DAYTONA WEST
Observer Set in stone
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VOLUME 3, NO. 2
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• OCTOBER 2021
Mary McLeod Bethune’s statue unveiled in Daytona Beach OrmondBeachObserver.com
A good
North Peninsula State park could get new name
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JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The Volusia County Council unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday, Oct. 5, to support changing the name of North Peninsula State Park to honor a “true champion of conservation,” as described in a letter to the Florida Park Service. The request to rename the park to the “Reid B. Hughes State Park” was brought forward by former County Councilwoman Pat Northey and Clay Henderson, the executive director of Stetson University’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience. Hughes, a local businessman and longtime supporter of environmental efforts, died on July 3. Henderson wrote a letter to Eric Draper, the director of the Florida Park Service, detailing the contributions Hughes made over his lifetime to the three local state parks: Tomoka State Park, Bulow Creek State Park, and North Peninsula State Park, referred in the letter collectively as the “Tomoka Geo-Park.” Hughes became involved in conservation while working with Walter Boardman in the late 1970s as they worked to limit the Halifax Plantation development. Over the years, their advocacy led to the preservation of almost 6,000 acres for what would become the three state parks.
Ormond Beach Police hold retirement ceremony for K-9 Kane JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
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t 5:26 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, Ormond Beach Police K-9 Kane’s call sign, 10-K92, was said in farewell once over the radio. After eight years of serving on the police force and over 673 deployments, the 9-year-old German shepherd’s contributions to the department were celebrated in a retirement ceremony attended by fellow officers, law enforcement officials from other agencies, and members of the Lt. Michelle Willis showers Kane with love.
Photos by Jarleene Almenas
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Noah’s superpower
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Local boy with autism was among performers at the Ormond Beach Live music festival
Photo courtesy of Charles Griffin
Noah Arazashvili performs with his father, Joseph Arazashvili, during the third-annual Ormond Beach Live Original Music and Art Festival at Rockefeller Gardens on Saturday, Sept. 25.
JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Where words fail, music speaks. The quote by Hans Christian Andersen rings true for 12-yearold Noah Arazashvili, of Daytona Beach, who performed his first 40-minute piano concert at The Casements during the thirdannual Ormond Beach Live Original Music and Art Festival on Saturday, Sept. 25. Noah began his performance with a 15-minute set on the side main stage at Rockefeller Gardens, and for his mother, Rachel Arazashvili, it marked a proud moment for not just Noah, but the whole autism community. “We’re raising him up to recognize his strengths and not focus on his weaknesses, and, as an advocate for autism, that’s what
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I encourage parents to do,” said Arazashvili, who is the executive director of Kidds are First, an Ormond Beach-based nonprofit. Noah, who goes by Noah A-Z on stage, began playing piano when he was 3, shortly after being diagnosed with autism. Though his speech was delayed, he found a way to communicate with his parents through the pre-programmed songs on his keyboard. Eventually, he learned to play the songs himself by memorizing the sequence of the keys that lit up as the songs played. His mother said it was his superpower. “He’d get on the keyboard and it was just like this light went on,” Arazashvili said. “It was his world and his element, and he would just play these songs.”