Ocala Style | November 2023

NOV ‘23

the

Fa issue ll

At Home & Away FIND YOUR ZEN Meet Local Makers AND TALENTED CREATORS

Country Club of Ocala Properties This custom home overlooks the seventh fairway and is surrounded by lush landscaping. The 4-bedroom, 4-full bath, 2 ½-bath home features a chef’s kitchen, exercise room, man cave, dual offices and a mud room. Enjoy relaxing in the pool, with enclosed lanai, summer kitchen, brick pavers and outdoor fireplace. Full house generator. Club amenities include a Junior Olympics size pool, tennis, golf and private dining. $1,949,000

352.804.8989

Custom Home This 4-bedroom, 3-bath home offers a sleek, modern interior design. The clean white motif can offer a blank canvas for personalization. The master bedroom and bath feature a walk-in shower, soaking tub and dual sinks. The spacious kitchen opens to a great room. Two bedrooms feature window seats and are separated by a full bath. There is a den/office. The lanai and pool area has a summer kitchen. $747,000

Modern Manor This home features 23’ cathedral ceilings in the great room, with clerestory windows plus corner fireplace with built-ins. The upstairs master suite has tray ceilings, a corner window, sliding doors to the balcony and a bath with dual sinks, soaking tub and separate shower. The kitchen offers custom cabinetry and a walk-in pantry. Sold fully furnished.

There is a screen enclosed porch and attached 3-car garage. $699,000

Joan Pletcher, Realtor

Our results speak for themselves.

List with Joan today!

Bright and Spacious

Lexington Downs Enjoy country living, yet conveniently located close to everything. This 5+ acre equestrian estate is in a gated community just ¼ mile from Cross Florida Greenway trails, 1.8 miles from the Florida Horse Park and 14 miles from the World Equestrian Center. The downtown area and other shopping meccas are just minutes away. The 3-bedroom, 3-bath home was featured in the 2017 Parade of Homes. This unique property includes a spacious barn, 4-rail PVC white fencing, non-climb paddocks and an oversized small turf dressage area. $1,297,750 This custom-designed home is serene, modern and contemporary. It features 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a media room and an upstairs area that could be used for an office or entertainment room. The chef ’s kitchen with center island is open to the living room, breakfast nook and formal dining area. Sliding glass doors open to the spacious lanai. The owner’s suite has a luxurious master bath. All bedrooms have private baths. This home was designed for grand entertaining and fun-filled family gatherings. It is on an oversized lot with perimeter fencing and features a circular drive with a porte cochere. $470,000

Marion Oaks

Designed for Entertaining This family estate is just minutes from all the town’s amenities. The 5.60 +/- acres of beautifully landscaped land is gated and perimeter fenced for privacy. As you enter the gate, the winding drive and ancient oaks lead you to a magnificent 5-bedroom, 6 1/2 bath home, plus office, with more than 7,000 square feet of living area. This is a custom-designed estate with great architectural details. The home is designed for entertaining, with an open floor plan, billiards/game room and bonus room. Features include built-in bookshelves, crown molding, Travertine flooring. The formal dining room overlooks the pool and lanai area, which has a patio and cabana with plenty of seating areas to entertain your guests while enjoying the views of the property. There is a four-car garage. The roof, windows and plumbing are all new. Paddocks are perfect for grazing cattle or horses. Zoned A-3 Agricultural. $1,950,000

What should you expect working with Joan Pletcher?

Expect an unparalleled combination of professionalism, integrity and relentless commitment to her client’s unique needs, interests, and desires.

Joan is a residential, equine property and land development REALTOR® since 1985 and a horsewoman herself so her clients have the benefit of experience and specialized expertise.

“The Ocala region is home to the most beautiful equestrian estates and horse farms in the United States and the natural beauty of the area, along with an amazing variety of equine-centered activities and venues, such as the phenomenal World Equestrian Center, makes this a place that more and more people want to call home,” says Joan.

Call or Text: 352.266.9100 | 352.804.8989 | joan@joanpletcher.com | joanpletcher.com

Dear Readers,

aking some time out of our busy lives to chill out—and also to experience new things—is important physically and mentally. In this issue, you can learn about several ways to do both.

At Sholom Park, in southwest Ocala, you can find peace and serenity in the new Zen Garden, which was designed to promote relaxation and mindfulness. With a six-hour drive to South Florida, the luxurious Bungalows Key Largo resort offers numerous ways to find your Zen—or act on your sense of adventure.

As we approach the holidays, we can be mindful of not overdoing the celebrating and holistic health coach Sharon Redman shares tips for how to keep things “merry and light.”

As for experiencing some new tastes, Hilton Ocala’s new Executive Chef Elyssa Silva has some big plans to begin serving a unique little treat called Pork Belly Cinnamon Rolls (“It’s not what you think,” she notes).

For arts enthusiasts, check out our article on Newy Fagan, whose colorful kiln-formed glass horses will be the stars of her new exhibit at the Brick City Center for the Arts in December.

We also share the “Wink, Wink” story behind Nancy Gordon’s Pillowinks pillowcases and Garden Guru Belea Keeney gets us ready for winter.

It’s an issue filled with things to see and do; or not do as you kick back and relax instead.

Jennifer Hunt Murty Publisher

THE BEST IN LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Home of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra and Community Music Conservatory

Publisher | Jennifer Hunt Murty

jennifer@magnoliamediaco.com

Magnolia Media Company, LLC (352) 732-0073

PO Box 188, Ocala, FL 34478

Art Editorial

DESIGN AND VISUAL DIRECTOR Nick Steele nick@magnoliamediaco.com

SCAN FOR TICKETS AND MORE EVENTS!

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amy Harbert amy@magnoliamediaco.com PHOTOGRAPHERS Bruce Ackerman Mark J. Barrett Jamie Blatt Photography Benjamin Clay Photography Spencer Davis Eighteenth Hour Photography Meagan Gumpert, MAVEN photo + film John Jernigan Lyn Larson of Mahal Imagery Maudie Lucas Photography Dawn Martinez Paige Mercer Photography Scott Mitchell Troy Snyder

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Greg Hamilton greg@magnoliamediaco.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Monica Bryant JoAnn Guidry Belea Keeney Lisa McGinnes Scott Mitchell Dave Schlenker Beth Whitehead

Sales

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Evelyn Anderson evelyn@magnoliamediaco.com SENIOR MARKETING ADVISOR Jennifer Poole jpoole@magnoliamediaco.com

Distribution Rick Shaw

ILLUSTRATORS Jordan Shapot David Vallejo

ocalastyle.com 4% BROKER ocalastyle

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ocalastylemagazine CLIENT SERVICES GURU 4.25% Cheryl Specht (4.934% APR) ocalastyle RATE FIXED INTEREST cheryl@magnoliamediaco.com and buyers get as low as

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Offers available on select move-in ready homes in the greater Ocala area when you sign a purchase agreement between 10/05/23 and 11/30/23 and close by 12/31/23. Financing and closing cost offers require financing through Lennar Mortgage.

AND $10,000 IN CLOSING COSTS Contact Rosalba today!

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Contact Rosalba today! (352) 348-4427 Rosalba.Olayos@Lennar.com 1,2,3 Offer available on select move-in ready homes in the greater Ocala and Gainesville area if buyer signs and delivers a purchase agreement between 10/05/23 and 11/30/23 and closes and fully funds on or before 12/31/23. Offer may not be combined with any other existing promotions. Offers, incentives and seller contributions are subject to certain terms, conditions and restrictions. Certain incentives could affect the loan amount. Lennar reserves the right to change or withdraw any offer at any time. 1 FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS ONLY: Effective 09/25/23, 4% Real Estate Agent Commission stated above will be available is good for a limited time only. Lennar reserves the right to change, withdraw or discontinue this offer at any time without notice. No commission/bonus will be paid when agent/broker is acting as a principal/buyer. Not valid if prospect has previously registered with Lennar or http://Lennar.com , whether individually or with a broker. Agent/broker will receive the commission/bonus within 2 weeks after buyer closes on the Lennar home. To qualify for any applicable referral bonus/incentive, registration must occur on the first visit and broker/agent must otherwise comply with Lennar’s Broker Participation Policy. Offer valid only in states where referrals are permitted. 2 Limited funds are available; rate(s) may change or not be available at the time of loan commitment, lock-in or closing if funds are exhausted. Specific terms apply and buyer is subject to qualification that includes, but not limited to, a minimum of 20% down, a minimum credit score of 740, owner occupancy requirements and/or any changes in investor guidelines or programs. Not an offer to enter into an interest rate or discount point agreement and any such agreement may only be made in writing signed by both the borrower and the lender. Offer requires financing through seller’s affiliate Lennar Mortgage, but use of Lennar Mortgage is not required to purchase a home ( See Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure ). Lennar Mortgage, LLC – NMLS # 1058, Mortgage Lender/Servicer License # MLD549. 3 Up to $45,000 price reduction valid towards the total purchase price (prices listed above reflect reduction). Features, amenities, floor plans, elevations, and designs vary and are subject to changes or substitution without notice. Items shown are artist’s renderings and may contain options that are not standard on all models or not included in the purchase price. Availability may vary. Sq. ft. is estimated; actual sq. ft. will differ. Prices do not include closing costs and other fees to be paid by buyer (including a builder fee, if applicable, as described in the purchase agreement) and are subject to change without notice. This is not an offer in states where prior registration is required. Void where prohibited by law. Copyright © 2023 Lennar Corporation and Lennar Mortgage, LLC. All rights reserved. Lennar, the Lennar logo, Lennar Mortgage and the Lennar Mortgage logo are U.S. registered service marks or service marks of Lennar Corporation and/or its subsidiaries.

Seller’s Broker: Lennar Realty, Inc. Construction License: CBC1257529. Date 10/23

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Offers available on select move-in ready homes in the greater Ocala area when you sign a purchase agreement between 10/05/23 and 11/30/23 and close by 12/31/23. Financing and closing cost offers require financing through Lennar Mortgage.

AND $10,000 IN CLOSING COSTS

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Contact Rosalba today! (352) 348-4427 Rosalba.Olayos@Lennar.com

4% BR

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4.25% (4.

Get up to

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1,2,3 Offer available on select move-in ready homes in the greater Ocala and Gainesville area if buyer signs and delivers a purchase agreement between 10/05/23 and 11/30/23 and closes and fully funds on or before 12/31/23.

Offerto may Get up not be combined with any other existing promotions. Offers, incentives and seller contributions are subject to certain terms, conditions and restrictions. Certain incentives could affect the loan amount. Lennar reserves the right to change or withdraw any offer at any time. 1 FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS ONLY: Effective 09/25/23, 4% Real Estate Agent Commission stated above will be available is good for a limited time only. Lennar reserves the right to change, withdraw or discontinue this offer at any time without notice. No commission/bonus will be paid when agent/ broker is acting as a principal/buyer. Not valid if prospect has previously registered with Lennar or http://Lennar.com , whether individually or with a broker. Agent/ broker will receive the commission/bonus within 2 weeks after buyer closes on the Lennar home. To qualify for any applicable referral bonus/incentive, andregistration buyers must occur on the first visit and broker/agent must otherwise comply get aswith lowLennar’s as Broker Participation Policy. Offer valid only in states where referrals are permitted.

2 Limited funds are available; rate(s) may change or not be available at the time of loan commitment, lock-in or closing if funds are exhausted. Specific terms apply and buyer is subject to qualification that includes, but not limited to, a minimum of 20% down, a minimum credit score of 740, owner occupancy requirements and/ or any changes in investor guidelines or programs. Not an offer to enter into anavailable on select move-in ready homes in the gr Offers interest rate or discount point agreement and any such agreement may only beand 11/30/23 and close by 12/31/23. Financing an 10/05/23 made in writing signed by both the borrower and the lender. Offer requires financing through seller’s affiliate Lennar Mortgage, but use of Lennar Mortgage is not required to purchase a home ( See Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure ). Lennar Mortgage, LLC – NMLS # 1058, Mortgage Lender/Servicer License # MLD549. 3 Up to $45,000 price reduction valid towards the total purchase price (prices listed above reflect reduction). Features, amenities, floor plans, elevations, and designs vary and are subject to changes or substitution without notice. Items shown are artist’s renderings and may contain options that are not standard on all models or not included in the purchase price. Availability may vary. Sq. ft. is estimated; actual sq. ft. will differ. Prices do not include closing costs and other fees to be paid by buyer (including a builder fee, if applicable, as described in the purchase agreement) and are subject to change without notice. This is not an offer in states where prior registration is required. Void where Contact Rosalba today! (352) 348-4427 Ro prohibited by law. Copyright © 2023 Lennar Corporation 1,2,3 Offer available on select move-in ready homes in the greater Ocala and Gainesville ar and Lennar Mortgage, LLC. All rights reserved. Lennar, the be combined with any other existing promotions. Offers, incentives and seller contributio withdraw any offer at any time. 1 FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS ONLY: Effective or discontinue this offer at any time without notice. No commission/bonus will be paid wh Lennar logo, Lennar Mortgage and the Lennar Mortgage or with a broker. Agent/broker will receive the commission/bonus within 2 weeks after b otherwise comply with Lennar’s Broker Participation Policy. Offer valid only in states whe logo are U.S. registered service marks or service marks funds are exhausted. Specific terms apply and buyer is subject to qualification that includ or programs. Not an offer to enter into an interest rate or discount point agreement and Mortgage, but use of Lennar Mortgage is not required to purchase a home ( See Affiliate of Lennar Corporation and/or its subsidiaries. Seller’s price reduction valid towards the total purchase price (prices listed above reflect reduct renderings and may contain options that are not standard on all models or not included in Broker: Lennar Realty, Inc. Construction License: buyer (including a builder fee, if applicable, as described in the purchase agreement) and Lennar Corporation and Lennar Mortgage, LLC. All rights reserved. Lennar, the Lennar Seller’s Broker: Lennar Realty, Inc. Construction License: CBC1257529. Date 10/23 CBC1257529. Date 10/23

FIXED INTE

AND $10,000 IN

ocalafl.gov

COOKING OIL COLLECTION DAY Pouring fats, oils, and grease (F.O.G.) down the drain can clog pipes and overflow sewers, but you can help! Drop off your used cooking oil with the City of Ocala Water Resources Department. All cooking oil must be in a sealed container.

Monday, Nov. 27, 7 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Ocala Wetland Recharge Park 2105 NW 21st St., Ocala, FL For more information contact the City of Ocala Water Resources Department at 352-351-6772.

LEAVE THE LEFTOVERS FOR US

in this issue 28

TRANSITIONAL GUIDANCE

Help for those with loved ones in or out of prison.

31

VOWS

Meet the area’s newest brides and grooms.

36

BUNGALOWS KEY LARGO

This island oasis offers options for respite or fun.

40

36

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

Find serenity in Sholom Park’s new Zen Garden.

44

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Newy Fagan’s kilnformed horses will star in a new exhibit at the Brick City Center for the Arts.

48

WHAT’S COOKING

The Hilton Ocala’s new Executive Chef Elyssa Silva has some tasty changes in mind.

51

EATING HEALTHY AND THE HOLIDAYS

Health coach Sharon Redman shares holiday eating tips to ensure your season is merry and light.

55

44

CAN’ T LIVE WITHOUT

Monica Bryant shares some favorite things.

56

WINK, WINK

A childhood memory led Nancy Gordon to create a sentimental new product.

51

60

PARTY LIKE A PIONEER

Scott Mitchell enlightens us about entertaining on Florida’s frontier.

62

SCHLENKERISMS

The Rise of the Machines: Dave contends with some misbehaving appliances.

63

BEST BUDS

In the immortal words of Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming.” Belea explains how to prepare.

Images, this page, from top: Courtesy of Bungalows Key Largo; middle, photo by Mark J. Barrett; bottom, photo by Spencer Davis.

o n th e c o ve r

Photo by Lyn Larson of Mahal Imagery, Fashion styling: Karlie Loland, Hair & Makeup: Nicole “Nicci” Orio of Pretty n’ Pinned, Model: Alexis Currier from State Management.

ON INSTAGRAM @KOONTZ.COM

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Social Scene The Rock provides essential items to local students. The nonprofit was a beneficiary of this year’s Give4Marion campaign, which is a program of the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County. Toby Fernandez, Ron “Rondo” Fernandez and Amber Ellman were on hand for the September 20th celebration event, which announced that $1,401,135 was raised in 33 hours of giving.

Photo by Bruce Ackerman

INSIDER

Give4Marion REILLY ARTS CENTER Photos by Bruce Ackerman

T

his was a record-setting year for Give4Marion, a program of the Community Foundation for Ocala/ Marion County, as $1,401,135 was raised in 33 hours of giving. Leaders of many area nonprofits were on hand September 20th to celebrate the milestone.

Kenny Haworth, Michael Haworth, Lauren Deiorio, Ashley Gerds and Ben Marciano

Rochelle Greiner, Harvey Vandeven and Natalie McComb

Frank DeLuca and Lauren Deiorio

10

ocalastyle.com

Sherry Fogel, Tiffany Henke, Dave Lambert, Michelle Lambert, T.J. Lyons and Penny Lafitte

CHAMPIONING H E A LT H C A R E F O R A L L Champions are forged through dedication, resilience, courage and sacrifice. As Team USA athletes strive toward greatness, they will not get there alone. They will have world-renowned doctors, researchers and specialists to support them. The team behind THE team. UF Health will be there to champion their health, as a proud U.S. Olympic & Paralympic National Medical Center, providing elite athletes access to the same world-renowned health care available to you and your family every day.

UF Health is proud to be the only U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Medical Network member in the Southeast.

Visit UFHealth.org/Champions to learn more.

INSIDER

Tea at the Fort FORT KING NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK Photos by Bruce Ackerman

G

uests of all ages, many dressed in elegant chapeau, along with volunteers in period costumes, enjoyed two seatings on September 23rd, each of which included servings of tea and finger foods, along with information about pioneer foods and native plants and herbs.

Cherie Gillispie, Maxine Meyers and Pat Jameson

Susie Blanchard and Rosemary Grooms

Yasmin Talbi

12

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William Baker-Palenik

Joan Fuller, Patty Baker-Palenik and Ray Fuller

WE’RE HIRING EXPERIENCED ELECTRICIANS Residential • Commercial • Service • New Construction

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Ken Ford and Alexander Fleming

Mary Emery, Mark Emery and Nancy Ford

IHMC Evening Lecture INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN & MACHINE COGNITION Photos by Bruce Ackerman

T

he institute’s popular series kicked off the new season on September 28th with healthy longevity expert Alexander Fleming.

Each monthly lecture begins with a festive reception and always draws a wide range of members of the community.

Bryn, Danielle and Collins Sheldon

14

ocalastyle.com

Annemarie Hooper, Laurie Zink and Staci Bertrand

Rebecca Elliott and Nick Navetta

FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE! ...AND WE HAVE ALL THE GAMES!

For military veteran caregivers, For military caregivers, caregiving often veteran starts earlier in life caregiving often starts earlier in life and lasts To careforfor and lasts longer.

Tobetter better care Forlonger. military veteran caregivers, your loved one, youmust must also your loved one, you also caregiving often starts earlier in life yourself. carecare forfor yourself. and lasts longer.

To better care for your loved one, you must also For military veteran caregivers, care for yourself. caregiving often starts earlier in life and lasts longer. To better care for your loved one, you must also care for yourself.

Come enjoy great food, friends, drink specials and all the games on the TVs throughout the bar and restaurant.

EVENTS EVENTS ALL ALL MONTH MONTH LONG! LONG!

Check to what (352) 268-2334 Check out out our our website website to see see what special special entertainment entertainment Check we have out in our store website for you to see -you what won’t special want entertainment to out!

8761 Villages, 32162 we haveSEin165th store Mulberry for you -- Ln, youThe won’t want toFLmiss miss out! we have in store for you -you won’t want to miss LIVE MUSIC • KARAOKE • TRIVIA • SPECIALS out! www.thebackporchmulberry.com

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Be Be sure sure to to take take aa seat seat in in our our big big chair chair before before you you come come in in or or leave Be sure the to restaurant. take a seat Show in our us big your chair best before pics you by tagging come or leave the restaurant. Show us your best pics by tagginginus! us! leave the restaurant. Show us your best pics by tagging us!

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FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE! FOOTBALL SEASON HERE! ...AND WE HAVE ALL THEIS GAMES! ...ANDCome WEenjoy HAVEgreatALL GAMES! food,THE friends, Come enjoy friends, drink specials andgreat all thefood, games on the TVs drinkthroughout specials and all the games on the TVs the bar and restaurant. throughout the bar and restaurant.

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★ ★ ★ IN GOD WE TRUST ★ ★ ★

OCALA, FL • EST. 1952

SUN & SHADE LOVING

CAMELLIA BUDDED & BLOOMING

1000’S TO CHOOSE FROM

DWARF & REGULAR SIZES AVAILABLE • RED • WHITE • PINK • RED & WHITE • PINK & WHITE

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LARGER SIZES AVAILABLE 2610 SE 38 Street, Ocala, FL 34480 352-629-5766 • BobWinesNursery.com Mon-Fri 9-4 • Sat 9-3 • “If Raining, Call Before Coming” Se Habla Espanol • Pets are Welcome BRING IN YOUR PICTURES OR SKETCHES & WE CAN HELP YOU DESIGN YOUR YARD

Strategic Community Alliance, Inc. (SCA), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Ocala, strives to promote civility, mutual respect, unity, and personal responsibility in communities through constructive diversity, inclusion, and cross-cultural initiatives. If you want to donate or learn more about SCA, please visit http://www.scacommunities.org or contact Dr. Sheni Meghani at shenimeghani@yahoo.com.

Strategic Community Alliance, Inc. (SCA) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) #CH67488. Our Federal Tax Identification number is 88-0586533.

40

celebrating

A toast to

Hospice of Marion County 40th Anniversary Gala

years

Saturday, November 4, 2023 Ocala Hilton • 6:00 pm 3600 SW 36th Ave • Ocala, FL 34474 Dinner, Dancing & Celebration!

Tickets $100 per person Scan code to purchase your ticket or donate For info: Cindy Moody (352) 291-5143 Title Platinum Sponsors

Empath Health • Br yly nn Far m • She r man Mechanical C ontrac tors

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Stacey Wilkinson, Erica Grice and Reba Pressley

Randall “Glitterman” Kaufmann and Debra Kaufmann

Pink Halloween Bunco Bash SOUTHEASTERN LIVESTOCK PAVILION Photos by Bruce Ackerman

T

he annual tournament hosted by the Bunco Babes Ocala group raises funds for Michelle-O-Gram, which helps women get needed mammograms. The October 6th event had a theme of Scare Away Breast Cancer and, of course, the venue was awash in a sea of hot pink.

Tammy Maynard, Tanja “Boo Bees” Weaver and Keith Jangro

Paulette Szydlo and Elaine Hobbs

Candy Homan, left, and Lori Zirkle

November ‘23

17

On the Scene A guide to our favorite monthly happenings and can’t-miss events

FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK Downtown Ocala November 3 Downtown is a lovely place to enjoy the monthly Art Walk, which features artists, performers, craftspeople and arts activities.

Stroll the square and nearby streets to enjoy live music from the gazebo main stage as well as buskers. Food and drinks will be available from restaurants and vendors, and shops stay open late. Free to attend. For more information, go to ocalafl.gov OCALA FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL World Equestrian Center November 3-5

Marion County Chili Cook-Off, photo by Bruce Ackerman

There will be demonstrations and samples from celebrity chefs such as Lorena Garcia, Timothy Hollingsworth, Rashad Jones and Yohann Le Bescond, along with tasting options from local restaurants, wineries, breweries and distilleries. This year’s charity of choice is the Public Education Foundation

of Marion County, which supports youth development in the culinary and hospitality industries. The event is for ages 21 and older. Tickets start at $95 and VIP packages are available, at ocalafoodandwinefest.com FIRST SATURDAY MARKET IN THE PARK Downtown Dunnellon and Ernie Mills Park November 4 Vendors will offer a variety of wares, there will be live entertainment and businesses will have sales and specials. A kids’ playground will keep the tots busy while you browse. Pick up a map and get ready to shop. For more info, dunnellonchamber.com/ blog/first-saturday-market-in-the-park MARION COUNTY CHILI COOK-OFF Southeastern Livestock Pavilion November 4

If you like your chili hot—or not—there’s sure to be something here to appeal to your taste buds.

The annual event features food, craft beers, vendors, live music, a kids’ play zone, a car show and more. Sample the chili options and vote for your favorite. Awards include Judged Chili, Judged Booth, Morgan von Trapper Spirit Award, People’s Choice Booth and People’s Choice Chili. The car show will award prizes for Pre ‘90s Original, Pre ‘90s Modified, Modern Original, Modern Modified, People’s Choice and Best in Show. The event benefits Cornerstone School. For details, go to Jaylon Blackburn, Daniel Effren and Luke Gorman marioncountychilicookoff.com November ‘23

19

PETTY HEARTS: THE ULTIMATE TOM PETTY EXPERIENCE Circle Square Cultural Center November 10

OCALI COUNTRY DAYS FESTIVAL Silver River Museum campus (inside Silver Springs State Park) November 11-12

If you like your music with a Southern accent, check out this Florida-based band that has toured nationally to great renown with its tribute show. It’s sure to include classic hits like American Girl, You Got Lucky, Don’t Do Me Like That, Free Fallin’, Here Comes My Girl, Mary Jane’s Last Dance and Breakdown. Tickets are $27-$34. See csculturalcenter.com for more info.

This event lets you step back in time and learn about homestead skills and the pioneer lifestyle of Old Florida. There will be hands-on craft demonstrations such as old-time cooking, traditional Seminole cooking and arts, building log cabins, spinning, weaving and quilting, and other home crafts, plus information about pioneer cattle and horses. The day includes live music, historic displays and access to the museum, a tram ride through the state park, vendors, food options and more. Tickets are $8 per person; free for ages 5 and younger. For more info, go to bit.ly/ocali-days

The Kingdom of the Sun Concert Band honors veterans again this year with a celebration concert to share the gift of music with veterans and their loved ones. J. Craig Lilly conducts this all-volunteer band in its 12th annual event. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and enjoy an evening of music, American spirit and fireworks. For more information, see kingdomofthesunband.org

GIDDY UP GALA College of Central Florida Vintage Farm November 11 The Horse Protection Association of Florida hosts its biggest fundraiser of the year with this evening out, which includes dinner, dessert, open bar and chocolates, plus a kissing booth with mini-equines from the Miracle Minis. Black tie optional; tickets are $150. See hpaf.org/event/gala

Ocali Country Days Festival, photo by Bruce Ackerman

VETERANS LIGHT THE STARS CONCERT Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park November 11

New Look,

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HOSPICE OF MARION COUNTY empath Now an Affiliate of Empath Health. New Look, Same Great Care.

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The annual summit will feature worldrenowned photographer Carlton Ward Jr. talking about his work with the endangered Florida panther, which helped lead to the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act and $800 million in funding to preserve green space throughout the state. Ward will sign copies of his book, Path of the Panther. Mallory Lykes Dimmitt from the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation and Traci Deen from Conservation Florida also will speak. Tickets are $40 and include light fare. See bit.ly/hff_summit_2023 for details.

PERFECT BLACK: EXHIBITION OPENING College of Central Florida, Webber Gallery November 17 A reception and awards presentation will showcase Perfect Black: Visual Expression of the Southern, Rural African American 22

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Experience. The artworks focus on the artists’ personal experiences and will be judged by Steve Prince, an artist in residence at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William and Mary University. The exhibition continues through December 7th and is free to view.

For more info, see cf.edu/webber LIGHT UP OCALA Downtown Square November 18 This is always a fun annual event that kicks off the holiday season in Marion County.

It’s family-friendly and features a Junior Sunshine holiday parade that brings in special guest Santa. There will be dozens of vendors showing off arts, crafts, jewelry, home décor and more. In addition, enjoy food options, live entertainment and a kids’ activity zone.

After the sun goes down, the celebration will culminate with the lighting of the Christmas tree and thousands of lights all around the square. Learn more at bit.ly/light-up-ocala

Light Up Ocala, photo by Bruce Ackerman

HORSE FARMS FOREVER CONSERVATION SUMMIT Ocala Breeders’ Sales November 16

Burrata Stuffed Ravioli Located in the heart of downtown Ocala, Harry’s offers traditional Louisiana favorites like Shrimp and Scallop Orleans, Crawfish Etouffée, Jambalaya, Shrimp Creole, Blackened Red Fish and Louisiana Gumbo. Other favorites, like French Baked Scallops and Bourbon Street Salmon, are complemented with grilled steaks, chicken, burgers, po’ boy sandwiches and salads. Their full bar features Harry’s Signature Cocktails, such as the Harry’s Hurricane, Bayou Bloody Mary or the Cool Goose Martini. They also feature wines by the glass and a wide selection of imported, domestic and craft beer.

Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grille

Available Nov. 1 - Dec. 24 Get $30 gift card when you purchase $100 Happy Hour Specials: 2-7p every day $4 Draft Beer $5 House Wine & Premium Cocktails $6 Super Premium & $7 Harry’s Signature Cocktails

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HOT CARS & COOL CATS Nassiversa Farm, Highway 326 November 18 This fundraiser for the Endangered Animal Rescue Sanctuary (EARS) in Citra features a car show to benefit the big cats—lions, tigers, leopards, cougars and more—that are cared for by the rescue. The show will have categories for cars, motorcycles and trucks, along with lots of food options, live music, a 50/50 raffle, vendors and more.

Free for spectators; car entries are $10.

Trophies and prizes will be awarded. To learn more, go to earsinc.net/news-events OCALA HOLIDAY CRAFT SHOW World Equestrian Center, Expo 1 November 18-19 More than 300 exhibitors and vendors will offer arts and crafts, jewelry, holiday décor, clothing, crafts, ceramics, artwork, glassworks, candles, leather goods, plants

and more. Tickets are $7 for general admission; $6 for seniors; free ages 12 and younger. Food and drink options onsite.

Free parking. Check out bmgevents.com/ ocalacraftshow.html for more info.

GENTIVA OCALA DIWALI CELEBRATION Citizens’ Circle November 19 The Indian festival of light, Diwali, hosted by the Strategic Community Alliance, will be celebrated to show happiness, prosperity and the beginning of a new year.

The community-wide cross-cultural event will offer a uniquely immersive experience of Indian culture, with opportunities to dance, sample food and learn about Indian history. Attendees can sign up to participate in cultural performances, the Indian Fashion Show, India Trivia Quiz and Saree Experience (saree draping).

Live

The event, which runs from 11:30am to 6pm, is open to all. For more information, visit scacommunities.org/ events-news-andactivities

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UPCOMING

SYMPHONY UNDER THE LIGHTS Tuscawilla Park December 1 The Ocala Symphony Orchestra continues its annual tradition of a free holiday concert in the park, surrounded by grandfather oaks and fabulous sculpture pieces. Bring chairs, picnic baskets and hot chocolate for an evening under the stars. The event, which is free to attend, will include a performance by the Ocala Youth Symphony. See reillyartscenter.com for more info.

POPS! GOES THE HOLIDAYS Reilly Arts Center December 2 & 3 The Ocala Symphony Orchestra keeps up the spirit with this special concert. Led

by Maestro Matthew Wardell, the OSO will branch out with inventive takes on holiday classic songs and symphonies.

Tickets are $15-$40; see reillyartscenter.com for more info.

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INSIDER

The Internet of Things IHMC’s associate director will lecture on new frontiers in technology on November 16th.

By Susan Smiley-Height

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Photo courtesy of IHMC

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cousin of Sari’s invited e are all him to the U.S., and familiar with Sari came to Florida in the internet, 1991. As Sari embarked but what do you know on earning his degree in about the Internet of computer science at the Things (IoT)?

University of West Florida During his upcoming (UWF), he met Ford. lecture at the Institute for “He became my Human & Machine Cogundergraduate academnition in Ocala, Niranjan ic advisor,” Sari says.

Sari, Ph.D., IHMC’s “I started working for associate director and IHMC as a student assissenior research scientist, tant in 1994 and research will explain IoT. associate in 1995, when “My talk will I was doing my master’s introduce the concept of degree. After I graduated, Internet of Things, along I was offered a job and with a little background worked my way up.” of its origins in computer Sari also is co-chair networks. IoT permeates of two NATO Research many aspects of our lives, Task Groups, division whether we are aware of associate for research in it or not,” Sari offers. “IoT I think my most the Military Information has led to everything important finding is Sciences Division at the from smart electricity just the vast range of U.S. Army Research meters and smart homes Laboratory and a to smart cities in the unexplored possibilities director of research near future. I will also that lay ahead. professor in the talk about some work — Niranjan Sari, Ph.D. Intelligent Systems and IHMC has been doing by Robotics Program at UWF. leveraging Internet of Things and As for the future he offers, “As the saying goes, touch upon some future capabilities that IoT will we don’t know what we don’t know, but I believe bring to society.” we are on the cusp of some radical technological Sari was born in India and lived there until he advances that will be enabled by a combination of was 17. He spent a year in the U.S. when he was 4 capabilities such as IoT and artificial intelligence when his father worked for NASA. He loved playing and machine learning. I think my most important with Lego sets, “especially the ones that were finding is just the vast range of unexplored mechanical in nature. When I was in third grade, possibilities that lay ahead.” my Dad got a computer that I could play with. I was fascinated by the ability to program a computer to The November 16th lecture will take place at 15 make it do something, and that sparked my interest SE Osceola Ave. To learn more and RSVP, go to in computers and programming.” ihmc.us/life/evening_lectures/ocala-lecture-series Ken Ford is the founder and CEO of IHMC. A

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DOING GOOD

Jacalyn Brown, Melissa Casto and Patricia Tomlinson

Transitional Guidance FLIP FLOP Support Groups, Inc., helps incarcerated or formerly incarcerated citizens and their families with challenges related to housing, restitution of rights and much more.

By Beth Whitehead | Photos by Bruce Ackerman

A

Florida Department of Corrections report on recidivism, released in July 2022, indicates that as of 2018 only 10 percent of men recently released from prison or jail were employed. More than 5 percent of recently incarcerated men were homeless after their release. The report found that a major factor leading to recidivism—being incarcerated again— was homelessness. A Prison Policy report from 2018 found that formerly incarcerated people are almost 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public.

The nonprofit FLIP FLOP Support Groups, Inc., (Families with Loved Ones in Prison; Families with Loved Ones out of Prison) was formed in 2009 by Jacalyn Brown, who had previously

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worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in Florida, in part to address the issue of housing.

“After working for 10 years with the state Department of Juvenile Justice,” Brown says, “I saw a need for working with families of incarcerated individuals. Although my career there was rewarding, it did not provide an outlet for me to assist the families of juveniles.”

Brown, the Director of Compliance of the Ocala Housing Authority since 2006, shares that, “When I became employed with the Ocala Housing Authority, it provided the perfect niche to work with families of incarcerated individuals.”

Brown and other board members host monthly FLIP FLOP Support Groups meetings to surround the families of incarcerated individuals, and those

DOING GOOD

who have been released and their families, with the support they need, with the goal of “realigning the effects of incarceration to families,” she says.

“Upon release from jail or prison, the returning citizen usually has some barriers to becoming stable,” Brown continues. “We try to assist by assessing the needs and doing what we can financially, by referrals and, many times, they only need encouragement and guidance on what steps to take.”

FLIP FLOP Support Groups highlights available resources, such as the Marion County Clerk of Courts Office for the restitution of a released citizen’s right to vote, and the Ocala Housing Authority to help secure a roof over their heads.

John Hammond, who reentered society after serving 37 years in prison, received assistance through the 501(c) (3). The group helped pay a deposit to secure housing and helped him with job applications. He credits the group and his faith in God as reasons for his success.

“The need for stable housing is the piece that puts them right at FLIP FLOP Support Groups door,” Brown says. “We operate out of the Ocala Housing Authority.”

The group, which operates primarily from private donations, meets at 6pm the fourth Friday of each month at the Ocala Housing Authority campus.

Jacalyn Brown and Melissa Casto

Ron Dixon and Jacalyn Brown Donald Hockenberry, Jacalyn Brown and Reginal Starker

To learn more, go to f lipf lopsg1.com or f b.com/jbf lipf lopsg1 November ‘23

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Demetre Chiparus, “Les Amis Toujours” c. 1925, Cold-painted and patinated gilt bronze, ivory and marble, 25 x 25 x 7 ¼ in. Gift of Arthur I. Appleton.

VOWS

Celebrate...

Ocala’s brides and grooms, get a glimpse into their most special of days and hear firsthand about the memories that will always hold a place in their hearts.

Pictured: Caralyn & Pedro Saldarriaga | Photographed by Paige Mercer Photography

VOWS

CARALYN (CLARK) & PEDRO SALDARRIAGA November 26th, 2022 Venue: Saint Andrews Farm Photographer: Paige Mercer Photography Wedding Planner: Kara Schafer Their favorite memory: “A few hours into our outdoor wedding party, the electricity went out. Instead of panicking, we lit candles, our guests started singing and dancing, and our band played acoustic instruments. It was a great memory that shows some of the best times are unplanned.”

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VOWS

MADISON & ZACHARY BENNETT September 9th, 2023 Venue: Black Prong Equestrian Village Photographer: Jamie Blatt Photography Wedding Planner: Masterpiece Weddings Hair: Haven, from Pretty n’ Pinned Her favorite memories: “If I had to pick just one, it would be our first touch. We chose to write our own vows and read them to each other before the ceremony. He wasn’t allowed to see me but seeing him and listening to his vows made all of my nerves float away.”

His favorite memories: “My favorite part about our wedding day was seeing all of our loved ones in one place. But the food would be a close second, Chef Ray did an amazing job with a delicious menu.”

November ‘23

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VOWS

PAIGE AND ANTHONY DI LAVORE April 28th, 2023 Venue: Sterling Event Venue Photographer: Eighteenth Hour Photography Wedding Planner: Penny with Blessed Magnolia Florist: Bluegrass Chic Hair and makeup: Ashley Webb Their favorite memory: : “It was finally seeing each other down the aisle and becoming husband and wife. It felt like no one else was there but us; it was perfect. We had the most amazing day.”

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VOWS

MIKHALEA (HACK) & MIKE EPPERSON April 22nd, 2023 Venue: Pine Haven Ranch Photographer: Maudie Lucas Photography Hair/makeup artists: Savannah Norris and Vanessa Renae Her favorite memory: “The feeling I had when walking down the aisle towards Mike and seeing the look on his face.”

His favorite memory: “The moment we were reading our vows to one another.”

November ‘23

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Driveable Destinations: Bungalows Key Largo This adults-only, all-inclusive resort in the Florida Keys provides options for those seeking respite or fun.

By Jennifer Hunt Murty

All images courtesy of Bungalows Key Largo

T

his past Labor Day weekend, I packed a small overnight bag and laptop with plans to work all weekend—only from a beautiful spot called the Bungalows Key Largo.

Despite the best intentions of being productive, the resort charmed me into resting instead. It was the laid-back spirit of Key Largo whispering in my ear to just be the spirit of Jimmy Buffet songs.

I was driving there when I received a news alert about Buffet’s passing. Buffet’s lifelong love affair and advocacy for the Florida Keys is part of his legacy and we toasted it many times that weekend.

A couple from Maryland I met at the tiki bar when I first arrived told me they had returned just three weeks after their first visit to the resort. The husband, Gary, said they loved the spot because there was no stress once they got here and that the resort “was just a place you could turn everything else off.”

Drenched in timeless island elegance, Bungalows Key Largo is a luxurious tropical adult-only getaway that is six hours from Ocala.

And, after my visit, I echo Gary’s sentiment.

Elegance Secluded in Nature Key Largo is the first island of the Florida Keys.

The resort is positioned on 11.5 waterfront acres, overlooking the enchanted Buttonwood Sound at Mile Marker 99.

After you get to the resort, you park your car and never need it again during your stay. You’ll be transported from the reception area by golf cart into a tropical botanical garden with individual bungalows and everything you need to rest or have fun—with stunning views of the Gulf of Mexico.

One of my favorite aspects of the resort, second only to the Gulf views, was the tropical garden architecture that changed as the shadows changed. I was inspired to take notes on what I’d like to replicate in my own backyard.

Zen or Adventure

From the Zen Garden Spa, which offers treatments inspired by nature, to the open-air Fitness Tiki Hut that is stocked with exercise equipment, and daily yoga sessions on the beach, November ‘23

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you could easily decide to turn your stay into a wellness retreat.

There were plenty of opportunities for waterbased activities, such as stand-up paddleboards, water trikes, kayaks and custom boat tours where you could watch the sunset or go snorkeling.

The resort has two impressive pools, each with jacuzzis. The Sunset Pool overlooks the Florida Bay, with the Sunset Tiki Bar nearby, and my favorite, the Zen Pool.

I was impressed at how easily I could find privacy throughout the resort, despite visiting on a holiday weekend when it was fully booked.

I never had to wait for a cabana at the Zen Pool or by the beach, or for a hammock on the beach. I never felt like I was crowded in with anyone. All big pluses when it came to relaxing!

Inspired Accommodations

There are 135 individual 900-square-foot bungalows in the resort. Every bungalow has a 38

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private veranda with a rain shower and a soaking tub, a spa-inspired bathroom, a 60-inch Beyond TV, a Keurig coffee maker and a mini-fridge stocked with refreshments.

Those who choose waterfront bungalows benefit from the million-dollar water views, but guests of the garden bungalows have only a fiveminute walk to get to them.

The bungalows were thoughtfully designed with organic textures and soothing tropical hues. I loved the private veranda with the soaking tub.

Delicious Dining

With three restaurants and the oceanfront tiki bar, guests are offered many options for dining: SUNSET TIKI BAR Open from 11am to 11pm. The friendly staff served tropical drinks, handcrafted specialty cocktails and a bar food menu.

SEA SENOR Expect local seafood and Mexican fusion. I really enjoyed the fish tacos!

FISH TALES This was the first stop for breakfast every morning and I loved the fresh smoothies. The dinner menu includes pasta, seafood and steaks.

BOGIE & BACALL’S The most sophisticated dining option at the resort will cost you an additional $300 per couple if staying less than 4 nights. Menu options include seafood dishes and prime steaks, all in a setting reminiscent of its legendary namesakes.

When I was there, the resort hosted a lavish Labor Day beach celebration with an impressive seafood buffet and a live band.

Getting There

I drove the I-75 and Florida Turnpike route all the way down south in under six hours on a Saturday morning.

The resort charges $300 per bungalow for early check-in; otherwise, travelers should plan to be there at 4 p.m.

If you want to fly, the resort is 60 miles from Miami International Airport.

For a dramatic entrance to the resort, guests can opt for a scenic seaplane ride from Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

ADULTS-ONLY ALL-INCLUSIVE

Join us for Bungalows Key Largo’s 5th Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration Sunday, December 31, 2023 Featuring two live musical performances, County Wide Band and Patrick & The Las Vegas Band, an elegant beach dinner party, mesmerizing fireworks show, and much more!

Don’t Miss Out – reserve your stay today!

If You Go...

Bungalows Key Largo 99010 Overseas Highway Key Largo, Florida 33037 Reservations: (866) 801-0195 bungalowskeylargo.com and on Facebook and Instagram.

866-801-0195 bungalowskeylargo.com

Your Moment

of Zen

A new Zen Garden at Sholom Park beckons visitors to immerse themselves in the serenity of nature.

By Lisa McGinnes | Photos by Bruce Ackerman and Sholom Park

A

s you follow the gracefully curving sidewalk from the end of the parking lot, slow your steps and take in the lush, verdant greenery all around you. Notice the Guardians of the Gate: on your left, a limestone boulder resembling a turtle, which represents longevity and perseverance; on your right, the lion, a symbol of strength and wisdom.

As you cross the bridge to what lies beyond the bamboo fence, take a deep breath and open your

mind to a quest for peaceful relaxation, no matter how brief. Whether you have five minutes or an hour to spend, this is your moment of Zen. “This crossing point is representative of the leaving behind of the material world of our daily lives. It’s the beginning of the process of entering into the land of the sacred,” explains Robert Colen, stepping through the wood and bamboo gate. The managing director of Sholom Park encourages visitors to try to quiet their thoughts as they enter November ‘23

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Koto musicians at the garden opening

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the Zen Garden.

“Come to experience the quiet, feel the energy that’s here and let go of whatever is bothering you for a few minutes and find peace; find quiet,” Colen suggests. “Then, when you let go of that, your life feels a little bit better. You can leave here and hopefully make the world around you a little bit better place.”

Since it opened in 2004, Sholom Park in Southwest Ocala has been a hidden gem with its 44 peaceful acres of natural beauty. The new Zen Garden, opened on September 20th, takes peaceful to the next level. In the tradition of Japanese Zen gardens, it’s a setting that invites meditation, with natural elements that help one narrow their focus to experience mindfulness, or being present in the moment and enjoying their surroundings.

As you enter, listen for the soothing rush of gently flowing water, which symbolizes cleansing, and the melodic calls of birds. Observe the cultural symbols, such as the pagodas, and see how they make you feel.

“There’s a lot of symbolism throughout the park,” Colen shares. “The pagodas are symbols.

It’s a sign that you’re not lost, that you’re on a path. Maybe you have all kinds of struggles or worries in your life and maybe you feel alone. I think all of us have suffered to some extent, and it’s just a symbolic way of saying you are not lost; you are on a path.”

As you wind your way past flowering plants, clusters of bamboo, and venerable oak trees, the towering, wooden Japanese torii gate, painted in the traditional vermillion color, beckons like a beacon. For centuries, these gates have marked sacred spaces in Japanese culture.

At the crest of a subtle incline, the path leads to the Zen Ocean, formed not by water but by a gravel garden with islands made of large rocks.

The caretaker often rakes the gravel into waves that surround the symbolic islands.

“Look at the three islands; there’s symbolism in everything,” Colen notes. “On the far left is our volcano. You can see the volcano rising up from the ground. The volcano is symbolic of the impermanence of change. In the middle we have a turtle with a crane on top. That’s a symbol of symbiosis, of harmony between two beings. It’s also a symbol of wisdom. And then we have our large rock island; it’s an amazing rock that was taken out of the ground 500 yards from here. This is really a symbol of strength and perseverance.”

Descending slightly, you reach the plush, green lawn of the meditation meadow.

“It’s a soft space—if you were to take your

shoes off and walk, you would feel the soft moisture of the grass and the ground and it connects you to the world below you,” Colen says.

When you reach the raking garden, you’re invited to practice interactive meditation by picking up a wooden rake. The humble act of raking patterns into the gravel is meant to promote relaxation and mindfulness.

“You’re centering yourself,” Colen says. “And then by raking, you’re connecting yourself to the universe as you flow through it. As you move the gravel, the gravel, again, is supposed to represent water. You can rake anything, but keep in mind there is a world here inside this that you’re raking and you’re flowing. You’re creating that semblance of peace as you flow through it.”

Take a moment to sit on a limestone bench and gaze at the boulder placed across from the raking garden. It’s an element that beckons you to narrow your focus and broaden your imagination.

“If you were to meditate here, sitting here looking at this rock, you could see maybe a dolphin or a seal. Maybe it’s a gorilla. Some people see an elephant. You could see anything you want to see in it,” Colen says. “But the point is to look at it and interpret it as you see fit, and it takes you away from whatever you’re dealing with over there.

Selecting the rocks was a labor of love for Project Manager Steve Curl, a horticulturalist who oversaw the original design and construction of Sholom Park and was the park’s first operations director until 2008. He says he was “thrilled to death” when he was asked to return to help with the Zen Garden.

“I was fortunate enough to pick out the rocks, so I had a fun job,” Curl enthuses. “People see different things in the rocks, and that’s what’s really amazing. I think when I picked them out I saw something, but that doesn’t mean that you would see the same thing. That’s what makes them so unique.”

Curl has fond memories of working with Robert’s uncle, the late Sidney Colen, who developed the On Top of the World communities and created Sholom Park. His vision was to create a place where people could experience peace, joy and contentment.

“How beautiful,” Curl says of the Zen Garden.

“This just fit his [Sidney Colen’s] vision to a ‘T.’ He was all about personal introspection and finding peace. And you couldn’t ask for anything better. So this just fits the park. It’s just perfect.”

Sholom Park is privately owned and supported by the Horticultural Arts & Park Institute, a charitable foundation. Colen says the idea to build

Robert Colen

a Zen Garden came about with a timely gift from donors who wish to remain anonymous.

“They showed up at the right time, and they encouraged us to go bigger and think bigger,” Colen says. “We brought in a landscape architect who was from Brad Smith and Associates, Scott Girard who designed the gardens for Disney Tokyo. So it all just kind of fell together.”

Sholom Park and the Zen Garden are free and open to the public every day of the year.

Fall/winter hours are 8am-5pm. For more information, visit sholompark.org November ‘23

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Through The Looking Glass Newy Fagan: A Retrospective, a multimedia art exhibit at the Marion Cultural Alliance’s Brick City Center for the Arts from December 1st-30th will highlight a 50-year-plus artistic career. Taking center stage will be Fagan’s unique herd of kilnformed glass horses.

By JoAnn Guidry | Portraits by Dawn Martinez | Art images by Mark J. Barrett and Troy Snyder

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ewy Fagan ventured down the rabbit hole of art as a youngster, and, oh, what a magical journey it has been. Fueled by her love of horses, Fagan’s impressive portfolio includes oil/acrylic/ pastel paintings, wood-cut prints, stained glass, clay sculptures and her signature kilnformed threedimensional glass horses.

Fagan grew up in the idyllic setting of a 10acre family farm in Connecticut, where she was christened with her unusual first name.

“I’m the third of six children, so when my mother was pregnant with me, my two older, but still young, siblings asked her what was happening,” shares Fagan. “My mother told them that she was having a new baby and then they started saying she was having a ‘newy.’ The name stuck, so when I was born, I was actually named Newy.”

Fagan’s childhood farm was also where she got her first pony and did her first drawings.

“I was maybe 5 when I got Bonnie, a Welsh pony, and then when I was 10, we got a horse named Black Beauty. Then, every few years, my father would buy me a new horse and I began showing in 4-H,” recalls Fagan. “Of course, horses were the first things that I drew as a child. The first horses I drew looked more like cats than horses, but I kept at it until my drawings did look like horses.”

As a teenager, Fagan worked in an art supplies and frame shop in Clinton, Connecticut, known as an artsy town.

“I became friends with the artists who would come into the store, and I learned a lot from them,” says Fagan. “I also took lessons and learned how to paint objectively from still life. But horses were still my favorite subjects, and they are not still life.

I could relate to them because they are creatures of motion and I always wanted to be in motion too.”

To afford her own art supplies and art lessons, Fagan gave art lessons and riding lessons to kids for 50 cents an hour.

“I really enjoyed teaching and seeing the kids be excited either about art or horses, or, like me, both,” notes Fagan. “Teaching is fun when you teach what you love.”

Fagan followed through with her passions, studying fine arts and getting a bachelor’s degree

in art education from Southern Connecticut State University in 1973. Horseless during her college years, her favorite subjects to paint became plants. After college, Fagan taught art in an elementary school for two years.

But her need to be in motion and her artistic ambitions led her out of the classroom.

“As much as I loved teaching, I really wanted to live an artist’s life,” explains Fagan. “I went all in, painting as much as I could and participating in as many art shows as I could. It was at an art show that I met a stained glass artist and that set me on a whole new path.”

By the time Fagan moved to Florida in 1979, she was all-in on stained glass art.

“I had heard that the Ocala area was known for its horse farms, so I came and looked around,” says Fagan. “I found a farm that I could afford in Moss Bluff, next to the Ocala National Forest, where I could trail ride. I bought a prefab building to set up as my art studio and a half-Arabian filly. I was living my dream life.”

HITTING THE BULL’S-EYE

At her Moss Bluff farm studio, Fagan continued with her stained glass art while giving lessons and traveling to continue her art education.

“I began to be interested in fusing, where glass can be melted down in a kiln and then re-shaped.

This fascinated me,” recalls Fagan. “But that took a special glass, not the same glass used for stained glass, and a special kiln.”

Fagan found just what she needed in the Bullseye Glass Company, which made compatible glass for fusing and the special kiln.

“Of course, I bought a special kiln, compatible glass and, just like that, I had a new artistic calling,” notes Fagan. “I began to focus on that and learning all that I could.”

Fagan’s quest for knowledge led her in the late 1980s to Camp Colton in Colton, Oregon, where the kilnformed glass process was being taught in two-week sessions.

“During one of the classes, the instructor would ask each of us two questions: ‘What was your problem? What do you want to do?’” explains Fagan. “My answer to both questions was that I wanted to make a kilnformed glass horse that could November ‘23

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stand up. I had done plenty of flat horses in stained glass, but now I wanted to do three-dimensional horses. My instructor said that I could do it, but that it would be hard.”

Undeterred, Fagan began her journey to create her dream glass horses.

“It took me two years and 600 horses to figure out the right amount of time to leave them in the kiln, remove them, pull them upright, shape them and then put them in the cooling kiln,” admits Fagan. “I called those early horses my drunken sailors because I would get their bodies upright, but their legs would splay out.”

Now, Fagan has the creation of what has become her signature kilnformed glass horses down to, well, an art form. She places layers of multi-colored compatible glass onto a shelf in the kiln, where fusing happens at temperatures exceeding 1,450 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the glass melts together into one thickness, Fagan uses special gloves to remove the heated shelf with the flat fused horse and, in under 30 seconds, lift out two legs at a time with a spatula. The horse is then quickly shaped, uprighted onto four legs and transferred into the cooling kiln. The latter process can take up to eight hours.

The end results are whimsical horses in

iridescent colors and markings not found in nature. But if a client wants a bay or a chestnut, Fagan can do that too. One of her horses, Medicine Man, a three-quarters Arabian black and white pinto, was the model for numerous glass horses.

“Since I had Arabian crosses, my original horses were modeled from that breed,” says Fagan, 72, who makes the horses in seven and nine inches, or taller for a custom order. “But soon I branched out to other breeds, like quarter horses, Clydesdales and Percherons. I also do custom horses and recently did a Morgan horse piece that I was very pleased with.”

From that first kilnformed horse in 1987, Fagan has made more than 8,700 and counting in what she calls her Manipulated Horse Series. She also has another series called Migration, which features kilnformed glass horses in what she describes as “in full flight.” The horses’ streamlined legs are stretched out in front and back, and they are usually mounted on a stand alone or in a herd.

The Migration horses, some with riders, are also featured on the panels of Fagan’s room dividers.

“I use horse imagery as a metaphor for freedom,” says Fagan. “To me, there is a spiritual connection between the horse and the human condition that is far older than the

Fagan and Buttermilk

Bowl with Migration horses

discovery of glass.”

After more than 50 years immersed in the artistic life, Fagan envisions new chapters.

“I have been so fortunate to have such a great life in art. I’ve traveled the country as an exhibitor and instructor. A definite highlight was having my own exhibit at the Appleton Museum of Art. I continue to be represented by outstanding galleries,” says Fagan gratefully. “Of course, I will keep creating my glass horses. But I also want to do more architectural fused-glass tiles. I’m also thinking of writing a book about glass fusion art. One of the things I love about art is that there is always something new to learn, explore and create.”

To learn more, go to newyfaganstudio.com For information about the Marion Cultural Alliance, visit mcaocala.org

Room Divider Detail

Group of mounted Migration horses November ‘23

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What's Cooking

This innovative executive chef is planning some tasty new offerings at Hilton Ocala.

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By Susan Smiley-Height | Portrait by Bruce Ackerman

ven as a child, Elyssa Silva could be found in the kitchen. She followed her mom’s every move and looked forward to Sundays, when family members would watch Lydia Bastianich on television.

“I was always interested in what was going on in the kitchen. Every single Sunday, we watched Lydia together as a family and that was my favorite thing to do during the week,” Silva offers. “I was always surrounded by food. It was the biggest part of my life.”

She recalls telling family members even back then that she wanted to own her own catering business when she grew up.

Now, Silva has brought her innate love of food, professional education and extensive training to 48

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her new position as the executive chef at Hilton Ocala. She plans to incorporate some changes in the offerings at Arthur’s Bistro and the Market Kitchen & Bar and “make everything new and exciting.

There are a lot of options in the area, and we want people to want to come here.” She describes her style of cooking as “upscale comfort.”

Silva, a native of Port Jefferson Station, New York, went right from high school to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, which is famed for its culinary arts programs. She graduated with associates, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. While in college she worked at an intimate fine dining restaurant with a “completely scratch kitchen.”

“It was really cool food. And it was a big eye opener,” she shares. “I love that I went to culinary school, but I think you learn the most in the actual world.”

Her real-world experience includes serving as an assistant foodservice director with Genesis HealthCare, and then culinary supervisor with The Westin Boston Waterfront and banquet chef, executive sous chef and executive chef with W Hotel and Residences in Boston.

“It was an experience going from wellness brand to luxury brand,” Silva notes. “But I wanted to grow my career.”

She learned of an opening for an executive sous chef at the Sheraton Boston and jumped at a chance to work with Executive Chef Joseph Florio.

“It was the biggest hotel in New England and the executive chef was really well known,” she explains. “He’s my mentor. He taught me so much.

He’s phenomenal.”

After about a year there, Silva saw the opening in Ocala and shares, “I was like, ‘Oh, my God. My husband wants to move to Florida. This is great.’

And then I came to visit and fell in love.”

Now that she and her husband, Rafael, along with their pets Bentley, a beagle, and cat Gato are settled in, she’s thinking ahead to the holidays. She says her favorite things to cook often depend on the time of year.

“In winter, my favorite thing to make is braised short ribs with a truffle mashed potato and herb roasted baby carrots. It’s so filling and warming and comforting,” she offers. “I like to take classics and twist them around. I’m not a tweezer kind of chef. It shouldn’t be one bite and you spend like $500.”

“At a time when competition for great dining, social gatherings and business meetings is heating up in Ocala, the Hilton Ocala has doubled down by hiring a true culinary professional to deliver fresh home cooking that is unmatched in the market,” offers General Manager Rich Larkin. “Chef Silva comes to us with 11 years of culinary experience after working for some of the finest hotels within the Boston area.

We are truly lucky to have her experience and skills on our team. From the day I met her, I could see and hear her passion about her love for food and how her style of cooking separates her from the crowd.”

Silva let us in on a “little secret” dish she plans to soon be serving—Pork Belly Cinnamon Rolls.

“It’s not what you think,” she says with a hearty laugh. “You can do it as an appetizer or entrée. I will use maple smoked brown sugar cinnamon in the middle of a pork belly and roll it up like a cinnamon roll. I’ll smoke it so it gets nice and caramelized and beautiful, then serve a white cheese sauce on top.

We’re going to be known for that dish for sure.”

Short Ribs

Ratatouille

Silva, 31, also plans to switch up offerings with the hotel’s Sunday brunch and weekly menus. For Thanksgiving, she plans to cider brine the turkeys to be served in the hotel’s eateries, so they are “nice and moist.” She highly recommends that home cooks always brine their turkeys as well.

“But just come here to eat,” she says invitingly.

“You don’t have to work or do dishes, and you can impress your guests.”

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“ I’M DOING THIS FOR ME, AND FOR THAT PERSON WHO BELIEVES IN ME.” If you’re thinking of finishing your high school diploma, you have more support than you realize. Find teachers and free adult education classes near you at FinishYourDiploma.org.

LIVING

Eating Healthy and the Holidays While these two things may not necessarily seem like a natural fit, board-certified holistic health coach Sharon Redman is sharing her healthy holiday eating tips to ensure your season is merry and light!

By Nick Steele

W

ith the holidays upon us and celebrations, laden with decadent food and drink, around every corner, many of us tend to make poor decisions and can end up overindulging. Studies show that the average American gains eight pounds during the period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. It makes sense, given that the holidays are meant for celebrating with family and friends. And food and celebrations are inexorably tied together. But Sharon Redman has some suggestions to help you navigate the season, explaining that some forethought and planning can help you ensure that your first resolution of the new year won’t be to shed those dreaded post-holiday pounds.

Redman explains that you can still enjoy your seasonal favorites—from juicy turkey to buttery mashed potatoes, savory stuffing, mouthwatering gravy and decadent desserts—as long as you do so in moderation and also adopt a healthy eating strategy. She also offers some insights and tips to help you navigate the season.

“It’s all about the right mindset,” she shares.

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“Eating healthy, fresh and natural foods isn’t depriving yourself. In truth, it is filling your body with the nourishment it needs. It’s an investment in your future.”

One easy change that Redman suggests, if you haven’t done it already, is to ditch the processed foods in favor of whole foods.

“Fresh, nutrient-packed fruits, vegetables and lean meats aren’t boring and tasteless,” she asserts.

“They are food the way it’s meant to be enjoyed, without all the processing, additives, added sugar, artificial flavors and preservatives crammed in.”

Another lifestyle change Redman suggests to her clients is preparing yourself for success by adopting meal planning on a weekly basis “Mindful eating is a crucial part of the healthy eating process,” she explains. “Life can often feel like a high-wire act, when you are juggling work, family and daily responsibilities. I encourage my clients to embrace meal prep as a way to achieve their health and wellness goals, simplify meal planning, manage stress and end their struggle with unwanted weight gain and low energy by eating mindfully.”

Fail To Plan, Plan To Fail

Start Strong, Stay Strong “Maintain steady energy levels by starting your morning with a protein-packed breakfast. Protein is essential for keeping you full throughout the day. It’s also a fantastic way to ward off those mid-morning energy crashes that can lead you to indulge in all those sugary holiday treats in the break room at work.

“Power up your mornings with a nutritious meal. Eggs are a classic protein powerhouse. Or try a Greek yogurt bowl, loaded with fresh fruit, nuts and a drizzle of honey—a delicious and nutritious option with a good dose of probiotics and vitamins.

“Plan your breakfasts for the upcoming week and choose recipes that are easy to prepare in advance or require minimal prep time.

Investing in your breakfast routine is investing in your long-term health and well-being.”

“By embracing meal prep, you make healthy eating easy. It’s also a great way to ensure you make good choices in between all those indulgent holiday meals, instead of just grabbing whatever unhealthy on-the-go option is easy or missing meals, which will set you up to make bad choices out of hunger.

“Create a weekly meal plan that focuses on nutritious, low-calorie foods that are high in protein, fiber and healthy fats. Prepare multiple servings of each main dish and sides, divide them into individual servings of each meal, store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator or freezer and you have stressfree, portion-controlled meals that are ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

Healthy, Stealthy & Wise “To ensure there will be something you can feel good about eating at your next gathering, take matters into your own hands. Offer to bring a bountiful salad and your signature dressing on the side (which will allow you to prepare something light and free of extra sugars and unwanted fat) or cook a healthy dish that is also a crowd pleaser.

There are so many great options, from a delicious caprese salad with vine-ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and a drizzle of balsamic to a medley of roasted veggies or green beans almondine as an alternative to those starchy sides.”.

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Graze Responsibly “With the inevitable array of tempting appetizers and grazing boards at holiday parties, it’s easy to overdo things. Don’t linger near these displays, as you can easily find yourself unconsciously overindulging. Place a few things on a plate, go mingle or sit down and savor the taste. Going back for seconds is always an option.

And choose healthier options like veggies and hard cheeses rather than decadent or high-calorie indulgences that can leave you feeling bloated and lead to digestive issues.”

Sipping Strategy

Sweet Fix “You can eat dessert and stay on track.

Limiting sugar and choosing smaller servings is actually better than avoiding all sugars. When you make certain foods off limits, it only makes them more desirable.

When possible, choose healthier options like fruit-forward treats.”

Many festive beverages contain a surprising amount of sugar.

While juice and sodas are known offenders, sweet wines and cocktail mixers can be just as bad. Alcohol is also high in calories and lowers inhibitions, which can lead to overindulgence. A good tip to avoid this is to consume a glass of water with lemon between drinks, which will help you feel full so you consume fewer calories, according to WebMD.

Savor The Taste & The Moment “The most important thing to keep in mind is that when we eat slowly and mindfully, we get more enjoyment out of our food and our bodies have more time to digest everything properly. After all, we want to savor every single moment of this joyous season.

“Another thing I suggest to avoid the pitfalls of mindlessly overeating and regretting it later is to indulge in a small snack before each event.

“A healthy snack beforehand will curb your appetite just enough so you won’t arrive famished and be inclined to overeat. Choose something high in protein that will keep you full longer, like nuts or some Greek yogurt because it will actually help protect your gut against any alcohol you drink.”

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Redman helps her clients cut sugar cravings, make healthier food choices and lose weight naturally. For more information visit, sharonredman.com

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LG Tone Bluetooth Neckband Wireless Headphones I don’t leave home without them.

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Being on Time I don’t do late!

You may miss something if you show up late.

All my life, I’ve always been on time. It’s very important to me.

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McDonald’s Sweet Tea It’s Southern sweet. I don’t even know why they make unsweet tea.

Monica Bryant

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Belts I am a belt fanatic. I wear one just about every day, and it doesn’t matter the brand.

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DAVID Sunflower Seeds My go-to snack.

SHARES THE THINGS SHE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT Monica has been chair of The Family Violence Prevention Workgroup, a local domestic violence taskforce, for the past 17 years. She is the co-founder of the local publication Town Talk Magazine. She says her “pride and joy” are her granddaughter Riyah and her daughters Danika and Kaitisha.

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A Newspaper I like to hold a print copy in my hand. When I travel, I always pick up a local paper.

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Mornings with Jesus Magazine Inspirational words help get my day started.

Wink, Wink

Meet Nancy Gordon, a veteran writer, editor, publisher and designer, whose fond memory from childhood led her to create a sweet new business called Pillowinks.

By Susan Smiley-Height | Portraits by Bruce Ackerman | Products images by Benjamin Clay 56

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here is an air of playfulness that surrounds Nancy Gordon. It comes out in her smile, the wave of her hands when she is speaking, the rising lilt of her voice. But there also is a sense of “she means business” about her. And that combination was just right for turning her creative spark into a product that melts hearts.

Gordon is the creator of Pillowinks, which stemmed from a special encounter she had as a child with her great-grandmother Lena, or GG Lena. Pillowinks are pillowcases with a “wink” embroidered on the top and they have a secret pocket that can be filled with gifts, wishes and more. Gordon’s introduction to the idea was in the form of a white handkerchief filled with candy.

“GG Lena was a very cool and inspiring lady.

She lived in New York City and sewed hats for the Ziegfeld Follies. She always wore black with a white lacy handkerchief pinned to her chest,” Gordon recalls. “When I was about 4, I was spending the night at my grandmother’s house when GG Lena was there for a visit. Just before bedtime, she called me over and whispered that there was a present for me next to my pillow. Then she held my shoulders, winked and smiled. I ran straight up to bed and found, wrapped in one of her lacy white handkerchiefs, a handful of Charms candies. My favorites! I felt soooooooo special.”

At that age, Gordon had not yet mastered the art of winking.

“The next morning at breakfast, I wanted to

thank GG Lena with a wink, but I could only blink,” she offers. “After too many blinks and everyone staring at me, she finally understood, reached over, gave my hand a big squeeze, smiled and winked.”

Gordon, who was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, says she was “quietly adventurous” as a child. Her formative years were a time of trial and error but brought her into the orbit of luminaries such as writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron; author, producer and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi; and graphic designer Milton Glaser, perhaps best known for his iconic I Love (Heart) New York logo.

“My young adult years were mostly about discovering who I was and how to fit into life in New York City,” Gordon shares. “With a college degree in International Relations of the Soviet Union, I had read a ton of great literature and was suited for nothing. Happily, my parents had met Esther Margolis, the VP at Bantam Books. She got me a job as the secretary to the art director.

All I did was file book covers. I stayed about eight months and, after watching the designers, decided to be a freelance graphic designer. My first freelance assignment involved creating doubleruled borders for photographs. I had never used a ruling pen. I called the Bantam design department and begged them to help me. They did the job for me. After I turned it in, I realized that faking it to this extent wasn’t going to work. However, after November ‘23

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Gordon took a year off to design fabric, wallpaper and rugs, which she sold to showrooms, but then went back to New York magazine for a short spell.

Among other endeavors, including, until 2019, publishing Zest magazine in Maine while living in Florida, Gordon got the inspiration for Pillowinks. She had moved to Ocala 16 years ago because she found northern winters “less and less tolerable” and wanted to live on a property that could also be the home to her beloved horse Whittaker.

It was one morning after riding Whittaker, when she was giving him a bath, that “into my brain popped the gift that my greatgrandmother Lena had given me. The memory made me smile all day.”

She says her pillowcase idea felt “right” and she hoped she could figure out how to make it work. It took about two years to bring her idea to fruition. She had to navigate design work, fabric choices, packaging, shipping and more, and says she got a lot of help along the way.

Gordon with Whittaker “I created Pillowinks to honor GG Lena,” she says, “and to give people the a number of uh-oh experiences (At one studio, opportunity to make their loved ones feel as I inadvertently cut a piece of original artwork special as she made me feel.” in half. I was mortified. They fired me.), I called The pillowcases are made of white organic Esther and she got me an interview with the art cotton with a “wink” embroidered in Sweetheart director at New York magazine.”

Pink, Cove Blue or Old Lace on the outside top Gordon was hired to paste up the classified cuff. The secret pocket is easily accessible on the ads in the weekly magazine. inside bottom cuff. For every six Pillowinks sold, “I had a migraine for the first three weeks Gordon donates one to Boston Children’s Hospital. and little cuts all over my hands from the razor Gordon finds comfort in tucking a lock blades, but what a place to cut your teeth … of Whittaker’s hair into her own Pillowink.

Ephron, Pileggi, Glaser…” she notes. “I stayed Testimonials on the Pillowinks website reveal for eight years and even ended up on the cover of a variety of “gifts” being secreted into the one April 1980 issue posing as the executive-type pillowcases, such as a rosary, tickets to the ballet, neurotic patient in a therapy session. Hilarious a small carving of a duck and a ring. fun and my week of fame!”

When two longtime friends spent a night 58

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together, one of them put a black and white childhood photo into the other’s Pillowink.

“We stayed awake most of the night crying, laughing and talking about high school and those days of growing up. We had the best time!” the recipient wrote.

One young woman posted a very special remembrance, recapping how her boyfriend texted her a photo of him winking. She says she checked her Pillowinks pocket and “there was a treasure hunt map leading me to our favorite beach. He was there, kneeling on a beach blanket, and asked me to marry him,” she shares.

“I love the testimonials,” says Gordon. “Such sweet stories and a lot of creativity. I love reading about the joys that Pillowinks brings people.”

Through the years, and especially in the two it took to bring Pillowinks to market, Gordon says one bit of advice has held true for her.

Gerald T. Counihan, the associate art director at Bantam Books, told her, “The saddest thing in life is getting to the end and saying, ‘I wish I had,’ because you could have.”

“At 23, his words stuck, and I’ve lived my life by them,” she shares. “It’s the reason I didn’t give up on Pillowinks.”

To learn more, go to pillowinks.com

LIVING

Party Like a Pioneer Entertaining on the Florida frontier varied based on the cultures of residents and historical periods of time.

By Scott Mitchell | Photos courtesy of Scott Mitchell

Morse family band at Ocali Country Days

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istory is often complex, nuanced and fluid. It is in our nature to remember things in ways that fit our idea of how the world should have looked. Entertaining on the southernmost frontier is no exception, but the reality is that Florida has always been diverse. In short, there has always been more than one way to throw a party.

Our ancestral Floridians entertained guests in ways that are still popular today and in ways that

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are no longer in fashion. It is important to note that the settlers in the Deep South came from many cultures and varied widely depending on the time period. Feasts around a campfire, formal parties reminiscent of the finest courts in Europe and simple community dances are but a few examples of how our forebearers entertained.

During the first Spanish Colonial Period (1513 to 1763), North Florida was home to mostly Native Americans, Spanish citizens, free African

LIVING

Americans and people with mixed heritage. How people entertained depended on their social status and where they lived. Officers at the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine attended formal gatherings in town while free Black residents living at the garrison of Fort Mose would have feasted with local Guale and Timucuan people on wild game and shellfish in the salt marsh north of the old city. These were simple gatherings by our standards and would have surely involved food, drink, music and, most likely, dancing.

By the time of the British Period (17631783), which also roughly coincides with the American Revolution, the state was divided into two regions—East Florida and West Florida.

British subjects and the few Spanish people who remained lived in coastal towns while Seminole and Creek Indian communities flourished inland.

Social gatherings were much the same as before and remained simple affairs.

Once the American colonists won their independence, Florida was transferred back to Spain for the Second Spanish Period (17831821). Life was hard and hosting family and friends would have offered a welcome reprieve from daily struggles. Music and food would have been heavily influenced by Spanish and perhaps even Moorish cultures, with a hint of influences from the people of the British Isles, Native Americans, Minorcans and Africans, depending on your location and crowd. In the absence of modern media, storytelling would have been a cherished entertaining skill.

The Territorial Period (1821-1845) lasted up until statehood, when Florida was admitted to the United States. The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 encouraged people to settle in Florida with the offer of free land. Many with English, Scottish and Irish heritage moved south to carve out homesteads. By this time, many of the Spanish inhabitants had left and Seminole culture was under attack from the U.S. government.

The citizenry of the

peninsula changed dramatically and the pioneers we are familiar with today emerged and persisted well into the early to mid-1900s. Many of our earliest local families moved to Marion County during this time.

Entertaining during this period would have included both family and community gatherings for religious holidays, weddings, harvests, cane boils and special occasions such as birthdays.

Offering large meals, playing music, recounting stories, reciting poetry and playing games were popular. Horse races, gambling and traveling fairs may have also been available but were not common. Communal square dances and contra dances would have allowed for communities to come together and, aside from family connections and church, afforded young couples an opportunity to meet and court.

As we enter this holiday season and begin to plan our family parties, remember our diverse heritage and consider adopting a custom from the past for your own gathering. Tell an entertaining tale, plan a game or organize a family dance.

You may be surprised by the fun you have as you party like a pioneer!

Scott Mitchell is a field archaeologist, scientific illustrator and director of the Silver River Museum & Environmental Education Center, located at 1445 NE 58th Ave., Ocala, inside Silver River State Park. To get a glimpse of pioneer life in Marion County, visit the annual Ocali Country Days festival at the museum on November 11th and 12th.

To learn more, go to silverrivermuseum.com

LIVING

The Rise of the Machines When usually benign appliances think for themselves, it can change your life.

By Dave Schlenker | Illustration by David Vallejo I was in that wonderful window when the restlessness melts and thoughts untangle, that state of satin when you feel yourself drifting.

The audible clatter—the pings and clangs of the American Dream—become mere …

BEEEEEEEEEEP. Chung chung chung.

Wait. What? The fog clears, and your mind jerks to conclusions. Robbers? Dog? Is another appliance revolting?

The sound was Tate, our robot-vacuum cleaner.

At 1am, he was diligently chung-chunging toward the couch.

Thing is, Tate is turned off at night. It is a solid in our home. The sky is blue. The sun is hot. Tate is off at night.

But there he was, cruising for dust bunnies in the dark.

I typically do not blame rogue appliances on the supernatural but, days before, I unplugged the coffeemaker, walked away and stopped as the coffeemaker snored and wheezed. Unplugged.

There was a soulful loneliness in its labored moaning.

Creepy. Not going to lie.

Days before that, I turned off the water to a broken toilet, letting the tank empty until someone smarter than me could fix it. The tank emptied, and I tightened the valve one more time. Fifteen minutes later, I hear dripping.

I looked at the water valve feeding the tank.

Off. Tight. Closed for business.

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Still, the water rose. I emptied the tank, watched as the water did not return, turned around to break something else and then … drip, drip.

Are the machines rising up and unionizing?

These days, that makes as much sense as anything.

As I write this, Tate is quietly at my feet. He is off and behaving, likely tired after his midnight joyride. The coffeemaker finished my second cup and is resting without the moans of demons.

I am an easy-going schlub. I don’t stress and will only call a repair person or exorcist if my wife tires of the appliances’ free will. Yet I also recognize our dependence on stuff. I do not mind a groaning coffeemaker as long as it still chokes out coffee.

More perspective: I volunteered recently for a clean-up day in New Port Richey, a riverside town that suffered significant flooding during Hurricane Idalia. In searching for little chunks of trash, we walked by rows of big chunks—furniture, drywall, appliances. It was heartbreaking except for the neighbors out and about and happy, waving to volunteers with trash bags.

It’s all just stuff. Replaceable. Or not.

So let the coffeemaker wheeze and the vacuum roam. They are still doing their jobs. Haunted or not, our stuff is just stuff. Sometimes things work.

Sometimes they don’t.

It’s a simple revelation that leaves time to call the plumber because, simple revelations or not, we still need a working toilet.

LIVING

Fall Gardening Marion County’s usually pleasant late fall makes for a nice time to work outside and prep for the coming winter.

By Belea T. Keeney Illustration by Jordan Shapot

U

nlike our neighbors to the North, who get excited about gardening in April and start to wind down in October, our unique ecosystem lets North Floridians do nearly the opposite. We tend to let things kinda go and grow out there from May to October, and then the weather cools down and makes being outside more pleasant. The humidity fades, cool Arctic air starts coming down in waves and the sun is less intense. Fall in Florida is a great time to work in the yard and get ready for our actual (really short) winter.

Lynn Lewis, a sales associate at The Yard Stop in Ocala, has more than 30 years of experience in gardening and landscaping. If you want some flowers and color now, there are annuals available for putting in the ground and in containers to add some cheer as the days grow shorter and grayer.

“Petunias, snapdragons and marigolds will last through

the winter,” Lewis advises. “And dusty miller.”

Dusty miller is a silvery-gray plant that resembles coral reefs; it’s sold as an annual throughout the country, but it’s actually a perennial that likes full sun. It can tolerate a light frost but will die if not protected in a hard freeze.

Its gray and white tones really contrast nicely in a garden bed or pot mixed with other bright colors.

Lewis also recommends camellias for folks in this area. In winter, “Camellias are the only thing that will bloom,” she offers “They stay a nice, bushy green. And they start blooming in December.”

Some camellia varieties continue blooming through March, and they do well in light frosts. In a hard freeze, you might lose some flowers and buds, but a wellestablished shrub will survive just fine.

Poinsettias and chrysanthemums are also fall and winter favorites.

Both can tolerate colder temperatures and look seasonal and festive. Poinsettias have been hybridized to create white,

LIVING

red and pink varieties, and mums come in autumn colors such as yellow, gold, orange and white.

For long-term landscape changes, November through March is a great time to do installations.

Plants aren’t actively growing this time of year as they edge into dormancy with the shorter days and cooler temperatures. The energy of the plant is reduced, and you won’t have the leaf drop and stress from the sun that can damage plants that are moved in the summer.

“If you’re going to plant a tree,” Lewis says, “it’s good to plant it from now until March.

Something like a bottlebrush tree will actually bloom in the wintertime.”

But hold off with the pruning shears.

“Don’t do any fertilizing right now, don’t do any trimming back until the end of March,” Lewis urges. “We always get one last frost,” usually in late March, which can damage new growth.

Sales associate Tara Pieri suggests doing some yard prep in November and December.

“You can re-mulch,” she says, which helps protect the roots of plants from temperature extremes and, of course, perks up the landscape and looks nicer. She also recommends thinking about being ready for freezes and frosts with plant covers. “There’s a frost cloth actually made for plants,” she adds.

A frost cloth will hold the humidity and heat inside on nights when the temps really dip, and

Dusty miller

Lewis cautions folks using covers to wait until at least 9am to remove them.

“You always want to wait until about 9 in the morning, because from 7 o’clock to 9, it’s still the coldest air,” she says. “You can also put in a little spotlight under the cloth that will also save your plants.”

Some chores to do while you’re working should include clean-up and disposal of debris, diseased plants and weeds. It’s also a good time to divide and replant any perennials going dormant that you want to propagate—such as flax, daylilies, liriopes and hostas. Compost any clean, non-diseased plant material, and then rake up any fallen leaves and pine needles to add to your garden beds.

Spending a day doing some minor clean-up, mulching and replanting will pay off for you this winter with appealing flowers in cheerful colors, a tidied-up appearance and the benefits of improving your soil and landscape.

A native Floridian and lifelong gardener, Belea spends her time off fostering cats and collecting caladiums. You can send gardening questions or column suggestions to her at belea@magnoliamediaco.com

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