VIE Magazine September / October 2014

September/October 2014

THE ANIMAL ISSUE T HE Y E A R OF T HE HORSE

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In this issue:

164

Feature

46

80

174

102

24

An Animal Advocate: The Founder of Alaqua Animal Refuge Shares Her Story 46 Animal Instincts

34

Giving Back Wining and Dining for the Animals 70 Celebrities Join Efforts to Aid Children’s Advocacy Center 74

The Ultimate Cat Fight 24

People + Places

The Lovely, Exotic Lionfish: What’s All the Uproar About? 34

The Fitness Fetish Celebrates Twenty Years in Seaside 98

Loved by My Lady and Her Dog 64 The Year of the Horse 80 Talk to the Animals: Anna Breytenbach Breaks Communication Barriers 90 Ten Reasons You Shouldn’t Get a Parrot 102 Meet the Locals 114 Creating a Kinder World: Monty Roberts’s Join-Up Program 124 The Plight of the Honeybee 130 A Real-Life Jungle Book: Tippi of Africa 164

A Sense of Place Forty Never Looked So Good: Destin Beachfront Icon Celebrates Anniversary 121 Standing Out from the Herd Since 1979 140 As You Wish—A Fairy-Tale Grand Opening 174 Voyager A Walk on the Wild (West) Side 146 Mother Nature’s Muse: A Trip to Coastal California 156

V IE Z INE .C OM | 13

COLA COLA

®

Primary Targeted Audiences

W

e are thrilled you have picked up a copy of VIE and hope you enjoy reading about the people and places of our coveted region,

COLA 2 COLA®—Pensacola to Apalachicola. We live in a great place where life is

good! We have a passion for our area and the people and businesses found here, and we hope that you will share in our excitement.

VIE can be found locally at Tourist Development Council centers, Chamber of Commerce locations, Sundog Books in Seaside, Florida, boutiques, restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, and special events. VIE’s distribution has branched out to the following airports: Baltimore/Washington International, Houston Hobby, Memphis International, Nashville International, Orlando International, and Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International. In addition to these high-profile locations, VIE is also being added to the shelves of some of the country’s top-selling bookstores, newsstands, and supermarkets, giving our advertisers potential access to millions of people.

VIE is a registered trademark. All contents herein are Copyright © 2008–2014 Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Incorporated (The Publisher). All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from The Publisher. VIE is a lifestyle magazine and is published at least five times annually on a bimonthly schedule. The opinions herein are not necessarily those of The Publisher. The Publisher and its advertisers will not be held responsible for any errors found in this publication. The Publisher is not liable for the accuracy of statements made by its advertisers. Ads that appear in this publication are not intended as offers where prohibited by state law. The Publisher is not responsible for photography or artwork submitted by freelance or outside contributors. The Publisher reserves the right to publish any letter addressed to the editor or The Publisher. VIE is a paid publication. Subscription rates: Digital magazine (iPad only) – One-year $11.99; Two-year $17.99 / Printed magazine – One-year $23.95; Two-year $34.95 (U.S. Only – price includes free access to digital magazine versions for iPad). Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.VIEZINE.com.

On the Cover:

VIE Creative Team: Lisa Burwell Publisher lisa@viezine.com

Gerald Burwell Editor-in-Chief gerald@viezine.com

Bob Brown VP of Creative Services bob@viezine.com

Tim Dutrow Videographer tim@viezine.com

Jordan Staggs Assistant Editor jordan@viezine.com

Mary Jane Kirby Account Executive maryjane@viezine.com

Tracey Thomas Art Director tracey@viezine.com

Scott Sajowitz Account Executive scott@viezine.com

Troy Ruprecht Graphic Designer

Julie Dorr Account Executive julie@viezine.com

Devan Allegri Watkins Graphic Designer devan@viezine.com Bill Weckel Web/Project Manager bill@viezine.com Robert Wagner Video Producer robertw@viezine.com

In the Chinese zodiac, 2014 is the Year of the Horse. We could think of no better way to commemorate it than with a cover starring Laurie Hood, the founder of Alaqua Animal Refuge, the premier no-kill animal shelter in Northwest Florida. Laurie, a beautiful person both inside and out, took VIE and photographer Dawn Chapman Whitty on a tour of the refuge to meet the animals of all shapes and sizes that call Alaqua home. Dawn’s photos capture the healing essence of the shelter, and Kelly Beasley expresses Laurie’s passionate love for animals in the feature article, “An Animal Advocate.” To thank Laurie, the Alaqua team, and the numerous generous volunteers for all they do at the refuge, a portion of the proceeds from this issue’s advertising revenue will be donated to Alaqua.

Hairstyling by Brooke Miller | Makeup by Yvette Nation | Dress by Nicole Paloma

Published by:

Margaret Stevenson Copy Editor Shannon Quinlan Distribution Coordinator Eric Shepard Graphic Designer

VIE Contributors: Contributing Writers: Rebecca Barnes Kelly Beasley Sallie W. Boyles Kim Duke-Layden Elizabeth Gledhill Dean Mitchum Tori Phelps Romona Robbins L. Jordan Swanson Jill Tanner

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Publisher’s Note:

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN Follow Your Destiny

For more than two hundred years, Irish citizens have emigrated from Ireland to America, mostly to escape a repressed economy. Irish youth flocked to America in the 1980s, but then the Celtic Tiger economy swept through Ireland in the nineties and the early millennium, allowing younger generations to make a living in their beloved homeland. Currently, the global economy seems to be shaking off the dust from the nearly cataclysmic economic events of the past seven years, during which time many of Ireland’s youth have once again had to leave to find employment in America, England, Canada, and Australia, among other countries. It seems as though the tide is beginning to change for Ireland; American giants like Google, Facebook, and Oracle have set up headquarters there over the past decade. The Irish government offers attractive incentives to entice foreign businesses in an effort to breathe life into their economy.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Lisa and Gerald Burwell, after an exhilarating hike to the summit of Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park, Letterfrack, County Galway, Ireland this past August during the grand opening celebration tour for The Idea Boutique, Ltd.

When I arrive in Ireland’s mountainous region of Connemara in County Galway, I can hardly resist the urge to sing the theme song to the Sound of Music. It’s true—at least, it’s playing in my head. It feels like freedom to me. If it’s a gray, blustery day, I might also feel as if I’ve been transported onto the pages of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights. Connemara is magical, mysterious, and hauntingly beautiful. Three of my four grandparents were born in Ireland, and my mother, who loved Connemara immensely, and her siblings spent quite a few years there as teenagers. My own love of Connemara began when my sister Laurie and I spent a summer with relatives during high school. It’s safe to say that I have roots there.

What is it that makes Connemara so alluring? The culture. The people. The sense of community. A cadence all its own wrapped in majestic beauty.

A recent trip to Connemara revealed that many of our company team members, having made the journey with us, felt the same way. In August, VIE’s publisher—Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Inc. – The Idea Boutique®—traveled to Ireland to open a satellite office. Ireland, the only English-speaking member of the European Union, has a highly educated workforce, making it a desirable place to expand our operations. The bustling town of Clifden, County Galway, located in the heart of the Connemara region, is now home to our new European headquarters—The Idea Boutique, Ltd. Read more about this exciting venture in the article “As You Wish – A Fairy-Tale Grand Opening.

A glorious climb to the summit of Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park on a picture-perfect day was all I needed to confirm my conviction that we were meant to have a corporate presence in Ireland. It was exhilarating.

During the climb, there were times when I wanted to stop and go back. I knew not to look back as I might fear how high I was going. I knew not to look up as I might get discouraged at how much distance there was left to go.

Either one could become an unnecessary distraction to the prize of reaching the top, especially since there was joy in the challenge along the way. Putting one foot in front of the other became my only concern. I realized it was a metaphor for life, business, and the fulfillment of destiny.

You have to climb your mountain or you will never arrive.

I commend Laurie Hood, the founder of Alaqua Animal Rescue, for having the courage, conviction, and grit to stay the course—in effect, for climbing her mountain.

This beautiful woman ushers in our first Animal Issue, and we could not have asked for a more perfect cover girl or a better spokesperson for all creatures large and small.

Read our feature story, “An Animal Advocate,” and become inspired to follow your destiny.

To Life!

—Lisa

V IE Z INE .C OM | 17

T H E M O S T C R E AT I V E C U L I N A RY E X P E R I E N C E O N 3 0 A Open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 5:30 pm • Happy Hour 5:30–6:30 pm 8 5 0 - 2 1 3 - 5 7 0 0

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C A L I Z A R E S T A U R A N T . C O M

Sucre Says

Photo by Troy Ruprecht

Welcome to my inaugural column. It’s an honor to finally have a chance to have my voice heard in the pages of VIE and to tell my story. This is a love story between my adoptive parents and me.

I’ve heard mom say that she never thought she’d ever own a Chihuahua; my breed has a reputation for being neurotic, noisy, and very needy.

“Dahling,” I say, “That is just not true!” I have spent the last four years presenting the case to her that in reality, it is actually the opposite. Of course, I am aware that I usually get my way because I am very cute, as that is what I’ve been told since birth—and I can’t help but believe what humans say since they are so adorable.

In December 2010, I was delivered to the VIE office for an introduction to the publisher and editor-in-chief, Lisa and Gerald Burwell, respectively. I was about to become homeless and one of Lisa’s brothers thought they needed a canine companion. At just six weeks old and no more than three-quarters of a pound, I could barely make out who was looking at me; I was swaddled in a blanket inside a cardboard box with my favorite stuffed toys. Lisa took one look at me and melted. I melted too. Lisa, who is now my mom, would say she finally understood the true meaning of the term “puppy love.” We were hooked. I was then given the name Sucre, which is French for “sugar.” I have been living up to my name ever since—in fact, sometimes I lay it on pretty heavy.

I have been going to the office every day with my parents since they adopted me. My coworkers work really hard and are very nice to me when my parents are too busy to pay attention to me. With all the other things I need to do around the office in the course of a day, I had the hardest time making the deadline for this piece. (There are a ridiculous number of deadlines in the magazine business, but I’ll save that for another column.) For example, humans are required to constantly pet me or look at me as if I were the cutest thing on the face of the planet. I think it is an unwritten rule somewhere. Aside from that, I am usually busy sitting on my mom’s lap during meetings, pretending to look important. I may be looking absolutely adorable, but I am actually not doing anything. One of the most important

20 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

things I do at the office is to check out everyone who comes in through the front door. I used to bark like a banshee at them until I was told that it was inappropriate and that it caused too much disruption. Now I just sniff them to make sure they smell right. The stamp of approval comes when I touch them with my right paw. Then there is the periodic conniving of as many Milk-Bones as I can possibly eat. I’ve learned that batting my eyelashes pretty much gets me what I want. I’ve been told that I’m spoiled. “Spoiled” is not in my dictionary, so I don’t know what it means—but I think I like it. Oh, and I can’t forget the naps! Then I go home and play. It’s a tough life but somebody has to do it.

This issue has a lot of amazing stories about animals and how we help humans by giving them love. It celebrates the various beautiful species that God put on this lovely planet earth.

I would like to offer a little self-help for all the humans out there. Here is my list of the top ten things that you can do to help improve your quality of life: •

Don’t work so hard! Try going to the beach more often. There is nothing like the feeling of sand between your paws.

•

Sit on the porch and enjoy some lemonade. People watching from my porch is one of my favorite pastimes—my version includes barking at anyone who dares to pass by.

•

I think it is important for friends and family to enjoy each other and spend time together whenever possible. It seems that everyone really enjoys my presence. I wish everyone could be loved as much as I am—the world would be a much better place.

•

I must be really cute because that is what everyone says—I guess being cute is a good thing. Try it out sometime.

•

Weekends were made for rest. Put down the work and enjoy every minute of them.

•

Car rides are awesome. They can help to solve almost any problem because you can think in a car.

•

Taking naps throughout the day really helps my beauty regime—I highly recommend it.

•

I love sniffing flowers and just about anything and everything. I think there is a saying for that: “Stop and smell the roses” or something to that effect.

•

Love everyone and be kind. Being loved is great!

•

Learn from our canine species to practice unconditional love every chance you get!

Au revoir!

—Sucre Burwell, Honorary Editor-in-Chief

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CAT FIGHT

BY TORI PHELPS PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BIG CAT RESCUE

BIG CATS AROUND THE WORLD ARE UNDER , CONSTANT THREAT FROM THE PLANET S MOST DANGEROUS PREDATORS: HUMANS.

THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TRYING TO STEM THE TIDE OF ABUSE AND SLAUGHTER FACE STAGGERING ODDS, BUT THEY AREN’T BACKING DOWN. AND IN SAVING THESE GLORIOUS CREATURES, THEY MAY JUST BE SAVING THE WORLD.

A SAFE HAVEN Most organizations measure success by growth, but Tampa-based Big Cat Rescue wants nothing more than to decrease in size. “Our biggest dream is to go out of business,” says public relations director Susan Bass. “The day we close our doors because there are no more cats to rescue will be a day of celebration.”

Champagne won’t be flowing anytime soon. More than two decades after its 1992 launch, Big Cat Rescue continues to be bombarded with animals in need—not all of which can be saved. Its focus, however, is on the cats that can be saved, which have numbered in the thousands over the years. It’s a track record that’s doubly impressive when you consider that founder Carole Baskin didn’t set out to establish a rescue organization. The road to Big Cat Rescue began with an impulsive decision to save one bobcat from a brutal death.

In the early 1990s, Baskin and her late husband attended an auction where they hoped to purchase llamas to serve as eco-friendly “lawn mowers” for their forty-five-acre Florida spread. Upon arriving in the parking lot, however, they saw a man walk out with a bobcat he had just purchased—and proceed to club it to death. Reeling from the horror they had just witnessed, they hurried into the auction and outbid other attendees for another bobcat cub, fearful that it might suffer a similar fate.

With no idea how to care for the animals, Baskin turned to breeders for advice. All of it turned out to be bad. By the time she discovered that big cats did not, in fact, make good pets—and that breeding and selling them didn’t help conservation, as bobcats aren’t endangered—she was already guardian to dozens of cats. Baskin tried to place some of the cubs with new homes, only to have many of those animals come back to her when their new owners were unable to care for them.

Elated to have saved the adorable cub, they soon decided to purchase a second bobcat in the mistaken belief they would make good pets. This time they stumbled onto a fur farm, where the owner admitted that the bobcats he couldn’t sell as pets would be killed for their fur within a year. In tears, Baskin again made an impulsive decision, buying all fiftysix bobcat and lynx cubs on the condition that the owner shut down his fur supply business.

It was the wake-up call she needed. Applying the old adage “When you know better, you do better,” Baskin immediately changed everything about the way she operated. Big Cat Rescue, which now occupies seventy acres in north Tampa, was born as a no-sell, no-breed sanctuary whose dual mission is to educate people about the dangers facing these animals while providing a better life for as many abused cats as is humanely possible.

V IE Z INE .C OM | 25

Photo by Nick Garbutt / Panthera

The numbers continue to overwhelm the rescue’s resources because of one main problem: private ownership. “No one knows for sure, but it’s estimated that ten to twenty thousand big cats in the U.S. are living in people’s backyards, with Texas and Florida residents believed to be the biggest offenders,” Bass says. “People see them when they’re cute babies, and breeders assure buyers that the cats have been declawed and defanged and have bonded with people. Then three to six months later, owners wake up with an alpha predator living in their backyard.”

As Baskin experienced firsthand, private owners of big cats are challenged by one difficulty after another, with money being a major issue. Proper feeding and veterinary care alone costs about $10,000 a year, which is why Big Cat Rescue finds the majority of privately owned cats living in filth and starving.

“Whether the owners had good intentions at the beginning or not, it’s the norm rather than the 26 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

exception that these cats end up in deplorable conditions,” Bass explains.

Recognizing that the organization will never be able to rescue its way out of the situation, its members have turned to legislation in hopes of securing a permanent solution. Baskin has been instrumental in crafting a federal bill called the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, pending in the House and Senate, to prohibit private ownership of these big cats, as well as to prohibit the public from having contact with them. Currently, the patchwork of laws across the fifty states means that legality varies widely, with six states having no regulations on the books at all. Even in the thirty states that have banned private ownership, including Florida, there’s a loophole that says owners who keep big cats for exhibition purposes can simply pay a $40 exhibitor fee and keep them wherever they want. Recently, a government survey concluded that 70 percent of

people with such licenses are just private owners using the loophole to skirt the law. “It’s easier to buy a lion or tiger than to go down to the humane society and adopt a cat or a dog,” Bass laments.

The prohibition on public contact is equally important because the practice of “cub petting” is a big contributor to the issue of abused and abandoned cats. There are more than a hundred exhibitors around the country who charge people to pet big cat cubs, either at their home or at places like malls and state fairs, Bass says. “What people don’t realize is that their five minutes with that cub equals a lifetime of misery for it,” she explains.

While waiting for legal remedies to take effect, Big Cat Rescue maintains its educational activities through guided tours of its accredited sanctuary.

Visitors pay $36 for a day tour—which goes toward the roughly $1 million it takes to care for the cats

,, People see them , when they re cute babies, and breeders assure buyers that the cats have been declawed and defanged, and have bonded with people. Then three to six months later, owners wake up with an alpha predator living ,,in their backyard. ’ --- SUSAN BASS

each year—where they learn about the individual cats and what led to their arrival at the sanctuary, as well as the larger picture of what’s happening to big cats around the world. What guests encounter is a best-case scenario for rescued cats, with enclosures of up to three acres, plenty of space to roam, and definitely no petting.

It’s a luxury for the cats, but it’s still not what Mother Nature intended. That’s why Baskin and her staff are rallying behind the passage of the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, which will eliminate breeders’ profits and make private ownership truly illegal. Though current owners will be grandfathered in, big cats usually don’t live more than twenty-five years in captivity, which means the organization’s going-out-of-business party could be just a few decades away. “This problem of thousands of abused animals can be solved in one generation of cats if people stop breeding them,” Bass says.

A WORLD WITHOUT BIG CATS? While Big Cat Rescue struggles with too many animals, Panthera faces the opposite problem.

Established in 2006 and headquartered in New York, Panthera is a global wild cat conservation organization that actively works to protect and stop the decline of the planet’s wild cat species. “Our goal is to keep wild cats where they are,” according to Andrea Heydlauff, vice president of Panthera. “We want to ensure they remain in the wild in healthy numbers.”

Panthera is the only organization whose scope includes protection of all thirty-eight big cat species, though its core focus is on the seven largest—tigers, lions, snow leopards, jaguars, leopards, cheetahs, and cougars—many of which are endangered. This fact is bad news for all of us because, as it turns out, dwindling numbers of big cats probably means the planet isn’t doing so hot.

Florida-raised Panthera founder Thomas Kaplan developed an early passion for conservation, falling in love with big cats in grade school. But there’s more to this businessman-turned-philanthropist’s charity than the fulfillment of a boyhood fantasy. It’s about saving animals and, by extension, humans as well.

“Currently, the range of big cats covers over a third of the terrestrial landscape,” explains Heydlauff. “So by protecting them, we’re protecting vast tracts of wild areas that other species, including humans, depend on, too.”

Big cats are apex predators, meaning they’re the largest predator in the ecosystem—the great white shark of dry land. Their position at the top of the food chain means they require lots of space, abundant prey, and a healthy environment. By putting resources toward ensuring that cat species remain in the wild, Panthera is also ensuring that these vast

landscapes are functioning well, a nice benefit for the people who share the planet with cats.

Passion is at the heart of Panthera, but reason is what drives it. It is a science-based organization of the planet’s foremost authorities on big cats developing strategic plans with measurable results.

Panthera has an international workforce collecting data about where the animals are and what threats are affecting them, and using that data to help focus conservation efforts.

What they know so far is that big cats are dying for three main reasons: intentional slaughter due to the illegal wildlife trade and to human conflict; lack of prey; and habitat loss and fragmentation.

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Clear-cutting, converting wild spaces into agricultural areas, and building highways all break up the landscape and isolate cat populations.

media attention, is especially dangerous for tigers because nearly every body part is in demand, whether intended for use in traditional medicine or simply as a status symbol. The other type of direct slaughter involves conflict or retaliatory killings, a measure people take when they fear big cats going after their livestock—which is very often their livelihood. That can be exacerbated when cats don’t have enough prey.

That brings us to the second threat. As Heydlauff says, “Big cats need big cat food.” Humans, in many cases, legally hunt prey sources like deer, boar, and antelope—often unsustainably. The result is that some wild cats have very little to eat and turn to livestock, further fueling conflict with people.

Habitat loss and fragmentation is the last major hurdle. Clear-cutting, converting wild spaces into agricultural areas, and building highways all break up the landscape and isolate cat populations.

Animals need to breed with unrelated mates to

ensure healthy gene flow and the long-term health of a species, so isolation from different packs leads to unhealthy cats.

Panthera’s teams of experts haven’t stopped at merely identifying the problems, however; they’ve also honed in on solutions to help some of the most precarious species.

Even using the best methods, it takes three to five years to determine population trends in big cats, which is why Panthera is committed for the long haul.

Tigers Forever, one of Panthera’s largest programs, is perhaps the best example of the organization’s emphasis on science-backed action. It started in 2006 with the question of why—as in why, with so many organizations funneling resources into the problem of tiger endangerment, were there only a little over three thousand tigers left in the wild? Panthera and the world’s leading tiger experts asked some hard questions, and what they discovered was that previous initiatives had been diffuse and, consequently, largely ineffective.

Panthera decided to focus only on the primary reasons tigers are dying right now. If they could do that, they projected an increase in tiger numbers by 50 percent at key sites over a ten-year period. So they got to work.

Today, there are fourteen Tigers Forever sites in six Asian countries, all working with a suite of partners ranging from governments to park staff to local and international nongovernmental organizations.

Never before have so many groups worked under one umbrella of shared metrics of success, Heydlauff 30 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

states. These “boots on the ground” contingents are tending to the most urgent threat, poachers, by focusing on law enforcement and site security to prevent human predators from encroaching on tiger territory; they also monitor tiger and prey numbers.

The twenty-first-century approach harnesses technology and a well-trained, incentivized workforce to create secure areas where tigers can breed and raise young. “What we’ve seen is that if we alleviate these threats, tigers can come back,” Heydlauff says. “They breed quickly and know how to successfully raise cubs. They just haven’t been given the opportunity.”

Panthera has verified only eight countries with breeding populations of tigers, but the organization’s efforts are already paying off with signs of rebounding numbers in southern Sumatra and a stabilizing population in Malaysia. It turns out that Panthera’s lean, nimble structure, its partnership with top scientists, and a system where 100 percent of donations go to conservation and educational programs (thanks to

the board’s financing of all fund-raising and nonprogram costs) is a formula for success. “The good news is that we know what’s killing these cats and how to save them,” Heydlauff stresses.

Even using the best methods, it takes three to five years to determine population trends in big cats, which is why Panthera is committed for the long haul. “The disappearance of big cats is a global problem,” Heydlauff concludes, adding that it calls for a global solution. “We’re in an interesting place where our actions now decide whether we’re going to preserve these species or whether we’ll wake up to a world that looks much emptier without these beautiful creatures.”

For more information about the rescue and conservation of big cats, visit www.bigcatrescue.org and www.panthera.org.

B A S M AT I ’ S HOW CAN I HELP? It takes plenty of cold, hard cash to keep organizations like Big Cat Rescue and Panthera afloat, but money aside, there are concrete ways to help big cat preservation and rescue efforts.

1

Refuse to participate in events that allow people to pet or hold big cats.

Cutting off the demand will eliminate the supply and, eventually, the abuse and abandonment of big cats that have outgrown their money-making abilities.

2

Visit www.stopbigcatabuse.com and ask your representative to cosponsor the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, which is outlined on the website. It even identifies area representatives to make it easier for you to contact them.

3

Avoid eating big cat meat, which, shockingly, isn’t hard to find. “Even in Tampa, there was a place that offered a lion meat burger,” Bass says. “What’s scary is that the USDA doesn’t regulate lion meat, so you don’t really know what you’re eating.”

4

Be cautious about volunteer opportunities that involve socializing game animals like lions. Many times, the organization behind these “opportunities” hosts canned hunts wherein guests—largely Americans—can hunt large game contained within a small area. The companies encourage unsuspecting volunteers to socialize the animals when they’re young for the purpose of making them easier to kill when they grow up.

5

Steer clear of sanctuaries or zoos that aren’t accredited or that advertise cub petting.

Accredited facilities can’t buy, sell, breed, or take animals off the property for events.

Many nonaccredited “sanctuaries” are actually breeders or support breeders.

6

Support conservation efforts that keep big cats in the wild, not just in zoos.

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By Kim D

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In 2010, scientists named the lionfish invasion as one of the top threats to global biodiversity. You’re not alone if you find it astonishing that such a relatively small fish (typically shorter than eighteen inches and weighing less than three ounces) could cause such devastation. The truth is lionfish are carnivorous eating machines. Known for reducing native fish populations by up to 70 percent, they feed on countless sea species, including juvenile grouper and snapper, shrimp, and other small crustaceans. The insatiable lionfish also devours its prey at a rapid rate, swallowing one to two whole fish per minute, and has the ability to expand its stomach up to thirty times its normal size. Some coastal areas have estimated that these prolific poachers consume as much as seven thousand pounds of prime seafood per acre, per year!

A Population Explosion The swelling population of this invasive species is adding even more momentum to their wave of destruction. Recent studies of Northwest Florida’s lionfish invasion report the population has doubled every year since 2010, with an estimated thirty thousand to forty thousand eggs being spawned every two to four days. The gluttonous lionfish is indigenous to Indo-Pacific waters; therefore, it has very few predators on this side of the world. Although man is one such predator, fishing for lionfish can be very problematic as these thriving invaders typically don’t bite hooks, and nets aren’t effective among the intricate reefs and wreckage where lionfish tend to live. Spearfishing is the best way to catch lionfish.

The insatiable lionfish also devours its prey at a rapid rate, swallowing one to two whole fish per minute, and has the ability to expand its stomach up to thirty times its normal size.

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There are various theories as to how these indomitable invaders came to inhabit the warm, nutrient-rich waters of the Atlantic near the southeastern U.S. and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. While some theorists blame hurricanes or ballast water from transcontinental ships, the lion’s share believes that releases of lionfish from aquariums, whether accidental or deliberate, are the real culprits.

Regardless of how they got here, everyone seems to agree that it’s a big problem. In 2010, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was so desperate to eradicate the lionfish that it started issuing licenses to divers so they could legally hunt the invasive species within the normally protected confines of the sanctuary. This unprecedented allowance, which the preserve has not given for any other species, became a catalyst for conservation groups and communities across the eastern United States to follow by organizing lionfish competitions, often with sizable cash prizes.

How to Tame a Lionfish Capt. Anderson’s Marina has been leading Panama City Beach’s fight against lionfish for the past three years by creating awareness through events such as the Lion-Tamer Dive Tournament. The first two were held in conjunction with the annual Panama City Beach Seafood and Music Festival in October 2012 and 2013. Devout educator and lionfish eradicator Capt. Ron Spriggs was instrumental in the competition’s inception. Although Spriggs had organized several spearfishing tournaments in the past, initially he had concerns about being able to raise awareness of this horrific predator and drawing enough participation to make an impact.

But then he had an idea—and gave it a twist. Spriggs explains, “I knew ‘spearos’ couldn’t resist a tournament with our local game fish that happen to be in season at the time of the tournament—grouper, amberjack, different species of snapper, et cetera. But to ensure that the divers didn’t set their sights on only the ‘sexy fish’ and ignore the lionfish, I had to somehow tie the two together. So, I made a game of it and designated the lionfish as a wild card. No matter the size of the lionfish, it would count as one pound and could be added to the weight of any one of their tournament fish.”

Recent studies of Northwest Florida’s lionfish invasion report the population has doubled every year since 2010, with an estimated thirty thousand to forty thousand eggs being spawned every two to four days.

V IE Z INE .C OM | 37

“While it’s awesome that we more than doubled last year’s lionfish totals, that means there are more and more lionfish out there.

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Spriggs’s idea was a hit, and by last October’s second Lion-Tamer Dive Tournament, participating spearos nabbed nearly two hundred lionfish. Even more impressive, the tournament winner was thirteen-year-old Courtney Galbreath, who speared twenty-three lionfish!

Recently, the third Lion-Tamer Dive Tournament, cosponsored by Diver’s Den and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, drew even more attention and yielded another record number of lionfish when it was held July 26 as part of Panama City Beach’s Ocean Week event.

“We brought in more than 450 lionfish—and, had all the boats made it back before the cutoff time, the count would have been at least five hundred,” says Michelle Gerth, associate manager for Capt. Anderson’s Marina. Diver Carol Cox took top honors as the master eradicator, spearing 129 lionfish, and, while this year’s record-setting results were impressive, they were also bittersweet to Gerth.

“While it’s awesome that we more than doubled last year’s lionfish totals, that means there are more and more lionfish out there. Holding these tournaments annually or biannually is a great start, but we need to continue the education efforts for all divers to remove them from our local waters throughout the year.”

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Look for the upcoming fourth Lion-Tamer Dive Tournament and workshop to be held over Columbus Day weekend on Saturday, October 11, as a precursor to the following week’s 2014 Panama City Beach Seafood and Music Festival, held October 17 and 18.

Beat ’em at Their Own Game Several Northwest Florida businesses have recently stepped up to add more traction to the lionfish marathon. Diver’s Den has upped the ante by placing a bounty on all lionfish, which includes monthly promotions with in-store credits given for each lionfish handed over. The folks at Guy Harvey are working with the state of Florida on obtaining legislation to legalize lionfish traps. Jackie Rinker, sales director for Clear Channel Communications, was instrumental in forming a task force of volunteers who are making it their goal to take the lionfish awareness campaign to the next level, including driving a demand for lionfish consumption as well as a means for consumer procurement.

Along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, Capt. Anderson’s Marina has hopped on board the “If you can’t beat them, then eat them” bandwagon by hosting lionfish cooking demonstrations and tastings. It’s the hope that by educating consumers about the delicious, mild-flavored lionfish—it has been likened to grouper—they will be less leery of eating the venomous fish. The venom is contained in the pectoral fin but when properly filleted, the lionfish is perfectly safe to eat.

Hopefully, in the not-so-distant future, lionfish will be a familiar offering on restaurant menus and in seafood markets. In the meantime, if you are able to acquire some lionfish, try out Capt. Ron’s famous ceviche recipe. To find out more about the efforts of Capt. Anderson’s Marina to eradicate lionfish, visit captandersonsmarina.com.

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Capt. Ron’s Ceviche Ingredients: × Juice from 4 or 5 large limes per pound of protein ( fish, scallops, shrimp, etc.) × Lionfish or substitute: red snapper, sea bass, grouper, amberjack, or other mild white fish × 1 bunch of fresh cilantro per pound of protein or to taste × Finely diced red onion to taste × Finely diced ripe avocado (1/2 an avocado per pound of protein) × Finely diced ripe mango (1/2 a mango per pound of protein) × Very finely diced jalapeno pepper to taste (seeds removed) × Anaheim pepper to taste (seeds removed) × Coarse ground sea salt to taste × Fresh ground black pepper to taste × Ground thyme to taste × 1/3 cup Mea Ploy sweet chili sauce per pound of protein Cut seafood into chunks, no larger than half an inch.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients in lime juice. Cover and refrigerate for three hours, stirring occasionally.

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AN ANIMAL ADVOCATE

The Founder of Alaqua Animal Refuge Shares Her Story

By Kelly Beasle y

•

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Photography by Dawn C hapman Whitty

“I never intended to start an animal rescue. It happened because of one unforgettable visit to a shelter back in January of 2007. It evolved from my observations of the dire conditions that the animals endured, which were hard for me to witness. There were dogs piled on top of each other in small cages. Some were sick and some obviously needed medical attention. There were fights. And it was beyond comprehension to learn that little to no food or medicine was being supplied to the animals. There was even a dog with an arrow in his skull! When I found out that these dogs were to be put to death within just a few days of their arrival, that was the last straw. I couldn’t stand by and let them all die. I was so upset that when I tried to take photos of them with my cell phone, my hands were shaking so hard that I couldn’t capture a clear shot.”

—Laurie Hood

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This experience revealed just the tip of the iceberg in terms of animal welfare in the area’s existing shelters and in turn birthed Alaqua Animal Refuge, a premier no-kill shelter located in Northwest Florida.

Laurie had gone to the shelter to adopt a border collie puppy with a friend, based on a photo from the county’s website. Upon arrival, she was informed that these animals were not actually up for adoption and that the photos she saw on the website were only there for the public to claim their lost animals. They simply did not advertise adoption services to the public. She asked an employee if they could save the mother border collie and her eight puppies, who were just going to be destroyed anyway. Laurie was informed that she could, but she had to pay the county nine hundred dollars! This seemed a ridiculous amount for animals that were not vaccinated, dewormed, spayed, or neutered, and that were likely sick. The shelter employee then mentioned that if Laurie represented a rescue or other shelter, she could “pull” the dogs for free. With sudden motivation, Laurie asked, “So, if I were a rescue, could I remove more animals than just this litter?” The employee answered, “Sure, you could take as many as you wanted for free.” Laurie jumped at the chance.

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She recalls, “I went home and that evening, I got online, and I created Alaqua Animal Refuge. I raced back to the shelter the next morning with my paperwork in hand and my horse trailer in tow, and that day, we took home thirty-eight animals!” She had no kennels, no business plan, and nowhere to put them but into a three-stall barn on her property, but none of that concerned Laurie. This exemplifies the heart and soul of a humble spirit who reacted to the plight of the animals before knowing how she would supply for their needs. She had faith that it would work out, and her faith has provided for the refuge in a way that is above and beyond what she ever imagined.

$50,000, a hefty sum that goes to covering the cost of food and veterinary care for over two hundred and fifty animals, paying ten employees, and covering other fees associated with running the nonprofit.

It was a life-changing moment. One minute Laurie was helping a friend to get a puppy; in the next, she had started an unplanned nonprofit organization that she now needed to run and to develop as a business. She wanted it to grow and to continue to benefit many more animals’ lives. She had just acquired nearly forty creatures that needed immediate medical attention and quickly found herself hit with an overwhelming $10,000 veterinary bill that was still growing. Other bills piled up for kennel-building materials, food bowls, collars, leashes, bedding, medical supplies, office supplies, and everything else necessary to care for the animals.

“I have to wear many hats for Alaqua to run smoothly, but so much of my time is monopolized by raising money, whether I’m attending a fund-raiser, planning a fund-raiser, writing grants, meeting with potential philanthropists, or giving presentations to potential donors,” Laurie says. “It is all to keep Alaqua from going under.”

There weren’t any no-kill shelters in the surrounding four counties, and word spread quickly that the first one had just opened. Calls poured in from people with animals that were in need of forever homes or medical attention, and it quickly became apparent that Alaqua needed donations, volunteers, and grant support.

There is not much time for Laurie to meet the animals or to enjoy Alaqua herself.

“People come up to me all the time and say, ‘You have my dream job, playing with animals all day!’ and it’s just not true,” Laurie sighs. “I rarely get to spend time with the animals at all. My time is mostly spent keeping the shelter open through activities geared toward bringing in monetary support.”

There are endless cases that are not properly addressed. Even before starting Alaqua, Laurie would walk to her mailbox and find a dog that had been dumped there or a box of kittens abandoned at the end of her street. It happens even more now that Alaqua is there.

So, Laurie started writing grant proposals and creating fund-raisers, and soon the volunteers and the money came. After just a few years, the refuge has flourished into a sanctuary-style “heaven on earth” for horses, cats, dogs, goats, ducks, and more. It is a very different model from most no-kill shelters; the animals are not just kept in little cages until they are adopted, but instead allowed to roam freely as much as possible.

The volunteers at Alaqua are passionate and very committed to fulfilling its mission. Alaqua simply could not run without their hours of dedicated assistance.

Volunteers walk all of the dogs twice daily, and the dogs are given time to run and play freely in fenced fields. Horses, goats, ducks, and even an enormous black bull—named Loverboy for the heart-shaped white mark on his forehead—have free access to grass pastures every day. Laurie is blessed with Alaqua’s enthusiastic volunteers and with the donations that have kept the refuge open. The organization has been very successful at placing animals into forever homes; in its seven years, Alaqua has rehomed over ten thousand animals.

The majority of Laurie’s job—and the most stressful part—is to fund-raise and seek grants and donations to keep the shelter open. The cost per month exceeds 52 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

Laurie has been the sole grant writer since Alaqua’s inception. Others have tried to help, but the task has always been handed back to Laurie. She must work at it endlessly, or the refuge will shut down. More than once she has come very close to being forced to shut the gates.

Laurie states, “If I could find a successful grant writer to help, it would free up a lot of time for other important plans that I have and want to pursue for programs we want to offer.” The funding and resources for animal welfare in Florida, and much of the country, are severely lacking. It is an issue that Laurie is dedicated to helping correct. The endless search for funding can be stressful, if not overwhelming, but she keeps it together for the sake of the animals and so that her vision of expanding Alaqua may come true.

Most people are unaware that the issues of abandoned and abused animals in this area constitute such a crisis. There are endless cases that are not properly addressed. Even before starting Alaqua, Laurie would walk to her mailbox and find a dog that had been dumped there or a box of kittens abandoned at the end of her street. It happens even more now that Alaqua is there.

In Alaqua’s seven years, hundreds of animals have been dumped outside the gates by people hoping that the animals would be taken in, despite the fact that dumping an animal is unlawful. Laurie clarifies, “People dump them here hoping that they will be taken in and rehomed, as opposed to taking them to the county shelter where they will be destroyed if they are not adopted.” As a rule, any animal that is dumped at Alaqua is not taken in. This practice seems to go against the very nature of the refuge, but the animals found dumped at the gates are sent to a county shelter. If Alaqua kept all the dumped animals, news would spread that

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“People dump them here hoping that they will be taken in and rehomed, as opposed to taking them to the county shelter where they will be destroyed if they are not adopted.” anyone can dump an animal there, and the shelter would easily be overwhelmed with more animals than it could sustain.

Tragically, the number of calls that Alaqua receives daily about animals in need of placement exceeds a hundred. Most of them must be turned away; the shelter is generally at full capacity, with around two hundred and fifty animals making it their “sanctuary before home.” It is obvious that the need in the area is much greater than Alaqua can handle. There is now an animal shelter in Walton County but it is a kill shelter, and although they do better than most at keeping the numbers low, sadly, as is the case with most shelters, many animals that enter will never see daylight again.

Animal cruelty is another problem that Alaqua strives to remedy. The refuge has taken on very large abuse cases, with as many as ninety-seven dogs and dozens of horses taken in from a hoarding situation straining their resources. Calls to law enforcement concerning animal cruelty tend to take a back seat to calls concerning humans, which is understandable but still disheartening. There aren’t enough resources available at this time to allow our law enforcement to address animal cruelty as they would like to.

Sadly, because of the lack of funds and facilities, some reports concerning animal cruelty go unanswered or are not followed up until it’s much too late for the animal, who has already suffered an unforgivable and unimaginable death at the hands of its abuser. When you see a TV series like Animal Cops, it becomes evident that some metropolitan areas have plenty of funding, loads of volunteer support, and huge facilities needed to properly care for all the animals in need.

They also have the resources to find and prosecute those who commit cruelty to animals. In our area, it is a rare thing to see an animal abuser come to justice. Even when a case does go through, it can take years to go to trial.

Alaqua has joined forces with local law enforcement, shelters, prosecutors, rescue groups, and animal welfare advocates to provide a yearly seminar on methods and procedures for ensuring the safety of animals, what to look for on the scene of a possible cruelty case, and how to hold those who commit animal cruelty accountable. The classes are free to registrants, and continuing education credits are available for professionals who attend.

“Having seen the tragic results of animal abuse, from burned cats to dogs with broken limbs to starved horses, we at Alaqua were compelled to take action,” Laurie says. “The animal abuse problem here is much, much greater than most people are aware of. The things that I have witnessed from certain abuse cases have challenged my worst nightmares.”

Through Alaqua, she is committed to changing the laws for prosecuting animal abusers. She also wants to educate the public on animal cruelty problems and how all animals and nature should be respected and treated kindly.

To achieve this, Alaqua has created fantastic programs for education and giving back to the community. “We have grown tremendously as far as our diversity goes,” Laurie says. “The programs we have created provide for different needs for dogs and for people as well.”

One such program is the Unconditional Love program. “I noticed many dogs, mostly large ones, coming through the refuge that had been surrendered for many reasons, but most of them were surrendered because their former owners had not spent the time needed to teach them to do just the basic commands and/or to housebreak them,” Laurie asserts. “I heard that other areas were using prison labor to train dogs for adoption, and that one local prison was doing so for Auburn University, but to train security dogs.

“I visited the prison and it was incredible. I asked if we could incorporate rescue dogs. They agreed, and we began putting dogs into the program that needed that extra push. We had an unexpected plus when we saw that some of the dogs had special skills.

We decided to use those to put through additional training phases to become assistance dogs for people who could not afford to buy them. Following graduation, these dogs are better suited for adoption or they continue on to become therapy dogs and are given, free of charge, to handlers or organizations where they are needed.”

A more recent introduction to the refuge is a hippotherapy program called Equine Interactions, which Laurie is very enthusiastic about. She explains, “Our equine program is challenging because so many horses come here without a place for them to go.

Senior horses are an especially difficult problem, so we looked into other options for them. Using them for equine-assisted therapy programs looked promising, and the help that it gave back to children sealed the deal. Equine Interactions was born.”

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Additional programs that have been created include Partners, a senior citizen/ special needs pet program that provides a free animal to fulfill a companion or service need. There’s also the Alaqua Unleashed dog park, which currently offers fenced-in off-leash play areas as well as agility and obedience classes. Alaqua recently joined forces with local marketing sensation 30A.com and Walton County to plan the building of an amphitheater and concert area adjacent to the park. Events held there will help offset Alaqua’s operating costs while providing a much-needed pet-friendly community event venue.

The refuge also offers a discounted spay and neuter program called S.N.A.P. (Spay/Neuter Assistance Program) and a kids’ club designed to teach children the value of protecting animals and giving back to their community.

Due to the unexpected and explosive growth of Alaqua Animal Refuge and the area’s need for this type of community service, Laurie realized that they had outgrown their ten acres and needed to expand. After searching for a suitable location without success, she received two major donations to help the dream come alive.

The first was a generous donation of eighty-five acres of land from Stella and M.C. Davis, owners of the nearby E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center. Additionally, they received an equally generous $500,000 matching grant from the Dugas Family Foundation for the new refuge. “We call it Project ARC, which stands for Alaqua Relocation Campaign,” Laurie says.

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“I want to educate children who may not otherwise understand or be able to learn how animals, tame or wild, should be treated.”

The new location, right across from the Biophilia Center on Highway 20 in Freeport, Florida, will provide educational programs for the public about animal care and abuse prevention and will feature a zoological park, which will feature animals that are native to our area. These new developments are just a snippet of Laurie’s larger vision to advocate animal welfare through the refuge.

“I want the new Alaqua to inspire even more people to make a difference,” Laurie says with a big smile that reveals her passion for this vision. “We want to create a vacation destination for families who love animals and for animal welfare advocates. With the Biophilia Center, Gulf World, the Gulfarium, and with ARC soon to be complete, the area offers many possibilities for animal interaction. We want to bring to the community multiple benefits, apart from saving and adopting our animals. The new refuge will include exhibits and interactive enclosures of animals that guests may not otherwise get the chance to observe or touch. We will offer weekend workshops for students of all kinds on horse care or canine obedience. Grieving families will have a place to hold a memorial service for their pets in a chapel surrounded by woods. We want to offer living quarters for interns from veterinary schools to learn new skills and for future sanctuary founders to experience what we have to offer.”

Laurie is excited about the vision coming to life and is especially excited about one particular announcement concerning the planning. “Zoologist Jim Fowler of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom has joined our team in designing the grounds and the programs for the new facility!” she exclaims with a huge grin. “We are so excited to have Jim’s extensive knowledge to help us, and also to help realize his dream of creating a wildlife and nature education center!”

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$1 will be donated to Alaqua from every “Lucky Dog” Margarita ’Tini sold at Cafe-Thirty-A over the next year. Good deal. Good dog.

The zoological park will house only animals that cannot be released into the wild due to injury or other reasons. “I want to educate children who may not otherwise understand or be able to learn how animals, tame or wild, should be treated,” Laurie says.

Laurie’s path for the past seven years has been full of obstacles, tragedies, successes, tears, victories, and much hard, hard work. The payoff is that over ten thousand animals have been rescued and happily placed into homes. Most of them would have perished through neglect, euthanasia, or cruelty. Laurie never dreamed that the rescue of those original thirty-eight animals from their death sentences would grow into a much bigger mission, one that would be so challenging, time-consuming, and fulfilling all at the same time.

“What I do is not all puppies and kittens,” Laurie emphasizes. “This is demanding, hard work that never ends. I am putting out fires all day. Every day is still stressed, with concerns about raising the money necessary to keep the shelter functioning, and there is always another neglect, abuse, or abandonment case out there.

“Still, I want to keep Alaqua alive. I am so excited about the possibilities we have in our offerings with the expanded facilities and services at the new location. It will be great to see the new, improved Alaqua vision come to life, providing sanctuary, education, and cruelty prevention for the betterment of our world and for the people and animals that live in it.”

To learn more or to make a donation, visit www.alaquaanimalrefuge.org.

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e – Loved by –

My Lady and Her Dog

By Dean Mitchum • photography by romona robbins I was never an animal lover, or even a pet enthusiast, but I married one.

My wife is a pet lover. I’ve seen through the years what the pets in her life have brought to her: joy and sadness, pain and pleasure, but most of all, friendship—a relationship with a special friend who’s always loving and faithful. These are the kinds of attributes I love in my lady, my wife of thirty-two years, Lisa. We’ve had several pets together—even one cat who lived eighteen years and a dog who lived fifteen.

We would always get the pets from a shelter or through people we knew. She’s always had a heart for the underdog—no pun intended. She has a knack for choosing the not-so-pretty thing and turning it into something beautiful.

But something was different this time. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. The longing for a loyal pet was becoming too much to bear. Her pet lover’s heart needed a pet to love. The heart of the one I love needed a pet.

I’ve never fully understood the relationship between pet owners and their pets, but in the last few years I’ve come to witness an amazing thing: a totally loyal pet to a totally loyal pet owner.

I made a decision: because I love the one who loves animals, I would show my love by sharing our home with another pet. A dog again, not an independent cat like I tended to like, but a dog who needed to be fed, walked, and played with.

A few years had passed since we lost our first dog of fifteen years when my wife, knowing I wasn’t crazy about getting another one, asked me the question.

“Would you mind if I got another dog?” Pausing for my response, she braced herself. I said the same things and asked the same questions as I had years before.

So, we took a trip to the local animal shelter, Alaqua Animal Refuge. Of course, they had more than just dogs, so we spent time looking at all the animals. I tried to look interested but, just as I do with shopping, I didn’t fake it very well.

“You know I don’t miss having a pet, right?” I asked it as if she had never known how I felt. “I don’t have to feed it, right? I don’t have to walk it, right? I don’t want the responsibility, remember?”

We walked several dogs and played with a few, but went back to the one who surprised me. She was bigger than what we were looking for, but not too big. The caretaker at the shelter told us they would put new

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e Over the past two years, I have seen the happiness and joy that Daisy has brought to my wife. The dog she picked has been as appreciative of our home and family as my wife is of her.

dogs in with this dog to help them settle in. She was a great companion for new dogs; she could make the nervous new arrivals feel at home. My wife loved that. This dog was like her. My wife chose her and the adoption process began.

So, for her fiftieth birthday present, my wife got a dog. Not just any dog— a bluetick coonhound–pointer mix with German shepherd coloring. We’re not sure what all she is, but she is beautiful.

At home, we were thinking of names and decided on Daisy. My wife loves flowers and since we have a cat named Petunia, it was only fitting to have a dog named Daisy. (Early in our married years, as part of a compromise, she let me name the first three cats. I chose Sylvester, Elmer, and Fozzy. After that, she decided that cartoon names were not the way to go. So having me name the dog was out of the question.)

Over the past two years, I have seen the happiness and joy that Daisy has brought to my wife. The dog she picked has been as appreciative of our home and family as my wife is of her. Countless times I’ve watched as they have lain together, played together, slept together, and ridden around town together. Daisy is always near my wife, whether she’s on the couch or in the shower. She has to be near her, showing complete acceptance and loyalty, wagging her tail at the whisper of her name, running ahead of us to bed, and waiting for her snacks.

I couldn’t have asked for a better dog for my wife than the one we got at Alaqua that day, and seeing the joy and pure happiness that my wife experiences makes me feel loved not only by her, but by her dog as well.

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WINING AND DINING FOR THE ANIMALS Alaqua Animal Refuge’s 100-Point Wine Dinner B y Jil l Ta nner

•

Pho to g rap hy by D awn C hap m an W hitty

TOP LEFT: 100-POINT WINES ARE THE HIGHEST RATED ON A SCALE DEVELOPED BY WORLD-FAMOUS WINE CRITIC ROBERT M. PARKER, JR. TOP RIGHT: PRAIRIE IS JUST ONE OF MANY DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS REHABILITATED AND WAITING FOR A NEW FOREVER HOME AT ALAQUA ANIMAL REFUGE. BOTTOM LEFT: THE MENU WAS CAREFULLY CRAFTED BY CHEF NIKHIL ABUVALA OF ROUX 30A AND WINE CONNOISSEUR MICHEL THIBAULT. BOTTOM RIGHT: DAWN WEEMS INTRODUCES LISA AND MARK HEITZ TO ONE OF THE RESIDENTS AT THE HOOD FAMILY’S STABLE.

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A

t the end of a winding dirt road just north of the sugar-white beaches of South Walton, Florida, you will find Alaqua Animal Refuge. The ten-acre award-winning refuge, located in Freeport, Florida, may be a little off the beaten path, but is one of the top no-kill animal shelters in the country. At any given time, the refuge is home to nearly 250 animals, including horses, chickens, pigs, bunnies, emus, wild hogs, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and one very hefty steer named Loverboy (rumored to be the largest steer in the state). The animals of Alaqua lead a charmed life thanks to the care and love they receive from the staff and volunteers who give their time to make Alaqua a little piece of heaven on earth. Since its inception in 2007, Alaqua Animal Refuge has rescued nearly ten thousand homeless, abused, and neglected animals.

Just across the street from the refuge is the home and ten-acre horse farm of Alaqua’s founders, Laurie and Taylor Hood, and their two sons, Garner and Crockett.

The property, situated right on Alaqua Bayou, is adorned with moss-draped oak trees. Rare white pelicans frequent the bayou, and it’s not uncommon to see dolphins put on a show as you ride your horse along the water. The Euchee Indian tribe called this land home many years ago. They were known for protecting the land and the animals that shared it with them. Their spirit lives on at Alaqua Animal Refuge, which was named in their honor.

Before Laurie founded Alaqua, there wasn’t a shelter or an adoption center of any kind for neglected animals in Walton County. Thousands were euthanized each year without a glimmer of hope or love. Laurie has since changed the entire state of animal welfare in this county, but having such a large operation in such a small town makes finding funds very tricky. Creativity often comes into play, which is exactly how the 100-Point Wine Dinner was conceived.

Laurie turned to French wine expert Michel Thibault to help her create the unique event known as the 100-Point Wine Dinner. Michel, who was recently inducted to the eight-hundred-year-old wine society, the Jurade de Saint-Émilion, in Bordeaux, France, scours the globe in search of 100-point wines. The wines are often held in private collections and locating them can be quite a task.

Once the wines were procured, the dinner that followed was nothing short of superb.

The 2014 100-Point Wine Dinner was held on June 14 at the Hood farm in the award-winning barn designed by architect Les McCormick. The evening began with a champagne and cocktail party featuring Nashville performer Daphne Willis, who serenaded guests with her unique vocal styling and distinctive brand of music during the reception.

Following the reception, a five-course farm-to-table meal was donated and served by Chef Nikhil Abuvala of Roux 30A. Chef Nikhil created a superior menu and worked closely with Michel to pair each course perfectly with each 100-point wine. The chosen wines, such as the 2010 Dominus from the New World and the 2009 Château Pontet-Canet 2009 from the Old World, delighted the guests. Even the dessert wine, the 2001 Château Rieussec Sauternes, was rated 100 points.

Only fifty seats were available for this exclusive event due to the rarity of the wines. Jetsetters from around the country were in attendance, and this distinctive wine dinner made for a night that guests would never forget as they gathered together to help the animals of Alaqua. The evening was a huge success and garnered $95,000 from ticket sales, live auction lots, and silent auction items. A private donor also pledged $125,000 that night to build the medical facility at the new Alaqua, and $22,000 was pledged by other private donors for the Alaqua Relocation Campaign (ARC).

CHEF NIKHIL ABUVALA AND ZACHARY SPEAR PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON A SUMPTUOUS FEAST.

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THANK YOU!

Many thanks go out to all who donated their time, services, and money to Alaqua’s 100-Point Wine Dinner.

Alaqua Animal Refuge is excited to announce another way you can help—the very first Hunks and Hounds calendar will soon go on sale! Local photographer Dawn Chapman Whitty has generously donated her services and captured local “hunks” with their best four-legged friends to be featured in an exclusive 2015 calendar. The calendar is available for purchase at www.hunksandhounds.com and all proceeds will go Coastal Cuisine with a Southern Twist

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CELEBRITIES JOIN EFFORTS to aid Children’s Advocacy Center

By Sallie W. Boyles Photography by Romona Robbins

EVERY NOW AND THEN, A SERIOUSLY IMPORTANT UNDERTAKING BEGINS WITH A LITTLE FOLLY, AS IN THE CASE OF THE CHI CHI MIGUEL THROWDOWN. THE SILLY NAME IN ITSELF CONVEYS THAT SOMEONE HAS COOKED UP SOMETHING FUN, WHICH IS TRUE, BUT IN THAT ENDEAVOR, SOME KID-AT-HEART GROWNUPS HAVE HELPED MANY, INCLUDING CHILDREN.

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ACTOR/DIRECTOR MORGAN FREEMAN HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE CHI CHI MIGUEL THROWDOWN FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS. HE MADE AN APPEARANCE AT THE DINNER BENEFITING THE EMERALD COAST CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTER THIS PAST MAY. V IE Z INE .C OM | 75

ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO, NORTHWEST FLORIDA RESIDENT MICHAEL THOMPSON, WHO HAD BECOME A WINE ENTHUSIAST WITH HIS WIFE, VALERIE, TOOK A GROUP OF FRIENDS ON A WINE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. (THE COUPLE HAS SINCE ESTABLISHED THOMPSON FAMILY WINES.) THEY WERE ENJOYING A DINNER HOSTED BY THE WINEMAKERS OF KOSTA BROWNE WHEN ONE OF HIS FRIENDS CONTENDED THAT MICHAEL MADE THE BEST BARBECUE EVER. A FRIENDLY BANDY OF WORDS ERUPTED INTO A BACKYARD BARBECUE CHALLENGE. Since Michael was right smack in the middle of it, he and Valerie later hosted a cook-off among their cross-country friends. Determining that such an auspicious event should be named, Valerie had the idea of resurrecting Michael’s childhood nickname, Chi Chi Miguel, which he had acquired in honor of Puerto Rican golfer Chi-Chi Rodríguez while learning to play golf in the Caribbean. After serving up such good food, wine, and fun the first year, the Chi Chi Miguel Throwdown became an annual party.

Realizing that their spirited gathering presented an opportunity for fund-raising, the planners added a charitable element in 2011 to aid local and regional nonprofits. To be clear, Michael explains that Chi Chi Miguel is not a 501(c)(3). “All Valerie and I do is put the event together,” he says, “and provide a platform for charities to receive donations. The private contributions are made directly to those organizations, and they receive every dollar of the money.”

Michael’s focus is getting people involved, but his method is discreet and among friends. “We’ve kept the number of participants to around 130,” he says. “We might grow to 170, but don’t want it becoming too large. Also, this is a fund-raiser with an auction component, and those who attend understand that commitment.” Whether or not they win any auction items, many make private donations above and beyond, which is how 130 people generate over $2 million for charity.

In addition to the lively, mixed-celebrity cook-off with five different teams, the auction is a huge draw to the Throwdown. Each donated auction lot—whether select wine reserves, a rare vacation package, box seats to a sold-out sporting event, a famous musician’s autographed guitar, or an exclusive wine dinner—corresponds to a particular charity. And that is why Morgan Freeman accepted his invitation.

Now considered a fixture of the Chi Chi Miguel Throwdown, Freeman first agreed to be part of the auction a few years ago by appearing at an intimate dinner party in a private Northwest Florida home. This year, local couple Lynn and Steve Dugas hosted the Morgan Freeman dinner, which featured music with Geoff McBride of The Voice and Freeman himself singing. Aside from experiencing a once-in-a-lifetimeevening, attendees gained tremendous gratification from helping the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center.

In other words, separate donations cover all costs, such as the wine, food, venues, travel, and accommodations, surrounding the event. Accordingly, in 2014, eight different charities received a total of over $2 million through the Chi Chi Miguel Throwdown.

Along with celebrity chefs and vintners, icons of the business world, professional ballplayers, famous musicians, and movie stars have joined the party.

Yes, famous people—like Emeril Lagasse and Morgan Freeman—engage in what has become a three-day happening with a golf tournament and a winetasting/shopping extravaganza. Thus, Michael admits, the undertaking now requires intricate planning. “Valerie works all year long, often all day long, to pull this together,” he says, “and she deserves a lot more credit than I.” 76 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

BACK ROW: DAN KOSTA, MIKE THOMPSON, LINDA KEENA, MORGAN FREEMAN, LYNN DUGAS, AND SYKES STURDIVANT; FRONT ROW: STEVE DUGAS, VALERIE THOMPSON, AND CINDY STURDIVANT

Since opening in 2000, the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center (or CAC) has operated as a 501(c) (3) to prevent child abuse and neglect, protect children in the Florida Panhandle communities it serves, and restore the lives of children (and their families) who have been victims of abuse and neglect. The Center is not a place where children stay, but rather where they find refuge by receiving much-needed help and services—investigative, legal, social, medical, and mental health—beneath one roof.

The need for an all-in-one facility to prevent and address problems of child neglect and abuse through a team approach became apparent after several little girls were sexually abused while attending a Northwest Florida day care in the 1990s. The highly publicized case highlighted the burdens placed on children and their families during such a traumatizing period. The CAC’s executive director, Julie Hurst, who had worked in the state’s attorney’s office as a victim’s advocate, explains that forcing children to repeat their stories to many different authorities, from police to psychologists, prolongs and intensifies their pain.

“Tired of talking to people,” says Julie, “the kid would eventually say it didn’t happen. We’d lose the chance to help the child and family, or to put the perpetrator in jail. A child who comes to our center tells one story because all agencies can watch the same interview.”

“VOLUNTEERS BAKE COOKIES FOR US AND GREET THE FAMILIES AND WE GET TO KNOW THEM. MY OFFICE IS OUT FRONT, AND CHILDREN OFTEN COME IN TO TALK WITH ME. THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE TALKING HERE.”

Moreover, the CAC, which grew from a multidisciplinary task force on which Julie served in 1998, is intentionally designed as a child-friendly refuge.

The plantation-style building in Okaloosa County welcomes visitors inside, where they encounter friends like Nemo in a beautiful saltwater fish tank and Riley the Maltese, a trained therapy dog. Humans, too, are part of the welcoming committee.

“Volunteers bake cookies for us and greet the families,” Julie says, “and we get to know them. My office is out front, and children often come in to talk with me.

They feel comfortable talking here. One child recently told his therapist, ‘I have a lot to tell Riley today; you can listen if you want.’”

The CAC handles cases involving babies and children through eighteen years of age. Most are female between the ages of four and twelve. “We see the most egregious cases—child sex, physical abuse, drug endangerment, domestic violence exposure,” says Julie.

TOP: SINFONIA GULF COAST’S MAESTRO DEMETRIUS FULLER AND CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JULIE HURST WITH MORGAN FREEMAN. BOTTOM: MORGAN FREEMAN JAMS OUT WITH SOUTH WALTON’S GEOFF MCBRIDE. V IE Z INE .C OM | 77

“Ninety percent are abused by someone they know.” During the past year, the CAC served well over seven hundred children across the socioeconomic spectrum. “I wouldn’t be here if we didn’t change lives,” Julie affirms.

To address a growing need within its two-county region, the CAC breaks ground in October 2014 for a second 13,000-square-foot facility in Walton County. Since 60 percent of its funding comes from the community, the CAC heavily relies on private donations, large and small, for capital campaigns and ongoing support. Julie reveals that the annual budget with the new building will be $1.5 million. Thankfully, the most recent Chi Chi Miguel Throwdown raised $1.13 million for the Emerald Coast CAC. Pleased that Chi Chi Miguel does so much good, Michael, also a member of the CAC Board, reserves most of his praise for those who fight for kids every day.

“Julie is a very dedicated soul,” says Michael. “I recently heard about someone who dropped off a two-year-old at the Center on a Sunday. Twenty-four/seven, the CAC helps children in the community.”

Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center www.eccac.org MIKE AND VALERIE THOMPSON TAKE TIME OUT TO THANK MORGAN FREEMAN FOR HELPING THE CHILDREN OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA.

Chi Chi Miguel Throwdown www.chichimiguel.com

The Year of the

HORSE

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S T O R Y

A N D

P H O T O G R A P H Y

B Y

R O M O N A

R O B B I N S

On the surface, the relationship we have with our pets is a simple one: we feed them, play with them, and love them. But when you really dig into the complexities of these interspecies connections, what you find can be quite enlightening. Would you be surprised to know that pets improve our health and boost our immunities? I guess it doesn’t surprise me that love makes us feel better, so it makes perfect sense—but I recently learned just how deep that healing love can go!

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L

et me start at the beginning: I’m not just a lifelong animal lover; I’m also a passionate photographer. This was confirmed when I won the 2011 Passionate Photographer Scholarship from Santa Fe Photographic Workshops (serious photographers everywhere are well aware of this institution).

With more than a handful of programs to pick from, I chose to study documentary storytelling under Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer (and founder of Think Tank Photo) Deanne Fitzmaurice. I figured that if I was going to learn anything, then I might as well jump in with both feet.

When it comes to documentary storytelling, the true challenge for me was inviting myself into someone else’s world and then nonintrusively

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capturing the soul of the story through my lens.

But I knew Deanne would be there to help me through the process. The hardest obstacle up front was simply finding a subject. If you’ve lived in Florida for as long as I have, you tend to think of places like Santa Fe as the Wild West, so I thought, “Why not go the obvious route and research a topic that involves horses? I mean, I am an animal lover after all.”

Enter Horses for Heroes New Mexico – Cowboy Up! This is an organization that offers a skill-set restructuring program that helps rehabilitate wounded soldiers and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or other combat injuries. It seemed like a well-defined and fairly prepackaged story that would produce some strong imagery.

But if you’re familiar with making documentaries of any kind, then you know that sometimes the best story is one you never expected to tell.

So, in the true cowboy spirit, I made my way to the Land of Enchantment. During the plane ride, with every state that passed beneath me, my emotions grew from excitement to fear: I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I had the green light to shoot the horses and the heroes, but cold-calling the executive director, Rick Iannucci, and setting everything up through his loving wife, Nancy De Santis (who is also the director, the lead instructor, and a Reiki master), didn’t leave me feeling completely welcome.

To be honest, her frankness scared the hell out of me—so much so that I even considered pursuing an alternate story line. After all, this was a spiritual journey for me, so why would I want to spend it

ANY GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF AN ANIMAL QUICKENS OUR OWN AND MAKES IT SO MUCH THE LARGER AND BETTER IN EVERY WAY. —JOHN MUIR with someone who didn’t come off as very friendly?

But my gut was telling me to ignore the fear. It would make sense for Nancy to be protective of her clients and, of course, there are some boundaries that would need to be respected. Ultimately, if I was going to be successful in documentary storytelling, then I was going to have to get over my fear of intruding. I’m glad my gut can be logical sometimes.

I’d love to say that I moseyed in at high noon, but I was running late (Thanks, GPS!). Besides, I don’t think you can call it moseying if you’re doing it timidly. But as I reached the entrance to the horse arena, the most beautiful cowgirl with the most radiant and welcoming energy that I have ever felt greeted me with open arms—it’s funny how reading into e-mail tones can give us such misguided impressions of people sometimes.

Day one was just observation. The worst thing a documentary photographer can do is break out the camera and start snapping away moments after meeting the subjects. It tends to depersonalize a very intimate situation. My focus was on the veterans and the horses, and there was an obvious aura of peace and tranquility that fed from one to the other, almost like a symbiotic relationship. The love and the trust they shared was an inspiring sight to

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see, but what really caught my eye was Nancy. She was like a medium who facilitated any significant communication between the horses and the heroes, and the challenge of somehow capturing that often unspoken energy through a lens became too powerful to ignore. And so it was that Nancy became my muse. My documentary would now tell the story of her relationship with the animals and how she trains them to be great healers.

The next several days were surreal. From the crack of dawn until dinnertime, I was Nancy De Santis’s shadow. I’m not sure why she let me in so easily after being so guarded in the beginning—perhaps it was the passion that we shared. I love what I do, and it’s obvious that she does too. Even her “mundane” managerial responsibilities and daily chores were carried out in a way that would inspire a generation.

But the real magic came from her interactions with her family of horses. Whether it was during the 84 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

NANCY

became my

MUSE.

M Y D O C U M E N TA R Y W O U L D N O W T E L L T H E S T O R Y O F H E R R E L AT I O N S H I P W I T H T H E A N I M A L S A N D H O W S H E T R A I N S T H E M T O B E G R E AT H E A L E R S .

client sessions or one-on-one, Nancy had a way with those horses that I thought only existed in old Westerns. She embodied the character well beyond the silver screen and didn’t even need a makeup artist to do it. Here was a smoking-hot cowgirl, a Reiki master, an anti-Stepford wife—a badass!

Before I go any further, I should explain the “master” part. Reiki is a form of energy healing that focuses on “spiritually guided life force energy.” It is

believed that keeping our energy (qi) balanced will help maintain our physical, spiritual, and mental health. A Reiki master aids in channeling a client’s qi to flow evenly and uninterrupted throughout his or her body. This is accomplished when the practitioner’s hands are placed on or near the client’s body in a series of different positions.

Based on my own personal experience, the best way I can describe Reiki is pure relaxation with an intense emotional purge. For those of you who might think that’s a little too new age for you, brace yourselves and open your minds—Nancy does this to her horses! I was fortunate enough to witness it.

OK, it sounds silly on paper but trust me, I’ve done it, and it’s an otherworldly experience.

First, Nancy placed her hand on the horse’s body, and without any prompting or cues, he closed V IE Z INE .C OM | 85

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his eyes and seemed immediately relaxed. Once the energy seemed to flow freely from where her hand rested, the horse moved his body to the next point right under her hand. His eyes were closed as he hung his head low.

What was even more amazing to me was that all the other horses began to crowd him, trying to nudge him out of the way. It seemed as though they were anxious to get their turns too. It blew my mind.

Because I have had Reiki performed on me in the past, I felt like I could relate to what the horses were experiencing with her at that moment, and I knew that it was real. And at that moment, it all made sense. Humans are inherently sensitive and energetic beings, and so are horses. These horses spend a good portion of their lives soothing and releasing the unbalanced energy harbored by the brave souls of their riders—and Nancy spends a good portion of her time helping the energy centers of her horses get back in balance. This is where I believe the actual healing process begins in regard to using horses as healers for the soldiers. It begins with Nancy’s relationship with her animals.

The caring compassion we give to our animal friends is reciprocated, and trust and love become unconditional. It’s no wonder that the pureness of an animal’s soul can be so good for us.

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TALK TO THE ANIMALS Anna Breytenbach Breaks Communication Barriers

By Elizabeth Gledhill Photography courtesy of Anna Breytenbach

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IF I TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO TALK TO ANIMALS AND THAT THEY COULD TALK BACK TO YOU, WOULD YOU THINK I WAS CRAZY? FIVE MONTHS AGO, I WOULDN’T HAVE BLAMED YOU. NOW? NOW I KNOW IT’S NOT CRAZY AT ALL. I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO KNOW THAT WE CAN COMMUNICATE WITH ANIMALS AND THEY CAN COMMUNICATE BACK TO US! I understand how hard it is to believe a concept that seems so far-fetched and even a little childish. I have always wanted to talk to an animal and have it talk back to me. Haven’t we all? There have been all sorts of TV shows and movies depicting fictitious animals with the ability to communicate in one form or another: Lady and the Tramp, Mr. Ed, Babe, Flipper, Benji, and of course, Dr. Dolittle (Remember the pushmi-pullyu? I loved them! It?) Well, as if straight out of a dream, I just found out that it really is possible to communicate with animals, and I am here to tell you all about my discovery. Of course, I have since tried to “hear” what my own animals were saying, but I haven’t been successful yet. It’s a skill, and like the development of any other skill, it requires much education and practice.

The way I came about this revelation was purely by accident. I hadn’t actually been pondering the subject when I happened upon The Animal Communicator, a documentary commissioned by the Natural History Unit of Africa (NHU Africa). The film features South African–born Anna Breytenbach, who has devoted her life to “interspecies communication,” whereby she sends mental images to animals and receives messages back from them in turn.

Swati Thiyagarajan, one of India’s top environmental journalists, was skeptical of Anna’s abilities. In an attempt to verify or refute Anna’s claims, Swati became involved in the documentary project. She watched as Anna communicated with the animals and diagnosed their problems. Time and again, the animals’ caregivers confirmed the messages Anna received from the animals. In addition to displaying Anna’s amazing abilities, the documentary also stresses the importance of our relationship with nature and sharing the earth with animals.

For me and many other people who have seen the film, there is no longer any question as to whether animal communication is possible. This documentary completely changed my opinion on the subject—it has also changed my life.

I encourage you to watch it, if you are able to purchase it or find it on the Internet.

As I watched the documentary, I was deeply moved by two stories in particular.

One was of a cockatoo named Coco who was attacking people. The other was about an angry black leopard named Diablo, who was renamed Spirit during the documentary. (I’ll explain the name change later.)

While Anna was filmed speaking to the different animals in need, she was not permitted to ask the animal keepers any questions regarding her animal clients.

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Most of the animal keepers who were part of the documentary were quite skeptical about animal communication, but none more so than Jurg Olsen, the founder of Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary for big cats in George, South Africa.

Jurg was at his wit’s end with the antisocial and angry Diablo, a gorgeous black leopard that had come to the sanctuary six months earlier. The cat had been rescued from a European zoo where he had been mistreated.

After arriving at Jukani, the cat would not venture outside of his small night enclosure. There was a very large and open natural area that he could use, but during his six months at the reserve, he would not go out and explore during the day. He only hid in the small enclosure, snarling and growling at anyone who approached him. He seemed anxious all the time and he was clearly very unhappy.

Before Anna communicated with Diablo, Jurg spoke of his disbelief in animal communication, but went ahead and let her try. Anna “spoke” with Diablo and then relayed to Jurg what had been communicated to her. She said that Diablo felt as though there were expectations that were going to be imposed upon him if he came out of his enclosure. He felt like humans wanted him to entertain them—that he had to be on display for them. He also did not feel respected for the powerful and majestic being that he was. Anna reassured Diablo that nobody wanted anything of him; they just wanted him to be happy, to relax, and to enjoy his life. He was relieved by this and let Anna know that now that he knew nothing was expected of him, he felt like he did want to venture out into his new home. He also told her that he did not like his name, Diablo, and wanted it changed. (I know—at first, all of this sounded crazy to me too, especially the name change.)

Much to Jurg’s surprise and delight, later that day, Diablo followed through on what he had “said” to Anna. He came out of his enclosure and explored for the very first time in six months. Anna also mentioned that Diablo wanted to know what had happened to the two young leopards that were near him at the zoo. It was impossible for Anna to have known about the two leopard cubs. This was the first moment that Jurg truly knew that Anna was receiving

something from Diablo. There was no other way she could have known about the two cubs. Jurg was blown away, as anybody would be when faced with such a fantastic revelation. Despite his prior feelings, he now believed that Diablo was indeed communicating with Anna.

When he was alone with Diablo that afternoon, Jurg decided to talk to him. He told Diablo that he was going to change his name to Spirit. He also informed him that the two cubs were okay. Jurg recalled, “Once I told Spirit that the cubs were safe, I couldn’t help it, I just said to him, ‘Wow, you’re beautiful.’ Spirit replied back with a deep grunt, ‘AOU!’ I thought: What’s happening here? I said to him, ‘Do you understand what I am telling you when I say you are the most stunning cat?’ Again, ‘AOU!’ “I spoke to him and he answered me back nineteen times. He just sat there and he was completely relaxed.

It’s the first time since we had him that I felt at ease with him; he was totally relaxed and he understood me. It was the most amazing moment.”

Anna came back that evening to see how Spirit was doing. She asked him how it went when Jurg spoke to him alone, and Spirit relayed to her his relief that

BEFORE ANNA COMMUNICATED WITH DIABLO, JURG SPOKE OF HIS DISBELIEF IN ANIMAL COMMUNICATION, BUT WENT AHEAD AND LET HER TRY. there were no expectations of him, and that he was saying thank you back to Jurg when he would grunt his “AOU.” Anna turned to ask Jurg if he wanted to comment on Spirit’s response, but Jurg was so overcome with emotion that he was too choked up to speak. This was the most powerful moment of the documentary for me. Seeing Jurg so moved and overwhelmed by the reality of what had just transpired affirmed for me that all of it was real. It was easy to tell that Jurg wasn’t faking anything. His feelings and reactions were genuine. His uncontrolled emotion perfectly portrayed how I imagine I would feel if I were in his shoes at that moment of enlightenment.

When Anna communicates with an animal, it’s not in words, nor does she use her voice. Instead, they communicate with each other by projecting thoughts and images in their minds. Anna receives images from them, and she projects what she’s

thinking to the animal. Bodily sensations are also involved. She might feel a stomachache from an animal, indicating that there may be an abdominal issue with him. Since everything in the universe is made up of energy, it is possible that we are all connected.

And perhaps, because of this interconnectedness, we can communicate with animals on a quantum level.

Still, my skeptical side questioned one part of the filming process. I was bothered by the way Anna was filmed talking to Spirit. They claimed that when Anna approached his enclosure, he did not snarl and growl at her, nor did he retreat into the grass and hide, as he usually does. They didn’t show this event take place. It was edited to look like she was looking at him and speaking to him, with him relaxed and calm, but they never showed a full frame of it happening.

Ha! You can’t fool me, you sneaky documentary.

What’s up with that?

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I wanted the proof of seeing Spirit let Anna approach him without resistance. So why wouldn’t they show that part to prove it? It seemed suspicious.

I had to find out why, so I tried to contact Anna, but she has been inundated with interview requests ever since the documentary was released. She was unavailable to interview for at least a year, so I went to the next-best source: Jurg Olsen.

“SPIRIT HAS CHANGED MY WHOLE APPROACH TO ANIMALS... I NOW SEE THEM AS EACH ONE BEING UNIQUE.”

I e-mailed Jurg to ask him a few questions about Spirit and the documentary, and he was eager to answer anything I wanted.

Jurg went into great detail when answering all of my questions, and I am very grateful for that. When I asked him about the missing key scene of Anna “talking” to Spirit, Jurg explained the reasoning for the editing. He said that Spirit was sensitive and quick to become stressed around people. He explained, “I did not want the filming team to accompany Anna as it would get too crowded, and I would then have to close him in his shelter so he wouldn’t run off—and believe me, he would have been impossible to work with if he was enclosed. I needed to give him a fair chance at speaking his mind.” The last time Jurg tried to close Spirit in his shelter, he was hospitalized for a week!

Jurg thought it best to let Anna go see Spirit by herself with no filming crew around her, to allow them the best environment for communication. They then filmed a scene to reenact her speaking with him for the first time. This made perfect sense, and it helped me immensely as far as understanding why they couldn’t show it as it happened.

Meeting Anna and learning of her remarkable abilities changed Jurg’s life. After the documentary, he attended her workshop on animal communication; he now communicates with all the cats at the refuge. He says that it has had a very positive effect on his relationship with his cats. Jurg interacts with them very differently now as a result of what he learned.

I also asked Jurg about his initial skepticism and how he has changed. He replied, “I was very skeptical at first. I grew up on a farm and animals were considered animals—just that, nothing more. Spirit changed all that. Sometimes I still find myself wondering about animal communication, but the way it happened with Spirit is just too drastic to be coincidental. For six months he refused to leave his night shelter during the day. After Anna’s consultation with him and after I changed his name to Spirit, he relaxed and he came out of his shelter—just as Spirit ‘said’ he would.”

Then Jurg said something that has really made me think very differently about how we should treat animals, especially wild ones.

He told me, “Spirit will never be a cat that you can touch; he is way too much of a spiritual being. And I do not think humans should play with or touch young

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cubs (or any animal) and then, when the human needs have been satisfied, walk away. If you want to interact with a ‘wild’ animal, you have to commit your life to that animal; you don’t just walk away and give the next paying customer the opportunity to play or cuddle or interact with the cubs (or any animal). I call it ‘animal prostitution’ and it is no different from the human version.”

I see that explanation as a unique yet spot-on way to look at how humans care for, use, and discard animals. We tend to use them simply for our own personal needs. Some people don’t stop to consider what the animal might want or need. They may not even realize that the animal is an individual that has needs. “People need to stand still and just look at the animal,” said Jurg, “get quiet inside, and look and see the animal for the individual that it is.”

As for learning that animal communication is real, Jurg said, “Spirit has changed my whole approach to animals. I now recognize the individual personalities, respect their space, try to understand their needs—but most of all, I now see them as each one being unique. They are no longer just lions or tigers or ‘just an animal.’ Each animal has to be respected as an individual.” He also stated, “It is human nature to doubt things we do not understand, and some days I will catch myself wondering if it is real. Then I think of Spirit and what happened and I realize it cannot be a coincidence. It is just not possible.”

In the documentary, Anna also visited the largest free-flight aviary in the world to help with a cockatoo named Coco, who never settled in at the aviary and had begun attacking visitors. They were forced to put Coco in a cage where he couldn’t attack people anymore. He was still very distressed, screaming almost all the time. When Anna approached Coco, she was immediately struck with an overwhelming feeling of grief. A wave of emotion overcame her from the powerful sadness that she felt from the bird.

Without any previous knowledge of the bird’s story, Anna relayed that the cockatoo claimed he arrived at the aviary very suddenly, and without knowing why. He desperately missed his person, who had hand fed him and raised him from a chick.

They had a very strong connection, and Coco felt alone.

I was completely blown away to find out that this was the reason for Coco’s stress.

The employees at the aviary confirmed the story. Coco’s owner had to leave the country suddenly because of a visa problem, and they took Coco in. Coco had been screaming and attacking people ever since, all out of sadness and grief, simply trying to get back to his person. If a bird can have such a strong emotional response, can’t any animal?

Even sadder than the bird’s obvious distress and grief is the fact that Coco died three weeks after filming ended. A cause of death was not cited, but he likely died of emotional distress. It is a powerful indicator that animals are beings that have their own individual personalities, feelings, and needs.

“SPIRIT WILL NEVER BE A CAT THAT YOU CAN TOUCH; HE IS WAY TOO MUCH OF A SPIRITUAL BEING.”

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WHEN ANNA APPROACHED COCO, SHE WAS IMMEDIATELY STRUCK WITH AN OVERWHELMING FEELING OF GRIEF. A WAVE OF EMOTION OVERCAME HER FROM THE POWERFUL SADNESS THAT SHE FELT FROM THE BIRD. Coco might not have been able to be reunited with his person, but as you can imagine, there are endless other things that could have been bothering him— problems that might have been resolved simply by asking the animal and then correcting the issue at hand. Having a way to communicate with an animal would be the only way we could truly help, as this case proves.

The fact that we humans have a history of exploiting animals for our own wants and needs is extremely sad.

It is separating us from the very nature that we evolved from and are still a part of. We are nature; we are not apart from it. Our society’s disconnection from our natural side is putting the earth and its future in jeopardy. We cannot survive as a species by ourselves.

The circle of life must continue, or we will perish.

Nature must be respected and preserved.

We all have an innate ability to communicate with animals. Our ancestors used it, and primitive peoples still use their abilities to track animals for their food supply. It’s how they survive, and it’s hardwired in the primitive part of our modern brains.

“We all have the spirit to communicate on this level, but due to modern society’s distractions we have lost this ability,” says Anna.

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If Anna can talk to and hear back from animals, why can’t we all? She does have a gift for it, yes. However, she was not born with it. She first learned of her ability while taking an animal-tracking course with Jon Young. She then proceeded to take classes on animal communication from the Assisi International Animal Institute in California, where she sharpened her skills. Now people from all around the world seek her services.

Christopher Mason, the marketing manager at NHU Africa, took Anna’s animal communication course after they filmed the documentary. When I interviewed him, he explained the importance of interspecies communication.

Christopher said, “We all need air to breathe and water to drink, just like so many other species. So, hopefully a deeper connection to our basic tenets as human animals will allow us to have the compassion to stop the wholesale slaughter of our natural world. If communicating on a complex level with other animals will speed this process up, then I think it will be very beneficial.”

I agree with Christopher, and I feel that it is essential for the betterment of the relationship between our species and the creatures that live on the planet with us.

For more information about The Animal Communicator or to purchase the DVD, please e-mail geta@nhuafrica.com.

ANNA BREYTENBACH

PEOPLE + PLACES The Fitness Fetish Celebrates Twenty Years in Seaside It was a beautiful Independence Day weekend. The sun was shining and the beach was breathtaking as The Fitness Fetish, a landmark family sport and beach shop, celebrated its twentieth anniversary milestone in Seaside, Florida.

Store owners Laurie and John Olshefski, along

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with their family, have inspired others to live and enjoy a happy and healthy active lifestyle since July 1994 when they opened The Fitness Fetish adjacent to the iconic Coleman Beach Pavilion.

Owners of The Fitness Fetish Laurie and John Olshefski and their children, Landen and Alina.

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The Fitness Fetish team joins in on the photo booth frenzy. L-R from top: Misti, Kelly, Sheila, Laurie, Graysen, John, Alina, and Jaime

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Many families participated in the patriotic party photo booth.

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Doggone photo fun.

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Grab a prop and strike a pose.

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PEOPLE + PLACES The Olshefki family, the Fitness Fetish team, friends, and loyal customers all enjoyed a patriotic anniversary party on Saturday, July 5 at the store. The celebration included a star-spangled photo booth, games, and door prizes from some of the store’s most popular brands, such as Southern Tide, Life Is Good, and Sanuk. There was also a grand prize drawing for a $500 Fitness Fetish shopping spree, as well as a “Guess the Gumballs” competition, where customers could guess how many red, white, and blue gumballs were in a jar.

Congratulations to The Fitness Fetish on bringing the community great shopping and inspiration for living a healthy, active lifestyle for twenty years.

Here’s looking at many more!

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Reece gives a starry-eyed look to his master, Sheila Eichberger.

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Mr. and Mrs. Fitness show up to the party!

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Red, white, and blue games and treats.

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Liza Robinson of Texas won the $500 shopping spree.

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Ten Reasons You Shouldn’t Get a

Story and Photography by Bill Weckel

To say that I love parrots—and birds in general—would be a gross understatement. I’ve lived with birds for the majority of my life, and they’ve brought a quality to my life that I think only a close relationship with one of the most intelligent animal species is capable of providing.

The depth and intensity of the bond that forms between a parrot and its keeper is unrivaled by any other pet.

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I’m the person everyone calls when they’re considering getting their first bird. Unfortunately, I’m also the person everyone calls when they can no longer tolerate or care for their parrot. My own doctor even unloaded a macaw on me during an office visit—and he still charged me for the visit.

I’ve been asked at least a thousand times, “I want a talking parrot—which one should I get?” My answer is short, unexpected, and always the same: none.

It’s hard not to come off sounding like a snob who’s part of some exclusive club that others aren’t qualified or welcome to join. But the fact is most people aren’t informed enough to make this life-altering decision.

They don’t know what they’re committing themselves, their family, and most importantly, the bird to.

Just like humans, once a bird learns how to talk, it doesn’t stop. There is no “OFF” switch. And it’s not just talking. It’s screeching, singing, whistling, barking, meowing, and every other sound they’ve ever heard, repeated perpetually.

I lived next door to a fire station from 1994 to 1996.

Twenty years later, my African gray still relives the alarm calls. He’s since embellished the original fire engine sirens with “Somebody call a cop!” screamed over and over. Funny, right? Yeah, it’s hilarious at six on a Saturday morning.

A parrot will drive you, your family, and your neighbors completely insane. The parrot will be blamed for making everyone’s life miserable, and you will be blamed for bringing the parrot home.

parrots are intelligent, affectionate, sensitive, and complex animals that can make rewarding companions. They aren’t fashion accessories, home decor, or animatronic talking novelties.

I tell them that parrots are intelligent, affectionate, sensitive, and complex animals that can make rewarding companions. They aren’t fashion accessories, home decor, or animatronic talking novelties. If you want a splash of color for your home, buy a nice painting of a parrot. If you want to impress your friends, put in a heated pool.

When someone’s determined to keep a parrot (and I say keep—you don’t “own” a parrot), I assail the prospective owner with at least ten reasons why a parrot is going to make life a living hell. Here are a few:

Reason #1: Parrots are Noisy They are extremely loud. Want to have a quiet night on the couch watching a movie? Forget it. Want to sleep in on a Saturday morning? Nope. Need to have an important phone conversation? You get the idea.

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A parrot is a member of a flock. Parrots are prey and the flock provides collective safety. Their day begins at sunrise with calls to confirm that the flock is still nearby and intact. In your home, you and your family are the flock, and they need to know that you’re still around. So they do not stray too far from their flock, they continue their calls, albeit at an abated frequency, throughout the day as they forage for food. Near dusk, the calls become louder and more frequent as the flock reassembles to roost for the night. Their calls, particularly those from large birds like macaws and cockatoos, can be heard for miles. The decibel levels these species are capable of are on a par with jet engines and Who concerts.

Your parrot isn’t vocalizing to annoy you: to your bird, it’s literally a matter of life and death. You are not going to “correct” hundreds of thousands of years of highly developed instinctual survival skill.

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The intensity, frequency, and consistency of affection that a parrot will lavish on you make “man’s best friend” seem distant and aloof.

Reason #2: Parrots are wild animals.

Parrots are, genetically, one foot out of the jungle.

Unlike dogs, which humans have domesticated, a parrot’s DNA has not been altered through selective breeding to develop traits that are ultimately beneficial to humans. Take everything you know about dogs and forget it. None of it will apply to keeping a parrot or helping you understand its motivations and behaviors.

Reason #3: Parrots live forever—almost.

Parrots live a really, really long time. Sixty or seventy years is not uncommon. Keeping a parrot is a lifelong commitment. How old are you? Who will take care of your parrot when you pass? What will happen to the parrot when you, the person with whom the parrot has formed a lifelong pair bond, are suddenly gone?

Reason #4: Parrots are messy.

Parrots come from an environment where food is abundant and there is no practical need to conserve the food they’re eating. It’s more efficient for them to take a few bites from a piece of fruit, drop it to the forest floor, and pluck a new piece from the branch than it is to judiciously reduce the fruit to its core. By spreading seeds this way, they serve the purpose of propagating tree and plant growth. Now picture the floor of your home replacing the forest floor, and you should have a pretty good idea of what it would be like.

Parrots also spend countless hours each day preening— removing small feathers and shedding the dust they create. All parrots create a fine mist of dust that will quickly coat every surface in your home, and it’s a lot of work to keep up with cleaning it. Large parrots create more dust, and some species, particularly the cockatoos, create copious amounts of it. If you’re an OCD clean freak, this is not the pet for you.

Reason #5: Parrots are needy.

Parrots require and will demand from you an enormous amount of attention and affection. The great majority of parrots and many other species of birds are monogamous and bond with their mates for life. This bond is incredibly strong and deep and is only broken when one of the birds dies. The pair is inseparable. They spend hours each day preening each other and cuddling. They need to be physically close to their mates.

In captivity, you’re the parrot’s mate. I’ve had many dogs and many parrots. The intensity, frequency, and consistency of affection that a parrot will lavish on you make “man’s best friend” seem distant and aloof.

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Parrots can solve complex problems, use tools, and use human speech, in context, to communicate with you.

If you are unavailable or unwilling to give and receive this attention and affection, the parrot will become distressed. This distress will manifest itself in very unpleasant behavior. The parrot will scream to get your attention, become aggressive and often violent toward you and your family members, and in the most extreme cases of emotional neglect, will mutilate and/or starve itself.

Reason #6: Parrots are emotional.

Just like you, they have good moods and bad moods. Parrots have the estimated emotional maturity of a two-year-old human, and we all know what two-year-olds are like: terrible. We tolerate the “terrible twos” because we know it’s a stage and it will pass. But with parrots, it’s not a stage and it will not pass. Now is a good time to reread Reason #1.

Reason #7: Parrots are smart.

Parrots are highly intelligent—on par with apes and dolphins. Some species, like the gray parrot, can possess the cognitive abilities of a five- or six-year-old human. The most intelligent dog breeds, such as border collies and poodles, are (optimistically) on par with a two-year-old. Intelligence is a good thing, right? Parrots can solve complex problems, use tools, and use human speech, in context, to communicate with you.

Those aren’t problems. The problems come when you combine the cognitive abilities of a six-year-old with the emotional immaturity of a two-year-old. This can be the making of a nightmare and needs no further explanation.

Reason #8: Parrots are destructive.

Parrots have no hands. They interact with and manipulate their environment with their beaks. Like human hair and fingernails, parrot beaks are always growing.

A parrot maintains this all-important tool by chewing. It doesn’t care what it chews, but wood and leather apparently work well. A piece of antique furniture or hardwood molding makes a perfect chew toy and can be damaged beyond repair, usually before you can intervene.

Their powerful beaks double as weapons. In the wild, one way they tell other birds to stop doing something they don’t like is by biting. In captivity, that other bird is you or a family member.

The size of the parrot has little bearing on the amount of damage and pain it can inflict. I will choose a bite from a macaw over a bite from a gray every time.

My gray has bitten right through my fingernail and struck bone. Large cockatoos have sent people to the emergency room.

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To get a sense of just how strong a parrot’s bite is, try cracking a Brazil nut in your mouth. Your jaw muscle is the strongest muscle in your body. A parrot can crack a Brazil nut effortlessly.

Reason #9: Parrots grow up.

This may sound like it conflicts with Reason #6.

Let me explain. By “grow up,” I mean that parrots mature sexually. Your sweet, loving, cuddly little ball of feathers will someday reach sexual maturity. Its body will be flooded with hormones. Doctor Jekyll becomes Mister Hyde.

Many parrots that hit this stage become unmanageable. They may become very aggressive, and aggression in parrots means bites—unprovoked and without warning. Every case is unique, and there’s no way to tell what cards you’ll be dealt.

Some species have worse reputations than others.

With my macaws, it was a complete nonissue. With my gray, it was obvious. We went through a stage when I just couldn’t trust him and for several years wouldn’t let him near my face. Fortunately, it’s all ancient history now.

Reason #10: Your parrot may hate you.

When you get a dog, you can reasonably assume that it’s going to bond with you and your family. Dogs are genetically programmed to do so, and short of a mental defect, it’s a safe bet that you and your dog will have a happy life together. Parrots don’t come with this guarantee.

For reasons you will never know, your parrot may reject you. If you live alone, and the parrot has no other options, the chances that it will tolerate you are good, but it may never fully bond with you. If you have a family, the parrot may choose your spouse or your child, and there’s nothing that you or anyone else can do about it.

I’ve lived this scenario and it’s incredibly disappointing to the rejected party. Worse, the family member it chooses may have no interest in the parrot. If it’s a son or daughter, he or she will eventually grow up and leave the home (and the parrot).

Some species are worse than others in this regard. Our macaws clearly favored my ex, but when she wasn’t

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around and they were “stuck” with me, they’d be pretty friendly. Our gray would have absolutely nothing to do with her, and we had had him ten years before he allowed her to touch him for the first time. Even then, I would have to take her hand in mine and we’d trick him in to accepting a scratch on the head. There are species you can choose that will mitigate this risk, and things that you can do to socialize a baby parrot, but you need to know that there is no guarantee.

If you still think you’d like to keep a parrot, you need to ask yourself a lot of hard questions about your personality, your lifestyle, your living arrangements, and your ability to make a lifelong and profoundly life-changing commitment. Read everything you can get your hands on. Learn the personalities and the traits of each parrot species.

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Spend time with people who keep parrots. Ask them questions. Most important, visit their homes, where you can witness firsthand and uncensored the good, the bad, and the ugly. Discuss it with your family.

Make sure they realize what you’re about to do to their lives. Visit and talk to a bird breeder. Finally, when you’re ready to take the leap, obtain a hand-fed and socialized baby parrot that has been examined by an avian vet and screened for genetic diseases. As a first-time parrot owner, you should never purchase or adopt a previously owned parrot. There is a reason why the owner is selling or abandoning the parrot, and you are simply not equipped to deal with the bird.

If you can provide the bird with the attention, stimulation, and structure it needs and deserves, you stand the chance of experiencing one of the most enjoyable and rewarding relationships of your life.

When your parrot kisses you or snuggles under your chin, it’s pure, unadulterated love. I can’t imagine a life that doesn’t include a parrot.

About the Author

Bill has kept a variety of parrot species for more than thirty-five years, including large macaws, gray parrots, Senegals, conures, and lorikeets. He lives in Blue Mountain Beach, Florida, with his twenty-one-yearold gray parrot, Porkchop (pictured throughout).

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FRESH SEAFOOD?

One of the first questions people ask when they visit our area is “How can we be sure we’re getting fresh seafood?”

That’s an excellent question. There is a good chance that the seafood you will be offered traveled farther than you did. In the state of Florida, even though we are surrounded by water, more than 90% of the seafood sold this year will be imported from other countries.

Throughout the United States, the huge majority of seafood is imported.

Most of it is mislabeled. Frozen seafood is sold as “fresh” and imported seafood is sold as “local.” According to Oceana, 93% of fish sold as red snapper is actually some other species. 57% of tuna sold at sushi bars throughout the country is not tuna. Most of the tilapia served in this country comes from Viet Nam and Thailand and much of it is farmed in waters with sewage run-off and the source of feed is pig feces.

Harbor Docks has been selling fish through its wholesale market since 1981. We sell to markets across the United States and Canada. We also sell to select restaurants along the Gulf Coast. Harbor Docks contracts with over 100 commercial boats to insure that we have an adequate supply of fresh fish.

We invite you to dine at our restaurants – Harbor Docks, in the heart of Destin, and Camille’s, overlooking the Gulf in Crystal Beach. But we’d also encourage you to try any of the wonderful, independent, local restaurants in our area that are committed to serving Florida seafood. We know who they are, because we sell them their fish.

check our website to find out which restaurants sell certified Gulf-to-Table fish from harbor Docks Seafood market.

DES TIN , FL | 850. 837. 2506 | h a r b o r D o c k S .co m S E A F O O D & C O C K TA I L S

Snapper and Tuna stats: http://oceana.org/en/news-media/publications/reports/oceana-study-reveals-seafood-fraud-nationwide Imported seafood stat: http://www.fishwatch.gov/farmed_seafood/outside_the_us.htm Tilapia/pig feces: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-11/asian-seafood-raised-on-pig-feces-approved-for-u-s-consumers.html

Meet the Locals STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL WECKEL

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The Gulf Coast of Florida is alive and teeming with birds. Hundreds of migratory species stop here to rest and nourish themselves before their long overwater flight to spend winter in South America.

Hundreds more call Florida their permanent home. Any time of year, a walk along the beach or a paddle on the bay will bring contact with dozens of interesting species.

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The Gulf C oast of Florida is alive and teeming with birds.

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Many birdwatchers and photographers pursue more colorful and less commonly encountered species, but these year-round “locals” shouldn’t be taken for granted. They’re fascinating animals in their own right and are a major contribution to the natural beauty and character of the Emerald Coast.

NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD Destin Beachfront Icon Celebrates Anniversary

By L. Jordan Swanson Photography courtesy of The Back Porch

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alking up to the large wooden doors at the Back Porch Seafood and Oyster House in Destin, Florida, you’ll more than likely see a happy family or a group of friends posing on the oversized beach chair out front. With the door handle within reach, you’ll be greeted by the “Taste Testers” sprawled out on the porch benches just waiting for the next guest to pet them. Once inside the building, you’ll experience a jaw-dropping moment as you are seated at a table overlooking 168 feet of beach along the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

“We were the first restaurant down here to serve chargrilled amberjack,” Comer says. “My grandfather tried it at the Destin Seafood Festival back in the early ’80s and just really liked it, so when he purchased the Back Porch, that was one of the things they started serving. It kind of became the staple menu item for us here.”

It’s no surprise that, given its location, atmosphere, and food, the Back Porch has been doing business right for forty years, and its success continues today.

The phenomenal fresh local seafood is just one aspect of the restaurant that makes it a local icon. Location and atmosphere are others.

The Back Porch was originally established in 1974 by owners who lived on the building’s upper level. In 1983, the Back Porch was purchased by Gen. Henry H. Cobb, Jr. and his business partner, Bob Bonezzi. The two parted ways in 1997, but Cobb continued to run the restaurant until he sadly passed away in 2013. John Comer, Cobb’s grandson and the present CEO of the Back Porch, works hard to continue his grandfather’s legacy.

“A lot of it has to do with the location, but if you aren’t doing things right, that’s only going to get you so far,” says Trey Horton, general manager of the Back Porch who has worked there since he got out of college in 1985. “We’ve stayed consistent to keeping things fresh and keeping things as reasonably priced as we can, and I think there’s an element of unpretentiousness when you come here. You can come in your bathing suit, dripping wet from the beach.”

Comer has been invested in the restaurant since he was a boy. He grew up in Birmingham and worked at the Back Porch during summer vacations. Over the years, Comer has experienced a firsthand look at what has made the restaurant the Destin icon that it is today.

“Having Trey here as a constant presence has helped and maintained the culture and personality of the restaurant,” Comer says, adding that they’ve always kept things casual at the restaurant. “We have a sign out back that reads ‘Bathing suits welcome.’ You see people in here all day, barefoot and in their bathing suits.” He adds that there’s always beach sand on the floors.

And a staple menu item it will remain. The amberjack can be prepared grilled, fried, bronzed, or blackened, in a sandwich or not, and with sides ranging from pineapple rice to a baked potato.

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“WHEN YOUR FORTIETH YEAR IS YOUR BEST YEAR EVER, YOU’RE DEFINITELY DOING SOMETHING RIGHT.”

–David Smith “The restaurant has been here since before CDs,” Horton says. “Back then, the music was on a turntable and had to be changed every twentyfive minutes when the record would end.” The turntable was kept behind the bar upstairs. When the record ended, the bartender, who doubled as a DJ, was right there to put on another one.

With the exception of the oil spill in 2010, the Back Porch has seen growth almost every year that it has been in business, and 2014 has been its most successful yet. “When your fortieth year is your best year ever, you’re definitely doing something right,” says Smith proudly. Throughout the summer months, the Back Porch serves about three thousand guests on an average day. The restaurant is such a hit for some vacationers that they eat most, if not all, of their meals here while staying in Destin.

The Back Porch in 1974

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our decades and a few expansions have passed since its opening, but the appearance of the restaurant has virtually remained unchanged.

“You feel like you’re going back in time,” says David Smith, marketing director for Southern Restaurant Group, the company that owns the Back Porch. “We haven’t fancied up the place and painted it and made it modern; it’s pretty much the same way it was back in 1974, and the view hasn’t changed.”

Even some of the same recipes from day one are still being used for dishes such as gumbo, smoked tuna dip, and raw oysters.

One thing that has changed since the restaurant first opened is its delivery of music to the ears of loyal customers.

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“We always go to great lengths to make sure that they continue to enjoy being here, enjoy our food, enjoy the service, and have the good experiences that make them return,” Comer adds.

The restaurant even has its own guest greeters out front—the Back Porch Taste Testers—a colony of feral cats that has been around since the restaurant’s opening, though its membership has changed over the years.

Just about everyone who visits the restaurant acknowledges these popular felines in some way, whether they snap a photo of one lying on the bench or go up and scratch them behind the ears. The Taste Testers are just another endearing aspect of the restaurant that makes it so special to many of its visitors.

Aside from welcoming residents and visitors looking for delicious local seafood, the Back Porch also hosts many charitable events, including the annual Larry Hatchett Fishing Foundation, Autism Surfs, and Paddle at the Porch. For the company, staying involved in the community is a must.

850.231.6201 Shops of Old Seagrove, behind 723 Whiskey Bravo #30 Gardenia Street, Santa Rosa Beach, FL

For locals, the Back Porch is a special symbol of tradition. Rebecca Jones of Niceville, Florida, said she’s been to the Back Porch many times and returns for the great atmosphere, the food, the service, and the beautiful beach view. “We like it enough that I brought my dad here as a visitor,” she said, laughing, as she enjoyed a meal there this summer. Jones was seated on the recently built outside deck with her children and father, Bill Huffman.

Huffman was in town from Ocala, Florida, and said his first experience at the Back Porch was “exceptional.”

E m e r a l d Coa st K e n n e l

In order to maintain the success of the restaurant for another forty years, the constant search for numerous sources of fresh seafood is a must, as is remembering what has made the restaurant great from the very beginning.

“We never lose sight of what got us here, which is just serving great seafood, on the beach and in a casual environment,” says Comer. He and Horton agree that expanding is also on the horizon. “Hopefully, during this off season we are going to do a project where we will expand our bar and our gift shop.”

There is no doubt that locals and visitors alike love the tradition of the Back Porch in Destin and will continue to return for more original recipes, the incredible beach views, and an overall casual atmosphere—all wrapped around history and family tradition. Whether they come dressed in jeans or swimwear, have shoes on or not, or order the amberjack or jumbo shrimp, is all up to them.

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Creating a Kinder World Monty Roberts’s Join-Up Program

By Kelly Beasley Photography courtesy of Monty Roberts Join-Up

The world has been a better place for horses since the inception of Monty Roberts’s unique system, Join-Up, for “gentling” them. Join-Up is mostly about understanding, reading, and responding to a horse’s body language. It is a method that allows a trainer to introduce a beginner horse to new things, such as a saddle and a bridle, and to have a rider on its back, usually in about thirty short minutes. This is an unheard-of time frame in the traditional “breaking” of a horse. Join-Up is achieved without using any force or violence; it is all based on trust and on positive and negative consequences.

Humanity has a lot to learn from listening to horses.

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n the archaic tradition of breaking a horse, the trainer would lasso him, if necessary, and then tie his head to an immovable object, or hobble (tie) a leg up, and/or blindfold him, among other things.

These are all terrifying experiences for the horse: he is stripped of his primary defenses and has a potential predator standing right next to him. His instinct says that his life is in danger and that his only defense is to fight for his life. Restrained from fleeing, he will fight, pull, kick, and do everything possible to free himself from the predator—in this case, the saddle and the rider. In his mind, the saddle is another animal jumping on his back ready to dig its claws into him, and the rider’s legs are a predator about to rip his insides out at his flanks. Since trust and cooperation have never been established, the horse instinctively believes that the trainer is going to kill him.

Only after the horse has fought to exhaustion—or his will has been broken—will he give up. At times, this process proves fatal for the horse and/or the rider. It creates a horse that learns to fear and mistrust man, resulting in an apathetic horse. He will comply, but only because he must. There is no joy in his work. The horse’s experience is never once considered.

With Monty Roberts’s technique, however, the horse is the primary focus.

After the horse has gone the quarter-mile distance, he will try to communicate with you by “asking” if he can stop running and come back to you. This is why it is called Join-Up. You have given the horse a choice to stay away and keep running or to join you and have your protection. It works with the horse’s nature to want to connect with another being, and 99 percent of the time they choose to be with the trainer rather than to keep away.

The horse will “ask” to come in using a series of nonverbal signals. He will make licking and chewing movements, turn his ear in towards you, drop his head, and try to come closer to you. Once he has asked “appropriately” with these gestures, you then turn your body in a forty-five-degree angle to the

horse. Usually the horse will walk right up to you, even if he is not a previously tamed horse. He understands that you speak his “language,” and at that point of the Join-Up, the horse is saying that he trusts you to be his leader. Therefore, you can gently begin to introduce him to things such as a saddle, a bridle, and a rider.

The horse may flee now and again simply because it’s ingrained in his DNA to do so. He has the choice to flee if he feels he must, but once he realizes there is no real danger, he will come right back to you, his new safe zone. It is incredible. No violence or force is necessary, and you create a willing, trusting partnership with the horse.

It was fascinating to learn that the trainer’s intention has as much effect on the horse as the trainer’s body language does—if not more.

To better understand how Join-Up works, we must know a little about the horse’s instincts. The horse is an animal of prey, and evolution has taught him that when he is in danger, he must run. He has an ingrained maximum distance he can safely run until many different factors tell him he must stop and reassess his situation; that distance is roughly one-fourth of a mile. After that distance, he will stop to look back at what was chasing him and try to negotiate a deal if he is still being pursued. To keep running is life threatening as he may run out of energy, lose the herd, or run into a different predator. In nature, a lone horse is a dead horse. Safety is in numbers, which is why horses travel in herds.

Join-Up utilizes this knowledge by teaching you to send a horse “away,” or shoo it, using your body language. (Sending him away is easiest to achieve in a large round pen so you don’t have to run.) In doing so, you are, in effect, emulating the lead mare and alienating the horse from the herd, or you are acting like a predator. Out in the wild, either scenario has the potential to become deadly.

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The picturesque entrance to Flag Is Up Farms—visitors welcome!

This is a far cry from the traditional, authoritarian method. There are certain details and subsequent steps of Join-Up that are left out of this explanation, but this gives you the general idea of how it works.

correctly. I learned that in order to work effectively with a horse, one must be truly present. One must be aware of the horse’s mood, intention, energy, and body language in addition to your own.

Horses are the biggest beneficiaries of the method thus far, yet Monty believes that his methods and discoveries for creating an atmosphere of cooperation between a horse and a trainer have much broader implications. His idea is that we can use these concepts with each other to create more harmonious relationships among humans. He works with large corporations, penal systems, PTSD victims, and others using the horses as teachers of communication and trust.

It was fascinating to learn that the trainer’s intention has as much effect on the horse as the trainer’s body language does—if not more. Minding your thoughts keeps your adrenaline down and can effectively influence your outcome. This translates to life as well and teaches us to be more aware of ourselves in a society that does not nurture these concepts.

Those with trauma in their history sometimes have

In April 2014, I was incredibly fortunate to attend a four-day Join-Up clinic at Monty’s picturesque Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang, California. I wanted to attend so I could better understand how Join-Up helps humans. I also wanted confirmation that when I was attempting Join-Up with a horse, I was doing it

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difficulty staying present, but everyone can benefit from this form of communication and trustbuilding exercise.

Having seen this work up close and having worked with the animals in such an intimate way makes me wonder: Why do people still use violence with each other and with animals? Why is it that we all can’t possess and use the positive traits of love, understanding, compassion, and sympathy? When violence is employed, there is usually a breakdown of communication. It’s a way of saying, “I don’t know what else to do; this is my last resort, so do what I say

Our clinic trainer demonstrating how to correctly pick up feet after join-up; a horse allowing this shows trust.

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The horse coming in to Kel

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or I will hurt you,” is it not? It’s a cop-out. Violence curbs learning and creates fear. It does not effectively “teach you a lesson.”

Think back to a time when you were treated unfairly or were hurt physically or emotionally. Did that moment help you or did it create resentment, fear, and anger? Let’s be honest and admit that it did not help you learn any intended “lesson.” What you likely learned is that you don’t like being hit, hurt, and left out. I think we all have traumas in our pasts that may still affect us to this day.

There is something about Join-Up that can lead to a very emotional response for those with trauma in their past, which leads me to why I wrote this article. Ever since learning about this method, I get

very emotional when I try to talk about it and I have never fully understood why.

This emotional response and love for the method led me to go see Monty, who was on tour in Georgia about ten years ago. I came back from the tour with a personal explanation from the creator of Join-Up himself as to why I get so emotional.

Before the show, I was fortunate enough to find Monty casually observing his round pen being set up in the arena. This was my chance! Unfortunately for me, my first attempt to speak to him and to have an “amazing experience” from our interaction fell short of my expectations. With great trepidation, I approached him to introduce myself and I said something to the effect of, “Hi, Mr. Roberts. I just

I believe that horses are truly spiritual animals, yet mankind has historically forced these beautiful creatures into submission.

want to tell you I love what you are doing and I am a big fan,” or something similar. He was cordial and may have shaken my hand and said thanks; I don’t really remember, but I do remember that almost immediately he “quit” me. He simply turned back to the arena and continued his observation.

I was devastated. I had had a very striking premonition for some time that if I met him, it would be an unforgettable, amazing experience.

I walked away trying to figure out where I had gone wrong, and it finally dawned on me that I hadn’t said anything that would prompt any reaction other than the generic one that I had received. If I didn’t do something quickly, I might lose my opportunity.

I realized that I had to throw down, tell him about my emotional reaction, and risk showing him a crying fit that never fails to arise once I start to talk about the method.

Determined, I walked back over to him, and before I even opened my mouth, the tears came, and as soon as he saw the tears, he flipped like a switch. This man suddenly genuinely cared about whatever was going on with me, a total stranger, and, no kidding, I had his full attention and his genuine concern. It was a moment that I will never forget.

I explained through my tears that when I try to tell someone about Join-Up, I cry, and that I didn’t understand why. I won’t go into complete detail, but he asked me a couple of questions as if he already knew the answers to them—he was spot on. It was about my childhood and the revelation was that, as a child, I lived in a world where I did not feel safe.

The connection and emotional expression that I have with Join-Up is one that many other victims can relate to as well. I still have a hard time understanding the true nature of the connection, but the main parallel of my experience to the Join-Up experience is seeing a fearful animal of prey have a “conversation” with its potential predator/violator/abuser that leads to a place of safety and trust as opposed to fear, violence, force, or submission. Somehow, we connect with the horse on another level.

The April Join-Up clinic participants and trainers

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Kelly Beasley with Monty Roberts at the clinic in Georgia

I believe that horses are truly spiritual animals, yet mankind has historically forced these beautiful creatures into submission. I hope for the sake of the world that Monty’s work really does help change humanity for the better. It is his life’s mission. He travels the world holding clinics and workshops teaching us, through the horses, that violence is never the answer.

We love and learn best when treated fairly in an environment of positive consequences for positive actions and negative consequences for negative actions, when given appropriately.

People can learn to love each other and care for each other simply by watching how a horse can accept a man as a teammate, a leader, and a friend—using no words, just silent communication, energy, intention, and consequences.

Violence is not necessary.

Thank you, Monty.

To learn more, visit MontyRoberts.com or learn through his video series online at MontyRobertsUniversity.com. You can watch Monty demonstrate Join-Up with a horse for free simply by searching Join-Up on YouTube.com.

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The Plight of the

Honeybee

By Sallie W. Boyles

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ing insects that chase fly of es mi ar by d de ar gu Although ld thieves, honey, nature’s go down and sting potential ives has lured humans to beeh standard for sweetness, en No one knows exactly wh for thousands of years. s of ed the first shock wave the thick liquid produc ting minid, but one rock pain pleasure and pain in a ho ck cting wild honey dates ba depicting two women colle d. ars to the Mesolithic perio at least eight thousand ye Even in ancient times, people found multiple uses for honey—from an antiseptic to an embalming agent—and deemed it fit for their gods. While accompanying pharaohs in their tombs, honey also played a role in sacred Hebrew Temple offerings. Likewise, beeswax served as a sealant and glue and provided the foundation for all kinds of items, such as funeral masks, amulets, small statues, and covers for writing tablets.

Over the ages, a high demand for honey and honeycomb has inspired many to gain control of production through beekeeping, or apiculture. Ancient relics document that the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, and Maya each improvised ways to domesticate bee colonies by attracting them to hives made of everyday materials: hollowed logs, pottery, wooden boxes, and straw baskets (or skeps).

The Chinese, often accredited with originating the art of beekeeping, were choosy about the woods they used for their precisely configured hive boxes. Meanwhile, an elaborate ninth-century setup found in Israel’s Jordan Valley seemingly accommodated a hundred hives made of unbaked clay and straw. Throughout the Middle Ages, the monasteries and abbeys of Europe ran masterful beekeeping operations that yielded plentiful supplies of beeswax candles and alcoholic mead.

reactive behavior such as to attack because the colony is in danger—but it also triggers bees to feed on honey and conserve their energy in the event of a fire. Since a bee smoker poses no real harm, beekeepers (or apiarists) still use the age-old method to collect honey.

Other beekeeping practices have changed significantly, both to the benefit and the detriment of honeybees.

In the past, for instance, collecting honey typically entailed ripping the honeycomb apart, destroying eggs and larvae in the process, thereby terminating the colony. Fortunately, key scientific observations during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries enlightened beekeepers to take a more ecological approach.

Deep insights about the hive’s construction, for instance, arose in the late 1800s from experiments conducted by Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, an American who studied the bee space—the tiny openings (one-quarter inch to three-eighths inch) that bees utilize in the hive as passageways. Working with a rectangular beehive made of wooden frames, he then tested his measurements.

Honeybees are indigenous to parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but not the Americas. The Maya, mentioned previously, kept a stingless bee of a different species. The Europeans first imported bees to the Western colonies for honey and crop pollination, and since then, numerous hybrids have resulted through intentional breeding and in nature.

Whether feral or domesticated, bees are programmed to defend the colony. Humans, nevertheless, learned early on that they could quell a bee’s aggressiveness by blowing smoke into the hive. Scientists now understand that smoke not only masks the insect’s pheromones—chemicals that incite

Photo by The Honey Hutch

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Photo by Twin Oaks Farm

nstantly laying co is n ee u q g n “A stro a half to three d an o tw ve li ll eggs. She’ e ot producing, th n s e’ sh if t bu s, year ll her or kick her ki er th ei l il w s worker een.” her with a new qu e ac pl re d an t u o Langstroth hypothesized that if he placed each of the frames a bee-space distance apart from each other, the bees would build parallel honeycombs in line with each frame without filling in the areas between with wax. He was right! The bees kept those spaces open. Importantly, the little workers did not bind the separate frames together with wax, which meant that the beekeeper could gently lift a frame of honeycomb for inspection and even extract honey without harm. When finished, the beekeeper could replace the frame with the honeycomb intact for the bees to refill.

Understanding the roles of honeybees in a colony has also helped beekeepers support healthy hives. In the late 1700s, Swiss scientist François Huber proved that only one queen lives in a hive, and she is the mother bee of all other members of the colony. In contrast, many drones (the male bees) periodically inseminate the queen at once so that she can lay eggs.

“A strong queen is constantly laying eggs,” says Amy Wright, owner of the Honey Hutch, a beekeeping business based in Destin, Florida. “She’ll live two and a half 132 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

Photo by The Ho

ney Hutch

to three years, but if she’s not producing, the workers will either kill her or kick her out and replace her with a new queen.”

Amy explains that only “queen cells” in the hive produce queen bees. “The workers feed the larvae in those cells a special royal jelly,” she says. When a new queen hatches, she must either take over the hive or leave and establish a new one.

Often, the original queen will leave with more than half of her brood as soon as the hive becomes too congested. At that time, the bees swarm, meaning they gather on a tree limb or other object until scouts locate an ideal nesting place. In that case, the beekeeper would strive to capture the queen, which would deter the colony from flying off and building a wild nest. “We’ll also split a hive by pulling the queen when the population has expanded,” Amy says.

Domestic or feral, in order to reign, a new honeybee queen must first win acceptance and then face ongoing pressure to produce. Her role, nevertheless, has advantages over her subjects. Worker bees not only wait on her, but also live to work over a

working in “I was living and the time, but at a n li o r a C th r o N that the hospital when we learned r wound care, fo ey n o h g n si u was bvious what I it was suddenly o for a career.” should be doing

Photo by The Honey Hutch

Photo by The Honey Hutch

relatively short life span. During the spring and summer, when the hive is busiest, worker bees and drones typically survive between six and eight weeks.

“The drones exist only to inseminate the queen,” Amy informs. “When the queen is finished with them, the worker bees chase the males from the hive.” Drones cannot survive outside the colony, so the eviction is a death sentence.

The worker bees, by the way, are all female. “Every worker has a job,” Amy says.

In addition to feeding the hungry larvae, worker bees take care of the queen, build combs, forage for nectar and pollen, transform nectar into honey, guard and protect the hive, circulate fresh air through it, and more.

“If you see a bee away from the hive,” Amy points out, “it’s probably focused on foraging, so just leave it alone. Don’t swat at it!” In most cases, the lone honeybee will attack only if threatened.

Amy also notes that a bee’s role evolves as it matures. “It’ll have a particular job between one and three weeks of age,” she says, “another between three and six weeks, and yet another when six to eight weeks old.”

Thanks to Amy’s attentiveness and her dedicated dad’s assistance, the Honey Hutch, which launched in 2013, is currently home to an average of sixty hives, each of which accommodate between thirty and sixty thousand bees. They produce about five hundred gallons of honey annually in varieties like gallberry, wildflower, tupelo, and clover. Flavors vary from spring through summer, depending upon

the flowers in bloom and the bees’ discretion regarding pollination. In addition to honey, the Honey Hutch sells handmade honeypots, and Amy is perfecting her own brand of lip balm and sunscreen.

The enterprise grew from her father’s beekeeping pastime, which started when Amy was in middle school. “My grandfather, who kept bees as a hobby, had given my brothers and me two hives and beekeeping tools for Christmas, but we were too busy with our other activities to stick with it,” she recalls. “My dad filled in, so beekeeping became a beautiful way for my grandfather and him to bond.”

The idea of turning a family tradition into a business materialized when Amy was visiting her dad in the hospital after he had undergone bypass surgery. “I was living and working in North Carolina at the time,” she says, “but when we learned that the hospital was using honey for wound care, it was suddenly obvious what I should be doing for a career. I always loved the outdoors and working with my hands.”

For many reasons, Amy feels personally connected to her bees. “You can sense when a hive is calm,” she says, relaying that they sometimes land on her in a curious, friendly manner. Still, always suiting up to attend to her hives, she adds, “They can immediately turn.”

Tim Spanjer, director of marketing and resident beekeeper for Pursell Farms golf resort in Sylacauga, Alabama, confesses that his honeybees, which include a Russian variety and also a hybrid mixed with an African species, are so aggressive that he wears a full bee suit plus jeans and a jacket underneath before tending to his hives.

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hat Statistics show t of about one-third s honeybee colonie d around the worl ar. collapse each ye

“Lots of loose fabric surrounds my mesh visor,” says Tim, “and they’ll go between the folds to sting me.” Even so, beekeeping has become his passion. “I hate getting stung, but I suck it up because the product’s so good!”

Originally from New York, Tim acquired an interest in honeybees through his brother. “Neither of us had a background in apiculture until some bees decided to swarm my brother’s house. An expert helped him manage the problem, and the experience led my brother to beekeeping. Observing him, I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to keep bees here.’”

Tim’s honeybees stay busy pollinating a multitude of seasonal flowers on the 3,500-acre property—white and red clover, wild blackberry, black-eyed Susan, partridge pea, honeysuckle, and purple aster, to name a few. They are also responsible for Pursell Farms Wildflower Honey, a signature “homegrown” product that the resort’s guests can take home as a memento.

To enhance the flavors of the polyfloral blends his bees concoct, Tim shares, “I run my honey through one strainer, forgoing the fine-grade strainer, in order to preserve some of the pollen.” Keeping a healthy share of the honey for the bees, he will have harvested about thirty gallons in 2014.

Leaving enough honey for the bees is one of the most significant ways to ensure the health and longevity of a colony. Unfortunately, many commercial beekeepers overharvest and then attempt to make up the loss by feeding their bees high-fructose corn syrup. While the sugar is a blend of ingredients found in nature, it’s not what bees naturally consume. Moreover, research indicates that the substance could trigger genes that cause honeybees to metabolize toxins, such as pesticides and herbicides, which are among a number of complex factors cited for a sharp decline in honeybee populations since the 1980s.

Statistics show that about one-third of honeybee colonies around the world collapse each year. Along with unseen environmental contaminants, beekeepers are also witnessing an unprecedented increase in harmful parasites. Hive beetles, for example, defecate in the honey, causing it to ferment, and their larvae tunnel through combs, creating a path of destruction. Another hive killer, the varroa mite, feeds off the adult and larval honeybees’ blood. For those reasons and more, worker bees are disappearing from hives, a phenomenon referred to as colony collapse disorder.

Photo by Pursell Farms

“If you have a healthy hive, the bees can take care of problems themselves,” contends Renee Savary, owner of Twin Oaks Farm in Bonifay, Florida, a town forty-five miles north of Panama City.

Born in Switzerland, Renee moved to Florida for warm weather and established Twin Oaks Farm to produce organic food.

Photo by Twin Oaks Farm

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“I got into farming because I was starting to suffer from a debilitating illness,” Renee says. “Through research, I figured out that food was making me sick. When I had a chance to buy this land, I wanted a farm that would be certified organic: 100 percent clean, meaning no contaminated soy, no GMOs, no chemicals. We produce artisan food—nothing to make you sick.” In addition to raising ducks, chickens, sheep, and hogs, Renee is a beekeeper with about sixteen hives.

Photo by Twin Oaks Farm

Photo by Twin Oaks Farm

Renee asserts that the conventional farmer’s aim to generate the highest possible honey production at the lowest possible cost is destroying the honeybees and ironically, some of the farm’s most valuable workers. Multiple detriments generally stem from one bad practice, such as monoculture.

“Bees are naturally inclined to pollinate a variety of flowers,” Renee explains, “but commercial beekeepers transport their hives thousands of miles across the country to pollinate single crops, and much of what they pollinate, like almonds, is heavily sprayed.” Remarkably, research shows that if farmers left a third of their acreage unplanted, allowing the natural vegetation to flourish so that bees could nest and forage, their profits could more than double.

The manmade beehive presents another example of how excessive human intervention yields weaker returns. “I recently learned that at the turn of the twentieth century, people decided that a bigger bee would make more honey and more money,” says Renee. “Therefore, they enlarged the hive’s cells from 4.9 millimeters, the natural size for a honeybee, to 5.4 millimeters. But at 4.9 millimeters, the mite doesn’t have enough space to get inside the cell with the bee larvae. Also, the work of capping a smaller cell with wax to protect the larvae takes twelve fewer hours.” All in all, bigger bees are less productive and are ill equipped to keep parasite populations in check. “These are living creatures,” Renee expresses, “and if they thrive, they’ll give you good honey.”

Like Amy and Tim, Renee helps her hives become established by refraining from collecting honey in a hive’s first year. She also stops harvesting in midsummer so that the bees can sustain themselves over the fall and winter. In return, her colonies are gradually increasing their output of a highly diverse wildflower honey.

Without question, environmentally conscious farming and beekeeping are essential to the longevity of honeybees. Consumers, in turn, help tremendously when they purchase honey from responsible sources. Individuals also benefit the honeybee simply by planting flowers. Of course, if backyard beekeeping is an option, that too could be explored, but other options also exist to try it out.

Twin Oaks Farms allows people to sponsor a hive without working like a bee. “For five hundred dollars, a hive sponsor receives two jars of honey from an established hive the first year and another two jars from the sponsored hive the second year,” says Renee. “The hive sponsor and a friend are also invited to spend a morning beekeeping with me, and then we’ll have breakfast together at the farm.”

Considering how hard honeybees have worked over thousands of years to the benefit of humans, taking a few steps to keep them alive and flourishing isn’t all that difficult and certainly seems wise.

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The Honey Hutch 646 East Highway 98 Destin, FL 32541 (850) 499-6528 thehoneyhutch.com facebook.com/thehoneyhutch Twin Oaks Farm 3207 Creek Road Bonifay, FL 32425 (850) 547-5636 twinoaksfarm.net facebook.com/twinoaksfarm Pursell Farms 386 Talladega Springs Rd. Sylacauga, AL 35151 (877) 292-FARM (3276) pursellfarms.com facebook.com/pursellfarms Honey Hutch and Twin Oaks products are available locally at the Seaside Farmers Market on Saturdays and at Raw and Juicy Organic Café and Juice Bar in Seaside, Florida.

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A SK A NATIVE OR LONGTIME VISITOR OF THE DESTIN AND SOUTH WALTON AREAS OF FLORIDA’S NORTHWEST

COAST WHERE YOU CAN FIND THE MOST UNIQUE ART PIECES, KEEPSAKES, APPAREL, OR HOME FURNISHINGS, AND THEY’LL DIRECT YOU STRAIGHT TO THE ZOO GALLERY IN GRAYTON BEACH OR SANDESTIN. EACH STORE IS STOCKED FULL OF “EYE CANDY AND EAR FOOD,” A CAREFULLY CURATED COLLECTION OF HANDCRAFTED WORKS BY AMERICAN ARTISTS MIXED WITH CHERRY-PICKED QUALITY GOODS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND PUNCTUATED BY FEEL-GOOD SOUNDS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND.

Whimsical sculptures of metal monsters and other quirky creatures greet visitors at the door, and the air is filled with the aromas of incense and delicious-smelling candles, creating a mix that is unlike any other. Art adorns every wall while novelty items and quirky greeting cards make it impossible to resist browsing the entire store for whatever treasure is hidden in the next corner. Handmade jewelry and bohemian-chic clothing round out the store, ensuring there is something for everyone who visits.

The smell, the art, and the music—lovingly dubbed “ear food” by Chris because it is “nourishment for the soul”—certainly make the store stand out with a vibe that is distinctly Zoohemian.

“Our intention was to create something other than just another touristy shop,” says Zoo Gallery owner Roxie Wilson, who opened the store with her husband and college sweetheart, Chris. The pair met at Auburn University, where Chris was a kicker on the football team and Roxie focused on her creative energies as a fine arts student. They married in 1975 and moved back to the Gulf Coast, where Roxie was from, with the vision of opening a gallery to showcase the things they loved. The Zoo Gallery’s first location opened in downtown Fort Walton Beach in 1979, making it the oldest locally run mom-and-pop business in the area. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of how many people come in and say they love the store and want one where they live.”

“I don’t think the Zoo Gallery would still be here without Robyn,” says Roxie, expressing that Robyn is more like a member of the family than just part of the business—the two go hand-in-hand. Baxter adds, “Robyn is a blessing to our family. I tell her she is ‘the one’ all the time, because she is. We can’t express enough appreciation for all she does.”

It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and personality for a business to last thirtyfive years. Over that period, the Wilsons have created a haven for visitors and locals alike who crave the unexpected. Many customers return year after year while on vacation, while locals stop by frequently to check on new merchandise and to visit the “zookeepers” (the store’s dedicated team of associates) and the Grayton Beach store’s doggie mascot, Mo, the lady hound dog.

Once more of a fine art gallery, the Zoo has evolved with the times and the desires of its clients, but it has always been a family affair. Chris and Roxie’s children, Baxter and Raven, have both been involved in creating the hip “old school cool” vibe of the store.

“We pride ourselves on being a little off the wall,” Chris admits. In fact, one of the company’s favorite sayings is “Still crazy after all these years.”

“My family has an ‘eye for art,’” adds Baxter, who fully committed to the family business two years ago. “We support the arts and the ideas of hardworking artists from all over the country and are continuously inspired by the work they create.

We have a wild sense of humor and thrive on positivity. We stand out from the herd and always have.”

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“It’s hard not to smile when you’re here,” says general manager Robyn Stork, who has been part of the Zoo Gallery team since 1996. “I love surrounding myself with positivity, and we have a menagerie of fun stuff here for everyone.”

Many of the store’s signature artists have close relationships with Roxie and Chris. Some have been making their pieces available at the Zoo Gallery for more than twenty years. Fostering these good relationships with their artists is a key ingredient to bringing such an eclectic mix of work into the store.

Longtime artists found in the store include Denise Greenwood, Brian Andreas, Richard Dunbrack, and Sarah Grant of Sticks; jewelry artists such as Jill Schwartz, Heather Haase, and Ayala Bar; and local artists Greg Combs, Justin Lyons, Chandler Williams, Vaughan Greene, and Mary Hong, plus many other original American creators.

Baxter says the plan for the gallery’s future is to build the store’s concept “Stand Out from the Herd” into a brand, which has been in the works with the help of his sister, Raven. She also creates original artwork sold in the stores and spearheads the company’s social media efforts at TheZooGallery.com.

The thirty-fifth anniversary, which officially took place on August 8, 2014, was the perfect opportunity to highlight what makes the Zoo Gallery a favorite in the area and to extend its reach to customers online. The website is constantly being updated with new products and blog posts about positivity, art, and inspiration.

Meanwhile, the company’s new logo, featuring the iconic zebra that has appeared on almost all the store’s souvenir T-shirts over the years, offers a fresh look while keeping the store’s original spirit.

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“We want to be better every year and to continue providing the quality and service, and that fun, colorful atmosphere our customers have come to know,” Roxie says. “I think my worst nightmare would be if the Zoo Gallery was considered just a regular store.”

VISIT THE ZOO GALLERY AT THE GRAND BOULEVARD TOWN CENTER IN SANDESTIN OR ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE RED BAR IN GRAYTON BEACH, OR EXPLORE THE SHOP ONLINE AT THEZOOGALLERY.COM. TO SHOW THE WORLD HOW YOU #STANDOUTFROMTHEHERD, USE THE HASHTAG ON YOUR INSTAGRAM PHOTOS, AND BE SURE TO FOLLOW @ THEZOOGALLERY AND @VIEZINE!

A WALK ON THE

Wild (West)

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AN INVITATION FROM FIREHOUSE SUBS COFOUNDER ROBIN SORENSEN TO VISIT HIS MONTANA RANCH PROVES THAT SOME PEOPL E WIL L GO THE E X T R A MILE FOR A GOOD MEAL.

BY TORI PHELPS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BELL CROSS RANCH Honesty is always a good place to start, so here goes: I’ve never been an outdoorsy kind of girl. Vacation, to me, means either exploring a new city or lying on a beach so still that cabana boys must poke me hourly to determine whether I’m still alive. So when the call came, inquiring about my interest in spending a few days on a Montana ranch, my response was a resounding, “Um, sure?”

The purpose of the trip was simple: to familiarize a handful of journalists from across the country with Firehouse Subs’ food and the brand’s nonprofit, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Firehouse Subs cofounder Robin Sorensen didn’t know that I’d added another item to the agenda: to help me understand why, when I told friends and family about the trip, every single one wanted to take my place. In order to ride a horse? To hike a mountain at the crack of dawn?

Okaaay.

Spoiler alert: I get it now.

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DAY 1 SHOTGUNS, SCENIC VIEWS, AND SUBS I had arrived at Bell Cross Ranch, a nine-thousand-acre spread in rural Cascade, Montana, late the night before. With just enough time to scarf down a plate of enchiladas the staff had saved for me before falling into bed, it didn’t feel much different from checking into a posh resort.

And then the sun came up.

Still groggy from a long day of travel and the time change, my only thought was locating a very large, very strong cup of coffee in the lodge. But sleep deprivation was no match for what greeted me outside my door. Montana is called Big Sky Country, but it’s the land that takes your breath away. The panoramic view seems to stretch on forever, broken up only by mountains that gracefully reach toward that big sky. I wasn’t prepared for the sheer grandeur of a Montana vista, especially before coffee.

Ever the enthusiastic host, Sorensen welcomed the visiting journalists and invited us to dive into a breakfast of huckleberry pancakes, featuring the state’s famed berries. I stuffed myself silly.

Don’t judge me. It turned out to be a good thing because we had a packed schedule, beginning with an introduction to some of the animals that call the ranch home.

The lodge was decorated with elk, wolves, and even mountain lions that had been taken on the property, but we city slickers happily settled for meeting cows, donkeys, horses, and goats.

Led by West, one-half of Bell Cross Ranch’s husband-and-wife management team, we cooed over the babies, delighted in stroking soft muzzles, and got sucked into the passion West

clearly has for his craft. We had a million questions: How do you keep track of them all?

(Electronic ear chips and tags.) How do you control breeding? (Good old-fashioned castration, the by-products of which are then fried up as Rocky Mountain oysters.)

Some things we could have remained uneducated about.

Up next was skeet shooting with Firehouse Subs’ CEO, Don Fox, and West, the first activity that factored into the coveted Best Cowboy and Best Cowgirl trophies to be awarded at the end of the visit. I was under no illusion that I would be in serious contention for that award; I just wanted to avoid the decidedly noncoveted Doofus Award, a trophy featuring only the hind end of a horse.

West patiently explained the finer points of skeet shooting to a crew that, for the most part, was as unfamiliar with guns as it had been with ranch animals. I had never even held a gun, let alone fired one, so I opted for the twenty-eight-gauge shotgun, which he said had less kickback than the twelve-gauge. Unfortunately, “less” kickback still translated into a good hard shoulder punch with each shot.

Clay pigeons were released from multiple locations: some flying across our field of vision, some coming toward us, some zooming from underneath the platform, and some sailing over the top. “Pull!” was the magic word that released each disk, and, like our confidence, the strength of the command grew as our senses adjusted to the acrid smell of gunpowder, the staccato crack of the shotgun, and the echoes ricocheting off the mountains around us.

First-timers who managed to hit something got a round of applause and congratulatory back slaps (you make friends quickly when there are guns involved—I think it’s evolutionary), while more experienced shooters who turned clay pigeons into dust got reverent “wows” from us Doofus Award contenders.

At noon, we headed back to the lodge for—what else?—a variety of Firehouse subs.

Several journalists there (including me) had never tasted Firehouse Subs’ fare, despite

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there being more than 770 restaurants in forty-one states and Puerto Rico. Even among this group of experienced foodie journalists, you could hear murmurs of surprised appreciation, followed by meticulous deconstruction of the sandwiches to figure out what made them so different. Sorensen saved us some time by breaking it down for us: they source the best-quality ingredients they can find, rather than the most cost effective, and then they steam the meat and cheese together.

Sorensen is often asked why Firehouse Subs puts this meaty-cheesy goodness on top of the sub, rather than under the toppings like other sub shops. His answer? The steamer is simply the last stop in the sub-building process. Ergo, the meat and cheese—the reasons you buy the sandwich in the first place—are the first things you bite into. “I didn’t really plan it that way,” he admits in his typically candid manner, “but it’s worked out pretty well.”

You could say that.

Firehouse Subs was launched in 1994 by Robin and Chris Sorensen, brothers who followed their father, forty-three-year

veteran Capt. Rob Sorensen, into firefighting careers. After just a couple of years, however, Robin decided to pursue his passion for food. Chris joined him in launching the company, though he also stayed on with the department for another five years. This lifelong familiarity with the ravenous appetites of public safety workers helped shape the philosophy behind their new sub venture: meat and lots of it.

After we rolled away from the tables, it was time to see more of the ranch. A lot more. If you want to explore these nine thousand acres of mountains and sheer drops, you have two options: horse or Polaris Ranger four-wheeler. I chose the Polaris and a guide who knew what he was doing—Robin Sorensen, himself.

One of ten partners in Bell Cross Ranch, Robin shared his enthusiasm for the land, including the mule deer that played hide and seek with us, and a small natural spring waterfall framed by rocks that had fallen from the surrounding mountains. Who needs to buy stones from Home Depot when you’ve got Mount Cecilia?

As we explored more corners of the ranch that afternoon, my fellow passengers and I continued to be struck anew by the scenery: “It looks like a movie,” one journalist remarked. “I keep waiting for a director to yell ‘Cut!’” said another. But after a while, our silence said it all. Even wordsmiths had run out of ways to describe the magnificence of Montana’s landscape.

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DAY 2 HORSES, RESCUE BOATS, AND MORE SUBS

Apparently, shooting is the best way to kick off the day in Montana. This morning, it was mounted shooting, which is the fastest-growing equestrian sport. But our first glimpse of it—our instructor, Julie, riding at lightning speed on horseback while firing a single-action Colt .45 at targets—was met with slack-jawed panic when we realized we had to do the same thing. I had enough trouble shooting at a target while standing still, so I didn’t hold out much hope of success while doing it on horseback.

All too soon, I was squeezed into a gun belt pulled can’t-breathe tight. Then I tucked the two Colts into the holsters while giving both the horse and myself a pep talk. We were being timed—this was, after all, the second component in that trophy race—but I didn’t catch my time because I was too busy ruing the balloon targets I had missed and the fact that my run was over. Yep, it was amazing. By the end, every journalist who had thrown a trembling leg over the horse’s back at the beginning was shouting, “Can I do it again?” We were officially under Montana’s spell.

At noon, we tasted another hot specialty sub, as well as a sub from Firehouse’s new under-500-calorie Hearty and Flavorful menu. The new menu, consisting of six subs and four chopped salads, took a year to develop because Robin and his brother insisted that they had to be, well, hearty and flavorful. “A Hook and Ladder without mayo or cheese wasn’t the answer,” he said of the brand’s best-selling sandwich. “Where’s the flavor?”

The solution was to trim the bread by a third, swap in light mayo, and pare the cheese down a bit—but keep the same amount of meat. This lower-carb, higher-protein approach is what the market demanded, Sorensen said, admitting that even his own teenage daughter had requested healthier options. Sure enough, she’s become a Firehouse Subs regular again since the Hearty and Flavorful menu debuted in February.

Hunger fully satisfied, we turned our attention to the more serious side of Firehouse Subs: its Public Safety Foundation. The nonprofit arm, founded

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higher-protein approach is what the market demanded, Sorensen said, admitting that even his own teenage daughter had requested healthier options. Sure enough, she’s become a Firehouse Subs regular again since the Hearty and Flavorful menu debuted in February.

Hunger fully satisfied, we turned our attention to the more serious side of Firehouse Subs: its Public Safety Foundation. The nonprofit arm, founded in 2005, supports first responders and public safety organizations through grants and equipment donation—in a very real way helping frontline workers save lives. It’s a mission the Sorensens grew up with, and they’re determined to sustain this legacy for the millions of first responders who do so much with too little. Since its founding, more than $9 million has been donated to hometown heroes across the nation.

We saw the foundation in action during a rescue boat donation to the Cascade County Sheriff ’s Office, which had been dealing with a troubling trifecta: three major navigable rivers, an existing rescue boat on its last legs, and no way to pay for a new one. Until someone remembered that Firehouse might be able to help.

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Soon, a new rescue boat worth more than $38,000 was sitting in front of the Sheriff ’s Office, with deputies, volunteer firefighters, and local search and rescue teams on hand to check out the donation. Considering the frequency with which Cascade County first responders are summoned to perform river rescues—and, sadly, recoveries—as well as evacuate residents during floods, Undersheriff John Stevens’s gratitude was understandable.

“You don’t realize what you’ve done for our community,” he said. “We can’t thank you enough.”

Despite Sorensen’s “aw, shucks” attitude—he joked that the donation was actually self-serving since his family visits several times a year—he was keenly aware that this boat would likely save lives in the near future.

Apparently you can take the sub maker out of the firehouse, but you can’t take the firehouse out of the sub maker.

As for me, I discovered that you can take the Midwestern out of this girl— and swap in a little Montana magic. When awards were handed out that evening, I was relieved to escape the Doofus Award. But I was positively shocked to win the Best Cowgirl Award. While I was trying not to shoot

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myself or anyone else, I’d racked up the best women’s score in skeet shooting and made a respectable showing in mounted shooting. Go figure.

While the golden horse statue is a lovely reminder of the trip, the biggest takeaway from my time at Bell Cross Ranch is a thorough appreciation of what my family and friends were trying to tell me.

Mother Nature has many glorious incarnations and perhaps, like me, you think you’ve seen her at her best. But maybe—just maybe—you haven’t.

Oh, and shooting at something really is the best way to start the day.

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Jagged cliffs stand up to the pounding waves, creating a fabulous palette of complementary colors.

ve Natural Reser te ta S os ob L t Poin The best of my discoveries had to be Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, located just south of Monterey Bay. Frequently called “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world,” it is near the northernmost starting point of the worldfamous Big Sur scenic coastal drive. You have very likely seen or heard of Big Sur; it is a place of unimaginable beauty. I almost passed up Point Lobos, but something pulled on my newly California blonde (ish) hair and told me to stop.

Point Lobos is so scenic and full of animals and birds just hanging around undisturbed that you can tell humans have hardly touched it. It is protected and maintained by the state of California, but even more so by the Point Lobos Foundation, a nonprofit group. The foundation provides funding for many integral programs that help to preserve it and to educate the public about this natural resource, long considered the crown jewel of the 158 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

California State Park System. They have done a wonderful job. I feel a pull to go back very soon to spend a few days exploring and admiring, as opposed to the few short hours that I was able to spend there on my recent trip.

Truly chock-full of wildlife, Point Lobos is a spectacular place to view Mother Nature’s coastal inhabitants without disturbing them. Over two hundred fifty different animals, including marine mammals and bird species, and over three hundred fifty plant species have been identified at the reserve. They must like it there too!

Apart from the trails and roads to get to Point Lobos, the land is relatively untouched and extraordinarily beautiful. Even the entrance area seems to be intact and unaltered. You could drive right by it on State Route 1 and not have a clue of the grandeur lying on the other side of the giant

evergreen trees that line the road. There is barely a landmark for the entrance except for the cars parked on the side of the road, left there by those who prefer to walk in. Seeing all the cars is really what caused me to stop. I thought there must be something pretty great if there were that many cars outside the place.

There are twelve trails to explore with ten coves scattered about for your discovery. The marine sanctuary around it is protected and it’s a prime spot for scuba diving and snorkeling. Jagged cliffs stand up to the pounding waves, creating a fabulous palette of complementary colors, from the bright white sea spray against the emerald-green and blue hues of the Pacific, down to the dark brown and black of the rocks that they collide with on shore. Travelers come from all over the world to take in the beauty and artistry that overflows from my new favorite place.

When I finally found my spot, I turned to the water, and right in front of me was a gorgeous sea lion! He was so close to me, I could have almost touched him.

He was absolutely glorious to look at, with his round nostrils flared, whiskers forward, and a curious gleam in his eyes. I felt an instant connection to this wild creature who had ventured so close to inspect me. Eye to eye, there seemed to be a silent communication between us that I cannot find the right words to explain.

s Sea Lion These playful dudes practically own Monterey Bay! They lounge about everywhere, covering rocks, jetties, and docks, and they even get on top of handrails somehow—I still don’t understand how they manage that. Their whiskered faces pop up out of the water, keeping an eye on the scene, and then disappear back down into their submarine world. I have fallen in love

I have fallen in love with their big brown eyes, playful, curious nature, and the fluidity of their movements in the sea. with their big brown eyes, their playful and curious nature, and the fluidity of their movements in the sea.

Then, frantically but quietly, I struggled to get my camera ready, and he watched as I tried to keep my balance and set up for the shot. Of course, just as I was about to take the picture, he disappeared into the murky water. It was as if he disapproved of having his photo taken, thank you very much. For a moment, I was bummed, but then I smiled, feeling good about my choice to go to the jetties to shoot. I thought I would be so close to the sea lions and that they would all be extremely curious and come right up to check me out, just like the first one did. I was sadly mistaken.

My first meeting with a sea lion was the highlight of my day and possibly of my entire trip. Early in the morning, I crawled over some jetty rocks to get to the waterside to photograph the birds and sea lions.

I still got some good shots and simply enjoyed watching the curious divers carry on in the pass. That first sea lion was magnificent and I will never forget our special moment of connection.

Harbor Seals Luckily for me, I visited Point Lobos just in time for the birthing season of the harbor seals. Wandering up a path with perfect scenery everywhere, I came upon a photographer shooting with a lens so large that it would qualify as separate luggage on any flight. She was in a cul-de-sac near a viewing area with her lens supported by a fence rail. She was dressed like a nature photographer, and as it turned out, she was a regular volunteer at the reserve. I took a spot to her left and took some shots of the nesting Brandt’s cormorants on the cliff across the way.

She was speaking with a gentleman that I presumed was her husband, and I noticed a tinge of concern in their voices as they spoke.

My curiosity piqued, I eventually asked her what was going on, and she told me that she was shooting a female seal in labor on the far rocks. The seal had been in labor for much longer than usual, and they were worried. My lens veered in the same direction as hers and it landed on the target—a harbor seal, lying on her side and looking uncomfortable from

the contractions that would occasionally rack her whole body. She was small and gray, with little spots all over her skin. The volunteers educated me about newborn seals. The new pups have a characteristic wrinkled look when they are less than a day old. We chatted about it for a bit, and I took some shots that were weak since she was a good distance away. Then I finally went on my way, hopeful that mother and baby would have a happy ending.

Moving on to another cove, I came to a bluff right above a tiny sand beach with many new little seals and mothers. Seal pups are the epitome of cute! One little gray seal pup was fresh out of the womb, umbilical cord still attached.

These seals have their camouflage down pat—you can easily mistake a seal for a stone on the beach. I observed them here for just under two hours, hoping to witness and photograph a birth, as there was another mother in labor there. No luck, and I didn’t want to stay so long that I would miss out on other scenery.

It is illegal to disturb the seals in the reserve. The seals themselves schooled me as to just how sensitive and wild they truly are. At one point, I reached to move some dry grass from in front of my camera to get a better shot, and incredibly, they heard me touch the grass from way above and they all scurried into the water. (Oops!)

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Just a bit further down State Route 1 is the Piedras Blancas Rookery, which hosts around seventeen thousand northern elephant seals on its beach. It is seven miles north of San Simeon and eighty-nine miles south of Monterey at the southern end of Big Sur. The colony started with just under two dozen seals back in 1990.

Hunted for their blubber for nearly two hundred years, the elephant seals were very close to extinction. Today, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 protects them from hunting and harassment.

The rookery is a must-see along the Big Sur coastal drive; the admission is free and it’s open every day of the year. When I arrived, the beach was so covered there was not much sand in sight due to wall-towall elephant seals. The number of elephant seals on the beach varies depending on the time of year, and the squirrels that live in the brush behind the fence are very friendly, but we’re not to feed them.

(Somebody must be doing so, however, as they are porky little guys!)

The CORMoRANTS were breeding, so the males had a bright blue gular pouch.

Birds The birds around Monterey Bay are plentiful and quite large. The array of species is startling; pelicans, seagulls, terns, cormorants, herons, pigeons, egrets, and ibises are just a few of the coastal inhabitants.

They are easy to view because they are everywhere in the thriving ecosystem of the California coastline.

I was able to view the Brandt’s cormorants on the cliff from where I had seen the harbor seal in labor.

They are comical little guys with tons of character.

They were breeding, so the males had a bright blue gular pouch when I saw them. This fades quickly after the breeding season. The males do a dance to show off for the females, which reminds me of the elaborate dances of the birds of paradise of New 160 | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 014

Guinea. These cormorants turn their heads up to the sky, almost upside down—presumably to expose the gular pouch—and flutter their wings out by their sides. They were serious about their dances.

The males will also carry “prizes” of seaweed and other sea vegetation to the females to try to win them over. It’s very entertaining to watch.

Their nests are very close together, only as far as a neck’s reach from nest to nest, and the result is what looks like a honeycomb pattern of nests on the bluff.

The winds are constantly destroying these nests, so the cormorants stay hard at work rebuilding. I admired their persistence.

The Friends of the Elephant Seal organization has set up a webcam to view the elephant seals as well, but it’s a narrow shot of the beach. (When I wrote this, there were only about four or five seals in view—it’s much better appreciated live.) You can view the webcam feed at www.elephantseal.org/Rookery/livecam.html.

Redwoods If you head to Central or Northern California, you will miss out if you don’t visit a redwood forest. The trees are more monstrous the farther north you go, but at least as far south as Monterey Bay, they are giants! You will also see smaller things like lichens, patches of wild mushrooms, and infamous banana slugs. Redwood forests seem to have it all as far as nature goes, but I missed out on seeing any wildlife there aside from a squirrel—oh, and one wild turkey that had no agenda, it seemed, as he lingered on the road slowing the cars trying to pass. But the big attraction is really the trees.

I also visited Big Basin Redwoods State Park, just northwest of Santa Cruz, which is the home

of California’s largest stand of redwood trees, boasting some of the tallest and oldest trees on earth. Some of these giants measure close to three hundred feet in height and fifty feet in circumference, and some trees are ancient, ranging from a thousand to two thousand years old. The park offers an array of trails to explore the impossibly tall trees, along with streams, cliffs, and waterfalls. The Redwood Loop Trail is wheelchair and stroller accessible and displays the Mother and the Father of the Forest, the two tallest trees in the park today.

Even the drive to the park was beautiful and fun; the curves were endless. The road was controlled by the monstrous trees, daring you to drive even a tad outside the lines. Misjudge, and a tree might happily remodel the side of your vehicle. The canopy above usually blocked the sun. It would be like heaven to live near this place!

Whales I also took a whale watching tour from Moss Landing Harbor, hoping to view and get good shots of the sea giants. There is no freer feeling than being out on the water. The rhythmic splash of waves coming from under the hull, combined with the rocking movement of the boat, is hypnotizing to me.

About a mile out, I got my hopes up for good photo opportunities as a pod of Risso’s dolphins bobbed in and out of the water next to our boat. One in particular kept popping his body up in a vertical fashion seemingly to observe what we were all about. I got a few good shots of this, but once it came to the whales, there weren’t as many close-ups. The combination of the distance, the bouncing boat, and the hazy day didn’t bode well for great whale breaching shots. Even so, there were blue whales and humpbacks showing

off all around us. We witnessed a few breaches and even some of the circling behavior where they team up to corral their prey with bubble nets, making it easier for them to scoop up the fish.

Awesome photos aside, watching these monstrous mammals breach the surface and then dive down filled my mind and my spirit with their grace and their quiet, commanding presence. All I wanted to do was jump in and swim beside them, if only to connect with them for one breathless moment.

If there were a contest for the best place to view coastal wildlife, this area would definitely be the running.

If you love the ocean and have not visited this area, do yourself a favor and put Monterey Bay and Point Lobos on your bucket list.

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By Rebecca Barnes Photography by Sylvie Robert V IE Z INE .C OM | 165

It’s not every day that you meet a child who has a real elephant for a best friend. Nor do you often witness a child riding on the back of an ostrich or even petting her feline friend who is not a normal house cat, but a real leopard. Yet this was a commonplace event in the life of one lucky girl who was born in Namibia and grew up in southern Africa for the first decade of her life. The girl is Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degré.

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“My name is also Okanti, which means ‘mongoose’ in the Ovambo language, one of the Namibian tribe,” Tippi says on her website. “It can seem like a strange idea to call your daughter Mongoose, even if the word ‘Okanti’ sounds nice. It is, nevertheless, the beginning of my story.”

Like the fearless mongoose, Tippi became known for her daring and bold encounters with other members of Mother Nature’s wild kingdom.

Tippi’s parents, Sylvie Robert and Alain Degré, are French wildlife photographers and filmmakers who lived and worked for almost twenty years photographing and filming animals in southern Africa. They worked in national parks and wildlife reserves, living in tented camps in the bush.

Tippi scarcely got a chance to meet other kids and naturally befriended all the animals she met.

When her parents visited friends on wildlife farms, there was always an orphaned or rescued

caracal, mongoose, or baboon living with the family and being raised by them. Tippi would take any opportunity to play with these animals, spending as much time as she could with them, while her parents documented their interactions in a series of captivating photos.

The family lived that life until Tippi was ten, when they moved back to her parents’ home in France. Tippi experienced culture shock moving

Like the fearless mongoose, Tippi became known for her daring and bold encounters with other members of Mother Nature’s wild kingdom.

away from Africa, and she missed her animal friends. She decided to share her experiences and insights from her time in Africa in a book, which she titled Tippi: My Book of Africa. The photos that captured her experiences with the animals are stunning and speak of the connection she shared with each creature.

Tippi became known as “the little girl who could speak to animals.” She says could communicate with them using her eyes, mind, heart, and soul—but mostly her eyes. After her family moved back to France, she would catch pigeons in the streets of Paris to cuddle them. They couldn’t be kissed, though, because they were not wild and clean like the animals she used to kiss in the bush.

Her connection with the animals seemed to be a spiritual one, with an unspoken level of respect and understanding.

Although Tippi says she believes in guardian angels, she doesn’t necessarily believe in God. Her connection with the animals seems to be a spiritual one, with an unspoken level of respect and understanding.

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During her ten years in Africa, Tippi formed stronger relationships with certain animals than with others. One of them was Abu, a thirty-somethingyear-old elephant that Tippi first met when she was only one and a half years old. He belonged to Randall Moore, a friend of Sylvie and Alain, who brought Abu to Africa from a circus in the United States. This was one of Tippi’s favorite animal friends and she referred to him as her “brother.”

She loved to sit behind his head, on his soft spot.

Abu would follow her around like a babysitter, was always gentle with her, and was careful not to step on her. The kindness that Abu demonstrated is readily apparent in the photos of him with Tippi.

In her book, Tippi says, “That is the way elephants are; they pay close attention to little ones.”

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Tippi listened to the animals, and it seemed that these animals sensed the respect and love that she had for them.

The leopard Tippi befriended, J&B, was hand fed and raised by people, but he was never tamed.

The unlikely pair played together often, and he never caused her harm. In all her adventures with her leopard, cheetah, and lion cub friends, Tippi was never afraid, but of course, there were times her parents would not allow Tippi to interact with certain animals, such as one particular lion cub. His name was Mufasa and he is pictured on the cover of her book. Tippi and Mufasa played together when he was small, and the cub would even suck on her finger while she slept. They parted ways for a year and by the time Tippi saw him again, Mufasa had grown quite large.

During their reunion, he accidentally knocked her over with his tail, and Sylvie and Alain were

not at ease with this lion’s growing strength. The encounter ended, but the memories of the bond they shared are documented in Tippi’s stories and the photos her parents took.

Tippi’s experiences don’t end there—her animal friends included meerkats, ostriches, bullfrogs, pythons, and more. She was especially fond of chameleons, which she had as everyday companions. Her journey, documented by the stunning photography, shows us that it is possible to connect silently with other species in nature if we show them the respect and reverence they deserve—when we show fear, we get something to fear in return. Tippi was never afraid of the animals. Children tend to trust before that trust has been earned, but for Tippi, it was not a matter of trust. She couldn’t afford to trust a wild animal when she did not belong to the same species and therefore didn’t live with the same codes. The main rule she permanently had in mind was what her parents had taught her: never to fear but always to be on the watch.

Tippi communicated with the animals, and it seemed that these animals sensed the respect and love that she had for them. These photos and memories are the proof, and the love between Tippi and her friends shines through.

To learn more about Tippi Degré and her adventures, visit www. tippi.org. Tippi: My Book of Africa is available for purchase through Amazon, Google Books, Barnes and Noble, and other major retailers.

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By Kelly Beasley

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It was a glorious Sunday afternoon in the middle of August as we approached the Cliffs of Moher. Upon approach, the cliffs appear to be plains of luscious grass that seemingly extend without end into the horizon. Given a closer look, the rolling fields are actually plateaus atop majestic, sheer cliffs that plunge into the Atlantic Ocean seven hundred feet below. Aside from being Ireland’s most-visited natural attraction, the cliffs are one of the many beautiful locations that were used during the filming of the classic movie The Princess Bride. Not a bad introduction to the endless natural beauty that Ireland has to offer!

This past August, I traveled for the first time to magical Ireland. I had heard the many usual descriptions of the country; among the most common were that it rains a lot, it is very green, and there are a lot of sheep. However, having no real idea of the Emerald Isle and its many wonders, I was unprepared to have my heart so completely captured. Surely I am not the first to claim such a fantastic outlook as a result of experiencing this extraordinary place.

The purpose for the transatlantic trip was multifaceted, but the primary focus was the grand opening celebration of the new corporate office for The Idea Boutique, Ltd. in Clifden, County Galway, the first expansion venture of its kind for the Northwest Florida–based parent company, Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Inc. – The Idea Boutique®, located in Grayton Beach. This past March, Cornerstone enjoyed its twentieth anniversary in the marketing, advertising, and public relations industry. Also in 2014, Cornerstone, as the owner and publisher of VIE, marked its sixth year in the publishing business. In recognition of the office opening in Ireland, as well as the company’s twentieth anniversary, owners Lisa and Gerald Burwell invited office staff, family, and friends to join them for a weeklong celebration set in the rugged beauty of the Connemara region.

The details for the summer jaunt were meticulously planned months in advance, ensuring not only that the U.S. staff got a thorough introduction to the country and culture but also that The Idea Boutique’s presence in Ireland properly represented the high-quality standard of how it does business. The trip’s main scheduled events included a fantastic two-day stay at the luxurious five-star Ashford Castle Hotel; a five-night stay in the charming nineteenth century Rosleague Manor Hotel, which played host to a live painting exhibition featuring the sculptural painting style of Highway 30A–based artist Justin Gaffrey; a Downton Abbey– themed dinner at the amazing four-star Ballynahinch Castle Hotel; and a walkabout during the annual Connemara Pony Show in Clifden, the largest Connemara pony show of its kind in Ireland. In between the focal events, partakers were invited to explore the local beauty: Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park; the incredible Victorian architecture and grounds of Kylemore Abbey and the Victorian Walled Garden; and the breathtaking views and panoramas along Sky Road, to mention a few.

Leaving the Cliffs of Moher in the Burren region of County Clare, we headed to our first hotel—the stunningly beautiful Ashford Castle in Cong, County Mayo. Aside from the obvious challenges of learning to drive on the opposite side of the car and the opposite side of the road, the roads leading there were dizzyingly curvy and extremely narrow, and I had to avoid a few sheep crossing the road every now and then. But after adapting to these challenges, I found it rather fun to drive. The medieval Ashford Castle is a piece of Ireland’s rich history, offering the traditional country pursuits of the gentry such as falconry, horseback riding, fishing, and clay pigeon shooting, which some of us tried for the first time. So cool!

The next day (Monday), it took about an hour to drive to our next destination, Rosleague Manor Hotel, which overlooks Letterfrack Harbour at the head of Ballynakill Bay. Our hostess, Loretta Joyce, who has worked at the manor for over thirty years, graciously escorted us to our rooms, which were each unique in layout and furnishings. Rosleague Manor made a cozy home for the remainder of our stay and its location was convenient to all of our scheduled activities and explorations of Connemara for the next several days. Hotel proprietor Mark Foyle made everyone feel at home and was always happy to help his staff manage our large group during early breakfasts, happy hours, dinners, and late-night gatherings.

PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

ONE OF ASHFORD CASTLE’S RESIDENT FALCONERS, OWEN, TAUGHT THE IDEA BOUTIQUE TEAM ABOUT HIS TRADE DURING A “HAWK WALK” THROUGH THE GROUNDS.

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Ashford Castle has an

incredibly long history that dates back to medieval times.

ASHFORD CASTLE WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1228.

OVER THE CENTURIES, THE MEDIEVAL CASTLE HAS HAD MANY ADDITIONS AND MANY OWNERS— THE GUINNESS FAMILY OF BREWING FAME BEING AMONG THE MOST NOTABLE. THE PROPERTY IS NOW A FIVE-STAR LUXURY HOTEL OWNED AND OPERATED

BY RED CARNATION HOTELS. PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

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PHOTO BY GERALD BURWELL

ROSLEAGUE MANOR HOTEL IS A CHARMING BED-AND-BREAKFAST LOCATED NEAR CONNEMARA NATIONAL PARK IN LETTERFRACK. IT BOASTS HOMEY GUEST ROOMS, A FRIENDLY STAFF, AND GORGEOUS VIEWS OF LETTERFRACK HARBOUR AT THE HEAD OF BALLYNAKILL BAY, DIAMOND HILL (RIGHT), AND MOUNT TULLY (LEFT).

PHOTO BY TRACEY THOMAS

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Tuesday Tuesday afternoon. Another beautiful day with a brilliant sun and blue skies—a perfect day for Justin Gaffrey’s art exhibit in the glass conservatory lounge/bar at Rosleague. Justin Gaffrey Studio and Gallery, a client of The Idea Boutique, was thrilled to debut Justin’s work to Ireland. Among attendees were Justin’s fellow travelers and local artists, as well as some avid Facebook followers of his work—yes, all the way over in Ireland. In just short of an hour, using his trademark palette knife and scoops of brightly colored acrylic paint, Justin sculpted a beautiful Connemara landscape inspired by his recent explorations of the local countryside. The show was festive and introduced many to Justin’s unique style. The painting is now on display at The Idea Boutique office just in time for the 37th Annual Clifden Arts Festival in mid-September.

NORTHWEST FLORIDA–BASED ARTIST JUSTIN GAFFREY, A CLIENT OF THE IDEA BOUTIQUE, WAS FEATURED AT ROSLEAGUE MANOR HOTEL ON AUGUST 19 WITH A LIVE PAINTING EXHIBITION AND RECEPTION IN THE CONSERVATORY.

PHOTO BY TRACEY THOMAS

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PHOTO BY CHRISTY MILLIKEN

1. EMMA, AMANDA, BOBBY, AND LAURIE RYAN CROWLEY; TOM AND CHRISTINE RYAN; JERRY AND CARMEL RYAN; GERALD AND LISA BURWELL; DAVID, ANNE MARIE, AND OSCAR NEWELL; AND MARIANNE RYAN DUFFEY

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2. EMMA, BOBBY, AND LAURIE RYAN CROWLEY 3. LISA BURWELL, MARY JANE KIRBY, SHARON DUANE, TRACEY THOMAS, AND JORDAN STAGGS 4. AMANDA CROWLEY AND LISA BURWELL 5. DELICIOUS APPETIZER SERVED BY THE SUPERB CHEFS AT BALLYNAHINCH CASTLE 6. JUSTIN GAFFREY WITH HIS LOVELY DAUGHTER, ARIA 7. THE LOCAL GOAT CHEESE AND SLICED APPLE SALAD WAS A FEAST FOR THE EYES AND THE PALATE! 8. THE DOWNTON LADIES—ARIA GAFFREY, TRACEY THOMAS, ANN WOHLFORD, JORDAN STAGGS, CHRISTY MILLIKEN, LISA BURWELL, MARY JANE KIRBY, SHARON DUANE, KIM DUKE-LAYDEN, AMANDA CROWLEY, EMMA CROWLEY, AND LAURIE CROWLEY 9. PAUL AND ANN WOHLFORD, KELLY BEASLEY, KIM DUKE-LAYDEN, BILL WECKEL, AND JORDAN STAGGS PHOTOS BY MARIANNE DUFFEY

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PHOTO BY KELLY BEASLEY

Wednesday Wednesday evening was the big night everyone was anticipating—The Idea Boutique’s Downton Abbey–themed dinner party at Ballynahinch Castle—a formal dinner for almost thirty guests including clients, staff, friends, and family, all in our best 1920s-inspired dress. The setting was magical. The evening sun cast a golden hue into the beautiful Victorian-era Owenmore Restaurant, which has gorgeous unobstructed views of the babbling Owenmore River. Three large tables were exquisitely set with fine linens, flowers, silver period candlesticks, silver flatware, pristine stemware, and fine porcelain dinnerware. Guests were welcomed with beautiful place cards at their seats; these were graciously printed and donated by Rob and Laurie Crowley of Savron Graphics, Peterborough, New Hampshire. The Gaelic word Sláinte (a salutation or toast that literally means “Health”) headed the top of the folded card with the evening’s program and menu listed inside. The food was prepared to perfection by the chefs and flawlessly served by an impeccable waitstaff. Immediately following dessert,

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The evening sun cast a golden hue into the

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THE CONNEMARA REGION LIES ALONG IRELAND’S WEST COAST, OFFERING BRILLIANT VIEWS OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, ALONG WITH NUMEROUS BAYS, INLETS, AND HARBORS. PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

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Another beautiful day in Connemara

all the guests retired to a gorgeously appointed drawing room with a roaring fire—even in August, Ireland can have a nip in the air. Here, Emma Crowley beautifully performed a soulful solo of “The Fields of Athenry”—a song that her late grandmother, Marie Ryan, had taught her seven years earlier. The Idea Boutique made quite an impression on Ireland this night—it was a truly magical evening!

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Thursday Thursday was a beautiful Irish day—which is any day that the sun shines, even if it rains. And it did rain a little that day, though it wasn’t bad enough to bring spirits down. It was time for the Connemara Pony Show, which takes place annually at the Connemara Pony Breeders Society Show Grounds in Clifden, a short walk from the new office of The Idea Boutique, Ltd. The Connemara Pony Show features the crème PHOTO BY MARIANNE DUFFEY

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PHOTO BY KIM DUKE-LAYDEN

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PHOTO BY MARIANNE DUFFEY

1. GENTLE MEGHAN, OWNED BY LISA AND GERALD BURWELL, MADE HER DEBUT AS A THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY IN THE IN-HAND COMPETITION AT THE 2014 CONNEMARA PONY FESTIVAL. GENTLE MEGHAN’S HANDLER IS GEOFFREY HEANUE OF RENVYLE, COUNTY GALWAY. 2. JOHN MCLOUGHLIN IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND SUCCESSFUL BREEDERS OF CONNEMARA PONIES, INCLUDING THE BURWELLS’ GENTLE MEGHAN.

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PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

3. THE FESTIVAL INCLUDED COMPETITIONS FOR CONNEMARA PONIES OF ALL AGES ALONG WITH THEIR HANDLERS AND RIDERS. 4. CONNEMARA PONIES ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR BEAUTY AND THEIR GENTLE NATURES—A REFLECTION OF THE MAJESTIC LAND WHENCE THEY COME.

The 2014 Connemara Pony Festival

featured the crème de la crème of Connemara ponies, a beautiful breed that originated in the surrounding area. de la crème of Connemara ponies from throughout Ireland; this beautiful breed takes its name from the surrounding area, the land of its origins. One of this year’s competing ponies, being walked by local breeder/trainer Geoffrey Heanue, was the Burwells’ own Gentle Meghan, a three-year-old filly making her show debut.

The show buzzed with members of the community and world travelers exploring the grounds and enjoying the ponies on display. Among the showgoers was the famed John McLoughlin, Gentle Meghan’s breeder. John is one of the most well known breeders of champion Connemara ponies in Ireland, and he has been a good friend and neighbor of Lisa’s extended Irish family for many years. Some women, dressed to the nines in wild hats and colorful dress, were vying to win the “Best Dressed” contest. The entire Cornerstone staff was there to support Gentle Meghan and to take in the sights and sounds of one of Ireland’s biggest horse shows of the year. During the show, Lisa Burwell and Justin Gaffrey were interviewed by local radio station Galway Bay FM to talk about how the Americanbased Idea Boutique plans to become a part of the Connemara community.

PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

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The natural Connemara landscape is wild and, for the most part, looks relatively untouched by humans.

OPEN YEAR-ROUND FOR TOURS, KYLEMORE ABBEY AND VICTORIAN WALLED GARDEN IS ONE OF THE CROWN JEWELS OF THE CONNEMARA REGION. CONSTRUCTION ON THE CASTLE LASTED FROM 1867 TO 1871, AND IT HAS SINCE SERVED AS A BENEDICTINE ABBEY AND A BOARDING SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. THE SCHOOL WAS CLOSED IN 2010, BUT THE BENEDICTINE NUNS ARE STILL IN RESIDENCE. PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

Friday Friday—the final full day before departing Ireland to head back to Florida. It was another sun-blessed day that was spent exploring more of the natural wonders of the area. We took an exhilarating hike up Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park. Inside the park, the natural Connemara landscape is wild and, for the most part, looks relatively untouched by humans. The national park, a highlight of the trip for many of us, is a gorgeous asset to the country and offers people a wonderful connection with the natural wonders of Ireland. And entry is free!

By the end of the trip, I came to understand why Lisa and Gerald love Ireland so deeply. Lisa has a long history with the island country, as her mother grew up there, and Lisa spent one glorious summer exploring Connemara as a teenager with her younger sister Laurie. She remembers the land as being magical and stunningly beautiful—nothing has changed about that. It is a country that now possesses a special place in my heart. Ireland and its good-natured citizens have forever changed me.

I was able to witness many hospitable, communityoriented, open, happy, and extremely friendly people. It was wonderful! Sadly, I have never experienced a communal vibe like this anywhere in the United States. I feel changed by what I experienced there, and I’m excited to know that The Idea Boutique will become part of such a wonderful country.

With marketing, advertising, and publishing ventures both in America and Ireland, The Idea Boutique aims to bring its marketing expertise together with a love for Ireland in hopes of contributing to the business community of Clifden and the surrounding area. The company’s vision is to attract more Americans to visit the country by showcasing its incredible beauty and culture while tapping into the good work ethic of the well-educated work pool available in Ireland. As part of that plan, The Idea Boutique is preparing to launch the Irish publication Connemara Life, which is due to publish in May 2015.

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THE LONG AND WINDING ROADS THROUGH IRELAND’S RUGGED PHOTO DESCRIPTIONS CONNEMARA REGION OFFER SOME OF THE MOST SCENIC VISTAS IN THE COUNTRY—JUST KEEP TO THE LEFT SIDE WHEN DRIVING! PHOTO BY BILL WECKEL

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Love Your Style

PHOTO BY GERALD BURWELL

THE IDEA BOUTIQUE’S VICE PRESIDENT OF CREATIVE SERVICES, BOB BROWN, AND HIS WIFE, MEREDITH SNOW, PAUSE FOR A PHOTO OP AT THE RYAN FAMILY COTTAGE NEAR RENVYLE, COUNTY GALWAY.

PHOTO BY KELLY BEASLEY

FRONT TO BACK: CONNEMARA PONIES LOLA, GENTLE MEGHAN, AND APRIL BASK IN THE ELUSIVE SUN ON THE RENVYLE PENINSULA THE DAY FOLLOWING THE 2014 CONNEMARA PONY FESTIVAL.

The new office of The Idea Boutique, Ltd. officially opens September 15, 2014, in Clifden, County Galway, with Sharon Duane as branch manager.

It’s an exciting time and I am thrilled to see what adventures lie ahead at the new satellite office in Ireland. The company’s grand opening journey to Ireland as a whole was incredible, fantastic, and magical—something that you might only expect to read in a fairy tale.

Learn more about the destinations throughout the trip in the article “Magical Connemara: Rugged Beauty at Its Finest” in the upcoming Travel Issue.

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