, and much, much more.

Frasier Phelps • 850.485.2665 • jfpii@bellsouth.com On the Market 63

ON THE MARKET

Refresh Your Space

5 steps to simplify your next paint project A fresh coat of paint is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your home.

Whether you’re revamping a main living area or freshening up your home’s curb appeal, some planning and preparation, plus the right painting tools, go a long way toward helping you achieve a professionallooking finished project.

Execute your paint project flawlessly with these tips and tricks from Jennie Kitchen, product manager, Valspar Applicators at The SherwinWilliams Company, Consumer Brands Group: Step 1: Choose Your Color Selecting a color can often be the most difficult part of a paint project. While browsing through all the colors can be overwhelming, a resource like AskVal.com offers a variety of tools to help you select the perfect shade. You can also have paint chips delivered to your home for free, allowing you to see how they look in your space.

64 On The Market

Step 2: Pick Your Tools Every paint project is unique and may require different tools depending on the size of your space and type of paint you choose. However, there are a few must-haves for nearly every project such as brushes, rollers, roller frames, an extension pole, a paint tray with liner and rags.

“The quality of your paint rollers and brushes is just as important as the paint you use,” Kitchen said. “For a smooth finish and easy application, I recommend Valspar’s line of applicators and accessories, which are now available at Lowe’s and work well with all paints and stains. Our quality painting tools make it easy for DIYers to bring their projects to life.”

Step 3: Prep Your Space Start by removing all of the furniture or pushing everything to the center of the room and covering it with a drop cloth or plastic sheet. Remove outlet and switch covers, and clean dirt, dust or grime from the walls using a microfiber duster or vacuum attachment. Don’t forget to lay drop cloths, tape off trim and fill in any small cracks or holes.

Step 4: Apply Your Paint Start at the top, beginning with the ceiling, and work your way down to the walls and trim. A tool like Valspar’s Wall and Trim brush is ideal for most interior painting projects. Its thin, tapered design provides ultra-clean lines when cutting-in around windows, door frames and molding.

When you’re ready to roll, start at a corner of the room in a 2-by-4-foot section at the top of the wall. Then roll downward into a narrow V shape, filling in any unpainted areas as you go. Once you are done with the top section, move down and repeat until you’ve reached the baseboard.

If you’re painting standard height ceilings or taller, it’s helpful to use an extension pole. For a seamless finish, it’s important to always keep a wet edge and let the weight of the loaded roller do the work. Some pressure can be applied as the roller cover starts to run out of paint, but if you hear a “sizzling” sound, that means it’s time to reload with more paint. To finish, use the roller and roll straight down all the way across your walls.

Step 5: Clean Up Your Mess Remove tape while the paint is drying to avoid paint peeling, remove drop cloths and then rearrange furniture. Between paint projects, always clean brushes with soap and water, but don’t leave brushes soaking in water. Always save the package, known as the keeper, to help the brush retain its shape.

Find more tips and tricks for your next paint project at valsparpaint.com/applicators.

Gulf BreezeProper 402 NAVY COVE BLVD

$999,000 402 NAVY COVE BLVD. GULF BREEZE, FL

MLS# 542903

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Craftsman Style Home In the Gated Estates of Cottonwood

4BR / 3BA on 1/2 acre! | MLS# 533618 | $296,500 GOODENHOMES.COM

5503 HUNTINGDON STREET, MILTON, FL 32570

Lydia Joy McDonald 850.572.3836

lydiajoymcdonald@gmail.com

Gooden Homes, Inc. 4400 Bayou Blvd., Suite 41, Pen.,FL 32503 (850) 476-6764

On the Market 65

Join - Connect - Grow

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I am passionate about sharing the East Hill Lifestyle and real estate opportunities throughout the Pensacola area. My goal is to meet your needs and exceed your expectations.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Call your Neighborhood Real Estate Professional today!

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Denise Kinne|Broker Associate Full Time Realtor since 2005

Call | Text 850.501.9888

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Pamela L. Smith, Realtor

CRS, PMN, e-Pro | (850) 516-7809 www.pamlsmith.com | pamlsmith1@aol.com Real Estate Counselors, Inc.

ON THE MARKET

Expand Your Kitchen

How space-saving sliding door hardware can help Your kitchen is the heart of your home. It’s a place where family and friends gather. It’s also a space where you may seem to need more space, whether you’re making breakfast for the kids or hosting a big dinner party.

Using innovative wall-mount door hardware, you can unlock your kitchen’s potential by freeing up the “real estate” traditional swinging doors take up. Due to their unique space-saving possibilities, versatility and aesthetics, wallmount sliding doors can make your kitchen more open and inviting.

A standard hinged door consumes 10-14 square feet of floor space to swing open and shut, putting kitchen space at a premium. Single or converging wall-mount sliding doors allow you to utilize this floor space for kitchen furnishings, storage, extra mingling room for guests and more. They also give kitchens a more spacious look and can enhance your home’s design flow, making it more welcoming and facilitating movement between rooms, which is essential for gatherings and larger families with children.

To maximize your kitchen’s footprint and optimize functionality, an option like wall-mount door hardware from Johnson Hardware can provide a new world of architectural possibilities for your kitchen, regardless of size or layout.

Ideal for wider kitchen entryways, converging wall-mount door hardware allows doors to glide smoothly as they open whenever you want a free flow for entertaining or close for privacy during meal preparation.

Converging doors can add sophistication or create a cozy feel, depending on the hardware configuration and door style you choose. Available with or without fascia in either clear satin or bronze anodized aluminum, the U.S.-made

Photo courtesy of Johnson Hardware hardware and track exceed ANSI safety standards and can successfully complete 100,000 opening and closing cycles. You can also add your own valance to match the door material and trim.

and adjustable door hangers for easy installation, as well as options up to 400 pounds, featuring wall-mounted, heavy-gauge I-beam tracks and smooth-rolling, ball-bearing four-wheel hangers.

Wall-mounted sliding doors also work well for kitchen pantries and large recessed shelving areas where you want to conceal clutter and ensure clean, streamlined spaces. With Johnson’s array of hardware configurations, you can create personalized looks that integrate the door designs and materials you desire with options for doors up to 125 pounds, which are equipped with wall-mounted jump-proof aluminum box tracks

Installing wall-mount sliding door hardware in your kitchen – and beyond – can be an easy yet high-impact improvement that reduces space constraints while adding warmth, functionality and appeal to your home. For more information, visit johnsonhardware.com.

On the Market 67

Now you’re under contract.

What’s next?

by Pat Boudreaux and Sam Rogers

As a seller, you’ve had your house on the market; as a buyer, you’ve been looking for your perfect home. The deal has been negotiated, all parties have signed and you’re now under contract. As you celebrate, the realty starts to sink in: this is just the beginning.

The buyer needs to get to work on financing.

If you have not already secured your financing, you need to find the option that best suits your circumstances. There are many options out there and your best bet is to shop around. Get recommendations on experts that can help you navigate the process. Don’t take too long, though.

Your contract will probably have a requirement for you to apply for your loan and get approval in a specific amount of time. The company you select for your loan will guide you through the loan process. Look forward to providing plenty of information to them. They will work with the title company and will also select a property appraiser to ensure the home is worth the money you are paying. Be patient. This process can take some time. The good companies will keep you informed every step of the way.

The new home you are purchasing may look perfect, but don’t forget about inspections. You will want to find a qualified, certified and licensed home inspector. The inspector will evaluate the home and report on any deficiency that the home may have. The home inspector has broad, general knowledge, but is rarely an expert in any specific area. The inspector may recommend additional inspections with licensed professionals that have an expertise in specific areas. This includes, but is 68 On The Market

not limited to, stucco, heating and air, plumbing, septic systems, sprinklers, appliances, roof, electrical, environmental and structural. Don’t shortcut this step. The money you spend here can potentially save you considerable expense in the future. While he is there, have him provide a Wind Mitigation report. This can potentially provide discounts on your homeowner’s insurance. Depending on the age of the home, your insurance company may require a 4-Point inspection as well. Your inspector can also take care of this for you.

Most residential loans require that the home have a clear WDO (Wood Destroying Organism) report. This report shows any problems with the home related to wood rot and damage from wood destroying organisms. As with the home inspector, you will want to find a qualified, certified and licensed inspector to inspect the home. Since they are experts, you will rarely need a follow-up by another inspector. If issues are found, that same inspector will go back out to re-inspect the property to provide you with a clear WDO report. Most WDO inspectors work for pest control companies. Given the prevalence of termites, especially Formosan termites, in the area, you will want to discuss options to protect your investment in the future.

The inspections are done and there are some issues. Not to worry, rarely does a house pass inspections with no issues to remediate. When you negotiated the contract, you probably agreed to repair limits for both General and WDO repair items. Take a look at your contract. It spells out exactly what items are covered under General Repair. This makes it easy for the buyer and seller to determine what should be covered during repairs. Generally the seller will contact professionals to give quotes to repair the requested

items. The buyer and seller will then agree on repairs. In some instances, the repairs will exceed the agreed to limits. In that case, the buyer and seller will need to further their negotiations.

You’re almost there. There are just a few more items to consider. If there isn’t a current survey on the property, you will need to get a survey done prior to closing. This will ensure there are no encroachments on the property and give you a good legal description for the deed. The title company will have done a title search to ensure there are no liens or encumbrances on the property. You want to make sure that the appraisal looks good and shows the value of the home is at least what you are paying for the home. Also make sure you have your insurance lined up and they have bound it prior to closing day.

The closing day has arrived. The closing company has provided you with a statement showing all the financial information related to the transaction. They also have provided you with instruction for how to bring funds to the closing.

Bring your ID and be ready to sign away.

These are common steps required to sell or purchase a home. There can be others. A qualified real estate professional is knowledgeable and trained to assist you with these and many other items. They also have groups of professionals that they can recommend and engage to assist with the entire process. Make sure you have a trusted professional on your side!

Bio Pat Boudreaux and Sam Rogers are Broker/ Associates at Connell and Company Realty, Inc. specializing in both residential and commercial real estate.

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

SYDNEE JOHNSON Realtor 22A Via DeLuna 4475 Bayou Blvd.

Pensacola Beach, FL 32561 Pensacola, FL 32503 sydneejohnson.cbintouch.com (850) 712-6772 Cell 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.

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Gulf Breeze To Freeport 850-842-4884

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ON THE MARKET

A Healthy, Winter-Ready Home When chilly weather arrives and the days get shorter, chances are good you’ll spend the majority of your days indoors. Before you start your hibernation, it’s a good idea to ensure your home is up to the task. Put your well-being at the top of the list with these ideas to help ensure a healthconscious home.

Encourage better air quality

When the house is closed up to keep out the cold, you may be trapping in undesirable air pollutants. A well-sealed house may not have the best circulation, and that’s the ideal environment for allergens to accumulate.

A thorough cleaning is the first step toward better air quality. Vacuum all carpets, including under furniture and around baseboards. Be sure to launder linens that aren’t typically part of your regular washing routine.

When opening windows isn’t comfortable during cold winter weather, letting the sunshine in can still help to improve indoor air quality. A study by the University of Oregon’s Biology and the Built Environment Center showed rooms with increased sunlight have fewer viable bacteria.

“Until now, daylighting design has been primarily about visual comfort or circadian health, but now we can say daylighting influences air quality,” said Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, co-director of the BioBE Center and coauthor of the study.

On the Market 71

ON THE MARKET

Let in light Natural light plays an important role in overall health, and reduced daylight in the winter months can have a big impact on productivity and sleep, according to a recent survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Velux. For example, nearly twothirds of respondents said they believe daylight affects their productivity and mood. Light is also an important cue to the body’s circadian clock, and proper exposure to natural light during the day can help support better sleep when darkness falls.

ward off a draft, but with well-sealed windows, there’s no reason to block that all-important natural light. In rooms with ample natural light available, take advantage, especially in the morning when exposure to daylight can benefit your circadian rhythm.

However, not every room is situated to maximize your access to natural light, and that’s when you can get creative. One solution is skylights, which add natural light to virtually any space. An option like a Sun Tunnel Skylight offered by Velux Skylights lends brightness to even the smallest spaces, like a bathroom or What’s more, sunlight is a natural hallway. For a larger room, a fresh-air antidepressant, and there is ample skylight can help address air quality scientific evidence that associates daylight concerns, and some models offer with better health and quality of life, smartphone connectivity to open and such as improved mood, less fatigue and close the skylight and even raise or lower reduced eyestrain. blinds with a few quick taps of the finger.

Learn more at whyskylights.com.

It may be tempting to keep the drapes closed when it’s blustery outside to 72 On The Market

Keep out the cold There actually is some truth to the old wives’ tales associating cold with getting sick. The viruses that cause colds and the flu thrive in cooler temperatures, for example. This means that, at least indirectly, a cold environment may indeed make you sick.

To ward off a chill in your home, safeguard against drafts around windows and doors. If seasonal weather-proofing is impractical, consider temporary solutions like draft stoppers or mats you can place at the base of doors. Add insulation, if needed, in areas that commonly release a significant amount of heat, such as the attic and garage.

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TANI GODFREY, REALTOR® Broker/Owner Pennacle Properties Inc.

Wishing you and your family a

850-723-8140 Pennacle Properties

Residential & Investment Real Estate

Merry Christmas

tani@pennacleproperties.com pennacleproperties.com

Grand Pointe Manor

• JANET MOORE •

Tiger Point/Gulf Breeze

Lot 13A Manor Circle

REALTOR, GRI, SFR

3507 Sycamore Ln. 32563

105 x 135 .33 acres Gated Community Gulf Breeze MLS 524803 | $128,000

2 stories w/3 bedrooms | 2.5 baths and 2 flex rooms | 2106 sq ft w/quartz countertops MLS 544425 | $249,900

5561 Woodbine Rd. Pace, FL 32571

N.E. Pensacola Bayfront

850.982.3985

3741 Mackey Cove 32514

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