Arts & Culture
Travel colorfully with Vera Bradley
Monroe & 6th Ave • 850 576-VERA • Mon - Sat 10-6
Mulberribush
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Hatley
Giggle Moon
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Haven Girl
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Le top
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Roxy
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Quiksilver
Quiksilver
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Kate Mack
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102 E. 7th Street I Havana, FL 32333 850.539.0051 I Like us on Facebook
Haute Baby
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Giggle Moon
Hatley
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Le top
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Haven Girl
Roxy
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Shop Spring Break 2012 att Sassy & Bud Children’s Boutique.
Shoes for everyday life! .com
TALLAHASSEE’S BIRKENSTOCK STORE
422-9255
2657 N. Monroe St. (near Red Lobster) Monday-Saturday: 10AM-7PM Sunday: 12PM-6PM
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Wes and Willy
march–april 2012
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Mulberribush
CHACO • ALPRO • TEVA • CLARKS • KEEN
Baby Nay
NAOT • ROMIKA • JOSEF SEIBEL • SANITA • EARTH • OLUKAI • TATAMI • BIRKENSTOCK • BIRKI’S • FOOTPRINTS
Kate Mack
She looks so sweet & sassy
VIBRAM FIVEFINGERS • CHACO • MERRELL
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CAMPER • THINK!• ROMIKA • NAOT • FINN COMFORT • DANSKO • THORLO’S • INJINJI • SMARTWOOL • ECCO
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Wes and Willy
“For the Suwannee River Jam, we sell 80 percent of the tickets before we announce the lineup,” he says. “People truly build a festival family. That’s the reason people come here. We have people who get married here. They wind up having their anniversaries here every year.” That was true for one Tallahassee couple, Sharon and Walter Liebrich, who held their wedding at Spirit of the Suwannee in 2011. The ceremony happened on a deck overlooking the tea-colored Suwannee, and the couple held their reception at the park’s well-equipped event facility, an indoor hall which has a kitchen and an ample porch surrounded by a butterfly garden. After the wedding dinner, guests headed out to watch thousands of bats flying out of the bat house at sunset — a true natural spectacle. Some of the guests held a community campout, and some, including the bride and groom, stayed in the park’s cabins. “We both had been going there to see music for so many years, and it was such a special spot for both of us, that it seemed like the most natural and magical place for us to have our wedding,” said Sharon, 33. “It’s a nice combination of friends and family coupled with nature,” added Walter, 32. “And I love the diversity of music there.” The newest Liebrich — baby Fern — went to her first music festival at Spirit of the Suwannee when she was just five months old. The Liebrichs say they plan to hold many family outings at Spirit of the Suwannee in the coming years. “It is one of the best venues to see music in, because the park makes the audience and the musicians feel incredible,” Sharon says. “It’s a beautiful place with good acoustics and a friendly staff who really want the musicians there.” To keep musical traditions alive, the park holds a kids’ music camp four times a year. Some of the performers, including the great California percussionist Joe Craven, also visit Suwannee County schools to teach and perform while they are in Live Oak. Many festivals hold canned food drives and charity events to benefit the surrounding rural communities. “The park has enhanced the community with tourism,” says James Cornett’s mother, Jean, who first visited the park with her husband, Bob, in 1984, fell in love with its beauty and leased it with an option to buy. “They didn’t really have any tourism before.”