Key West Weekly 23-1214

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“Welcome to the party, pal.” — John McClane

December 14, 2023

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FDOT RESPONDS TO FATAL CRASH

SHERIFF SAYS OFFICIALS ARE ‘LYING’ ABOUT UNSAFE CONSTRUCTION ZONE | P. 4

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

NUMBER OF THE WEEK KEYS

NEWSPAPERS

5450 MacDonald Ave. No.5 Key West, FL 33040 Office: 305.453.6928 www.keysweekly.com Publisher / Britt Myers britt@keysweekly.com Publishing Partner / Jason Koler jason@keysweekly.com Editor / Mandy Miles mandy@keysweekly.com Digital Editor / Gwen Filosa gwen@keysweekly.com Director of Sales Manuela Carrillo Mobley manuela@keysweekly.com Account Executive Stephanie Mitchell stephanie@keysweekly.com Staff Writers Jim McCarthy jim@keysweekly.com Alex Rickert alex@keysweekly.com Copy Editor / Mike Howie mike@keysweekly.com Production Manager Anneke Patterson anneke@keysweekly.com Executive Administrator Charlotte Hruska char@keysweekly.com Design / Pre-Press Irene de Bruijn irene@keysweekly.com Javier Reyes javier@keysweekly.com Diana Striker www.keysweekly.com Web Master / Travis Cready travis@keysweekly.com Classifieds / Anneke Patterson anneke@keysweekly.com 305.743.0844 Se habla español THE KEY WEST WEEKLY (ISSN 1944-0812) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY FOR $125 PER YEAR

BY WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS, INC., 9709 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY, MARATHON FL 33050.

APPLICATION TO MAIL AT PERIODICALS POSTAGE RATES IS PENDING AT FORT LAUDERDALE FL AND ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. All stories, photos, and graphics are copyrighted materials.

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Members of

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AAA projects a record-setting 6.6 million Floridians will travel 50 miles or more during the upcoming year-end holiday travel period, from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1. “Despite various inflationary pressures, Americans are still willing to budget for travel,” said AAA’s Debbie Haas.

ON THE COVER The first-ever Waterfront Winter Wonderland runs Dec. 15-30 at the Coffee Butler Amphitheater, featuring ice skating, rides, giant slides, holiday shopping, Santa visits and more. See page 20.

FDOT RESPONDS TO DEADLY CRASH ON US 1 State officials deny receiving warning from Keys sheriff about unsafe work zone MANDY MILES mandy@keysweekly.com

O

ne week after a fiery crash killed a truck driver in a construction zone, where the sheriff said he had warned state transportation officials about a poorly lit and unsafe lane shift and construction barricade, those officials replied to the Keys Weekly’s request for comment.

“FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) is not currently aware of a call or recent notice of concern raised from any community partner, including the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, regarding the temporary concrete barrier wall or lighting through the work zone,” FDOT spokeswoman Cynthia Turcios wrote to the Keys Weekly on Dec. 12.

She expressed condolences to the deceased’s family and wrote that the department and its contractors had implemented traffic safety measures that comply with FDOT protocols.

“FDOT is lying to try to cover their ass,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay told the Keys Weekly on Dec. 12 upon learning of the department’s response. “A person is dead because of their lack of action and they’re going to try to make that driver the fall guy.”

What happened at mile marker 21?

In the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 5, Charles Dennis Shipley Jr., 61, was driving his United Natural Foods Inc. truck down U.S. 1 to make his usual deliveries to local food stores. At about 4:30 a.m. the truck hit a concrete construction barricade and exploded at MM 21 on Cudjoe Key. Police said Shipley died instantly.

The explosion caused a power outage from Big Pine Key to Key West and the Keys’ only road was closed for several hours.

The day of the accident, Ramsay told the Keys Weekly the deadly crash was “predicted and preventable.”

“FDOT is lying to try to cover their ass.”

— Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay

Drone footage shows the Dec. 5 wreckage at MM 21. MONROE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE/Contributed

Ramsay said he had previously called the Florida Department of Transportation to report that the concrete construction barricade was poorly lit, the lane shift was insufficiently marked and the area did not have a reducedspeed zone. But the department took no action, Ramsay said.

The sheriff sent photos to the Keys Weekly the afternoon of the crash showing orange warning signs lying on the side of the road at the time of the accident rather than being installed prior to the lane shift.

The Keys Weekly contacted FDOT officials the afternoon of the accident on Dec. 5 for comments about the sheriff’s warnings. Turcios replied via email on Dec. 12.

“The section of Overseas Highway in question, like much of the surrounding area, does not have streetlights and is currently posted at 45 mph, which is consistent with safety standards and protocols FDOT implements in work zones,” Turcios wrote.

“Once construction began, the FDOT contractor began placing a temporary concrete barrier wall to establish a safe work zone. … In addition, the contractor installed advanced warning signs, reflective pavement markings and raised pavement markers. Drums were also placed to delineate the required lane shift. Traffic control devices and markings were placed in accordance with FDOT safety standards,” Turcios wrote, before adding that FDOT was not aware of any notice of concerns from the sheriff.

At the time of the crash, Ramsay said on Dec. 12, five large construction “drums” were in place, although there are now 12 marking the lane shift.

“The only two signs warning of the lane shift were installed way too early on the roadway, and were blocked by foliage, which has since been cut back to make them more visible,” Ramsay said, sending photos of orange signs behind cut buttonwood limbs. “They got rid of the signs that were lying on the side of the road. They still haven’t installed any lighting, and they probably won’t, as that would be admitting fault.”

The Keys Weekly is requesting phone records and other potential documentation of the sheriff’s interactions with FDOT. Driver was popular family man Shipley, the truck driver who died, had lived in South Florida for about 10 years.

“He was a positive soul,” his nephew Jason Cook told the Keys Weekly on Dec. 6. “He loved his grandkids, country music. He loved his motorcycle. He loved to drive. He was always one of the fun uncles. He was talking about retiring in the next couple of years and buying an RV to travel,” Cook said.

Shipley would have turned 62 on Dec. 26. He left his wife of 38 years, Katrina, a son and a daughter, grandchildren and a large extended family.

He also left a legion of dismayed customers on his delivery route, including Alton Weekley, co-owner of Fausto’s Food Palace, where Shipley had delivered twice a week for years.

“He had an amazing sense of customer service because he truly loved people,” Weekley said on Dec. 5. “We’re just at a loss. Everyone who knew him liked him.”

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

ALEX RICKERT alex@keysweekly.com

AT THE END OF THE GOLDEN ROAD

Matt and Grace Grooms complete 3,000-mile walk from Maine to Key West

Matt and Grace Grooms finish their East Coast trek at Key West’s Southernmost Point. NICK WRIGHT/Contributed

Together with their dogs Nemo and Foxy, Matt and Grace Grooms completed their trek through the East Coast Greenway – a journey of more than 3,000 miles from Maine to Key West – as they touched the Southernmost Point Buoy on Dec. 11, after more than seven months of walking. ALEX RICKERT/Keys Weekly

S

even and a half months ago, Matt and Grace Grooms touched their feet to the ground in Calais, Maine. On Monday, those same feet reached Key West’s Southernmost Point Buoy, completing a journey of more than 3,000 miles down the East Coast Greenway.

No cars. No bikes. Just walking.

For the couple and their two fourlegged companions, Nemo and Foxy, however, the journey that began April 20 wasn’t even the first time they’d walked across the country. While COVID-19 ravaged the U.S. in 2020, Matt and Grace were treading a west-toeast path from Huntington Beach, California to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Apart from an epic achievement that stands on its own, their second “Walk Across America” is all about raising funds for Elevate Youth, a Boston nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved kids to explore the outdoors with mentors. With a goal of

raising $100,000, the Grooms’ efforts were rewarded in full as they reached their mark on Dec. 9, just two days before making their final trek. By Dec. 12, their total sat just north of $105,000, with donations still rolling in.

The Keys Weekly was fortunate enough to catch up with Matt and Grace for lunch – and a few steps – as they stopped at Marathon’s Irie Island Eats on Dec. 7. We can assure our readers – with this pair, what you see on social media is truly what you get, as we were inspired by their energy and warmth on the final leg of a journey that would leave most utterly exhausted. Here’s what we learned: Why Elevate Youth?

M&G: We liked them because it’s not just like picking the kids up one time for a summer camp. A lot of the kids have been there two or three years, and you can really tell. We wanted to help a nonprofit that helps kids get outdoors, because the outdoors is so important to us.

You’ve already walked across America once. Why do it again?

M&G: When we did the first walk, it was for the nonprofit Time in a Bottle.

Then our social media took off, so we decided, okay, we want to keep going on adventures, but also help out different small nonprofits. We weren’t planning on doing a second walk, but we found out about the East Coast Greenway, and that was already mapped out.

How many miles per day are you averaging?

M&G: 15 to 20. Our longest day was 33 miles into New York City, and we typically take an off day every 100 miles to catch up on work and let the dogs rest.

We’re told the story of how you met is pretty cool. Tell us about it!

Matt: We met at our best friends’ wedding. I was the best man, and Grace was the maid of honor, but we were both dating other people. I knew right away that the girl I was with wasn’t meant for me, but she was coming to the wedding anyway. I thought Grace was pretty cool, but I wasn’t overstepping boundaries. I broke up with my girlfriend the day after the wedding, and I was praying to God, “Hey, give me a sign Grace is thinking about me.” The next day, she was like “I hope you made it home safe.”

I said, “Hey. I wrote you some letters and some poems, and I really need to come convince you that we’re meant to be together.” She broke up with her boyfriend and I flew to Iowa. We met in August 2019, and she moved to California with me in October.

Where did the idea for the first “Walk Across America” come from?

Matt: I read the book “To Shake the Sleeping Self” by Jedidiah Jenkins. He talked about his parents, who had walked across America and National Geographic documented it. Before I was going to work one day at 7 in the morning, I was like, “Hey, would you want to walk across America?” Grace said, “Well, I’m gonna have to think about that.” I got home, and she had a whole notepad filled out with videos and things she’d watched. We said “All right, let’s sell our stuff, and when our lease is up, let’s do it.”

There’s a big difference between being inspired, and actually going out and doing something like this walk. What is it about you two that pushed you to this?

M&G: We’re both kind of free-spirited, and if we decide we want to do something, we’re just doing it. We’re both like that individually, which made it easier.

Let’s talk about life on the road.

How do you decide where to sleep?

M&G: On our first walk, it was a lot more stealth camping, because it was much more rural. This time we’ve really relied on social media. Before the walk, we did a post saying “Would you let two strangers sleep in your backyard?”

We got about 400 addresses down the east coast.

Read the full interview on keysweekly.com

NOMINATE NONPROFIT VOLUNTEERS

BY DEC. 15 Community Foundation readies for Unsung Heroes celebration

F

riday, Dec.15 is the deadline for nonprofits to nominate exemplary volunteers to be recognized at the Community Foundation’s 24th annual Unsung Heroes celebration.

Organizations will receive two free tickets to the celebration on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at noon at the Key West Marriott Beachside. The online nomination form is available at cffk.org/ unsung.

Every IRS 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit or faith-based organization in the Florida Keys is invited to nominate one volunteer.

“On behalf of the board, medical staff and employees of Lower Keys Medical Center, we are so proud to support the Unsung Heroes celebration again,” said David Clay, CEO of Lower Keys Medical Center. “It is certainly our pleasure to honor the individuals and organizations who work tirelessly to help those in need and to improve our beautiful and unique Keys communities.”

More than 1,500 volunteers have been recognized since the event was started 23 years ago. For more information, call 305-292-1502 or visit cffk.org/ unsung.

— Contributed

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

GOVERNOR RELEASES BUDGET PROPOSAL

NEW ROTARY FUND INVESTS IN EDUCATION

Funds in for Keys’ environment but money lacking for resilience

Andy Griffiths Scholarship covers tuition for future Keys teachers

T

he Rotary Club of Key West recently announced a new scholarship that recognizes the public service of Andy Griffiths, who served more than 30 years on the Monroe County School Board and is a dedicated Rotarian. The Andy Griffiths Scholarship will cover the cost of tuition for a Florida Keys student who wants to pursue a career in education.

Griffiths, who recently decided against seeking another term, said he sees the scholarship as a way to help ensure that the schools of Monroe County are staffed by the next generation of locals who can best shape the curriculum and classroom experience.

The Rotary Club will dedicate the proceeds from each year’s Stock Island Lighted Boat Parade to the new Andy Griffiths Scholarship. Griffiths will match the boat parade proceeds each year to fund the scholarship in perpetuity. The matching funds, he said, will come from a trust he established after a property sale years ago.

“My ideal recipient would be someone who knows the community, has a place to live and will go off to college with the idea of becoming a teacher in the Monroe County School District,” Griffiths said. “Someone who needs financial support, and shows good promise as a student who is likely to finish college. I think there’s always going to be a good job market for excellent teachers.”

Future teachers need more autonomy and resources, he said.

“I would like to see teachers have more autonomy in the curriculum of education and less dictation from Tallahassee,” Griffiths said. “Local teachers, I believe, are the best equipped

JIM McCARTHY jim@keysweekly.com

F

Andy Griffiths

to handle the unique challenges of the local student population. I think the curriculum and assessments can be flexible enough to allow teachers to form their own customized lesson plans. I’m also excited about the use of artificial intelligence to better differentiate instruction among students.

Obviously, AI will never replace the teacher, but it is a great tool that could save teachers hundreds of hours. Every student has a different learning style with a unique pace. So, AI could be a huge assistant.”

Rotary was started in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris.

The idea was to rotate meetings in that city among movers and shakers to solve community issues. Over time the organization evolved to a worldwide movement committed to humanitarian service. Rotary International can take credit for the eradication of polio. There are 46,000 clubs and 1.4 million members globally.

The Key West Rotary Club is over 100 years old. It is most noted for the annual 4th of July fireworks display, local high school scholarships and a student dental health program. The club hosts fundraising projects year-round to finance those scholarships and commitments.

The Florida Keys is home to 10 Rotary clubs, including three in Key West. All of them champion education and provide a variety of scholarships for local high school students who are headed to college, a trade school or a career certification.

— Contributed

lorida Gov. Ron DeSantis stepped away from the presidential campaign trail and sent a $114.4 billion spending proposal to leaders in the House and Senate on Dec. 5.

In the governor’s budget plan were funds for a Florida Keys program designed to help improve the island chain’s nearshore water quality and protect natural resources enjoyed by locals and millions of visitors. A total of $20 million for the Florida Keys Stewardship Act within DeSantis’ spending plan is seen by state Rep. Jim Mooney and state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez as an encouraging start as legislators prepare for discussions and debate in 2024. A 60-day session in Tallahassee begins Jan. 9.

“That funding is critical for continuing to protect the Florida Keys’ delicate ecosystem and water quality,” Rodriguez told the Keys Weekly.

State legislators began funding the Florida Keys Stewardship Act in 2016. Since then, some $90 million funneled into the program has supported projects from Key West to Key Largo.

Funding steadily rose from $5 million in 2018 to the full $20 million request in 2021. DeSantis vetoed $10 million before signing the 2020-21 spending plan due to budget concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Keys have received $20 million for water quality projects for the last three budget cycles. Lisa Tennyson, Monroe County legislative affairs director, hopes that trend continues as legislators prepare the next budget. “(It’s) always an excellent first step to be included in the governor’s budget,” said Tennyson, adding that funds were also included for a vessel pump out program in the county.

In addition to the Stewardship Act, DeSantis’ budget invests $1.1 billion for Everglades resto-

Gov. Ron DeSantis during his State of the State address last March.

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

ration and water quality. A total of $64 million in the governor’s proposal aims to reduce harmful discharges and send more clean water south of the Everglades and into Florida Bay. DeSantis also included $550 million for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, which aims to restore, preserve and protect the south Florida ecosystem while providing water supply needs and flood protection.

Tennyson was particularly disappointed in the governor’s recommended $100 million for resilience infrastructure. She said the Department of Environmental Protection issued its 2024-2025 list that ranked 198 resilience projects across the state.

“An allocation of $100 million will fund only the first 16 projects on the list,” she said. “He’s proposing a billion dollars in ticky-tack tax breaks. Why not divert that funding for resilience/flooding infrastructure?”

DeSantis’ budget is roughly $2.7 billion less than the $117.1 billion budget approved by the legislature for the current 202324 fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2024. Legislators convening for session next month will face decisions over priorities across the state and specifically how much funds will be expended for programs and projects ranging from infrastructure and education to the environment.

“I am looking forward to working with my colleagues in the legislature to craft a budget that focuses on improving the lives of our constituents and keeps our ever-growing state on an upward trajectory,” Rodriguez said.

DeSantis’ budget also included a little more than $10.7 million in operating funds for the College of the Florida Keys.

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

IRREVERENT WARRIORS RETURN DEC. 16

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The Irreverent Warriors’ Silkies Hike will take place Saturday, Dec. 16, starting at Hurricane Hole on Stock Island and proceeding through Key West. CONTRIBUTED

D

on’t worry about a bunch of veterans hiking through Key West in their underwear this weekend it’s for a good cause, perhaps one of the best causes — preventing veteran suicide.

On Saturday, Dec.16, veterans and military service members will take to the streets of Key West for the annual Irreverent Warriors Silkies Hike.

The nonprofit Irreverent Warriors bring thousands of veterans together at events across the United States. In the Silkies Hike, active duty personnel and veterans hike anywhere from 8 to 14 miles, some carrying heavy packs, some in wheelchairs, but all in a spirit of support and camaraderie with a singular mission – to eliminate veteran suicide. Veterans normally hike wearing only their combat boots and “silkies,” traditional military physical training shorts full of nostalgia that help promote an environment of humor and camaraderie.

Irreverent Warriors is a nonprofit whose mission is to bring veterans together, using humor and camaraderie, to improve mental health and prevent veteran suicide. The Key West Silkies Hike involves scores of hikers as well as volunteers who line the route, many from Kenna Construction, whose co-owner Jess Forsyth is one of the organizers and a believer in the good it does.

According to numerous studies, including a commonly referenced VA Suicide Data Report conducted in 2012, at least 22 veterans and military service members commit

suicide daily. Although this statistic has become very well known, it is often considered a gross underestimate of reality. Irreverent Warriors has stood up to fill an unmet demand by introducing its members and participants to a life-saving network of support through their events and community. “Everyone fights their battles and heals from trauma differently, but one thing is consistent — no one should have to do it alone,” states the group’s website.

Irreverent Warriors invites all veterans and military service members to hike in the event. The group also asks family members, friends and the community for their support and invites them to register as a volunteer or join the hikers at the stops.

The hike is open to veterans and military service members, including active duty, reservists and National Guard.

Registration for the Key West Silkies Hike starts at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 16 and the hike steps off at 9 a.m. from Hurricane Hole Bar & Grill on Stock Island. Stops include the Southernmost VFW Post 3911 on North Roosevelt Boulevard, Truman Waterfront Park, Southernmost Point, Heroes Bar on Southard Street and Dantes. Food, drinks and camaraderie will be provided at each stop and throughout the hike.

More information is available from Chad Salinero at 305-8492608 or Forsyth at 305-394-7184, on Facebook under “Irreverent Warriors Silkies Hike – Key West” and at irreverentwarriors.com.

— Contributed

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023 DAVID L. SLOAN www.keysweekly.com

Key West ghost hunter, author and entrepreneur David L. Sloan, who hosts haunted tours and ghost hunts at Fort East Martello, gets up close and personal with Robert the Doll, Key West’s most infamous haunted toy. CONTRIBUTED

‘Twas the month before Christmas, as the last full moon rose; Shining her light on the ‘bad’ children’s toes.

And with each crash or clatter, They made double time; To position themselves at the scenes of the crimes.

The kids hid beneath covers, and shivered with fear; Knowing old Santa Claus soon would be near.

Then the parents rushed in, and they started to shout; “Who’s causing trouble?

What’s this clatter about?”

Mrs. Claus pointed out, “One’s still naughty — that’s all.

See, he lives in Key West.

His name’s Robert the Doll.”

They had toy lists so long, their small hands had grown tired; But their behavior all year left much to be desired.

But the children just smiled, with their tales that were tall; And said, “I didn’t do it.

It was Robert the Doll.”

Santa clenched up his fists, and screamed, “Something’s not right.

And I’ll make sure that doll gets no presents tonight.”

Could 10 months of bad be repaired in just two?

The kids threw up their hands, because they knew they were through!

And the town’s parents froze, many trembled with fear; “We should have known all along …

Robert is here.”

Then he packed up his presents, and hopped in his sleigh; Slapped the reins on his reindeer and started away.

But, as the moon struck Key West, magic filled the warm breezes; With the wishes of children to behave as they please-ed!

“Our children are angels; “Never naughty, just nice.

“Yes, of course, it’s the doll, Who’s been wrecking our lives.”

But as hands turned to midnight, on the clocks and their faces, Robert’s minions emerged, from their best hiding places.

As a single full moonbeam shone on Robert the Doll; He said, “Don’t worry, children; I’ll answer your call!”

They picked up their children, and gave them big hugs; Then tossed Robert’s minions aside on their rugs.

Rode their chickens and lizards, back to Key West; Taking all the world’s blame to the place they loved best.

The doll summoned his minions, all dressed up in red.

And said, “Run to the children; Hide under their beds!”

But the minions returned, sometimes there, sometimes here; All over the island, spreading dark Christmas cheer.

Back in Fort East Martello, they swarmed Robert the Doll, As he hugged them, they shared the adventures they saw.

“And when there’s a problem, and their parents act lame, have them say, “Robert did it;” I’ll take the blame!”

And in Fort East Martello, Robert ruled from his case; As his minions worked magic, all over the place.

They brought Robert presents, from near and from far; Cupcakes and candies, and sweet shooting stars.

So, the minions crept out of their red and white boxes; And spread across town just like sly Christmas foxes.

They hopped on iguanas and rode across the states; Visiting all the ‘bad’ children, changing their fates.

And then, Christmas morning, they climbed back in their boxes; Closed all the doors and locked all the lockses.

Past the Southernmost Point, and then Mallory Square; And into the kids’ homes, They snuck with great care.

They flew south on roosters, all over the world.

Making rights to the wrongs Of the ‘bad’ boys and girls.

Now, back on their shelves, they are well-behaved toys; Until next November, with the ‘bad’ girls and boys.

They hid in their closets, their backpacks and blouses.

Waiting for chaos, in the island’s Conch houses.

At the North Pole, Santa Looked at his list; And puzzled, “No one’s been naughty?

Is there something I missed?”

Robert let out a wink, as he wished them goodnight; “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fright.”

13

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM OUR FAMILIES TO YOURS! WARMLY, THE TEAM AT DR. GUZMAN’S OFFICE

From left to right: Dr. Hector Guzman D.D.S, Dr. David McDonald D.M.D and Dr. Oscar Rodriguez D.M.D

2758 N. Roosevelt Blvd. (in the Overseas Market) • Key West 305.294.9914 • doc@docguzman.com • www.docguzman.com

14

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

A HOLIDAY RETROGRADE Early in the morning of Dec. 13, Meris an astrologer, cury stationed wanderer, barretrograde. As tender and the planet of advocate for cognition and queer justice. He communication is a loquacious Gemini with a slows down and cozy Cancer turns around rising. Find him at from our vanhearthandheraldtage point, we astrology.com will all experience, in our own way, a mental slowing down, brain fog, a laziness in communication, travel disruptions or reversals, and a release of discussions that no longer need to be had. Mercury turns retrograde about three times a year for three weeks at a time. When we look at the sky and this planet does an about-face, we can think of it as a deity going on retreat or a temporary loss of archetypal oversight.

In other words, we are left to our own devices when it comes to anything associated with the planet Mercury: mental capacities, information gathering, communication, objective thought, socializing, travel and commerce. We are all in for a holiday season under a retrograde Mercury, so be careful about those conversations with disagreeable relatives and poorly translated text messages from friends as you try to plan your events. Use this time to reanalyze your own communication style, rethink how you might want to go about travel and reconsider the information presented to you. A retrograde is a time to slow down and ponder rather than speed up and act. Tread lightly, friends.

Here are your horoscopes for Mercury stationing retrograde.

Read for your rising and sun signs.

CHRIS McNULTY

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22 - Dec. 21 It is time to reconsider your values, Sag. What do you put stock in when it comes to your life? How do you weigh what is important? Now is not the time to move forward with any personal purchases or personal financial matters; rather, you are entering a natural phase

of rethinking what matters to you and how you might go about surrounding yourself with items that reflect your values. Perhaps an idea for a new income stream is being born.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22 - Jan. 19 It’s possible you’re experiencing a lack of confidence in yourself at the moment, Cap. Don’t worry, you’re still a badass. However, you’re entering a phase of rethinking how you are perceived by others and how you express yourself.

Everyone goes through periods of reinvention, and now you have an opportunity to reconsider your persona. What do you want to show us?

AQUARIUS Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 You are no stranger to solitude, Aquarius. In fact, being independent and living in the margins is a major characteristic of your sign.

During this Mercury retrograde station, you are taking some time to reconnect with your “self-in-isolation.” Who are you when you’re alone and how do you use your alone time to relate with yourself?

Meditate on your form of meditation and consider changing things up a bit.

PISCES Feb. 19 - March 20 Time to find a new friend group!

Just kidding, that’s a bit drastic.

However, it is time to reassess how you spend time socializing, whom you spend time socializing with, and just who your true and healthy friends are. Maybe you just take a step back to appreciate who you have in your life or maybe you gain a different perspective on what friendship means to you and find a new crew. Don’t act now. Just ponder.

ARIES March 21 - April 19 I would not be surprised if you find a new job at the beginning of 2024. You are entering a phase of reconsidering your work life and

your public reputation. I would imagine that after this period of analysis, you will either double down on your current career or make a drastic change. For now, however, just let your mind dance through the possibilities, and be extra careful about how you communicate with others at work.

TAURUS April 20 - May 20 Are you thinking about continuing your education? Perhaps there is a grad program or a highlevel course that you are just now starting to consider. The time to rethink the extent of your knowledge is now. There is always more to learn, more to experience, and more to discover. How can you ensure that your world is not stagnant? Don’t make decisions now, but seek out future possibilities.

GEMINI May 21 - June 21 How do you invest your time, energy and money? Whom do you do it with? What are your pet projects? These questions will certainly be coming up more and more in the coming days, and for now you simply need to sit with the questions. Reassess your investments and prepare to move some things around if you discover that you are no longer served by your commitments. New year, new allegiances.

CANCER June 22 - July 22 Relationships come in all shapes, sizes, colors, numbers and sounds.

This Mercury retrograde season, you are reconsidering how you relate to relationship, itself. What does partnership look like and feel like? How can you revisit love? You ought not commit to any particular determination in the coming weeks, but let your idea of commitment tumble around in your noggin for a bit.

LEO July 23 - Aug. 22 When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you do?

This type of question is bound to

come up for you in the coming days because your routines are on the drawing board. Every day, you have a lot of the same things that you need to do: brush your teeth, eat food, get some exercise, clean the house. How you go about doing them is currently up for debate. Just look with curiosity and change things around after the NYE ball drop.

VIRGO Aug. 23 - Sept. 22 Being human is an inherently creative project. We open our eyes in the morning and entire worlds emerge from their slumber.

However, there is great import to making something that can be shared with other people. I think you’re starting a journey to reconsider how you create and how you share your creative vision with others. Perhaps a new medium is around the bend.

LIBRA Sept. 23 - Oct. 23 What exactly does “home” mean to you and who do you consider family? Perhaps you have the traditional conception of this with your place of birth and birth parents.

Perhaps your idea of these concepts doesn’t include any of those Norman Rockwell images. During this retrograde, you are being asked to rethink these important and foundational concepts.

SCORPIO Oct. 24 - Nov. 21 We don’t normally take time to consider what is familiar to us. In fact, something about the familiar involves not having to think about it. It’s just there. Familiar. During this retrograde, though, you will have a compulsion to take a step back and reconsider what is familiar to you. Your neighborhood.

Your siblings. Your everyday communication. Perhaps a change is in store, and a new familiar is around the corner.

18

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

A WARM WINTER WONDERLAND AT THE WATERFRONT

DECK THE HULLS

Key West’s annual lighted boat parade brightens the harbor

New holiday festival features ‘ice’ skating, rides, games and more

A U.S. Coast Guard Station Key West boat is piloted by Santa Claus and led by a leaping dolphin in the Dec. 9 Schooner Wharf Bar/Absolut Vodka Lighted Boat Parade at Key West Harbor. CAROL TEDESCO/KeyWestHolidayFest.com

Key West’s Coffee Butler Amphitheater will feature a synthetic ice skating rink, similar to the one pictured here, along with rides, games, crafts, food and Santa visits during the first-ever Waterfront Winter Wonderland celebration Dec. 15-30.

WIKIPEDIA/Contributed

MANDY MILES

I

mandy@keysweekly.com

ce skating in Key West? That’s madness. Not any more.

Starting Friday, Dec. 15, the Coffee Butler Amphitheater at Truman Waterfront will become a Waterfront Winter Wonderland, featuring a synthetic ice skating rink, real-deal carnival rides, giant slides, visits with Santa, light displays, games, food, holiday shopping and more.

The first-ever Waterfront Winter Wonderland, offered by Rams Head Presents and We’ve Got the Keys, will be open daily through Dec. 30, except for Christmas Day. The custom, 40- by 60-foot ice skating rink is a synthetic, frictionless surface that mimics the feel of real ice — without all the instant melting that would occur in the Keys’ tropical climate.

Seasoned skaters and brandnew beginners can create lasting memories on the “ice.” Did you trade your skates for snorkel gear when you moved south? Not to worry. There will be plenty of skates available at the rink.

Themed skate nights invite costumes and creativity in true Key West style. There will be a

Tutu Tuesday skate night, a country Christmas skate night, an ugly sweater skate night, a hip hop holiday skate night, a disco skate night and more. Check the daily schedule at waterfrontwinterwonderland.com for dates, times and events, including visits and photos with Santa. The winter wonderland also will feature carousels, swings and slides.

“The Wonderland Ice Rink is a dream I’ve had for years,” said cocreator Nadene Grossman-Orr of We’ve Got the Keys. “I’m delighted that our partnership with Rams Head enabled us to bring the idea to life this year. Snow days in the Florida Keys? We are overdue for some of those. And we can ice skate in tropical attire — and costumes, of course.”

To become a sponsor or a vendor, email keywest@ramsheadgroup.com.

Wonderland admission: $12 per person children 5 & under free Ice skating: adults $20 children 12 & under $15 unlimited rides: $10

A group of brightly lit, ‘Baby Shark’-inspired Cruisin’ Tiki boats brighten the harbor in the annual Lighted Boat Parade.

Colorful lights depicting underwater sea life decorate the Schooner America 2.0 as it cruises through the Historic Seaport.

21

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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24

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

BEHIND THE BLONDE

The beginning: The bitch “So…when does the roller coaster of emotions end?” is a busy mom, I received business owner and writer who’s this text recentnot afraid to say ly from a friend what many of who is just shy us are thinking. of 6 months alcohol-free. I wanted so badly to hop on a plane just to hug her.

In that moment, my mind flashed back to my own beginning. I wanted to crawl through my phone and wrap her in my arms.

I wanted to cry with her, her tears likely streaming with so much fear and uncertainty and mine falling beside hers in empathy.

I told her that even though the anguish is inevitable, she will end up the strongest and happiest version of herself she’s ever known.

But in that moment, I also told her to just let the tears come.

Whether it’s mourning the romanticism of no longer sharing a bottle of wine with your lover, realizing you had a slew of “fairweathered drinking buddies” who no longer include sober you or coming to grips with actually having to feel all of your emotions, the only way to get through it is to go through it.

So cry, my friend, cry.

I’m a little over two years ahead of her in this boozeless lifestyle and feeling fabulous.

But the false happiness I found in drinking was quite a bitch of a cycle to break. Alcohol increases dopamine production, which makes you feel good, and in turn prompts your brain to want to continue drinking. But once it wears off it can leave you in a state of “hangxiety,” causing some (like myself) to enter a slippery slope of relying on drinking more regularly to curb the dreaded heavy head and mounting anxiousness. It becomes like spinning on a hamster wheel — the anxiety we feel is a paradoxical symptom caused by alcohol, which is sort of like treating a wound by opening it back up each time we apply a temporary remedy. Alcohol is really good at tricking your brain.

While the text from my friend rips at my heart, there are silver linings in embracing one another’s pain. It’s important to me that I’m

KIRBY MYERS

reminded how hard my own journey was and how difficult the road to fulfillment can be. Because I never want to stop sharing how all the bumps and bruises along the way made me appreciate where I am today so much more.

Most of all, I don’t want to provide a false narrative for anyone who might think my life now was an overnight experience.

My current state of happiness and gratitude is a direct result of continuous personal introspection — mentally and physically pushing myself in ways I never had before. And above all, finally putting myself first.

In the conversation with my friend, I also told her she’s going to get to a place — with a lot of grace and so much strength — where she gets to love herself. I mean really love herself.

She’s approaching 6 months of an alcohol-free life. And while it’s important to understand that everyone’s experience is unique, the half-year benchmark when quitting booze is quite a fragile time. There are major highs and extreme lows. We sometimes get lost in the deep discomfort and questioning of it all.

I’m not privy to all of her messy details and she doesn’t know mine. And truly, only we know the profound and winding crevices that lie in our own struggles. But I recognize this is her genesis. And the beginning of a beautiful transformation can often start out ugly and chaotic.

But day by day, the positive effects of a life without alcohol become impossible to ignore. And the reasons for putting down the drink will unfold into this spectacular reality where you can shed the layers of your life that no longer serve you.

Today I truly and deeply love myself. In a way I never have before. Giving up alcohol is just the beginning. It’s the first scratch on the surface of discovering the life that’s been buried, blurred and numbed beneath the bottle.

Down the road, my friend will reflect back at her own beginning and cry again. This time with so much love. And I can’t wait for the day I receive that call — and I can share those tears with her as well.

‘IT’S IN THE BAG!’ OPENS AT THE STUDIOS JAN. 4.

Art show explores our bags and ‘baggage’ GWEN FILOSA gwen@keysweekly.com

W

hat are you carrying around these days – keys, phone, cash, driver’s license, along with a few grudges and a stash of hopes and dreams?

Bags and baggage, functional and figurative, is the theme of a new and irreverent group art exhibit conceived by Key West writer and artist Kevin Assam for The Studios of Key West and featuring the work of a dozen or so local artists and personalities.

The Studios bills “It’s in the Bag!” as “one of the most fun exhibits this season.”

The show opens with a reception Jan. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton St., and will remain on display in the Zabar Lobby Gallery through Jan. 25.

“Bags are practical,” Assam said.

“The shapes are expansive and they can be as utilitarian or decorative as you like. ‘Baggage’ can have a generational interpretation or the recency of last week.”

Like the host of a flamboyant party, he invited a who’s who of local artists to join him by contributing their works and interpretations: John Martini, Sushi, Joanne Klein, B. Lucy Stevens, Melissa Jean McDaniel, Tom Flip, Kristyn Lamoia, David Lawrence Hemingway, Elle Irwin and others.

“The fact that he’s including a bunch of talented artists, who may or may not know each other, in one show is really exciting,” said LaMoia, whose jaw-dropping costume of a deep-sea unicorn for this year’s Fantasy Fest got 7 million views on Instagram. “Kevin is so good at connecting people.”

“Everyone has bags,” Assam said. “Everyone has baggage. The artists have a concept they can relate to. The audience has a theme they can connect with. ‘It’s in the Bag!’ is also a figure of speech that points to completion or success.”

Assam, who arrived in Key West in 2018, doesn’t have a car. He either walks or rides a tricycle around downtown.

Erin Stover, artistic director at The Studios, said Assam brings a necessary creative energy to an island already steeped in talent.

“With Kevin, it extends beyond his work,” Stover said. “It’s in his fashion, his persona, his wickedly sharp banter. He just embodies that creative energy at all times.”

QMitch Jones, known by many in Key West as the irrepressible drag queen who hosts bingo every Sunday, also makes purses, which will be included in The Studios show.

“You’ve got your burdens, your money,” Jones said. “We all carry it around and that’s your personality.

It’s like luggage, people always carrying that burden. You’ve got some bad luggage.”

With his North Carolina drawl, Jones’ pocketbooks reflect his performances. One is a 4-foot-long stuffed alligator that doubles as a handy bag. His creations also feature seahorses, as well as a purse made from a cigar box.

“I’ll take anything and make a purse out of it, and show up on stage with it,” Jones told the Keys Weekly.

Elle Irwin, a jewelry artist, collects natural materials, then molds, manipulates and incorporates them into metal designs.

“At the bottom of every bag I carry, you can always find a variety of seeds, shells, sticks or stones,” Irwin said. “Other than my wallet, keys and phone, they are the only constant contents. I’m interested in transforming these items stored inside my bag into the bags themselves.”

For Jones, the theme is fun, flashy and introspective, all at once.

“Denial is a good place to live,” Jones said. “You can put a lot of denial in your bag, too, and pull it out when you need it.”

What we hide from the public eye we can always dress up, maybe with some sparkle and color.

Jones said, “At least if you put it in a pocketbook, it looks better than luggage.”

‘It’s in the Bag!’ group exhibit will be on display at The Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton St., Jan. 4-25, with an opening reception on Jan. 4 at 6 p.m.

Visit tskw.org for more information.

25

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

OLD TOWN NEW FOLK Concert Series sponsored by Blue Heaven

David Wilcox

KEY WEST CELEBRATES HANUKKAH

TUE JAN 9, 7PM — HELMERICH THEATER $75 front row, $50, $40 mbrs.

WED JAN 10, 6PM — HUGH’S VIEW ROOFTOP $100 front row, $60, $50 mbrs.

Folk singer-songwriter David Wilcox tells stories full of heart, humor, and hope, substance, searching, and style, over a touring career spanning three decades.

Key West’s large menorah glows at Bayview Park, next to the city’s Christmas tree, following the menorah’s official lighting ceremony on Dec. 10 to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly

sponsored by We*Cycle Bicycles

Vance Gilbert & Susan Werner TUE JAN 16, 7PM — HELMERICH THEATER $75 front row, $50, $40 mbrs.

WED JAN 17, 6PM — HUGH’S VIEW ROOFTOP $100 front row, $60, $50 mbrs.

Over the course of decades-long careers, Gilbert and Werner have built reputations as two of the country’s most compelling live performers. sponsored by Moondog Café & Bakery

Explore!

Winter Members’ Exhibition + Season Catalog Release Party

Debra Hill

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Rabbi Jacob Zucker of Chabad Key West speaks at the menorah lighting.

City officials light menorah at Bayview Park

Rabbi Shimon Dudai of Congregation B’Nai Zion on United Street welcomes the larger-than-usual crowd at the Dec. 10 menorah lighting at Bayview Park.

MANDY MILES

I

mandy@keysweekly.com

nternational strife may have played a part in the largerthan-usual crowd attending Key West’s annual menorah lighting at Bayview Park on Dec. 10.

More than 150 residents, visitors and city officials filled the seats in front of the menorah to hear local Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Shimon Dudai and Rabbi Jacob Zucker discuss the Jewish holiday, but also the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Hamas militant group in neighboring Palestine.

Unlike in many larger cities, where pro-Palestine protests have turned violent against Jews, the city of Key West remained peaceful. And although Police Chief Sean Brandenburg was at the menorah lighting, no additional uniformed police presence was visible during the ceremony.

Hanukkah this year lasts from Dec. 7-15.

City Commissioner Lissette CuervoCarey lights one of the menorah lights while Commissioner Sam Kaufman looks on.

A crowd gathers Dec. 10 at Bayview Park for the lighting of the city’s menorah.

27

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

THE ANATOMY OF THE ANTHEM

Freddie Mercury performs in New Haven, Connecticut in 1977. CARL LENDER/Wikipedia

“W

e will, we will rock you.”

Most of us perk up a bit the moment we hear those six words. Our head starts to nod a bit aggressively and we turn up the car stereo. We all love a good anthem, and there’s no denying that certain songs have helped shape our culture, our politics and for some, our view of ourselves and our place in this world.

Certainly not all songs become anthems, but those that do share some qualities.

Intensity and energy are often the starting point for your average anthem. Expressing this intensity ranges from the loud driving intro to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” to the quieter intensity of the Cranberries’ epic “Zombie.” The beginning of the Nirvana song, “Come As You Are” expresses yet another version of intensity with a simple bass line pushed to the limit before totally distorting.

Often an anthem will contain a soaring melody. While the guitar predominantly rules this realm instrumentally, songs like “The Final Countdown” by the band Europe starts with an iconic keyboard line. Guns and Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine” has perhaps one of the most recognized guitar licks of the last 50 years. No song dis-

RAY WEST

plays a soaring ... a professional melody more musician, singer, than Queen’s actor and executive director of the “We Are the Key West Music Champions.”

Awards, is known How many to sacrifice his of us have comfort for that sung along of his cat. with Freddie Mercury or strained to reach the vocal heights of Steven Tyler in Aerosmith’s “Dream On?” Tempo is a useful tool for building this intensity. If we look at one of the most iconic rock songs ever, “Stairway to Heaven,” we’ll notice the tempo increases throughout the song. This takes the listener from an ethereal beginning to a rock ‘n’ roll ending with a transition so smooth it’s barely noticeable. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin has said in interviews that this was no accident.

Other hits that speed up include Christina Aguilera’s “Hurt” and Metallica’s epic heavy metal anthem “One.” Lyrics, of course, are the most poignant and definitive quality of any anthem. From Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American” to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” the words are the gold. And after the songs about personal triumph, lost loves and memories, the most golden word of all when it comes to anthems is “we” — the expression of a unified front.

Whether because of a common enemy or struggle, a common hope or human frailty, the anthem is about our commonality.

Most of us who love music have witnessed the moment when a large group of people are all combining their energy into the exact same thing. It gives you a sense of the strength that can come from unity. It is empowering and healing. The essence of the lyrics are often timeless.

“We will rock you” means exactly the same thing today as it always has, and it always will.

And the number-one surefire way to create an anthem? Have Freddie Mercury sing it.

BUY KIDS A LUNCH (OR 20) WITH COLDWELL BANKER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

The Coldwell Banker Charitable Foundation is running a Jess Tree to benefit Monroe County students for the holidays. Those interested in participating can stop at any Coldwell Banker Schmitt office to pick a lunch box off the tree. Donation amounts range from $25 to $1,000, which will cover anywhere from eight to 350 lunches. Funds raised will go directly to Monroe County schools to help pay for student lunches. Please make donations payable to Coldwell Banker Schmitt Charitable Foundation and drop off at any Coldwell Banker Schmitt office or mail to 29967 Overseas Hwy, Big Pine Key, FL 33043.

Pictured is Coldwell Banker’s Big Pine office’s Jess Tree. CONTRIBUTED

30

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

FORMER MAYOR DENNIS WARDLOW ASKS SANTA TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK Dear Santa, How nice it would be if you could turn back the clock and send us back to the days of lunch at Richardson’s Lunch Shack at Mary Immaculate School, where on Fridays, the lunch special was turtle burgers. When we went home for supper we’d have turtle steak, or jewfish with black beans and rice, conch salad and coconut pie.

Bring back the days of floating down the Cow Key Channel while hearing cars cross the old wooden bridge on South Roosevelt Boulevard. Bring back the days of riding horses with friends to Raul’s curve (on South Roosevelt Boulevard) and swinging on the old rope from the pine tree to the channel.

Bring back the “live and let live” attitude of the Conchs.

Santa, may you bring that spirit back so all can enjoy the warmth and happiness that this Island and its people have to offer.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to everyone in the beautiful Conch Republic.

Embrace life and stay positive, for my wish to Santa is for good things to happen to all.

Merry Christmas, and may all your wishes come true.

Sincerely, Dennis Wardlow Mayor Emeritus Prime Minister of the Conch Republic

LOCAL DOCTOR LAUDS LOWER KEYS MEDICAL CENTER Dear Editor, In this season of gratitude, I am thankful for the physicians and employees at Lower Keys Medical Center for their dedication to providing high quality compassionate care. I’m grateful we have a strong hospital that can deliver care 24 hours a day, seven days per week, and provide the equipment, supplies and medications that patients may require at any time.

As a physician here since 1980, and a member of the hospital board for 33 years, I have witnessed this commitment firsthand. Through countless challenges in our health care landscape, the hospital has remained steadfast in service, while enhancing the care provided. From the aftermath of Hurricane Irma through a pandemic spanning several years, the LKMC team has been here, working tirelessly to keep residents informed and protected.

Throughout this time, more than $47 million has been invested to renovate our facilities and enhance services, including doubling the size of the behavioral health unit, opening a women’s imaging center and a cardiac catheterization lab, adding robotic technologies and establishing 24/7 neurology coverage.

Recognizing the uniqueness of our isolated island community, the hospital has invested in primary care growth and the recruitment of specialists in psychiatry, otolaryngology, interventional cardiology, pulmonology and gastroenterology — sophisticated specialties not common for a community our size.

Those investments continue, with more improvements and recruitment efforts going forward into 2024.

I am especially thankful for our strong hospital in today’s challenging health care environment.

Lower Keys Medical Center remains committed to this community and continues to seek solutions to provide the care our residents want and deserve, close to home. We look forward to many achievements in 2024 and to continuing to care for our community.

Sincerely, Robin Roy Lockwood, MD

SAVE THE DATE Thursday, Dec. 14 • Key West High School Band and Choir perform a free holiday concert at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium. The show features the jazz band, percussion ensemble, combined concert band, wind ensemble, colorguard, steel pan band, chorus ensembles and all 150+ musicians in a special combined piece. Admission is free with donations accepted at the door and concession stand.

Dec. 15-30 • Waterfront Winter Wonderland at the Coffee Butler Amphitheater, featuring ice skating, carousels, swings, rides, slides, holiday shopping, food and Santa visits. Visit waterfrontwinterwonderland. com for information and a complete daily schedule.

Saturday, Dec. 16 • 15th annual A Positive Step of Monroe County 5K Rudolph Red Nose Run starts at 7 a.m. and begins and ends at the Southernmost Beach Cafe. Auction items are being sought.

Bidding online in advance of the run and via an app on the day of the run.

The run is presented by A Positive Step of Monroe County, a nonprofit serving Monroe County’s highestrisk kids and their families since 1999, and the Key West Southernmost Runners Club. To donate, contact APSMC executive director Billy Davis at 305304-1969 or apsmccrp@ aol.com.

• Looe Key Reef Resort Tiki Bar and Restaurant hosts a fundraiser for two Sugarloaf School staff members who need help this holiday season, 5 p.m., 27430 Overseas Hwy., Ramrod Key.

Sunday, Dec. 17 • Key West Artisan Market, Holiday Shop Local edition, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Key West Wildlife Center, 1801 White St. • Holiday Classic Car Show and Toy Drive, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot of Conch Republic Seafood Co. Dec. 19-Jan. 13 • Red Barn Theatre presents ‘A Tuna Christmas,’ 8 p.m. nightly. Visit redbarntheatre.com for tickets.

Thursday, Dec. 21 • The Studios of Key West presents: Microparty with Electric Blue Yonder, 6 p.m. Visit tskw.org for information and tickets.

Sunday, Dec. 31 • Key West New Year’s Eve ‘drops’ take place in several locations in the final moments of 2023.

Sloppy Joe’s bar lowers a conch shell on its roof. A pirate descends the mast of a tall ship at Schooner Wharf Bar. Female impersonator Christopher Peterson descends in a red high-heeled shoe from Bourbon Street Pub and Ocean Key Resort drops a giant lime wedge into a margarita.

Saturday, Jan. 6 • Pole Vault in Paradise features Olympic pole vaulters in a demonstration and expo that raises money for the Key West High School track & field program. First pole vaulters launch at 9 a.m., with jumps occurring throughout the day in The Backyard at Key West High School. Viewing is free.

31

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

WHEN LOCAL NEWS MATTERS – IT SHOULD COME FROM LOCAL WRITERS

OBITUARY

SHELF HELP

CARL CLINTON MOORE 1943-2023

C

arl Clinton Moore II was born in Moundsville, West Virginia in 1943 and moved to Marathon, Florida shortly after in 1948. He graduated with the very first graduating class of Marathon High School (after the school was built in Marathon) and also attended Florida College, where he obtained an associate of arts degree.

He spent two years in the Army after being drafted in 1965. During this time he spent a year in Vietnam and had an honorable discharge in 1967. He then went to work for the United Parcel Service in 1967 and became the very first UPS driver in the Florida Keys and stayed with UPS until his retirement in 1999.

Carl was a Mason as well as a member of the Elks Lodge, Moose Lodge, American Legion, Lions Club, Disabled American Veterans and Shriners. He is survived by his son, Carl Clinton Moore III and girlfriend Dyann Putman. A celebration of life will be announced at a later time.

S

taff from your Monroe County Public Library recommend some of their favorites from the collection.

What: “Starling House” by Alix E. Harrow Why: This has been the perfect winter season read, resplendent with an opinionated haunted house, exasperated heroine and plenty of monsters, both real and supernatural. Opal carries the burden of her fractured family close to her heart.

She battles her inner demons while standing up for loved ones (she might not always get it right, but she tries). I fell in love with the characters and their struggles with small-town Americana, its ghosts of past trauma, and the persistent yearning for real connection. Harrow is so talented at gripping the reader’s whole heart and whisking them away into a story.

Where: This is available in regular and large print, as an e-book and as an e-audiobook from the Monroe County Public Library system.

How: You can request books online by logging in to your account keyslibraries.org and get e-books and e-audiobooks 24/7 at estuff.keyslibraries.org. If you don’t have a card, you can visit your local branch or register online to get one. Questions? info@keyslibraries.org Recommended by: Riona Campbell, library associate, Key West Library

DO YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR WRITING, NEWS AND JOURNALISM? CONTACT US TODAY OR SEND YOUR RESUME/ PORTFOLIO TO MANDY@KEYSWEEKLY.COM

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

TAKE ME HOME? FIND A FRIEND AT THE FLORIDA KEYS SPCA

T

he Keys Weekly family loves animals as much as our friends at the Florida Keys SPCA do, and we’re honored each week to showcase some “furever” friends that are ready, waiting and available for adoption at the organization’s Key West campus.

From cats and dogs to Guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, reptiles and birds, the perfect addition to your family is waiting for you. The SPCA’s knowledgeable staff will help with advice and care tips while working to ensure a good fit between each pet and its people.

The SPCA’s Golden Paw program also provides special assistance with vet bills and medications for special-needs and older animals that require a little extra TLC. Check these pages each week for just a few of the animals waiting for a home and see them all at fkspca.org.

Fort Lauderdale is known for its beaches and Spring Break. Now meet Fort Lauderdale, the hamster. FL enjoys old bikini movies with Annette Funicello, s’mores around the bonfire and making sure everyone uses reef-friendly sunscreen.

Jack is a gorgeous, 3-month-old kitten.

If you want more than just one cat, that’s up to you. But for now we’re talking about ‘Just Jack.’

Run, don’t walk, to our Key West campus to adopt Dash. This 3-month-old kitten will win your heart and make you want to Dash home to him.

For a sweet, 3-year-old girl who wants to be your new best friend, look no further than Liberty. This gal is so wonderful, we wish her an indivisible home, with Liberty, and adoptions, for all.

Smooth, mellow and sure to warm your heart, meet Scotch. This 6-month-old kitten is sure to deter your taste for vodka and gin and make you a Scotch lover.

JUST THE TIPS

WHEN THE TEMPS COOL DOWN, INSHORE ACTION HEATS UP

Also known as ‘reef donkeys,’ amberjack can put up a heck of a fight. NICK BORRACCINO/Keys Weekly

T

he weather is cooling down, and the fishing is heating up.

It’s winter, finally, and that means hot action to be had.

We’re not doing much offshore right now, as the mahi are few and far between. The good news there is that the ones we’ve found are nicesize fish. There are singles to quad packs of fish in the 10- to 20-pound range on weed lines, but there are hardly any birds out there and not nearly enough fish to warrant driving around looking for them.

I’m also finding it hard to justify going the 20-plus miles to the humps for tuna. The sharks have been ferocious and the tuna are tiny. With tilefish and snowy grouper closed, our offshore treks right now would be primarily targeting swordfish, but that could definitely be well worth the ride.

With that covered, the bay and reef have been very active. On days with good current, the yellowtail in 50 to 90 feet have been quite reliable.

As always, chum hard for at least 15 minutes before free lining your small cut bait on 12- to 15-pound fluoro.

There are only a few weeks left before grouper season closes on Jan. 1, so keep a big bait a few cranks off the bottom on heavy gear. We’ve had some really nice black and red groupers on the reef recently. If it’s a little breezy or the current out there isn’t great, Hawks Channel usually provides great rod-bending action of snappers, mackerels and jacks.

There have been some big muttons

snooping around in there too. Live pilchards or ballyhoo on a light wire will get you plenty of mackerel bites, and fresh cut ballyCAPT. NICK hoo, live pilchards BORRACCINO or small pinfish on a jig head or is the owner and operator of knocker rig sitting Noreaster Sport on the bottom Fishing in Marawill eventually get thon. A Massachugobbled by a snap- setts native, Nick per or grouper. fished for bluefin Out in the bay tuna and striped all the grassy areas bass before moving to the Keys in are active with 2005.

Spanish mackerel and mangrove snapper, and any structure, bank or channel should have those and also jacks and runners to keep you busy. Live shrimp usually gets it done out there.

Let’s go get ’em!

Just a few weeks remain until all species of grouper will be off limits. NICK BORRACCINO/Keys Weekly

33

KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023 A white Ibis seen recently in Key West. MARK HEDDEN/Keys Weekly

IT’S THE EYE OF THE IBIS

T

he first thing you notice about a white Ibis is the bill, the long, sloping one that drops away from the face like the start of a Fibonacci spiral. At least it was the first thing I noticed.

They were one of the birds I MARK learned to identify early on HEDDEN when I moved to the Keys, back when I hardly knew ... is a photographer, writer, and how to identify any birds, semi-professional possibly because they are so birdwatcher. He distinctive and so easy to tell has lived in Key apart. They are a southern West for more than 25 years and bird if there ever was one. may no longer As is often the case in be employable in the natural world, the long the real world. He bill, no matter how pleasing is also executive the form, isn’t about aesdirector of the Florida Keys Audu- thetics, but rather a form bon Society. that facilitates function. The ibises use them to probe down into the soft ground, sometimes through an inch or two of water, looking for crabs and crayfish and the occasional worm.

I was thinking about using the word proboscis to describe their bill, but proboscis doesn’t just mean nose – it means articulated nose, like an elephant or tapir. Ibises’ bills are shot full with nerves, so they can feel their prey when they shove them into the water or underground, and the tips of the bill are actually slightly articulated, to allow them to grab things deep down with tweezer-like motions. Proboscis does sort of work as a descriptor, then, though I’m not totally sure if the definition that largely applies to mammals can fully make the leap to avifauna.

Ibises don’t always feed by probing – they will forage for small lizards and snails on dry land, as well as commit the occasional Dumpster dive, although seeing them do it is always a bit of a disappointment.

The ancient Egyptians considered their cousins, the African sacred ibis, to be, well, sacred. They even had a half-man, half-ibis “selfbegotten” and “self-produced” immortal being named Djehuty (Thoth to the ancient Greeks) in their pantheon of gods. Djehuty is said to have revealed the art of writing to humans, created all math, science, magic and art, and enumerated the contents of all that is in heaven and on Earth, as well as the distances in between. Djehuty/Thoth was so associated with the African sacred Ibis that they occasionally skipped the half-man part and just portrayed him as wholly bird.

It may not be fair to compare one cousin species to another based on the religious belief built around them and the magic attributed to them. As we all know, cousins often take

very divergent paths in life. Still, the white ibis’s Dumpster diving habits – it’s hard not to judge.

They do have some other impressive taxonomic cousins, the most spectacular of which I have seen being the scarlet Ibis. The adults of the species are a pinkish red that practically looks electrified. I would describe their plumage as something not found in nature if it weren’t for the fact that it is very much found in nature, one of the world’s more dramatic byproducts of natural selection. I used to see them often when I ran a bird tour company and would make multiple visits most years to Caroni Marsh in Trinidad. (The rum punch supplied by the folks at the Asa Wright Nature Centre could only enhance the intensity — or at least the viewers’ receptivity to it.) The color is an intensity I’ve never seen duplicated in a photograph, no matter how far someone pushes the saturation slider. It’s a color that has to be seen in real life to be fully appreciated.

Even on cloudy days, scarlet ibises seem to glow more brightly hued than anything around them, as if their plumage has some sort of additional power source. Compared to them, colorwise, our white ibises look about as dramatic as a ream of copy paper. Though this is kind of interesting because, shape wise, the two species look pretty much identical.

They are actually very closely related – some ornithologists consider them the same species – and they will occasionally interbreed in parts of Venezuela, where their habitats overlap. (Years ago a scarlet ibis escaped from a zoo on the west coast of Florida and interbred with a white ibis, creating a generation of what everyone called “pink ibises,” as well as several generations of less and less pink ibises.)

One of the weird things about birding, and I guess other things in life, is how eventually, when you see something very often, like, say, white ibises in the Florida Keys, it can be hard to keep noticing them, to keep seeing them with any kind of freshness. One of the things I

fear most is getting inured to the magnificence of the world, of losing my ability to feel wonder.

And I worry that if it was all about the shape and the bill plunging with the ibis, I might have lost my ability to feel any kind of spark when I see them.

Which is why I’m eternally grateful to my friend, Julie Heath, who got her Ph.D. studying them, and who years ago pointed out to me that I really needed to get a good look at their eyes – something I had neglected to do up until then. And once I got a good look, I saw it, the color – a small ringed dot of steely sky blue, a blue as bright and limpid as any Caribbean patch of sea.

I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of that color. I don’t think I can.

Interestingly, I saw a post on Instagram last week by Loren Ilvedson, half of the damn impressive twin Ilvedson brothers’ art collaboration, showing a screen print he made called “Ibis Bathing In Monroe County Tax Collectors Parking Lot,” which is pretty self-explanatory, if a bit ironically reductive of the beauty it so deftly portrays. In it he shows not just the final print, but the photo he took to capture the moment, an initial sketch, some of the printing process, and a note he made to himself about how to proceed. It’s just such a good simplified and impressionistic piece, especially the one bird he has, dipping its head into the puddle sideways, realistic in the way that birds don’t have suction in their bills, and often have to drink that way.

In the note he tells himself not to get detailed on the piece, to put the texture into the road and paint on the markings on the road, not the feathers or the puddle. He wonders whether to include the ibises’ eyes, and in the final piece, does not. Which absolutely works, the lack of details being more evocative than an excess of details.

Maybe, though, if he does a follow-up piece, he’ll do something cool with those eyes.

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

CLIPS OF THE KEYS’ PAST

Old newspapers provide glimpse of the early days

L

ess than a decade after the island chain became an American territory, the first Key West newspaper began spreading the news. It was called The Key West Register, and Commercial Advertiser and was first printed on Jan. 8, 1929.

The operation was managed by Thomas Eastin, who later became FLORIDA a U.S. Marshal overseeing FloriKEYS da’s Southern District.

HISTORY The weekly newspaper was WITH delivered to the public every BRAD Thursday. It did not concentrate BERTELLI on local news but primarily served to keep the community abreast of An author, speaker, Florida stories being reported beyond the Keys historian and island chain. Some local stories Honorary Conch. did make the page, though most His latest book, of the local news came in the form “Florida Keys of government announcements, History with Brad Bertelli, Volume election notices and advertise1,” shares fasciments. nating glimpses The Key West Register, and into the rich and Commercial Advertiser was not a sometimes surlong-lived enterprise and susprising histories of the Florida Keys. pended operations in 1830.

In 1829, the island chain was sparsely populated and consisted of two primary communities. Key West was, and always has been, Monroe County’s largest community, and in those days, its population was in the neighborhood of 500 people (the 1830 census counted 517 people).

The 11-acre Indian Key, the other primary community, had boasted a population of around 50. A third significant community had developed around Key Biscayne’s Cape Florida Lighthouse. Smaller than the Indian Key community, Key Biscayne, while part of Monroe County at the time, is not one of the islands attributed to the Florida Keys archipelago. It should be noted that in 1829, Monroe County stretched from Key West to Lake Okeechobee to Port Charlotte on the west coast.

Sometimes, it is fun to let old documents tell a story as they uniquely provide a window into the past. Reading through old newspapers can become a bit of a rabbit hole — great fun, but still a rabbit hole. The Key West Register offers some interesting peeks into what was happening on Key West and, to a lesser degree, at Indian Key, as the following tidbits will reveal.

• March 5, 1829: advertised in this edition was “W.R. Hackley, Attorney at Law, and Notary Public for the County of Monroe.”

William Hackley practiced law in the county from 1828 to 1857. His name has remained on the lips of locals because he did one of the most memorable things possible — Hackley kept a diary. Fortunately, parts of his book of daily observations were preserved and stored at the Key West Library’s Florida Keys History Center. The diary represents a delightful (and often mundane) record of early life in the Keys. In 2016 and 2017, daily diary entries from 1855-1856 were presented in the “Today in Keys History” column of the Key West Citizen.

• The same edition also advertised: “R.W. Cussans, House Carpenter & Joiner, Having located himself in Key West, and feeling grateful for past favors, hopes by particular attention to merit a share of public patronage. R.W.C. will contract for building and repairing houses on the most reasonable terms, and executed in a workmanlike manner, and with the utmost dispatch. Feb 26 – tf” The presence of the advertisement is interesting as, that same year, it is said that he built a four-room house on Whitehead Street. It was moved to Duval Street using mules and rolling logs and is now home to Key West’s Oldest House Museum.

• March 19, 1829: Dr. H.S. Waterhouse “has procured from the government hospital at Havana, a supply of pure, fresh vaccine or Cow Pox Matter to inoculate those for small pox who may desire it.”

Hoping to escape to a warmer climate and soothe his ailments, Dr. Waterhouse moved to Key West from Vermont in 1828.

He would later move to Indian Key, where he lived for a short time.

• March 26, 1829: “In pursuance of law, I, M.G. Hawson, one of the judges of the County Court for Monroe County, hereby appoint polls to be held at the following places in said county; and the following named persons to be the judges of the election, which will be held the first Monday in May next for a – Delegate to Congress – on Indian Key: Charles Howe, Joseph Prince and Thomas Gibson.”

Howe, Prince and Gibson all played roles in the early development of Indian Key and Duck Key, where Howe and his family lived and operated a salt farm before moving to

William R. Hackley, circa 1850s. FLORIDA KEYS HISTORY CENTER/Contributed

Indian Key and becoming its first postmaster. Prince and Gibson operated Indian Key’s two general stores.

• April 6, 1829: “The citizens of the Key (Indian Key) were joined by a number of wreckers and smackmen and the staff (flagstaff) was raised amidst the shouts of the multitude assembled on the occasion. A remarkable occurrence took place — persons who had climbed to the top of the staff, up to the height of 40 feet — after drinking several toasts, threw the glasses to the ground, which fell without breaking or fracturing any of them.”

• April 9, 1829: “On board the boat ‘Saucy Jack,’ Cooley from Key West bound to New River off Key Vacas, at 12 O’clock at night, 22nd ult. Mr. Wm. Emroy fell from the stern of the boat and was drowned. Every exertion was made to save his life, but in vain. The body was taken to Indian Key and decently interred.”

• June 4, 1829: (Charles Howe, identified as a resident of Duck Key) “appointed by the Governor of Florida Associate Judge of Monroe County.”

I could go on. For me, every detail is a shiny nugget. One of the things I’ll be spending my time doing for the rest of the year (at least) is reading through old editions of the Key West Register and The Key West Gazette, which began sharing its news with the island in 1831.

Those old newspapers are going to be filled with stories I have not heard, and I am looking forward to sharing them every way I can.

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KEY WEST WEEKLY / DECEMBER 14, 2023

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