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VOLUME 4, NO. 8

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Scratch local candidates, EPAC says Conklin, Orndorff and Johnson aren’t right for Flagler Schools superintendent, ESE board says. PAGE 2

Superchargers from Tesla Palm Coast Wawa partners with Tesla PAGE 7 INSIDE HOMELESS COUNT Point-in-time count surveys Flagler’s homeless for HUD funding. PAGE 4-5

TEA TIME

Flagler Tea Company brings unique flavor to Flagler Beach PAGE 10

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A1A LEADERS

Friends of A1A hold annual meeting, honor Bill McClure PAGE 11

Businesses of the year

Flagler Chamber honored local businesses in a variety of categories and installed its 2020 board. See www.palmcoastobserver.com for photos and coverage.

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Johnny Lulgjuraj, Robbin Wilson and Anna Romanina. Lulgjuraj, owner-operator of Flagler Beach-based Oceanside Beach Bar and Grill, which won the Hospitality and Tourism Business of the Year.

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Songwriters unite Anthony Smith, famous for writing George Strait songs, to return for Palm Coast Songwriters Festival. The Culinary II class is led by teacher Lisa Kittrell.

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PAGE 9

HAMMOCK OBSERVER

FEBRUARY 2020

ESE community opposes all local choices for superintendent EPAC: Conklin, Orndorff, Johnson are all problematic. BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The Community Advisory Panel members have been “negligent in their responsibilities” to vet candidates under consideration to be the next Flagler Schools superintendent, overlooking flaws in popular local candidates, according to a contrary report made by EPAC, the Exceptional Student Education Parent Advisory Council. The report says EPAC members, unlike CAP members, did extensive research beyond the candidates’ resumes and applications. EPAC recommends that three of CAP’s top choices — Vernon Orndorff, Colleen Conklin and Earl Johnson — should be eliminated from consideration. EPAC accuses CAP members of favoring local candidates “based on name familiarity or personal relationship.” ORNDORFF’S TRACK RECORD

Orndorff, a former administrator in Flagler Schools who is now superintendent of a 270-student school district in Texas called Milford ISD, was not favored by EPAC. (Flagler Schools has about 12,000 students and a $100 million budget.) His Texas district has fallen from an acceptable state rating to a failing state rating “under his leadership,” EPAC’s research found. To his credit, Orndorff received

3 CANDIDATES IN COMMON EPAC supports three candidates who were also finalists from the School Boardappointed CAP: n Cathy Mittelstadt, a Palm Coast resident and deputy superintendent in St. Johns County; n Janet Womack, an educational consultant in Texas and former superintendent of a district in Alabama; n Ron Wagner, a Minneapolis school district associate superintendent. EPAC also supported three candidates who were not among CAP’s finalists: Wayne Alexander, Anthony Pack and Raymond Bryant.

File photo

a recommendation from his predecessor at Milford ISD, Don Clingenpeel, who praised Orndorff’s “relentless work ethic” and called him a “visionary leader.” But EPAC feels that while he was at Flagler Schools, interests of ESE were “poorly managed”; Orndorff’s EPAC questionnaire responses were mostly “fluff”; and EPAC generally prefers a candidate without Flagler “relationships and loyalties.” At its most recent meeting, CAP members gave Orndorff 14 votes, tied for most with Cathy Mittelstadt (see box above).

Stephen Furnari, chairperson of the ESE Parent Advisory Committee, emailed the report to the School Board and other district leaders and stakeholders. “The selection of the next superintendent will shape the lives of a generation of Flagler students, and it will have a meaningful impact on our community’s future,” Furnari wrote in the email. “ … The EPAC Board hopes that you give this report serious consideration as you embark on this important decision.”

PERPLEXED BY CONKLIN

Conklin, who has been a Flagler County School Board member for 20 years, should be disqualified because of her lack of districtlevel experience, EPAC says. EPAC members were “perplexed” by Conklin’s decision to apply for superintendent may be indicative of a tendency to act with good intentions but without considering unintended consequences.

She didn’t respond to EPAC’s questionnaire, which disqualified her from EPAC’s support. In her letter of application, Conklin presented her experience in this light: “After 29 years of experience in K-20 education, nonprofit management, elected office, and higher education, I believe that I have a deep understanding of what the customers of education want and deserve.” She is currently executive director of the Gaetz Aerospace Institute at ERAU, partnering with 156 schools in 44 school districts. ISSUES WITH JOHNSON

Johnson, Flagler Schools’ executive director of leadership development, was either complicit with or negligent of the sexual harassment complaints against former Belle Terre Principal Dr. Terence Culver, EPAC found. (Culver retired while under investigation last year.) Johnson should therefore be disqualified from consideration for the superintendent position, EPAC says. “Members of EPAC expressed that, through direct dealings with Johnson, they believed that he was adept at making written complaints from parents or staff disappear for the benefit of the district, but avoided resolving the difficult, systemic issues that underlie those very problems,” the report states. Stephen Furnari, chairperson of EPAC, told the Palm Coast Observer, “There is a huge portion of staff that do not trust him.” “To say Johnson is not aware

that these things are going on, or that he allowed these things to happen without removing Culver — it creates problems with him. Is that who you want as your district leader?” Johnson spoke with the Palm Coast Observer on Feb. 18 to point out that he was not appointed to his district responsibilities until 2017, and since then he has not been informed of complaints or been involved in the investigation of Culver. On the contrary, Johnson said he has been responsive to complaints that he has received in general. One informal complaint from a staff member occurred on Aug. 29, and he and the HR director drove to the school to speak with the staff member and helped to resolve the concern the following day. Of the accusations of distrust made in the EPAC report, Johnson said, “I have never heard of any such thing. My reputation speaks for itself. When I was principal at Matanzas, I had a good reputation, not only with the faculty and staff but with students. So I’m not sure what he [Furnari] is speaking of. ... The accusations that have been written about me are not true at all.” In his application to the district, Johnson touted his track record: He helped take Volusia’s Turie T. Small Elementary School from a D to a B in one year as a principal; he increased dual enrollment by 61% as a Matanzas High School principal; and has helped increase graduation rate of students with disabilities from 56% to 76% in his current role with the district.

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YOUR VETERANS JONATHAN SIMMONS NEWS EDITOR

Advisory Council amends bylaws The Veterans Advisory Council voted during its Feb. 3 meeting to amend its bylaws such that its members, who are on two-yearterms, do not have to submit an annual letter from their service organization identifying them as the organization’s representative. Moving forward, they will only need to submit such a letter at the beginning of each two-year term. The council also amended the wording of its bylaws to reflect that only actual representatives of veterans service organizations can cast votes. The old wording stated that “each member attending” should vote, but the new wording will instead state that “each organization’s representative, or alternate,”can vote, to clarify that each service organization gets only one vote on the council, even if they have more than one member in attendance.

Service organizations plan for ceremonies CASINO NIGHT AT THE VFW DAV Chapter 86 will host its second Vietnam Veterans Casino Night event at 6:30 March 27 at VFW Post 8696.

Advance tickets are on sale for $45, and the cutoff for the advance price ends two weeks before the event. Tickets will be $50 at the door. Golden Corral will provide food. The VFW is hoping for 150 to 200 people. There will be raffles and door prizes. For tickets, call Ernie Morris at 904-864-7404 or Freddie Vazques at 386-439-2122.

VETERAN SPOTLIGHT

FEBRUARY 2020

KNOW A VETERAN? The Palm Coast Observer is working on a series of portraits of local veterans. Ideally, we’d like to also publish a photo of the veteran when he or she was in the service. Send suggestions to editor@ palmcoastobserver.com.

ROBERT J. BECK MILITARY SERVICE HONOR CORD CEREMONY Veterans service organizations are preparing for the Robert J. Beck Military Service Honor Cord Ceremony for graduating high school seniors who have enlisted in the military. This will be the ceremony’s third year. It will be held at 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 at VFW Post 8696. “I’ve been to two of these. If you ... take a couple hours and go to this, and you are there to see what happens and see these young people accept these cords and go through this ceremony, you will have a swelling pride in your heart you may not have had in a long time,” said Dan Waldron, council representative for the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. “When you see these young people getting out of high school embarking on perhaps a career in the military — it brings so much pride to me I don’t know how it doesn’t explode my heart. I encourage you all to attend it. It’s marvelous.”

Photo by Paola Rodriguez

VSO David Lydon returns from deployment Flagler County Veterans Service Officer David Lydon has returned to Flagler County after deployment in the Middle East. Lydon, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve, was based out of Qatar and traveled to multiple other countries in the

region. He departed in July and returned to Flagler County in January, and was back for his first Veterans Advisory Council meeting after his absence during the council’s Feb. 3 meeting.

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Making the homeless count Point-in-time count surveys Flagler’s homeless for HUD funding Lisa Cancel, Jacki Lausier, Caryn Prather and DeAnna Flaherty heading toward a homeless man's camp.

JOEY PELLEGRINO STAFF WRITER

lagler County’s annual point-in-time count for 2020, the 24-hour period designated by the federal government for local agencies to count their nearby homeless populations, took place from noon Jan. 23 to noon Jan. 24. The four teams met in the early afternoon at the Flagler County Community Services office at 1000 Belle Terre Blvd. in Palm Coast to coordinate their actions for the day. An entire table was taken up by the “blessing bags”

made by the men’s club of St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church and the Flagler branch of the Boys and Girls Club. Each waterproof bag contained necessities such as cotton socks, chapstick, deodorant, washcloths, first aid kits, updated 211 cards listing places where you can get your laundry done, get a hot meal. By 3 p.m. these and supplies for providing flu and hepatitis A vaccinations had been loaded into the Flagler County Fire Rescue vehicle that community paramedic Caryn Prather would use to drive Team 3, of which she was the leader, around to its stops.

Her other team members were DeAnna OFlaherty, SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery processor for Flagler Cares; Lisa Cancel, Serving Singles, Veterans and Families navigator for Changing Homelessness Inc; and Jacki Lausier, a volunteer. THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

“We’re sort of all over the place this time,” Prather said. The stops were divided between the teams of four volunteers (even those with county jobs had to volunteer for PIT count duty), so much of the afternoon would be dedicated to

Photo by Joey Pellegrino

“It’s tough living in the shadows.” JANET NICKELS, Human Services Program Manager

traveling between encampments. When a team encountered someone homeless, one of two surveys could be used: a faceto-face survey, if the person was willing to talk, or an observation survey if they were not, or if it was a person one spotted while driving through traffic. As most of the counters had pre-existing knowledge of and relationships with many homeless members of the community, stops could be made besides the eight included on the map. The first stop by a field revealed a solitary tent blue tent behind the tall grass, along with chairs and

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“I’ve been a case worker for about 40 years. I like helping people.” LISA CANCEL, Changing Homelessness, Inc.

a legless glass table. The team members said the inhabitant was a 42-year-old Iraq War veteran. Though he was not there, a man named Mark Gore, riding by on his bicycle, stopped to say he had been helping the man. “I saw him, and my heart just went out to him,” Gore said. He had given him a razor, a mattress and some blankets, and gave Prather his number to pass along to the man. The veteran still had his phone, and texted her later — he had found some friends to stay with. “He says, ‘It’s so weird to have a shower,’” Prather said. PEOPLE DISAPPEAR

The next stop, not far from the first, found a man living out of

a truck with his girlfriend in a field of tall grass. The woman did not come out to talk to the surveyors. OFlaherty filled out the man’s survey, learning his age (55), history (a ward of the state since he was 5) and current situation (arrived recently from New Hampshire, where he had worked three different jobs), among other questions, before Prather gave him a hep A shot and a Chik-fil-A gift card for talking to them. “It’s tough living in the shadows,” Janet Nickels, Flagler County Human Services Program Manager, had said earlier that day. Another couple was on a street corner by a shopping center. The woman, before she received a flu shot, said she was left without a house or job after father’s suicide in October. She had lived with and worked for him. The volunteers said such stories are common. “It’s strange,” Cancel said after they had driven in a circuit around that area. “Last time, we found a whole bunch of people here.” But none of the team was necessarily surprised. They all had stories of people who have disappeared.

shelters and churches would serve as sites for free dinner that night and for free breakfast the following morning, where volunteers would ask homeless attendees if they had already been counted to help round out the PIT efforts. “Doesn’t really surprise me,” Prather said of the small number counted by Team 3. A lot of people, she said, do not want to be seen. Others had ideas for improving the process next year. “I wish it was a longer period of time,” Lausier said. “I wish there was more technology involved,” OFlaherty said. She suggested a blast text to homeless folks with phones. She also had advice for others who want to help those in their life who may be struggling with housing, with money, with treatment. “Just take one more step,” OFlaherty said, “whatever you think the next step is. Just care.”

USE OF THE PIT COUNT

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.” Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

The PIT count is not a definitive count of every homeless person in a region. It is an approximation combined with counts of people in rehab centers and of incarcerated people to determine level of funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development; a snapshot of that specific “point in time.” Describing each homeless person in the surveys and recording their phone numbers (if they have them) is a way to weed out duplicates in the count.

Email Joey Pellegrino at joey@ palmcoastobserver.com.

JUST CARE

The next man they found, sitting outside a coffee shop, did not feel like talking. Two more men were spotted through traffic, toting their belongings in carts. One had a dog. “Middle-aged white men are thick on the ground,” OFlaherty said of the homeless demographics they had observed in the past. The count wound down around 6:30 p.m. after several stops that revealed only abandoned camps. Looking for people in the dark is never an ideal approach. Some

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FEBRUARY 2020

POSITIVE POSSIBILITIES Matanzas High School shows off its flagship programs PAOLA RODRIGUEZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

n a cold Wednesday morning, Jan. 22, Matanzas High School staff guided visiting community members on a tour of the school’s classrooms-tocareers flagship programs. The school has established flagship career education programs based on fields identified as “targeted industries” in Flagler County by the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity, and those that confer skills that the U.S. Department of Labor and local organizations such as Career Source say are desired by employers. Matanzas High School offers four flagship programs: Finance and Corporate Services, Culinary Arts, Construction Tech, and Law & Justice. Each offers its students practical skills and an opportunity to pursue certification at no cost. “This is all possible thanks to the different sources, donations from individuals, organizations and local businesses that help put the pieces together to offer the students opportunities to have a career,” said Joe Rizzo, executive director of the Flagler Education Foundation. Flagler Schools is encouraging the community to participate in the district’s mentoring program and serve as career coaches. “You will be paired with a student according to careers and experience,” said Shelley Wheeler, of the Flagler County Education Foundation. “It is not a huge time commitment and makes a big difference in their lives.”

Photos by Paola Rodriguez

Cristina Mete prepares a snickerdoodle mix.

Matanzas High School offers four flagship programs: Finance and Corporate Services, Culinary Arts, Construction Tech, and Law & Justice.

Anthony Andrade, Gabriel Gonzalez and Saniya Lugo Navas show off the Construction Tech flagship’s latest project — the guard house.

Eric Greene works in the school’s on-campus VyStar office, staffed by Finance and Corporate Services flagship students.

Anessa Harrison, Robert E. Gearin III and Alexander Feliciano-Morales work on a case study in the Forensic Science II class led by teacher Gloria Barton.

HAMMOCK OBSERVER

FEBRUARY 2020

Steele and Smith Photo by Brian McMillan

Wawa Project Superintendent Jacob Baer lives in Palm Coast and was happy to be working on the city’s first Wawa. “This is the first time in five years that I’ve worked here locally,” he said.

Palm Coast Wawa to open in May, with Tesla Superchargers to follow This will be the first layout of its kind, according to the project superintendent. BRIAN MCMILLAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The Wawa under construction at Bulldog Drive and State Road 100 should be open in May, and Tesla is in talks to have eight Superchargers for electric vehicles on the site. The Superchargers may not be available in time for the opening, according to Project Superintendent Jacob Baer, who added that the Wawa layout would be the first of its kind in the company. Tesla currently has more than 1,800 Supercharger stations worldwide, featuring almost 16,000 Superchargers, and is adding more this year, including more in the Arctic Circle. (The map on Tesla’s website does not show one planned on Bulldog Drive; it does show one planned for 2020 on Palm Harbor Parkway. An email to Tesla’s press office did not yield an immediate reply for clarification.) FUTURE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The Palm Coast City Council discussed in December a proposal from Florida Power and Light to add electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall. Anuj Chokshi, a project manager for FPL, told the City Council that FPL is expecting that by 2025, as many as 25% of all cars sold will be electric. City Council member Nick Klufas said in that December meeting that the city did need more electric vehicle charging stations, but he was concerned that FPL’s proposed chargers were not high-speed chargers. Also, FPL’s

FPC’S NEIGHBOR The Wawa on Bulldog Drive is next to Flagler Palm Coast High School. Wawa’s project coordinator, Jacob Baer, a Palm Coast resident, said the location would be convenient for students, and it will be well lit and secure. Of course, he said, “It could make it a bit of a hiccup for traffic in the mornings.”

deal would have required the city of Palm Coast to pay for the electricity that would charge the cars. The city did not take a vote on the FPL proposal. “I wasn’t comfortable compromising our facilities just to have FPL be our partner,” Klufas said in a Jan. 31 interview with the Palm Coast Observer. He said FPL’s plan would have installed chargers that could provide about 8 miles per hour of charging. Instead, without the city’s involvement or obligation, an even better setup will soon be available at Wawa, just down the road from City Hall: Tesla’s chargers will provide 1,000 miles per hour of charging, and the city won’t be subsidizing the electricity. Klufas said the Tesla deal is also smart for Wawa. “This is going to be future of automotive more quickly than people understand,” he said. “The price for electric will be less than combustible engines in the next 18-24 months. … By 2025, it won’t make any sense to buy a gasoline car.” The Superchargers will draw people off I-95 en route to Jacksonville or Orlando, Klufas predicts, because electric-vehicle drivers can stop for 10 minutes and have enough battery power to drive the rest of their journey. Low-powered chargers would not attract visitors.

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Growing leaders

Pirates softball hoping to build off successful 2019 season

RAY BOONE SPORTS EDITOR

Twenty-one wins, a season sweep of their crosstown rival, an appearance in the regional tournament and the first district championship in program history. The 2019 season was a remarkable one for Matanzas High School’s softball team. 2019 was the team’s first being coached by Pirates head coach Sabrina Manhart, the former longtime softball coach at nearby Daytona State College. There’s no lack of excitement entering the 2020 season, too, which begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, as the Pirates take on Taylor at Taylor High School. However, Manhart said the team is looking for its next group of leaders. The Pirates had five seniors last season, three of whom were varsity starters, including then-team captain Alyssia Paiz. “The energy that came from those seniors and their heart for this program was just something that bled through them,” Manhart said. “It’s like teaching a whole new crowd what this is all about. It’s exciting, for sure, but it’s definitely a different experience.” She added: “We’re trying to grow our new leaders, and there’s

Matanzas' Emma Wood throws a pitch during the Pirates' preseason game.

Photo by Ray Boone

Matanzas' Isabella Santiago

been no lack of effort in that area. It’s been fun to see some of the girls come out of their shells a little bit.” Alyssa Payne, Isabella Santiago and Lovie Haley have all stepped up. In addition, the Pirates return sophomore Emma Wood in the circle, who gained valuable experience as the starting pitcher last season. “I know that everybody has my back no matter what I do,” Wood said. “I know they’re going to be behind me to field everything.” To match, or exceed, the success they saw last season, the Pirates — who will feature an entirely new outfield — know they need to keep pushing.

The Pirates' Teyah Schermerhorn gets ready to hit during their preseason game against Fletcher.

“We want to make sure we keep working hard and staying on top of everything,” Payne said. “We’re all helping each other and making sure we’re staying on top of things. Email Ray Boone at ray@palmcoastobserver.com.

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Q: How did you decide songwriting was your vocation? A: I always wanted to be a performer, first and foremost, but I never separated the two. I was a singer-songwriter, like most of my heroes: The Beatles, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, even Tom T. Hall. But I also wanted to be a performer, like Steven Tyler. When I moved to Nashville, the first success I had was as a writer, because I didn’t really have the type of personality where I was going knocking on doors. I went out and started playing these open mics, and before I knew it, I was talking to five or six different publishers who wanted to sign me to a writing deal. Signing with a publisher is not a record deal. Their interest is in exploiting your song for revenue. Q: Was that disappointing? And what did it lead to? A: It took me back because I did come to town to get a record deal. These publishing deals didn’t pay hardly anything unless you’re already a hit songwriter. But I signed with Almo Irving —they owned the Beach

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Anthony Smith’s biggest hit was “Run,” performed by George Strait, which reached No. 1 on some charts. “I was writing in a different style than anybody at the time,” Smith recalled. “It kind of propelled the industry to a different direction than the ’90s sound. It was progressive on the melody, with rustic and picturesque lyrics, so it really stretched him stylistically.” Smith said Strait called him to thank him for “Run.” Then Strait asked him to write a song that would tell fans something about his life. Strait famously didn’t do talk shows or interviews. But, Strait said, “My fans deserve to know a little about me,” Smith recalled. “They think I’m a cowboy. They don’t know I love to ride motorcycles.” That led to the 2003 hit, “Cowboys Like Us,” which is about “steel horses with wheels.” Announcing the All New

Boys catalog and a lot of iconic artists —and it just blew up. My first year, I got like 40 cuts, which was really unprecedented. So with all the success of these cuts and the hits that were coming out of it, the record labels were hearing me on my demos, and before I knew it, all the record labels were trying to sign me. I was in this amazing position: hit songwriter, everyone wanted my songs, everyone wanted to sign me. Q: You signed with Mercury, which you called a mistake because of the lack of promotion. But you fulfilled your dream of making a record. A: I had three Billboard top 40s, which was great, because that allowed me to tour still. I loved it. I felt like, “I made it as an artist.” Q: For people who have never been to a songwriters festival, what is something that might surprise them if they attend? A: For people who’ve never been, many will walk away thinking that’s the best concert they’ve ever been to. You’re sitting down, hearing the stories behind the songs, how they got recorded, why they got recorded, what inspired the song, and you’re getting to hear literally the best songwriters in the world. I feel very honored to be on the same stage with these guys. This year, it’s going to be a significant jump productionwise. I love being part of watching this thing grow. Garry Lubi is largely responsible for that, and I’ve been helping him, along with Thom Shepherd, and getting the right talent down there. Garry’s just great. I love his passion.

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Q: What is the feeling like when you perform your song versus when you hear the song performed by a star? A: When you’re having your song played all over the world, it’s very gratifying to have a superstar sing your song. The first time you hear your song on the radio and it becomes a hit, it’s really an amazing feeling. If you’re an artist, and you truly have that thing inside you that you want to perform, it’s great to play it yourself, particularly after it’s been a hit by someone else because the audience members recognize the song, and they love hearing your interpretation of it, which is usually different.

FEBRUARY 2020

WATER DAMAGE? MOLD?

Anthony Smith, famous for writing George Strait songs, to return for Palm Coast Songwriters Festival.

songwriter whose songs were popularized by stars including George Strait and Tim McGraw made a stop Feb. 1 at Dunkin’ Donuts in Palm Coast, to strum up interest in the next Palm Coast Songwriters Festival. Tennessee native Anthony Smith was a child prodigy on the guitar who eventually moved to Nashville to become a performer. He was discovered by producers who hired him to write songs for other stars, instead. He was hoping to get at least one song picked up in the first year, so that his contract would be renewed. He got 40. That success got him the record deal he had dreamed of. Although his recording career was short, he made a name in the industry writing songs, including George Strait’s hits “Run” and Tim McGraw’s “Kristofferson.” Smith will join more than two dozen others at the next Palm Coast Songwriters Festival, scheduled for May 1-3, at the Daytona State Amphitheater. The artists will sing and share the stories behind their hit songs. Visit palmcoastsongwritersfestival. com for more information. Smith spoke recently with the Palm Coast Observer about the art, the business and the upcoming event.

HAMMOCK OBSERVER

FEBRUARY 2020

ing it, Kelly’s face conveyed the flavor in a manner that a verbal description would have cheapened.

JOEY PELLEGRINO STAFF WRITER

TIME FOR

TEA

Flagler Tea Company brings unique flavor to Flagler Beach

ou can get a cup of coffee nearly anywhere in America. But quality tea, a beverage enjoyed the world over, with a history stretching back over a millennium further, is harder to come by. This was the observation that drove Palm Coast residents Don and Jackie Buckingham to establish Flagler Tea Company. The Flagler Beach tea bar, located at 208B S. Central Ave., opened in June 2019 and has established a wide-ranging variety of teas for its menu, from greens to blacks to herbals and more, raw and latte, with multiple combinations thereof. “We have a spreadsheet,” Jackie Buckingham said, to keep track of what’s selling best, which ingredients and types of tea mix together well, where each tea comes from. The difference between their tea bar and a tea house is the fast pace and lack of much indoor seating (though the family hopes to expand that) or food (though there are sandwiches and freshbaked scones and cookies). They work “at least 18 hours a day” making everything themselves, even the soaps, shampoos and other sweet-smelling products up front in the “aromatherapy bath and body boutique” called A Scent to Remember. The time not spent brewing or baking is spent finding suppliers for specialty ingredients and working with tea brokers to get faraway varieties from China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Japan and elsewhere.

EVERYTHING SLOWS DOWN

Photo by Joey Pellegrino

Morghann, Don and Jackie Buckingham of Flagler Tea Company.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

None of the Buckinghams are eager to take the credit for their sweet-smelling success. “Jackie’s been the boss in this since it opened,” Don Buckingham insisted. “But Morghann’s been crafting the tea,” Jackie said. Morghann is their 20-year-old daughter, one of the five Buckingham children, and she has been helping at Flagler Tea Company for eight months. “I haven’t come up with the blends!” Morghann said. “That’s all [Don], I just say what I want him to shop for. I had no idea about tea before.” She had become confident enough behind the bar to improvise flavors for customers who come in asking to be surprised and to whip up concoctions from

memory for their regulars. They’ll just nod, and she gets to work. “People love it,” Don Buckingham said. “We can’t duplicate it.” “We’ll talk it out, figure out what they like,” Morghann Buckingham said. For the indecisive, different teas can be blended. “We try to have something for everyone, but also create an experience,” Jackie Buckingham said. “I come here all the time,” said holistic coach Yani Kelly. “They’re amazing. I always bring my friends here, and they love it.” Kelly enjoys Flagler Tea Company’s output so much that they’ll be providing tea for those meditating at her monthly retreat, something they also provide for other local yoga studios. Morghann Buckingham made her a dark chocolate chip latte, served with a piece of Ghirardelli dark chocolate on the side. Drink-

Coming up with flavors, Don Buckingham said, comes down to following and anticipating trends and listening to their customers. “We like to make ‘em happy,” he said. Their luna blue tea, for instance, is primarily a blend of the butterfly pea plant, lemongrass and blueberry, the interaction of which in hot water creates a unique, heavyscented fruity sweetness. “A lot of our regulars say as soon as they walk in and smell the aroma, everything slows down,” Jackie Buckingham said. The family had been selling loose-leaf tea in ounces for a year before actually opening Flagler Tea Company. They moved into their current space because their customers wanted to know when they would be able to have a cup brewed on the spot. Since opening, the Buckinghams said their biggest hurdle has been letting people know where they are. “Folks are great here, you get to know them,” Don Buckingham said of working in Flagler Beach. “They’re like family, that’s what I like about here.” They are thinking of finding a larger space, if there is demand for more seating than they can add to the current location; there’s not a lot of room for tea parties in a 490-square-foot shop. And Don Buckingham would like to find local spice and honey. “If you’re not a tea-drinker, give us a try,” he said. “You might be surprised.”

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REAL ESTATE

HAMMOCK OBSERVER

Hammock Dunes house tops the list

house in Hammock Dunes was the top real estate transaction. Jay and Catherine Buch, of Palm Coast, sold 80 Island Estates Parkway to John and Sheron Drew, of Plano, Texas, for $1.42 million. Built in 2005, the house has six bedrooms, 5.5 baths, a swimming pool, boat dock, boat house and 6,231 square feet. It sold in 2011 for $1.45 million. WAYNE GRANT REAL ESTATE EDITOR

HAMMOCK BEACH James and Jolinda Tracy, of Powell, Ohio, sold 90 Hammock Beach Circle N. to Steven and Linda Leibowitz, of Palm Coast, for $900,000. Built in 2005, the house has four bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a fireplace, elevator and 4,306 square feet. It sold in 2005 for $1,795,000.

YOUR TOWN

Leonard and Marnie Giancola, of Ponte Vedra Beach, sold 5 Ocean Crest Way, Unit 1433, to Mary Carter, of Council

Vito and Karen LaBruzzo, of Lewisville, North Carolina, sold 1 Anastasia Court to Michael and Laura Harrison, of Palm Coast, for $770,000. Built in 1994, the house has three bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a fireplace, swimming pool and 3,514 square feet. It sold in 2014 for $540,000.

Bluffs, Iowa, for $317,000. Built in 2005, the condo has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,160 square feet. It sold in 2005 for $388,800.

HAMMOCK DUNES Brian and Yvonne Bunting, of Palm Coast, sold 108 Island Estates Parkway to Charles and Terri Herb, of Palm Coast, for $1.2 million. Built in 1997, the house has four bedrooms, four baths, a fireplace, swimming pool, boat dock, boat house and 4,226 square feet. It sold in 2014 for $955,000.

NOV. 14-JAN. 15

OCEAN HAMMOCK Robert Dalter, of Palm Coast, sold 73 Ocean Oaks Lane to Roger and Marcia Steimle, of Palm Coast, for $841,525. Built in 2006, the house has three bedrooms, three baths, a fireplace, swimming pool and 3,586 square feet. It sold in 2004 for $250,000. Cinnamon Beach Lane LLC, of Gainesville, sold 517 Cinnamon Beach Lane to Alison Bosse and Charles Most Jr. , of Pasadena, Maryland, for $762,000. Built in 2010, the house has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths and 3,892 square feet.

Philip and Margaret Lloyd, of Akron, Ohio, sold 26 Marbella Court to David and Susan Kehoe, of Palm Coast, for $526,000. Built in 1995, the house has three bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a fireplace, swimming pool and 2,933 square feet. It sold in 2010 for $513,300.

Harold Pokrop, as trustee, sold 7 Flagship Court to Robert and Kara Mohre, of Palm Coast, for $585,000. Built in 2002, the house has four bedrooms, five

Louise Weadock, of Elmsford, New York, sold 11 Avenue de la Mer, Unit 1501, to Jeffrey

FEBRUARY 2020

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

and Pamela Nichoff, of Palm Coast, for $439,000. Built in 1991, the condo has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,161 square feet. It sold in 2006 for $775,000.

Timothy Rask, of Palm Coast, sold 4 San Gabriel Way to Kinsdale LLC, of Palm Coast, for $650,000. Built in 1997, the house has four bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a fireplace, swimming pool and 3,532 square feet. It sold in 2010 for $600,000.

baths, a swimming pool and 3,622 square feet. It sold in 2006 for $815,000. Diane Skelly, individually and as trustee, sold 800 Cinnamon Beach Way, Unit 731, to Hall Investment Group LLC, of Glen Allen, Virginia, for $515,000. Built in 2003, the condo has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,003 square feet. It sold in 2004 for $549,900. Joseph and Jennifer Chaudoin, of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, sold 85 Ocean Crest Way, Unit 612, to James and Linda Fanning, of Altamonte Springs, for $430,000. Built in 2005, the condo has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths and 1,859 square feet. It sold in 2005 for $525,300. Daniel and Maris Cox, of Clarence, New York, sold 200 Cinnamon Beach Way, Unit 152, to Dawn Martino, of Palm Coast, for $395,000. Built in 2005, the condo has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,682 square feet. It sold in 2005 for $703,400.

FRIENDS OF A1A HOLD ANNUAL MEETING, HONOR BILL MCCLURE

During their annual meeting on Jan. 29, the Friends of A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway, Inc. announced their 2019 Volunteer of the Year. Outgoing president of the organization, Bill McClure, was recognized for a decade of service to the Friends of A1A and presented with the annual volunteer service award by newly elected President Marge Rooyakkers, of Hammock Dunes Club in Flagler County. “We’re pleased to honor Bill with the Volunteer of the Year award for his service not only

MINT Magazine The board of Friends of A1A. Courtesy of Friends of A1A ISSUE DATE:

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2013 v1

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