Tallahassee Magazine November - December 2020

Profiles in Caring Pandemic tests mettle of devoted hospital teams playing expanded roles in patients’ lives

BEST OF TALLAHASSEE

THE RESULTS ARE IN

We trim mantles, don finery, examine delicate works of art, visit a neighborhood’s past and hear from a fashion maven who treats every day as an event worth dressing up for

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The 2021 SUBARU

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Contents

NOV/DEC 2020

FEATURES

77

COVID-19 WARRIORS

Tallahasseans including Gary Cottingham have courageously fought individual, lonely battles against an insidious pandemic while teams of health care professionals at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Capital Regional Medical Center, knitted together by the exhausting crisis, have undertaken a challenge they never imagined.

by STEVE BORNHOFT

106

AGING IN PLACE

After 40-plus years of country living, Earl Morrogh and Judye McCalman left behind the Gadsden County house they built with their own hands and moved to town. Their new home, adjoining Capital City Country Club in Tallahassee’s Myers Park neighborhood, has been designed with features that will allow them to live out the rest of their lives there.

by STEVE BORNHOFT

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BEST OF TALLAHASSEE

Participants in our annual readers’ poll have identified businesses that are among the most trusted, reliable, delicious, innovative and customer-oriented in town. All of those enterprises have built sterling reputations and enjoy the loyalty of the people who know them best. We congratulate our repeat and first-time winners, one and all.

SENIOR LIVING

Developer Jason Naumann has taken advantage of pent-up demand in bringing about a community reserved for people age 55 or better. Camellia Oaks, located on 130 acres off Mahan Road, will enter its second phase of construction in January. Designed for active seniors, the development includes a clubhouse, trails, pools, a fitness facility and bocci ball court.

by STEVE BORNHOFT

photography by DAVE BARFIELD

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Contents

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31

Christmas Connection program conducted

by Catholic Charities extends assistance to deserving families without regard for their religious affiliation.

For Juli Downs, the buyer and manager at Narcissus, every day is an event to be dressed for.

24 LOOKING BACK Efforts

make appearances throughout the year, but they especially sparkle at the holidays.

51 LIBATIONS

Thoughtfully selected and smartly presented, gifts of spirits are sure to assume positions of prominence on recipients’ bar carts.

61

ART: Franklin County artist Beth Appleton finds inspiration in the tiniest of lifeforms.

November-December 2020

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54 DINING IN Get your

party started with these colorful, scrumptious holiday hors d’oeuvres.

Vista Verde Guest Ranch outfits a Florida girl with cross-country skis and snowshoes.

125 INTERIORS Candles

130 DECOR When

EXPRESSION

68 BOOKS Steve

Epstein’s thoroughly researched account of a grisly murder at Lake Seminole has been described as “unputdownable.”

IN EVERY ISSUE

ABODES

14 16 174 178

set moods, imbue spaces with seasonal scents and trigger memories.

decorating your home for the holidays, it is hard to beat elements supplied by Mother Nature.

» SEQUINS » COLORADO » MEDICAL PROFILES

31 FASHION Sequins may

GASTRO & GUSTO

46 WHAT’S IN STORE

Area retailers are well stocked with items that help create a warm atmosphere at the holidays.

145 GETAWAYS Colorado’s

51

REV. R.B. HOLMES

at desegregation had impacts both positive and negative on Tallahassee’s Frenchtown area.

PANACHE

8

DESTINATIONS

38 CITIZEN OF STYLE

21 CHAMPIONS The

crops scoff at the harshest weather that a North Florida winter can throw at them.

PUBLISHER’S LETTER EDITOR’S COLUMN DINING GUIDE POSTSCRIPT

Profiles in Caring Pandemic tests mettle of devoted hospital teams playing expanded roles in patients’ lives

ON THE COVER:

BEST OF TALLAHASSEE

THE RESULTS ARE IN

We trim mantles, don finery, examine delicate works of art, visit a neighborhood’s past and hear from a fashion maven who treats every day as an event worth dressing up for

Dr. Carlos Campo, the chief of internal medicine at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, finds that a sense of humor and camaraderie among colleagues are important allies in the fight against COVID-19.

Photo by Dave Barfield

PHOTOS BY DAVE BARFIELD (31), SAIGE ROBERTS (51), LIGHTFIELDSTUDIOS (130) / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS (130) AND COURTESY OF BETH APPLETON (61)

323

136 GREEN SCENE Root

15 TH ANNUAL

B EN EF I TI N G PATI EN TS AT TH E TALLAH ASSEE MEMORI A L CA N CER CENTER

Honoring Breast Cancer Survivor

Denna Hunter

Cancer Never Takes a Break Although we can’t enjoy Cards for a Cure in person

scan, MRI or mammogram. Your support also helps

this year due to COVID-19, patients fighting cancer

provide lodging and transportation for patients

still need your support. Last year, Cards for a Cure

who must travel to Tallahassee for treatment. New

generated over $100,000 that helped 130 people

patients are diagnosed daily. Your generosity makes

without health insurance get a life-saving PET

a life-or-death difference for them.

Give today at TMH.ORG/CardsForACure.

Presented by

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Contents

NOV/DEC 2020

SPECIAL SECTIONS AND PROMOTIONS

119 128 28 COMMUNITY GIFTING

The Community Foundation of North Florida assists residents in managing their charitable giving goals.

36 STYLING SAFELY

Soleil 7 Salon provides their signature cuts, colors and curls while taking COVID-19 safety measures.

Tallahassee Plastic Surgery Clinic offers pigmentation treatments including lasers, chemical peels, microneedling and more.

A piece of fine jewelry is a timeless and heartfelt option suitable for anyone on your gift-giving list.

48

→ HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

For gifts that keep giving, look no further than shopping local.

74 10

From trees to tinsel, Tallahassee Nurseries will help you make the holiday season special.

138

BETTER BATHROOMS

140 66

↑MUSIC MAN Pianist Marvin Goldstein will present an impressive lineup of everything from pop to religious music during his performance at Opening Nights.

72

STAGES SET

Emerald Coast Theatre Company has assembled a lively lineup of plays and musicals for its eighth annual season.

UNITED FRONT

Women United, the women’s initiative of the United Way of the Big Bend, performs advocacy and volunteer work throughout the region.

November-December 2020

134 TREE TRADITIONS

Leaders in bathroom renovations, Bath Fitter works with clients to find the price point and style to suit their budgets and tastes.

42 STOP SPOTS

44 GIFT OF GLIMMER

Lawn & Garden Center creates a whimsical winter wonderland each year with trees, décor, plants and more.

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151

DEAL ESTATE Two Tallahassee homes are on the market. A Surrey Farms home sits on 16 acres, and a Lake Bradford estate-style home is beautifully scenic.

MEDICAL PROFILES We

spotlight medical professionals who make each patient a priority.

166

CALENDAR Outdoor events

and theatrical productions are on our winter calendar.

PHOTOS BY BLACK & HUE PHOTOGRAPHY (119), SAIGE ROBERTS (48), DAVE BARFIELD (128) AND COURTESY OF OPENING NIGHTS (66)

↑ 55 AND BETTER The Camellia Oaks development, designed to appeal to active seniors, is home to magnificent trees and a 28-acre lake. The Naumann Group converted the estate house on the property to a clubhouse and completed recreational amenities as part of the project’s first phase.

↑HOLIDAY HOORAY Esposito

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TALLAHASSEE MAGAZINE VOL. 43, NO. 6

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND

EDITORIAL

The Huggins Winders Group Stephen C. Huggins

Senior Vice President/Investments Branch Manager

Linda S. Winders

First Vice President/Investments

C. Blair Huggins

Associate Vice President/Investments

JD Huggins

Financial Advisor

Erin McCarty

Registered Client Service Associate

(850) 815-3090 main | (800) 223-8133 toll-free www.thehugginswindersgroup.com 3500 Financial Plaza, Suite 202 | Tallahassee, Florida 32312

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated | Member SIPC & NYSE | www.stifel.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Steve Bornhoft MANAGING EDITOR Jeff Price CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Marina Brown, Les Harrison, Rev. R.B. Holmes, Rochelle Koff, Rebecca Padgett, Audrey Post

CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY Daniel Vitter CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut EDITORIAL DESIGNER Lindsey Masterson SENIOR PUBLICATION DESIGNER Shruti Shah PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Sarah Burger, Jordan Harrison GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sierra Thomas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Dave Barfield, Black & Hue Photography, Matt Burke, Adam Cohen, Larry Davidson, Kira Derryberry, Whitney Fletcher, Gabriel Hanway, Scott Holstein, Kevin Lamb Photography, Lindsey Masterson, Alicia Osborne, Saige Roberts, Trickey Photography, Alex Workman

SALES, MARKETING AND EVENTS VICE PRESIDENT/CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT McKenzie Burleigh SALES MANAGER, EASTERN DIVISION Lori Magee Yeaton SALES MANAGER, WESTERN DIVISION Rhonda Lynn Murray DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EASTERN DIVISION Daniel Parisi DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, WESTERN DIVISION Dan Parker ADVERTISING SERVICES COORDINATOR Tracy Mulligan ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES David Doll, Julie Dorr, Darla Harrison MARKETING MANAGER Kate Pierson SALES AND MARKETING WRITER Rebecca Padgett SENIOR INTEGRATED MARKETING COORDINATOR Javis Ogden ADMINISTRATIVE & CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST Renee Johnson

OPERATIONS CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER Sara Goldfarb PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT Amber Dennard

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Single copies are $3.95. Purchase at Books-A-Million and at our Miccosukee Road office.

CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUBMISSIONS Tallahassee Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. Tallahassee Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor.

Copyright November 2020 Tallahassee Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

Partners of Visit Tallahassee and Member, Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.

Wishing you peace, health and happiness this holiday season and during the year ahead.

H A P P Y H O L I DAY S F ROM H I L L S P O ON E R & E L L I OT T , I N C .

EMERALD COAST

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BIG BEND

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FORGOTTEN COAST

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from the publisher

STORIES OF HEROES

A network of selfless people leads Tallahassee’s response to the pandemic

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November-December 2020

Early this summer, I felt compelled to bring to you stories about our health care community’s tireless efforts to combat COVID-19 and to treat the infected. I reached out to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Capital Regional Medical Center and we talked about story angles that would enable readers to appreciate the local response to a worldwide pandemic from the perspectives of a patient, health care providers, hospital administrators and managers and a foundation executive.

I have just read Steve’s stories resulting from those interviews, and not for the first time, he has exceeded my expectations and hopes.

COVID-19 separates people from life’s mainstream, and from their families, friends and life partners, leaving health care workers to try to fill that void in addition to everything else that they do. When patients pass, they are there to hold their hands and comfort them as they take their last breath.

One can only try to imagine the emotional and psychological stress our health care providers endure as they witness the passing of so many and try to comfort surviving family members.

This has to take a lasting toll.

I recently spoke to a local man who was striving to do all the right things to avoid contracting the virus, but relaxed just one time around immediate family and became infected. The virus then spread among members of his extended family and his professional family. All survived, but some became very sick.

I encourage you to keep your guard up at all times whenever you interact

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with others. A return to a semblance of normalcy will occur, but it may be six to nine months away, maybe even longer. Wear your mask, wash your hands frequently and stay as isolated as possible. That is the scientifically proven path to successful health outcomes.

And, please take time to read our stories in this edition of Tallahassee Magazine about the virus’s impact on our community. They represent some of our best storytelling and will enhance your appreciation for selfless workers in our midst.

Keep your guard up, be smart and be well,

BRIAN ROWLAND browland@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN

At Rowland Publishing headquarters this mid-September morning, 19 of 20 rooms are unoccupied, a circumstance that remains surreal, but it makes for a distraction-free environment when I report to my office each day with my chocolate Labrador retriever Stevie Nicks — yes, I am a Fleetwood Mac fan.

My office hours, along with daily 4-mile walks and frequent video calls with staff and clients, add up to a routine that helps keep me grounded in a world that can seem chaotic.

Our offices will remain closed until at least Jan. 1, 2021, and my gut tells me it may be late spring before I bring the team back. But, to my surprise and delight, everything is going quite well as we go about the business of publishing 28 titles and taking on more.

Certainly, the pandemic has done nothing to lessen our commitment to providing readers of our proprietary titles with stories that are engaging, topical and well told.

I am closely attuned to goings-on in our community and region, and I consider carefully story ideas pitched by local residents, businesses and organizations. I’ll admit, too, that I sometimes find story ideas in the 10 city magazines from around the country to which I subscribe.

I collaborate with our executive editor Steve Bornhoft to arrive at stories that are informative, entertaining and, at times, emotional.

The presentation of those stories is enhanced by the work of our creative director Jennifer Ekrut, her talented team of publication designers and a fleet of fine freelance photographers.

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November-December 2020

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from the editor

SNAKES ON A PORCH

As water rises, we try to keep our confidence dry

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November-December 2020

pond at the end of the boulevard. I was startled at the sight of its empty eye socket and surprised to discover a plastic worm fully halfway down its gullet. I clamped the worm with a hemostat and pulled it from the bass after removing my own lure from its maw and smiled at having done a good deed. I placed the retrieved worm in my tackle box, an odd souvenir, granted.

My catch was witnessed by a boy, new to town, who told me he had been on his high school bass fishing team in Tennessee. He wore a GoPro strapped to his chest and looked like a cross between Opie Taylor and the Banjo Boy from “Deliverance.” He was polite enough and asked me a series of questions about the pond and, to each of my answers, he replied, “That is very good to know, sir.” I didn’t think much about the kid at the time, but I have since. I may have made his YouTube channel.

I shared the story of the one-eyed bass with my good friend John the Artist. A short time later, his kitchen sink would no longer drain. His septic system demanded a pump-out. He went to remove banana plants and elephant ears from a garden to make way for the honey wagon — “You Dump, We Pump” — and in so doing sustained dozens of fire ant bites.

My wife, failing to heed that childhood lesson, “Leaves of three, let it be,” contacted poison ivy while pulling weeds from a bed out front and suffered a systemic reaction that raised welts all over her and required a steroid regimen that produced a series of sleepless nights as a side effect.

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And, stranger still, my kindergartner grandson Rivers, who lives in North Carolina, started his scholastic career not in a classroom, but remotely, and when I asked him how school was going, he told me that the best part is “Snack and Chat,” when the teacher pauses to give her students a chance to get a little something to eat and, said Rivers, “We get to unmute so we can talk to our (virtual) friends.”

Is there an antidote to all of this?

I can’t be sure, but I have gone to my tackle box and fished out the worm from the bass and buried it in a deep hole, easily dug as soft as the ground is right now.

Mirroring the confidence of the Leader of the Free World, I have assured myself and others that the rains will cease. And, hey, things will cool off.

You’ll see.

Here’s winking at you,

STEVE BORNHOFT sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY SAIGE ROBERTS

It has been raining now for three days and three nights, enough to extinguish all the wildfires of California and Oregon, and still one gets the feeling that we may have 37 more to go.

On Sunday, when the torrents began, I spied a large softshell turtle moving along my street, alternately swimming and clambering, depending upon water depth. The hopelessly prehistoric critter was in the path of a red hatchback driven by Erin, who attended Florida State on a javelinthrowing scholarship, as she backed out of her driveway, and I went to move the critter to a place of safety. Softy, I am here to report, was given to a stench so powerful as to suggest that it has been alive since, say, the Triassic Period.

On Monday, I was up early and watched as a corpulent possum passed by my bedroom window, seeking higher ground. As of Tuesday, banded watersnakes were taking up residence on porches in my neighborhood, leading alarmed folks to summon Cameron, a good-natured amateur herpetologist — everybody knows him — to remove them. Legions of ants have entered upon garages, seeking shelter from the storm. Today, in Pensacola, streets have become river bottoms.

I might have seen all of this coming, were I a better reader of signs. An oracle I am not, but my hindsight is swell and if conditions warrant mythmaking, I can go there, too.

It has become clear to me in retrospect that a series of unfortunate events has unfolded since the day on which I caught a one-eyed bass at the

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PROMOTION

TALLAHASSEEMAGAZINE.COM Cardiac Electricians

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare’s new Heart Rhythm Clinic, the first of its kind in North Florida, enhances the hospital’s ability to deliver highly specialized care utilizing the latest tools and technologies. Learn more at TallahasseeMagazine.com/cardiac-electricians.

CELESTIAL JEWELRY Looking for the perfect gift? Give your love, a family member or a friend the moon and the stars in the form of celestial themed jewelry. Visit TallahasseeMagazine.com/style-links to learn more.

An Easy Way to Reduce Pollution and Your Carbon Footprint The environmental impact of one hour of gasoline-powered lawn mower use is equal to that of driving a late-model car for 11 hours. Visit TallahasseeMagazine.com/ home-and-garden-links to discover ways to reduce your carbon footprint — and still get your yardwork done.

TALLY TOP PET

Voting begins December 16!

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November-December 2020

Our bracket-style voting for the 2021 Tally Top Pet will begin on Dec. 16. Visit TallahasseeMagazine.com/ tally-top-pet to participate in a March Madness-style “pet-off” that will start the process of determining the winning pet, which will grace the cover of the 2021 May/June issue of Tallahassee Magazine! Is your pet a contestant? Are you a pet enthusiast? Either way, make sure you vote on the top 16 beginning Dec. 16!

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

Preventing and Treating Maskne Given the pandemic and the resulting prevalence of mask wearing, people are becoming aware of what has come to be known as “maskne.” This form of acne may make you want to hide your face, but there are ways to combat and prevent it. Learn more at TallahasseeMagazine.com/ beauty-links.

PHOTOS BY KLEBERCORDEIRO / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS (MASK) AND COURTESY OF TALLAHASSEE MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE (CARDIAC), ESPOSITO LAWN & GARDEN CENTER (GARDENING) AND THE GEM COLLECTION (EARRINGS)

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

TAL

PH

Your community needs you to wear a mask. Your heart needs you to do more.

Don’t let the fear of COVID-19 keep you from seeing your doctor. Postponing your healthcare can lead to more serious issues. At Tallahassee Memorial, our comprehensive safety program utilizes the latest technology and advanced clinical protocols to keep you safe in all of our facilities.

Visit us with confidence knowing you are protected.

REGIONAL HOSPITALS

Learn more at TMH.ORG/Safe.

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LeonCountyFL.gov/AnnualReport

PRESENTING THE 2020

LEON COUNTY ANNUAL REPORT

Leon County Board of County Commissioners

PEOPLE FOCUSED. PERFORMANCE DRIVEN.

In 2020, we faced the most abrupt and serious threat to lives and livelihoods ever experienced. This has been a time which has challenged people and organizations everywhere, but not all in the same way. For Leon County, as this Annual Report highlights, the coronavirus required our most extensive emergency management response to protect our citizens, especially those most vulnerable - as well as an unprecedented, targeted and highly coordinated effort to help our local businesses and community members rebound and recover.

And while the coronavirus silenced the sounds of live music and other community events, our commitment to remaining a vibrant place to live and visit was recognized for the second year in a row by Southern Living Magazine naming us one of the South’s Best Communities.

Vincent S. Long, County Administrator

Through the vision and leadership provided by the Board of County Commissioners and the hard work of our dedicated County employees, I am proud to report that throughout this crisis, and after, we at Leon County will remain committed to listening to the people we serve, addressing the challenges we face together, and striving every day to set the standard in public service.

Please learn more about all of Leon County’s efforts this year on behalf of and alongside our community in the 2020 Leon County Annual Report.

Watch the Annual Report Video: LeonCountyFL.gov/Driven 20

November-December 2020

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PROFILING THE PURSUITS, PASSIONS AND PERSONALITIES AMONG US

THE

CHAMPIONS

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION ↓

PHOTO BY CRAFT24 / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

Moving stories of people in need inspire giving

by AUDREY POST

LOOKING BACK

Everyone Was Your Mama - Frenchtown Memories

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THE

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or the past 41 years, Christmas Connection has helped bring holiday cheer to people in need.

From 25 Tallahassee families in 1979 to 485 families in 18 counties across the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend last year, Catholic Charities has addressed a growing need every year.

“The need always exceeds our resources,” said Matthew Knee, Christmas Connection’s executive director, “but community members who have the ability to give step up.”

This year, the organization recognizes there are more people in need of help, given the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic fallout.

“The public has no idea how many people live paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “A reduction in hours or a job loss throws a family into crisis.”

GIVE 22

Initially launched as the Most Needy Cases campaign by what was then called Catholic Social Services, Christmas Connection accepts referrals from social service agencies. A caseworker describes the family’s situation and lists the ages, clothing sizes and a gift wish for each family member. Individuals, families, offices and civic organizations adopt families.

Some people simply donate money; others like to shop for the gifts. And there is always a need for volunteers to help at the Christmas Connection warehouse.

Last year, the Christmas Connection added the Amazon Wish List, posting requests for items that people then bought for shipment to the warehouse.

“With COVID, we’re going to push very hard this year for people to use the Wish List instead of going out shopping,” Knee said.

Julie Montanero, a news anchor at WCTV, has been involved with Christmas Connection since she first covered a story about it for the station.

“Years ago, when I was a young reporter working weekends, I didn’t have anything to do on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so I started volunteering there,” she said. “It’s something very special and very meaningful to be able to help someone.”

Back then, there was a lot of print coverage, she said, but not much broadcast coverage. She persuaded the station to start airing profiles of some of the families. Station employees also collectively adopt a family each year.

The Tallahassee Democrat has devoted a lot of space to the Christmas Connection for decades. Karen Olson coordinated the newspaper’s coverage

Christmas Connection brightens the holidays for people who would otherwise miss out on the joy of the season. The program fulfills wishes and meets needs of hundreds of disadvantaged families and individuals from all religions, races and ethnic backgrounds. Community members may assist the effort by volunteering time or making contributions of gift items or financial support. Contact Catholic Charities at (850) 222-2180 for details.

November-December 2020

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PHOTO BY FIZKES / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

↙ The Christmas Connection, a program conducted by Catholic Charities, unites people in the spirit of giving and annually evokes a strong response by community volunteers and contributors.

for 19 years, until she left in 2005, writing 50 and sometimes 100 profiles each year. She was inspired to create a weekly feature called Caring Connection, which was modeled after Christmas Connection and showcased area families’ needs the rest of the year.

“The community responded beyond my wildest dreams,” Olson said. “I came to believe that people do care about each other, even if they don’t always know what to do about it.”

The Democrat remains a Christmas Connection partner. Platform editor Randi Atwood has coordinated coverage since 2012. The first year, she was given a stack of cases and told to select five for the staff to write stories about.

“You read these stories and the caseworkers’ narratives, and there are no names, just numbers, and it gets more and more horrible every time you turn the page,” she said.

“Like 83- and 84-year old grandparents raising their 6-year-old grandchildren on Social Security, and you say, ‘What?’

“Once you read them, you can’t think these people are lazy or trying to live off the system.

You can’t read them and not — Karen Olson say, ‘I’m going to help.’ I don’t coordinated the think I could’ve gone on if I Tallahassee Democrat ’s hadn’t helped,” she said.

Christmas Connection Atwood tries to pick a coverage for 19 years family to adopt each year, and she invites friends over for a Christmas Connection gift-wrapping party.

Christmas Connection also encourages people to include food or a gift card so the family can have a nice holiday meal, she said.

There are misconceptions about Christmas Connection that seem to linger, Knee said, including the notion you have to be Catholic to receive help.

You don’t. Another misconception is that Christmas Connection helps only during the holidays. That’s not true, either. Christmas Connection helps throughout the year with rent and utility payments.

WCTV hosted a Christmas in July fundraiser for Christmas Connection.

“We had no idea how it would work because so many of our givers were impacted themselves,” Montanero said, “but we raised $63,000 from hundreds of donors to pay rent and utilities for families impacted by COVID.” TM

“I came to believe that people do care about each other, even if they don’t always know what to do about it.”

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THE

323

LOOKING BACK

EVERYONE WAS YOUR MAMA Reflections on the formative influences of Frenchtown

by MARINA BROWN

W

e lose many precious things through the years: Grandma’s wedding photo, Uncle Al’s college ring, our own baby pictures that we would love to have back. But one thing we cannot lose is the history of where we came from and the impact it had on the people we are today.

In interviews with Tallahassee Magazine, six senior citizens spoke about a part of our city that in many ways now exists only in memory, its reality having been lost to “urban revitalization,” a widened road, eminent domain and the social changes of the past 70–80 years.

All recall what the Springfield, Griffin Heights, Smokey Hollow and Frenchtown neighborhoods were like in their youth. They added up to a cohesive community where “everyone was your Mama,” and the residents were resilient, resourceful and most of all, respectful of each other.

Althemese Barnes, now in her 70s, says that she, her sister Mary Hadley, and her seven additional siblings grew up on the “D” streets — Dunn, Dewey, Dent, Delaware and Dover — in the area once called Springfield, just south of today’s Griffin Heights. Her father, a bank custodian and sometime chauffeur

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to judges and prominent families, was forced by circumstances to quit school in the 3rd grade. Her mother was able to finish night school. Her great grandmother had been enslaved.

But all nine children graduated from Florida A&M University.

“Black people weren’t allowed to go to the libraries then, so when white people threw out their books, my father would bring them home for us to read,” Barnes said. “They valued education.”

Today, Barnes is a historian and the founder and director of Riley House in downtown Tallahassee.

Mary Hadley, 80, a teacher for 46 years, remembers when the family moved to Volusia Street in Griffin Heights, which was then out in the country.

“We had a cow and some hogs,” she recalled. “We didn’t have electric lights

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

↑ Althemese Barnes grew up as

the daughter of parents who never completed high school, but she and her eight siblings all earned degrees at Florida A&M University.

↙

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STATE ARCHIVES OF FLORIDA, FLORIDA MEMORY

Residents of the Smokey Hollow neighborhood welcomed hobos to their homes and fed them, believing that it was “proper to share what you have.”

or indoor plumbing. In fact, we children would dig the new hole when the outhouse needed to be changed, and Daddy would move the little building. Some Saturdays, we got to go to the movie house in Frenchtown, run by ‘Miss Yellowhair,’ Annie Roberts. That was exciting.”

Emotional in a far different way is Hadley’s memory of hurried knocks on the family’s front door, and her mother quickly blowing out the kerosene lamp and pulling the shades. It meant the Ku Klux Klan was on the prowl. “Maybe looking for somebody to lynch,” her mother had said.

Hadley said that in Springfield and Griffin Heights, families looked out for one another, and children had responsibilities and an appreciation for what they had.

“But as the older people died and after desegregation, younger ones moved away, and the developers moved in,” Hadley

recalled with sadness. “They leveled Frenchtown.”

Ruth Crump Jefferson, now 81, the “first black lady barber,” remembers Frenchtown as a thriving business and entertainment district for African Americans.

“There were shoe repair shops, restaurants, cleaners, a gas station, a chicken shack, beauty and barber shops, and grocery stores,” Jefferson said. “And there were places like the Red Bird Club, Café DeLuxe and the El Dorado where famous musicians on the Chitlin’ Circuit would come to play.” Nat and Cannonball Adderley are but two who did.

Eighty-three-year-old Edward Duffee, a attorney, agreed: “Life was super in Frenchtown, then.”

Duffee’s father was a pulpwooder and his mother a maid. Duffee became president of his class at FAMU Law School. Yet,

despite his personal successes, when asked how desegregation affected Frenchtown, he is critical.

“Desegregation really impacted the community from an economic standpoint,” he said. “From four black-owned dry cleaners, it was reduced to none. From five black-owned grocery stores, it was reduced to none. From four service stations, it was reduced to none. From two movie theatres, it was reduced to none. Many other small variety stores were closed. Business and economic development in the community reduced the personal residential property, as well.”

In Duffee’s view, a stable community was “destroyed” as economic and social forces bit into it for their own advantage.

Miaisha Mitchell, 74, was born in nearby Smokey Hollow. One of 14 children, and later a social worker and researcher, she

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THE

323 lived with her mother, who was a teacher, and father, a skilled laborer, in an extended family that at times would increase to 25 people. With no school for black children in Smokey Hollow, the children walked three miles to Bond School, where they read from hand-medown books from white schools. And yet, Mitchell’s Smokey Hollow memories are radiant.

“We had no stove, so we roasted potatoes in the fireplace, burned candles and kerosene lamps, and loved to listen to the radio when we could find one,” she said.

“We loved our elders — the people from church, the deacons and mothers, and the neighbors who all took care of each other, and us. If you got in trouble at school, on your way home, a neighbor would be standing on the porch saying, ‘Heard you had a little problem at school today.’ They already knew!”

Mitchell said that neighborhood children were aware that “on Wednesday you could get potato salad at Mrs. So-and-so’s house, peach cobbler on Sundays at another house, and if you’d shuck the ears, corn on the cob somewhere else. You’d be full by the time you got home for dinner.” She also remembers her mother feeding the hobos from the trains that ran through Smokey Hollow, with the reminder that “it’s proper to share what you have.”

From the “girlhood training” classes at her church that taught manners, feminine hygiene, and proper speech and dress to what Mitchell said was her first “civic duty” — delivering messages to the families of incarcerated men who called out through the barred windows of the jail to the child “couriers” below — she remembers a childhood in Smokey Hollow as close to idyllic.

For Annie McKinney Wilson, 83, later the administrative assistant to the vice president of academic affairs at FAMU, the youth she spent in Springfield and on nearby farms, where she felt embraced by her community, is sweet with a taste of sadness. Like Miaisha Mitchell, who at age 9 was told that she could no longer spend time playing with her one white playmate, Wilson, too, lost a white friend when their schools separated them.

Were things better before urban renewal, before desegregation, before the promised equality that failed to completely materialize? Many of the old residents think so.

“There was respect. You knew the rules. There were high expectations from the community and from excellent teachers who cared about us — and you rose to them,” said Mitchell, whose siblings include two Ph.D.s, two physicians, two with master’s degrees and seven with bachelor’s degrees.

Each of the senior citizens interviewed is grateful for the opportunities that have come since their childhoods, and each is acutely aware of what may have been lost along the way. TM

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BRITTANY MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHY

PROMOTION

Laurie and Kelly Dozier, owners of Mad Dog Construction and CFNF fundholder

T

Legacy Builders

here’s a lot you can build. Just ask Mad Dog Construction owners Laurie and Kelly Dozier. From hospitals to universities, their fingerprints can be seen across the Big Bend. But structures made of brick and mortar aren’t all they’ve constructed.

Together, they’ve built a legacy that will make a positive impact on generations to come.

Like most business owners, when Laurie and Kelly set out to build their company, their first goal was to support their family. As the business grew, their ability to help others grew along with it, and they generously supported nonprofits across the community. “Thinking through our giving options, we wanted to find a better way to provide sustainable giving,” said Kelly. “There will always be good causes, but we won’t always be around to help. That’s why we set up a fund with the Community Foundation of North Florida. We wanted our dollars to be managed well so that they could support local nonprofits — not just for today, but long after we’re gone.”

That was nearly 20 years ago. Since then, the Community Foundation of North Florida has grown to assist over 220 donors with

their advised funds, managing in excess of $80 million in assets and distributing more than $33 million in grants. “The Community Foundation of North Florida is a nonprofit that works with donors like the Doziers, and/or a donor’s professional advisor, to assist them in achieving their charitable giving goals,” said Katrina Rolle, Foundation president. “In short, we provide the platform and oversight to help donors support the causes they care about for the long-term.”

“I believe that a strong community foundation is important for a strong community,” says Laurie. “Our community is passionate about and generous with its support for the good works of our nonprofits. It’s one of the things I love about Tallahassee and that contributes to our vibrant community. The Community Foundation of North Florida is a good vehicle for people to plan their giving and provide generational giving for years to come.”

Contact the Community Foundation of North Florida to learn more about how they can assist you in achieving your charitable giving goals while benefitting from the greatest tax advantages allowed by law.

KATRINA ROLLE, CEO

SARAH STOUT, DIRECTOR OF DONOR RELATIONS

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panache NOV/DEC 2020

REGARDING MATTERS OF ALL THINGS STYLISH

FOR HER

SHINING WITH SEQUINS Tiny disks are synonymous with celebrations

by REBECCA PADGETT

↓

CITIZEN OF STYLE Narcissus’ Blooming Flower || WHAT’S IN STORE Retail Roundup photography by DAVE BARFIELD

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F

ortified by holiday spirit, even ordinarily reserved ladies take to dressing like disco balls, shining and shimmering in their sequin styles. Today, sequins are more frequently worn year-round than they used to be, but they will always be strongly associated with year-end holiday parties.

As we know, fashion repeats itself.

Sequins may seem modern given their dazzle and because most are made of plastic. But the sequin can be traced back to ancient Egypt; it turns out that King Tut was a fan.

When the king’s tomb was discovered in 1922, he was found to be wearing gold sequin-like discs, said to ensure wealth in the afterlife. Sequin is derived from “sikka,” an Arabic word for coin.

With the news of Tut’s to-diefor fashion statement, the 1920s saw a surge in sequins, primarily → worn on the dresses of flappers.

Flowy, garnet sequin top with These early sequins were made adjustable of a gelatinous material that straps by She unfortunately melted in heat or and Sky, $45; Black pleated rain. Thus, Herbert Lieberman palazzo pants, and Eastman Kodak (yes, that $35 Kodak) set out to make sequins → as we know them today.

She and Sky Sequins have a long history champagne and a future that looks just as sleeveless sequin top with bright. When winter months open sides and roll around, local shops see an back detailing, increase in shiny purchases, $39 from clutches to party dresses. model “Over the years, sequins GRACE KUROWSKI have become a staple in holiday clothing from REBELS’ MIDTOWN wardrobes,” said Kelley Ausley, BOUTIQUE co-owner of Rebels’ Midtown Boutique. “Perhaps it’s the way they seem to create a party anywhere they go. Sequins are popular because they are really just a celebration in the form of clothes.”

Always the life of the party, sequins don’t age and seem to know no age. They are worn by the 8-year-old in her adorned party dress and by the 80-year-old on her sequined brooch.

GET THE LOOK

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photography by DAVE BARFIELD

GIVE THE GIFT OF ADVENTURE. A GIFT THEY'LL NEVER FORGET! TALLAHASSEE TREE TO TREE ADVENTURES

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GET THE LOOK ← Jovani one-shoulder jumpsuit, $550

→ Graphic crewneck LOVE sweater from Zero Degrees Celcius, $145; lavender mini-skirt from Bailey44, $104 model

ANNA KATHRYN MACLAFFERTY

Where some are bold and bedazzling, others may wish to just sprinkle in bits of sparkle.

“Wearing and investing in a sequin accessory or item can be intimidating, but knowing how to think out of the box with your look is important,” said Juli Downs, manager and buyer for Narcissus. “Deciding if you want an elevated elegant look or the fun casual look is the key to what pairing choice is for you.”

For a laid-back look, Downs advises a boho fabric with sequined details or a matte embroidered sequin in a neutral color such as tan, taupe or grey.

Sequins aren’t going out of style any time soon, especially during the holidays, but the trick to brightening the trend each year is finding new ways to style them. TM

clothing from NARCISSUS

On a large or small scale, sequins are meant to be noticed. Don a showstopping sequined dress or pair a statement-making metallic top with jeans or a fitted skirt.

Maria Hurst, owner of Gypsy Rose Boutique, recommends keeping jewelry simple as sequins already steal the show.

She also suggests that sequins pair best with timeless pieces such as a business blazer and a dark, straight-leg pant.

Against these classic cuts, the pop of pizazz will stand out all the more.

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“Sequins make a statement,” said Kathryn Stewart, owner of Wonsaponatime Vintage. “The question is how much of a statement you want to make.”

Stewart uses sequins in outfits that mix modern and edgy, perfect for the perpetual cool girl who isn’t afraid to merge unexpected looks. Think a sequined blazer over a vintage graphic tee, sequined pants with a plain white tee, or a party dress with the addition of a denim jacket and sneakers.

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photography by DAVE BARFIELD

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PROMOTION PROMOTION

Soleil7’s 7’s Soleil SalonSafety Safety Salon

TT

o many, a visit to the salon o or many, visit to the salon spa aprovides a time of orluxurious spa provides a time escape — aofreprieve luxurious a reprieve from theescape worries—that await the worries await outsidefrom the salon’s doors.that There has outside the an salon’s doors.

There hasby the not been industry untouched not been an untouched by the impacts of industry COVID-19, and Soleil 7 impacts of COVID-19, and Soleil wants each guest to feel safe and 7at ease wants guest to feel safe and at ease wheneach in the salon. when in theissalon.

“Safety the new luxury,” said “Safety is the new Soleil luxury,” Stephanie Borras, 7’s said owner. “We Stephanie Borras,toSoleil owner.

“We want everyone know7’s that we are doing want to know thatsafe, we are doing our everyone part to make you feel to allow our part maketoyou feeland safe, to allow and you thetospace relax rejuvenate you theyou space to hair. relaxWe andhave rejuvenate and give great used our give you great We have our downtime tohair. educate, trainused and inspire.” downtime educate, train and Duringtothe time salons wereinspire.” closed, During theand time wereJoe closed, Stephanie hersalons husband Stephanie and her husband Joe that implemented proper protocols implemented proper protocols they were ready to enact oncethat salons they were ready enactstaff once salons reopened.

Thetoentire was educated reopened.

The entireofstaff was educated on the importance abiding by all salon, onLeon the importance abiding by all salon, County andofCDC ordinances.

Leon“The County and CDC ordinances. response from our guests has been “The response from our guestshave has been been amazing,” said Borras.

“Most amazing,” said Borras.

“Most have been so very thankful and impressed with all sothe verydedication thankful and with all given and impressed care that we have the dedication and care that we have given

and notice our efforts. Others simply want and notice ourtoefforts.

Others want COVID-19 disappear, andsimply they are not COVID-19 to disappear, they are so happy with our effortsand because it’snot a soreminder happy with because it’s of our whatefforts is happening.

Weaare a reminder happening.

We are a listeningofearwhat andisare here to meet people listening ear and people where they are.are Wehere wanttotomeet respond with where are. for Weall, want tofor respond with care they and love and that our guests care and loveand for all, for that our guests appreciate loveand us more.” appreciate love us more.”

Serviceand providers arrive 30 minutes Service providers 30 minutes early each day for arrive a COVID Clean early each day COVID Cleannothing inspection of for theasalon to ensure inspection of the doors salon open. to ensure nothing is amiss before Upon arrival, is each amissservice before provider’s doors open.

Upon arrival, temperature is each serviceand provider’s checked, they aretemperature required to is wear checked, andshields they are required to wear masks and during all services. masks shields allwait services.

Alland guests are during asked to outside All guests are asked wait outside until the station and to tools have been until the station andservices, tools have disinfected.

After onebeen of the disinfected.

After services, one were of thehired eight assistants, all of whom eight assistants, all of shutdown, whom werewill hired during the COVID during the the COVID shutdown, willbefore disinfect area and tools used disinfect areaarrives. and tools used before the nextthe guest This ensures there the guest arrives.

Thislobbies ensures there is next no one waiting in the and is allows no onefor waiting the lobbies and properinsocial distancing. allows for proper social distancing.

Upon entering, guests are asked Upon entering, are asked to properly wearguests their masks for the toduration properlyof wear their masks the is then their visit.

Eachfor guest duration their visit.ritual Eachthat guest is then given a of hand wash includes given a hand wash ritual that includes

antibacterial soap, a hand scrub with antibacterial soap, hand scrub with stress fix salts andacomposition oil, and stress salts sanitizer. and composition oil, and lastlyfixhand lastlySoleil hand7 sanitizer. is working at half capacity to Soleil 7social is working at halfascapacity to ensure distancing, recommended ensure distancing, as recommended by thesocial global corporation of Aveda and bythe theCDC’s global recommended corporation of safety Avedameasures. and the CDC’s safety “Healthrecommended and safety is vital tomeasures.

Soleil 7 “Health and safety said is vital to Soleil 7 and all businesses,” Borras.

“I can and all businesses,” said Borras. can sleep at night knowing we did “I everything sleep at night could knowing did everything we possibly do we to keep everyone wesafe possibly doour to keep everyone while could keeping service providers safe while ourand service safe, theirkeeping bills paid our providers business open. safe, paid our open.

Wetheir mustbills all do ourand part tobusiness help small We must all do ourand parttotokeep helpthe small businesses open economy businesses open and to keep the economy going while achieving optimal health.” goingSoleil while7achieving health.” continuesoptimal to ask for Soleil 7 continues to as asksalons for need community support, community support, as salons need it now more than ever.

The salon it welcomes now moreguests than ever. salon foiling, in forThe balayage, welcomes guests in forcolor, balayage, foiling, color melt, fashion hair cutting, color melt, fashion hair cutting, massages, facials, color, waxing, VoMor massages, facials, waxing, hair extensions, weddingVoMor services and hair extensions, wedding services and airbrush makeup services. airbrush “We makeup want youservices. to feel good from the “We want feel good the of inside out,”you saidtoBorras.

“Infrom a world inside Borras. “In a world of chaosout,” and said uncertainty, we can all find chaos andif uncertainty, we can all find beauty we are looking for it.” beauty if we are looking for it.”

S O L E I L 7 1 4 1 0 – C 6 M A R K E T S T. | ( 8 5 0 ) 7 2 7 - 0 4 8 2 7 -L0E4I L8 72 . C O M 1 4 S3 5O LE E . ILLA7F A1Y4E1 T0 T–E CS6T. M |A R(K8E5 T0 )S 6T.8 1 |- 6 (68851 0 )| 7S2O 1 4 3 5 E . L A F A Y E T T E S T. | ( 8 5 0 ) 6 8 1 - 6 6 8 1 | S O L E I L 7 . C O M

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CITIZEN OF STYLE

NARCISSUS’ BLOOMING FLOWER Juli Downs makes every day an event

by MARINA BROWN

T

here are different styles for different eras, right? The chestless chemises of the Roaring ’20s; the Leave It to Beaver ’50s; the Big-Haired pop styles of the ’60s and ’70s; the Broad-Shouldered ’80s and ’90s, and the panoply of Whatever Suits Your Fancy of the 2000s. But in the year 2020, another trend hit Florida and the fashion world and — Gulp! — we’re coming to believe it might be here for a while.

Call it Pandemic Chic.

Juli Downs, a doyen of style for more than 30 years, is the manager and buyer for Narcissus, one of Northeast Tallahassee’s most trusted boutiques for everything from trendy casual wear to attire for the most glamorous evenings of the year.

“We are known for event clothes,” she said. “The anniversaries and wedding days, where you want to say something special about yourself.”

But Downs, with her long history of fashion retailing, finds herself helping people articulate something slightly different these days.

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↗ Juli Downs models a lace top with puffy sleeves from Zero Degrees Celsius; vegan leather pants by Paige; and booties from See by Chloe.

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

photography by ALICIA OSBORNE

“Not only am I wearing them, but we are selling them like crazy,” she said. “It seems like everybody wants a mask to coordinate with their outfit.

Whether it’s boho or something elegant for a special occasion, we’re able to coordinate a mask with your attire.”

Yes, Narcissus has masks for all occasions: pink ones with a feminine blush, multicolored ones to dramatize a plain white blouse, a tailored, blackand-white form-fitter, and for a party or a Tallahassee gala, how about one of the new sequined masks or something with butterfly charms or fur?

Stylish women are adjusting in other ways as well.

“It’s hard to accessorize when you’ve got on a mask and your face is halfcovered,” noted Downs. “Earrings are smaller this year — ‘huggie’ loops and studs are in, and not as many scarves are used.” And she sees a new

emphasis on comfort clothing. With fewer people going into offices or in highly visible settings, finding solace in your clothing has taken on new meaning. “Now, wearing dark jeans or leggings to a party, paired with a dressy top and a coordinated mask, may work really well.”

For Downs, matching fashion trends, selecting the colors of the season or even incorporating masks into daily wear is all in a day’s work.

She graduated from Florida State with a degree in fashion merchandising and design and went on to work retail jobs in bridal and high-end department stores from Atlanta to California.

“But I found my niche in private boutique clothing stores where your customers become friends, and you know exactly what they like,” she said.

Narcissus was born in 1989, originally as a lingerie and swimwear

↖ Robes and intimates. ↑ Assorted earrings designed to make bold statements. ↑ Flats

by Tory Burch are made for comfort.

specialty store. Ten years ago, Pink Narcissus, selling exclusively Lily Pulitzer designs, settled in across the street. Now there are Pink Narcissus stores in three other cities.

And what of Downs’ personal fashion preferences? Laughingly describing herself as petite and “fashion-forward,” she modestly says that others might call her style “age-appropriate” and “put together.”

She loves jewelry that catches the eye and Tory Burch shoes that are elegant and comfortable. But that’s not to say that she won’t dress up.

“Even though the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Gala has been postponed until spring, I’ll be wearing a beautiful gown when the moment comes,” she said.

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A gold jacket from Trina Turk is a favorite piece in Downs’ wardrobe. She has coupled it here with a T-shirt from Paige, leggings and snakeskin block heels from Tory Burch.

Downs reflected on what has affected everyone for the past months.

“You can’t ignore the effects of the pandemic,” she said. “I think everyone feels slightly depressed, but there are ways to celebrate even if it’s within your own house, at your own dinner table.

“Take the time to dress up, set the table beautifully, put on your makeup, fix your hair and wear a gorgeous dress that will make someone else happy, too.

Remember that you are part of someone else’s story, and they’re part of yours. So make every day an event to be dressed for, something to be remembered beautifully in the tale of our lives.”

And while you’re at it, she said, don’t forget to shop locally if you can. TM

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Downs’ advice during this time: “Take the time to dress up, set the table beautifully, put on your makeup, fix your hair and wear a gorgeous dress that will make someone else happy, too. Remember that you are part of someone else’s story, and they’re part of yours. So make every day an event to be dressed for, something to be remembered beautifully in the tale of our lives.”

photography by ALICIA OSBORNE

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PROMOTION

Changing

Your Spots Pigmentation treatments are best reserved for fall or winter

T

he summer sun has the effect of accelerating pigment production and highlighting brown spots, but they are best treated in the fall and winter when people naturally tend to spend less time outdoors.

“We typically take a multi-modal approach to brown spots, technically called benign pigmented lesions,” said Dr. Alfredo Paredes at the Tallahassee Plastic Surgery Clinic.

“They can be difficult, but we have very good treatments available and we often use them in combination.”

To maximize their effectiveness, however, and to discourage possible complications, patients are asked to avoid the sun both before and after treatments are performed.

■

Laser treatments. Dr. Paredes has found that the Pico Genesis laser, often employed in tattoo removal, is extremely effective on brown spots.

The device emits rays of light at the rate of one per one trillionth of a second, producing a photo-acoustic effect that shatters brown spots into tiny pieces. The immune system then

effectively eats those particles, and the brown spot fades or goes away. The treatment also works well on melisma, a darkening of the cheeks that is associated with pregnancy.

■

■

Chemical peels and microneedling.

“These may be done together or in a series,” Dr. Paredes explained. “They remove the top layer of skin that may include brown spots.” An intended result is peeling and flaking of the skin, which uncovers new skin that may be pink and especially vulnerable to sunburn. “During the healing process, the body clears brown spots and makes the skin look smoother.”

Topical skin care products.

Dr. Paredes particularly recommends two products from SkinCeuticals.

Both work hormonally to decrease the amount of pigment production in brown spots. They are not bleaching agents, and while they are applied to the entire face, they work to regulate pigment production only in those

areas where it is excessive. Phloretin serum contains an ingredient found in green apple skin that prevents the fruit from turning brown. Discoloration Defense serum contains several active ingredients. Both are useful in maintaining the results obtained from lasers, peels and microneedling and should be applied for eight to 12 weeks. Vitamin A derivative products, including Retin-A and retinol creams, also help with pigmentation and wrinkles, resulting in smoother skin.

“With the topical products, as is true with laser treatments, peels and microneedling, it’s important to stay out of the sun,” Dr. Paredes emphasized. “These products and the sun both regulate pigmentation and will work at cross-purposes unless the sun is avoided.

“Of course, for people used to going to the beach or spending time on a boat, sun avoidance is much more easily accomplished in the fall or winter. And many patients find that healing processes are more comfortable when the humidity is lower and temperatures are cooler.”

TALLAHASSEE PLASTIC SURGERY CLINIC

2452 MAHAN DRIVE, SUITE 101 | (850) 877-2126 | TLHPLASTICSURGERY.COM Larry L. Harper, M.D. • Alfredo A. Paredes, Jr., M.D. • Jeffrey M. Rawlings, M.D. • Sue Anne Pearce, Licensed Esthetician • Kansas Gowan, Licensed Esthetician

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DESTINATION KEVIN’S

BY FLIGHTLINE FOR THE SPORTING LIFE

Hunting Apparel • Fine Guns • Lifestyle Products

kevinscatalog.com | Customer Service (800) 953-8467 Kevin’s Gunroom | kevinsguns.com | For Gun Inquiries (229) 226-7766

“The Daher Kodiak 100 Series II is the ultimate aerial SUV. Contact Jeff Vickers at Flightline Group to learn more about this extraordinary aircraft. (877) 359-7473 www.flightlinegroup.com TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

November-December 2020

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PROMOTION

Deck the Halls with Lots of

JEWELRY As the holidays approach, we are creating gift-giving lists. While there are many gift options available, fine jewelry is one gift that keeps on giving. With that in mind, and to make your shopping a bit more effortless, here are our Top 10 Gift Recommendations for various recipients. Check out our recommendations, and shop them in-store or online at GemCollection.com. Happy Gift Giving!

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âžş The Gem Collection 3501 Thomasville Road | (850) 893-4171 | GemCollection.com

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PROMOTION

1. YELLOW GOLD OCTAGON-SHAPED CENTER SIGNET RING

4 5

For the stylish jewelry-wearing man. The flat shape gives a clean-cut look. Featured in 14-karat yellow gold. $599

2. ELLE BUBBLE CASCADING DANGLE

EARRINGS The go-to occasion earring at a great price! Gift someone with silver earrings perfect for any occasion that they will wear for years to come. These rhodium-plated sterling silver Elle dangle earrings feature cascading cubic zirconia. $120

3. ‘MRS’ CODE BAND WITH SAPPHIRES For the wifey — a popular and trendy ring that is sure to be a conversation starter. Designed by famous dress designer Hayley Paige. $790

7

4. ED LEVIN SECRET DEVOTION ‘LOVE’

BRACELET For the girlfriend — she will feel loved with this secret message appearing as she twists and turns this piece. Featured in sterling silver. $330

6

5. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY STUD EARRINGS A Florida State fan on the list could

always use a nice pair of classic FSU earrings to sport, whether it’s football season or the offseason.

Featured in sterling silver and gold vermeil. $59

6. DIAMOND COMPASS PENDANT AND CHAIN Is there someone on your list navigating a new way of life, unfamiliar roads or change?

The compass pendant is a great gift for them as it symbolizes guidance. This necklace is 14 karat yellow gold. $790

7. JOHN HARDY CLASSIC CHAIN BRACELET WITH GOLD CLASP

The John Hardy line is completely stackable! Start a special person’s collection with this classic piece, featured in sterling silver and 18 karat gold. $1,195

8. JOHN HARDY MEN’S MODERN CHAIN

8

CUFF-LINKS He will feel classy and stylish when gifted with these John Hardy cufflinks. Each cufflink measures 16.5-by-16.5mm. $350

9. SAPPHIRE & DIAMOND FLORAL & WAVE-PATTERNED BANGLE The “big” gift

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for her. If you’re doing it big this Christmas — this is the one! This elegant 18-karat white gold floral and wave-patterned bangle features 45 fine blue sapphires (7.92 tcw) and 256 round diamonds (3.79 tcw). $18,000

10. ANNA BECK GOLD MEDIUM BAR

NECKLACE For your best friend — a classic gold bar necklace perfect for everyday wear and/or stacking. This necklace is on a 16-by-18 inch, goldplated adjustable chain. $175

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panache

The Hare & The Hart ➸ Count your blessings with the JOSEPHINE PRAYER BOWL. This thoughtful gift, containing a package of prayer cards, is made of porcelain or handcarved wood and is both purposeful and beautiful in its many designs. ➸ There are few evenings more relaxing than one spent by the fire cozied up in a luxurious throw blanket. BRONTE BY MOON BLANKETS are manufactured by Abraham Moon & Sons Ltd., who have been producing quality wool products at their mill in Yorkshire, England, since 1837. This dreamy soft, Shetland wool blanket is perfect for cuddling. ➸ The SEDA FRANCE CANDLE in the

scent Epices de Saison is the official candle of the season. Your mouth will water as the aromas of ground ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar waft through your home. The burn time of over 60 hours won’t seem long enough.

Hearth & Soul ➸ The CAMPO DIFFUSER

What’s In Store?

A roundup of retail happenings throughout Tallahassee

by REBECCA PADGETT

Decorate your home with beautiful items that provide a warm, spirited and celebratory atmosphere. Whether you are shopping for gifts or preparing to host a holiday party, Tallahassee retailers help you check items off your list.

COTON COLORS

➸ The PAELLA PAN BY

SERTODO COPPER is a stunning addition to any foodie’s collection. The beautiful warm copper is perfectly accented with a hot-tinned interior to cultivate a professional cooking experience. An ideal pan not only for paella but also omelets, crepes, vegetables and even bacon.

Coton Colors ORNAMENTS are the ideal gift for anyone on your list. With a wide selection of styles for most any occasion and celebration, these ornaments are a thoughtful way to trim your tree with memories of all of life’s wonderful moments, from new jobs and engagements to growing families and more. Any ornament or gift can be personalized with messages or monograms, making it all the more special. // Let Coton Colors set your holiday table with their FESTIVE TABLEWARE that comes in a variety of colors and hand-drawn designs crafted right here in Tallahassee.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF COTON COLORS, THE HARE & THE HART AND HEARTH & SOUL

↓

COTON COLORS

is equal parts beautiful, meaningful and useful. This diffuser is like a piece of art that offers the added bonus of releasing essential oil blends. Pair it with a blend such as energy, immune, detox or relax for an intention-filled gift.

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Call 850-894-9098 and press 5

Now offering Curbside Service – Visit any CAMPUS Service Center Killearn 1511 Killearn Center Blvd. | Governor’s Crossing 101 N. Blair Stone Rd. | Mahan Village 3122 Mahan Dr. Membership is open to anyone in Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, and Wakulla counties.3 May not be combined with any other offer. Offer subject to change without notice. One bonus per household. Offer not available to members with an existing CAMPUS checking account. 1. Within the first 90 days, member must elect to receive eDocuments and establish Direct Deposit of at least $200 per month. If the requirements are met and the account remains open after 90 days, the $300 reward will be made available to the member. $300 is considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT. 2. Credit approval and initial $50 opening deposit required. Member must elect to receive eDocuments.

3. Credit approval and initial $5 deposit required. Other restrictions may apply. Federally insured by the NCUA. TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM May–June 2020

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PROMOTION

Holiday GIFT GUIDE

FARMER’S DAUGHTER VINEYARDS Knockout Pinot noir style. Sweet with heat and spice.

Jammy blueberry pie filling. $25*

Whether you want to deck yourself out for date night, thank a coworker or find a unique gift for someone on your nice list, our handy Holiday Gift Guide will make your shopping spree in Tallahassee a breeze. With fabulous finds ranging from upscale designer duds to treat-yourself gifts, sensational seasonal shopping is simply in the bag! Now that’s the spirit!

SOUTHEASTERN PLASTIC SURGERY, P.A.

Treat that special someone to luxurious medical spa services with the Southeastern Plastic Surgery Gift Card. Services are given by highly trained, licensed aestheticians who combine spa luxury with state-of-the-art equipment and the latest technology.

Contact us to learn more.

2030 Fleischmann Road, (850) 219-2000 SE-PlasticSurgery.com

Bombshell An FDV classic, reimagined — this refined dry white is back with all the citrus, pear and passionfruit sass of a sauvignon blanc. $20* StompedInGeorgia.com *$19 flat rate shipping nationwide

PINK NARCISSUS

Lilly Pulitzer Hat, $38 Shop local at Pink Narcissus for colorful holiday gifts, including stocking stuffers, cashmere sweaters and printed scarves.

1350 Market St., Suite 100 (850) 597-8201

SOLEIL 7

Botanical Repair Light Mask, $44 Botanical Repair Leave-in Treatment, $37 Botanical Repair Rich Mask, $59 Transform your hair for the holidays or give as a gift. Formulated with molecular plant repair. Instantly strengthens hair from the inside out. Hair is visibly revived, shinier and full of life.

1410 Market St., C-6, (850) 727-0482 1435 E. Lafayette St., Ste. 107, (850) 681-6681, Soleil7.com

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PHOTOS BY SAIGE ROBERTS (SOLEIL 7, PINK NARCISSUS, FARMER’S DAUGHTERS VINEYARD, LOFTY PURSUITS, TALLAHASSEE PLASTIC SURGERY)

Sand Angel A delicate and surprisingly dry rosé that speaks of strawberry and honeysuckle. $22*

PROMOTION

DIVVY UP

Custom Socks, Starting at $24 Create custom socks using your own images! The perfect gift for someone who has everything.

DivvyUpSocks.com

UPTOWN CAFE AND CATERING

Uptown Apricot Smoked Salmon is a Tallahassee Holiday tradition for over 10 years. We ship: UptownSalmon.com.

1325 Miccosukee Road (850) 219-9800, UptownCafeAndCatering.com

TALLAHASSEE PLASTIC SURGERY Resveratrol B E - Nighttime Antioxidant Serum This serum neutralizes free radicals, supports skin’s natural antioxidant defenses and reveals radiance and firmness. $153 Glycolic 10 Renew Overnight Glycolic Acid Cream Nighttime glycolic acid cream contains a triple action-soothing complex that supports the skin barrier while enhancing clarity and brightness. $80

LOFTY PURSUITS

Bringing families together with fun since 1993. Lofty Pursuits has handmade candy, ice cream and brunch.

Find the perfect gift, toys and games for any number of players. Order food and gifts online for delivery.

1355 Market St., A11 (850) 521-0091, LoftyPursuits.com

2452 Mahan Drive, Suite 101 (850) 877-2126, TlhPlasticSurgery.com

APPLE PIE MAIDS CLEANING

Save your valuable time and hire a cleaning service. Let us help you accomplish your goals by setting up a cleaning routine.

Leave the cleaning to our trustworthy cleaners. Serving Tallahassee since 2011!

(850) 273-9082 ApplePieMaids.com

SOUTHERN SEAFOOD

New Location in Market Square Now Open Fresh Gulf seafood makes a great gift for the holidays! Stone crabs and lobster are now in season and are always a hit at any party or at home among family and friends. Gift cards are also available.

(850) 893-7301 1415 Timberlane Road in Market Square SouthernSeafoodMarket.com

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gastro&gusto NOV/DEC 2020

FROM THE SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE TO THE PIECE DE RESISTANCE

LIBATIONS

BOTTLES AND BOWS

Making spirits bright … with spirits

by REBECCA PADGETT

↓

DINING IN photography by SAIGE ROBERTS

Colorful, Elegant, Easy Holiday Hors D’oeuvres

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gastro & gusto

I

f you don’t want to show up to a holiday party empty-handed or you’re seeking a gift that will impress, a bourgeois or better bottle of booze will do the trick. Although buying a bottle is easier than trying to decipher a recipient’s fashion or musical tastes, gifts of spirits should be made with intention and care in order to be memorable and truly a gift.

Select a bottle that will occupy a prominent place on a bar cart. You want your bottle to be featured front and center, not pushed behind more unique and tasteful options only to collect dust until the next holiday season.

“A great gift is something that someone can share to celebrate special moments, which is why the right beverage choice can help you relax and unwind, adding happiness to any occasion,” said David Plendl, manager at Market Square Liquors.

Think outside of the boxed wine, and consider port, cognac, rye, mescal, bourbon and liqueurs. If you go the wine route, think about regions known for their flavor profiles such as South Africa. For beer, lean local. Everyone loves a local brewery, all the better if it’s one the gift receiver has never heard of.

Be mindful of the occasion. For a casual holiday house party, Plendl suggests a midrange bottle of popular wine such as chardonnay or pinot noir or a seasonal holiday beer.

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Angela Burroughs, founder of Proof Brewing Co., suggests bringing a beer that is accessible to multiple palates, such as Mango Wit or Featherweight. For fun seasonal and winter options, she turns to Royal Bloodline, Coffee Creatures or Prickly Pear Margarita Kissing Giants.

Libations brought to parties are shared with the purpose of being consumed that night. They are a nice gesture that enhances the overall mood of the party, but one that doesn’t have to break the holiday budget.

If you’re attending a family gathering, consider ports, madeira, whiskey or any liqueur. Liqueurs are ideal for holiday sipping alone or in a festive cocktail. Bring the bottle complete with fixings.

“For a boss or respected colleague, you should aim for something of higher quality and a little harder to find,” said Plendl.

Plendl suggests a fine bourbon or whiskey from Market Square’s extensive collection. Some of his favorite private barrel collections include Smooth Ambler, Woodford Reserve, Knob Creek, Russell’s Reserve, Elijah Craig and Old Forester.

These are meant to be sipped slowly and enjoyed. Will they cause the boss to warm up to the idea of granting big holiday bonuses? It doesn’t hurt to try.

“When giving a beer or spirit as a gift, I would recommend understanding what the individual is interested in and focusing on their specific tastes,” said Burroughs. “There are high-end and seasonal products or year-round spirits that can be geared toward personality types and special relationships.”

When shopping for a family member or friend, it’s most important to consider what his preferred pour is. If Uncle Bob raves about rum, get him that whimsical bottle that will remind him of the beach in December.

If your best friend is a gin drinker, spring for the unique art deco bottle that you know she will proudly display. Where close friends and family are involved, look for bottles that are eye-catching, new to the market or limited editions.

Gifting a libation that you can sip, swill or mix is sure to fuel the holiday spirit. TM photography by SAIGE ROBERTS

↑ Sprigs, bulbs, ribbons, fronds and blooms all add to

the presentation of spirits in the spirit of the holiday.

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gastro & gusto

Black Bean Salsa Courtesy of Black Fig

➸ 1¼ cups of thawed frozen corn ➸ 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed ➸ 1 tablespoon sugar ➸¼ cup olive oil ➸ ¼ cup white vinegar ➸ 2 each finely chopped green onion ➸ 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro ➸ ¼ cup crumbled feta Combine and serve in an individual shooter glass with a tiny spoon or it can be served in a bowl with crackers.

DINING IN

COMFORTABLE FOODS

Skewered by the pandemic, party hosts make adjustments

by ROCHELLE KOFF

T

he pandemic has changed so many things in our lives, but one of the most difficult is being separated from family and friends. So it’s no wonder that with the holidays coming up, we’re looking for ways to celebrate the season with the people we love while staying safe.

Chefs and caterers note they’re expecting smaller gatherings this year, likely outdoors with social distancing. It may be a party just for family members or close friends. No one is talking about big, glitzy events.

To adjust to the seismic shift in the party scene, hospitality experts are revising the types of foods they recommend and the manner in which they are served in order to make guests feel comfortable.

“The black bean and corn salsa that we used to serve with corn chips is now in a shooter

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cup, but it’s still delicious anywhere,” said Jenny Eason, catering director at Black Fig, a catering service with a gourmet meal to-go operation in its shop on Village Square Boulevard. “People are looking for anything on a skewer, even finger sandwiches.”

Party planners may still be offering some exotic items like Hawaii’s chopped fish sensation, poké, but it may be offered as an individual serving instead of in a bowl. A tip from the pros: Don’t dismiss the basics this year.

“The trend is toward comfort food,” said Eason.

Some of Black Fig’s popular choices are onion and goat cheese tarts, tomato pies and pigs in a blanket with Bradley sausage in puff pastry with a mushroom cream sauce.

Another change is that hosts are picking up appetizers and courses they will be serving

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

↖ Creating a

cheese board

Whether you’re making a cheese or charcuterie board or individualized versions of a cheese board, here are some tips.

➸ Start with the cheeses you want. Pick at least one hard cheese, a medium and a soft cheese, said cheese board maker extraordinaire Kolchakian.

Her favorite cheeses include Asher Blue from Sweet Grass Dairy and Cypress Grove chevre cheese with lavender and dill. If it’s an outdoor gathering, you may want to choose harder cheeses that will hold up longer. “Cheese is meant to be eaten at room temperature,” she said. ➸ For your charcuterie or meat items, consider salami, dry cured pork shoulder, coppa, soppressata, thinly sliced meats like prosciutto and spreadable items like pâté. ➸ For your bread picks, you can use crackers, crostini or baguettes. Accent your plate, Kolchakian said, with fresh or dried fruit, jams, pickled items, chutney, nuts and garnish with herbs.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANNON KOLCHAKIAN

Cheese board created by Shannon Kolchakian

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gastro & gusto Continuing to safely spread love through food for 37 years 1325 Miccosukee Road (across from TMH) (850) 219-9800 www.Uptown.Cafe Mon.-Sat. 7 AM to 3 PM Sun. 8 AM to 2 PM

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(850) 385-8811 | MidtownIns.com | 410 E. 6th Ave.

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themselves without the help of staff. “Catering to go is the most popular option right now,” said Eason.

Cheese and charcuterie boards are still popular but probably with adjustments, said Shannon Kolchakian, who has an Instagram blog called tallycheeseboards. Her photos of artistic, mouthwatering boards have attracted a large, devoted following. She offered cheeseboard classes preCOVID but mostly does the boards for fun — she’s not a caterer.

“It was an obsession that led to a passion,” said Kolchakian.

She dreams up themes that are a creative outlet for her and her fans. Look on her site, and you’ll see boards featuring a Southwestern theme with a cactus cut out of a round of brie surrounded by the fixins’ for tacos or boards reflecting a season or birthday theme.

When it comes to holiday entertaining this year, hosts may want to deconstruct the board to make it more of an individualized appetizer instead of a communal meal, Kolchakian said.

“Safety is very important. If it were me, I’d really lean toward individual boxes. You can still make it beautiful.”

Hosts can assemble a picnic box or cookie tin filled with items you’d pull off a cheese or charcuterie board, like a few pieces of cheese and meat, some crackers, nuts, dried fruits and jams or pickled items.

The idea is to work with colors and symmetry to create a cheese board that’s not only delicious but captures the attention, said Kolchakian. “You eat with your eyes.”

And that’s true no matter what hors d’oeuvres you whip up. TM

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLACK FIG CATERING SERVICE

Black Fig’s Black Bean Salsa

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$ Harry’s Holiday Trio Tender grilled Filet medallions topped with delicately fried Lobster and Shrimp accented with our New Orleans sherry cream sauce.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WORKMANS

ADVERTISEMENT

Restaurant Spotlight

Osaka Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar Osaka has been operating in the heart of Tallahassee for over two decades and was rebuilt earlier this year at a new location off Capital Circle in order to maintain a fresh, clean atmosphere for all customers and staff. From the conception of the Chous’ first Osaka in 1990 to the rebuild, owners Michael and Annie Chou have always held true to three enduring values: cleanliness, service and quality. Over the years, they have grown into other markets and opened Osaka restaurants in both Panama City Beach at Pier Park and in the heart of Destin.

Open daily for lunch and dinner, Osaka offers hibachi, a full-service bar and Gulf-fresh sushi and sashimi from their expansive sushi bar, which is the heart of each of their locations. The exterior architecture of the buildings, surrounded by koi ponds and tranquil landscaping, will make you feel as if you’re entering an authentic, local restaurant in Osaka, Japan.

The success of Osaka is due in large part to the commitment of Osaka’s employees. The head chef in Tallahassee joined the team shortly after the restaurant opened nearly three decades ago, and the head sushi chef has been with

Osaka for 15 years. This type of tenure in the restaurant business is quite rare but speaks to the consistency and loyalty that the Chous have established in the workplace. It also shows the high level of job satisfaction from the employees.

Whether you’re seated at a hibachi table or at the sushi bar, the Osaka staff will make you feel like family. A show in itself, the hibachi room is filled with excitement, laughter and the delightful aroma of fried rice. It is the perfect space for all corporate events, special occasions and celebrations, and it offers seating for up to 100. If you’re in the mood for something more intimate, step inside the sushi bar area to witness their meticulous handcrafted rolls filled with fresh caught seafood and farm fresh ingredients. The expansive menu allows guests to try something new during each visit along with their ever-changing sushi specials.

Over the years, Osaka has won numerous awards, including Best Sushi and Best Hibachi from the readers of Tallahassee Magazine as well as Best Asian Restaurant, Best Sushi and Best Hibachi by the readers of Emerald Coast Magazine. They’ve also been voted as the

Best In Destin for Asian Cuisine by VIP Destin Magazine.

Visit OsakaHibachiAndSushi.com to find out more about booking your reservation for lunch, dinner or your next special occasion. Find Osaka Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with the current specials, events and more.

OSAKA JAPANESE HIBACHI STEAKHOUSE & SUSHI BAR 1489 MACLAY COMMERCE DRIVE, TALLAHASSEE | (850) 900-5149 (850) 531-0222 | THEOSAKASTEAKHOUSE.COM

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November-December 2020

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William Smith President, Leon County smith.william@ccbg.com 850.402.8136

William Smith Recently Named President for Leon County With more than a decade of experience as a Capital City Banker, William now leads the Leon County bankers you’ve come to know and trust. Our bankers continue to be dedicated to meeting your banking needs and helping you reach your financial goals.

www.ccbg.com 60

May–June 602020 November-December TALLAHASSEEMAGA 2020 ZINE.COM TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

expression

NOV/DEC 2020

KEEPING TABS ON ALL THAT MUSES INSPIRE

ART

PHOTO COURTESY OF BETH APPLETON

ALL OF A PIECE

Beth Appleton is a watercolorist armed with a craft knife

by STEVE BORNHOFT

BOOKS

‘Evil at Lake Seminole’ Recounts a Murder

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expression

A

rtist Beth Appleton grew up in “Old Florida” near Ocala, where her aunt maintained a produce and souvenir stand. Among its rows of plastic alligators, orange blossom perfume and such, Appleton found inspiration and began to live the life of a creative. While she never realized her dream of becoming a Weeki Wachee mermaid, she finds that “while lost in art, I can float.” She once participated in an artists’ exhibit in Atlanta called “Infinitesimal to the Infinite.”

That, as well as any phrase could, sums up her work. In the smallest life forms, Appleton finds connection, magnificence and grand designs. She lives in coastal Franklin County and in August, fielded a few questions from Rowland Publishing executive editor Steve Bornhoft.

SB: How did you come to art?

Who, what or what about you led you there?

Beth: I can’t remember a time when I

was not creating art; it feels natural, like breathing. I believe everything we see has impact on the art we create, whether we are aware of it or not. Years spent on a farm in Quincy cultivated dragon’s blood red and travels to Belize brought out the bright yellows. My life is full of stories that weave through my work.

As a young girl, I was verbally shy but

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discovered so many other ways to express myself. I danced, practiced underwater ballet and played the family piano by ear for hours at a time. I loved my aunt’s kitschy roadside fruit stand — it was so delightfully tacky. I sculpted with ditch clay, made clothes for my paper dolls and daydreamed with a pencil in hand. Muses led me to creative writing in high school, and I still illustrate personal diaries and write books. I have always tried to find creative workarounds to solve ordinary problems, which is a kinder way of saying

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

I am compulsive. My life has been rich in adventure and art, always encouraged by my husband David Harbaugh.

SB: What do you try to achieve with your art? How did you intend to affect people?

Beth: The act of making art is intuitive

and exhilarating; it is good for my soul.

It’s healing and keeps me balanced. I hope by sharing it, the viewer will get that spark from it, too. I love the ability to explore a diversity of media; each offers

Dave bought me a microscope in 2010, the year of the BP oil spill. As a boat captain, Dave was familiar with the area, and we volunteered as a team with Apalachicola Riverkeeper to help establish a baseline for comparison.

We spent weeks on the water gathering visual data from as many important fragile estuarine nurseries as we could reach in case oil crept into our bay. Later in my studio, I would examine the water samples collected from our bay and all these special places. I was wonderstruck!

These images inspired by our microworld started showing up in my art.

I was fascinated then, and I still am.

SB: What are the steps in your creative process?

Beth: 1. Get out of the way. 2. Trust it

will flow. 3. Let go and enjoy.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BETH APPLETON

↑ “Allegro-The Night Sky” pulses with energy and appears to have been inspired by both sights and sounds. ← Buildings and trees yield to a stiff breeze and detritus fills the air in “Hurricane Charley.” The artist’s own features (see previous page) emerge in “Hurricane Mask.” As a child, Beth Appleton sculpted with ditch clay; today, her preferred medium is cut paper.

a different opportunity. I try to keep up with technology so I can use the computer as an art tool. Since 1989, I have created watercolor cut paper assemblages. I begin a piece with a general goal in mind but have learned to trust my intuition. If I bog down over spatial issues or question my direction, I sleep on it and wake up with the solution. I never take the ease of that magic for granted. When I am creating an assemblage, I don’t really think about how the finished work will affect others.

I just get absorbed in the work. Creating art and sharing it are very different.

Once completed, many of the macro and microscopic inspired works do become teaching aids. If a person can’t see a thing, they might not learn to care about it. The importance of maintaining ecological balance among the tiniest life in our food chain is critical. Everything in nature is connected. I use my art to start a dialog and bring awareness of our hidden world.

I do love to see viewers get lost in a piece like I did in creating it.

SB: How did you arrive at cut paper as your preferred medium?

Beth: By 1989, I was painting with oils on

large canvases and drawing on paper with Prismacolor pencils. As a paste-up artist at the Gadsden County Times, a sharp craft knife was the main tool I used to cut and arrange layouts. One night working late in my studio, I ruined the background of an otherwise successful drawing. Without much thought, I just reached for my knife, cut it out and replaced it anew. This simple act gave me the freedom I needed to change my mind, shuffle possibilities and experiment with color. I loved that idea, and my works grew more dimensional with each new piece.

SB: You have written that, “I delight in tiny marine life and stand in awe of infinite sky.” Such a beautiful line. You find art in the tiniest life forms. How did that fascination come about?

Beth: Knowing my love for detail,

SB: Describe your home and studio. Where do you reside?

Beth: We have called Franklin County

our home for the past 29 years. Our stomping ground has been the estuary surrounding St. George Island, Eastpoint and Apalachicola that lies right at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. Living close to the edge gives us a bird’s eye view of the coastline, which can be precarious at times. This has been an amazing place to perch, watch weather and witness change over all this time. Our home and art studio merge, and the space shuffles kinetically depending on projects. We live with two older feral cats that chose us years ago and a rescue puppy we brought home just before the pandemic. We have always grown a garden and live near the wide-open vistas that drew us here. I used to think one day we might build a large studio, but I have come to realize our life and art have always been one and the same. Our home is eclectic and colorful, filled with books, music, computers, microscopes and wonderful works by artist friends. Long tables hold a rainbow of hand colored papers, watercolor palettes and works in progress. I’m like a messy creative storm while Dave makes it all come together: organizing, matting,

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expression

↖ Debris collected by moon-driven water is central to “Rising Tide,” a work that reflects artist Beth Appleton’s fascination with micro-organisms — diatoms and such.

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always recorded our history, and as we look back on this chaotic year, we’ll find our arts community has found ingenious ways to carry its message forward. As communication shifts virtual, we find alternative ways to share our work.

SB: In a world increasingly dominated by social media and ephemeral exchanges, what is the role of art? Can it help heal divides, serve as a source of optimism amid a pandemic?

Beth: I continue to be motivated

SB: Among artists, whom do you particularly admire?

Beth: I was profoundly influenced by

by other artists; this has been especially true during these months of isolation. Recently I read local writer Susan Cerulean’s new book, I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird.

Acknowledging she can’t save the world, Susan summons activism while honing in on one endangered shorebird. By focusing on diatoms and other indicators of change, I try to do the same with my own art.

It’s energizing to share this kinship with other artists and we all inspire each other. Art in all its forms has

FSU professor and brilliant colorist, the late William Walmsley. He was always respectfully kind, and I could relate to his quiet ways. His own art amazed me as an art neophyte, and I can still remember his stories. As an educator, it was not really what he said but the unusual way he said it. The fact that he found merit in my earliest attempts as an artist led me to want to pursue it for a lifetime. One person can make a difference. I have always admired our own regional artists and appreciate organizations like COCA,

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LeMoyne Art Foundation and the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum who stay dedicated to promoting the arts.

SB: Talk to me about the JOBA gallery. How has it been received?

What activities take place there?

Beth: Since April 2018, David and

I have enjoyed sharing a gallery in Apalachicola with talented visual artist and musician Jenny Odom. The logo letters reflect our initials. Together we bring forth all our talents to make this gallery more multi-faceted than we could accomplish on our own. Along with showcasing and creating our own new works to exhibit and sell, we have featured guest artists. We love helping Jenny host concerts, and we offer exciting forums with poets and writers, too. Before the pandemic, our gallery was growing as a hub for creatives, which thrilled us. The last event we presented was “Sci Café,” a collaborative effort with the Apalachicola National Estuarine

PHOTO COURTESY OF BETH APPLETON

framing, taking care of the business end of making art a career for us both. We have been a creative team since 1978.

Research Reserve, which was wildly successful.

Because we do occupy a small space, we felt the responsibility to close our gallery to the general public as the pandemic spread, but we continue to look for other ways to help promote the arts. We stay busy producing a documentary that will feature and thank all our past participants, and we’re learning how to host Zoom artist interviews. We’re just taking it day by day to do what we can to offer an alternative venue where art can continue to inspire.

SB: Please reflect for a bit about your years in Tallahassee and in Gadsden County.

Beth: I have always loved Tallahassee; it was a

small college town when I landed there in 1967.

I will never forget my first impression driving up from Ocala when the rolling hills started hinting that my life was about to change forever.

After graduating from FSU, it was the perfect place to stay and earn my living teaching, and it’s where I first launched as a visual artist. After five years of teaching art in Leon County public schools, I left to travel the country trying to find a niche in the art world, but I kept circling back to Tallahassee as my home base. Though I now live 75 miles away, I love staying connected to the Tallahassee arts community and treasure longtime friendships. When I say, “I’m going to town,” I mean Tallahassee. While on the road in 1978, David and I read an ad in the Talquin Electric Current: MOVE TO THE COUNTRY! Large old farmhouse nestled in pecan, fruit trees and ornamentals on five very private acres in Quincy. This would become our dream home studio for the next 13 years. During that time, we both worked for the county newspaper while trading our veggies, eggs, pecans and fruit at the former food co-op on Gaines Street. I developed a body of art that we started exhibiting in cities like Miami, Sausalito and Ann Arbor. In 1989, we began transforming abandoned buildings into art spaces around Quincy’s Square when we founded “Art in Gadsden, A Regional Exhibition of Fine Art.” When its momentum grew past our capabilities, we passed the baton to more capable hands, and it evolved into Gadsden Arts Center, now a museum. We are proud to have planted that tiny seed long ago, but its continued success rests with the dedication of supporters and leaders like Zoe Galloway and the present director, Grace Robinson, who, along with her team, continues to keep arts thriving in Gadsden.

In 1992, we went primitive camping at St. George Island State Park, our favorite getaway. We would soon be moving. TM

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PROMOTION

With a Wide Array of Music, Pianist Brings People Together Marvin Goldstein looks forward to playing at home

B

lessed is music, for it is a peacemaker.

For 61 years — he started at age 9 as an accordionist — Marvin Goldstein has been performing music for audiences. He has witnessed on several continents the capacity of music to bring disparate people together. He recalls with fondness a concert he orchestrated in Jerusalem attended in equal numbers by Arabs and Israelis who discovered, at least for a time, kinship and common ground.

An internationally acclaimed pianist, Goldstein has a passion for improvisation and a talent for customization.

As he travels the world, he compliments his audiences by playing music indigenous to the countries he visits. But on Dec. 5, as part of Florida State’s 2020–21 Opening Nights performing arts series, Goldstein is staying home.

Even at that, he recognizes that there will be discordant perspectives to try to bridge.

In a year dominated by a pandemic and a rancorous political season, Goldstein may be just the tonic we all need.

He will take the stage at The Moon with nothing more than a list of the musical genres he will tap into: sacred and popular holiday music representing multiple religions; international music; Broadway show tunes; pop; and light rock. He will be playing tunes, he said, from every decade of the 20th century.

“It’s going to be a huge array,” he said, “and, unlike most pianists, I am going to take live requests. That’s dangerous, but as a performer, I like living on the edge.”

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Goldstein has been a Floridian since 1959 and a Tallahassean since 1969. He studied at the Tel Aviv School of Music in Israel and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Florida State, the latter in musical performance (French horn). He debuted the Steinway art case pianos locally at DeVoe Moore’s Tallahassee Auto Museum.

At age 31, he met with Liberace and Wayne Newton in hopes of catching on with them. Both advised him

to do his own thing. “It was the best advice I ever received,” Goldstein said. “If I had played with either, he always would have been the star.”

As the star of his own show, Goldstein is looking forward to playing in front of a Tallahassee crowd.

“Sometimes, people think that anyone from out of town is always better than someone local,” he said.

He plans to prove that thinking wrong.

“Music is a benign inoculation,” he said. “I will bring people together.”

See Marvin Goldstein live Marvin Goldstein will perform at The Moon, 1105 E. Lafayette St., on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. Social distancing protocols will be observed.

For ticket information, contact Opening Nights at (850) 644-7670 or visit OpeningNights.fsu.edu.

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BOOKS

DUCK DEAL GONE BAD Crime writer drawn to story of a murder at Lake Seminole

D

enise Williams had an uncanny ability to cause others to do whatever she wanted, even if that meant killing a best friend.

That’s the assessment of trial lawyer and author Steve Epstein, whose second book, Evil at Lake Seminole, was released in June. The nonfiction work details events leading up to the disappearance of Mike Williams, examines subsequent investigations and concludes with the first-degree murder conviction and sentencing of Denise Williams, Mike’s wife at the time of his death.

Investigators concluded that Mike Williams, an FSU graduate and property appraiser, drowned on Dec. 16, 2000, at Lake Seminole while duck hunting and, when no body was found, theorized that alligators had eaten it.

Mike’s mom, Cheryl Williams, never bought that theory. For years, she doggedly petitioned for a criminal investigation into the matter, writing countless letters to the Governor’s Office, taking to sidewalks with placards, ignoring ostracism and running ads in the Tallahassee Democrat. At last, circumstances lined up for her.

Triggerman Brian Winchester, Denise Williams’s lover and

Steve Epstein

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later her husband, was charged with kidnapping Denise as their marriage was failing. As part of a deal with prosecutors, he divulged that he had buried Mike Williams’s body at a boat landing at Carr Lake in North Tallahassee. For her role in the killing, Denise Williams was convicted almost 18 years to the day after her one-time husband died.

In August 2019, Epstein listened to a podcast about the case and knew immediately that he had to write about it.

“It is a story unlike anything I had ever heard,” he said. “The number of years that went by before the case was closed, Cheryl Williams and her resilience — and the alligator aspect makes it that much more intriguing.

“It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy. You have this truly angelic, salt-of-the-earth human being in Mike Williams who unwittingly surrounded himself with evil. He tried to please everyone, and that may have been his downfall.”

To be sure, his marriage to Denise and Winchester’s obedience to her proved fateful.

“Mike was Brian’s best friend at the time he killed him,” Epstein said. “By all accounts, those two were inseparable as buddies. But Mike was in the way, and Denise wouldn’t do the other thing that would have made it possible for her

and Brian to be together, which was to get divorced. Brian wanted to be with her more than he wanted to continue his friendship with Mike.”

And, so, when Winchester bungled an attempt to drown Williams, he killed him with a shotgun blast to the face.

“Cheryl is a woman unlike any I will ever meet again,” Epstein said. “The scent of a trail and the trial and conviction would not have been possible without her.

I believe and Cheryl believes that I was meant to hear that podcast — that it was destiny and did not happen by accident.”

Epstein said law enforcement officials made “colossal mistakes” when the case was fresh.

“Probably, sheriff’s offices all across Florida and the FDLE have learned the lesson from this case that you have to include the possibility of foul play in any disappearance because, as this case proves, when you least expect it, foul play is involved,” Epstein said. “Had they been able to talk to people and secure things like Brian’s truck, they would have instantly learned that Mike’s blood was in the vehicle.”

Epstein’s telling of the case is so detailed as to cause a reader to assume that he was present during the recovery effort and at Denise Williams’s trial.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Epstein practices law in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was inspired to write Evil at Lake Seminole after hearing a podcast about the murder of Tallahassee property appraiser Mike Williams and the trial of Denise Williams, his wife at the time of the killing. Epstein concluded after meeting Mike Williams’ mother that he was destined to hear the podcast.

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photography by LINDSEY MASTERSON

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE EPSTEIN (HEADSHOT)

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE EPSTEIN

→

His legal insights add to the swiftly paced narrative, which was praised by bestselling crime author Rebecca Morris as “unputdownable.”

On the day that Mike Williams was murdered, he and Denise were scheduled to depart Tallahassee for the Gibson Inn in Apalachicola where he intended that they celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary.

Winchester, who was granted immunity from prosecution in the murder case through his plea deal, told investigators in a statement obtained prior to trial that Denise Williams had played an active part in making her husband’s murder possible. That is, she gave Mike “extra permission” to go duck hunting, and assured him that he would not be in trouble for doing so just hours before they planned to leave town.

However, notes Epstein, those actions by Denise never figured in testimony at trial. Winchester was not asked what specifically the defendant had done to further the commission of the murder.

“The lack of any trial testimony on that point,” Epstein writes, “provided the defense team a golden opportunity to contend during closing arguments — and, if necessary, on appeal — that no evidence had been offered which could establish Denise’s guilt for being a principal actor Best-selling author Rebecca Morris in Mike’s murder.” rates Steve Epstein’s In such a way, Epstein account of the murder of Brian Williams suggests that the story may not “unputdownable,” yet be over. In an interview, he describing it as a “well-reported, did not rule out the possibility gripping thriller.” that the conviction of Denise Williams may be overturned. TM

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PROMOTION PROMOTION

Emerald Coast Women United creates unified front Theatre to help the community Company 2020 Women’s Leadership Breakfast keynote speaker Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor, Atlanta, Georgia

The Professional Main Stage & Second Stage productions are as follows: THE LISTENING LOUNGE November 17 at 7:30 p.m.

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Second Stage: Musical Revue FLORIDA GIRLS January 15, 16, 21-23, 28-30 at 7:30 p.m.

January 24, 31 at 2 p.m.

Main Stage Production BROADWAY ON THE BOULEVARD February 4–6 at 7:30 p.m.

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For more information about how to get involved in Women United, please visit: uwbb.org/women-united.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITED WAY OF THE BIG BEND

U “G

nited Way of the Big Bend aims to create an impact on the Big Bend region by raising awareness, mobilizing resources and finding collaborative, targeted solutions for the community’s Emerald Coast Theatre Company (ECTC) most vital needs. has announced its eighth annual season on WOMENFlorida UNITED, the women’s initiative of the United Way of the Northwest Gulf Coast the Big Bend, represents an influential force of women leaders and philanthropists who give, advocate and volunteer to impact the lives the extraordinary times of othersiven throughout the Big Bend. weunder are allKaren experiencing, wechairship, are In 2017, Walker’s Women United planned its especially honored to launch Inaugural Women’s Leadership Breakfast. This eventofferings celebrated localadded to Two new also are a thrilling season roster filled women leaders in business and philanthropy, featuring a keynote speaker ECTC’s popular Theatre Education with exciting new program offerings for to address the impact and success of women who and for inspire program.

Thelead Theatre Young theater lovers of all ages,” said ECTC change. The keynote speaker is a woman leader and philanthropist Audiences (TYA) program will offer co-founder and producing artistic who will speak on her career and life journey, the obstacles she faces in interactive theater programs designed director Nathanael Fisher. striving for success, and how and why she chooses to focus her efforts especially for the very young (ages 6 ECTC has worked vigorously to on philanthropy. event the serves as a call to action for old). women and months to 5 years implement protocolsThe to ensure all members of inour community to createThe positive through newly change formed ECTC Jr. Company safety of everyone attendance sharing their time, talent and treasure.

In years past, the Women’s will provide two exciting opportunities for for productions. That includes highexecutive school-aged thespians Leadership Breakfast hasonly featured Claire Diaz-to showcase accommodating seating for 70 Twitter their creative talents on ECTC’s stage.

Ortiz, internationally renowned journalist Lisa Ling and Hall of people (it was previously 200), Plexiglas “As they say, children are the future!

Fame sportscaster Lesley Visser.

On Dec. 3, Women United will at the box office and will-call windows, This year, we— arethe beyond host sanitizing its fourth stations annual and Women’s Breakfast first excited to begin hand more.Leadership our education outreach ‘sooner’ to the virtual event of its kind.

“We are implementing our Safety and our highly engaged Women was established to unifyvery theyoung, women offor this Protocol PlanUnited in accordance with thespians — CDC guidelines to ensure patrons community who have aour passion for philanthropy.

Inmany 2018,who have performed with us fortask seven years — instead of can enjoy of our offerings in Michelle a safe Ubben, under theallleadership of chair that was aging out, Jr. Company ensures environment,” Fisher. taken one stepsaid further to engage women that wish to the elevate they can continue ECTC’s professional main stage other women and mothers experiencing poverty.

The funds to grow with us while receiving professional performing arts productions four offerings: from this include and other Women United events, as well as training and preparation beyond high a members, hilarious musical comedy, a fresh fuel community resources aimed to address the school,” Fisher says. adaptation charming core issueofofapoverty in holiday the Bigclassic, Bend region and have an In addition to the Professional Main a impact wonderful comedy written by atolocal of close to $1 million our community.

Stage and Second Stage productions, Floridian and an adventurous dramatic When women unite, great things happen. Women production and schedule information comedy. programming UnitedECTC’s has created an avenueincludes for strong women to the return of the Storytelling series and, by for the Storyteller’s Series, Theatre for flex their philanthropic muscles to improve the lives of Young Audiences, and Educational popular demand, evening performances women, children and families locally.

Programs can be found by visiting of the Educational program productions.

EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/emeraldNew this year are two entertaining series coast-theatre-company-launches-8th— Cabaret Revue and Listening Lounge — performed on ECTC’s Second Stage. annual-season.

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PROMOTION PROMOTION

Women WomenUnited Unitedcreates createsunified unifiedfront front to tohelp helpthe thecommunity community

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PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITED WAY OF THE BIG BEND

2020 2020 Women’s Women’s Leadership Leadership Breakfast Breakfast keynote keynote speaker speaker Keisha Keisha Lance Lance Bottoms, Bottoms, mayor, mayor, Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia Georgia

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITED WAY OF THE BIG BEND

nited nited Way Way of ofthethe BigBig Bend Bend aims aims to to create create anan impact impact onon thethe BigBig Bend Bend region region byby raising raising awareness, awareness, mobilizing mobilizing resources resources and and finding finding collaborative, collaborative, targeted targeted solutions solutions forfor thethe community’s community’s most most vital vital needs. needs.

WOMEN WOMEN UNITED, UNITED, thethe women’s women’s initiative initiative of ofthethe United United Way Way of of thethe BigBig Bend, Bend, represents represents anan influential influential force force of ofwomen women leaders leaders and and philanthropists philanthropists who who give, give, advocate advocate and and volunteer volunteer to to impact impact thethe lives lives of of others others throughout throughout thethe BigBig Bend.

Bend.

In In 2017, 2017, under under Karen Karen Walker’s Walker’s chairship, chairship, Women Women United United planned planned its its Inaugural Inaugural Women’s Women’s Leadership Leadership Breakfast.

Breakfast.

This This event event celebrated celebrated local local women women leaders leaders in in business business and and philanthropy, philanthropy, featuring featuring a keynote a keynote speaker speaker to toaddress addressthetheimpact impactand andsuccess successof ofwomen womenwho wholead leadand andinspire inspire change. change.The Thekeynote keynotespeaker speakeris isa woman a womanleader leaderand andphilanthropist philanthropist who who willwill speak speak onon herher career career and and lifelife journey, journey, thethe obstacles obstacles sheshe faces faces in in striving striving forfor success, success, and and how how and and why why sheshe chooses chooses to to focus focus herher efforts efforts onon philanthropy. philanthropy.

The The event event serves serves as as a call a call to to action action forfor women women and and allallmembers membersof ofourourcommunity communityto tocreate createpositive positivechange changethrough through sharing sharing their their time, time, talent talent and and treasure. treasure.

In In years years past, past, thethe Women’s Women’s Leadership Leadership Breakfast Breakfast hashas featured featured Twitter Twitter executive executive Claire Claire DiazDiazOrtiz, Ortiz, internationally internationally renowned renowned journalist journalist Lisa Lisa Ling Ling and and Hall Hall of of Fame Fame sportscaster sportscaster Lesley Lesley Visser.

Visser.

OnOn Dec. Dec. 3, 3, Women Women United United willwill host host its its fourth fourth annual annual Women’s Women’s Leadership Leadership Breakfast Breakfast —— thethe first first virtual virtual event event of of its its kind. kind.

Women Women United United waswas established established to to unify unify thethe women women of ofthisthis community communitywho whohave havea passion a passionforforphilanthropy. philanthropy.In In2018, 2018, under under thethe leadership leadership of of chair chair Michelle Michelle Ubben, Ubben, that that task task waswas taken taken oneone step step further further to to engage engage women women that that wish wish to to elevate elevate other other women women and and mothers mothers experiencing experiencing poverty. poverty.

The The funds funds from fromthisthisand andother otherWomen WomenUnited Unitedevents, events,as aswell wellas as members, members, fuelfuel community community resources resources aimed aimed to to address address thethe core core issue issue of of poverty poverty in in thethe BigBig Bend Bend region region and and have have anan impact impact of of close close to to $1$1 million million to to ourour community. community.

When When women women unite, unite, great great things things happen. happen.

Women Women United United hashas created created anan avenue avenue forfor strong strong women women to to flexflex their their philanthropic philanthropic muscles muscles to to improve improve thethe lives lives of of women, women, children children and and families families locally. locally.

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WELCOME OUR NEW DOCTOR WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE AN ADDITION TO OUR TALENTED STAFF.

Megan I. March MD,RPVI,FSVS DR. MARCH IS TRAINED AND BOARD CERTIFIED IN VASCULAR AND ENDOVASCULAR SURGERY.

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PAN DEMI FICA TION The COVID-19 pandemic will have had effects both immediate and long lasting on the health care industry. Hospital operations, the manner in which services are delivered to patients, and the nature of interaction among health care providers all have been affected. Trends, including a growing reliance on telemedicine, have been accelerated even as doctors and nurses have rediscovered the value of a collegial approach to patient care.

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STORY A SURVIVOR’S

TALLAHASSEE MAN WENT FROM GRAVELY ILL TO GRATEFUL story by

Steve Bornhoft photography by

Dave Barfield

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G

ary Cottingham focused on the clock on a wall of his hospital room because he knew that it was real. Other objects, meanwhile, floated in the space above his bed.

So sick was Cottingham that he had become delusional and given to hallucinations. His connection to reality had become tenuous, and he repeatedly commanded himself to breathe.

“I could have let go,” he said. “I could have succumbed.”

Cottingham, 63, a large man with a history of bronchitis and bouts with what he called the “real flu,” was Leon County COVID-19 patient No. 43. He was diagnosed on March 30, a little more than a month after the first case was reported in the U.S. in Washington state.

“I probably waited too long,” Cottingham said, “but in Florida, February and March is classic pollen and allergy season. And, for me, it passes by my nose and goes right to my chest. I was hacking I could and coughing and thinking it was just allergies. have let go.

Then, all of a sudden, I experienced weakness, I could have lack of appetite and fever. It snuck up on me.” succumbed.

Cottingham tried unsuccessfully to reach his doctor. When his call wasn’t returned, he contacted the telemedicine service that Publix offers its Gary Cottingham, Leon County COVID-19 associates. Cottingham is the manager of custompatient No. 43 er relationship analytics for Publix. He is nearing retirement and, since March, has been working from his Tallahassee home.

Via telemedicine, he got to a doctor, but the video connection failed in the middle of the conversation.

“The doctor said she didn’t need the video, she could hear the gasping in my voice,” Cottingham said. “She asked me to look at my abdomen and tell her if it was going up and down. That the body’s way of helping you breathe, when your diaphragm starts going in and out. And, yes, it was doing that.”

The doctor instructed Cottingham to call 911. He was transported to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare by ambulance.

“The hospitalist was right there in the ER, and I thought that was impressive,” Cottingham said. “He could see I was scared.”

An X-ray revealed that Cottingham had double COVID-19 pneumonia. Upon learning that, he recalled, “I started to panic.

I was alone. My wife could not come with me. I went from ‘I think I’m sick’ to ‘I think I’m gonna die.’ The gravity of the situation had gotten much heavier.”

A doctor went over COVID-19 statistics with Cottingham and told him that a small percentage of people who test positive for the virus die.

In the course of his battle with COVID-19, Gary felt close to death.

“He said, ‘You are where you need to be. We’re going to take care of you,’ and I was relieved,” Cottingham recalls.

However, in the course of what would be Cottingham’s six-day hospital stay, things would get worse before they got better.

“To see the nurses all haz-matted up, it’s amazing what they go through,” Cottingham said. “I couldn’t eat solid food. They gave me Ensure so at least I could get some calories and vitamins. On Day 5, I started to improve, but on Day 2 and Day 3, I was very sick. I could barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom.”

Cottingham figures that his hospitalist, Dr. Mark Wheeler, was close to having him moved to intensive care and placed on a ventilator, but he never did.

“It was a judgment call, but it turned out to be a good one,” he said. “I ended up getting better faster without it.”

At home, he remained on oxygen around the clock for six weeks, but slowly he got better. He lost 28 pounds.

There is no mystery about how Cottingham contracted COVID-19. He got it from his wife.

“My wife went to Atlanta to watch my granddaughters because my daughter-in-law was going to be out of town and my son (a school psychologist) was working,” Cottingham said. “Somewhere along the way, my son got it and gave it to my wife. Or they may have contracted it at the same time.”

His son was hospitalized for five days. His wife was sick

and weak but did not require hospitalization. She has tested positive for the presence of antibodies and, at this writing, was planning to give plasma.

“We have reached a tipping point,” Cottingham said about the virus. “For months, most people did not know someone personally who had had it, but that has changed.

COVID-19 was like a ghost, kind of an ethereal thing. It was like a legend but not real enough to worry about. And, it didn’t help that we didn’t have agreement on a national strategy.”

As a product of his experience, Cottingham has become someone who encourages others not to kid themselves about COVID-19.

“It’s very real. Take whatever precautions you need to take because you don’t want to go through what I did,” Cottingham said. “I have good insurance, but it was a tremendous cost to everyone involved, not to mention it almost killing me, and then there’s the danger of giving it to someone else. You can give it to so many people.”

Cottingham said he owes his life to the team at TMH, and he is grateful.

“When I got out of the hospital, I had a kind of survivor’s guilt,” he said. “So many people with the same symptoms I had didn’t make it. This is a problem that is not going to just go away. We have to pull together, put our differences aside and figure out how to get rid of it.”

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AMID THE PANDEMIC,

HUMANITY I

My mom used to say that gratitude is not just giving but receiving. At some point, my friend and I will get together and shake hands, and I will give him a hug.

Dr. Carlos Campo, a pulmonologist and the director of the Intensive Care Unit at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

MEDICAL TEAMS SERVE ISOLATED PATIENTS AS THEIR FAMILY story by

Steve Bornhoft photography by

Dave Barfield

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n the months since COVID-19 reached the United States, Dr. Carlos Campo has learned that he can function on a lot less sleep than even he is used to getting.

The pandemic, after all, has been an eye-opening learning experience.

“Even without COVID, critical pulmonary care involves many sleepless nights,” said Campo, a pulmonologist and the director of the Intensive Care Unit at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. “We may be on the unit around the clock.”

But the pandemic has impressed upon him even further what an outstanding medical staff TMH has.

And it has brought that team closer together.

“Generally, doctors are territorial and opinionated,” Campo said.

“They believe their way is the best way. It’s the way they have done things for 30 years, and they have good patient outcomes. But with COVID, none of us knew much about it.”

Under the circumstances, doctors treating COVID-19 patients have joined in a spirit of collaboration.

“We had to learn a lot quickly, and it has been great to see members of

the medical staff listen to each other and come up with good protocols that have benefitted our patients,” Campo said.

“I have been pleased to see the entire hospital community come together — nursing, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, environmental services — it’s a complete team effort. In situations like this, like natural disasters, you can see the best and the worst in people. You have a hurricane. (Campo was on call as a medical resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami when Hurricane Andrew made landfall.) People are gouging prices, and you have contractors taking advantage of people.

And then you see people who step up and shine. In the hospital community at TMH, everybody has come together to shine and to help.”

Hospitalists care for patients in a ward at TMH reserved for COVID-19 patients who are sick enough to be hospitalized, but not so sick that they need to be in intensive care. Campo and his group take care of the sickest patients.

“There is a saying in medicine,” Campo said. “You don’t treat diseases, you treat patients. There are guidelines for hypertension or for

Dr. Carlos Campo, a pulmonologist and the director of the Intensive Care Unit at TMH

diabetes. With COVID, every case is different, but we do know that there are certain things that are of benefit in most, if not all, cases.

“We know that certain vitamin supplements help, we know that (the antiviral drug) remdesivir and convalescent plasma are helpful if they are used early enough. We have standards of therapy, but we modify them according to the patient’s needs and wishes.”

Campo had a patient who is a Jehovah’s Witness and whose faith would not allow for the use of a blood product.

Plasma was ruled out. Patients with kidney problems often are not candidates for remdesivir due to contraindications.

Campo has seen COVID-19 patients ranging in age from 21 to 100. Many have had medical comorbidities, including diabetes, obesity, hypertension, chronic kidney disease or heart disease.

“But even in ICU, we see patients who were completely healthy but wound up very sick,” Campo said.

Campo grew up in El Salvador and went to medical school in Costa Rica before moving to the states. He is a modest man who is generous with praise for others and is slow to take credit. In the midst of a pandemic, that might be precisely the kind of leader called for.

“The responsibility for ICU sort of fell in my lap,” Campo said.

Turnarounds among patients who do not advance past the COVID-19 ward are not uncommon.

“But in the ICU, things are not as good,” Campo said.

“Eighty to 90 percent of the ICU patients who wind up on a ventilator end up passing. That is hard on the staff and on everybody. These are patients that you are caring for day in and day out, and you know that the odds are not on their side. But we have had a few who came off the ventilator and went back to the floor and went home.”

Campo endeavors to keep a light heart when doing rounds. He has an irrepressible sense of sometimes selfdeprecating humor.

To unwind, he spends time with family, walks his dogs and works out on a rowing machine for an hour a day while listening to his music and “decompressing.”

Beginning in May, he worked 65 days straight before taking a break to visit his 95-year-old mother in Miami and to visit his “happy place.” He went fishing in the Keys, and while the tuna weren’t biting, there were plenty of snapper and mahi-mahi to be had.

Then, it was back to work.

“Medicine has changed, and we spend a lot of time in front of the computer documenting medical records and vitals,” Campo observed. “But with COVID, I have seen a lot more bedside nursing. The patients in the ICU are not allowed visitors, and many of them pass. When they do, we are their family. Nurses and other care providers are at the bedside so that they don’t pass alone.”

Campo worked with the father of a good friend in ICU. When the patient died, Campo sent his son a text message, informing him that nurses were with him at the end, holding his hand.

The man’s wife sent Campo a note of appreciation, which he in turn shared with the nursing director in the ICU. She wanted to do something for the ICU, send food perhaps.

“In the middle of tragedy, there is humanity and there is an opportunity to make a difference for those who are passing and those who are left behind,” Campo said. “My mom used to say that gratitude is not just giving but receiving.

At some point, my friend and I will get together and shake hands, and I will give him a hug.”

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FRONTS

Kris Flippo, Capital Regional’s director of critical care services

UNITED

PANDEMIC STRENGTHENS BONDS AMONG HEALTH CARE TEAMS story by

Steve Bornhoft photography by

Dave Barfield

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D

espite all of the attention paid to the growing COVID-19 death toll, there are successes in the midst of the pandemic.

“It is beautiful to see a patient who is admitted to our critical care unit improve and move to the progressive care unit and then undergo the final stages of treatment on our eighth floor and finally get to go home,” said Kris Flippo at Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee. “We celebrate every one of those discharges.”

Indeed, as the patient is wheeled from the hospital, the theme from the original Rocky movie is played. The conquered opponent has been a heavyweight, for sure.

Getting strong now Won’t be long now Getting strong now

Gonna fly now Flying high now Gonna fly, fly, fly

“These are big wins, and it is hugely gratifying to know that you did the right thing in restoring a patient’s health,” said Flippo, Capital Regional’s director of critical care services.

It used to be that Flippo wore “street clothes” to work. The pandemic changed that.

“I have been at bedsides with nurses and staffing in to help assist,” Flippo said. “We are not leading by pointing, we are leading at their sides.”

With “A Day in Your Shoes” activities, Capital Regional administrators and directors from CEO Alan Keesee on down have participated in that effort.

By shadowing a nurse, patient care technician or an environmental services employee, they have learned what the work lives of those role players have been like since March.

No longer are “No longer are we just nurses or pawe just nurses tient care technicians,” Flippo said. “We or patient care are having to be that son, daughter, technicians. husband or wife who cannot be with patients as they succumb to the virus. That We are having is the hardest part of dealing with this.” to be that son, Capital Regional’s parent company, daughter, HCA Healthcare, provides a confidenhusband or wife tial counseling program, HCA Cares, to employees. And, in the interest of keepwho cannot be with patients as ing employees engaged, members of the leadership team have made a they succumb to CRMC concerted effort to ensure that lines of the virus. That communication are open and unite everyone. Effective, timely dissemination is the hardest of information is essential when, for expart of dealing ample, CDC guidelines or other protowith this. cols change.

“Whenever we need to provide more Kris Flippo, Capital beds for COVID-19 patients, we meet Regional’s director as a team from administrators to nursof critical care services ing directors and find a way to pivot,” Flippo said. “Our providers, including our chief medical officer, have done a great job making sure that we have the right assessment tools to make sure that we are diagnosing patients correctly.”

Flippo, who has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in health administration, grew up on a South Alabama farm. A grandmother, who was a nurse, heavily influenced his career choice.

“My passion as a director is to see to the professional growth of my nurses so that they become the best they can be and deliver the best care possible,” Flippo said. “In my position,

↑Members of the COVID-19 team at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare assemble for a group photograph taken through a window in a door to their unit. Nurses remain behind that door and in personal protective equipment throughout their workday.

A runner delivers needed supplies to them.

especially in this pandemic, I have had to lean on my staff and the staff leans on me and you really learn how to be a leader.

A lot of times, leading means just listening.”

Bond between doctors and nurses have strengthened as a result of the pandemic, Flippo said, a development that is likely to be lasting and one that will foster professional development.

A fluid environment Ryan Smith, the chief clinical officer at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, said HIV infection presented challenges similar to those posed by COVID-19.

“There are a lot of unknowns,” he said. “Things are changing every single day. I don’t think we will know the full impact of COVID-19 until a year or two after studies give us a good understanding of what this actually is.

Ryan Smith, chief clinical officer at TMH

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→ Protocols and procedures are an important aspect of all hospital operations, but never more so than during a highly infectious and dangerous pandemic.

Jaclynn Moss is the nurse manager for the Internal Medicine Unit at TMH.

On bad days, I remind them of the good days and how many patients we have sent home. We have done a lot of good things.

We already were a family, but we have grown closer together because now we really count on each other.

Jaclynn Moss is the nurse manager for the Internal Medicine Unit at TMH

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“We’re all learning together, and we have been very nimble in adjusting to what we’ve learned.”

Throughout, Smith said, the safety of staff and patients and providing for adequate testing have been top priorities.

Testing capacity, he explained, typically is limited by allocations of reagents.

But TMH, given a partnership with the microbiology department at Florida State University, is in a different position.

“At FSU, they are actually creating the reagent, so now we have the ability to test in large numbers,” Smith said. “Very few others have that option and availability.

I think we have done a really good job of keeping a forefront focus on safety.”

Jaclynn Moss is the nurse manager for the Internal Medicine Unit at TMH, and also serves as the manager of a unit reserved for COVID-19 patients who do not require intensive care.

Pandemic preparations at TMH, she said, began as the virus was first blossoming in China and well before the hospital could

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

know whether or to what extent it would be affected by the virus. Managers turned emergency planners assessed hospital space to determine where COVID-19 patients could be located and isolated.

Walls were erected. Fans were installed.

Supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) were reserved. And, when the COVID-19 caseload began to build, Moss said, 27 medical/surgical patients were moved off a unit and 21 COVID-19 patients were moved in, all in a single day.

Ten nurses and three patient care assistants staff the COVID-19 unit during each shift. Two of the assistants work inside the unit, Moss explained, and the third works as a runner.

“There is no way we could take all of our PPE off every time we need something,” Moss said. “We work with walkie-talkies and phones, and supplies come in and out via the runner.”

Moss, a Tallahassee resident since age 7, earned associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing at Tallahassee Community College and the University of West Florida, respectively. She has been a TMH employee for nine years and is the mother of three school-age children.

“One of the positive things that I’ve noticed is that this pandemic has really brought nursing back to nurses,” Moss said.

They spend more time at bedsides.

They collaborate closely with physicians.

Said Moss, “They drive nursing care and they influence physician care because they are in there with the patients. And, every day they learn something new.”

Moss stresses to nurses on her team that patients look up to them, and their families rely on them.

SAVE LIVES HELPING TO

“We talk a lot,” Moss said.

“On bad days, I remind them of the good days and how many patients we have sent home. We have done a lot of good things.

We already were a family, but we have grown closer together because now we really count on each other.”

Duty on the COVID-19 unit, Moss said, exacts physical, emotional and mental tolls.

“I encourage nurses to take breaks because they are in full PPE from head to toe,” Moss said. “As much as we try to cool down that unit, you can’t tell a patient not to turn the heat up.

Nurses are soaking wet at the ends of their shifts. The breaks are important because I can’t have them falling out.”

Some days are more difficult than others owing to the nature and number of cases.

“We take advantage of those days when our numbers are low,” Moss said. “We know that we could come in the next day and all of the beds may be full again. We take it one minute at a time, and do all that we can to make it safe for nurses to report to work and to leave at the end of their shift.”

N

COMMUNITY STEPS UP WITH DONATIONS TO TMH’S COVID-19 EMERGENCY FUND story by

Steve Bornhoft photography by

Dave Barfield

igel Allen recognized that he was about to say something that would likely bring to mind Sally Field’s 1984 Oscar Award acceptance speech in which she tearfully said, “I can’t deny the fact that you really like me right now; you really like me.”

Allen is the president and chief advancement officer at the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation. He has been moved in recent months by the response the foundation has received to its appeals for contributions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People in our community have demonstrated in a very tangible way that they really

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Cynics may view us as the big hospital in town with multimilliondollar budgets for whatever we need, but we have spent millions of dollars that were not budgeted to deal with the virus. At the same time, elective surgeries were canceled, and that took away millions and millions in revenue.

Nigel Allen, President & Chief Advancement Officer at TMH

care about TMH, and that they are grateful for the services with email blasts. Too, there was the matter of the real the hospital provides,” Allen said. “The way in which they financial impact that the pandemic has had on TMH. have stood with us is humbling and gratifying.”

“Cynics may view us as the big hospital in town with Field had won a best actress award for her role in Places multimillion-dollar budgets for whatever we need, but we in the Heart. The film was about a widow in Depression-era have spent millions of dollars that were not budgeted to Texas and her struggle to coax a living from the ground at deal with the virus,” Allen said. “At the same time, elective her small farm. Ultimately, it had a lot to do with resolve, surgeries were canceled, and that took away millions and fortitude and grit. millions in revenue.”

The pandemic has illuminated a lot of resolve, fortitude One of the emailed appeals went out over the signature and grit, especially in health care settings. of TMH president and CEO Mark O’Bryant Allen noted comments made by an intensive and the other came from Lauren Faisoncare unit employee on a survey form about the Clark, TMH’s administrator for regional stresses created by COVID-19. development, population health and tele“If you are going to the ICU as a COVID medicine. Each listed specific, urgent needs patient, your prognosis is not good,” Allen said. including personal protective equipment; Meet some of the most highly regarded “Every single person this employee had cared modifications to increase intensive care unit medical professionals for had died. We need to lift these people up in capacity; technology and equipment includin our area. any way we can.” ing ventilators; and money for the operation See Medical Profiles That need furnished some of the motivation of the Northwood Centre COVID-19 sample on page 151. (continued on page 170) for the funding appeals, which were broadcast collection site.

MEDICAL PROFILES

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D SPONSOR O OU PR HASSEE MAGAZ F TA L

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B E S T

O F TALLAHASSEE We salute the winners and runnersup of our annual readers’ poll — businesses that have earned the respect and support of their customers.

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BEST OUTDOOR DINING RESTAURANT AND SOUTHERN CUSINE

Table 23

TA L

2020

S E’

SSEE MAGAZ HA IN LA

BEST TA L

of

L A H A SSE

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PHOTO BY WHITNEY FLETCHER COURTESY OF TABLE 23

COMPILED BY REBECCA PADGETT AND MELINDA LANIGAN

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➺

A most amazing thing about a system of free enterprise is the way in which it emerges to provide products and services that meet our every need and answer our every wish. Necessities and desires equate to markets, after all, and a collection of small businesses responding to those opportunities adds up to a community.

Tallahassee is home to an abundance of enterprises that contribute to the exceptional quality of life in Florida’s capital city, and our annual “Best of Tallahassee” readers’ poll identifies the crème de la crème. We invite you to check out the list of 2020 winners on the following pages, and we encourage you to congratulate your favorites. —Steve Bornhoft

Support for the “Best of Tallahassee” program is provided by presenting sponsor Ox Bottom Animal Hospital and by these additional sponsors: Thomas Howell Ferguson P.A. CPAs, Thompson Crawford & Smiley, University Center Club, Bath Fitter, John Gandy Events, Live In Tallahassee and Adams Radio Group.

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→ Masa With its stylish, serene setting and menu items bursting with exquisite flavors, you might be momentarily transported to an exotic locale when dining at Masa. Located in Midtown, Masa merges Eastern and Western cuisines to form an AsianFusion menu known for its sushi and seafood. Lucy Ho, one of Tallahassee’s most accomplished restaurateurs, experiments with palette pleasers that are both unexpected and familiar.

The location is ideal for a variety of occasions, whether it be lunch with coworkers, happy hour with longtime friends or a celebratory dinner.

Unwind and indulge at Tallahassee’s premier Asian-Fusion restaurant.

BEST

OF TALLAHASSEE

Food & Beverage APPETIZER

ASIAN

BAKERY

Start the meal off right with tiny tastes of Tallahassee, such as the Mahan Mozz Logs or the Blairestone Basil Buttons.

6725 Mahan Drive (850) 765-3753 BackwoodsCrossing.com

With a flair for flavor, Masa merges Eastern and Western cuisines in a union of Asian Fusion.

1650 N. Monroe St. MasaTallahassee.com (850) 727-4183

Creative cookies, cakes and cupcakes; plus fresh baked breads and breakfast baked goods.

1355 Market St., #A5 TastyPastryBakery.com (850) 893-3752

HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

Backwoods Crossing

HONORABLE MENTION

PHOTOS BY MATT BURKE (HOPKINS’ EATERY) AND BLACK & HUE PHOTOGRAPHY (COURTESY OF MASA)

Madison Social

Masa Restaurant

Azu Lucy Ho’s

Tasty Pastry Bakery

The Cake Shop

Hopkins’ Eatery It is difficult to ponder what life would be without lunchtime’s favorite spot, Hopkins’ Eatery, but it’s wonderful that we don’t have to. Lines form Monday through Saturday as patrons flock to one of Hopkins’ three locations to dine from the extensive menu of unique sandwiches, salads, soups and sweets. Delectable flavor combinations merge causing you to find a new favorite menu item each time you dine. Hopkins’ guarantees the freshest ingredients, dietary friendly options and customer service that more than exceeds the expectations of a casual eatery.

→

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BEST DESSERT

→ Osaka

Food Glorious Food

BAR

Liberty Bar & Restaurant Sip, swill and savor cocktails at the swankiest bar in town.

1307 N. Monroe St., #2 LibertyTlh.com (850) 354-8277

Artisanal brews with bold, Florida-inspired flavors.

1320 S. Monroe St. ProofBrewingCo.com (850) 577-0517

BARBECUE

Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q Smoked low and slow for hours, the old school way, but with new takes on classic BBQ. 5442 Thomasville Road, #6 WillieJewells.com (850) 629-4299

BREAKFAST

Canopy Road Café A breakfast to behold offering sweet or savory, from fried eggs and

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The Egg Cafe & Eatery

Proof Brewing Co.

Madison Social

Mission BBQ

HONORABLE MENTION

BREWERY CRAFT/BEER

HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

omelets to French toast and pancakes.

Various Locations CanopyRoadCafe.com (850) 577-0517

HONORABLE MENTION

Deep Brewing Co. BRUNCH

Lofty Pursuits Working with local farmers to bring the freshest ingredients to your table. Plus, candies and ice cream that will make you melt.

1355 Market St., Ste. A11 LoftyPursuits.com (850) 521-0091 HONORABLE MENTION

Table 23

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CAJUN RESTAURANT

Coosh’s

A zing of Cajun country in Tallahassee. Spice up your life with jambalaya and crawfish étouffée.

Two Locations Cooshs.com (850) 894-4110

With hibachi, steak and sushi on the menu, dining at Osaka is a crowd-pleasing occasion.

Osaka Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar opened in Tallahassee over 20 years ago, and it has since expanded to include three popular locations throughout Northwest Florida. As a family-owned and operated business, the Chou family puts an emphasis on making guests feel welcome, especially for memorable moments such as birthdays and anniversaries. Open daily for lunch and dinner, they offer a full bar and serve organic local produce, Gulf seafood, the highest quality beef and an expansive menu of sushi and sashimi.

HONORABLE MENTION

Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grille CASUAL DINING

Kool Beanz Cafe Vibrant, funky and immensely flavorful — “eat, drink and talk loud.”

921 Thomasville Road KoolBeanz-Cafe.com (850) 224-2466 HONORABLE MENTION

Island Wing Company CATERING

Simply Entertaining Events and entertaining should be

simple — simply tasty and simply easy.

1355 Market St., A10 SETally.com, (850) 668-1167 HONORABLE MENTION

Social Catering and Events CELEBRATION/ SPECIAL OCCASION RESTAURANT

Sage Restaurant Known for their creative menu and craft cocktails, Sage ensures that you celebrate from your first bite to the last drop.

3534 Maclay Blvd. S. SageTallahassee.com (850) 270-9396

HONORABLE MENTION

Savour COFFEE SHOP

Lucky Goat Coffee Aromatic and enticing with their signature flavors, Lucky Goat fuels Tallahassee with steaming cups of joe, cold brew and more.

Various Locations LuckyGoatCoffee.com (850) 422-0300 HONORABLE MENTION

RedEye Coffee

BEST

OF TALLAHASSEE

FROZEN TREAT

Lofty Pursuits We all scream for ice cream, especially when there are over 30 flavors to scoop up.

1355 Market St., Ste. A11 LoftyPursuits.com (850) 521-0091 HONORABLE MENTION

Nuberri Frozen Yogurt at Blair Stone Road HAMBURGER

Midtown Caboose The most adventurous burgers in town. Try toppings such as peanut butter, mac-n-cheese, s’mores and more.

1406 N. Meridian Road MidtownCaboose.com (850) 521-1933 HONORABLE MENTION

Vertigo Burgers and Fries HAPPY HOUR DESSERT

PHOTOS BY ALEX WORKMAN (OSAKA) AND COURTESY OF VISIT TALLAHASSEE

Food Glorious Food The sweets menu offers 20 options, all tempting you to satisfy your sweet tooth with a decadent dessert.

1950 Thomasville Road, Ste. #C FoodGloriousFood.com (850) 224-9974 HONORABLE MENTION

Au Péché Mignon French Pastry Shop Downtown

ETHNIC RESTAURANT

Sahara Cafe

Gyros, falafel and kabobs galore — Sahara serves authentic Mediterranean meals.

1135 Apalachee Parkway SaharaCafeOne.com (850) 656-1800 HONORABLE MENTION

Mayuri Indian Restaurant

FINE DINING RESTAURANT

Sage Restaurant Sage knows the finer things in life should be plated and presented in ways that awe.

3534 Maclay Blvd. S. SageTallahassee.com (850) 270-9396 HONORABLE MENTION

Savour

The Blu Halo Weekdays from 5–7 p.m., relax with a libation from the menu of craft cocktails and cosmos, local beers and an impressive wine selection.

3431 Bannerman Road, #2 TheBluHalo.com (850) 792-7884 HONORABLE MENTION

Andrew’s Downtown HIBACHI

Osaka Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar An immersive hibachi experience that includes only the freshest Gulf catches, high-quality beef and local produce.

1489 McClay Commerce Drive TheOsakaSteakhouse.com (850) 531-0222 HONORABLE MENTION

Nagoya Steakhouse and Sushi HOT DOG

Dog Et Al An old-school-style restaurant specializing in an all-American favorite re-envisioned.

1456 S. Monroe St. DogEtAl.com, (850) 222-4099 HONORABLE MENTION

Voodoo Dog Restaurant

FOOD TRUCK

Tally Mac Shack You really can’t go wrong with this comfort food favorite piled with various toppings that rotate on a weekly basis.

1215 S. Adams St., Ste. 2 PickupTallyMacShack.com (850) 570-6858 HONORABLE MENTION

BEST CASUAL DINING

Kool Beanz Cafe

Rankin Tacos

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BEST STEAKHOUSE

Il Lusso

ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Bella Bella Italian Restaurant

HONORABLE MENTION

Smoothie Time

Known for their iconic bubble bread and heaping plates of specialty pasta, Bella Bella is a tour of Italy in Tallahassee.

123 E. 5th Ave. TheBellaBella.com (850) 412-1114 HONORABLE MENTION

LUNCH

Hopkins’ Eatery This beloved lunch spot serves up sandwiches, soups, salads and sweets daily.

Various locations HopkinsEatery.com (850) 386-4258 HONORABLE MENTION

Riccardo’s Restaurant

Jeri’s Midtown Cafe

JUICE BAR/SMOOTHIE

MARTINI/COCKTAIL

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

The Blu Halo

Put yourself on island time, at least for a few sips of these fruity concoctions.

Various locations TropicalSmoothieCafe.com (850) 894-4980

With whimsical names and unique flavor profiles, any cocktail on this extensive menu is sure to delight.

3431 Bannerman Road, #2 TheBluHalo.com (850) 792-7884

BEST PIZZA

HONORABLE MENTION

Momo’s Pizza

Liberty Bar & Restaurant

MEXICAN/LATIN AMERICAN RESTAURANT

El Jalisco Mexican Restaurante

A family-friendly space with authentic Mexican food — it’s a fiesta no matter the occasion.

Various locations (850) 878-0080 HONORABLE MENTION

Casa Grande Mexican Restaurant Bar & Grill 94

November-December 2020

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

OUTDOOR DINING RESTAURANT

Table 23

Sit among the canopy of oaks or on the spacious porches as you enjoy Southern-style hospitality and food.

1215 Thomasville Road Table23Tally.com (850) 329-2261 HONORABLE MENTION

Island Wing Company PIZZA

Momo’s Pizza Pies or by the slice, Momo’s is the way to go with slices the size of your head.

Two locations MomosPizza.com (850) 224-9808

HONORABLE MENTION

Gaines Street Pies SANDWICH

Hopkins’ Eatery With over 30 specialty sandwiches to choose from, you can find a new favorite every week.

Various locations HopkinsEatery.com (850) 386-4258 HONORABLE MENTION

Midtown Caboose SEAFOOD MARKET

Southern Seafood Market For three decades,

BEST

OF TALLAHASSEE

SPORTS BAR

Island Wing Company A vibrant atmosphere that caters to sports-watching, live entertainment and endless wing options.

1370 Market St. IslandWing.com (850) 692-3116 HONORABLE MENTION

Corner Pocket Bar & Grill

with two over-the-top experiences under one roof, featuring a wine list sure to impress any oenophile.

1240 Thomasville Road OverUnderBar.com (850) 597-7552 HONORABLE MENTION

Clusters & Hops Restaurant and Wine Bar

WINGS

Island Wing Company Baked, boneless or original? Sweet, spicy or savory? Blue cheese or ranch? Limitless possibilities that are sure to please.

1370 Market St., IslandWing.com (850) 692-3116 HONORABLE MENTION

Hobbit American Grill

STEAKHOUSE

Il Lusso

Live in luxury. Steak options include a prime 24-ounce, dry-aged “Cowboy Ribeye.”

201 E. Park Ave., Ste. 100 IlLussoTlh.com (850) 765-8620

PHOTOS BY SCOTT HOLSTEIN / RPI FILE PHOTO (MOMO’S PIZZA), DAVE BARFIELD (IL LUSSO) AND MATT BURKE / RPI FILE PHOTO (SOUTHERN SEAFOOD MARKET)

HONORABLE MENTION

Southern Seafood Market has provided the freshest catches from the Gulf and beyond.

1415 Timberlane Road, Ste. #311 SouthernSeafoodMarket.com (850) 893-7301 HONORABLE MENTION

Capital Seafood Market

SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Wharf Casual Seafood

Get hooked on the Wharf’s fresh and fried casual, coastal seafood options.

Two locations WharfCasualSeafood.com (850) 765-1077

HONORABLE MENTION

Outback Steakhouse

The Seineyard Seafood Restaurant

SUSHI

SOUTHERN CUISINE/FOOD

Fresh, flavorful, fun and funky specialty rolls handcrafted by expert chefs.

Two locations KikuBogo.com (850) 222-5458

Table 23

Deviled eggs, pecan-crusted okra, shrimp and grits, bayou redfish and all your other timeless Southern favorites.

1215 Thomasville Road Table23Tally.com (850) 329-2261

Kiku Japanese Fusion

HONORABLE MENTION

Masa Restaurant

WINE LIST/WINE BAR HONORABLE MENTION

Backwoods Crossing

OverUnder Bar + Lounge

Recharge or energize

→

Southern Seafood Market There are few things Florida

is more famed for than its fresh seafood. For nearly three decades, Southern Seafood Market has sought out the Southeast’s finest fishermen to source Tallahassee with fresh-from-the-ocean seafood.

Select from a variety of hand-caught grouper, snapper, other local fin fish, blue crabs, stone crabs, shrimp, Apalachicola oysters and more. The company began with three best friends who simply loved to fish, and it has expanded into one of the finest seafood markets in the state. Their concept is tried and true — a specialization in local products, a customer-centered environment, fair prices and fresh catches.

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BEST BANQUET FACILITY

University Center club

Service Providers ACUPUNCTURIST

ALTERATIONS

Yisheng Clinic gets to the point of your chronic pain by providing holistic healing for the mind, body and soul.

362 Office Plaza Drive (850) 894-8999

Sunshine Alterations will stitch and sew together the perfect you, for everyday or for special occasions.

1997 N. Monroe St. (850) 383-1071

Sunshine Alterations Inc.

Yisheng Clinic Inc.

HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

Helga’s Tailoring and Alterations

Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Center

ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY

Allegro Senior Living

AIR CONDITIONING/ HEATING

↓ Benson’s Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. Keeping you cool and heating things up 24/7, seven days a week for 39 years.

5402 Tower Road BensonsHVAC.com (850) 562-3132 HONORABLE MENTION

Comfort, health, well-being and a fulfilling lifestyle are at the heart of Allegro.

4501 Shannon Lakes Drive W. AllegroLiving.com (850) 668-4004

repairs, manufacturer recommendations and customer satisfaction.

2820 Mahan Drive LisasPaintAndBody.com (850) 385-2665 HONORABLE MENTION

Universal Collision Center, Inc. AUTOMOBILE DEALER

The Proctor Dealerships

Live life in the fast lane with automobile sales and services that take pride in efficiency, transparency and exceptional customer service.

ProctorHonda.com, ProctorAcura.com, ProctorSubaru.com (850) 576-5165

HONORABLE MENTION

Westminster Oaks AUTO/BODY SHOP

Barineau Heating and Air-Conditioning

Lisa’s Paint and Body

Discover a stress-free repair experience specializing in precision

HONORABLE MENTION

Kraft Nissan & INFINITI of Tallahassee

BANQUET FACILITY

University Center Club

Immerse yourself in the spirit and tradition of Florida State University at Tallahassee’s premier private club located inside the famed Doak Campbell Stadium.

288 Champions Way, UCB 4128 UniversityCenterClub.com (850) 644-8528 HONORABLE MENTION

Goodwood Museum & Gardens

BANK

CARPET CLEANER

A trusted leader in business and personal banking, including loans, credits and a variety of other services.

Two locations TryMyBank.com (850) 907-2300

For luxuriously soft and immaculately clean carpets, trust the experts in carpet care.

5311 Corwin Drive ExtremeRocks.com (850) 422-2227

Prime Meridian Bank

Extreme Carpet Care, Inc.

HONORABLE MENTION HONORABLE MENTION

Capital City Bank 96

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TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

Bowden’s Carpet Cleaning Inc.

CELL PHONE AND COMPUTER REPAIR

Computer Repair Doctor A one-stop-shop for all of your tech troubles, with trusted experience, a low price guarantee and warranties.

523 E. Tennessee St. ComputerRepairDoctor.com (850) 727-8617 HONORABLE MENTION

iDope Tallahassee iPhone, iPad, MacBook Computer Repairs & Accessories CHILD CARE PROVIDER

Growing Room Tallahassee

Little learners grow and excel in a secure, nurturing and fun educational environment.

Three locations GrowingRoomChildcare.com (850) 386-4769

BEST

OF TALLAHASSEE

DAY SPA

Millennium Nail & Day Spas Enhance your natural beauty through pampering and primping packages that restore and revive.

3427 Bannerman Road, Ste. 201 MillenniumNailandDaySpa.com (850) 894-4772 HONORABLE MENTION

BumbleBee Waxing and More

DENTAL PRACTICE HONORABLE MENTION

Little Lambs Preschool John Wesley UMC CHILDREN’S AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM

PHOTOS BY TRICKY PHOTOGRAPHY (UCC) AND COURTESY OF FACEBOOK.COM/BENSONSISBETTER/PHOTOS (BENSON’S)

Wee Care Child Care Center

Weekday early education provided through Fellowship Baptist Church fosters learning and love in children, from birth to school-aged.

3705 N. Monroe St. FellowshipBaptist.org (850) 562-0047

1950 Thomasville Road, Ste. E 100PercentChiropractic.com (850) 536-6789 HONORABLE MENTION

Fiorini Chiropractic Center, P.A.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE AGENCY

Coldwell Banker Hartung Coldwell Banker Hartung provides your business with optimal success, starting with commercial real estate services.

3303 Thomasville Road CBHartung.com (850) 386-6160

HONORABLE MENTION

Engaged Academics

CHIROPRACTOR

100% Chiropractic Align your spine and your overall health and wellness through chiropractic care, massage therapy and nutritional supplement options.

HONORABLE MENTION

The Naumann Group Real Estate, Inc. COUNSELING/ THERAPIST

Capital City Psychiatry Entrust Capital City Psychiatry with the

highest quality of care and dedicated professionals in a comfortable environment.

2606 Centennial Place CapitalCityPsychiatry.com (850) 205-0189 HONORABLE MENTION

Better Living Solutions TIE Cayer Behavioral Group TIE Psychiatry Associates of Tallahassee, LLC TIE

CREDIT UNION

Envision Credit Union Envision Credit Union will take your financial goals from a far off vision to promised fruition.

Various locations EnvisionCU.com (850) 942-9000

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Fasig | Brooks Committed to exemplary customer service and client compassion, Fasig | Brooks has been serving the injured of Florida for over 30 years.

3522 Thomasville Road, Ste. 200 FasigBrooks.com (850) 222-3232 HONORABLE MENTION

Engaged Academics

First Commerce Credit Union

You can’t help but smile when your dental care professionals are this friendly, highly trained and customer service-centric.

3612 Austin Davis Ave. TallyTeeth.com (850) 877-0215 HONORABLE MENTION

DANCE STUDIO

Tallahassee Dance Academy Plié and pirouette with poise at the distinguished studio that has developed dedicated dancers for over 35 years.

1409 Maclay Commerce Drive TDADance.com (850) 893-3422 HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

Chaney, Couch, Callaway, Carter & Associates Family Dentistry

Sharon Davis School of Dance TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

Chichetti Torgerson & Hartley DERMATOLOGY PRACTICE

Dermatology Associates of Tallahassee Put your best face forward. These skin care pros have been meeting and exceeding needs for over 30 years.

1714 Mahan Center Blvd. datfl.com (850) 877-4134

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→ Tallahassee Nurseries Tallahassee has always been known for its flora and fauna, but it truly bloomed when Tallahassee Nurseries opened in 1938. From their extensive garden center to their highly qualified landscaping team, Tallahassee Nurseries excels in beautifying our backyards. Each employee is highly educated and researched in order to help customers maintain happy and healthy horticulture. Whether you’re buying a houseplant or looking to redesign your entire front lawn, you will find an extensive selection of thriving plants and a friendly face that will help you with the planting process. Not only are they continually voted the Best of Tallahassee, they were voted South’s Best by Southern Living Magazine.

HONORABLE MENTION

Pamela S. Kennedy, MD – Dermatology & Center for Cosmetic Enhancement DRY CLEANERS

Shamrock Cleaners So fresh and so clean.

Shamrock Cleaners provides cleaning and fabric care for everything from your bedsheets to your wedding dress.

3501 Maclay Blvd. S. ShamrockTally.com (850) 893-7220 HONORABLE MENTION

Blue Ribbon Cleaners

ELECTRICAL COMPANY

Lawson & Lawson Electrical Services, Inc. Light up your life with the 24-hour commercial

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and residential services of Lawson & Lawson.

5019 Metzke Lane LLElectrical.com (850) 562-4111 HONORABLE MENTION

Joel Foy Electrical Service, Inc. EVENT/WEDDING PLANNER

John Gandy Events Trendsetter in the planning, design and production realm, John Gandy Events will turn any event into the memory of a lifetime.

3463 Garber Drive JohnGandyEvents.com (850) 570-5999 HONORABLE MENTION

Samantha Nicole Weddings & Events

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

FAMILY PHYSICIAN PRACTICE

Tallahassee Primary Care Associates (TPCA) Comprehensive and compassionate care that’s all about you.

Clinical services for the whole family.

1803 Miccosukee Commons Drive TallahasseePrimaryCare.com (850) 297-0114 HONORABLE MENTION

Wilson Family Medicine FINANCIAL ADVISOR

Six Pillars Financial Advisors

Personal and professional financial services that help to shape the pillars for your lifestyle and success.

Various locations SixPillarsFA.com (850) 410-3568

HONORABLE MENTION

Merrill Lynch

HONORABLE MENTION

Brian Barnard’s Flooring America

FITNESS STUDIO

The Refinery Barre Fitness Studio Head to the barre to pursue optimal health and fitness through barre classes that promote positive body image.

1894 Thomasville Road TheRefineryFitness.com (850) 877-6600

FLORIST

A Country Rose Florist Fresh flowers never fail in putting a smile on someone’s face, especially when they are this expertly selected and styled.

250 E. 6th Ave. ACountryRose.com (850) 877-8294 HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

Sweat Therapy Fitness

Missy Gunnels Flowers

GYM/HEALTH CENTER

FLOORING

ABC Flooring

Premier Health & Fitness Center

Carpet, tile, wood and more — any kind of floor you prefer, they will install and service.

1516-B Capital Circle SE Tallahassee.AbbeyCarpet.com (850) 877-6600

Pursue your health and wellness prime with classes, personal training, amenities and top-of-theline equipment.

3521 Maclay Blvd.

PremierTLH.com (850) 431-2348

BEST

OF TALLAHASSEE

INTERIOR DESIGN FIRM HONORABLE MENTION

Momentum Fitness HAIR SALON/STUDIO

The Hair Works Salon

Cut, colored, curled and coiffed, you can trust the hair artists at Hair Works.

1355 Market St. Facebook.com/ TheHairWorksSalon (850) 893-3121 HONORABLE MENTION

Haute Headz Salon HAIR WAX/ LASER SERVICES

BumbleBee Waxing and More

PHOTOS BY SAIGE ROBERTS (TALLAHASSEE NURSERIES) AND COURTESY OF PREMIER HEALTH & FITNESS CENTER

Beautiful brows, long lashes and skin-care solutions are just some of the specialties available at BumbleBee. 359 N. Monroe St. BumbleBeeWaxing.com (850) 631-1868 HONORABLE MENTION

Bare Waxing and Skin Care Center INSURANCE AGENCY

McKee Insurance Agency

Chrysalis Fine Fabrics and Furnishings TIE

Tallahassee Nurseries

The largest decorative fabric store in Tallahassee also happens to help customers achieve the interior designs of their dreams.

1410 Market St., Ste. B-1 ChrysalisFabric.com (850) 224-2924

First impressions say it all. Tallahassee Nurseries has promised enviable curb appeal since 1938.

2911 Thomasville Road TallahasseeNurseries.com (850) 385-2162

Jennifer Taylor Design

HONORABLE MENTION

TIE

Jennifer Taylor Design strives to create spaces that are true reflections of those who live there.

1114B Thomasville Road JenniferTaylorDesign.com (850) 264-6920

Laura Bryant Interior Design TIE

Laura Bryant’s goal is to make Tallahassee beautiful, one room at a time.

LauraBryantDesign.com (850) 694-2297

Esposito Lawn & Garden Center LAW FIRM/ ATTORNEY PRACTICE

Fasig | Brooks

Fasig | Brooks takes pride in being relationshipfocused, personal injury attorneys. They care about your cause.

3522 Thomasville Road, Ste. 200 FasigBrooks.com (850) 222-3232

LIMO SERVICE HONORABLE MENTION

Thompson, Crawford & Smiley LIFE COACH/ SPEAKER

ActionCOACH Business Coaching With years of credible experience, a business coach can put you on the fast track to your longterm and short-term goals.

1717 Hermitage Blvd., Ste. 102 MarkRaciappa.

ActionCoach.com (850) 597-6627 HONORABLE MENTION

Cheri Rainey – Rainey Leadership Learning

Mike’s Limousine Service, Inc. Ride in style when selecting from a variety of limos, party buses, motor coaches, corporate transportation and more.

3109 W. Tennessee St. LimoMike.com (850) 251-6453 HONORABLE MENTION

Pro Limo Tallahassee

MAID SERVICE/ HOUSE CLEANING

Housekeeping For The Busy LLC Whether you’re on the go or simply seeking additional household help, expect a sparkling clean experience.

Facebook.com/ HousekeepingForTheBusy (850) 559-6373

Options

by E.T., Inc. TIE

Vibrant colors, unique patterns and textured fabrics are just a few of Options’ favorite things.

1400 Village Square Blvd., Unit 3-232 OptionsByET.com (850) 509-3067

The Sechrest Design Company TIE

The insurance resources and products of a national company combined with a small-town feel.

1785 Thomasville Road McKeeAgency.com (850) 224-6055

Whether commercial or residential, The Sechrest Design Company has created distinct spaces for 30 years.

231 E. 5th Ave. SechrestDesign.com (850) 577-6561

HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

Demont Insurance Agency

LANDSCAPING/ LAWN SERVICES

Home Proper Interiors

→

Premier Health & Fitness Center For over

18 years, Premier Health & Fitness Center has ranked as the strongest and steadiest health center in Tallahassee. Composed of 55,000 square feet, the fitness center features an indoor track, an NBA-size basketball court, two heated pools, a cycling studio, a cardio floor, massage therapy, personal training, childcare and the latest in equipment and fitness technology. The staff is educated in health science while also encouraging every member’s health and fitness journey. Through innovative fitness, wellness treatments and nutrition programs, Premier Health guides clients toward their goals in order to achieve their best self.

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NAIL SALON HONORABLE MENTION

Royal Nail Salon

MEDICAL SPA

From intricate designs to a classic manicure, Royal Nail Salon polishes to perfection.

2030 Thomasville Road, #2 Facebook.com/ RoyalNailSpaTally (850) 681-6245

Apple Pie Maids Cleaning

Aqua Medical Spa Enhance and maintain beautiful healthy skin through skin treatments, laser treatments, injectables, body contouring and spa services.

1474 Market St. AquaMedicalSpa.com (850) 254-0244 HONORABLE MENTION

Tallahassee Plastic Surgery Clinic MONOGRAMMING/ EMBROIDERY SERVICES

M&M Monogramming and More Personalized apparel, accessories, household decor and more that make for heartfelt gifts.

2030 Thomasville Road MMMonogramming.com (850) 514-3148 HONORABLE MENTION

Monogram Art MOVING COMPANY

AMWAT Moving Warehousing Storage On the move? Near or far, AMWAT provides professional, efficient and exceptional moving and storage services.

319 Ross Road AmwatMovers.com (850) 877-7131 HONORABLE MENTION

Two Men and a Truck 100

November-December 2020

prenatal care for women in all stages of life.

1401 Centerville Road, Ste. 202 NFLWC.com (850) 877-7241 HONORABLE MENTION

HONORABLE MENTION

Capital City Women’s Health TIE Gynecology and Obstetrics Associates, Inc.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

OPTOMETRY/ OPHTHALMOLOGY PRACTICE

Millennium Nail & Day Spas TIE Rotary Youth Camp of North Florida Inc.

Rotary Youth Camp is intended for children and young adults with disabilities to experience success in physical activities and social relationships.

RYCNF.org (850) 328-0302

Second Harvest of the Big Bend TIE

Second Harvest works with a network of agencies to distribute healthy and nutritious food throughout the Big Bend.

4446 Entrepot Blvd.

FightingHunger.org (850) 562-3033 HONORABLE MENTION

City Walk Urban Mission OBSTETRIC/ GYNECOLOGICAL PRACTICE

North Florida Women’s Care For more than 32 years, North Florida Women’s Care has provided preventative care, wellness visits and

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

TIE

Eye Associates of Tallahassee Providing the highest quality of patient care from expert physicians since 1960, including exams, implants, surgeries and more.

2020 Fleischmann Road EyeAssociatesOfTallahassee.com (850) 878-6161 HONORABLE MENTION

The Focal Pointe ORTHODONTIC PRACTICE

Clark Orthodontics

Clark Orthodontics supplies smiles that light up the room, portraying confidence and customer satisfaction.

5555 Roanoke Trail ClarkOrthoTally.com (850) 385-2822

3606 Maclay Blvd., Suite 102 NorthFloridaPeds.com HONORABLE MENTION

Tallahassee Pediatrics of TPCA

HONORABLE MENTION PEST CONTROL SERVICE

Trickey Photography

Say so long to pesky pests with Tallahassee’s most comprehensive and effective pest control.

254 E. 6th Ave. CallPauls.com (850) 222-6808

PHYSICAL THERAPY

Paul’s Termite and Pest Control

HONORABLE MENTION

Drs. Carey & Jones PEDIATRIC PRACTICE

North Florida Pediatrics

A nurturing care provider committed to treating patients and their families with courtesy, compassion and respect.

the captivating imagery of Adieren Narro’s lens.

2777 Red Maple Ridge AdierenNarroPhotography. pixieset.com (850) 212-8566

HONORABLE MENTION

Capital City Pest Control Services PHOTOGRAPHER

Adieren Narro Photography Preserve every meaningful moment with

TIE Center for Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy

For total musculoskeletal health, COSPT searches for the best results using reliable, cost effective and conservative care.

2615 Centennial Blvd., Ste. 101 COSPT.net, (850) 656-1837

Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic TIE

Their vision is to empower every patient, of all ages and skill levels, to regain

BEST

OF TALLAHASSEE

BEST SURGICAL PRACTICE

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

RESIDENTIAL BUILDER/ CONTRACTOR

Kessler Construction

From the baseboards to the roof, Kessler builds healthy homes for happy families.

3375-C Capital Circle NE, Ste. 200A KesslerConstructionLLC.com (850) 997-4540 HONORABLE MENTION

Premier Fine Homes

RESIDENTIAL PAINTER

Superior Painting Choose any hue when this superior, family-owned business paints your home.

2184 Lake Hall Road SuperiorPainting.net (850) 297-1882

and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.

3334 Capital Medical Blvd.

TLHOC.com (850) 877-8174 HONORABLE MENTION

Tallahassee Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy PLUMBING SERVICE

PHOTO BY DAVE BARFIELD

Keith McNeill Plumbing Cont. Inc. Specializing purely in residential, commercial and emergency plumbing, they fix it fast and get it right the first time.

3505 N. Monroe St. McNeillPlumbing.com (850) 562-5504

POOL REPAIR/ SERVICE COMPANY

Terry’s Pool Service

Terry’s wants you to enjoy your pool; let them take care of the maintenance.

4478 Entrepot Blvd.

TerrysPools.net, (850) 580-7334 HONORABLE MENTION

Premier Pools Tallahassee

PRINTING/COPYING SERVICES

Target Print & Mail From copies to custom prints, Target accommodates any of your print and postal needs.

2843 Industrial Plaza Drive TargetPrintMail.com (850) 671-6600

HONORABLE MENTION

White’s Plumbing, Inc.

HONORABLE MENTION

Durra-Print

HONORABLE MENTION

Mayfield Painting Services, Inc. TIE

TIE

Southern Paint

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE AGENCY

Coldwell Banker Hartung Experienced and personable, these realtors have been making dream homes come true since 1979.

3303 Thomasville Road CBHartung.com (850) 386-6160

and peace of mind, all on top of your roof.

4740 Mahan Drive TallahasseeRoofingCompany.net (850) 728-8101 HONORABLE MENTION

Parker Roofing Options, LLC – PRO Roofing SECURITY SYSTEM

Redwire

For over 40 years, Redwire has kept government, institutional and residential clients safe and secure.

1136 Thomasville Road Redwire.com (844) 669-9953 HONORABLE MENTION

Georgia-Florida Burglar Alarm Company SIGN COMPANY

FASTSIGNS Say it with signage.

FASTSIGNS specializes in comprehensive, creative and customizable communication options.

1920 N. Monroe St. FastSigns.com/373tallahassee-fl (850) 894-2400 HONORABLE MENTION

Apogee Signs SURGICAL PRACTICE

HONORABLE MENTION

Keller Williams Town and Country ROOFING REPAIR/ SERVICES

Lloyd Roofing & Construction Impeccable service, expert experience, quality products,

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

Leaders in surgeries and surgical care, TMH ensures transformative care, advanced health care and improved lives.

1300 Miccosukee Road TMH.org (850) 431-1155

TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

HONORABLE MENTION

Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic TREE SERVICE

Miller’s Tree Service LLC If you have tree troubles, Miller’s will go out on a limb for you.

4951 Woodlane Circle MillerTreesRV.com (850) 894-TREE (8733) HONORABLE MENTION

Fielder Tree Service

WEDDING VENUE

Goodwood Museum & Gardens

Southern charm, sweeping oaks and a beautiful carriage house make for a magical wedding day.

1600 Miccosukee Road GoodwoodMuseum.org (850) 877-4202 HONORABLE MENTION

The Space at Feather Oaks

WEIGHT LOSS/ CONTROL PROGRAM

FIT Medical Weight Loss & Wellness Center FIT inspires you to achieve your health and wellness goals through wellness support, medical weight loss and aesthetic services.

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→ Springtime Tallahassee Tallahassee is vibrant with events, but none are as synonymous with the city as Springtime Tallahassee. The annual festival and parade has showcased and celebrated the Capital City since 1968. Springtime Tallahassee is a civic organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Tallahassee’s history, which continues to grow and deepen with each year. The weekend includes a music festival in Kleman Plaza, the Grand Parade, Jubilee in the Park and multiple entertainment, food and children’s activities. Springtime is most widely known as having one of the largest and most elaborate parades in the Southeast, where over 100 colorful floats, marching bands, dance groups and the famed Springtime Krewes take to the streets of downtown.

Entertainment BAND

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Affairs – Cascades Park In the heart of downtown, Cascades Park features an impressive amphitheatre that has welcomed a variety of entertainers.

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Golf Club at Summerbrooke Find 18 new and beautifully maintained greens awaiting your upcoming tee time.

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Bradfordville Blues Club A legendary location and a hidden gem of a juke joint featuring live music and good times, always.

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City of Tallahassee – Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs – Cascades Park A children’s park complete with splash pads, multiple scenic walking trails, historical markers, a state-

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your favorite voices flowing through the radio waves.

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City of Tallahassee – Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs – Tom Brown Park PLACE TO TAKE THE KIDS

Tallahassee Museum Soar over Tallahassee in a tree-to-tree zipline course, view live exhibits of Florida wildlife, explore nature trails and seek adventure.

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Julie Montanero – WCTV

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Waxing is just the beginning of the services and products available to create beauty through positivity, collaboration and connection.

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Kanvas Boutique & Day Spa

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Eye Associates of Tallahassee Flaunt your frames in a variety of the most fashionable and topbrand styles.

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styling, sewing and servicing suits and menswear for the best dressed men in Tallahassee since 1950. The business is a family affair featuring three generations of the Gavalas family. Upon entering, you’ll be greeted by one of the Gavalas men who will help every man find his unique Southern style. Throughout the years, Nic’s has ensured quality craftsmanship, exceptional attention to detail, exemplary customer service and the finest quality of clothing in the Southeast. This generational business dresses the most dapper men in Tallahassee.

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200 designer lines of clothing, accessories, shoes and beauty products. This retailer is a haven for high-end designs, including Gucci, Tory Burch, See by Chloe and more. For 29 years, the store has styled all ages, from helping teenagers select their prom dresses to assisting the working woman with her shopping list. Fashion-forward females can browse the racks and find effortless styles alongside contemporary couture. The chic stylists instill confidence and beauty in each customer by encouraging clothes that are trendy yet true to you.

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GOING TOWN TO

Out of the starlight and under the streetlights, couple commits to ‘aging in place’ in the city

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story by STEVE BORNHOFT photography by BLACK & HUE PHOTOGRAPHY

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F

or 40 years, Judye McCalman and Earl Morrogh lived in a house they built with their own hands on a wooded acreage seven miles south of Quincy.

There, they tended to a large, organic garden surrounded with tall deer netting tucked into the ground.

They loved the brilliance of the night sky and the quiet of the place.

“The sounds you heard were natural sounds,” McCalman said, adding that their property was shaded by majestic hardwoods and frequently visited by wildlife, including foxes and coyotes.

“We miss our pontoon boat on Lake Talquin,” sighed Morrogh, a selfdescribed water baby. He knew where all the submerged stumps were.

But there are tradeoffs to living in the country and, as McCalman, 76, and Morrogh, 71, grew older, the conveniences of city life became more attractive.

In March, they moved into a “forever home” designed to permit them to age comfortably in place and located on Country Club Drive near its intersection with Limbo Lane.

“We have a Country Club Drive address, but we were hoping that it would be Limbo Lane,” Morrogh said. “We don’t consider ourselves to be country club people.”

True that.

McCalman and Morrogh were living in Gadsden County as members of an “intentional community” — locals called it a commune — when, to give themselves some privacy, they built what Morrogh called a “small contemporary cracker house” that would be their residence for four decades.

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Architecture. It was there that she would first cross paths with student and future architect Cam Whitlock.

Upon deciding to move to town, McCalman and Morrogh weren’t sure that they were going to build, but when they did, they contacted now retired FAMU professor Tim White, seeking a recommendation for an architect.

White recommended several, and they selected a Tallahassee firm, Architects Lewis + Whitlock.

The couple, who celebrated

PHOTOS BY KIRA DERRYBERRY ((LEWIS AND WHITLOCK)

The community, which had been formally established as a corporation, eventually dissolved, as communes often do, and its 150 acres were divvied up. McCalman and Morrogh became owners of 13-acre piece of the pie that included their homesite.

To prepare for building their own home, the couple had taken a class offered at Florida A&M University. McCalman worked for FAMU for 27 years, retiring as the assistant dean for administration for the School of

→ Earl Morrogh and Judye McCalman left behind their Gadsden County home of 40 years — a place they had built with their own hands — in deciding to move to Tallahassee and be closer to essential services. They were delighted to find a lot surrounded on three sides by green spaces. Inset photo: Rodney Lewis, left, and Cam Whitlock.

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their 40th wedding anniversary last year, met with Whitlock at the offices of Architects Lewis + Whitlock in Tallahassee. Whitlock explained that the firm doesn’t do much residential work, focusing instead on municipal and institutional work. Its largest clients include the state Department of Management Services and Florida State University.

“We put on our sad faces and told him that Professor White had said that if he wouldn’t do it, he could always change his grades to incompletes,” McCalman joked.

Whitlock agreed with the understanding that the couple would do much of the design work themselves. Indeed, forever homes have emerged as something of a niche for Whitlock, one that affords him creative latitude.

“Couples who are retiring and

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→ McCalman and Morrogh opted for contemporary styling in their new home and made energy efficiency a priority. The house reflects principles of Universal Design, which is intended to make it possible for people to live in and visit a home even as their needs and abilities change.

looking to downsize are more likely to have a specific program in mind,” he said. “Based on a lifetime of experience, they have specific ideas about the spaces they want and need, and that makes for a smoother design process.”

“Our country house was a successful project, and we have been interested in architectural design ever since,” said Morrogh, who studied architecture for four years at Louisiana State University but wound up working

as a magazine designer and communication director before pivoting and becoming the second professional hired at FSU to pioneer online learning. He retired in 2006.

“Having been exposed to the architecture process, we came up with what architects call a program,” Morrogh said. “We itemized all the things that were important to us, and one of those was absolutely no steps, inside or outside,” McCalman added.

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Earl Morrogh and Judye McCalman provided architect Cam Whitlock with a program of features for his use in designing their house. That program included features related to the aging-in-place objective, many of them consistent with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines: ■ Wide

doorways with levered door hardware ■ Wide hallways ■ Single story ■ Hard-surface floors (hardwood and tile) ■ Large,

roll-in shower ■ Space

for in-home caregiver ■ Toilets

meeting ADA specifications ■ Whole-house

generator for power outages And, the program reflected the couple’s design preferences, including: ■ Energy efficiency ■ Contemporary style ■ Open

concept floor plan ■ Screened porch ■ Low-maintenance

materials, inside and out ■ Window

placement and sizing to provide abundant natural light ■ Situating

house on site to provide maximum privacy ■ Outdoor

shower with hot and cold water ■ Charging

station for electric vehicle ■ Attached

two-car garage ■ Whole-house

water filtration system

→ While she has sworn off gardening, Judye McCalman has lots of potted greenery to tend to at her new home in the Myers Park area of Tallahassee. The house was fitted with windows designed to admit an abundance of natural light. (continued on page 172) TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

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Camellia Oaks

For downsizers, development has proved to be a good fit

story by STEVE BORNHOFT photography by BLACK & HUE PHOTOGRAPHY

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Camellia Oaks

← Developer Jason Naumann remodeled the estate house on a 130-acre site he acquired off Mahan Drive, transforming it into the Camellia Oaks clubhouse.

T

he setting for Camellia Oaks began to take shape more than a hundred years ago when acorns germinated on an acreage located off what would become Mahan Drive.

Mother Nature was the landscape’s first developer. Jason Naumann would come much later.

Naumann arrived in Tallahassee in 1993, having departed Tampa to attend Florida State University. He was a junior when he began to sell real estate, and one suspects he was a natural at it.

In Tampa, he was familiar with lots of senior living communities. In Tallahassee, he found it curious that there was a dearth of them.

“Here, you have the Southwoods and the Killearns and big family neighborhoods, and then you have Westminster Oaks,” Naumann said.

“You have nothing in between.”

As a beginning realtor, Naumann found that most of the people he sold homes to were empty nesters and retirees looking to downsize, but their options were few.

“I saw way back then a huge need for an active adult community, and the fact that there had never been one in Tallahassee was crazy to me,” Naumann

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said. “Nobody seemed willing to step out there and do it. I was very excited and looked forward to the opportunity to buy a piece of property that was well suited to that purpose and go for it.”

In August 2019, Naumann broke ground on his Camellia Oaks project, situated on 130 acres that include a 28-acre natural, spring-fed lake. A year later, he is a year ahead of the schedule he had drawn up for the manifestation of his long-held idea.

“We have 56 houses out of the ground, and our first phase (33 acres) is 65 percent sold,” Naumann said just five months into the project’s sales effort. At that point, 54 percent of his buyers were from outside Tallahassee and averaged 63 years in age.

“The out-of-town buyers have some sort of tie to Tallahassee,” Naumann said. “They may have children or grandchildren here or they may have gone to school here and were waiting for the right kind of community to be built so they could come back here.

“We are tapping into pent-up demand.”

The same family owned Naumann’s project site since the 1940s. As part of Phase I, he converted the estate home on the property to a clubhouse. The

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initial phase also included pools, bocci courts, trails and fitness facilities.

“Absolutely, our expectations have been exceeded,” Naumann said. “It’s been wonderful to see everybody moving in and beginning to use the facilities. Watching the community being built and coming alive has been a really neat experience.”

Longtime Tallahassee residents Linda and Mike Russell were ready to downsize and scoured the local real estate market, but nothing fit. Then, in March, they toured Camellia Oaks.

“When you have been looking for something and then, all of a sudden, it becomes available, it’s like a dream,” Linda said. “We literally made a deposit the day we saw this place. I love it.”

Linda worked for 46 years as a nurse and retired in September. Her husband retired from his job as a pharmacist at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and then returned to work on a part-time basis.

They left behind a home on a oneacre lot. Linda doesn’t miss the yard

Jason Naumann

PROMOTION

Camellia Oaks Flourishes as Tallahassee’s First 55 and Better Community TALLAHASSEE HAS MANY TRADEMARKS —

the college town atmosphere, the Capitol, towering live oaks, and it’s a city equal parts bustling city and crawling small town.

For many years, Jason Naumann, broker and owner of The Naumann Group, saw a gap in the city that needed to be filled. He set out to put Tallahassee on the map as a location to seek solace, with its first “55 and better” community: Camellia Oaks.

In 1993, Naumann moved from Tampa to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University. Within his second week, he called his mother and told her he would never leave Tallahassee. In 1995, he began selling real estate and eventually opened The Naumann Group, which has five locations throughout Northwest Florida.

“Real estate is my passion because it fuels my two largest interests — helping people and creating community,” said Naumann. “To me, the best aspect is creating homes that people enjoy, places they really want to live.” Throughout the

years, Naumann has designed, developed and brought to life some of Tallahassee’s most desirable neighborhoods, including the first Southern Living-inspired community in Florida.

For over 10 years, Naumann noticed that community members and clients were craving an exclusively adult community.

At the time, no one had been willing to invest in one as it posed too much of a risk.

Naumann decided that the demand was strong enough and invested in 130 acres on Mahan Drive brimming with oaks and camellias.

Camellia Oaks, nicknamed “a 55 and better community,” mirrors the Southernstyle vernacular of Tallahassee with high-end homes that feature light and airy interiors and spacious porches for enjoying the park views and preserved oaks. These homes are nestled amongst the over 100 ancient oaks on the property.

“The single most important aspect for me was to ensure that the homes were built

in harmony with the surroundings,” said Naumann. “By maintaining the natural elements of the land, it’s already such a beautiful and peaceful setting.”

The homes range from 1,500 to over 2,000 square feet, perfect for emptynesters and retirees looking to downsize.

The homes are intended to be just that, but the neighborhood’s countless amenities — including pool, pickleball courts, bocce ball courts, fitness centers, walking trails, the private lake, an exclusive clubhouse and more — will encourage community members to interact in common spaces.

“With time spent at home at an all-time high, we want our homes to be a place of solace. But we are also craving social connectivity,” said Naumann. “I’m hearing many people who say their neighborhoods lack interaction. At Camellia Oaks, the big difference is the people. They engage one another and share commonalities. It’s a community that fosters overall health and well-being.”

VISIT CAMELLIAOAKS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION

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Camellia Oaks

← For Camellia Oaks homeowners Linda and Mike Russell, Camellia Oaks was a case of love at first sight. As a couple looking to downsize, they found that Tallahassee had no acceptable options until Camellia Oaks was established.

The development’s first phase included trails and other recreational features.

work or the pool maintenance at the old place and has been delighted to find that all of the plantings she nurtured there are present at Camellia Oaks.

“If I had landscaped this development, I would have done it exactly the same way,” Linda said.

She described Camellia Oaks as a close-knit community and said she enjoys walking the development’s trails, playing bocci ball and meeting up with other residents at the clubhouse.

“Some people who are looking down into the future visit this place just because they are beginning to explore possibilities,” Linda said. “But people who have been looking and are ready to buy, they are buying.”

Like Linda, they like the development’s price points.

“Affordable housing is extraordinarily hard to come by in Tallahassee,” Naumann

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Camellia Oaks

said. “Land costs and availability are huge factors in home prices.

Our prices start in the low 300s, which is actually really good for what we offer.”

Naumann’s project site includes a 52-acre grove of live oaks.

“We have been able to preserve 100 percent of the oaks that were on-site,” he said. “We have worked the land plan around the mature oaks, and you get the feeling that the project has been here for 30 years.

Plus, owning a spring-fed lake that you can bass fish on and kayak on — that’s a very unusual feature to have.”

A former owner of the property was a horticulturist with a thing for camellias, which occupy 15 acres at the development. The horticulturist’s daughter suggested the project’s name, which Naumann immediately embraced.

“We wanted to keep the traditional, Southern-vernacular, front-porch cottage look,” Naumann said. “Each neighborhood is made up of pocket parks surrounded by a cluster of homes, and all of the front porches look onto a park.”

Phase I included six parks, each with a different theme and look.

Permitting work for Phase II is underway; construction on it is projected to begin in January.

Pitman Construction and Kent Construction are building the homes at Camellia Oaks. The Naumann Group Real Estate Inc. is handling sales and marketing in a rather straightforward fashion.

“We don’t have any upgrades,” Naumann said. “I can’t stand it when people see something in a model, and they fall in love with it, and then they find out there are $25,000 worth of upgrades in it. I put everything in the house, and that’s our standard home.

“When you tour the model, what you see is what you get.” TM

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↑ Developer Naumann says Camellia Oaks, while it is reserved for people 55 and older, is anything but a sedentary community. Pick-up bocci ball matches develop spontaneously while others relax with a good book.

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Camellia

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he scent of freshly cut grass transports you to summer days spent playing in the backyard.

The aroma of baked goods brings to mind being home for the holidays. A whiff of what smells like a pine tree reminds you of walks in the woods.

Scent triggers memories and emotions associated with them.

Aromatherapy may seem to be a contemporary phenomenon, but it has been around for thousands of years. Ancient peoples in Egypt, India and China practiced aromatherapy, using balms and oils for religious and medical purposes, and believing that aromatic plants provide physical, psychological and spiritual benefits.

Aromatherapy in the 21st century is based on the use of aromatic materials and aroma compounds to improve psychological or physical well-being. Studies show aromatherapy can aid with stress relief, mental clarity, sleep deprivation, energy deficiencies, depressed moods and hypertension.

If you’re not quite ready to delve into the world of essential oils, but would like to experience the benefits of aromatherapy, try a candle.

A candle’s scent activates smell receptors, which send messages through your nervous system to your brain. This activation of the limbic system affects your emotions.

“Candles are good for daily life, a daily ritual,” said David Lareau, owner of The Southern Pines, a

general store at 3427 Bannerman Road. “Coming home from a hard day’s work, opening a bottle of wine and lighting a candle can essentially ease the soul.”

If you want some pep in your step or a mood elevator, try candles with scents such as citrus, rosemary, sage or ylang-ylang. Proven promoters of calm are lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, jasmine, bergamot and patchouli. For mental clarity and to combat fatigue, light a eucalyptus, peppermint, ginger or lemon candle.

“Candles and their impact on mood are deeply interconnected,” said Celia Bennett, marketing manager at Hearth & Soul, 1410 Market St. “Whether you are trying to amplify romance at a candlelit dinner, joy and life at a house party, focus and creativity in your office space, or ↗ A handmade holder relaxation and calmness made of cinnamon in your bedroom at sticks surrounds night, candles can work a glowing candle emanating an to help you create that autumnal aroma. atmosphere.”

Scents that often produce a positive mood or a relaxed state include rose, vanilla, cut grass, clean linen, pine, cinnamon and pumpkin. purchasing or gifting one, start by designating certain Lareau finds this especially scents that you want to associate with moods, seasons or evident during the holidays. even the weather. Lighting different candles throughout “So many scents can bring the house can result in a unique blended scent and a new memories to the surface of our atmosphere. childhood and good times, of when “You can use the base scent or your candle — things were so much more innocent whether it be sweet, airy, musky or citrusy — to create and simpler,” he said. “Pumpkins, a unique atmosphere, or even layer in complementary pine trees, coffee, whiskey — we scents to make your space uniquely representative of love these scents because they you,” said Bennett. contain memories.”

Whether as a holiday gift or an indulgence for yourself, If you’re making your own candle, candles brighten moods and invigorate the senses. TM

JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS …

The Southern Pines introduced its own line of candles and opened a candle bar where guests can make their own candles poured into a reusable whiskey glass.

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PHOTOS BY VANILLLA / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS AND COURTESY OF SOUTHERN PINES

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PROMOTION

Christmas Through the Years at Esposito

T

BY AUDREY POST

he Christmas Shop at Esposito Garden Center is a Tallahassee seasonal institution.

The collection of trees decorated in various themes, the array of Christmas décor and accessories, and the presence of Santa himself create a magical wonderland of holiday delight.

It has also become a generational event, with parents and grandparents bringing children to “ooh” and “aah” at all the shiny signs of Christmas. The children who came in the early years now bring their children.

Customers from as far away as Mobile make it an annual ritual to experience Everything Christmas as Esposito’s.

Come take a stroll down memory lane with Ralph Esposito to the very beginning.

The early years

Ralph and his father, Garden Center founder Dominic Esposito, had been talking about adding a Christmas Shop since the mid1980s. In 1990, they did it. Ralph and Hurtis Amerson, who was in his first year with the nursery, went to Atlanta’s Merchandise Mart to buy inventory.

“We had no idea what we were doing,” Ralph said. “We spent $18,000 and wondered, ‘Who’s going to buy this stuff?’ We literally sold everything.”

And it grew. The old building had to be rewired several times to keep up with all the lights on the Christmas trees. There were several small electrical fires. “We just absolutely outgrew it,” Ralph said. “We

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PROMOTION

placed the trees four feet apart, and it was like a maze walking through there.”

The little ceramic villages from Dept. 56 were a big draw. Each year, on the day the company announced which pieces would be retired, the line of people would be out the front door. Then, pre-lit Christmas trees arrived on scene.

“About 60 percent of those early prelit trees were defective,” Ralph said.

“They were primitive compared to what we have now.”

More space, better lights

PHOTOS BY DAVE BARFIELD

The move in 2000 to the current, bigger building with ample wiring and the arrival of LED lights increased the magic. Rice lights with 1,000 lights on a string burn for 20,000 hours using little electricity.

Some of the trees this year have 12 strings — 12,000 lights — on them.

“Life is so much simpler with LED,” Ralph said. “It was expensive at first, but the price has come down. You can string 40 sets of 50 lights end to end. You probably couldn’t do five or six sets of incandescent lights.”

Each year, there are 50 decorated trees in the Christmas Shop, and every tree and every ornament are for sale. “We have five or six that are the same every year, such as Baby’s First Christmas, Sports, Hunting and Fishing, Cardinals, Ballerinas,” Ralph said. “Others are there three or four years. We have new ones every year.”

There’s a Travel Tree with handpainted ornaments representing luggage, passports, destinations. A Mardi Gras tree with feathered masks. A tree with hand-blown, Old World glass ornaments.

“We’re one of a very few places within 150 miles where you can get your Christmas tree, live cut or artificial, your lights, ornaments and lights for your yard,” Ralph said. “We’ve also been installing outdoor lighting, both residential and

HURTIS AMERSON

commercial, for about 10 years. We truly are Everything Christmas.”

Looking ahead

The addition of the Gift Boutique this year was a stroke of serendipity. After Covid-19 struck, a tenant no longer wanted to move into the space next door that was under renovation. A Gift Boutique, which will be open yearround, seemed the perfect addition to Esposito’s already diverse inventory for gardeners, hydroponic gardeners, beekeepers, bird enthusiasts and people looking for power tools, patio furniture, barbecue grills or sassy casual clothing and home décor.

The Gift Boutique has a bar, and Ralph has applied for a license to sell beer and wine. He plans to add a big-screen TV and comfortable seating, for shoppers as well as shoppers’ spouses.

“It all started with the Christmas Shop in the old store, and we’ve taken the best of a lot of good ideas,” Ralph said. “We’re very fortunate that we have plenty of room, loyal longtime customers, designers with ‘out of the box’ imagination and an incredible staff.”

Esposito Lawn & Garden Center 2743 Capital Circle NE, Tallahassee (850) 386-2114 EspositoGardenCenter.com TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

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B

DECOR

DECORATING, NATURALLY

Add classic touches with pine boughs and pinecones, holly, vines and acorns

by AUDREY POST

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ringing the outdoors inside for the holidays can add a special touch to your seasonal décor.

Whether you want timeless elegance, a rustic funky feel or just a bit of greenery to add a festive flair, using what you have in your yard can deliver.

Classic natural decorations include evergreen boughs wired to the top of a staircase banister or draped across the mantel over the fireplace. Be aware that if you do light a fire, it will dry out the boughs, so have a mister handy to spritz them periodically. It’s also a good idea to have a supply of evergreen boughs tucked away in a bucket of water to replace as needed.

You can dress up your evergreens with red velvet bows, small Christmas ornaments of various colors or small antique children’s toys scattered throughout. If you’re going for a more rustic design, wire together a trio of pinecones and nestle them among the

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greenery. You could spray-paint the tips of the pinecones with gold flecks for a pop.

A living tree you can plant in your yard after Christmas is the ultimate natural Christmas decoration, but make sure you get a tree that will thrive in our area. Those Douglas firs and blue spruces look great in their burlap bags, but neither will survive a North Florida summer. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services lists red cedar, Virginia pine, sand pine, spruce pine and Leyland cypress as trees grown in Florida for Christmas trees.

Lana Arnold, a Florida Master Gardener, a past president of the Tallahassee Garden Club and a board member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, has taught classes on using nature to decorate. She particularly likes acorns from the Shumard Oak, which have a ruffle near the base.

PHOTOS BY LIGHTFIELDSTUDIOS / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

↙ Boughs from fir trees, pruned and assembled on a form, make excellent wreaths. Keep them fresh by spritzing them regularly.

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“Cut cedar boughs, holly bushes with berries on them, juniper — any of your evergreens make great wreath additions,” Arnold said.

She also recommends cutting your wild grape vines, normally found annoying, and winding them in a circle in the bottom of a plastic bucket. They will dry into a wreath form, but it’s important to cut them while they still have some green. You can glue on greenery, hickory nuts or acorns, small pinecones or leaves once the vines have dried.

Wreath forms are also available at many garden centers and hobby stores, and you can bring them to life with many things in your yard. Loquat leaves make a lovely wreath; attach ripe kumquats with picks. Or, slice blood oranges and dry them in a dehydrator, then pin them to your wreath for a touch of seasonal color. If you want to add fresh blossoms, make sure you put them in floral picks, which have a water reservoir to keep the bloom fresh. Camellias are lovely in a wreath or floating in a holiday-theme bowl on a side table.

Boxwood is an old standby. Prune your boxwoods in late November or early December and keep the trimmings in water. They can be used for any decorative element, but they are especially useful for creating topiaries. A round foam ball atop a PVC pipe anchored in a flowerpot is transformed with a bit of paint on the pipe and boxwood covering the foam ball. Add a few camellias in picks or colored ball ornaments as mulch in the pot as a finishing touch.

Blooming plants such as amaryllis and Christmas cactus can provide colorful blossoms for the holiday season and then be preserved for future years. Plant your amaryllis outdoors in the spring. Move your Christmas cactus to a guest room after blooming and water it sparingly, then move it to a covered porch in spring. Bring it indoors before a frost. TM

PHOTOS BY IRINA_GEO / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

↑ Mantles spruced with natural elements and enhanced with delicate lighting can be enough to knock the socks off even Santa Claus.

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PROMOTION

Celebrating Traditions At Tallahassee Nurseries, we believe there is no better way to celebrate the holiday season than by embracing old traditions and making new ones with those we cherish.

Tallahassee Nurseries is Tallahassee’s onestop holiday destination. From premier Fraser Fir Christmas trees to stunning poinsettias, gorgeous winter garden color, unique gift ideas and other holiday staples and favorites, we have everything you need to bring the holidays to your home all season long. Since 1938, we’ve held the foundational principles of “quality, selection and service” — and the holidays are no exception.

QUALITY Tallahassee Nurseries has an exclusive partnership with the best Christmas tree grower in North Carolina to bring premier Christmas trees to town for our treasured customers. Buying a Christmas tree from Tallahassee Nurseries is meant to be a stress-free, enjoyable shopping experience so you can focus on the important things during the holiday season. Once our trees come in, they’re immediately set with a water base to ensure they stay fresh and pristine. All of our trees are displayed outdoors in our park-like setting. Stroll through our beautiful grounds and take in the scent of fresh pine as you find the perfect tree to bring home.

SELECTION During the holidays, the greenhouse goes red in true festive fashion. Come explore the largest greenhouse in town filled

with high-quality traditional and novelty poinsettias. While you’re there, you’ll be sure to find other seasonal favorites like Christmas cacti, orchids and more. Pair a houseplant or orchid with a gift card to give the gift of selection.

SERVICE Here at Tallahassee Nurseries, the most wonderful time of year is all year long.

We pride ourselves on providing the most exceptional service and an unforgettable experience to each guest that walks through our grounds. Our open-air shopping, paired with festive flair and bright smiles, is sure to transport you to simpler times. We hope to continue to be a part of your cherished holiday traditions.

We look forward to seeing you this holiday season at Tallahassee Nurseries, Tallahassee’s Christmas tree headquarters and one-stop holiday destination.

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GREEN SCENE

ROOT CROPS, HARDY ANNUALS DIG THE COOL LES HARRISON

A

utumn and early winter offer many opportunities for home landscape and garden activities amid moderate temperatures and low humidity.

The cool season is an ideal time to add potted shrubs to the home landscape. Be sure to mulch and water sufficiently to help them get established, and give them enough room to grow to their potential size.

Cold-resistant annuals, like pansies, are another addition to the home landscape that will add color and texture during the winter to come. It is late to start them from seed, and most homeowners find it far simpler to purchase starter plants at nurseries.

Select fresh, healthy plants. Those with evidence of insect or fungal activity should be passed over.

Carrots are a cool season vegetable that can be cultivated in home gardens once the soil has cooled off. Color, length and taste options extend far beyond the long orange variety found in supermarkets.

Purple, white, yellow and orange carrots grow well in fine soil 12 inches deep with a high organic content. Lightly cover the seed with soil when planting and keep the bed watered.

Thin when seedlings emerge, leaving one plant every four to six inches.

North Florida’s harshest winter weather will have little to no effect on this root crop.

Maturity is reached in approximately 90 days.

Another useful root vegetable ideal for home gardens is onions. As with carrots, taste and color options exceed supermarket offerings.

Plant with the tips of the bulb just below the soil’s surface with a spacing of six to eight inches. Scallions will be ready for use in 30 to 45 days, but bulbs will need five to six months.

Like a trick-or-treater, one insect native to North Florida uses a mask to frighten passersby.

The delta flower scarab beetle (Trigonopeltastes delta) uses the disguise for the purpose of survival, A MASKED not entertainment. Its common name refers to the triangular pattern on the center of its back.

The shape resembles the Greek letter delta. This beetle is sometimes known as the “D beetle.”

POLLEN EATER The species is very active during daylight and easy to view in autumn. It is most commonly seen in and around flowers and is usually noticed only during its adult life stage. Delta flower scarab beetles are members of a subfamily commonly called fruit or flower chafers. The common June bug or June beetle is a member of this group. Their diet is mainly pollen, and while these beetles mate where pollen is found, such places are a dangerous environment for these brightly colored insects. Many birds and other animals instinctively know there are numerous meal choices on blooms. This beetle has a unique defense in the form of an intimidating mask. When threatened, the delta flower scarab beetle turns away from its pursuer. It then raises its hind legs forward and cants its body upward, emphasizing the upper shell with the delta marking. The harmless beetle now has the appearance of a large hornet’s head.

Even the most aggressive predators stop to evaluate their gain versus their potential pain, giving the beetle time to escape.

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While this time of year is fine for many undertakings in home gardens, there is a big NO in November (and the remaining cool season). It is either too late or too early for certain activities.

Avoid using herbicides on warm season weeds. As weeds go into dormancy, the weed killers are not absorbed and will not work on the target species.

Annual weeds are already dying and have set seed for next season. Warm season perennials are retreating into their annual phase of inactivity and are not susceptible to the herbicide’s control characteristics.

Also avoid applying nitrogen fertilizer to warm season perennials. This element will stimulate the growth of tender foliage, even in days of diminished sunlight.

If a frost or freeze settles on the delicate green growth, there will be obvious and substantial damage to the plant. In the most extreme cases, the plant will be killed.

Les Harrison is a retired University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Wakulla County Extension Director.

PHOTOS BY LEONID EREMEYCHUK (HERBICIDE) AND MA-NO (CARROTS AND SCALLIONS) / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS AND BOB PETERSON FROM NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, PLANET EARTH! / COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG (BEETLE)

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PROMOTION

FIT FOR YOU

BATH FITTER MATCHES YOUR STYLE AND LIFESTYLE

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hen considering a bathroom renovation, a smile should come to your face as you envision all of the possibilities of your new space. Unfortunately, renovations often come with the stigma of hassle. Bath Fitter brings you back to the basics of simple solutions, custom craftsmanship and cost-effective answers.

“What we, as a company, strive for with every project is for our customers to smile every time they see their new bath,” says Darryl Gruber, branch manager of Tallahassee’s Bath Fitter location.

Bath Fitter specializes in tub-over-tub installations, tub/ shower installations, tub/shower conversions and handicap accessible options. The process begins with a free, no obligation consultation with a design consultant. You, the customer, then select all of the features of your new bath including colors, designs, wall patterns, faucets, doors, accessories and more.

Bath Fitter cleans and repairs all surfaces before installing your new, custom-made acrylic tub/shower. In most cases, the new acrylic can go right over your existing tub or shower.

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Thanks to our one-piece seamless wall, we keep water out and also give the customer an easy-to-clean, nonporous product.

At Bath Fitter, we manufacture our own acrylic and put it through very rigorous quality control testing. We know all of our products are top quality. We believe in our product so much, we give a Lifetime Warranty on the acrylic.

The Bath Fitter Tallahassee location supports the local economy while promoting a sense of community through giving and treating their customers like family. As an example, every year the location holds a free Family fun day with prizes, food and fun games while highlighting the most recent local products.

“Each day, we strive to live out our mission, vision and values. We want to be a great company to work for and do business with! We instill pride, teamwork, resourcefulness, respect, trust, customer focus and a positive attitude in our culture, which is why we have been in business 35 years and why we intend on being around another 35-plus years,” says Darryl Gruber. When considering bathroom renovation, get the right fit with Bath Fitter. We’ll make you smile!

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PROMOTION

DEAL ESTATE

JUST LISTED

Surrey Farms Paradise Has Room to Roam This home is fit for royalty but exudes comfort. This outstanding property includes a 16-acre pasture and a detached, one-bedroom guest house with its own kitchen, fireplace and outdoor party area. The main house’s open floor plan includes a beautiful office, dining room and gorgeous living area. Screened pool area, complete with outdoor kitchen and half-bath, adjoins sitting area. House also features a magnificent kitchen and family room with rock fireplace.

LISTED PRICE: $965,000 ADDRESS: 10032 Surrey Farms Lane SQUARE FOOTAGE: 5,960 BEDROOMS: 4 BATHROOMS: 4 full, 3 half YEAR BUILT: 2001

APPEAL: Private living at its finest. Fenced pasture provides paradise for horse and rider. This four-bedroom beauty would make for a great forever home. Onebedroom guest house, screened pool and hot tub, outdoor kitchen. Perfect for entertaining.

CONTACT INFORMATION: The Armstrong Team Fay Armstrong, (850) 556-1169 FaySarmstrong@gmail.com

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF NANCY O’BRIEN

FEATURES: Property sets up beautifully for anyone with equestrian interests.

Screened-in pool with hot tub and outdoor kitchen is perfect for entertaining. Spacious master bedroom has its own fireplace, exercise room and sitting area. Oversized three-car garage, abundant storage, large outbuilding.

Happy Holidays FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS

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PROMOTION

DEAL ESTATE

JUST LISTED

Charming Estate on Lake Bradford Hits Market Overlooking Lake Bradford, this estate-style home is perfect for anyone looking for lots of room in a quiet waterfront retreat. Located just 5 minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from the capitol, this home features three master suites among its five bedrooms, two of which include private outdoor access.

View the lake from a 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling window or take to the water from your dock equipped with an electric boat lift.

LISTED PRICE: $630,000 ADDRESS: 567 Lakeview Drive SQUARE FOOTAGE: 4,298 BEDROOMS: 5 BATHROOMS: 5

APPEAL: Relax in front of your 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling glass window that overlooks Lake Bradford. Located just five minutes from Tallahassee International Airport and 10 minutes from downtown Tallahassee.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Agency V Real Estate and Consulting Chad Kittrell, (850) 570-0604 View the property online at 3567lakeview.com.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF 323MEDIA

FEATURES: Lake-accessible dock features an electric boat lift. Home features a pair of two-car garages and two fireplaces, plus numerous Red Baron built-in antiques and stained glass. Kitchen and two bathrooms have recently been remodeled.

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Merry Christmas

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APPOINTMENTS

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(850) 509-3067 |

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destinations

NOV/DEC 2020

VISITING NOTEWORTHY PLACES NEAR AND FAR

GETAWAY

COLORADO IN WINTER

Atop skis, snowshoes and horses, guests at Vista Verde Ranch merge with nature

PHOTO COURTESY OF VISTA VERDE

by REBECCA PADGETT

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destinations

↑ “Saddle,” among the log, plank and beam cabins at Vista Verde Guest Ranch, can accommodate a large family. → Florida girl Rebecca Padgett took to a pair of crosscountry skis.

I

will never forget the four days that I spent inside a snow globe.

From a cozy cabin complete with crackling fire, I looked out upon impressive mountain peaks and watched as falling snow dusted mild horses.

My experience began when a ranch hand in a 10-gallon hat and cowboy boots greeted me at the Steamboat Springs/Hayden Airport. Soon, I would be introduced to Vista Verde Guest Ranch, a place that is indeed verdant and green in the spring and summer months and is equally spectacular in the winter in its coat of powdery white snow.

Vista Verde, a luxury dude ranch, is located in Clark, Colorado, on 540 acres in the middle of Colorado’s Routt National Forest. On a plateau between mountains, 12 private log cabins surround an impressive lodge with floor-to-ceiling windows, ideal for watching the over 100 resident horses representing a variety of breeds.

The cabin I stayed in, Saddle, was a dreamy dwelling with lofted ceilings, beds enough for an entire family, windows aplenty, and a kitchen stocked with a bottle of Cabernet and

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF VISTA VERDE AND REBECCA PADGETT (SELF)

homemade trail mix that I took a particular liking to.

My daylight hours were consumed by a variety of activities, but every evening, I enjoyed the outdoor hot tub on the deck that overlooked a picturesque expanse, aforementioned wine in hand.

Even in winter, Vista Verde is like a luxurious summer camp. One guest likened a stay at the ranch to a land cruise, providing as it does an all-inclusive vacation experience.

Meals are served in a dining hall where I learned that a majority of the guests were repeat visitors for whom the ranch is a favorite family vacation spot. It’s a communal environment where the staff often dines with the guests, and conversation flows freely about both the ranch and lives outside of it.

The culinary offerings equate to a fine-dining experience. An emphasis is placed on organic foods, and the kitchen is glad to cater to specific diets.

Some tips: Eat anything the pastry chef puts in front of you, don’t skip lunch, attend the daily happy hour and savor all that the formal dinners have to offer.

At dinner each night, guests select the activities they want to take part in the next day. Winter activities include skiing, snowshoeing, horseback riding, sleigh rides, snow tubing, ice fishing, fat-tire biking, snowmobiling, photography workshops, yoga, cooking classes and wine tastings. Depending on your selections, you can fit in two or three activities per day.

As a novice, I signed up for beginning cross-country skiing. Another woman and I set out into the forest with our knowledgeable guide who made us feel safe and showed us around the beautiful property. By the end of the three-hour trip, we were plowing through powder skiing down hills. For more experienced skiers, a complimentary shuttle makes trips to Steamboat Springs every day.

As a Floridian, I was amazed by the experience of snowshoeing atop several feet of snow. I channeled

↗ Beginning with the salad course, the meals served in the dining hall at Vista Verde reflect the chef’s preference for organic ingredients. ↑ The ranch (top) is home to 100 horses.

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my inner Henry David Thoreau and John Muir as I immersed myself in the beauty of unspoiled nature. My guide took me along an iced-over river, through forests of sweeping pines and up mountainsides. After snowshoeing, I ended the day snow tubing, which is an absolute stomach-dropping thrill.

I am a horse lover. I marvel at their beauty, their power and what I judge to be their intuition. I dedicated a day to horse activities. Although I had ridden before, every rider is required to take a horsemanship clinic before hitting the trails. In the clinic, you are taught simple commands to give your horse and are given time to learn your horse’s personality. I had the pleasure of spending time with Gunner, an

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older male who preferred the company of women.

The five riders settled into the gentle rhythm and were able to enjoy brilliant sunshine that brightened the snow and made mountains visible for endless miles.

A sleigh ride complete with hot cocoa is another memorable way to engage with the horses. That evening, I joined in the “sleigh feed.” Each afternoon, guests and ranch hands use pitchforks to offload hundreds of pounds of alfalfa to eagerly waiting horses. I got to see Gunner again; he was surrounded by his gals.

I understand why visitors come back to the ranch year after year. I have never felt so connected to and welcomed by strangers both human and equine. I am already planning my own trip back. TM

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↑ After trudging through fresh powder on snowshoes, a horse-powered sleigh can make for a relaxing alternative.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VISTA VERDE AND REBECCA PADGETT (SELF)

destinations

Tallahassee Community College’s President’s Circle members are dedicated, forward-thinking leaders who are changing the lives of TCC students through the power of philanthropy.

President’s Circle membership is an annual gift of $1,000 or more.

Your membership empowers the college to continue to deliver affordable, accessible higher education to our community.

President’s Circle members invest in transformational projects across TCC every year.

Some funded projects have included: • 2019 Undergraduate • Renovation of the Research Symposium Pankowski Family Honors Lounge • Renovation of a • Renovation of Lecture Hall the Dr. Lei Wang • Fund the College STEM Center Innovation Fund • Renovation of Grants for Faculty the Refreshment and Staff Services Vending • Renovation of four Pepsi Athletic Art Studios Training Room • Renovation of the Ralph Hurst Gallery

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Become a member TODAY! Alison Fleischmann (850) 201-6064 fleischa@tcc.fl.edu

Thank you for your support

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THE RIGHT CHOICE

Tallahassee’s trusted Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Pain Management Clinic NEUROLOGY

Ricardo Ayala, M.D.

Winston R. Ortiz, M.D.

J. True Martin, M.D.

Danny Estupinan, M.D.

NEUROSURGERY

Matthew Davis, M.D.

Adam Oliver, M.D.

Albert Lee, M.D.

Matthew Lawson, M.D.

Narlin Beaty, M.D.

PAIN MANAGEMENT

Joshua Fuhrmeister, M.D.

NEUROLOGY and NEUROSURGERY DEPARTMENT Azalea Building 1401 Centerville Road, Tallahassee

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Neurology (850) 878-8121

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Windrik Lynch, M.D.

Neurosurgery (850) 877-5115

PAIN MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT 2824-1 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee

Pain Management (850) 558-1260

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

MEDICAL Profiles

What is important to you and your family? If you say good health, you’re not alone. In this special section, Tallahassee Magazine fills you in on dedicated health professionals, their practices and their plans for keeping you healthy. Here they discuss their specialized skills, backgrounds and how they can help you with your important health care decisions.

 TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

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MEDICAL Profiles

PERIODONTAL ASSOCIATES Periodontics

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

OF NORTH FLORIDA Left to right: Dr. Andrew Chon, Dr. Aixa Guzman, Dr. Walter Colon, Dr. John Dozier

CLINICAL EXCELLENCE. COMPASSIONATE CARE. Periodontal Associates of North Florida is a periodontal and dental implant practice. We are specialists in the treatment of gum diseases, treatment of gum recession, placement of dental implants, and treatment of dental implant diseases. Our experienced doctors and staff make up a detail-oriented practice that strives to provide a positive experience to our patients.

Our mission is to provide clinical excellence and compassionate care. Clinical excellence is obtained by continually providing the highest level of modernized education for our doctors and team members, securing and utilizing the best equipment possible in our specialty, and constantly maximizing the technology and materials available to provide the best possible care for our patients.

Compassionate care, the second portion of our vision, is focused on the patient. We work with our patients treating disease and disability to help prevent loss of teeth. Our practice understands how important oral health is to our patients, both physically and emotionally, and we strive to achieve their best oral health.

More than ever, these two components of our vision come together. In this time of uncertainty for health and changes to our normal activities, Periodontal Associates has responded with a dedicated approach to further serve and protect our patients. We have invested in new technology and adapted our protocols to care for our community’s oral health in the safest way possible.

Periodontal Associates of North Florida serves the community of Tallahassee and surrounding areas with the best periodontal care possible. Our goal is to enhance the quality of people’s lives by improving oral health, preventing loss of teeth and, when possible, replacing lost teeth.

We are united in sending Tallahassee and the surrounding communities we serve our thanks for your continued trust.

2160 CAPITAL CIRCLE NE, SUITE 100 (850) 562-6111 | TALLAHASSEEPERIO.COM

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Robert S. Brumberg DO, FACOS, Medical Director

MEDICAL Profiles

Meet

THE VEIN INSTITUTE Specialists

VENOUS DISORDERS AFFECT BOTH MEN AND WOMEN Unsightly veins may not just be cosmetic as they could be a sign of a serious underlying medical condition. By identifying the underlying cause of your varicose veins, we can prevent and treat lifelong chronic venous disorders.

WHY A VASCULAR SURGEON IS THE RIGHT CHOICE A vascular surgeon’s sole expertise is in the diagnosis and treatment of all vascular conditions. Our training encompasses over two decades of knowledge in the continued pursuit of learning this pathology. In order to identify the best treatment plan for you, we have a superior knowledge base of the entire spectrum of vascular anatomy and the disease process to best identify and cure venous disorders. No other physician that claims to treat venous disease can compare with the decades of education and training that only a vascular surgery residency and fellowship can provide. This foundation allows our specialty to best diagnose and formulate a comprehensive and complete treatment plan individualized for each and every patient. At The Vein Institute, our team is led by the only board-certified vascular and endovascular surgery practice in Tallahassee and the Big Bend area.

WELCOME TO OUR VEIN INSTITUTE The Vein Institute of Tallahassee welcomes you to our new office located at the regional office center.

The office is comfortable and spacious, featuring new patient examination rooms, a dedicated venous ultrasound specialist, sclerotherapy and laser treatment room, and two operating suites.

Recovery rooms are arranged for efficiency and patient comfort. We also have a conference room with audiovisual capability for educational presentations to patients. Because this facility is state-of-the-art and created for the best possible clinical results, our highly trained staff

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Megan I. March MD, RPVI, FSVS

Lawrence D. Kaelin MD, FACS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Tallahassee’s only IAC Accredited Vein Center

can accommodate any needs while providing the highest quality service.

During your first visit, you will be evaluated by one of our venous specialists. If indicated, a comprehensive venous ultrasound examination will be performed.

The combination of the history of the clinical problem, your physical examination, the ultrasound study findings, and the visualization of veins beneath the skin surface, will provide a complete assessment of your overall venous health. We will explain the findings and their significance, and if indicated, we will offer recommendations for treatment with any alternatives and

Denise A. Smith MD, PhD, RPVI, FSVS

risks of the procedures. At The Vein Institute, we want you to be fully informed and, most importantly, be comfortable knowing that your best possible clinical result is our ultimate desire.

We are honored and excited to offer this new practice to the Tallahassee community. We thank you for your continued support and encourage you to explore our website for the latest information on venous disorders and treatments.

Our goal is to provide the highest quality of vascular care to our patients and ensure your partnership with us for your venous health for years to come.

VE N OUS D I S OR D E R S ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Spider Veins Hand and Facial Veins Varicose Veins S uperficial and Deep Venous Insufficiency ▪ Deep Vein Thrombosis ▪ Pelvic and Labial Veins ▪ Leg Cramps

▪ R estless Leg Syndrome ▪ Venous Ulcers ▪ M ay-Thurner Syndrome / Deep Vein Compression Syndrome ▪ L eg Heaviness and Lymphedema

▪ P elvic Congestion Syndrome

▪ S uperficial Venous Thrombosis and Phlebitis

▪ S crotal Veins and Male Infertility

▪ Venous Malformations ▪ Venous Skin Conditions

MI N I MA L LY I N VA S I VE T R E AT ME NTS ▪ T opical and Endovenous

▪ M icro-Ambulatory

Foam Sclerotherapy ▪ U ltrasound Guided Endovenous Chemical Ablation ▪ E ndovenous Radiofrequency Vein Ablation

Phlebectomy ▪ T opical Skin, Facial and Hand Laser Therapy ▪ E ndovenous Laser Vein Therapy ▪ V enography with Angioplasty and Stenting

▪ I ntra-Vascular Ultrasound Diagnostics and Therapy

▪ D eep Vein Thrombectomy and Clot Retrieval

▪ O varian, Pelvic and Scrotal Vein Embolization

▪ I nferior and Superior Cava Filter Placement

2623 CENTENNIAL BLVD., SUITE 102 | (850) 531-VEIN | TVIFL.COM

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MEDICAL Profiles

DAVE BARFIELD

NEW LEADERS IN FERTILITY & ENDOCRINOLOGY “NewLIFE”

Dr. Barry A. Ripps, MD, Founder and Medical Director

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? Infertility care. We help make families for those who have struggled alone.

HOW HAS YOUR BUSINESS EXPANDED? Our first office opened in 1994, and locations were added in Panama City, Tallahassee, then Mobile and Dothan, Destin and Biloxi. Growth to meet demand has come naturally from an ongoing commitment to excellence in patient experience and outcomes.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? We have provided great reproductive care in Tallahassee for 14 years, but few people outside of our patients and local OB/GYN physicians know we’re here. Unfortunately, many inaccurately believe that to receive world-class fertility care requires travel, paying more at big practices in big cities. We differ from practices in metropolitan cities by being smaller, more efficient and cost-effective with stellar outcomes and patient successes. Great patient support and faster paths to parenthood are advantages. Unlike many large practices, NewLIFE’s advanced laboratory continues to provide “fresh” embryo transfer

with high success, avoiding the delays and added costs of freezing and thawing embryos in later months. Furthermore, NewLIFE is patientcentric. We understand our patients’ needs and concerns, and we have designed the practice experience around these to fulfill their desires and to overcome common obstacles. We deliver success, safety and savings.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE PATIENTS RECEIVE THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF CARE? While laboratory technology is critical to quality outcomes, quality assurance at NewLIFE is a work ethic pervasive among our staff. Each member is highly trained, empowered to work independently and willing to access support when needed.

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF YOUR PRACTICE? NewLIFE continues to grow, and its reputation for delivering high-quality care and clinical success is getting attention regionally, beyond the Florida and Alabama Gulf Coasts. As the metropolitan experience for many is excessively stressful, folks have become more willing to travel, accessing coordination of their care via online channels, and

then taking a “family (making) vacation” to our caring practice on the soothing Emerald Coast. I strongly suspect this trend will continue.

WHAT AWARDS AND RECOGNITION HAS YOUR PRACTICE RECEIVED? Medical practices are rarely ranked or evaluated independently. In 2009 and 2010, NewLIFE was ranked No. 1 in Florida by an online consumer resource (FindTheBest, now HealthGrove), not only for our high overall pregnancy rates (success) but also in recognition of the lowest multiple pregnancy rates (safety). From these, Dr. Ripps was identified and offered recognition by Top Doctors in America (TheTopPhysicians.com) in the following years. Our greatest awards, however, the smiles and tears of joy when our patients see their baby’s first heartbeat!

WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY? Our mission is personal and probably best reflects our philosophy. Our goal is to provide infertile patients with progress toward a successful and healthy pregnancy as promptly, gently and as cost-effectively as possible. I think that is precisely what we do.

2344 CENTERVILLE ROAD, SUITE 103, TALLAHASSEE | (850) 325-6672 4400 BAYOU BLVD., SUITE 36, PENSACOLA | (850) 857-3733 | NewFertility@FertilityLeaders.com

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

OPPENHEIM SIGNATURE SMILES Cosmetic Dentistry

“WHEN I JOINED THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF COSMETIC DENTISTRY in 1994, it had become clear to me that the best interests of my patients demanded the expansion of my education far beyond the skills and knowledge that were taught in dental school,” says Thomas E. Oppenheim, DMD, as he reflects on his professional journey over the years.

Today, Dr. Oppenheim is recognized for his exceptional artistic ability to create that perfect “signature smile” for each client. He is one of only 63 dentists in the world to have achieved Accredited Fellow status in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD).

“Delivering cosmetic and restorative excellence required that I master and maintain proficiency in an entirely new set of artistic and technical skills. That is why I continue to fully engage in every learning challenge the AACD offers, and it is also why I voluntarily tested my skills against the AACD’s most demanding standards.

By passing the rigorous testing required to become an AACD Accredited Fellow, I am demonstrating that I can, and will, consistently deliver no-compromise, beautiful results every time,” he states.

Dr. Oppenheim’s smile designs are known for their strikingly natural appearance and lasting beauty. His work has not only graced the cover of the prestigious Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry an unprecedented eight times, but has also won him Top Honors in AACD International Smile Gallery competitions for 10 consecutive years (including Best of Show in Honolulu).

A writer and frequent lecturer on advanced smile design techniques, Dr. Oppenheim has served on the Accreditation Board of Examiners for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD) and mentored other dentists pursuing accreditation in the AACD. Dr. Oppenheim is an alumnus of the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry as well as the Comprehensive Esthetics Restorative Continuums at the College of Dentistry at Baylor University and Louisiana State University. He is also an honorary fellow of the International Academy of Dental-Facial Esthetics.

“With each new patient, I remind myself that I am only as good as the last smile I created. Our patients choose us because they want the best, and in return for their trust, we promise to do what it takes to provide just that — every time.”

207 E. JACKSON ST., THOMASVILLE, GA | (229) 226-1631 | SIGNATURESMILES.COM

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MEDICAL Profiles

WAYNE FREILICH, MD BOARD CERTIFIED DERMATOLOGIST Dermatology Specialists of Florida & Aqua Medical Spa

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? At Dermatology Specialists of Florida, we provide the full range of dermatology services, from diagnosis, treatment and prevention of skin disease to removal of skin cancer — by surgery and/or medical (non-surgical) modalities.

And it’s all delivered with good old-fashioned human kindness.

In our modern clinical office setting, I, along with certified physician assistant Harmony Church and our licensed aestheticians, provide an extensive line of antiaging treatments for the enhancement of your appearance (lasers, peels, Botox, fillers).

WHAT IS THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS? I believe my success can best be defined in three-steps. First: describing for my patient the range of treatments available for their condition(s). Second: carefully listening when they voice their preferences from among their various options, then arriving at the optimal treatment selected specifically for that person in the exam room at that moment. Then third: continuously monitoring treatment progress to tailor the treatment to the individual.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO INTO THIS PROFESSION? I have a scientific mind and I love helping people, so medicine was the natural selection. I’ve always been a visual learner; thus, I was predestined for a medical career in either radiology, pathology or dermatology.

I like people, so that made dermatology the perfect choice. In choosing my subspecialty, I was blessed with excellent hand-eye coordination and enjoy working with my hands, so procedural dermatology (skin cancer removal, cosmetic dermatology) is my calling. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d continue to perform dermatologic (skin) surgery.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? We provide quick access to care with the ability to schedule patients within days, not months.

Skin cancer rates are rising. It’s well known that earlier diagnosis leads to an easier cure with better results.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE IMPACT THE COMMUNITY? In addition to sponsoring many local nonprofit events, we pride ourselves in educating the community on skin cancer facts, the importance of regular skin cancer screenings and proper sun safety protocol. We accept the majority of insurance plans, including CHP, and we continue to offer free skin cancer screenings during the month of May (skin cancer awareness month).

Wayne Freilich, MD, Diplomate, American Board of Dermatology

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB? Seeing the relief in my senior patients’ eyes when I have successfully removed their skin cancer — and the smile on my younger patients’ faces when I have enhanced their appearance and/or slowed down their skin clock/calendar.

1474 MARKET ST. | (850) 386-DERM (3376) | DERMATOLOGYSPECIALISTSFL.COM | AQUAMEDICALSPA.COM

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

TALLAHASSEE DENTAL ASSOCIATES Dr. Marci Beck, Dr. Glenn Beck, Dr. Brian Beck, Dr. Julie Bailey WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? We provide cosmetic, general and implant restorative dentistry — including aesthetic crowns and bridges, veneers, onlays and smile whitening.

Also, tooth-colored fillings, root canals, oral cancer screening and dentures.

Implant retained restorations include single-tooth replacement, as well as full-arch tooth replacement with permanent non-removable hybrid restorations.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS? By the quality of the relationships we establish with our patients. Patient satisfaction is huge. We work hard to provide the best care possible. We feel successful when the patient has had a pleasant and positive experience.

WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY? To always have our patient’s best interests in mind and to treat each person with the utmost respect.

HOW HAS YOUR BUSINESS EXPANDED? We utilize a digital scanner to take impressions, which avoids the use of impression materials that can be uncomfortable for some patients. We utilize digital radiography which reduces our patients’ exposure to radiation by as much as 70 percent. We employ intraoral cameras, which allow patients to see inside their own mouths.

We provide metal-free all-porcelain veneers and crowns, which are the most aesthetic restorations available.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? Our commitment to continuing education for both doctors and staff.

Each year, we take hundreds of hours

of classes at the Spear Institute, the toprated dental education center in the U.S. Also, we work with consultants to improve our teamwork, services and efficiency.

Because we have four doctors, we can accommodate our patients’ needs and schedules by providing expanded hours and emergency care.

HOW DOES YOUR PRACTICE IMPACT THE COMMUNITY? Every year, we provide the Smiles By Beck Scholarship for dental

hygiene and dental assisting students who attend Tallahassee Community College.

We support many local fundraising events large or small. We guest lecture at UF, FSU and TCC. The Tallahassee Tennis Challenger Tournament, which benefits the Tallahassee Memorial Neuro Intensive Care Unit, is another event we enjoy supporting.

We provide aid to the medical examiner’s office. And of course, volunteering for We Care helps us provide dentistry in our area to low-income people in need.

2929-B CAPITAL MEDICAL BLVD. | (850) 656-2636 | SMILESBYBECK.COM

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MEDICAL Profiles

CANNA CRUSADE WELLNESS Medical Cannabis

ONE OF THE MANY BEAUTIES of science and medicine is that there will always be revelatory discoveries made that promote optimal health and wellness. In recent years, scientific research has largely supported medicinal cannabis as a form of holistic treatment.

Impacted by years in the medical industry and personal experiences, Andrea Anderson and Jill Giles opened Canna Crusade Wellness with the vision of bringing medical cannabis education to the community and providing a path to a more holistic way of living.

Canna Crusade Wellness offers medical cannabis recommendations for all ages, with a special focus in pediatric care. Other services include testing asymptomatic patients for heart and vascular disease, IV vitamin infusion treatments and a wean-off program for opioid addictions.

Interested patients must first schedule an appointment with an on-staff physician. Each doctor is state certified to recommend medical cannabis, making this a one-stop-shop for assessment and care. The physician will assess the patient’s history and symptoms in order to determine qualifying conditions. Once the patient has the doctor’s recommendation, the staff will then help the patient apply for their card through the Florida Department of Health and discuss treatment plans and products available.

Anderson and Giles then work with patients during one-on-one consultations to determine the medical cannabis options that are best for them and to develop a wellness plan. These consultations are personable and family-oriented, focusing on the most current information and scientifically based care.

“One of our biggest obstacles is there is still a stigma attached to cannabis,” said Anderson. “We want to reduce that stigma and make people aware of alternatives so

Andrea Anderson and Jill Giles

they feel more empowered to take control of their own health.”

Prior to opening, Anderson had industry experience working on the dispensary side.

During this time, she was able to take her son off of ADHD medicines and switch to cannabis therapy.

Fueled by Anderson’s passion for medical cannabis’ influence on pediatrics, they developed a nonprofit, Crusader Kids, which provides financial assistance and educational resources to those on their journey to reach a better state of living.

Giles transitioned to the holistic side

after working for over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, when she was diagnosed with lupus and given less than a year to live. After being on massive amounts of pharmaceutical drugs, she discovered medical cannabis and is in full remission.

“There are hundreds of stories like mine, and each time, those stories bring chills to my body,” said Giles. “Children who had seizures every day and can now attend school, patients who were wheelchair bound but can now walk, and so many more. Each story is a testament — and medicine is our message.”

1350 MARKET ST., SUITE 202 | (850) 655-0141 | CANNACRUSADEWELLNESS.COM

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CAPITAL PERIODONTAL ASSOCIATES Dr. William T. Baldock & Dr. William T. Baldock Jr.

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU OFFER YOUR PATIENTS? Our practice offers state-of-theart periodontal and dental implant treatment.

Our procedures include dental implant surgery, laser surgery, scaling and root planing, gingivitis and periodontitis treatment, gingival flap surgery, oral cancer screenings, cosmetic contouring procedures and more. Treatment for our patients also includes conscious sedation and anxiety management techniques.

HOW HAS YOUR BUSINESS EXPANDED? Capital Periodontal is excited to welcome Dr. Will Baldock Jr. to the practice next spring.

He is currently completing his periodontal residency program at The Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University before returning home to Tallahassee in early 2021. As co-chief resident of his program, Dr. Will Baldock is highly trained in the most modern periodontal and implant placement procedures and is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. It has been our goal to expand Capital Periodontal Associates as a father-son team, and we are excited for our patients to establish long-lasting relationships with Will. He is a compassionate doctor who is committed to providing the very best periodontal care to his hometown and surrounding areas.

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT CAPITAL PERIODONTAL ASSOCIATES? Capital Periodontal Associates is a patient-centered practice. We develop specific periodontal treatment plans that meet the needs of each of our patients. My staff and I set aside time to listen to our patient’s concerns and provide patient education throughout every step of the treatment process. It is our goal to continue to provide each patient with unparalleled periodontal treatment in our expanding community.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE YOUR PATIENTS RECEIVE THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF CARE? Capital Periodontal is a team of exceptional professionals, including a registered surgical nurse, dental hygienists, dental assistants and patient care coordinators who place patient care as their utmost priority. Before, during and after a periodontal procedure, we are accessible to our patients. Capital Periodontal also partners with our patients’ restorative dentists and physicians to ensure their excellent oral health.

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF YOUR PRACTICE? While so much has changed in our dental community due to

the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing has remained constant at Capital Periodontal: the commitment to our patient’s health and safety. Infection control has always taken precedence in our office, and this year we have added even more layers of protection for our patient’s safety. We will continue to follow the American Dental Association, Center for Disease Control and OSHA guidelines to ensure our infection control procedures are current and adhere to each agencies’ recommendations. We salute our fellow colleagues and friends in the Tallahassee dental and health care community who are taking every precaution to ensure our city remains safe and healthy in 2021.

2621 MITCHAM DRIVE, SUITE 101 | (850) 942-8111 | CAPITALPERIO.COM

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MEDICAL Profiles

FLORIDA CANCER SPECIALISTS

ALICIA OSBORNE

Scott Tetreault, MD; Viralkumar Bhanderi, MD; Paresh Patel, MD; Margarett Ellison, MD

Left to right: Viralkumar Bhanderi, MD, Paresh Patel, MD, Margarett Ellison, MD, Scott Tetreault, MD

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU OFFER? We offer full medical oncology treatment services for all cancers: chemotherapy, immunotherapy, vaccine therapy, gene therapy, targeted molecular therapy and clinical trials.

We also offer the DigniCap® Scalp Cooling System treatment as an option to possibly minimize hair loss associated with chemotherapy.

HOW HAS YOUR PRACTICE GROWN? Earlier this year, we welcomed boardcertified gynecologic oncologist Dr. Margarett Ellison to our practice, and we are delighted to now provide comprehensive cancer care to women, including treatment for gynecologic malignancies. Dr. Ellison is a skilled specialist with a stellar reputation for clinical excellence and compassionate care with over 20 years of experience.

HOW HAS YOUR PRACTICE ADAPTED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC? Early on, our dedicated team of cancer experts enacted stringent procedures and safeguards, and they have continued to provide our patients with the personalized care and treatments they need, safely and with minimal disruption.

research that enables us to provide the most promising new treatments for our patients. We offer every FDA-approved cancer treatment option along with cutting-edge clinical trials.

WHAT OTHER INNOVATIONS HAVE YOU INTRODUCED? Telehealth services are now available at all our locations. In fact, we were among the first oncology practices in the state to launch telehealth. Whenever possible, patients are connecting with their physicians and other providers securely and conveniently from home.

Patient feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

WHAT ACCOLADES HAVE YOUR PRACTICE RECEIVED? We received the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Clinical Trials Award for our enrollment of Florida patients in clinical trials of novel cancer therapies.

WHAT IS THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS? To treat every patient like a family member.

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? Our entire team is passionate about clinical

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY? Always put the patient first.

WHAT ARE FUTURE PLANS FOR YOUR PRACTICE? We will continue to grow so that our neighbors can receive exceptional cancer care close to home and near their loved ones.

Our new, state-of-the-art Tallahassee Cancer Center will open in early 2021, providing even greater convenience and comfort for patients in Tallahassee and Leon County.

1600 PHILLIPS ROAD, SUITE 300 | (850) 877-8166 | 2626 CARE DRIVE, SUITE 200 | (850) 219-5830 GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY OF TALLAHASSEE | 2626 CARE DRIVE, SUITE 101 | (888) 496-6621 FLCancer.com | GYNONCofTally.com

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DRS. WALTON & CARDMAN DENTISTRY James Walton III, DDS & David W. Cardman, DMD

DAVE BARFIELD

WALTON AND CARDMAN DENTISTRY, guarantees that visitors will experience more than just the typical dental practice when they visit. Each patient’s comfort and confidence comes first when matters of dentistry are concerned. Their mission is to provide the highest quality of dentistry and patient care available.

The staff maintains the highest level of accreditation and education in order to stay in tune with the latest trends in dentistry. They offer a full range of treatment options that can be personalized to meet your unique needs and expectations. Their services include preventative care, cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, teeth whitening, general dentistry and more.

1280 TIMBERLANE ROAD | (850) 893-2136 | DRSWALTONANDCARDMAN.COM

NORTH FLORIDA ORTHODONTIC SPECIALISTS Orthodontics

WHAT SETS YOUR PRACTICE APART? We are family owned and have been a part of the community for over 30 years. We have made it our goal to provide affordable treatment. My personal motto is to promote customer service because I think in many ways, in the medical field, it’s a dying art.

But it shouldn’t be.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO INTO THIS CAREER? My dad was an orthodontist, which definitely

had some influence on me. I like working with my hands. I can’t sit there behind a desk or stare at a screen all day. This job allows me to work with my hands while making a positive impact on the lives of others.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF CARE? My highly trained staff is vital.

They are amazing, and in my opinion, the best in town. I pay attention to detail, and they know I expect the same from them.

WHAT ASPECT OF YOUR PRACTICE ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? I am most proud

of the high amount of return customers and referrals we receive. Our practice is primarily word of mouth, which is such a good feeling — to know patients are not only happy but making recommendations to their friends, family and coworkers.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB? Transforming smiles and working with patients.

I get to know some truly good and incredibly deserving people.

When people go to the dentist or the doctor, they see them once a year. I get to see my patients once a month for at least two years.

I have the privilege of getting to

ALICIA OSBORNE

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU PROVIDE? Orthodontics for children and adults including metal, clear and Invisalign.

Dr. Mike Barry

know patients really well, watching them change and seeing their smiles transform with confidence and beauty.

3051 HIGHLAND OAKS TERRACE, UNIT 4 | (850) 656-3917 | DRB4BRACES.COM

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2019 SPS is the only practice in the area to offer VASER liposuction

CELEBRATING

YE A R

S

DID YOU KNOW? SPS has held 80+ “Hot Topics”, free to attendees to learn about latest techniques & technology.

2013 Chris DeRosier, M.D. joins the practice

CELEBRATING YE A R

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S

D HAIR

SALON

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PROMOTION

DEC. 5

Marvin Goldstein Opening Nights begins another season of live, in-person performances with Marvin Goldstein, an internationally acclaimed pianist. He has recorded over 50 CDs in genres including popular music, patriotic melodies, show tunes and love songs. Marvin has a unique ability to draw an audience into the music with the emotions a particular piece may invoke.

He truly makes the piano come to life. Read more on page 66.

To learn more, visit openingnights.fsu.edu.

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calendar PROMOTION

NOV/DEC 2020 For more events in Tallahassee, visit TallahasseeMagazine.com. compiled by JAVIS OGDEN and REBECCA PADGETT

NOV. 26

Tallahassee Turkey Trot PHOTOS BY KEVIN LAMB PHOTOGRAPHY (WAF) AND COURTESY OF OPENING NIGHTS (GOLDSTEIN), DCWA (HARVEST FEST) AND UNITED WAY OF THE BIG BEND (WOMEN’S BREAKFAST) AND ECTC (A CHRISTMAS CAROL)

→ The annual

Thanksgiving tradition continues this year as a virtual race. Last year, 5,052 runners finished one of the four races (1M, 5K, 10K and 15K) under perfect skies. This year’s event will be virtual — and can be done from anywhere in the world. The 2020 Turkey Trot Virtual Challenge is made up of two 3-mile challenges and a pair of 2-mile challenges — a total of 10 miles for the entire challenge. Complete all at once or break up the distances to manageable sessions. Either way, have fun with it.

For more information, visit the race’s official website at TheVirtualRunChallenge.com/virtualturkey-trot-run.

REGIONAL NOV. 6–21 REGIONAL NOV. 5–7

Harvest Wine & Food Festival → Destin Charity Wine Auction

Foundation is moving away from the festival’s grand tasting format, which traditionally welcomed large crowds to WaterColor’s Cerulean Park for three days of wine and culinary celebrations. Instead, DCWAF is hosting six upscale, limited-capacity events happening in various locations throughout South Walton.

WILDLIFE ARTS FESTIVAL → Thomasville Center for the Arts, in

partnership with Synovus, is proud to present the 25th Wildlife Arts Festival in Thomasville, Georgia.

To learn how we are celebrating the Red Hill’s flora and fauna through public art, workshops, a pop-up shop and a rally through the longleaf pines, visit us at ThomasvilleArts.org/waf.

Learn more at DCWAF.org.

DEC. 3

WOMEN UNITED WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP BREAKFAST

REGIONAL DEC. 4–19

‘A Christmas Carol’ → Emerald Coast Theatre Company

→ Each year, Women United hosts a breakfast

honoring women who are leaders in business and philanthropy. This will be the fourth year for the breakfast, which encourages women and all members of the community to give generously of their time, talent and treasure to create positive change. Due to current restrictions on public gatherings, this year’s breakfast will be a virtual event.

Visit UWBB.org/event/4th-annual-womens-leadership-breakfast for more information as it is made available.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

The COVID-19 pandemic may affect the events listed here.

Consult websites to obtain the latest information on their status.

Presents A Christmas Carol. This thrilling adaptation uses only five actors to bring some of Dickens’ most beloved characters to life. The production uses only simple props, fresh physicality and the power of imagination to convey this timeless story of redemption.

For more information, visit EmeraldCoastTheatre.org.

HAVE AN EVENT YOU’D LIKE US TO CONSIDER? Send an email to sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com.

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calendar

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‘A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM’ OCT. 30–NOV. 8 The School of Theatre at Florida State University presents a Shakespearean classic filled with hijinks and mystery. Follow along as mystics cast their spells on amorous lovers and unsuspecting actors cross paths on a transformative midsummer night.

an opportunity for the community to participate in Handel’s Messiah by singing the choral parts.

Come and sing, or enjoy the singing of others.

Tallahasseearts.org/organization/ tallahassee-music-guild

Theatre.fsu.edu/productions/2020-21season/a-midsummer-nights-dream

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‘LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET’ NOV. 19-22 The School of Theatre at Florida State University presents their Theatre for Young Audiences musical, Last Stop On Market Street, and invites the audience to climb aboard the No. 5 bus with C.J. and his grandmother as they ride through their urban neighborhood. On this hiphoppin’, toe-tappin’ and heart thumpin’ musical joy ride, C.J. is introduced to the diversity of humanity while exploring an unfamiliar world.

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The Tallahassee Music Guild presents its singalong concert, providing

VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS THOMASVILLE DEC. 10-11 ↑ The 34th annual Victorian Christmas will take you back in time. Stroll the streets of downtown Thomasville and be entertained by performers, carolers and musicians. Shop, dine and greet the arrival of the holiday season! Stop

by Farmer’s Daughter Vineyards on your way home to pick up a few festive treats.

Thomasvillega.com/attractions/ festivals/victorian-christmas

TALLAHASSEE BALLET’S ‘THE NUTCRACKER’ DEC. 12-13 Sugarplum fairies will dance in your head and snow will fall as the beloved Christmas classic, The Nutcracker, twirls to life on the Ruby Diamond stage. The Tallahassee Ballet welcomes all ages to enjoy a treasured performance of beautiful ballet, a live orchestra, intricate costumes and a breathtaking set.

Tallahasseeballet.org

PHOTO BY GABRIEL HANWAY

Seafood lovers delight as the historic town of Apalachicola serves up Gulf shellfish, finfish and more. The festival features seafood vendors, oyster-eating and oystershucking contests, a parade, the 5K Redfish Run, arts and crafts, musical entertainment and more.

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(continued from page 86)

Looking for the perfect gifts to thank your employees & customers?

→ Protocols and procedures are an important aspect of all hospital operations, but never more so than during a highly infectious and dangerous pandemic.

Jaclynn Moss is the nurse manager for the Internal Medicine Unit at TMH.

On bad days, I remind them of the good days and how many patients we have sent home. We have done a lot of good things.

We already were a family, but we have grown closer together because now we really count on each other.

Jaclynn Moss is the nurse manager for the Internal Medicine Unit at TMH

84

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“We’re all learning together, and we have been very nimble in adjusting to what we’ve learned.”

Throughout, Smith said, the safety of staff and patients and providing for adequate testing have been top priorities.

Testing capacity, he explained, typically is limited by allocations of reagents.

But TMH, given a partnership with the microbiology department at Florida State University, is in a different position.

“At FSU, they are actually creating the reagent, so now we have the ability to test in large numbers,” Smith said. “Very few others have that option and availability. I think we have done a really good job of keeping a forefront focus on safety.”

Jaclynn Moss is the nurse manager for the Internal Medicine Unit at TMH, and also serves as the manager of a unit reserved for COVID-19 patients who do not require intensive care.

Pandemic preparations at TMH, she said, began as the virus was first blossoming in China and well before the hospital could

November-December 2020 TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

know whether or to what extent it would be affected by the virus. Managers turned emergency planners assessed hospital space to determine where COVID-19 patients could be located and isolated.

Walls were erected. Fans were installed.

Supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) were reserved. And, when the COVID-19 caseload began to build, Moss said, 27 medical/surgical patients were moved off a unit and 21 COVID-19 patients were moved in, all in a single day.

Ten nurses and three patient care assistants staff the COVID-19 unit during each shift. Two of the assistants work inside the unit, Moss explained, and the third works as a runner.

“There is no way we could take all of our PPE off every time we need something,” Moss said. “We work with walkie-talkies and phones, and supplies come in and out via the runner.”

Moss, a Tallahassee resident since age 7, earned associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing at Tallahassee Community College and the University of West Florida, respectively. She has been a TMH employee for nine years and is the mother of three school-age children.

“One of the positive things that I’ve noticed is that this pandemic has really brought nursing back to nurses,” Moss said.

They spend more time at bedsides.

They collaborate closely with physicians.

Said Moss, “They drive nursing care and they influence physician care because they are in there with the patients. And, every day they learn something new.”

Moss stresses to nurses on her team that patients look up to them, and their families rely on them.

SAVE LIVES HELPING TO

“We talk a lot,” Moss said.

“On bad days, I remind them of the good days and how many patients we have sent home. We have done a lot of good things.

We already were a family, but we have grown closer together because now we really count on each other.”

Duty on the COVID-19 unit, Moss said, exacts physical, emotional and mental tolls.

“I encourage nurses to take breaks because they are in full PPE from head to toe,” Moss said. “As much as we try to cool down that unit, you can’t tell a patient not to turn the heat up.

Nurses are soaking wet at the ends of their shifts. The breaks are important because I can’t have them falling out.”

Some days are more difficult than others owing to the nature and number of cases.

“We take advantage of those days when our numbers are low,” Moss said. “We know that we could come in the next day and all of the beds may be full again. We take it one minute at a time, and do all that we can to make it safe for nurses to report to work and to leave at the end of their shift.”

N

COMMUNITY STEPS UP WITH DONATIONS TO TMH’S COVID-19 EMERGENCY FUND story by

Steve Bornhoft photography by

Dave Barfield

igel Allen recognized that he was about to say something that would likely bring to mind Sally Field’s 1984 Oscar Award acceptance speech in which she tearfully said, “I can’t deny the fact that you really like me right now; you really like me.”

Allen is the president and chief advancement officer at the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation. He has been moved in recent months by the response the foundation has received to its appeals for contributions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People in our community have demonstrated in a very tangible way that they really

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85

As of late August, community contributions to TMH’s COVID-19 emergency fund had exceeded $650,000. Many of those gifts were earmarked for specific purchases, such as the purchase of a telemedicine unit or the retrofitting of a room to provide negative airflow.

“We just received a $500 contribution from a bank that wanted to underwrite the cost for a day’s worth of meals for our clinical team on the COVID unit,” Allen said. “There are lots of ways in which people are stepping up.”

Contributions enabled TMH to purchase a $100,000 Surfacide Ultraviolet Cleansing Unit that has been used to disinfect treatment areas and patient rooms and provide reassurance, particularly to people with compromised COVID-19 immune systems. has been a The unit, Allen said, “has tremendous greatly reduced the chance of crisis financially any hospital-based infection.”

Telemedicine units placed in and in terms of COVID rooms enable patients the toll it has to connect with their families taken on our and feel a part of the world personnel and beyond the hospital.

The fundraising campaign all who have has attracted both established been affected by and first-time givers, said Allen, it directly and who also noted an internal indirectly.

“Adopt a Caregiver” campaign at TMH whereby employees are supporting frontline perNigel Allen, President sonnel with gifts, treats and & Chief Advancement Officer at TMH notes of encouragement.

“COVID-19 has been a tremendous crisis financially and in terms of the toll it has taken on our personnel and all who have been affected by it directly and indirectly,” Allen said. “The $650,000 was a godsend, and we will need more.” TM

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Medical Cannabis Recommendations

(continued from page 115) story by STEVE BORNHOFT photography by BLACK & HUE PHOTOGRAPHY

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“The hallway is wide enough for two wheelchairs so one day we can have races,” Morrogh said. Indeed, Morrogh is probably capable of supercharging a wheelchair. He once built an electric-powered minibarge and piloted it the entire 106-mile length of the Apalachicola River with a couple of friends, wildlife photographer David Moynahan and Chris Smith.

Whitlock described the Country Club Drive house as “transitional modern.” It measures over 2,600 square feet, heated and cooled, and was built

by Southern Standard Construction. Jonathan Hatfield was the project manager.

“The house is on a sloped site, so we had to work the grading out to keep everything on one level,” he explained.

Bordered on three sides by green spaces, including Capital City Country Club, the house sits on a half-acre lot that “appears visually to be an acre and a half,” Morrogh said.

While she has plenty of room for a garden, McCalman has vowed not to get back into it. In her lifetime, she has nurtured 100 organic gardens.

“We go to Publix and the Community Co-op,” said Morrogh, who tends toward the sardonic from time to time.

Morrogh and McCalman are finding much to like about life as townies.

They enjoy living in a university town with abundant green spaces and mature vegetation and cultural opportuni— Earl Morrogh ties. Morrogh likes being within an easy drive of St. Marks and Apalachicola — he once served as a board member for Apalachicola Riverkeeper.

And, the couple finds that they are surrounded by people who share their progressive values.

“Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming, and I look forward to the day when we can invite them all in,” McCalman said. TM

“The hallway is wide enough for two wheelchairs so one day we can have races.”

Know someone recently engaged or in the process of planning a wedding?

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N IN OCATIO A RE L W E N T SQU M A R K E O PE N N OW

dining guide AMERICAN ANDREW’S DOWNTOWN

(850) 422-0071. $ B L D

BACKWOODS CROSSING ★

Eclectic and edgy, both in menu and atmosphere, Kool Beanz delights in art present both on the walls and your plates. This offbeat alternative won Best Casual Dining in Tallahassee. 921

Sit down at this 2020 Best of winner for fresh gourmet food at Tallahassee’s farm-to-table, destination concept restaurant featuring locally caught and produced soft-shell crabs, sausage, duck and blueberries. 6725 Mahan Dr.

(850) 765-3753. $$ L D

BUMPA’S LOCAL #349

Featuring burgers, sandwiches, pastas, fried ribs, tacos and wings, this new neighborhood bar and grill has something for everyone.

2738 Capital Circle NE. (850) 599-8652. $L D

DOG ET AL ★

$L D

THE EDISON

This relaxed fine dining establishment is equipped with a beer garden, wine cellar, casual café, open-air alternatives and a gorgeous view that has become a Tallahassee favorite. 470 Suwannee St. (850) 684-2117. $$/$$$

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD ★

The name says it all! This restaurant boasts a palate-pleasing combination of personalized service, eclectic ambiance and award-winning cuisine and is the Best Desserts winner for 2017–20. 1950 Thomasville Road.

(850) 224-9974. $$ L D

HOPKINS’ EATERY ★

A Best of 2020 winner, Hopkins’ provides favorites such as the Ultimate Turkey, the Linda Special and a variety of salads to keep customers coming back. Multiple locations. Hours vary. $

BEST SEAFOOD MARKET

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1415 Timberlane Road in Market Square 850.893.7301 southernseafoodmarket.com

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ISLAND WING COMPANY ★

Get baked! Tally’s Best Sports Bar for 2020 won’t serve you up greasy, fried wings; instead Island Wing bakes them fresh. 1370 Market St. (850) 692-3116. $L

THE KEY ★ 2020 Best

of Tallahassee Winner

KOOL BEANZ ★

Thomasville Rd. (850) 224-2466. $$ L D

LIBERTY BAR AND RESTAURANT ★

Carefully crafted unique cocktails mixed with a gourmet menu that features fresh, local produce. 1307 N. Monroe, Unit No. 2,

(850) 354-8277. $$ D

LOFTY PURSUITS ★

This old-fashioned soda fountain serves ice cream, milkshakes and candy — plus brunch dishes and a selection of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. 1355 Market St.,

A11. (850) 521-0091. $ B

Foot-long and veggie entrees alike grace this award-winning menu. Also ask about their incredibly valued family packs. 1456 S. Monroe St. (850) 222-4099.

BUY SOUTHERN

Located in the Four Points by Sheraton Downtown, this cool lobby restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Unique dishes include tapas with a twist, such as the Georgia peaches with caramel. 316 W. Tennessee St.

After 40 years, Andrew’s is still an energetic, casual, see-and-be-seen spot.

House favorites include a popular lunch buffet, hamburgers, salads and pasta dishes. Downtown delivery.

(850) 222-3444/Fax, (850) 222-2433. $$ B L D

Buy Fresh · Buy Wild

JUICY BLUE

MADISON SOCIAL

Whether it’s for a social cocktail, a quick lunch or a place to gather before home football games, Madison Social offers something for everyone.

705 S. Woodward Ave. (850) 894‑6276. $$ B L D

MIDTOWN CABOOSE ★

Outrageous burgers in a laid-back atmosphere — Wells Bros. lives on at this burger joint, voted Tallahassee’s best for 2020. 1406 N. Meridian Road.

(850) 521-1933. $$ L D

OVERUNDER BAR ★

Two experiences under one roof, OverUnder features specialty cocktails plus curated food and drink pairings and is a 2020 Best Wine List/Wine Bar winner. 1240 Thomasville Rd. (850) 597-7552. $$

R&R EATERY

Located in Hotel Indigo, R&R Eatery is a modern American restaurant with fresh takes on classic dishes and a mix of signature craft cocktails. 826 W Gaines St.

(850) 210-0008. $$ B D

ROOTSTOCK

With an ever-changing menu of unique flavors, Rootstock offers shareable plates, artisan cocktails and a selection of 25 wines by the glass. 228 South Adams. (850) 518-0201. $$$ D

The restaurants that appear in this guide are included as a service to readers and not as recommendations of the Tallahassee Magazine editorial department, except where noted. $$ Moderately B Breakfast/ Outdoor Dining L D

Brunch Lunch Dinner

Live Music Bar/Lounge

$ Inexpensive

Expensive

$$$ Expensive

A fresh take on Pan-Asian cuisine and sushi. Join us for lunch & dinner.

Extensive selection of wine, beer & sake

Masa 1650 N. Monroe St. (850) 727-4183 Little Masa 619 S. Woodward Ave., #105 (850) 727-8909 MasaTallahassee.com

2018

our mission is the same as our passion: to serve the most delicious mexican cuisine at five great locations. we invite you to stop by for our world-famous fajitas.

southwood

727-0094 |

capital circle ne

385-9992 |

north monroe

878-0800 |

kerry forest

668-1002 |

crawfordville

TALL AHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

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SAGE RESTAURANT ★

Sage’s menu masterfully melds regional influences, including Southern and French. The setting is gorgeous but cozy, and the outdoor patio sets a charming, romantic tone for a relaxing evening. 3534 Maclay Blvd. (850) 270-9396.

$$$ B L D

SAVOUR

Downtown fine dining with a vision for seasonally inspired, regionally sourced and creatively prepared cuisine, such as bourbon-brined pork chops, Gulf Coast bouillabaisse or miso marinated grouper. 115 E. Park Ave. (850) 765-6966. $$$ D

chefs seasoning and preparing your meal right in front of you. 1489 McClay

Commerce Dr. (850) 900-5149. $$$ D

BBQ WILLIE JEWELL’S OLD SCHOOL BBQ ★

Platters, sandwiches or by the pound, Willie Jewell’s, the 2020 Best Barbecue winner, offers smoked brisket, pork, turkey, sausage, chicken and ribs with a bevy of Southern sides. 5442 Thomasville Rd.

(850) 629-4299. $ L D

TABLE 23 ★

Great Food Great Friends

3740 Austin Davis Ave. Tues-Sun 7am-2pm (850) 765-0703

Visit Our New Location Kleman Plaza Tues-Sun | 7am-2pm (850) 907-EGGS (3447)

This “Southern porch, table and bar” is cozied up among oak trees on one of Tallahassee’s favorite street corners.

Lucky Goat coffee-rubbed ribeye and Schermer pecan-crusted chicken are among the regional offerings.

1215 Thomasville Rd., (850) 329-2261. $$$ L D

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE ★ At this 2020 Best Juice Bar/Smoothie restaurant, experience an array of flavorful and health-conscious smoothies paired with toasted wraps, sandwiches, grilled flatbreads and gourmet salads. Multiple locations. $L D

UPTOWN CAFÉ

Specialties at the bustling, family-run café include apricot-glazed smoked salmon, one-of-a-kind omelets, banana bread French toast and flavorful sandwiches. 1325 Miccosukee

Rd., (850) 219-9800. $ B L

BREAKFAST/ BRUNCH/BAKERY CANOPY ROAD CAFÉ ★

Traditional breakfasts, fluffy omelets, skillets, French toast and sweet potato pancakes keep customers coming back to this 2020 Best Breakfast winner. Canopy also goes all out on lunch favorites.

Multiple locations. (850) 668-6600. $ B L

THE EGG CAFÉ & EATERY

When you’re looking for breakfast favorites, even if it’s lunchtime, The Egg is the place to be. Second location now open in Kleman Plaza. Multiple

Locations. (850) 907-3447. $$ B L

TASTY PASTRY BAKERY ★

Tallahassee’s original cakery and 2020 Best Bakery winner features fresh breads, bagels, pies, cakes and catering.

Mon–Sat 6:45 am–6 pm. 1355 Market St., No. A-5. (850) 893-3752. $ B L D

ASIAN AZU LUCY HO’S

Enjoy an extensive array of classic dishes with a modern flare, including gyoza dumplings, crab rangoon, General Tso’s chicken and szechuan beef, all in a relaxed setting. 3220 Apalachee Parkway,

TREVA’S PASTRIES AND FINE FOODS

Specializing in sweet treats, cakes, pastries and croissants, this bistro-style pastry shop and fine foods store also uses 100% natural ingredients to make savory sandwiches, salads and soups. 2766 Capital Circle NE. (850) 765-0811. $$ L

Suite 13. (850) 893-4112. L D

CAJUN

BORU BORU

A fast casual eatery inspired by Japanese cuisine, featuring sushi bowls, poke bowls and sushi burritos. 1861 W. Tennessee St., #290.

(850) 270-9253. $$ L D

KIKU JAPANESE FUSION ★

From tempura to teriyaki and sushi to sashimi, Kiku Japanese Fusion, voted Best Sushi in 2020, fuses vibrant flavors with fresh ingredients.

800 Ocala Rd. (850) 575-5458, 3491 Thomasville Rd. (850) 222-5458. $$ L D

MASA ★

A 2020 Best Asian winner, Masa’s menu offers a creative blend of Eastern and Western cuisines.

CARRY OUT AVAILABLE

Killearn Shopping Center (850) 222-5458

Ocala Corners (850) 575-5458

KIKUBOGO.COM

KIKUTOGO.COM

Open Christmas Day 176

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1650 N. Monroe St. (850) 727-4183. $/$$

NAGOYA STEAKHOUSE & SUSHI Dine in or takeout, Nagoya offers a wide variety of authentic Japanese cuisine, including hibachi, salads, sushi and sashimi. 1925 N. Monroe St. $/$$ L D

OSAKA JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE AND SUSHI BAR ★ Rated Best Hibachi for 2020, Osaka provides dinner and a show, with the

COOSH’S BAYOU ROUGE ★

This Best Cajun Restaurant winner for 2020 brings a menu jam-packed with Louisiana-style dishes, including favorites like jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, po’boys and seafood gumbo. Multiple locations.

(850) 894‑4110. $$ B L D

CATERING SIMPLY ENTERTAINING ★

This 2020 Best of Tallahassee winner is ready to cater your next big event or intimate party with locally and organically grown ingredients; can accommodate vegan, gluten-free and other special dietary requests.

1355 A-10 Market St. (850) 668-1167.

CUBAN GORDOS

Tallahassee’s top Cuban spot for over 30 years, Gordos features favorites such

IN TALLAHASSEE

as croquetas, papas rellenas, empanadas and pressed sandwiches like their classic Cubano.

MEXICAN

1460 Market St. Suite #3-4. $ L D

THE BEST LITTLE STEAKHOUSE IN TALLAHASSEE 2018

EL JALISCO ★

FRENCH LITTLE PARIS RESTAURANT

Authentic French cuisine in a relaxing casual atmosphere; try classics such as escargot, foie gras, duck leg confit, beef burgundy, wild sea bass and so much more. Curbside available. 1355 Market St. (850) 765-7457. $$$ L D

INDIAN MAYURI INDIAN CUISINE

Featuring Indian classics such as tikka masala, naan and curry, Mayuri also offers an assortment of vegetarian and vegan options. 1324 Simpson Ave.

(850) 402-9993. $ L D

ITALIAN/PIZZA BELLA BELLA ★

Voted Best Italian in 2020, this locally owned and operated restaurant has a cozy atmosphere and serves all the classics to satisfy your pasta cravings.

123 E. 5th Ave. (850) 412-1114. $$ L D

IL LUSSO ★

Homemade pasta, local seafood and a choice of prime steaks define this downtown fine dining experience. 201

E. Park Ave., Suite 100. (850) 765-8620. $$$ D

MOMO’S ★

After devouring a slice “as big as your head” at this 2020 Best Pizza winner, chain pizza simply is not gonna cut it.

Multiple locations. (850) 224‑9808. $L D

RICCARDO’S RESTAURANT

A Tallahassee tradition since 1999, Riccardo’s features savory Italian classics, from pasta and pizza to homemade subs and calzones — plus a wide-ranging selection of wines and craft brews. 1950 Thomasville Rd. (850) 386-3988. $$ L D

MEDITERRANEAN LITTLE ATHENS GYRO

Across from FSU’s campus, find your fix for Greek, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. 666 W. Tennessee St., #5.

(850) 222-2231. $ L D

SAHARA CAFE MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE ★

This 2020 Best Ethnic Restaurant winner is a family owned and operated restaurant. Sahara Cafe has been serving homemade Greek and Lebanese food to Tallahassee for 15 years. 1135 Apalachee Parkway,

(850) 656-1800. $$ L D

2018

In the mood for sizzling enchiladas and frozen margaritas? Make your way to the 2020 Best Mexican/Latin American Restaurant, El Jalisco, where they do Mexican cuisine to perfection. Multiple

locations. $ L D

EL PATRON MEXICAN GRILL & CANTINA

Find all your authentic Mexican classics such as tacos, quesadillas, fajitas and burritos, or take a sip of a yardstick margarita. 1170 Apalachee

Pkwy. (850) 656-7264. $$ L D

SEAFOOD/STEAK THE BLU HALO ★

Blu Halo is a high-end culinary experience featuring dry-aged steaks and fresh seafood along with fine wines and a martini bar. A private dining room for up to 20 guests is available. 3431 Bannerman

Rd., #2 (850) 999-1696. $$$ L D

GEORGIO’S FINE FOOD & SPIRITS

George Koikos has over 50 years of experience in Tallahassee restaurants, and his hands-on commitment has made this upscale restaurant a local favorite featuring local seafood, prime steaks and banquet rooms for private parties. 2971

Apalachee Pkwy. (850) 877-3211. $$$ D

HARRY’S SEAFOOD BAR & GRILL

Serving Southern, Cajun and Creole flavors in classic and modern dishes since 1987. Full bar is available at each location. 301 S. Bronough St., in Kleman

Plaza. (850) 222-3976. $$ L D

SHULA’S 347

Located in Hotel Duval. Keep it light and casual with a premium Black Angus beef burger or a gourmet salad, or opt for one of their signature entrées — a “Shula Cut” steak.

Reservations suggested. 415 N. Monroe

St. (850) 224-6005. $$$ L D

SOUTHERN SEAFOOD ★

Whether you’re looking for fish, shrimp, oysters, scallops, crab or lobster, the 2020 Best Seafood Market winner brings the ocean’s freshest choices to Tallahassee. 1415 Timberlane Road.

(850) 668‑2203.

TALLY FISH HOUSE & OYSTER BAR

Locally owned seafood restaurant boasts a raw bar and a bevy of fresh seafood such as catfish, stuffed Gulf grouper, shrimp, red snapper and more. Takeout available.

6802 Thomasville Rd. (850) 900-5075. $$ L D

WHARF CASUAL SEAFOOD ★

A Tallahassee institution, the Wharf will fill your need for the coast with fresh seafood, salads, seafood tacos and po’boys. Also available for catering. 3439 Bannerman Rd. and 4036 Lagniappe Way. (850) 765-1077 and (850) 668-1966. $$ L D

Join us for lunch and dinner at our beautiful location Apalachee Join us for lunchonand dinnerParkway. at our beautiful

From Our Family to Yours location on Apalachee Parkway.

Our steaks are not only the best in Tallahassee, but USDA choice Midwestern corn-fed beef, specially selected, aged to our specifications and cut daily. We also serve fresh Our steaks are not only the—best in Tallahassee, but USDA jumbo shrimp and fish grilled, blackened or fried. choice Midwestern corn-fed beef, specially selected, So please join us for lunch and dinner or just meet up aged to our specifications cut stocked daily. We for drinks at and our fully bar.also serve fresh

We would like to thank you for all the jumbo shrimp and fish — grilled, blackened or fried. years support!

So please join us for of lunch and dinner or just meet up for drinks at our fully stocked bar.

F

MARIE LIVINGSTON’S

F

STEAK HOUSE

2705 Apalachee Parkway | Tallahassee, FL (850) 270-9506

Visit our comprehensive, searchable dining guide online at TallahasseeMagazine.com/restaurants.

MARIE LIVINGSTON’S STEAK HOUSE

2705 Apalachee Parkway | Tallahassee, FL TALL AHASSEEMAGA November-December 2020 (850)ZINE.COM 270-9506

177

postscript

THE RACIAL DIVIDE

We promote healing by inviting good trouble

by REV. R.B. HOLMES JR.

O

ur beloved country and city are experiencing some of the most difficult days many of us have ever witnessed.

We are dealing with a trifecta: a coronavirus pandemic, a racial divide and the prevalence of poverty. These stubborn problems are infecting and impacting all of us at once.

We need healing.

We are hopeful and prayerful that a COVID-19 vaccine will be developed, approved and distributed far and wide in the near future. For African Americans, the racism virus has been with us since 1619, when the first African slaves arrived aboard an English ship at the colony of Virginia.

There is no vaccine against racism.

Poverty, like the virus and like racism, disproportionately affects black and brown neighborhoods. The history of disparities in health, food, jobs, education and infant mortality is long. Minority populations have long had to contend with redlining and discrimination in loans and housing.

As to the plagues of poverty and racism in our nation, a pessimist might simply throw in the towel and say about the people affected by those problems, “Oh well, this is the way it has been and why bother seeking solutions? They are to blame! Why can’t they heal themselves?”

But optimistic people of color like myself, people of faith and hope, strongly subscribe to the theology of the godfather of soul, James Brown: “We don’t want nobody to give us

nothing; just open up the door, and we will get it ourselves!”

We believe this country and our town can do better in healing the racial divide.

In the words of the late congressman Elijah Cummings, “We are better than this!” His words are words of healing and hope. And we hear the soul of John Lewis, the “conscience of the Congress,” shouting from the balcony of heaven: “Get in good trouble!”

We will heal this country when we get in good trouble by speaking out against voter suppression, health care disparities in marginalized neighborhoods, food deserts, mistreatment of citizens returning to communities from prison, substandard schools, police brutality, lack of jobs, the atrocious wealth gap between blacks and whites, and blackon-black crime.

The renowned author Isabel Wilkerson, in her profound new book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, speaks to a glaring reason for the lack of racial healing, finding that the caste system in our country is more formidable than even systemic or institutional racism.

“Race in the United States is the visible agent of the unseen force of caste,” she writes. “Caste is the bones, race the skin. Race is what we can see, the physical traits that have been given arbitrary meaning and become shorthand for who a person is. The caste system is the powerful infrastructure that holds each group in

place. The one constant is the bottom of the pecking order. For African Americans, there are consistent reminders of their place and position in society.”

Now 401 years after that English ship with a human cargo arrived in Virginia, I’m convinced that racial healing will only take place when we truthfully examine what it means to enjoy “white privilege” and why black people find it necessary to assert that Black Lives Matter.

In this country, no person should be relegated to a low-ranking social stratum at birth. The die is not cast.

No wrong is impervious to change.

We can mold a better future. TM

Dr. R.B. Holmes Jr. is the pastor of the historic Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, located in downtown Tallahassee’s Frenchtown community.

Bethel Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1870.

178

November-December 2020

TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM

illustration by LINDSEY MASTERSON

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