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CONTENTS WINTER 2011 • VOL. 09 ISSUE 04

>> FEATURES 22

Seed of Change Art Education and More

BY AMANDA WILLIAMSON

36

Blazing A New Trail The Florida Trail Association

BY JANICE C. KAPLAN

40

Rare birds The Dorking Chickens

BY DENISE TRUNK-KRIGBAUM

58

Dynamic Duo A Musical Treasure

72

90

Building a Legacy The City of Alachua Intends to Expand its Recreational Offerings

BY JANICE C. KAPLAN

128 A Manatee Meeting Swimming with Sea Cows

BY JENNIFER RIEK

134 Newberry Networking A New Professionals Group

BY TATIANA QUIROGA

138 Foster Care

BY MARY KYPREOS

A Glimpse Inside the Children’s Home Society

Punch & Judy

BY JESSICA CHAPMAN

From Czech Republic to Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

BY LARRY BEHNKE

12 | Winter 2011

146 Relay for Life Community Celebrates Survivors

BY TATIANA QUIROGA

ON THE COVER

PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY / LOTUS STUDIOS

Shane Moore and Richy Stano have graced many a stage from Gainesville to High Springs to Cedar Key. The duo has been playing together for nearly three years, putting their own style to a wide variety of music ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Steely Dan.

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>> COMMUNITY

By Matthew Beaton

A Safe Place for Children The Alachua Police Department and the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe have joined forces to revamp a former police substation into a study center for the children of the Merrillwood neighborhood. Kiwanis Club is responsible for many good acts of charity in the area, most of which are dedicated to bettering the lives of local children.

A Safe Haven

The Kiwanis Club Benefits Children in Alachua & High Springs

BY MATTHEW BEATON

H

elping out children: who can argue with that?

Not Kiwanis International, nor its local chapter Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, which performs projects in High Springs and Alachua to benefit local children. This past summer, the service group set their sights on an Alachua Police Department substation in the Merrillwood neighborhood. Billed as a safe haven for local children in this low-income public housing area,

club members and the police department said it would be a place for the neighborhood children to study and play after school.

When they began their renovation, past Kiwanis Club President Sue Weller said the substation was in “dire straits.” The exterior of the building had to be pressurewashed, the trim and interior painted. In some parts, the walls required three coats of paint. A few electrical outlets were replaced, as well as their coverings.

At the club’s request, the Early Learning Coalition of Alachua

County inspected the substation.

Advice given by the Coalition helped the service group make the substation more suitable as a childeducation facility. The Coalition recommended the removal of some shelves in the common area so that chalkboards could be installed. At any given time, Weller said, around five of their 22 members were hard at work. In total, the unit spent about 75 hours on the job.

On a Saturday last August, the Kiwanis Club celebrated the end of their portion of the renovations by hosting a barbecue for the area

PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

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48 | Winter 2011

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Winter 2011 | 117

>> SHAKE AND BAKE

80

Need for Speed

By Molly Larmie

Bronson Speedway The roar of engines can again be heard at the Bronson Speedway, which recently reopened under new ownership. New York couple Ann and Chris Young bought the track in February and racing began again in July of 2011. For 2012, the Bronson Speedway will open for a full season of racing — February through November.

116

New York Natives Revive a Local Landmark

BY MOLLY LARMIE PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUZETTE COOK

A

s a tangerine sunset sinks below the scrub brush, a line of vehicles — mostly trucks — winds its way down State Road 24. Just off the highway, amid a clearing in the trees, a red and white speedway opens its gates for Saturday night racing.

Fans buy their tickets, $2 hot dogs and ice-cold Budweisers, then find their friends in the grandstands. LeAnn Rimes croons “The Star-Spangled Banner” over the speakers. The green flag falls, and cars roar to life on the asphalt.

At Bronson Speedway, racing is back, revived from unlikely circumstances.

A year ago, the racetrack lay dormant, enshrined in leaves and overgrown grass. The septic system had malfunctioned. The scoreboard, speakers and lights needed replacing.

A dead track. That’s what Ann Young found when she typed “race tracks for sale” into Google at her

home in Long Island, N.Y. In the Young household, racing is a way of life. Young worked as a NASCAR scorer for more than 15 years. Her husband Chris races in the NASCAR Modified division.

They had never owned a track, but the idea grew.

Both in their mid-50s, Ann and Chris are not ready to retire. Chris manages a fleet of diesel trucks.

Ann is a nursing administrative supervisor. Their jobs and their children — 17-year-old Christopher and 6-year-old Leah — tether them to New York. Their first attempt as speedway owners would have to be long-distance.

They closed on the property in Bronson in February and held the first races at the end of July. They manage the track from 1,000 miles away, racking up sky miles on frequent weekend trips.

On a mild October night in Bronson, nearly 200 people file into the grandstands. It’s not NASCAR,

and no one wants it to be. Twelve dollars gets visitors in the grandstands. The cars are powerful but humble, with scratches in the paint and obvious traces of home repair.

In the pit, Randy Anderson leans against his racecar, No. 86. It is an Open Wheel Modified design, painted white with blue stripes and a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness month.

Anderson, a 17-year-old high school senior from Wildwood, has been racing for eight years. After school, he works on cars at a shop behind his house.

His dad, NASCAR driver Wayne Anderson, won his first race at Bronson. Since he made the switch to the Open Wheel Modified division this year, Anderson has raced all over the state. His record: two wins and five second-place finishes

80 | Winter 2011

>> QUALITY OF LIFE

By Ashley Rodriguez

Oasis for Autistic Kids This school in High Springs provides fun and educational schooling for children with autism, teaching stronger social interaction and communication skills in a safe and productive environment. Founder Marie Trempe and her staff strive to provide lessons specifically designed for their students’ learning needs, and live by the belief that every child deserves respect.

Happiness First An Oasis for Children

BY ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ

U

pon walking through the door into the Autism Oasis for Kids building on Main Street in downtown High Springs, one is greeted with boisterous laughing, singing, jumping and playing from the young children inside. An overwhelming sense of happiness fills the room. Incredibly, these children with autism are not only having fun, but they are improving their communication and social skills as well.

Incorporated in March 2010, Autism Oasis for Kids has nearly reached its full capacity for student enrollment, and the program is already looking ahead toward

potential future expansion.

Autism is a neurological disorder, which generally presents within the first two years of a child’s life. The disorder affects brain function, impacting a child’s development in areas specific to communication as well as socialization. Children with autism tend to have a more difficult time expressing non-verbal as well as verbal communication skills and can also have trouble interacting socially. New statistics from the U.S. Department of Education show that cases of autism are growing rapidly at the rate of 10-17 percent each year and autism is four times more likely to occur in boys than in girls.

Marie Trempe, executive director

and founder of the Autism Oasis for Kids — and mother of an autistic child — said the philosophy at the non-profit organization is based on each child’s happiness coming first. Taking into account a positive quality of life, “every child deserves respect,” Trempe said. Whether it is teaching in a classroom setting, family counseling and resource assistance, or utilizing animal and equestrian therapy, the staff at Autism Oasis strives to determine why children react in certain ways to certain circumstances. For example, if a child is screaming or crying, he or she might simply be trying to express a bodily need — such as being thirsty and needing a drink, or having a sore throat

PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

Marie Trempe and Jack jumping at the Autism Oasis for Kids in High Springs. Jack is pre-verbal and spends most of his time in his own world. Jumping is part of the sensory integration used at Oasis, which helps regulate the sensory system.

116 | Winter 2011

The articles printed in Our Town Magazine™ do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Tower Publications, Inc. or their editorial staff. Our Town Magazine endeavors to accept reliable advertising; however, we can not be held responsible by the public for advertising claims. Our Town Magazine reserves the right to refuse or discontinue any advertisement. All rights reserved. © 2011 Tower Publications, Inc.

www.VisitOurTowns.com

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page

146 Published quarterly by Tower Publications, Inc. www.towerpublications.com

PUBLISHER Charlie Delatorre charlie@towerpublications.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Albert Isaac editor@towerpublications.com fax: 1-800-967-7382 OFFICE MANAGER Bonita Delatorre bonita@towerpublications.com ART DIRECTOR Hank McAfee hank@towerpublications.com SENIOR DESIGNER Tom Reno tom@towerpublications.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Matthew Beaton Larry Behnke Jessica Chapman Janice Kaplan Mary Kypreos Molly Larmie Tina Prizament Tatiana Quiroga Jennifer Riek Ashley Rodriguez Denise Trunk-Krigbaum Amanda Williamson

>> FEATURES 150 Relationship Roadmap Driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ed for Love

BY TINA PRIZAMENT

ADVERTISING SALES Jenni Bennett 352-416-0210 jenni@towerpublications.com

COLUMNISTS 44 68 94 126 158

Crystal Henry ............................................................ NAKED SALSA Donna Bonnell ......................................................... EMBRACING LIFE Albert Isaac ................................................................ DIFFERENT NOTE Kendra Siler-Marsiglio ..................................... HEALTHY EDGE Diane E. Shepard .................................................. MAMA MUSINGS

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Nancy Short 352-416-0196 nancy@towerpublications.com Helen Stalnaker 352-416-0209 helen@towerpublications.com Larkin Kieffer 352-416-0212 larkin@towerpublications.com Pam Slaven 352-416-0213 pam@towerpublications.com Annie Waite 352-416-0204 annie@towerpublications.com

INFORMATION 96 Taste of the Town 100 Community Calendar 154 Worship Centers

INTERN Jennifer Riek

156 Library Happenings 162 Advertiser Index

ADVERTISING OFFICE 4400 NW 36th Avenue Gainesville, FL 32606 352-372-5468 352-373-9178 fax

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But it’s more than that here— It’s the people who make Tioga Town Center an experience like no other in Gainesville. It’s people like Mike Carrillo— owner of Gainesville Running & Walking— who take the time to find the perfect running shoes for you with just the right fit, and make Tioga Town Center your favorite place to visit.

So come on out! Take a stroll around and talk to the people who will make Tioga Town Center your favorite destination in town.

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SPECIAL >> HOGGETOWNE MEDIEVAL FAIRE

PHOTO BY ALBERT ISAAC

A young man is Knighted by King William and Queen Caroline of Hoggetowne, portrayed by Michael and Fontaine Huey.

A Faire Fit for a King he 26th Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire has arrived once again in a flurry of jesters, jousting and cries of “huzzah!” The mouth-watering aroma of roasted turkey legs and bloomin’ onions sweeps across the fields as gypsies dance and peasants go about their life-long chores.

Each year, the City of Gainesville hosts a medieval fair recreating the time of King Arthur, an era when good triumphed over evil, and minstrels sang tales of valiant knights and beautiful princesses.

Charge back in time to the days of knights and knaves on January 28 & 29, or catch a second weekend celebration through February 3-5. In 2011 the faire brought in 50,000 visitors, and this year’s quest is to smite the previous attendance record.

Merchants clad in authentic

T

16 | Winter 2011

medieval dress will sell periodappropriate wares of pottery, jewelry, woodcarving, weaving and more. Stilt-legged giants will roam the fairgrounds while impish elves flit through the crowd. Minstrels will enchant visitors with music, and there will be continuous live entertainment on several stages. Guests may browse the bustling medieval marketplace for that perfect gift or trinket. Men seeking to impress their ladies may demonstrate their skills at archery, battle-ax throwing, and magnificent tests of strength. Modern maidens can purchase handmade clothing and colorful scarves from more than 160 artisans and vendors.

Hoggetowne’s eight theatres provide continuous live merriment including a variety of music,

juggling, acting troupes and puppetry. Eleanor of Aquitaine will direct her human pawns in a living chess game against her husband King Henry II, as the two duel for victory on the Tournament Field.

The Faire is unique in that the atmosphere is built with both adults and children of all ages in mind. While other fairs are reputed to be rowdy and sometimes lewd with wenches in too-tight corsets, Hoggetowne offers a familyfriendly day for all. February 3rd is dedicated especially to the students for an educational and unforgettable experience of the old days at their finest. Professional jousters from Sarasota — the New Riders of the Golden Age — will perform epic feats on their mighty steeds as they compete in the Faire’s daily jousting matches. s

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Throughout the year I have tried to attend the many events and festivals that our towns have to offer. And although I didn’t get to them all, I made a pretty good showing and enjoyed running into old and new friends in our community.

From Trick or Treat on Main Street in Alachua, to the Newberry Watermelon Festival, to Pioneer Days in High Springs, there are many fun, family-friendly offerings in our area.

Having a youngster in the household certainly adds to my enjoyment, as he loves to get out of the house.

He is my nearly constant traveling companion as we experience many of the local treasures.

I sometimes take for granted that the Santa Fe River is but a short drive from our house, but my 10-year-old son reminds me. We frequently visit the High Springs Boat Ramp to hike the riverbank or wade in the river.

The two of us recently took a bike ride through the O’Leno State Park — best $4 I’ve spent in a while. This trip combines two great activities for my son and me: biking the trails and hiking the riverbank. He especially enjoyed the suspension bridge.

In October, we explored the Newberry Cornfield Maze — only this time my son didn’t nearly give me a heart attack like he did a few years back when he wandered into the maze alone and got lost. He’s older and wiser now.

Most recently my wife, son and I went to the Dudley Farm Cane Day Festival. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and, as always, the event was a lot of fun. We enjoyed music and food and seeing the many volunteers in period clothing as they demonstrated the way things were done in years’ past. Plus, my son left with two sugarcane stalks in hand.

Know of any old schoolhouses needing to be relocated? I am told the Dudley Farm State Park needs one.

Christmas tree lightings, parades, carriage rides, live music, festivals and great people — there’s much to enjoy in our communities, and I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to raise my family here. s

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STAFF >> CONTRIBUTORS Denise Trunk Krigbaum

Jennifer Riek

is a freelance writer, adjunct professor at UF, wife and a mom. She has lived in Gainesville for eons and has managed to turn over a few stones while here. She has found many hidden gems.

More remain to be discovered.

is a freelance writer and a student at UF’s College of Journalism. She was born and raised in Seattle, and delights in all things classy or humorous. Needless to say, she would die in the wild. screaminnocence@gmail.com

dtrunk@ufl.edu

Janice Kaplan

Mary Kypreos

has been a freelance writer since 2005. In her spare time Janice loves cooking, Gator sports, Jimmy Buffett anything and spending time with her husband and kids.

is a freelance writer and editor who enjoys discovering tidbits of knowledge about Florida from those who know it best.

She is a proud Gator alumna and is currently working toward a Master’s in English language and literature.

kaplan_janice@yahoo.com

kypreos.mary@gmail.com

Amanda Williamson

Larry Behnke

is a student in UF’s College of Journalism and Communications. She has been writing for as long as she can remember. She enjoys spending time with her friends, family and animals.

is an artist, writer, photographer and a graduate of the University of Michigan in cinematography and painting. He has used solar electricity since 1984 and lives in a dome home.

awilliamson@ufl.edu

larry@towerpublications.com

Ashley Rodriguez

Molly Larmie

is a student of life who enjoys writing and being active in the community. An avid traveler, Ashley has a Masters degree in Public Administration and enjoys interacting with the many unique people who call Alachua County home.

was born and raised just north of Daytona Beach. She misses the sand and the sound of the waves but has fallen in love with the Gainesville community. There are always at least three books resting on her nightstand.

mcdonough.ashley@gmail.com

molarmie@gmail.com

Matthew Beaton

Tatiana Quiroga

is a freelance journalist who recently earned his master’s in mass communications from UF. He enjoys romping with his mutt friend, Jack. They both find bananas and the Jersey Shore unpalatable.

Jack, however, is a much more avid reader.

is a freelance writer and UF journalism junior. She is from Orlando and enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with friends.

Tina Prizament

Jessica Chapman

is a freelance writer, photographer, and media and marketing specialist. Born in England near Nottingham, Tina has called various parts of the USA home, but most recently High Springs.

is a student in UF’s College of Journalism and Communications. When she’s not writing, she enjoys volunteering, playing the piano and reading.

tatianajq@gmail.com

LO

A L

G O O

Ac

tinaprizament@gmail.com

18 | Winter 2011

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OFF high fina app

jessicalorriane@gmail.com

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>> CREATIVITY

Seed of Change Art Education and More in Alachua

BY AMANDA WILLIAMSON

S

prout Learning Resources offers lessons in French, Fine Art, Zumba and jewelry

design.

The catch? The classes are for children.

Located in the City of Alachua, the new school and supplies shop provides an opportunity for community members to bring in their children to dabble in various art forms, as well as get exercise with their peers.

Rebecca McCuller, owner of Sprout, did not intend for the new business to take off the way it has. Her original plan was to create a store to sell school supplies and other teaching materials. When a local space became available that was twice the

size she required, McCuller decided to open a studio, as well.

As the owner of the Spencer House Montessori School, McCuller has experience selecting items needed for home schooling and instruction. If a customer is simply looking to purchase a unique gift for a child or a teacher, McCuller feels her years of teaching gives her an insight in that department, as well.

When a community member asks for a program not offered at Sprout, McCuller takes note, until the demand inspires her to search out a local that can teach the desired program.

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who teaches art at Sprout, said, “There are no other private businesses in Alachua County that offer such

PHOTO BY AMANDA WILLIAMSON

Cheryl Russell sings, “If You’re Happy and You Know It” during a recent Story Time at Sprout. Story Time is a program that allows the child and the mom to participate together.

22 | Winter 2011

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PHOTO BY AMANDA WILLIAMSON

Wendie Adams gets the children moving during her Zumba class. This class involves a variety of different dances, including the limbo. Adams said dance improves cognitive functions, especially if children start at a young age.

a comprehensive year-round program.”

Sprout offers an after-school program and tutoring. Every Tuesday, the school has story time that includes crafting and singing in which the parents can also participate. Following the story time, a licensed Zumba instructor holds a class for children and their parents.

24 | Winter 2011

“We’ve had the Montessori School here in town for about 13 years,” McCuller said. “Throughout that time, we’ve noticed that there wasn’t much available for educational opportunities for kids outside of school, especially in the arts.”

When McCuller’s two children wanted to take dance and art, she had to take them to Gainesville.

When she opened Sprout Learning Resources, McCuller had some ideas for programs she wanted to include. Shortly after making the decision to open the studio, she approached MalwitzJipson, who had previously taught McCuller’s daughter art.

“I find that at a time when a lot of schools are cutting extracurricular

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POO programs because of budget issues, it’s really important to have your kids participate,” McCuller said.

Despite the motivation of providing an outlet for children, Sprout has expanded to include adult classes, as well. Malwitz-Jipson teaches an art class that is available for children and adults.

in the right direction than telling them what to do. She is more of a coach, she said, than a teacher.

“If I can get a student to translate what they see onto a piece of paper, canvas or sculpture, I can get them to see better,” she said. “It’s more than teaching a craft. It’s teaching them how to use their senses.”

“It’s about sharing the opportunity to be creative in a group environment.”

In her classes, she focuses on improving children’s hand-eye coordination; for adults, she teaches them to work on their techniques. Starting in the new year, Sprout has plans to offer a cooking class that will focus on preparing nutritious meals.

Certifications for first aid and CPR are offered, and teachers can pursue a teaching certification.

“It’s a community outreach,” Malwitz-Jipson said. “It’s about sharing the opportunity to be creative in a group environment.

Schools are geared toward teaching to a test; but at Sprout, it’s teaching out of the box.”

MEET THE CAST Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson Malwitz-Jipson earned a Fine Arts degree from Ringling College of Art and Design. When she teaches, she wants the students to create from real life. She allows students to bring their own materials, so they can learn how to use the mediums they are interested in.

As a child, Malwitz-Jipson’s father gave her art supplies every Christmas. She said she loved the gifts, but could never figure out the correct way to use them.

“What I want [my students] to do is explore their mediums to the best of their ability,” she said. If the students do not have their own materials, she can provide them with some for a fee.

Malwitz-Jipson said her classes are more about leading students

26 | Winter 2011

Currently, Malwitz-Jipson teaches only one class a week, on Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

She started out with three classes, but had to reduce the number because she did not have enough students. Her goal is to get her class participation up to 10 people. She feels that not enough people in the community know about Sprout.

Alachua City Hall has space inside for the students of Sprout to hang their work. Malwitz-Jipson is working with Alachua to set up the gallery.

Kathy Watt Watt runs the after-school program at Sprout. Prior to working at Sprout, Watt helped McCuller at the Spencer House. After returning from a three-month trip to India, her position at the Montessori School was no longer available.

When the children first arrive to Sprout after school, they are expected to do their homework.

Watt feels that her homeschooling days provide a foundation for her to help.

She is helping a student in the class learn his numbers. This student really wants to play cards with his friends, she said, but has not memorized his numbers yet. Watt encourages him to learn so that he can play. She uses homemade flash cards to quiz him.

“I’ve always really liked picking up books for the students at the library,” Watt said. “We just finished our first chapter book, ‘The Road to Agra.’”

The book is about India, she said,

and while they were reading it, the students asked tons of questions about what it was like there.

She feels that the children at Sprout have become a small family.

When she worked at Spencer, there would be different children every day. But it is not like that at Sprout.

“There are never really new kids,” Watt said. “It’s kind of a family thing where you get your own private jokes.”

Sprout picks up children from three different schools for its after-school program: Alachua Elementary, Irby Elementary and Alachua Learning Center.

Wendie Adams Step into Sprout around 10:45 a.m. on Tuesdays, and the building will be filled with music and children dancing — maybe even doing the limbo.

At Sprout, Wendie Adams teaches Zumbatomic, a class specifically designed for children.

Adams teaches at the library, as well, and some of the children’s parents told her about Sprout.

Adams has two children of her own, and they inspired her to become licensed to teach Zumba to children. Her children are five and seven years old. She feels that Zumbatomic is ideal for their age.

“It encourages not just physical movement, but mind/body correlation, as well,” Adams said. “Kids this age have a lot of energy, but it’s really not focused. I give them a way to focus that energy, and the whole time they’re just working out. They have no idea.”

Cheryl Russell As a start-up company, Sprout is always looking for more teachers that can broaden the programs offered. Russell manages the marketing and management aspects of the company, finding talented people in the community, setting up studio times and even entertaining children at the complimentary story time and craft time on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.

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PHOTOS BY ALBERT ISAAC

ABOVE - Tatianna Amendola, age 3, joins Santa at Sprout Learning Resources in November. Children can visit Santa at Sprout on Deccember 16, 17 and 23.

LEFT - Travelers from Ohio recently visited with Santa. (left to right) Clay Musselman, Jersey Musselman, Taylor Musselman, Janelle Wilkin, Santa and Kristin Lange.

Russell has a background in early childhood development, business and sales. When McCuller started Huntington Tutoring, which has since been sold, Russell helped to market the business.

“I’m part of Alachua County Mommas,” Russell said. “I utilize the group to find out what the moms in Alachua County are looking for.”

The most popular responses, she found, were Zumba and music classes where the mothers could participate with their children.

“I really want to see Sprout succeed,” she said. “The City of Alachua and the surrounding cities really need a place for kids and adults to express themselves creatively.”

Children, she said, are our future.

They need to keep, into adulthood, the ability to express themselves.

28 | Winter 2011

“To me, the beginning of their life is so important; how they feel about themselves, how they see the world,” she said. “I really want to see them enjoy that part of their lives because once you’re an adult, you have a lot of hard choices to make.”

To find people to work at Sprout, Russell searches educational events, uses Facebook and craigslist, and sends out marketing e-mails.

“This isn’t something people have to have a degree in,” she said.

“If they’re interested in something and they want to try teaching it, we welcome them to share their creativity.”

Simone Nascimento “Dance is a part of my culture,” said Simone Nascimento, Do Re Me Moosica Dance class instructor.

In Brazil, Nascimento said there

are a lot of cultural events where they dance. She took samba classes, salsa classes and became Zumba certified.

“I believe dance is an art. That’s why I love it — it is a free expression of yourself,” she said.

Do Re Me Moosica is for babies and toddlers, so Nascimento does moving and freeform dance, explores different musical instruments and sings songs in foreign languages. Dance and movement, she said, can develop the mindbody connection and cognitive abilities for young children.

“By proposing a variety of art and dance to the children, we are helping them to find ways to express themselves, ways to get to know themselves better and ways to find that balance and live well with others,” Nascimento said.

Carol Richardson Richardson has been in theater for 20 years. During that time, she had a chance to create the Student Ensemble Theatre at the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre in Gainesville and the Douglas Children’s Theatre in Georgia.

In her theater class, she first introduces students to the basic terms, the history and professional rules of theatre. As the child progresses, the class moves on to character development, story analysis and production.

“The goal is to excite the child into the world of drama,” Richardson said.

Mainly, Richardson teaches children aged 6 to 16. She feels that it is important for children to learn drama because role-playing is an aspect of their every-day play. The process of learning to put a production together from beginning to end, she said, and the importance of following through on commitments are vital lessons in life.

Richardson is Chair of the City of Gainesville/Alachua County Cultural Advisory. For 2012, the statewide theme is Culture Builds Florida, and Secretary of State Kurt Browning endorsed the need for arts as an important aspect to health and welfare.

Sprout Learning Resources, she said, is achieving goals not only locally, but also statewide.

The Alachua Children’s Theatre will be performing “The Wind in

the Willows” on January 19 and 20 at Sprout Learning Resources.

Lacie Rader “There are arts and there are crafts,” said Lacie Rader, instructor for the jewelry-design class.

“Jewelry making is a bit of both.”

Mostly girls and women attend Rader’s class, but she said some men take it to learn how to wrap stones and make pendants. She teaches students how to work with wire, clasps, ear wires and leather.

She feels Sprout has really brought a wonderful group of professionals together to teach. Best of all, she said, the programs are all in one studio so students do not have to go far to find a new project.

In addition to the beading class, Rader tutors children at Sprout. As a certified teacher, she has worked in various settings from rural to inner city with children ages 5 through 18.

“I like to focus on practice and repetition in tutoring,” she said.

“First, a tutor has to find a way to help the content connect to the student. If a student is struggling, it is because the teacher has missed this connection point. You try a few different angles and when you see it connecting then it is time to repeat, practice and test the knowledge.”

Sprout, she said, is more than just a studio. It is a community resource. Community members can connect with artists, cooks and educators. Children can make friends while having fun. s

Parents can take their children to see Santa at Sprout Learning Resources. At other locations, children may only get a minute with Santa after waiting in long lines for what seems like forever. Rebecca McCuller said that at Sprout, Santa will take as much time with each child as he or she wants.

Children can visit Santa on December 16, 17 and the 23rd.

McCuller is talking with Santa about having a summer “Christmas in July” at Sprout. The plan is still in the works.

Parents looking for a night out on New Year’s Eve can bring children to Sprout for a red carpet event. Sprout will entertain the children in Old Hollywood style, as well as provide a safe place for them to stay while their parents go out on the town.

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Your pet’s family doctor I

n almost 50 years of veterinary medicine, Dr. Bob Dilbone has built several practices and treated everything from dogs and cats to dolphins and cheetahs. But his philosophy on pet care has always remained the same – educating owners with a personal approach to the best care available in veterinary practice.

“I like to take extra time with an examination, because I learn more of what you’re concerned about or what your pet’s requirements might be,” said Dilbone, the owner of the newly-opened Animal Health Center in High Springs. “I would like clients to understand as much about their pet as I do, so they can make educated, qualified decisions as to the care they want and need for their pets.”

Dilbone’s mission with the Animal Health Center is to blend advanced veterinary medical technology with common sense and compassion.

The office is equipped with full surgical facilities radiology, extensive laboratory facilities and additional technology to provide cutting-edge care for your pet.

But it also has unique touches that reflect Dilbone’s preference for family pet care that involves all concerned. For example, one of the two exam rooms at the practice is an open area, not surrounded by solid walls. The examination area is separated from the waiting room by a wood banister that would fit just as well in someone’s home.

“The open area will allow everyone to participate on a higher level and enhance your pet’s care visit,” he said, explaining that the room

is used for routine exams and minor procedures such as vaccinations. “The second room is available for more investigative and diagnostic procedures.”

Dilbone found his professional passion at the age of 14 in the most unlikely of places.

“I was working at my brother’s filling station.

A veterinarian pulled in looking for a gallon of oil,” said Dilbone, who grew up in Sidney, Ohio.

“He was going to treat a cow and I thought that sounded great, so I said, ‘Can I go with you?’ And I worked for him until entering college.”

Dilbone earned his veterinary degree from the Ohio State University and served his residency in Winter Haven, Florida. He owned his own practices in Naples, FL until 1996, when he came to High Springs and realized that this was where he was meant to be. “I felt like my wife Peggy and our pets moved home the first week we were here,” he said, “and have ever since.”

Dilbone cofounded Hilltop Animal Hospital in 2001, selling it to his partner a few years later.

Now as the only veterinarian in his new practice, he hopes to provide a more personal approach that harkens back to a simpler time.

“In today’s world,” said Dilbone, “you need to be as comfortable and involved as possible when we’re caring for your pet.”

The Animal Health Center is located at 415 NE Santa Fe Boulevard in High Springs and is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m.

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>> ECOTOURISM

Blazing a New Trail The Florida Trail Association

BY JANICE C. KAPLAN ainesville sees its fair share of snowbirds every year. And not just the kind that take their time on the Interstate.

At the onset of each winter, Paynes Prairie becomes home for thousands of sandhill and whooping cranes. With their broad wings spread they soar across the clear blue skies, their calls heard for miles throughout Gainesville. They settle in Paynes Prairie and along the La Chua Trail to feed, mate and otherwise congregate for a few months before heading off once again in February.

It is one of the many breathtaking natural events that can

G

36 | Winter 2011

be witnessed in North Central Florida, and one that the Florida Trail Association hopes to use as a springboard for making the trails of Gainesville and Alachua County a cornerstone of ecotourism.

“If you’re hiking the LaChua trail in Paynes Prairie, that’s one of the finest trails in the state,” said Dennis O. Miranda, Executive Director of the Florida Trail Association. “You see wonderful wildflowers, a diversity of butterflies, alligators, buffalo, wild horses, eagles and ospreys. You can’t just go to a neighboring county and expect to find all this. When you couple it with the height of the migration and all of these cranes, Gainesville is a great place to visit.”

The Florida Trail Association was

established in 1966 when the first leg of Florida’s National Scenic Trail was blazed in the Ocala National Forest. It is contracted by the U.S. Forest Service as a partner to construct, maintain and manage the trail via 19 state chapters manned by over 5,000 volunteers.

The Florida National Scenic Trail is one of eight such trails throughout the United States. It runs approximately 1,400 miles, from the Big Cypress National Preserve in the southern part of the state to Santa Rosa County in the west, passing around both sides of Lake Okeechobee and through such natural landmarks as the Ocala and Osceola National Forests and many state parks.

Despite its original

Each winter during the migratory season, thousands of sandhill cranes descend upon the Prairie. Their calls can often be heard for miles. Like many trails in Alachua County, those at Paynes Prairie allow for quiet thinking, wildlife observation and time to connect with friends. It is a good idea to be cautious of poison ivy along Florida’s trails, as Dennis Miranda points out (top right).

purpose, however, the Florida Trail Association and its many volunteers are dedicated to the care of all trails.

Miranda is not hesitant to give these tireless individuals their due credit.

“Trails are the portal to viewing our natural heritage,” Miranda said. “Our volunteers have been selfless and dedicated; they are the heroes and heroines of our trails.

We always take for granted when we hike a trail; it never occurs to us who maintains them. You don’t see a name imprinted on any kiosk or etched in stone. They’re an amazing selfless, generous, giving people who sacrifice greatly.”

Miranda arrived in Gainesville in February 2011 after working in conservation in New Jersey for 25 years, encouraging sound

environmental practices through activism and government relations.

He was instantly smitten with the trails and variety of wildlife that he saw in north central Florida, and he has made it the Florida Trail Association’s mission to share that treasure with others.

He hopes to do this through nature festivals, such as the inaugural Florida Crane and Nature Festival scheduled for Saturday, January 14, 2012 at Paynes Prairie State Park. Participants will celebrate and observe not only cranes but also native wildlife such as American bald eagles, bison, wild horses and more. The festival will also feature a dinner with a keynote speaker, a silent auction and wildlife and birding presentations.

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Miranda is excited and hopeful about this new festival, explaining that in many other areas of the country one can find celebrations focused on what he calls the pageantry of crane migration.

Indeed, states such as California, Texas, New Mexico, Michigan, Colorado and Alaska experience the seasonal arrival and departure of cranes, and boast communities that have created festivals around the event. Miranda hopes to establish the same kind of thing here.

“I think my experience [in New Jersey] enabled me to view what Alachua County offers with a subjective view,” he said. “There is a great potential here for developing a destination for ecotourism. You knew it locally, but the rest of the country

Winter 2011 | 37

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didn’t know it. Even in winter it’s an amazing place.”

Miranda created some questions and talked to people at various levels of government and tourism, and by mid-May he was convinced that some kind of festival celebrating the cranes would be a fitting way to further ecotourism efforts.

Miranda hopes to see the Florida Trail Association grow as a way to bring attention to the area and its outstanding natural resources, thriving biological communities and sound infrastructure for ecotourism.

He credits the city and county for their efforts to help preserve natural spaces like greenways and the forest canopy, thereby creating an environment conducive to these efforts.

“There will be others who discover this destination and enjoy the wildlife and scenic vistas that can be found, whether it’s the rising fog of a January morning over the prairie or the sun setting,” Miranda said.

“There are people who come here and paint the setting sun. That’s not commonplace.

“We have something special here, and it ought not to be a well-kept secret anymore.” s

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38 | Winter 2011

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>> HERITAGE

Rare Birds The Dorking Chickens

BY DENISE TRUNK-KRIGBAUM weetheart pecked and scratched around her coop, ranging not far from her nesting box one cool April morning at Morningside Nature Center Living History Farm. The hen’s black and white barred feathers mingled with the dappled sunlight coming through the trees nearby. As the foraging hen did what chickens all over the country do daily, she was blissfully unaware that she was an example of an elite breed of her species: a Dominicker, or Dominique.

Bravely, she wandered further afield, stepping through the cow pen, ducking past pigs and clucking to the chickens in the coop next door, the Dorkings. Of course, as she traveled, she had no idea she was visiting fowl that are members of an even more imperiled breed.

Thought to have originated in Italy and brought to England by the Romans, the Dorking is one of America’s oldest breeds of chickens. Despite this storied history, the bird that provided meat and eggs to early American farmers is now listed as a threatened species in this country by The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Generally the words “endangered” and “threatened” call to mind species like the grizzly bear

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40 | Winter 2011

or the bald eagle rather than a domesticated animal like a chicken, which is not covered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Yet the ALBC, a national organization formed in 1977 that works to conserve rare breeds and genetic diversity in livestock, in 2011 listed the Dorking as threatened and the Dominicker as heritage breeds to

10 years, the birds’ numbers are once again on the decline.

In 1873, The American Poultry Association began defining breeds and breed standards. These breeds were hearty birds that had long lives in outdoor conditions. They were vital birds that provided an important source of protein to the growing population of the country

Thought to have originated in Italy and brought to England by the Romans, the Dorking is one of America’s oldest breeds of chickens. “watch” on its annual conservation priority list.

The Dominicker’s story is an example of the difficulties of breed conservation. Recognized as America’s first chicken breed, Dominickers were somewhat common in the eastern United States as early as 1750. Plentifully bred on American farms as early as the 1820s, the birds were a popular as both egg and meat producers. In the 1970s, after industrialized farming practices became the norm, only four known flocks existed in the country. After a rebound that lasted through the ‘90s, in the past

until the mid-20th century. When industrialization reached chicken farming, a few rapidly growing hybrid breeds were preferred and the old breeds that thrived on traditional farms diminished. The ALBC now lists more than threedozen breeds of chickens in danger of extinction.

As part of a working homestead, Morningside Nature Center’s Living History Farm plays a role in the preservation of the breed. Its ten acres are home to at least five heritage breeds of livestock and poultry.

Visitors can interact with them at the farm’s barnyard 9 a.m. - 4:30

PHOTOS BY DENISE TRUNK KRIGBAUM

The Dominicker (left) is recognized as America’s fi rst chicken breed. To recreate an 1870s homestead, Morningside Living History Farm maintains a fl ock of Dorking chickens (above) in its farmyard. One of America’s oldest breeds of chickens, the Dorking is now listed as a threatened species by The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

“At the Living History Farm we are interpreting the year 1870,” said Ludovica Weaver, marketing technician for Gainesville’s Nature Operations Division. “Heritage breeds would have been raised back then. It is very important to conserve them.”

In Gainesville, and in the nation, there is growing interest in raising backyard chickens. The local movement has its own Facebook page — Backyard Chickens of Gainesville Florida. There is also an interest in keeping heritage breeds, and the genes they protect.

Getting the eggs to hatch is not easy. George Chappell, a naturalist instructor at the living history farm, calls himself a farmhand. He has

worked at the farm for more than 10 years, feeding and maintaining the animals’ health and wellbeing.

He held Sweetheart as he talked.

“The Dorkings have older roosters and hens,” he said. “We had success hatching a hen who was a great layer. She hatched her own chick from a young rooster, but it was terrible. A raccoon broke into the house and killed all three.”

The birds have a reinforced enclosure since that tragedy happened a few years ago and they live in it 24-7. The Dorkings are kept penned up and not allowed to range not simply to keep them safe from hawks and other predators, but to keep them from interbreeding with the Dominickers, Chappell said.

When one of the five Dorking or

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five Dominicker hens lays an egg, one of the “farmhands” collects it and takes it to an incubator where humidity and temperature are closely controlled. Chappell and others are hoping to have a hatchling or two in the near future to keep the flocks stable. In a few instances in the past, eggs from the Nature Center’s Farm have gone to locals who wanted to raise them.

Because of the efforts of the ALBC, organizations like the Morningside Living History Farm, an increase in backyard farmers and others, the Dorking has been downgraded from a critical to a threatened species in recent years; a step in the direction of maintaining diversity and a flourishing gene pool for domesticated animals. s

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44

COLUMN >> CRYSTAL HENRY

Naked Salsa Farewell to a friend. had an interesting week as a parent. I learned that a toilet will have no problem eating a pair of Minnie Mouse underpants without even a hint of indigestion or regret.

I learned that any toy in the store will be put happily back on the shelf as long as it has its “Mommy and Daddy,” aka other toys that look similar. And I learned that explaining death to a toddler can be one of the most difficult, soulwrenching, yet therapeutic gifts of motherhood.

I lost a very dear friend this week. She was a four-legged little fur ball I’ve had since high school. Cuddles was half-cat halfdebutante trapped in a poodle body.

I didn’t ask for the little curly top.

When my mom said she was going to get us a dog I begged for a SharPei. But when she brought home our little Cuddles I couldn’t help but love her. She looked like a tiny lamb

I

no bigger than a cantaloupe, but twice as sweet. The little cotton ball just seemed to float over the floors and all you could see were two little black dots peering up at us, and a tiny black nose peeking out of the fluff. She was the snuggliest little ball of puffery that ever lived.

It was assumed she’d be the family dog, but once she was home, she was my dog. She slept in my room. She followed me around the house. She was my little companion.

On my 18th birthday I moved into my first apartment, and she snuggled into the crook of my legs the first night I spent alone.

I felt protected by all five pounds of her. When I left Texas to head to college in Florida, the dorm had a strict policy against canine companions. So I said goodbye to my little pal, promising to see her at Thanksgiving.

It was a miracle she survived. My mom called to tell me that Cuddles wouldn’t eat and just sat on the couch staring out the door like she was waiting for me to come home.

I went out that day to look for a place to rent that was four-legged friendly. I found one the same week I found the man I would marry.

And she was there for me the night before my wedding when I had the jitters. I had to cover my toes because she was going to lick them clean off my feet. She always knew when I needed a little reassurance.

I took her with me when I moved into my first house with my new husband. With my whole family back in Texas, she was my baby and my closest relative for the first four years of our marriage. And when I lost my first pregnancy and my first chance at a real baby, her silent comfort saw me through.

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About a year later, when I brought my daughter home from the hospital, she was there waiting in anticipation. I watched apprehensively, wondering what she would think of this new little life I’d brought into the house. Cuddles was always very protective of me, and could get pretty jealous at times. I hoped that the transition wouldn’t be too rough.

But she took one sniff of that baby and knew that she was a little part of me. They were best pals from day one. Cuddles never barked or became annoyed with Sunny’s crying or curious tugs at her ears. It might have been because with that baby around, Cuddles got a lot more fallen table scraps. So she let a lot of Sunny’s behavior slide. She was almost 10 when Sunny was born, so her old age didn’t leave room for much frolicking or playing. But every once in a while she’d get a burst of energy and prance around delighting my daughter.

And Sunny was absolutely

in love. When we left the house she wanted to be the one to put Cuddles in her kennel. And when we were gone she asked to go home to see her. I once asked her where is home and she said “With Mommy and Daddy and Cuddles.”

So the night she passed, I wasn’t just sad that I’d lost a friend. But I dreaded having to try and explain her absence to a 2-year-old who adored her. I was furious that I had to put her through this, and I was angry that I’d let myself get so attached to something with such a short lifespan.

The next morning, Sunny bounded out of her room, and before breakfast was served she said, “Just second Mommy. I need let Cuddles go potty.”

It was time. I had to explain to my toddler that her little pal was gone.

“Sweety, Cuddles was old. And sometimes, when dogs are old they die,” I told her. We thought it would be best to be direct.

“Where Cuddles Mommy?” she asked. “I want Cuddles.”

“Well she’s gone Sweetheart, so that means we can’t hold her anymore. But we can see her in pictures,” I told her biting back tears.

“Oh,” she said. And she was quiet for a while.

Then she said with a smile, “I like Cuddles Mommy. And Cuddles like me.”

Without the concept of time and the questions of the afterlife, my little toddler was just happy to have known such a great little friend. It made me realize how lucky I was to have had such a great friend to be there for me when I needed her all those years.

Sunny still talks about Cuddles all the time, and sometimes it’s with a little sadness because she’s gone.

But it’s always good memories that she shares with me. And it makes me so grateful that our friend was able to leave such beautiful little paw prints in our hearts. s

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48

>> COMMUNITY

A Safe Haven

The Kiwanis Club Benefits Children in Alachua & High Springs

BY MATTHEW BEATON elping out children: who can argue with that?

Not Kiwanis International, nor its local chapter Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, which performs projects in High Springs and Alachua to benefit local children. This past summer, the service group set their sights on an Alachua Police Department substation in the Merrillwood neighborhood. Billed as a safe haven for local children in this low-income public housing area,

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club members and the police department said it would be a place for the neighborhood children to study and play after school.

When they began their renovation, past Kiwanis Club President Sue Weller said the substation was in “dire straits.” The exterior of the building had to be pressurewashed, the trim and interior painted. In some parts, the walls required three coats of paint. A few electrical outlets were replaced, as well as their coverings.

At the club’s request, the Early Learning Coalition of Alachua

County inspected the substation.

Advice given by the Coalition helped the service group make the substation more suitable as a childeducation facility. The Coalition recommended the removal of some shelves in the common area so that chalkboards could be installed. At any given time, Weller said, around five of their 22 members were hard at work. In total, the unit spent about 75 hours on the job.

On a Saturday last August, the Kiwanis Club celebrated the end of their portion of the renovations by hosting a barbecue for the area

PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

Members of the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe and the Alachua Police Department in front of the old police substation. (from left) Kiwanis President Tom Weller, Detective Carrie Lund, Chief Joel DeCoursey, Jr. and past Kiwanis President Sue Weller.

48 | Winter 2011

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PHOTO COURTESY OF KIWANIS CLUB OF SANTA FE

Kiwanians painting the High Springs Day Care Center. From Left: Cathy Sayers, Sue Weller and Tom Weller.

children. The group provided hot dogs and hamburgers and set up a slip ‘n’ slide. Several officers from the Alachua Police Department, as well as Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper, were in attendance.

Police Chief Joel DeCoursey, Jr., surveying the transformation, said the Kiwanis members had done a great job with the substation, as well as in networking with the local children. The barbecue was well

50 | Winter 2011

received by those in Merrillwood.

“There was a positive response on both ends,” he said.

Meanwhile, the police department continues to wrap up the final details of acquiring chairs, desks, tables and schools supplies to properly outfit the building and make it more conducive to studying. Citizens in the community, particularly members of the church, donated computers.

Additionally, Lowe’s has agreed to provide new flooring, blinds and kitchen cabinets.

DeCoursey described the building as a place for children to go after school to learn and do homework. But, he said, it is not “all work and no play. We’ll give them [the children] the opportunity to let their hair down and do some recreational stuff.”

When the substation is in use, it

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PHOTO COURTESY OF KIWANIS CLUB OF SANTA FE

Kiwanians present Alachua Police Chief Joel DeCoursey with Teddy Bears for children in stressful situations. From Left: Heidi Hill, Cassandra Davis, Bill Scott, Chief DeCoursey and Tom Weller.

will be supervised by police officers, volunteers from the community and members of the school board.

Children have access to the building only if an adult is present.

DeCoursey noted that the overseer will not be one particular person.

All of those who took part in the renovation feel that the project is

about investing in the community’s future. The police department wanted to make “a positive impression” on the younger generation, DeCoursey said.

Mayor Gib Coerper commended the Kiwanis Club for their efforts.

“Every service organization is a blessing to its community, and today

Haven’t you

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it’s the Kiwanis Club reaching out to Merrillwood in Alachua,” he said.

Of those organizations, the Kiwanis group is likely one of the most active. Weller estimated that each year in Northern Alachua County, the club conducts between 25 and 30 projects.

“We do a lot of work for a small club. We’re really big on hands-on projects,” Weller said. “It’s very rewarding.”

This level of accomplishment offers a great feeling, too, particularly because they only began working on the substation in January.

“It’s very rewarding,” Weller said.

Yearlong, the group stays active. During Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, members create and give away baskets. They tutor third graders at Alachua Elementary School, and donate teddy bears to the Alachua Police Department for distribution. Last

exterior painting on a storage building, said current Kiwanis Club President Tom Weller.

“You become very familiar with the children [at the daycare],” Sue Weller said. “That’s what’s really rewarding, because when you walk in, they come running up to you and

“All the fundraisers that we do — the money goes directly back into the community.”

April, Kiwanis held an Easter egg hunt at the High Springs Day Care, which they themselves refurbished and beautified.

The building, a former elementary school cafeteria, is owned and leased by the City of High Springs as a daycare center that caters to low-income families. The club installed a fire-suppression system, and put the finishing touches on two years of work. All that is left now is some

hug you and look forward to your bringing books to read to them.”

The group strives to keep the focus on the younger generation.

Their projects, Weller said, are about “creating a comfortable environment for children.”

For this project and others, fundraising supports the club. In July, an iPad 2 was raffled off and won by High Springs Community School Principal Jeff Means, who in turn gave it to fifth-grade teacher

Wanda Roe. “All the fundraisers that we do — the money goes directly back into the community,” Weller said, explaining that every dollar collected, through a raffle or direct donation, is used entirely for projects and is not spent on administrative costs.

The organization, formed in 2004, is still relatively young. The Wellers are charter members, as are club secretary Cathy Sayers and her husband Rick, who live in Trenton.

Sayers said they joined the group because they were looking for ways to help the community. She enjoys having the opportunity to get away from her farm on a Saturday and do some good. Working with a team “makes it more fun,” she said.

For others looking to join a group that helps children and the community, the Kiwanis Club is ready and willing to accept all helping hands.

“We can always use new members,” she said. s

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>> HARMONY

Dynamic Duo A Musical Treasure

PHOTOS BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

BY MARY KYPREOS ithin the renovated parking garage that is now Tall Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brew House, suits and college students mingle in the wide-open venue cheering around games tables, sitting in booths featuring wooden and metallic elements and ordering drinks from Tall Paul and his significantly shorter bartenders. An old-fashioned bright red London telephone booth sits in one corner, directly below a giant stuffed alligator.

On one particular Wednesday night, two musicians set up across

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58 | Winter 2011

from the alligator and the telephone booth, fitting perfectly into the scene, almost as if for that one night, they belong nowhere else.

Richy Stano takes up his guitar, an instrument he has played so long that it is now firmly entwined with his identity. Dressed in a short sleeve button down, khaki shorts, loafers and sporting curly golden hair others take hours to emulate, Stano exudes a laid-back, roll-with-the-punches-but-seizethe-day personality.

Perched on a barstool next to Stano, with an African hand drum called the djembe situated between his legs, a microphone in front of

him and a shaker in his right hand, Shane Moore sets the rhythm. With dark hair, a goatee and dressed in a black, long-sleeve button down and jeans, Moore presents the opposite picture of Stano, and yet, like the patrons and atmosphere at Tall Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, it just works.

FROM DUOS TO MORE Around two and a half years ago, Stano and Moore were introduced at Family Church and began their journey together. At the time, Stano was playing around town with Mark Gaignard, former frontman for the Gainesville group Big Sky, but Gaignard started spending

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summers in Alabama. Fortunately for Stano and Moore, just because Gaignard was not always around did not mean interest died.

As Stano and Moore began singing duos together, and Stano still received calls from people interested in hiring him and Gaignard, an idea formed. Around a year and a half ago, Stano and Moore began picking up gigs and their burgeoning professional relationship took off from there.

60 | Winter 2011

“I really like the way [Moore] sings,” Stano said. “He has a great voice and a really cool way of interpreting songs and making them his own.”

For Moore, he enjoys being able to play with someone as accomplished as Stano and learns from him.

“It is fun for me to watch the way he plays,” Moore said. “He is a ridiculous guitar player.”

Stano and Moore play in a

variety of venues from Gainesville to Jonesville, from High Springs to Cedar Key. They have about 150 to 200 songs on their list and even take suggestions and learn them, Stano said.

“Each of the different places we play has a slightly different demographic,” he said.

Therefore, some songs that may be appropriate for the Great Outdoors Restaurant in High Springs would not be

fitting for Tall Paul’s Brew House in Downtown Gainesville.

Because they cover so many artists, such as Led Zeppelin, John Mayer, Steely Dan and Jimi Hendrix, to accommodate their various venues, Stano and Moore also try to make the songs their own, while

keeping the respective artist’s style.

Take “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, for example, Moore said. Stano takes the lead part and changes it up so that the original feel of the song remains, but in the “dirty south,” grittier, in-your-face style of Stano and Moore.

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Furthermore, whereas “Sweet Home Alabama” is a full-band song, Stano and Moore play acoustic, Stano said.

“It is difficult to sing in the different genres of music we do,” Moore said. “But as a musician, that is one of the challenges, to learn all

Winter 2011 | 61

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the different styles.”

Both Stano, who has toured the country, and Moore, a Gainesville native living in Jonesville, enjoy playing in Alachua County for the good-fun atmosphere and people.

“I like the different venues and the different people who show up,” Stano said. “The diversity is fun.”

STANO: HOOKED FOR LIFE Stano was only four years old when he watched the Beatles on television, and even though he was too young for PG-rated movies, that moment led him to a life-long love of music and the guitar.

difficult career path.

So instead of pursuing a music degree in college, he received an undergraduate degree in management and went “corporate.”

After marrying and spending some time in the corporate world, Stano looked at his life. He had no children, no major responsibilities and a job he hated. If there was a time to give music a shot, it had come. With a five-year game plan ready in hand, Stano moved to Los Angeles to attend music school.

After graduating, Stano began teaching at the same school where he earned his degree.

“Music is one of those things that can bring you joy the rest of your life.”

performed at Gator Growl in UF’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. In his work with Artist Amy Dalley, he has opened for Toby Keith, Jewel, Clint Black and others. At other points in his career, Stano has performed with Bo Diddley, Jimi Tunnel, Bob Welch, and more.

When asked about his time touring with big names, Stano simply replied: “They are people, too. They do the same thing that normal people do, they are just more successful at it.”

Finally, Stano credits his three children, his wife, Jen, and even his parents for their support.

“My children and my wife like the fact that Dad does something for a living that he really, really loves,” he said. “So they support it.”

MOORE: RECAPTURING DREAMS Born into a musical family, his parents did not object to Stano learning guitar; however, to ensure he was serious, they first required him to take piano lessons.

When he was six years old and had completed what he calls his “penance,” he received his first guitar at Christmas.

Stano quickly progressed into playing professional gigs with his older cousins at age 11 and continued to play gigs throughout high school and college.

Although Stano had a deep love for music growing up, and his parents recognized his talent, he said they still tried to protect him from what is inevitably a very

Although playing guitar and teaching guitar can hardly be compared, since, as Stano said, “They are just different,” his five-year plan became a moot point, as he become a successful musician and teacher.

Now as a professor at Santa Fe College, Stano has “free reign to teach,” and he loves his time there.

“I enjoy helping people get where they want as musicians and become what they can be,” Stano said, adding that he does not want to turn his students into him.

Professionally, his band Mindwalk (with their first album recorded in Gainesville) opened for artists such as BB King, Joan Osbourne and Sister Hazel, and

Like Stano and many musicians, Moore caught the music fever early in life and never wavered from what he loved.

Although, he never took lessons, Moore grew up singing in church. As a child, his neighbors introduced him to and taught him to play the djembe.

To this day, Moore cannot choose a favorite because he enjoys percussion and singing for different reasons, and together they are challenging for him as a musician.

“To keep the rhythm solid and make the words fluid is interesting,” he said.

A native of Gainesville, Moore stuck with percussion and played

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in the bands and drum lines of his middle school, Gainesville High School and the University of Florida.

However, because of the heavy demands of the school band and drum line, Moore had little time to play in a band of his own, and consequently dedicated all of his time to learning new shows for school.

“You were basically learning a new show and drill with the music every week to perform that weekend,” Moore said.

When choosing between colleges, Moore debated between UF’s music program, which focused on the educational side of music, and Florida State University’s music program that focused on performance.

After finally deciding job prospects would be more viable with an education focus, Moore attended UF and joined the drum line (as a snare drummer) and the Wind Symphony.

During his time at UF, Moore

learned to teach every instrument, and in doing so, had to learn every instrument.

“You do not become good at [the instruments], but you get good enough to teach someone,” Moore said.

Even while learning other instruments — the hardest being the oboe and tuba — he never found one he enjoyed more than percussion, he said.

After graduation, Moore was unable to find a job in music and ended up entering the sans-music professional world while playing music in his spare time.

“A lot of what I do in my leisure time is music,” Moore said.

At the highest level of his career thus far, Moore is performing regularly and writing music with Stano and friend, Larry Carpenter, to pitch in Nashville, he said.

Although it is very demanding and Moore has the highest learning curve since he is not a professional musician, Stano and Carpenter are

still very supportive.

If their hard work and solidarity should pay off in Nashville, Moore would not hesitate at the opportunity: “If I have a chance to make a living doing music? Yes, definitely, I would make a living doing it,” he said.

Whether chatting with Stano and Moore or watching them do what they do best, one thing is clear: For decades, music has had a positive influence on both men, and they love it.

Both cite how music can help children develop their minds and learn faster. Moore mentions his 8-year-old daughter, who not only plays the violin and piano but is also learning percussion.

Finally, music does not discriminate based on gender, race or even age.

“Music is one of those things that can bring you joy the rest of your life,” Stano said “It is one of those things you can do rest of your life.” s

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COLUMN >> DONNA BONNELL

Embracing Life Life’s Many Mini Mysteries

ystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”

Can you guess who said these wise words? The answer will seem obvious. It was Astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. Armstrong’s quote, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” remains one of the most famous of the 20th Century. While I will always remember where I was when he took those first steps, I am just beginning to understand his desire to explore the unknown.

On July 20, 1969, nearly everyone watched television and many prayed until the Eagle Lunar Module safely landed. Armstrong accomplished his mission and the moon is a lot less mysterious today.

Most of us will never experience anything as grand. Yet, we have so many mini-mysteries to ponder

“M

in our ordinary lives. Perhaps becoming a writer triggered a desire to dig below the surface for more information. Possibly, with age I have slowed down enough to question the unfamiliar.

Regardless of the reason, every thing or event seems to be more than what meets the eye. My interest in our planet and its creatures has soared to a higher level of amazement.

My files, labeled Possible Embracing Life Columns, are bulging. As my wonder of the world continues to grow, so does my collection of data and ideas.

It is impossible to research and write about all the marvels stored for future reference. However, I am compelled to share at least some fascinating information about humans and other species, which are our co-inhabitants on Earth.

Resurrected from one of my

stowed articles, begun many years ago but never finished, was this quote from Sammy Davis Jr.: “The ultimate mystery is one’s own self.”

I cannot think of a truer statement. Our emotional, physical and spiritual components are very complex. We are diverse beings, yet have similar inexplicable needs. Our animal friends are almost equally amazing. You may be surprised at some of following facts:

Body Parts/Functions: • Fingernails grow nearly four times faster than toenails.

• Women lose about 70 hairs a day, while men shed about 40.

• Fifty-five percent of people yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn.

• The length from your wrist to your elbow is the same as the

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• Your mouth produces one liter of saliva daily. Taste occurs when food and saliva mix.

Eyes: • The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body; it allows you to blink five times a second.

• Women blink twice as much as men.

• Our eyes remain the same size from birth to death.

• Hardened lenses protect the eyes of fish and insects. They do not have eyelids.

• The giant squid has the biggest eyes of any animal, measuring 16 inches in diameter.

• Flatfish hatch like other fish.

As they grow, they turn sideways and one eye moves around so they have two eyes on the side that faces up.

• It is impossible to sneeze and keep your eyes open at the same time.

Fish:

Tongue:

• Sharks are immune to almost all diseases.

• The eel is the only fish that spawns in the ocean but lives its adult life in a river.

• The largest giant squid ever recorded weighed four tons and had tentacles 35 feet long.

• Every person has a unique tongue print.

• Attached to the roof of the crocodile’s mouth, its tongue is immobile.

• A giraffe can clean its ears with its 20-inch tongue.

Wildlife: Heart: • Your heart beats 101,000 times per day.

• The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car.

• A housefly lives 14 days.

• Seventy five percent of wild birds die before they are six months old.

• The South American giant anteater eats 30,000 ants a day.

Pets: • A dog was the first animal in space.

• Domestic cats purr at 26 cycles per second, the same frequency as an idling diesel engine.

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Albert Schweitzer reminds us in his priceless passage, “As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious.” s

• • • •

The sailfish reaches 68 mph.

A seahorse swims 0.01 mph.

Ostriches run up to 43 mph.

Humans can run about 21 mph.

• A human’s DNA stretched out would reach the moon 6,000 times.

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>> MASTER OF PUPPETS

Punch & Judy From Czech Republic to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

STORY AND PHOTOS

BY LARRY BEHNKE ryce Belcher, whose hometown was Cedar Key, Florida, has lived in the Czech Republic for two decades.

But for two weeks each year he becomes a working citizen of the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire in Gainesville. He takes on the role of Punch, one of the two 12-foot-tall marionettes (Judy plays his wife) who stroll amongst the crowds during two winter weekends.

“I’m a large puppet; I walk around frightening children — in a gentle way,” Belcher said.

Belcher had lived in the Czech Republic for 15 years when he

B

returned to Gainesville where he had graduated from the University of Florida. He visited the Medieval Faire with an old friend and met other people he had gone to college with. Then he landed the job of playing Punch.

“I discovered all my old friends were here, and I loved the job,” Belcher said. “My Punch gig basically pays for my air fare.”

He hangs out with friends in the Gypsy Camp, a fair enclave of like-minded people who share their food and their talents. Home-baked goodies and turkey on a spit are part of the communal meal;

Punch (played by Bryce Belcher) posing with belly dancers from the Gypsy Camp.

His time with Gypsy Camp friends is a highlight of his musical life.

www.VisitOurTowns.com

Winter 2011 | 73

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Bryce Belcher as Punch and Lisa Marie Ogden as Judy immediately after changing out of their costumes.

homemade music continues the entertainment after the day’s fair visitors have left.

Belcher is most often the one who gets the night’s music going, playing familiar songs on his guitar and singing. Soon his friends, many of whom are also local musicians, are joining in.

Other members of the Gypsy Camp do belly dancing and

74 | Winter 2011

sometimes put on displays of fire dancing for their friends.

Then, when the next fair day arrives, Belcher carefully steps inside the bulky Punch construction and secures the straps to hold it on. There are controls inside to move the arms on hinges high above. It is tricky keeping a gentle touch while controlling the long wooden arms as Punch reaches

toward admiring (or wary) fairgoers.

And he has to keep it all balanced; it is not an easy job.

During the rest of each year Belcher returns to his family and to his job as a translator and tour guide.

“I guide, teach, anything to do with English. I was the grammar king in school,” he said. “I learned Czech by immersing myself in it. It’s a Slavic language, one of the hardest.

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It took me two years to learn.”

Now he is proficient and is able to subsist on a variety of work with the language. But music, the universal language, has also been a major part of his life. His time with Gypsy Camp friends is a highlight of his musical life.

the realities of life, which would lose its hold upon the people if it were made moral and instructive.”

Punch and Belcher have a lot in common. They both joke with the public, play music and are not above playful pranks.

“When my friends in Cesky

At night Belcher again joins his friends at Gypsy Camp for song, feasting and grog. He plays guitar, flute and drums.

Punch and Judy marionettes, and later hand puppets, have their roots in 16th century Italy, but became popular in coastal English villages. The puppet plays featured short scenes in which Punch typically acts as an anarchist. He struggles, triumphs, jokes and sings. Punch also fights with his puppet wife, Judy.

Charles Dickens enjoyed the shows. He commented, “Punch is one of those extravagant reliefs from

Krumlov ask me what I do in America, I tell them my secret mission is to frighten children into obedience.” Then he winks and laughs.

As Punch, Belcher trades clever one-liners with his giant puppet wife, Judy, who has been played by both men and women over the years.

The twelve-foot-tall Punch and Judy costumes are heavy, and depending on the weather, they can also be hot. Therefore, the actors

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must take periodic breaks, heading into the large building at the entrance to the fair grounds. They back each apparatus onto a holding stand, and then slither out from under the giant puppet’s clothing.

At night Belcher again joins his friends at Gypsy Camp for song, feasting and grog. He plays guitar, flute and drums.

“It’s unbridled cultural revelry,” he said. “Something like this fair would never happen back in the Czech Republic where the leaders play games of power with the minds of the masses.”

But for a few weeks each year, Bryce Belcher revels in playing Punch. He loves being with his American friends and family, and enjoying the much warmer winter of Northern Florida. s The Medieval Faire is a trip back in time featuring 160 artisans, a variety of entertainment on several stages, and fun food. It runs the last weekend of January and the first weekend of February at the Alachua County Fairgrounds. 352-334ARTS or www.gvlculturalaffairs.org.

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A DVE RTI S E M E N T

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Has your medicine been changed? Do you or your caregiver need training on how to deal with your disease process? If so, Caretenders could be the answer for you.

“We provide care for a lot of Seniors with diabetes, especially Type 2 diabetes,” said Angela Jackson, RN and patient care liaison with Caretenders. “It is one of the main diagnoses that we treat.”

Jackson explains that the primary weapon in the fight against diabetes is education, both for the patient and for the caregiver. “We address the patient as a whole,” she said. “We identify what they need to know and what they already know about the disease process, and we teach them how to take care of themselves.”

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>> SHAKE AND BAKE

Need for Speed New York Natives Revive a Local Landmark

BY MOLLY LARMIE PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUZETTE COOK s a tangerine sunset sinks below the scrub brush, a line of vehicles — mostly trucks — winds its way down State Road 24. Just off the highway, amid a clearing in the trees, a red and white speedway opens its gates for Saturday night racing.

Fans buy their tickets, $2 hot dogs and ice-cold Budweisers, then find their friends in the grandstands. LeAnn Rimes croons “The Star-Spangled Banner” over the speakers. The green flag falls, and cars roar to life on the asphalt.

At Bronson Speedway, racing is back, revived from unlikely circumstances.

A year ago, the racetrack lay dormant, enshrined in leaves and overgrown grass. The septic system had malfunctioned. The scoreboard, speakers and lights needed replacing.

A dead track. That’s what Ann Young found when she typed “race tracks for sale” into Google at her

A

80 | Winter 2011

home in Long Island, N.Y. In the Young household, racing is a way of life. Young worked as a NASCAR scorer for more than 15 years. Her husband Chris races in the NASCAR Modified division.

They had never owned a track, but the idea grew.

Both in their mid-50s, Ann and Chris are not ready to retire. Chris manages a fleet of diesel trucks.

Ann is a nursing administrative supervisor. Their jobs and their children — 17-year-old Christopher and 6-year-old Leah — tether them to New York. Their first attempt as speedway owners would have to be long-distance.

They closed on the property in Bronson in February and held the first races at the end of July. They manage the track from 1,000 miles away, racking up sky miles on frequent weekend trips.

On a mild October night in Bronson, nearly 200 people file into the grandstands. It’s not NASCAR,

and no one wants it to be. Twelve dollars gets visitors in the grandstands. The cars are powerful but humble, with scratches in the paint and obvious traces of home repair.

In the pit, Randy Anderson leans against his racecar, No. 86. It is an Open Wheel Modified design, painted white with blue stripes and a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness month.

Anderson, a 17-year-old high school senior from Wildwood, has been racing for eight years. After school, he works on cars at a shop behind his house.

His dad, NASCAR driver Wayne Anderson, won his first race at Bronson. Since he made the switch to the Open Wheel Modified division this year, Anderson has raced all over the state. His record: two wins and five second-place finishes

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in seven starts.

He said he is “tipping the apple cart a little bit” by racing drivers sometimes double his age. It is strange to line up next to the people he grew up watching. “I’ve known them all my life,” he said.

Such familiarity is commonplace in Bronson, population 1,113.

“Chris and I are the only outsiders,” Ann Young said. And the New Yorkers run things a little differently.

Traditionally, drivers run heats to qualify for feature races. For the casual fan, the process can be

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tedious, kind of like watching a baseball game where the score does not count until the fifth inning.

At Bronson, drivers run the feature races first. The format keeps sponsors happy (their drivers are guaranteed to make the feature) and fans get to see the exciting races right away, Young said. Later in the evening, the track holds heat races to determine poll positions for the next week’s race.

“It’s not the way I’m used to seeing it,” said Alisha Smith, a 29-year-old from Bronson who

sells concessions at the track. But as a mom, she cannot complain.

She brings her 1-year-old son Charlie, who likes to watch the flags, and daughter Chloe, 6, who embarrasses her mom by hoping for a crash. The good races end before bedtime.

Around 9:30 p.m., the green flag drops on the last feature of the night. Drivers from the Open Wheel Modified division tear around the 3/8-mile oval.

After several laps, two cars separate from the field, leaving a distant

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competition for third. Anderson runs mere inches behind the leader, local legend Gary Southard.

On lap nine, Southard takes the turn a little wide. Anderson pounces, passing low for the lead.

He crosses the finish line with a quarter-track cushion. Race director Jimmy Durden hands him the checkered flag for a victory lap.

Durden, a big guy with a warm southern drawl, has been coming to the speedway since he was 8. His grandfather used to sell peanuts at the track entrance. He has worked as the chief starter and now as race director, organizing pre-race meetings and officiating post-race arguments.

In between features, he climbs into the stands to catch up with friends. “Go slap Jimmy Durden’s hand,” a woman says as she nudges her young son forward.

Durden knows all the kids and their mommas, as well as the racers. He asks about flag football signups and softball games. He waves to 10-year-old Ronald “Rocky” Greene, who brandishes his own flags in the bleachers behind the starter.

If anyone could take issue with the speedway’s out-of-town ownership, it is Durden, the ultimate insider. But he only has kind words for the Youngs.

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PA “They’re good people,” he said. “It’s hard to run a track from New York.”

Young concedes that her “retirement project” began a little early.

She and her husband will continue to split time between Florida and New York. They already have a condo in Daytona Beach.

For 2012, Bronson will open for a full season of racing — February through November — with at least four divisions: Hornet, Pure Stock, Sportsmen and Open Wheel Modified. The staff is also working

to develop an INEX Legends car division, usually geared toward younger drivers. There is nothing better than watching a second- or third-generation racer take laps, Young said.

And if the speedway is a bridge — between age, between distance — it is also a barometer of the community. In September, tragedy struck Bronson. A 2-yearold boy was accidentally shot and killed while he and his 11-year-old brother were playing with a gun

in their parents’ bedroom. At the track the following weekend, drivers went into the stands to collect donations for the family.

They returned with $1,000 in their helmets. Three drivers gave their own winnings.

“That’s the way all racing families are,” Young said, “even if we talk a little different.” s Bronson Speedway is located about twenty miles southwest of Gainesville on State Road 24. For more informations, visit www.bronsonspdwy.com

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>> ATHLETICS

Building a Legacy

The City of Alachua Intends to Expand its Recreational Offerings

BY JANICE C. KAPLAN or two decades, the Hal Brady Recreation Complex has been a hub of recreational activity for the City of Alachua. With its many baseball and softball fields, picnic areas, playgrounds and splash park, it provides the perfect backdrop for an afternoon of family fun or an international world series in youth softball.

But with the increased exposure, the community’s needs have outgrown the 25-acre facility. So the City of Alachua started Project Legacy, an effort to acquire funding to purchase 105 acres of land to the northwest of the current park for future expansion.

“We needed to secure additional space to expand our facility for the future,” said Adam Boukari, assistant to the City Manager of Alachua. “Right now our

F

recreation center is at maximum capacity not only for people but for facilities. There’s not another square inch that you can build anything on.”

In addition to private fundraising, the city decided to ask the Alachua County Commission for help because of to the positive economical impact a bigger facility could have on the community.

“The City of Alachua approached the County about tourist development tax funds, which are used to promote tourism,” Boukari explained. “We approached the board of commissioners with Project Legacy stating that, by buying this land in concert with building three multi-purpose fields, we would attract tourism through sporting events.”

The approach worked. In November the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners approved $500,000 from the “Wild Spaces, Public Places” half-cent

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CITY OF ALACHUA

The Hal Brady Sports Complex in Alachua. Project Legacy will allow the city to purchase the land at the top for future expansion.

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sales tax to be used for Project Legacy. Combined with the $700,000 of private funds raised, there is now enough money to buy the adjacent property. Over the next three years the city plans to develop three new multi-purpose fields with lighting that can be used for football, soccer, lacrosse, rugby and other sports.

Fundraising will continue through that time to pay for the project.

It is yet another step in the right direction to not only serve area residents, but to also attract tourists from around the country through athletic tournaments, in addition to corporate and school events. Visitors traveling for such events create revenue not only for Alachua, but for adjacent areas as well.

“The people who visit the complex will impact Gainesville as well as us,” said Alachua Recreation Director Hal Brady, the man for whom the complex is named. “They will go to UF to see the campus; they will go to the Harn museum and the Butterfly Rainforest.

They will see movies and do many other things.

Some of these tournaments will also impact hotels in

92 | Winter 2011

Gainesville as well as the Alachua area. And it will help to enhance the entire beautiful life of Alachua County.”

Boukari is quick to point out that the funds for Project Legacy were raised in the most responsible way possible.

“This entire purchase is being made possible without the use of general fund [tax] dollars,” he said.

“This was done creatively between public and private partnerships.”

The Hal Brady Recreation Complex is utilized year-round. Every year more than 100,000 people come to the parks, 75 percent of which come from out of town. Unlike similar facilities in some other cities, the complex and its activities are open to anyone regardless of their home address.

In 1992, the facility attracted national attention when it hosted the Babe Ruth Baseball World Series and won a national award for its efforts. With a taste of success normally reserved for bigger cities such as New York or Boston, many renovations followed at the Hal Brady complex. The City bought seating from the

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sports as lacrosse, football, soccer and more. The current features and layout of the park are on the right.

end zone at Florida State University’s Doak Campbell Stadium to serve as bleachers for the main baseball field. The front lobby of the building was remodeled and a two-story gymnasium was built.

Once the complex won the bid to host the 2010 Babe Ruth Softball 12-Under World Series, upgrade plans shifted into high gear. The parking lot was paved, new lights and poles were installed, skate and water parks were added and new picnic tables and benches were purchased for the covered eating area.

Brady explained that renovations such as this affect an entire community and, therefore, require plenty of input and cooperation.

“We have multiple people volunteering right now that are putting in their wish list of what they want it to look like. That’s how the recreation center first got developed,” he said. “I think the key point is to make sure we can try to cover everybody’s recreation needs.

“The beautiful land with rolling hills that we have... I can’t wait to see what the city of Alachua is going to do to do enhance it.” s

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COLUMN >> ALBERT ISAAC

Different Note I’m a technophile.

Always have been. enjoy tinkering with electronics, even though I haven’t the foggiest idea how things work.

When I was a youngster, my parents gave me a tape recorder for Christmas. I had wanted one for-seeminglyever, but 50 to 75 bucks was a boatload of money back in the ‘60s. (Still is).

So, imagine my excitement when I opened my Christmas present to find this brand new cassette recorder, with microphone and blank cassette (I still have that cassette somewhere; not only am I a technophile I may possibly be a hoarder).

I recorded family conversations and TV shows and songs from the radio. But the tape recorder was a lemon.

It wasn’t long before it broke. My parents replaced it.

Several times. Finally, I decided to fix it myself. Knowing nothing about electronics didn’t stop me from tearing into that bad boy. I found the problem and fixed it by jamming a pencil into the cassette carriage mechanism.

I then drilled a hole into the plastic casing to accommodate the pencil, and put it back together. Worked for years. (But no, I don’t still have that piece of junk).

My point is: I enjoy tinkering. Taking things apart.

Fixing things. These were in the analog days, the days when most things actually had moving parts; a time when gratification had to be delayed a few days. When I took pictures, I had to take the film to the lab and wait 2 or 3 days to get my prints. My super-8 silent movies cost about a dollar a minute and came in 3-minute cartridges.

They too had to be taken to the lab for development.

But one cool thing about analog is that in the end you had something organic you could hold in your hand, store in boxes. You had an envelope filled with photos, or a 50-foot reel of movie film that you could hold up to the light and see the thousands of tiny images. Plus, a spark of static electricity wouldn’t erase a piece of celluloid like it can with digital data.

I

94 | Winter 2011

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the digital age. I have fully embraced the remarkable technology that has emerged during the course of my life.

I am, after all, a child of the space age, born the year the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite.

I’m not that old but I’ve seen a lot of crazy changes. I grew up with AM radio, a monophonic record player and a black and white TV with three channels and rabbit ears.

There were no VCRs, microwave ovens or video games.

Our telephone was a black beast tethered to the wall by wire. For entertainment we’d watch some TV, but mostly we played outside, rode our bicycles and read books.

In those days, computers filled entire buildings and had less computing power than a modern cell phone.

Dad’s adding machine could perform huge computations, but was a mechanical clattering behemoth that took its time clanking out the results. In contrast, by the time I went to college my calculator was fast, silent, and solar powered.

I remember when we got our set of World Book Encyclopedias. They offered a fascinating world of discovery. There was even a section showing in great detail how NASA planned on putting a man on the moon.

In those days, computers filled entire buildings and had less computing power than a modern cell phone.

It made me want to be a scientist. (That didn’t happen, despite my creative use of a standard No.2 pencil).

And I wanted to be a doctor. And a musician. And a writer. (Two out of four ain’t bad).

I saw (and continue to see) that technology is developing faster than I can keep up with it.

I clearly remember the first time I heard stereo and the first time I saw a color TV (wow, that football field has some green grass!). And I remember watching Neil Armstrong take his first step on the Moon. Live.

And as far as the future was concerned, I’d been

hearing for most of my life how in the future people will have television-telephones.

Well, up until a few weeks ago, I was still using one of those dumb old cell phones. Finally (Christmas early!), I have upgraded to a Smart Phone. I’m only now beginning to see all that these remarkable devices can do. This is an invention clearly missed by the early prognosticators of the ‘60s and ‘70s — at least the ones whose predictions I’d read (those TV phones were tethered to a television screen).

This thing takes pictures, makes movies, plays music, and fits in my pocket; it’s a radio, a flashlight, a level; it surfs the web, it’s a GPS, sends text messages. Oh, and it even makes phone calls — with video.

When I was growing up, if we were lucky, we’d get a long-distance phone call from our grandmother in South Dakota during the holidays. But we had to make it quick because long-distance calls were expensive.

This Thanksgiving, we had a big, family celebration.

During our festivities we received video messages from our daughter and granddaughters who couldn’t be with us. With a swipe of my finger, their greeting was broadcast from my phone to the flat-screen TV, so our entire family could see them wishing us “Happy Thanksgiving!”

This brings my technophilia to a whole ‘nother level.

Because when technology is used for good, when it helps connect friends and families, it’s magical.

Not only that, I won’t ever have to stick a pencil in it. s

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Taste of the Town

SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL 352.372-5468 FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION.

Amy’s Country Buffet and Grill 8877 SW US Hwy 27 Fort White Mon & Tues. 6am - 2pm • Wed. - Sat. 6am - 9pm • Sun 7am - 3pm

396-497-4701 Amy’s Country Buffet & Grill is a traditional Southern style restaurant with the best recipes straight from her mother’s cookbook.

Formerly the Goosenest, Amy’s has been remodeled and open since July of this year. Amy’s is open seven days a week serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with food made from scratch daily. Amy’s offers a lunch and dinner buffet as well as menu items including Philly cheese steak, burgers, wings and an assortment of other sandwiches and dinner specials. Amy’s also features a seafood buffet on Friday nights and a Bar-b-que buffet on Saturday nights. Amy welcomes you to come out and enjoy their friendly service, family atmosphere and of course, the food!

Gator Q 222 NE First Avenue, High Springs, FL 32643 Monday — Saturday: 11:30am - 8:00pm

386-454-9823

www.GatorQ.com

BARBECUE — Gator Q is a neighborhood BBQ joint using local black jack oak soaked in apple cider for smoking pork, turkey, St. Louis ribs, split chickens, and chicken wings, with the occasional beef brisket thrown in for good measure.

Brette and Bob ‘Yogi’ Liebler serve made from scratch collards with attitude, bold BBQ beans, gourmet Mac-n-cheese, and a dill and ranch potato salad that will get in your craw and leave you craving more. They’re open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Check them out online at www.gatorq.com or follow them on Facebook. Ask your friends — the food really is that good!

Joe’s Place 5109 NW 39th Ave, Gainesville, Fl 32606 Monday to Saturday 11:00am - 2:00pm Sunday 1:00pm to 11:00pm

352-377-7665

www.panamajoesplace.com

BAR & GRILL — Founded in 2004 on the principles of quality food, exceptional value and family fun, Joe’s Place operates in Timberwood Village on the Northwest side of Gainesville. Joe’s draws people of all ages and lifestyles with its signature bar and grill menu items and family-friendly atmosphere. Since 2004, we have built a local following of salad bar lovers with our award-winning, homemade soups and salad bar. Meat eaters will enjoy our steaks and famous burgers, while vegetarians will love our locally produced tempeh options.

Kids eat free every Wednesday with any adult meal of $8.99 or more – featuring healthy options and entertainment by “The Magic Man”.

Kazbor’s Grille 14209 W. Newberry Rd., Newberry • 352.331.6161 16135 US HWY 441, Alachua • 386.418.8078 Open 7 Days a Week — 11am till late!

www.kazborsgrille.com EXCITING, FUN, FAMILY ORIENTED SPORTS GRILLE — Featuring a diverse and delicious menu. We still have the best wings in Gainesville with ten different flavors to choose from. Many other delicious items such as burgers, salads, pasta, nachos, fajitas, sandwiches and our NEW items such as hummus, gyros, Key West Krab cakes and the newset craze — pork wings. Wine selection, spirits, draft beer and daily drink specials. Home of all your Gator games. Multiple big screen TV’s, NFL Sunday Ticket. Come for food, stay for the fun!

Los Aviña 14841 Main Street Alachua, 32615 • 386-418-0341 16654 SW Archer, 32618 • 352-495-1314 Mon - Sat 11am to 10pm • Sun 12pm - 9pm

Open seven days a week For the past nine years Jorge Aviña has been serving delicious authentic mexican food. Originally located in Archer, Aviña opened a second location in High Springs, which is now relocated in Alachua.

Los Aviña is open seven days a week and features all you can eat tacos Monday through Saturday llam to 4pm for $6.95. They also have combination dinner specials starting at $7.55 and lunch specials starting at $4.55 Monday - Thursday from 11am to 2:30pm.

Aviña’s specialties include steaks, fajitas, chimichangas, burritos, taco salads and enchiladas. Los Aviña also serves beer and wine at the Archer location and a full bar at there new location in Alachua.

O Sole Mio Pizzeria 14230 W. Newberry Road, Newberry, FL 32669 Open Monday – Sunday: 10:00am - 10:00pm

352-332-0916

www.osolemiopizzeria.com

ITALIAN — There is no better Italian experience than O Sole Mio, Jonesville’s newest locally owned restaurant. No matter what you crave: pizza, pasta, salad, subs, or any variety of traditional Italian fare, we have an entrée to tempt your palate.

There are more than 50 menu options including gourmet pizzas, calzones, mouth-watering baked dishes, soups, and dessert. O Sole Mio uses only the finest fresh ingredients, including Grande Mozzarella cheese on all of their pizzas and pasta dishes – just one of the things that sets us apart from the rest.

So stop by and experience the tastes that will keep you coming back. Our weekly special is waiting for you!

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Taste of the Town

SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL 352.372-5468 FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION.

Flying Biscuit Café 4150 NW 16th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32605 Located in the Fresh Market Center Mon - Thurs: 7am - 3pm • Fri - Sun: 7am - 4pm

352-373-9500

www.flyingbiscuit.com

BREAKFAST — The Flying Biscuit is out to reinvent breakfast in Gainesville! Maybe you’ve tried their soon-to-be-famous creamy, dreamy grits or their “moon dusted” breakfast potatoes, but did you know you can have them at anytime? With a unique open menu, all the items that appear are available throughout the day. With a variety of healthy and hearty dishes, The Flying Biscuit caters to a variety of tastes. With options ranging from the Smoked Salmon Scramble, the Bacon Cheddar Chicken Sandwich or the Tofu and Tater Salad, there’s something for everyone.

Pepperoni’s 19975 NW 244 Street, High Springs (Video City Plaza) Mon-Thurs: 11am-9pm • Fri & Sat: 11am-10pm Sunday: 12pm-9pm

386-454-3858 PIZZERIA — Since its establishment in 2000, Pepperonis Pizzeria has been serving up some of the best pizzas, calzones, wings and salads in town using grande mozzarella and other top quality ingredients.

We have recently added new entrees, such as, lasagna, chicken parmesan and spaghetti and meatballs to our menu. We also have great lunch specials starting at just $5.99.

Pepperoni’s is locally owned and operated and is proud to serve the High Springs Community and surrounding areas. We are located in the Video City Plaza off U.S. Highway 441. When you buy a specialty pizza at Pepperonis it’s always fresh and loaded with great toppings.

Saboré 13005 SW 1st Road, Tioga, FL 32669 (Tioga Town Center) DINNER Tue-Thu, Sunday 5pm to 10pm, Fri & Sat: 5pm to 11pm LUNCH Tue – Fri: 11am - 3pm BRUNCH - Sat & Sun: 11am - 5pm

352-332-2727

www.saborerestaurant.com

FUSION — Saboré [sa-bohr-ay] is a world-fusion restaurant featuring a variety of European, South American, Mediterranean and Asianinspired tastes. Saboré’s namesake is from the word “sabor,” meaning “flavor.” Executive Chef and Co-Owner William “Willy” Hernandez’s menu features mouth-watering dishes that takes guests on a trip around the world, highlighting exotic flavors and ingredients from countries such as Argentina, Japan, Greece and Italy. Be sure to try their custom plates, desserts and signature cocktails you won’t find anywhere else in Gainesville. Chef Willy has been heralded for his innovative culinary skills at famed establishments such as Caramelo Restaurant, Giacosa, Casa Rolandi and Café Vialetto.

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CALENDAR If you would like to have an event considered for publication in this calendar, please submit information directly. post 4400 NW 36th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32606 | e-mail editor@towerpublications.com | fax 352-373-9178

A CHRISTMAS FROM HECK Through Dec. 18 Show Times Vary ACROSSTOWN REPERTORY THEATRE - Typical of every good middle class family in Austin, the Hecks gather for a Christmas with kept secrets, but we all know what happens after that set up falls apart. Can a typical dysfunctional Christmas force a typical Austin, Texas dysfunctional suburban family to find a safe harbor in each other? 352-371-1234.

A CHRISTMAS STORY Through Dec. 18 Show Times Vary GAINESVILLE COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE - Explore the humorous side to family life in 1930s small town America.

Young Ralphie Parker desperately dreams of only one thing for Christmas—a genuine Red Ryder BB gun!

Can Ralphie achieve his dream or will his mother’s protests of “You’ll shoot your eye out!” prevail? 352-376-4949.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE Through Dec. 18 Show Times Vary HIGH SPRINGS COMMUNITY THEATER - The Christmas classic adapted from the Frank Capra classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This year done in the style that has become a High Springs

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tradition, as a staged Radio Show. With all of your favorite characters on stage, this year promises to be must see. Don’t miss this heart-warming family entertainment.

386-454-3525.

THIS WONDERFUL LIFE Through Dec. 23 Show Times Vary HIPPODROME STATE THEATRE - Visit Bedford Falls for a humorous staging of Frank Capra’s Hollywood classic. This tour de force production for one actor (Christopher Swan) playing 32 characters, from George Bailey to Zuzu, delivers a witty and moving story that is sure to capture your heart and captivate your spirit.

352-375-4477.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS & CHRISTMAS PARADE Saturday Dec. 17 1:00pm NEWBERRY - Bring the family to celebrate the season. Festival vendors open at 1:00pm and parade begins at 5:00pm. Santa will be in the park from 6:00pm - 8:00pm.

DANCE ALIVE Dec. 16 - Dec. 18 PHILLIPS CENTER Dance Alive National Ballet presents The Nutcracker on Dec. 16 at 7:30pm, Dec. 17 at 2:00pm and Dec. 18 at

2:00pm; Sugar Plum Tea on Dec. 17 and 18 at 4:00pm; Chocolate and Champagne Gala on Dec. 17 at 8:00pm.

352-392-ARTS.

MESSIAH SING ALONG Saturday, Dec. 17 7:30pm

Lights are in the trees.

Caroling, carriage rides, music and Santa.

386-462-3333.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS & CHRISTMAS PARADE Saturday, Dec. 17 1:00pm

HOLY TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH - 100 NE 1st St. This Christmas tradition is not a concert but an invitation to everyone to join the members of the GCC in singing selections from the wonderful music of Handel’s Messiah.

Admission is free. A $5 donation is appreciated. 352-372-2691 janetcor@bellsouth.net.

NEWBERRY - Vendors and stores open late. Santa and Mrs. Claus in the Pocket park. Bring the family out to Newberry.

The festival vendors open at 1:00pm, the parade begins at 5:00pm, and Santa will be in the park from 6:00pm - 8:00pm. Bring the family and enjoy!

OPERATION SANTA DELIVERY

Saturday, Dec. 17 9:00am - NOON

Saturday, Dec. 17 10:00am - 1:00pm SANTA FE NORTH FIELDS - NW 39 Ave. and 91 St. Witness the event’s biggest spectacle, Santa’s grand arrival. He doesn’t enter through an ordinary chimney but aboard the ShandsCair helicopter.

Once the commotion of Santa’s entrance simmers down, meet the famed Saint and pose for a picture! The event also has fun booths, featuring unique’ activities. 352-224-1650.

SHOP, DINE AND STROLL Saturday, Dec. 17 6:00pm - 9:00pm DOWNTOWN ALACHUA The Christmas spirit and a very magical time come to Alachua.

ICHETUCKNEE TIME MACHINE ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS STATE PARK - Take a fascinating journey by van into the Ichetucknee forest, to the site of the 17th Century Mission de San Martìn de Timucua.

Learn about the ancient Timucuan capital of Aquacalyquen.

Space is limited, and reservations are recommended. Long pants, sturdy shoes and insect repellent are highly recommended.

386-497-4690.

PLAYFUL ESCAPES Dec. 27 - Dec. 30 FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - Finish your shopping and run errands while your children enjoy a day at the museum.

Children participate in hands-on activities

that keep their minds moving during school breaks. Register your child for the morning, afternoon or all day.

A half-day session is $27 for members, $30 for non-members. A full-day session is $45 for members, $50 for non-members. Preregistration is required.

352-273-2061.

DOWNTOWN COUNTDOWN Saturday, Dec. 31 9:00pm - 12:30am BO DIDLEY COMMUNITY PLAZA - New Year’s Eve celebration concert hosted by the City of Gainesville Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.

Headlining the concert is the Beatles tribute band, The Impostors, a six-piece group comprised of some of the area’s most popular musicians.

352-393-8746.

CAMELLIA SHOW Jan. 7th & 8th Sat: 1:00pm - 5:00pm Sun 9:00am - 5:00pm KANAPAHA BOTANICAL GARDENS - This two-day event features prize-winning camellias of all sizes, shapes, and colors.

There will be judged exhibits of japonicas, reticulatas, hybrids, and species. This show is geared toward educating the public about the care, culture and appreciation ofcamellias.

www.americancamellias.org

NONPROFIT EXPO 2012 Wednesday, Jan. 11 4:00pm SENIOR RECREATION CENTER - Join the Nonprofit Center for the Nonprofit Expo 2012. Let the community know

Florida Crane & Nature Festival Saturday, Jan. 14 All Day Event PAYNES PRAIRIE - Join the Florida Trail Association during MLK weekend to celebrate the wintering Sandhill Cranes, the endangered Whooping Cranes, wild horses, bison, and more than 270 species of birds in Alachua County. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and exclusive tours with experts included in the price. $60. www.floridacranefestival.com

about the services you provide, and how they can get involved and support your organization. Generate awareness, find volunteers, connect with potential donors, network. info@ncncf.com.

352-262-5701.

SIRENS Jan. 11 - Feb. 5 THE HIPPODROME THEATER - Sam and Rose have been married for 25 years, living off the royalties of a hit song that Sam wrote. After Rose discovers Sam’s all-female Facebook friend list, they decide to rekindle their passion with a romantic cruise to the mythical Greek Isles. All goes well until Sam leaps overboard after falling under the spell of a Siren’s song.

352-375-4477.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING SYMPOSIUM Thursday, Jan. 12 6:00pm - 8:00PM REITZ UNION BALLROOM FIGHT and Gators for Free the Slaves will

host a symposium to bring awareness of sex trafficking.

Speakers include representatives from the FBI, the National Resource Center for Youth Services, the Department of Justice and others. A question and answer session will follow the featured speakers. Free event but participants are encouraged to register online before Jan. 1.

www.FightSexTrafficking.org

RESTORE HEARTS Friday, Jan. 13 7:00pm - 10:00pm UF MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM - An evening of expression, depicting the tragedy of the sex industry through dance, poetry, music and art hosted by FIGHT and Gators for Free the Slaves. The objective is to provide the audience with a better understanding of the life of those sold into sex trafficking and the causes that cultivate this illegal market in the United States.

Seating is limited

www.VisitOurTowns.com

and participants are encouraged to register online before Jan. 1.

www.FightSexTrafficking.org

BEIJING GUITAR DUO Friday, Jan. 13 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER, - Spend an evening with the Beijing Guitar Duo, as Meng Su and Yameng Wang share their exceptional musicality.

Concert will include works by Bach/Busoni, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Sergio Assad and Radames Gnattali.

352-392-ARTS.

GALILEO OF GAINESVILLE Jan. 13 - Jan. 29 ACROSSTOWN REPERTORY THEATRE - A modernday drama centering around an astronomy professor, cosmology, spirituality and homelessness. This is an original script written by a Gainesville resident, and we are very excited to be able to bring it to our stage!

352-371-1234.

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RUN TOWARD JUSTICE

FLORIDA’S HIGHWAYMEN

Saturday, Jan. 14 7:00am - 10:00am

Saturday, Jan. 14 3:00pm - 6:00pm

UF’S SOUTHWEST RECREATIONAL CENTER Early registration is $20 per participant and can be done online. Online registration, payment and a signed waiver will provide each runner/ walker with a race t-shirt and a drawstring backpack. Early registration ends on Jan. 1. Late registration fee is $25 and does not include a race t-shirt (participants can also register the day of the event but must arrive no later than 7:30 AM).

Race begins at 8:00am.

Arrive one hour prior to the start of the race to receive running packet.

Route encircles Lake Alice and returns to the starting line.

MATHESON MUSEUM - Gary Monroe presents a photographic exhibit of the prison murals of Highwaymen, Al Black.

Mr. Black was the only Highwayman that was incarcerated. He served his term at the Central Florida Reception Center. Panelist will talk about the need for prison reform as it reflects a major concern in the African-American community. 352-378-2280.

www.FightSexTrafficking.org

TOUR DE FELASCO Saturday, Jan. 14 6:00am SAN FELASCO HAMMOCK - The 10th annual Tour de Felasco, a 50-mile off-road bicycle tour (with a metric-century option).

Pre-ride snacks, SAG stops, goodie bags, t-shirts and a hot lunch are provided.

Proceeds benefit the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park.

386-462-7905.

FREE TO DANCE Sunday, Jan. 15 6:00pm - 10:00pm CREEKSIDE COMMUNITY CHURCH - 2640 NW 39th Ave (tentative). Swing dance social hosted

by FIGHT and Gators for Free the Slaves. An hour of swing-dancing lessons, followed by an evening full of dancing, music, and lots of good fun. Informational booth will educate the participants about human trafficking and the ways they can get involved to help eradicate it. Tickets $10 at the door. Festive attire encouraged.

www.FightSexTrafficking.org

MUSIC FROM THE NEW WORLD Friday, Jan. 20 7:30pm UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM - The Gainesville Chamber Orchestra.

352-392-2346.

THE RITZ CHAMBER PLAYERS Sunday, Jan. 15 2:00pm UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM Founded in 2002 by clarinetist and Artistic Director Terrance Patterson, the Ritz Chamber Players are devoted to combining exceptional artistry on stage with engaging educational programs in schools and throughout the community.

Boasting some of the world’s premier talents, the Ritz Chamber Players bring a fresh

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KARLA BONOFF

The Manhattan Transfer PHILLIPS CENTER - Grammy awardwinning vocalists Manhattan Transfer are known for their genre-defying sound. More than 40 years after they began singing in New York clubs, the Manhattan Transfer continues to defy musical pigeonholing, remaining a staple of both jazz and mainstream audiences. 352-392-ARTS

Thursday, Jan. 19 7:30pm

Friday, Jan. 27 7:30pm UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM - Singer/songwriter Karla Bonoff has been praised throughout her four-decade career for her writing, albums and performances.

Among the most wellknown songs she has written is All My Life, which People magazine ranked as one of the top five most popular wedding songs.

352-392-2346.

INTIMATE APPAREL Jan. 27 - Feb. 12

perspective to the classical music genre.

352-392-2346.

WOMEN FULLY CLOTHED Jan. 21 - Jan. 22 PHILLIPS CENTER - These four “fully clothed” gals — Robin Duke, Jayne Eastwood, Kathryn Greenwood and Teresa Pavlinck — are bringing their humor to

Gainesville. Based on their lives as moms, sisters, daughters and comediennes, this sketch comedy show will give your funny bone a workout.

352-392-ARTS.

CAREER SHOWCASE Jan. 24 - Jan. 26 STEPHEN C. O’CONNELL CENTER - Two-day fair

SUMTER SWAP MEETS

hosted each fall and spring. Representatives from technical and non-technical industries seek talented candidates of all majors and classifications for internships, cooperative education or full-time positions. NonTechnical Day, Jan. 24; Technical Day, Jan. 25; Interview Day, Jan. 26.

352-392-5500.

GAINESVILLE COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE - Immerse yourselves in the bustling world of turnof-the-century city life with Esther, an unmarried African-American lingerie seamstress.

While working, she hears the secrets of high society from the socialites and gets the lowdown on life from a piano-playing prostitute. Using threads of gender, racial, class and religious issues, this award-winning play results in a rich drama.

352-376-4949.

ROBERTO ZUCCO Jan. 27 - Feb. 12 NADINE MCGUIRE BLACK BOX THEATER - This psychological thriller based on a true story

McGriff Fencing • 352-278-8932

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music learned in their Saturday workshop.

352-378-1527.

FOREIGNER ACOUSTIQUE Thursday, Feb. 2 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - The classics unplugged.

Responsible for numerous chart-topping hits including, “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and “Double Vision,” Foreigner unplugs for an acoustic version of some of its greatest hits and more.

352-392-ARTS.

FLORIDA’S HIGHWAYMEN, PART II

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire January 28-29 & February 3-5

Thursday, Feb. 2 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Times Vary ary

ALACHUA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS - Join the crowd and cheer for your favorite contender as mounted knights joust in full-plate armor on the tournament field. Applaud plaud street performers who dance, juggle and jest for yourr amusement.

Listen to minstrels playing period music and enjoy njoy continuous live entertainment. Browse through the bustling g medieval marketplace for that perfect gift or trinket. 352-334-ARTS. 2-334-ARTS. www.gvlculturalaffairs.org.

revolves around a serial killer who is guilty of murdering his parents.

After escaping jail, the anti-hero encounters a variety of characters who help to shape his criminal adventures, all the while changing his identity several times in an unexpected journey.

352-392-1653.

A MIDWINTER NIGHT’S DREAM Saturday, Jan. 28 6:00pm - 11:00pm PHILLIPS CENTER - Join the UFPA Annual Gala for an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, gourmet-buffet dinner,

beverage ice luges, a unique silent auction, dancing and more. This year’s fundraising event will bring a silvery winter wonderland to life.

352-273-2480.

proceeds benefit the students of St. Francis Catholic High School.

Tickets: adults, $15; students or seniors (65+), $10; children (4-10), $7.50; family pass, $45.

www.souperfunsunday.com.

SOUPER FUN SUNDAY Sunday, Jan. 29 1:00pm - 3:30pm ST. FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL - Gymnasium.

Gainesville’s premier soup-tasting competition showcasing the area’s best soups. This year’s event features over 30 restaurants, so come out and vote for your favorite soup! All

352-248-0356.

CHILDREN’S CHORAL FESTIVAL Sunday, Jan. 29 4:00pm FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GAINESVILLE Guest conductor Averill Summer directs the area’s younger singers, as they present

www.VisitOurTowns.com

MATHESON MUSEUM - Save the date for an evening with the legendary Highwaywoman, Mary Ann Carroll (the ONLY female Highwaywoman). Elder Mary Ann Carroll will give a gallery talk and demonstration of her style of painting followed by a reception and panel discussion featuring Mary Ann Carroll along with local artists. Over twenty of Mary Ann Carroll’s paintings will be on exhibit through Feb. 28, 2012. All will be available for purchase.

352-378-2280.

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR Friday, Feb. 3 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - The joy of faith through music defines the Soweto Gospel Choir, whose soulful performances are characterized by exuberant song, lively dancing and vibrant costuming. Blending tribal, traditional and popular African and Western gospel music.

352-392-ARTS.

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PLOW DAYS Feb. 3 - Feb. 4 10:00am - 2:00pm DUDLEY FARM HISTORIC STATE PARK - View farming as it was a century ago, as draft horses and mule teams plow the Dudley Farm crop fields. A fun and educational experience for the entire family with â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;old timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; music, demonstrations and more. $5.00 per vehicle, up to 8 occupants. 352-472-1142.

www.friendsofdudleyfarm.org

LOVE LETTERS Feb. 3 - Feb. 19 ACROSSTOWN REPERTORY THEATRE - The play centers on just two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepease Ladd III. Using the epistolary form sometimes found in novels, they sit side by side at tables and

read the notes, letters and cards â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of nearly 50 years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from their meeting in the second grade until one of them dies. 352-371-1234.

CRUISINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; THE FOSSIL FREEWAY

bring to life real fossils.

352-846-2000.

JOSHUA BELL AND SAM HARDWOOD Saturday, Feb. 4 7:30pm

Beginning Saturday, Feb. 4 10:00am - 5:00pm FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Presented by the Toomey Foundation for the Natural Sciences. This exhibit combines some of the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paleontology specimens and the fossil-inspired artwork of celebrated artist Ray Troll to explore questions about evolution, extinction and early life on Earth. Trollâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s whimsical illustrations of imagined scenes from prehistoric times help

PHILLIPS CENTER - This engagement, which includes works by Brahms, Schubert and Grieg, is part of Bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (violin) 21-city tour with Haywood, a British pianist, whose career is rapidly on the rise.

352-392-ARTS.

AHN TRIO WITH THE NAI-NI CHEN DANCE COMPANY Thursday, Feb. 9 7:30pm PHILIPS CENTER - Known for dissolving the barriers between art forms, the Ahn Trioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

three sisters are leading proponents of contemporary classical music.

Meanwhile, the dances of Nai-Ni Chen fuse the freedom of American modern dance with the grace of Asian art.

352-392-ARTS.

BLUES BROTHERS REVUE Friday, Feb. 10 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - The Blues Brothers are what can only be described as a musical, comedic and cinematic legend. The official Blues Brothers Revue and their ten-piece intercontinental rhythm and blues revue band, pay homage to the humor, music and mayhem of the Blues Brothers, as well as the rich history of blues, gospel and soul music.

352-392-ARTS.

Your oral health is connected to many other health conditions beyond your mouth. Sometimes the first sign of a disease can show up in your mouth. In other cases, infections in your mouth, such as gum disease, can cause problems in other areas of your body.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Keep your body healthy, have your head examined.â&#x20AC;?

The Altschuler Periodontic and Implant Center is Gainesvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family-based, high-technology practice dedicated to providing the highest quality periodontal care. We maintain the most advanced procedures, technology and equipment available to ensure that every patient achieves a healthy and beautiful smile.

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THE ODD COUPLE Feb. 10 - March 4 HIGH SPRINGS COMMUNITY THEATER - An enormously successful comedy, “The Odd Couple” concerns two mismatched roommates, Felix Ungar, an uptight writer, pitted against Oscar Madison, an easygoing, slovenly sportswriter. Running for 966 performances, the show won several Tony awards.

386-454-3525.

DALA Saturday, Feb. 11 2:00pm and 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER Squitieri Studio Theatre.

Amanda Walther and Shelia Carabine are an acoustic pop duo from Canada who will remind you of singer/songwriters of an earlier era. From “Horses” to “Girls from the North Country” and “Everyone is Someone,” their songs will continue to haunt you long after the concert is over. 352-392-ARTS.

WROCLAW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Sunday, Feb. 12 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER Founded in 1954, the Wroclaw Philharmonic has evolved into an exceptional provincial orchestra with a varied repertoire and more than 100 programs presented annually. These players are not only professional musicians but also passionate aficionados of music.

352-392-ARTS.

JOHN LOWE ORGAN CONCERT Sunday, Feb. 12 3:00pm HOLY TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH - 100 NE 1st St. Hear Holy Trinity Church’s own John T. Lowe, Jr. in concert at the Visser-Rowland organ. Music of J.S. Bach, Herbert Howells, Jehan Alain, Seth Bingham and more.

352-372-4721.

We specialize in the

Rare & Unusual

PALATKA BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL Feb. 16 - Feb. 18 RODEHEAVER BOYS’ RANCH - Three-day event featuring top names in bluegrass entertainment. 386-325-5646 (venue).

CARMINA BURANA Feb. 17 - Feb. 18 7:30PM - 9:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER Dance Alive National Ballet joins the UF Symphony Orchestra and Chorus along with the Gainesville Civic Chorus and guest artists from the world of opera in the brilliant production of Carmina Burana. A dynamic, breathtaking and utterly moving journey from Adam and Eve to Armageddon.

www.dancealive.org.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY Friday, Feb. 17 7:30pm UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM Noel Paul Stookey has been altering both the musical and ethical landscape of this country and the world for decades — both as the

Fine Jewelry • Rare Coins Bullion • Paper Money Appraisals

Coin & Jewelry Gallery In the Newly Renovated Millhopper Shopping Center

2007 NW 43rd Street, Gainesville

352.378.3983 www.CoinAndJewelryGallery.com

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“Paul” of the legendary Peter, Paul and Mary and as an independent musician who brings the spiritual into the practice of daily life.

Stookey’s vocal sound is known all across this land. 352-392-2346.

DANCE 2012 Feb. 17 - 26 CONSTANS THEATRE - This performance event incorporates a variety of classical and contemporary dance works choreographed by renowned professional artists and UF faculty.

The performance has a mixture of dances differing in tone, including serious, emotionally moving, thought provoking, celebratory and comedic. Feb. 17-18 and Feb. 21-24 at 7:30pm; Feb. 19 and 26 at 2:00pm. 352-392-1653.

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386-454-1369 www.bluespringspark.com 108 | Winter 2011

• Playground • Picnic tables & grills • Campsites w/ electric and water • Primitive wooded campsites • Dump station

STEPHEN C. O’CONNELL CENTER - The 23rd Annual Step Show presented by BSU. Event is general admission.

MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT Monday, Feb. 20 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - Monty Python’s Spamalot is the outrageous new musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic, Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Spamalot tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen and show-stopping musical numbers.

352-392-ARTS.

CHAMBER ENSEMBLE OF THE SHANGHAI CHINESE ORCHESTRA Tuesday, Feb. 21 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - The Shanghai Chinese Orchestra was the first large-scale modern orchestra of traditional instruments in China.

The Shanghai Chinese Orchestra will be represented by a 20-piece chamber ensemble, which will present a concert featuring music from their Elegant Music Series, including Relic, Drum Fantasia, Moon’s Reflection on Er-Quan and more.

352-392-ARTS.

OVER THE TAVERN Feb. 22 - March 18 HIPPODROME STATE THEATER - Faith, family and Ed Sullivan fight for space in the Pazinski’s cramped upstate New York apartment. The youngest of the bunch, 12-year-old Rudy, is a smart, precocious kid who’s starting to question his family’s values and the Roman Catholic Church. When he announces that he’d rather shop around for a more “fun” religion, all hell breaks loose.

352-375-4477.

ARLO GUTHRIE Wednesday, Feb. 23 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - In addition to being a masterful musician in piano, guitar, harmonica and a dozen other instruments, Arlo Guthrie is a naturalborn storyteller, whose offbeat anecdotes and personal tales weave seamlessly into his performances. Arlo Guthrie

artfully crafts political commentary and spiriitual musings into lively, y, thoughtful folk music.

352-392-ARTS.

Imagination Movers

WINTER FINE ART FAIR

Friday, March 2

Feb. 24 - Feb. 26 10:00am TIOGA TOWN CENTER Presented by the Gainesville Fine Arts Association. Enjoy artists, wine tasting, fireworks, jazz and children’s activities.

4:00pm and 7:00pm PHILLIPS CENTER - The New Orleans-based band will play its most popular children’s songs, capturing the magic of its television series.

352-392-ARTS.

THE DOORMAN Feb. 24 - Feb. 26 ACROSSTOWN REPERTORY Y THEATRE - A provocative look into race and socioeconomic relations in New York City during the dawning of the national civil rights movement. A one-act play set in Midtown New York City about the interactions in the day of the life of a New York City doorman, circa early 1960s.

352-371-1234.

RONALD K. BROWN AND EVIDENCE, A DANCE COMPANY Friday, Feb. 25 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER Through the blending of African, modern

ballet and social-dance movements, Artistic Director Ronald K. Brown choreographs a masterpiece dance vision of African culture. Evidence, a Brooklyn-based dance company, focuses on the human experience in the African Diaspora, connecting history and traditions into a storybook of music, movement and spoken word. 352-392-ARTS.

ARIEL STRING QUARTET Saturday, Feb. 26 2:00pm UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM Formed in Israel, the Ariel String Quartet moved to the United States in 2004 to

A Full Service Agency, Specializing in Cruises, Tours, and All Inclusives.

continue their professional studies. Among their many achievements, the quartet was awarded third prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and first prize at the International Franz Schubert and The Music of Modernity competition in Graz, Austria. 352-392-2346.

PINK FLOYD EXPERIENCE Tuesday, Feb. 29 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - The English rock legends of Pink Floyd achieved worldwide success with introspective lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art and elaborate live

shows. The Pink Floyd Experience (PFX) will present the band’s 1977 legendary concept album, Animals, live and in its entirety.

352-392-ARTS.

RACE THE TORTOISE 5K Saturday, March 3 7:30am O’LENO STATE PARK - This is a certified out and back race for runners and walkers along the park’s scenic, paved main road. It starts and finishes near the main parking area that is about 1.5 miles past the Ranger Station at the park’s entrance. This race is limited to the first 300 registrants.

Race starts by 8:00am; Arrival by 7:30am.

Now is the time to book for Spring!

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LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

NHRA Gatornationals March 8 March 11

Monday, March 12 7:30pm

Times Vary GAINESVILLE RACEWAY - General admission available for all days, and pit access is included with every ticket.

Thursday, opening at 8:00am; Friday and Saturday, opening at 7:00am; Sunday, opening at 7:30am.

HATS, HEARTS AND HANDBAGS

TOUR OF KITCHENS

Friday, March 9 11:00am - 2:00pm

Saturday, March 10 10:00am - 4:00pm

HILTON UF CONFERENCE

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF GAINESVILLE - The Junior League of Gainesville is proud to announce the return of its signature event, the Tour of Kitchens. Back by popular demand, the Tour of Kitchens is a self-guided tour of Gainesville’s finest and coolest residential kitchens and outdoor spaces. Each home will feature a local restaurant and a sampling of their signature offerings. 352-256-4951.

CENTER - An annual event held by Girls Place, Hats, Hearts, and Handbags celebrates the girl within every woman. Immerse yourself fully in the experience and reserve an entire table that you can decorate and compete for prizes! This event helps make it possible for Girls Place to provide girls a safe, nurturing environment.

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NORDWESTDEUTSCHE PHILHARMONIE Sunday, March 11 7:30pm PHILLIPS CENTER - Formed 60 years ago, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie is based in the German city of Herford and is one of three orchestras in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The orchestra plays more than 120 concerts each year, both at home and abroad, and has accompanied such renowned vocalists as Placido Domingo and Renée Fleming.

352-392-ARTS.

PHILLIPS CENTER - The renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra features 15 of the finest jazz musicians in the world.

Led by Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, the group has been the resident jazz orchestra at Lincoln Center since 1988. Its vast repertoire consists of rare historic compositions as well as commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Chick Corea, Theolonius Monk, Benny Goodman and more. 352-392-ARTS.

ECHOING AIR CONCERT Thursday, March 15 7:30pm HOLY TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH - 100 NE 1st St. The Echoing Air Ensemble from Indianapolis, IN, presents a concert of music of the English Baroque.

The world-renowned ensemble will be joined by members of the Holy Trinity Choir for the performance. 352-372-4721.

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How often does a veteran, one to whom this country owes so much, see that headline?!

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f you or someone you know is a veteran and in need of up to $2,000 a month in living assistance, then there are two men and one amazing facility you should get to know in our Northeast Florida community.

The men, two committed volunteers, are Tom Hanson, a former Navy man, and Gary Marriage.

The facility is The Atrium of Gainesville, with Prem Paul Murrhee as the Director of Sales & Marketing. Together

they are making it possible for veterans in our area to live their retirement years in a care-free, all-inclusive environment such as the beautiful Atrium where daily living is taken care of under the conscientious care of dedicated staff.

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The Aid & Attendance benefit was part of a veteran benefit enhancement in 2001, but it wasn’t until Prem Paul Mur-

rhee’s dad, retired from the Veterans Administration, introduced him to the benefit. Often times deserving veterans were turned away, but with help, they were able to navigate the political waters and receive the benefit they are not only legally entitled to, but also earned!

For the past 3 years Prem Paul Murrhee was a one-man show and the application process could be quite cumbersome; however, when Gary and Tom came aboard, as volunteers,

the entire process became much more streamlined. They now conduct a monthly benefit talk at the Atrium on the fourth Thursday of each month at 12 noon. (Except for November and December, when it is the third Thursday.)

Why Are These Men Dedicated To Helping Veterans?

Tom has been a dedicated volunteer helping deserving seniors for years. As a former Navy man, he takes great pleasure in conducting the monthly benefit talk at the Atrium and helping with the actual application process.

Gary, while trying to help his grandfather secure financial assistance for his years of military service, discovered the remarkable “Aid and Attendance Benefit” after plodding through a VA handbook. He’d been assured by a VA employee that no further assistance existed, but Gary felt certain there had to be.

Gary was right. With the “Aid and Attendance Benefit” he was able to move his grandfather out of the very expensive nursing home that was draining every nickel of his grandfather’s savings and benefits. And, he was able to make sure that his grandmother would not be left penniless and unprovided for if left on her own.

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sisted living dollars. They also know how frustrating the entire process can be. As General Patton said, “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Only 10% Of The Eligible Veterans Are Receiving This Benefit!

Henry Hugh Shelton, General, United States Army [Ret.], the 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, having served under Presidents Bush and Clinton has partnered with Holiday Retirement and the Atrium on behalf of qualifying veterans to help get the word out. He urges veterans, and their surviving spouses, to seek out benefits that they are legally entitled to .

There are an estimated 2 million eligible veterans and surviving spouses nationwide and only about 200,000 are currently receiving benefits.

Locally, Gary, Tom and the Atrium are taking General Shelton’s lead and reaching out to the area veterans.

Tell Me About The Atrium, A Holiday Retirement Facility Holiday Retirement is the oldest and largest retirement company in the United States with 313 locations, more than 35,000 residents, and growing every day. The Atrium has more than 200 apartments ranging from 400 to 1600 square feet, all fully equipped including dishwasher, stove, oven, fridge and freezer.

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delicious chef-prepared meals served daily; weekly housekeeping; utilities; transportation,; 24/7 emergency service; and, free room and board at other Holiday Retirement Communities across the United States and Canada.

Also available are rehabilitation and health care services as needed, the Atrium beauty salon, and Wise’s Drugstore.

The Atrium offers this innovative and extensive Senior care on a month-to-month basis with no buy-in fees.

General Hugh Shelton said it best; when you choose Holiday “you’ll be living the retirement you’ve earned as a defender of freedom”

Get In Touch With Prem Paul Murrhee At The Atrium The Atrium is located at 2431 NW 41st Street across from Thornebrooke Shopping Village. Veterans and their surviving spouses who are curious about their eligibility can attend monthly benefit talks at the Atrium on the fourth Thursday of every month at 12 Noon. (Except for November and December, when it is the third Thursday) by contacting Prem Paul Murrhee at 352-378-0773.

Gary Marriage, Tom Hanson and Prem Paul Murrhee are three community-minded people serving the Gainesville area and beyond….because our veterans deserve the best this country has to offer.

Serving seniors since 1971

© 2011 Holiday Retirement Corp.

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>> QUALITY OF LIFE

Happiness First An Oasis for Children

BY ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ pon walking through the door into the Autism Oasis for Kids building on Main Street in downtown High Springs, one is greeted with boisterous laughing, singing, jumping and playing from the young children inside. An overwhelming sense of happiness fills the room. Incredibly, these children with autism are not only having fun, but they are improving their communication and social skills as well.

Incorporated in March 2010, Autism Oasis for Kids has nearly reached its full capacity for student enrollment, and the program is already looking ahead toward

U

potential future expansion.

Autism is a neurological disorder, which generally presents within the first two years of a child’s life. The disorder affects brain function, impacting a child’s development in areas specific to communication as well as socialization. Children with autism tend to have a more difficult time expressing non-verbal as well as verbal communication skills and can also have trouble interacting socially. New statistics from the U.S. Department of Education show that cases of autism are growing rapidly at the rate of 10-17 percent each year and autism is four times more likely to occur in boys than in girls.

Marie Trempe, executive director

and founder of the Autism Oasis for Kids — and mother of an autistic child — said the philosophy at the non-profit organization is based on each child’s happiness coming first. Taking into account a positive quality of life, “every child deserves respect,” Trempe said. Whether it is teaching in a classroom setting, family counseling and resource assistance, or utilizing animal and equestrian therapy, the staff at Autism Oasis strives to determine why children react in certain ways to certain circumstances. For example, if a child is screaming or crying, he or she might simply be trying to express a bodily need — such as being thirsty and needing a drink, or having a sore throat

PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

Marie Trempe and Jack jumping at the Autism Oasis for Kids in High Springs. Jack is pre-verbal and spends most of his time in his own world. Jumping is part of the sensory integration used at Oasis, which helps regulate the sensory system.

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PHOTOS BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

TOP: Marie Trempe and Brennon (pre-verbal) do a spelling lesson using an iPad2. Brennon also uses the device to communicate with the staff.

LEFT: Marie Trempe showing the visual schedule used by the pre-verbal students.

OPPOSITE: Brennon (front) and Alec (back) climbing on the dome. This exercise encourages peer interaction and helps regulate their sensory system.

— that they do not know how to communicate any other way.

“In these cases, we remain calm and simply let the child know that ‘I don’t understand, help me understand what you need right now,’ which helps teach the child how to express what they need,” Trempe said.

Children with autism have brain activity that is very localized, rather than global. As a result, these children need activity in order to help them stimulate more neurons in their brain. However, at times children with autism can also become over stimulated by the world

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PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

Teacher Karen Lovely and Corbin during art class. Art projects help students with their fi ne motor skills, self-expression and creativity.

around them. In fact, even having the blinds open in the Autism Oasis building can create a significant distraction for the children, so the blinds in the building are closed for more focused teaching and training with the students.

Though distractions for the children are kept out as much as possible, there are occasions when

students can still feel overwhelmed by the world around them. In order to remedy feelings of distress, the staff at Autism Oasis utilizes deep pressure (using cushions and large therapy balls to apply pressure) to release dopamine into a student’s system to help them relax.

Additionally, at Autism Oasis there is a “chill-out” corner for

students to use when they feel overstimulated, a playroom for social therapy and learning functional play, and low-stimulation classrooms to filter out sensory input, which helps them to better focus on learning. There is also a large sensory room to help regulate their sensory systems.

“Children with autism often ‘live in the brainstem’ (fight or flight),” Trempe said. “Offering sensory integration treats on the brainstem level, allowing [the children] to be regulated enough to be able to use their higher cortex for learning.”

Other physical techniques the staff uses include stretching muscles to release serotonin, which wakes the child up if they have, for

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example, become too relaxed by the deep pressure treatment. A lot of the sensory integration used at the Oasis is meant to help children learn how to be better aware of their surroundings.

One point the staff at Autism Oasis makes perfectly clear is the importance of not judging the behavior of children with autism and letting each child know that the staff and caretakers are there to help them and be there for them.

Repetition is important in the educational process, as activities that are repeated over and over again give the children predictability in their routine. This is why animal and equestrian therapy is also so soothing for many children with autism. The repetitive motion allows the child to become more focused and stimulated.

The staff consists of three certified teachers (one with a master’s degree in special-education), and Director Marie Trempe, who is a social therapy teacher trained in

several evidenced-based autism treatment methods. The school also has a licensed speech therapist and occupational therapists that work one-on-one with each student daily and work closely with the parents and staff for continuous services, Trempe said.

During a typical day at Autism Oasis, the staff is constantly circulating, interacting with the children and asking what each might need at a given point in time.

When the staff can tell that the child is ready to learn, that is what Trempe calls a “teachable moment;” the time to work with each child’s motivation in order to help them improve their communication and socialization skills. Because children with autism have trouble interacting with others, it is important to create a place where it is as easy as possible for the children to communicate, as well as to learn how to communicate more effectively.

The school at Autism Oasis uses a social-development model to

teach children the skills needed to succeed in society as adults. Very few other autistic learning centers across the country take the socialdevelopmental approach with their students, Trempe said.

“We use a method called the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. [Strategic Use of Critical Curriculum Elicits Supported Sense-Making] approach,” Trempe said. “After attending numerous autism conferences, I found that many specialists agreed that autism’s challenges are multifaceted, which in turn requires a multi-modeled treatment approach in order to address each specific area of developmental delay. The S.U.C.C.E.S.S. approach does that. We are the only school in Florida to use such an approach and the second in the U.S.” Trempe said “Critical Curriculum” refers to the child’s individualized, trans-disciplinary program, which consists of any and all methods the child needs to reach his/her fullest potential, and only those methods.

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PHOTO BY TJ MORRISSEY for LOTUS STUDIOS

TOP: Teacher Rob Cecil and student Narottam (who has Asperger’s syndrome) use a computer to do a science lesson. Narottam works at grade level academically but is given special accommodation.

LEFT: Marie Trempe plays a high motivation game with Jack to help him bond with her and to increase his interactive attention span.

Last year, a young boy enrolled who did not speak more than a few words. However, after just three weeks he was already learning how to incorporate several different words throughout the day, including “open” and “push” to describe important everyday actions.

“We go at their rhythm, so when the children have moments of being present and wanting to learn, we take advantage of that and work with them,” Trempe said. “And when they ‘go away,’ we don’t try to bring them back, we just wait for the next opportunity in the day for them to come back, be in the moment and interested in learning again.”

Rob Cecil is the curriculum coordinator and father to an autistic child. As the co-founder of Autism

122 | Winter 2011

Oasis for Kids, he sees himself as a servant to the children he teaches every day.

“Our staff respects the children we serve as well as the parents, and we all work as a team,” Cecil said.

“It’s important to us that people see our efforts as a community project.”

The school at Autism Oasis can accommodate up to 12 children at a time in their classrooms. Currently, the school has two age groups represented: the younger age group consists of nonverbal children while the older age group consists of students who have Aspergers Syndrome and are high-functioning. The children represented in the school travel to High Springs from six counties.

Many of the students who attend

Autism Oasis have an average to above-average IQ but simply need additional social skills, assistance and training. With help learning how to more effectively communicate and interact in the world around them, the Autism Oasis for Kids organization is giving many children the skills needed to help them grow up to become productive, capable members of society. s

As this non-profit program grows in High Springs, the organization continues to actively recruit volunteers. For more information about Autism Oasis for Kids or to contact the organization about volunteering, visit their website at www.autismoasisforkids.org or call 1-888-535-6191.

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COLUMN >> BY KENDRA SILER-MARSIGLIO

Healthy Edge Raising “Can-do” Kids or many of us, having success and making the “right” choices come easier when we’re confident in ourselves. Giving kids the gift of confidence will help them for a lifetime. Here are 10 tips to improve our children’s self-confidence (and success) in the years to come.

As adults, we sometimes forget the challenges of being a kid. Sometimes kids’ situations are more difficult than those we encountered in our youth. How children handle challenges reflects how they value themselves.

Of course, the most common way to bolster kids’ confidence is to praise accomplishments — it’s a great start. Yet, with a little elbow grease and the following tips, we can give our kids a healthy edge:

F

1. Praise persistence and get excited about effort.

It’s natural for kids to want to quit when they’re frustrated. However, reaching the next level in most endeavors requires practice (mistakes and all). When your child’s ready to try again after a failure, you may want to “hoot and holler” even louder than when your child finally succeeds. Natural ability is good, but not without a strong work ethic and practice.

2. Find ways to help them experience independence.

Consider letting kids experience what it’s like to be an adult through chores. Check out some ageappropriate chores for 2-18 year olds: housekeeping. about.com/od/chorechart1/a/ageapprchores.htm.

3. Play the “Yeah, but...” game. My four-year-old son and I made up this game. I noticed that we say “yeah, but...” too much when responding to others comments. Oftentimes, the “but” was about why we weren’t confident that something would work out.

To play the game, you identify “yeah, buts” during conversations. It can be fun. Now that I’m aware, I’ve cut way down on saying “yeah, but.”

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4. Encourage curiosity. So, your child wants to try cereal with catsup. Okay, maybe it’s good. How else do people invent things?

5. Set aside time for practice. You don’t want your kids to feel pressed for time when you’re teaching them confidence-building lessons; that can ratchet up negative emotions and inhibit kids’ retention. Block out time to make the event less stressful and rushed.

6. Don’t be a hoverer. Nemours’ KidsHealth gives this example: if your child wants to learn how to make a PB-n-J, then set up the ingredients so that he or she can try. Yes, it will be messy, but don’t swoop in with paper towels or step in to finish the sandwich.

Also, if it’s a failed attempt, pump up your child to try again.

7. Place full attention on your child when your child’s interacting with you. This is actually a modified tip from Hilton Hotels. The Hilton’s staff is trained to treat the customer in front of them as if that customer is the hotel’s most important VIP until the customer’s needs are satisfied. How do you feel when you’re treated this way? How do you feel about someone who treats you with this level of care and respect? Wouldn’t our kids develop a strong sense of self-worth if we followed the Hilton’s philosophy?

8. Lead by example. Are you confident in yourself?

What did your parents do right to instill confidence in you? What areas needed improvement? As the adage goes: “pass on the best, and discard the rest.”

9. Have your child do mirror work. To me, it’s pretty hard to look in a mirror, and out loud, tell yourself nice things. Ever tried it? Yet, doing so is an effective

self-confidence builder. To teach your child about mirror work, check out Louise L. Hay’s 2006 children’s book called “The Adventures of Lulu.”

10. Show faith in your child’s abilities. Want a sandwich? Ask your child to make you the PB-n-J that he learned how to make last week.

Follow these tips, and make up your own. Who knows, as grown-ups, our kids one day may thank us for helping them become confident, competent adults. s Kendra Siler-Marsiglio, Ph.D. is the Director of Rural Health Partnership at WellFlorida Council.

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>> GENTLE GIANTS

Manatee Meeting Swimming with Sea Cows

BY JENNIFER RIEK hey trickled in with the winter winds, the bay growing dark with their bodies.

They swam over litter and slid under boats, like ghosts gliding into the shadows. Out of the Gulf Coast and into the springs, hundreds of manatees migrated inland to their annual haven. From the docks of Manatee Tour and Dive, Charlie Slider watched the sea cows return.

For 20 years, Slider has seen the Crystal River swell with manatees, as each cold season drives in more.

They come seeking the heat of the springs and abundance of food, as well as the protection that people like Slider continue to offer. In their unspoken language, it is as if the

T

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gentle nomads have decided that Crystal River is their ideal destination. In 2009 alone, more than 400 manatees floated upstream to stay for the winter. In October of this year, Slider has already counted over 150.

The migration occurs when temperatures in the Gulf Coast drop. A manatee’s skin, though blubbery and thick, is much like a human’s. Manatees are susceptible to hypothermia and do not like to swim in waters that are less than 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Manatees know when the cold weather is coming,” Slider said. “The adults sleep so as to not expend energy. The young are still nursing and don’t know yet they’re supposed to be reserving strength, so

they’re still playing.”

When the older manatees feel it is time, they lead the little ones inland, past Slider’s shop and into the springs where they themselves were brought as babies.

“The mother teaches the baby everything. If the mom feels like this is a safe place, the place to be, that’s what the babies think, and then they bring their children back,” Slider said. And like manatees, Manatee Tour and Dive is doing its part to educate the next generation.

Before every snorkeling expedition, customers of the dive shop gather around a television to watch a short informational video about the creatures they will soon be encountering. Slider feels that the best way to preserve manatees is

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PHOTO (ABOVE) BY JENNIFER RIEK

PHOTOS (RIGHT) COURTESY OF CHARLIE SLIDER

Ken Riek swims with the manatees

When temperatures in the Gulf drop, manatees migrate into warmer waters, such as

at Crystal River in February of 2006.

those of Crystal River. Manatees need to be in water that is no colder than 68 degrees

Each year, hundreds of these large

Fahrenheit in order to maintain a safe internal body temperature otherwise they

mammals come to visit.

become susceptible to cold stress, making them vulnerable to disease and death.

to teach people: about their natural habitats, what to look for, and about their life cycle.

When the snorkelers enter the water they are not allowed, under any circumstances, to chase, molest, or harass the manatees in any way.

Special roped-off areas have been

have been easy targets for hunters, providing oil for lamps and food for the table, Slider said. Boating accidents have decimated the population, and most recently, so has a lack of food.

“Our biggest problems here are water clarity and vegetation,”

These slow-moving giants were once easy targets for hunters, providing oil for lamps and food for the table. provided as a sort of break room for sea cows, those who no longer want human hands to lightly brush their backs. Slider and his employees pride themselves on overseeing the highest population of returning manatees in the country. However, the battle to remove manatees from the federal endangered species list is far from over.

Only an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 manatees exist in the wild today. Since the time of the Native Americans until as recently as the 1940s, these slow-moving giants

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Slider explained. “If something’s not done, Fish and Wildlife will have to feed the manatees, and that’s bad because then you’re making them dependent.”

The issue lies in the vegetation’s inability to grow. When the No Name Storm of 1993 struck, the bay was smothered by 8 to 10 feet of saltwater for about eight hours, killing all freshwater vegetation. In the years since, efforts have been put in place to restore the grasses by planting seedlings in the river.

Unfortunately the manatees see it

as a free lunch. Fences have been erected but the results are mixed.

With temperatures falling further each winter, more manatees than ever before are seeking shelter in the springs. An estimated 60 never leave the river at all. The possibility of complete extinction looms over them like the harpoon of a hunter.

In spite of the odds stacked against the manatees, Slider is upbeat and positive.

“It’s been a good season here,” he said. “Generation after generation come to see these animals in the wild. People talk about how their grandfathers used to take them out on boats, buy lettuce and cabbage in shops on the shoreline and feed the manatees.”

Thanks to the efforts of Slider’s shop and others like it, the opportunity to slip into the water with these unique animals still exists.

Better yet, Crystal River is no more than an hour and a half drive south. Tours are open year-round and gear is available for rent.

Visitors can see first-hand Florida’s mellowest creature before they swim back out to sea. s

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>> BUSINESS

Newberry Networking A New Professionals Group

BY TATIANA QUIROGA even women meeting every week for lunch might not seem like anything out of the ordinary. But for the Newberry Area Professionals group, this is not the average ladies get-together. These women mean business.

The Newberry Area Professionals group, a chapter of Ali Lassen’s Leads Club of Florida, is comprised of Newberry professionals whose main mission is to network and share personal business referrals. The group was founded this past May by Anne Bello, owner of PBParrot Designs & Computer Services.

“At the time, the Gainesville Professionals group was full,” Bello said. “With the growth of Newberry, I felt that [a club here] would be able to fill up,” she said.

Leads club policy is that one representative per business category is allowed, eliminating the competition for referrals. A group can have up to 30 members, and people were on the waiting list to join the Gainesville club, she said.

S

The group is currently comprised of seven members all of whom happen to be females and range from a general contractor to a realtor to a party gifts company independent consultant. All members are located in Newberry or in surrounding areas.

The meetings follow a specific agenda that includes a ten-minute presentation from a member to speak in-depth about the business and time to pass along referrals from the last week. At each meeting, members give two 30-second “elevator speeches” that promote their businesses.

“The Leads club is very powerful in that it really focuses on referrals,” Bello said. The group records the amount of money members make from leads, which has totalled almost $4,000 since the group’s inception, she said.

Bello said the repetition of the elevator speeches is key to remembering the message of each professional.

She said she is comfortable referring the embroiderer in the group, for example, because she knows extensively about her business, her custom embroidery and

PHOTO BY LARRY BEHNKE

Anne Bello founded the Newberry Area Professionals group, a chapter of Ali Lassen’s Leads Club of Florida, last May. The group’s mission is to network and share personal business referrals.

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her low prices. The ten-minute presentations introduce the members to different topics related to each business.

“I talk every 6 or 7 weeks and each time I talk, I cover a different subject, whether it’s social media and what that can do for your website, what is a blog or how to optimize your website,” Bello said.

Referrals are made both within the group and outside the group. Members have books to keep the members’ business cards so they can refer them whenever they hear of or see a need for a service they provide.

“Not only are we learning to refer each other out to other people, we are doing business with each other instead of going outside the circle,” Bello said, adding that people frequently see the massage therapist in the group. She also created a website for the general contractor.

“You get to know them and their elevator speeches and their business ethics and what they’re all about,” Bello said about the members. “I can speak from the heart [when I refer them],” she said.

Chris Stainfield became a member of the Newberry Area Professionals and the regional support for North Central Florida in May. She has been a member of the Gainesville Professionals for four years. Though members are only allowed to be part of one group, Stainfield is able to be a member of both because of her regional support position.

“I was so impressed with the group,” Stainfield said about visiting the Newberry meeting for the first time. “They were all doing business with each other, respected each other, and were still having a really good time.”

When she first joined the Leads club, Stainfield said she looked at the membership fees and figured out how much money she would need to make to be able to afford the fees as well as increase her income.

“You just have to know your own business and know what it’s going to take to make back your initial investment and then start profiting from it,” she said.

Stainfield recommends that new members wait about six months before they expect to see a big growth in their business.

Bello said her membership fees were paid for through referrals within eight weeks.

“The idea of having a national club format is that these people have tried and worked at this for 33 years so it really does work,” she said.

Lynn Christensen, who joined the Newberry group in September, said she already has seen increased interest in her embroidery store.

“I’ve seen people who would not have known that I was there,” she said.

Christensen enjoys networking with other local professionals and having exclusivity for referrals because she is the only embroiderer in the group. People used to drive to Gainesville for an embroiderer and now they

PHOTO BY LARRY BEHNKE

Members of the Newberry Area Professionals - Lassen’s Leads Club join Ann Bello for a meeting in November at the Newberry Municipal Building. The group meets each week and is looking to fill 23 more seats.

can visit her storefront in Newberry, she said.

She also appreciates learning more about the people in the group each meeting.

“One week we talked about how we gave back to the community, and we learned just how charitable these people are and it was very refreshing,” she said.

People who are considering joining the group can attend up to two meetings and then fill out an application. The group decides if the professional would benefit from the group and the group from the professional.

“We shoot for quality people who are serious about their business,” Stainfield said.

“It would be great to have 30 people but you want the right 30 people — a well-rounded group,” Bello said.

“The greatest benefit of the group would be having referrals close to home,” she said. “I think there’s a community about our group — there is a closeness and camaraderie. We all want each other’s businesses to succeed and to grow exceptionally well.” s For more information, visit www.leadsfl.com/ newberry-area-professionals

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>> FAMILY

Foster Care

A Glimpse Inside the Children’s Home Society

BY JESSICA CHAPMAN eith and Christy Conner are the proud parents of two boys.

They were not supposed to be.

They were only supposed to be foster parents — not permanent parents. But a year after receiving the boys, the Conners decided to get them off the foster care system.

The Conners adopted the two baby boys, Alexander, who is now 19 months, and Christopher, now 16.5 months, after receiving them as foster children. The couple never planned to adopt the boys. In fact, the Conners said there were times when they did not think they could handle them.

The Conners’ reaction is

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138 | Winter 2011

somewhat typical of foster parents and offers an inside look at the Children Home’s Society’s adoption program, said CHS Mid-Florida Executive Director Jennifer Anchors.

Both the adoption program and the foster care program need Gainesville’s help to reach children in Gainesville, Anchors said.

The Conners began as foster parents with Partnership for Strong Families, an organization that works closely with CHS to provide the best homes for children.

Because CHS does not provide foster care services, the Conners worked with CHS primarily to adopt the boys.

The Conners received Chris first, thinking it would only be a few months before his grandmother

would take him. But Christy said by the time they were told Chris’ grandmother might be adopting him, she was already attached.

That is when they decided to take Alex, thinking Chris would be with his grandmother soon. But plans changed. Before they knew it, they were keeping both Chris and Alex. Chris was officially adopted in April, and Alex in August.

“It’s been challenging,” Christy said. “It’s completely different now.

It’s like having twins in the house.”

Anchors said many foster families find new children challenging.

She said CHS is in constant need of community support, through monetary donations, volunteers and more foster families. The organization is especially in need

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTY CONNER

LEFT: Alexander and Christopher Conner on a walk with their dad, Keith. The Conners received the boys through Partnership for Strong Families and adopted them through Children’s Home Society. The Conners said while Chris adjusted easily, getting Alex used to a new environment was a big challenge. It was his third home in three and a half months.

ABOVE: Christy Conner with her newly adopted son Christopher. The Conners adopted Chris not long before receiving Alex. Both boys started out in the foster care system before being adopted by the Conners through the Mid-Florida Children’s Home Society.

of support for its Family Treasures Thrift Shop, which opened about two years ago.

CHS Mid-Florida covers 18 counties and offers a variety of programs designed to increase positive parent/child interaction, including adoption services, in-home parenting services, family visitation centers and case management services, which includes in-home supervision and court representation.

To help raise support, CHS opened Family Treasures Thrift Shop. CHS’s big fundraiser is its Treasure Hunt, when the thrift shop is transformed into a furniture store for the weekend. Gainesville residents are encouraged to hunt for the best furniture in the store.

CHS takes donations for the Hunt

140 | Winter 2011

and the store all year long.

However, as important as the store is in raising money, it is not the primary goal. They need families willing to help children.

While people are usually more interested in adopting younger children, Anchors said people are becoming more interested in adopting teenagers.

The Conners were such a family.

Understanding that older children have harder times finding homes, the couple originally wanted to help parents who needed someone to take their children temporarily.

It was not until later, after taking Christopher as a foster child, that they realized the young boys needed them too.

“When you hear what’s out there, you’re like ‘oh my gosh,’”

Keith said referring to the family life in which some children live.

“That’s the reality of foster care.”

Although the CHS’s first choice is to keep children with their biological parents, Anchors said this is not always possible. Parents involved with CHS might leave their child alone, or abuse or neglect them.

Anchors said in-home parenting, a program designed to help parents overcome their problems, is often successful. She said 92 percent of the children were able to remain with their birth parents.

Even so, to the Conners there is a never-ending need for children to be taken in by foster parents or adopted. Alex’s family history is bad enough by itself, they said.

“It’s been real eye-opening,” Christy said. “We’re very grateful

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we stopped the cycle.”

The couple said one of their biggest challenges was getting Alex settled. Alex had a difficult time adapting to a new environment and would cry constantly. The Conners were his third home in three and a half months. Although the first month was “really bad,” he adjusted to his new surroundings by the third month, she said.

Alex serves as one example of how foster children are stereotyped. Anchors said there is often

care system],” she said. “My prayer is that more people who have the means will step up to the plate.”

Despite the needs, Anchors said the Gainesville community has had a lot of success with adoptions.

The Mid-Florida division has about 175 children adopted each year and handles about 100 children at a time, quite a success for the division, she said.

“It’s just amazing,” Anchors said, “that this area does that many adoptions.”

While being a foster parent is challenging, it brings some of the best rewards, including giving a child a better home and future.

Holiday Drive THROUGH DEC 18 Children’s Home Society of Florida is seeking the community’s support in securing holiday gifts for

a stigma that foster children have behavioral problems and are hard to discipline, which can sometimes keep them from being adopted.

“These kids didn’t do anything wrong,” Anchors said. “The adults did. They need to know someone cares about them. [Children] want to know someone will be there.”

Foster babies need more security, the Conners said. Keith said Alex responded well to big rocking motions and being held tight. Alex had been abandoned multiple times by his birth mother, and Christy said they wanted to give him lots of attention.

“He needs that security,” she said. “Being a foster parent gives you a lot of responsibility. It’s about 10 times the work of being a parent.

There’s such a need.”

Christy said before they adopted the boys she got two or three calls a week to take more foster children.

The only reason they do not get calls now, she said, was because she asked them to stop. They still call every now and then, just in case she might have changed her mind.

“It would be nice if people were more educated [about the foster

142 | Winter 2011

Anchors said the success of the Children’s Home Society, and thus the children, depends partly on support from the community.

They need more families like the Conners.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think to myself what they could be doing,” Keith said.

“We feel like we’ve rescued them. I hope we do a good job.”

While being a foster parent is challenging, Anchors and the Conners said it brings some of the best rewards, including giving a child a better home and future.

“Try to overcome your fear,” Keith said. “Just stick it out.”

There is more than one way to help the Children’s Home Society.

Anchors said through donating to the thrift store, supporting its Treasure Hunt fundraiser and giving monetary donations, everyone in Gainesville can help the children in the system have a better future.

Anyone who thinks they might be interested, Keith said, needs to pursue it.

“There’s a lot of scary stuff out there,” Keith said. “Our community needs help.” s

more than 1,000 local children. Many of these children are in foster care after suffering abuse, neglect or abandonment, while others are from families that struggle to keep food on the table.

Without the community’s support, these children will not have a single gift to open this holiday season. CHS asks for new, unwrapped gifts for children ages 0 through 17. Gifts may include items such as books, games, toys, sporting goods, music and gift cards. CHS can also provide an angel tree ornament listing a child’s name, age, gender, clothing size and holiday wishes. 866-427-5451.

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>> AWARENESS

Relay for Life

People Gather in Newberry to Fight Cancer

BY TATIANA QUIROGA or the past few years, thousands of people have come to the track of Newberry High School for a night of remembering loved ones, supporting survivors, and fighting cancer. At Relay for Life each year, participants walk, jog, or run laps throughout the night to raise money for the American Cancer Society. For many residents of Newberry, Jonesville and Archer, the relay is a community gathering for a cause that is close to many.

Michelle Buchanan’s team, the Purple Avengers, will be participating in Relay for Life for the second time this year. Last year, they raised money for the American Cancer Society through community art sales, a silent auction and T-shirt sales.

“The purpose of Relay for Life is really just to fight back,” said Buchanan, who volunteered as the committee event chair last year at the invitation of some friends on

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146 | Winter 2011

the committee. “I’ve lost friends and a couple of family members to cancer.”

Relay for Life is a way to bring something positive out of grief, said Amanda Granozio, community representative with the American Cancer Society.

“At Relay, I’ve seen an incredible outpouring of love and support,” she said. “Once you get involved, I think it becomes a forever thing.”

Newberry Mayor Bill Conrad, this year’s event chairperson, has lost several close friends in the past few years to cancer. These losses motivated him to start a team of Newberry employees and elected officials when he was city commissioner. They raised money by selling hamburgers and hotdogs at the event. Conrad was the team captain for three years.

“I had a real empty feeling and I helped that by doing [Relay],” he said. “I think it’s a great cause — the opportunity to fight against cancer. Just about everybody knows somebody that’s been touched by cancer.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

ABOVE: The Survivor’s Lap is a yearly tradition where cancer survivors lead the fi rst lap. “Our survivors are the heroes and the celebrities at Relay,” Amanda Granozio said. “That’s why they kick off the event because we’re there to celebrate them.”

RIGHT: Relay for Life participants join hands at a community Relay in Florida. Relay is an event for people of all ages. “It’s like a big party for your community,” Granozio said. “It’s a party with a purpose.”

Relay for Life first began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon, raised money by running more than 83 miles on the track at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. He then formed a committee to plan the first team relay event, which was held in 1986 and raised $33,000. Today, the relay that raises money for cancer research has grown into a huge fundraising effort with events around the world.

The event is comprised of a survivor’s lap, allowing cancer survivors to walk or run the first lap, and a luminaria ceremony, which remembers and honors those who have lost their lives to the disease. Teams always have one member walking the track throughout the night. Booths and concession stands are set up to raise money.

This year’s Newberry-Jonesville-Archer event will take place at Newberry High School and will include teams from groups of friends, schools, businesses, churches and other organizations. The event has taken place at the

school’s track for the past five years, Granozio said.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve raised between $45,000 and $50,000, which is a pretty good amount of money for the size of the city of Newberry of 5,000 people,” Conrad said. This year’s goal is $50,000 but he thinks they can make up to twice as much by reaching out to contacts through e-mail and having bake sales and other fundraising activities. The University of Florida has about 60,000 students and faculty members and their event raises about $100,000.

“Proportionately, we do a pretty good job,” he said.

Conrad continues to be encouraged by the desire to find a cure for cancer.

“It’s such a devastating disease that touches old people, young people, men and women,” he said. “It can hit anybody and in this country. We have the resources to find the cure and the American Cancer Society does a lot of research.”

This year’s Relay will include bands, food concessions,

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dancers and raffles, Conrad said.

“It’s a real fun event and we’ve had 2,000 to 3,000 people come out to visit their friends and raise money and basically have a good time,” he said.

The event theme will be Relay Round Up. One team will have a campsite that will be a jail and another a saloon, Granozio said.

“There will be line dancing and two-stepping lessons and we’re making sure our teams come up with creative ideas and fundraise that way,” she added. “I think Relay for Life is more than one night. It’s more than a walk. It really is an experience.”

Last year, there were 28 teams at the event and this year’s goal is 32 teams. Granozio said they are trying to reach more of the businesses in Jonesville and Archer to involve as much of the community as possible.

“The more we have involved, the more successful and the more community-oriented our event is,” she said. “Our committee is very excited and passionate and looking for this to be a very successful year.”

Granozio, who was a chair of the event committee as a student at Georgetown University, began working at the American Cancer Society this past September because of her love of Relay.

“I had such a fantastic experience as a Relay volunteer,” she said. “It became my passion and it was just the best thing that I had ever done.

“There aren’t many things that have the ability to bring together a community the way Relay does and I think that’s why it has the impact it does.”

Conrad hopes to get more teams on board for the event this year and to see more money raised toward the cure.

“I’m old enough to have seen America find the cure for diseases like smallpox, polio, the measles — diseases I grew up with,” he said. “If we all work together and make small donations that will add up, we can do the research to find a cure. We put a man on the moon. I think we can cure cancer.” s Relay for Life Newberry Jonesville Archer March 16, 2012 at 6pm at Newberry High School www.relayforlife.org

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>> GET IN GEAR

Relationship Roadmap Driver’s Ed for Love

BY TINA PRIZAMENT oogle the word “love,” and you will get about seven billion results, coincidentally just about equal to the most recent count of the population of the planet. Scrolling through the search you will find love poems, definitions, even a love calculator, however, there are not a lot of results for Love Education.

A local organization, Driver’s Ed for Love, offers a unique, educational approach with a roadmap to love and relationships, which it hopes will bring a level of instruction to the population in general, and young adults in particular.

Driver’s Ed For Love’s founder Isabell Springer and her team aim to help course attendees “Get the Keys,” show people how they can choose wisely in love, and “Never Settle in Love.”

Springer, a licensed marriage and family therapist, developed the courses after personally experiencing failed relationships, despite her determination not to repeat the mistakes made by her parents.

During her marriage she felt that

G

150 | Winter 2011

she had “tried everything, but it still wasn’t working out.” While undergoing her own therapy, Springer set about researching information she had missed on the road to achieving lasting love. After two long years of searching, she was surprised to discover that there were no simple answers out there, let alone an easy-to-understand handbook.

Springer devised a simple, relatable, instructional set of tools, which she shared with some of her clients. The response was overwhelmingly positive and, encouraged to share the concept with a larger audience, she presented an initial course at the University of Florida to 20 students, including Jorelle Laasko — now director of operations for DEFL. Driver’s Ed For Love was born, which led to the courses currently being taught.

“Love is the most important thing,” Springer said. “I don’t believe in compatibility; I believe in matched emotional maturity and matched romantic attraction.”

Most people want to love and be loved. The notion that one will be complete when they find the right person, or their soul mate,

is the Holy Grail that many never find. Successful love and positive personal relationships are the goals for everyone, but given the lack of role models for healthy relationships, and the deleterious interest in divorce, education has to begin in early adult life.

Finding love in today’s society is fraught with hazards and roadblocks. The seemingly everrising divorce rate, and the negative effects of unhealthy relationships signify an urgency in today’s culture that needs to be addressed.

Driver’s Ed for Love is responding to this urgency. Its goal is to bring relationship education to the forefront of society with the hope of creating a future where it is the norm for young people to grow up “relationship educated.”

Just as teens look forward to the day they will learn to drive a car, and are carefully instructed to pay attention to potential hazards and to navigate the road safely, it was hoped that this same enthusiasm would carry over into the Driver’s Ed For Love. The course is based on basic rules and directions, which offer useful and practical life lessons for navigating the road to love.

PHOTO BY TINA PRIZAMENT

Course Leaders Jennifer Cotton and Leif Stringer demonstrate the playfulness and humor they bring to DEFL.

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Course leaders, Jennifer Cotton and Leif Stringer returned to Buchholz High school following a course presentation in November to find out how the students perceived the course, and what they learned.

In a brief, informal question and answer session, students were asked about their first reaction after hearing that they would be participating in a workshop called Driver’s Ed for Love.

“I thought it had to do with cars,” said high school senior Greg Dana.

Questioned further, students offered that the course helped them distinguish the characteristics of people in general and evaluate the maturity levels of those they know, very useful tools in relationships overall, and especially when it comes to romance.

Student Weston Clarke said that he “learned that infatuation lasts three to six months.”

“If you had a friend who you knew was going through relationship problems,” said Sam Coons, “you could tell them they could go to this course and find out more about yourself and your partner.”

According to Dr Francis Jensen, a Boston area pediatric neurologist, scientific studies have shown that the frontal lobe in a young person’s brain does not fully

152 | Winter 2011

develop until about the age of 25.

Therefore the necessity to reach teens and young adults during their formative years is essential.

Leif Stringer, course leader, first heard of the course a little over a year ago and said that he immediately thought, “this is what I have been looking for. I think this is something so impactful; our whole world is at stake and we want to people to understand their relationships and that is where we can start social change.”

Having brought the course to several local high schools, corporate organizations, medical and health facilities, DEFL feels there is a definite need for more education of this nature.

Jennifer Cotton, whose background is in sociology, pointed out that the life skills classes typically offered to young adults in the education system are often taught by the PE teacher. These courses cover such topics as health, sex education, however, there are currently no relationship information classes offered to students as part of their education.

Although the original target audience had been directed to young adults and teens, the requests from older observers of the course sparked the current adult course, which saw its

PHOTO BY TINA PRIZAMENT

Some of the Buchholz High School students that participated in a recent DEFL Course.

inaugural event in November, with several more courses scheduled in the near future.

The course session, which lasts approximately three hours, covers some of the details of how the road to love is paved, with explanations as to what infatuation is, how romantic attraction affects the longevity of a relationship, and how emotional maturity levels vary among different people.

Springer said that choosing a romantic partner is typically based purely on romantic attraction, but if a couple’s emotional maturity does not match, that is when difficulties and breakups can occur.

Driver’s Ed For Love offers hands-on exercises and role playing to help illustrate how past experiences shape future choices, and how to be more of aware of making better selections when given a well-planned set of directions.

Love and relationships present a much-traveled road that does not come with its own GPS. As stated on its website, DEFL wants its students to “Take the wheel and stop driving your relationship blindly.” s

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WORSHIP CENTERS If we have left out a church or have incomplete / incorrect information, please let us know! Send your corrections by faxing 352-373-9178 or emailing editor@towerpublications.com. We welcome your contributions and suggestions.

HIGH SPRINGS ALLEN CHAPEL A.M.E. CHURCH 386-454-3574 10 S.E. MLK Drive Rev. James McDaniel, Pastor ANDERSON MEMORIAL CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST 386-454-3433 935 SE Lincoln Ave. BETHLEHEM UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 386-454-1996 County Road 778 Pastor Clarence Desue CHRIST ANGLICAN FELLOWSHIP 386-454-1845 323 SW CR 778 Pastor Michael LaCagnina CHRISTIAN FAMILY WORSHIP CENTER 386-454-2367 220 NE 1ST Ave. Dr. Lloyd S. Williams CHURCH OF CHRIST 386-454-2930 520 NE Santa Fe Blvd.

CHURCH OF GOD

BY FAITH 386-454-1015 US Hwy 27 THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS 386-454-4282 24455 NW 174th Ave. Pres. Keith Brown HIGH SPRINGS CHURCH OF GOD 386-454-1757 210 NW 182 Ave. Pastor Terry W. Hull

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FELLOWSHIP CHURCH 386-454-1700 16916 NW U.S. Hwy. 441 Pastor Jeff Powell FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 386-454-1505 20112 North US Hwy. 441 Pastor J. Eddie Grandy FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 386-454-1037 205 North Main Street Pastor Glen A. Busby FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH of HIGH SPRINGS 386-454-1255 17405 NW US Hwy 441 Pastor Benton Mangueira GRACE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE 210 Santa Fe Blvd.

Pastor Preston Ponce HOLY TEMPLE CHURCH WITH GOD 386-454-0313 615 SE ML King Drive IMPACT FAMILY CHURCH 386-454-1563 16710 NW US 441 Pastors Edwin & Angela Anderson JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES 386-454-3509 330 SE 7th Ave. MIRACLE TEMPLE CHURCH 386-454-4298 605 SE 1st Place THE MISSION CHURCH OF HIGH SPRINGS Meeting at the Seventh Day Adventist Building 230 NW 1st Ave. 352-870-0247 Pastor Keith Helsel

MT CARMEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 386-454-4568 1230 NW 1st Ave. Pastor Byran Williams

ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 386-454-9812 1st Ave. (next to city hall) Rev. David Kidd

MT. PLEASANT BAPTIST CHURCH 14105 NW 298th Street 386-454-2161 Pastor Danny Crosby

SPRING HILL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Located at High Springs exit 79 off I-75 North of Gainesville (on Old Bellamy Rd.) Pastor James Richardson

MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH 386-454-3447 948 SE Railroad Ave. THE NORTH EAST CHURCH OF CHRIST 4330 NE County Road 340 nechurchofchrist.net SAINT MADELEINE CATHOLIC CHURCH 386-454-2358 17155 NW Highway 441 Pastor Fr. Sebastian K. George, CMI stmadeleinecatholicchurch.com SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH 352-497-2221 230 NW 1st Ave. Pastor Anthony Crawford SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH 386-454-4978 Shiloh Church Rd. Pastor Earl Tuten

ALACHUA ALACHUA CHURCH OF CHRIST 386-462-3326 14505 NW 145th Avenue Minister Doug Frazier ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHURCH 386-497-3121 Jordan Road (Ft. White) BAHA’I FAITH 352-870-3097 Turkey Creek CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH 13920 NW Hwy 4141 386-462-2966 Pastor Marty D. Basinger calvarybaptistgainesville.org

SHILOH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH 386-454-3126 1505 NW Main St.

CHRIST CENTRAL ALACHUA 386-418-8185 14906 Main St. www.ccalachua.com

SPRING RIDGE FIRST CHURCH OF GOD 386-454-3600 5529 NE 52nd Place Pastor Todd L Wymer

CHURCH OF GOD BY FAITH 386-462-2549 13220 NW 150th Ave.

SPRINGRIDGE FIRST CHURCH OF GOD 386-454-4400 420 Spring Ave.

CRUSADERS FOR CHRIST, INC. 386-462-4811 NW 158th Ave.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF ALACHUA 386-462-1337 14005 NW 146th Avenue Pastor Doug Felton FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF ALACHUA 386-462-2443 14805 NW 140th St. Pastor Lamar Albritton FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ALACHUA 386-462-1549 14623 NW 140th St. Pastor Gary Hardesty FOREST GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-3921 22575 NW 94 Avenue GREATER NEW HOPE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-4617 15205 NW 278th Ave. HARE KRISHNA TEMPLE 386-462-2017 17306 NW 112th Blvd.

LEGACY BAPTIST CHURCH 352-462-2150 13719 NW 146th St. Pastor John Jernigan LIVING COVENANT CHURCH 386-462-7375 Pastor Brian J. Coleman NEW OAK GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-3390 County Road 1491 Pastor Terry Elixson, Jr. NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH OF GOD AND CHRIST 386-462-4891 1310 NW 155 Place Pastor R. L. Cooper NORTH PLEASANT GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-3317 25330 NW CR 239 Pastor Steve Hutcheson

NEW SAINT MARY BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-7129 13800 NW 158th Ave. PARADISE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF ALACHUA 386-462-0162 14889 MLK Blvd.

Pastor Rev. James D. Johnson, Sr. SANTA FE BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-7541 7505 NW CR 236 Pastor Richard Cason, II MT NEBO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 386-418-1038 9975 NW 143rd St. Pastor Ricardo George Jr. NEW SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-2095 18610 NW CR 237 NEW ST MARY BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-7129 13800 NW 158th Ave. OLD SHILOH MISSIONARY BAPTIST 386-462-4894 16810 NW CR 239 RIVER OF LIFE ASSEMBLY OF GOD 352-870-7288 14200 NW 148th Place Pastor Greg Evans ST LUKE AME CHURCH 386-462-2732 US Highway 441 S. ST MATHEWS BAPTIST CHURCH 386-462-2205 15712 NW 140 Street Pastor Isaac Miles TEMPLE OF THE UNIVERSE 386-462-7279 15808 NW 90 Street www.tou.org WESTSIDE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST 386-418-0649 15535 NW 141st St.

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ABIDING SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH 352-331-4409 9700 West Newberry Rd.

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BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 352-474-6215 23530 NW 3rd Ave. Pastor Theodora Black

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CHRISTIAN LIFE FELLOWSHIP 352-472-5433 19817 W. Newberry Rd. Pastor Terry Fulton CHURCH OF GOD BY FAITH 352-472-2739 610 NW 2nd St. Pastor: Jesse Hampton THE CHURCH AT STEEPLECHASE 352-472-6232 Meeting at Sun Country Sports Center 333 SW 140th Terrace (Jonesville) Pastor Buddy Hurlston FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF NEWBERRY 352-472-2351 25520 W. Newberry Rd. Rev. Jack Andrews GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH 352-472-9200 22405 W. Newberry Rd. Pastor Ty Keys JONESVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH 352-472-3835 17722 SW 15th Ave. Pastor Corey Cheramie

BAPTIST CHURCH 215 NW 8TH Ave. Pastor Edward Welch

CHURCH OF CHRIST 352-472-4961 24045 W. Newberry Rd. Minister Batsell Spivy NEWBERRY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 352-472-4005 24845 W. Newberry Rd. Rev. Robert B. Roseberry, Pastor DESTINY COMMUNITY CHURCH 352-472-3284 420 SW 250th Street Pastor Rocky McKinley OAK DALE BAPTIST CHURCH 352-472-2992 Highway 26 and 241 S. PLEASANT PLAIN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 352-472-1863 1910 NW 166th St. Pastor Theo Jackson ST JOSEPH’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 352-472-2951 16921 W. Newberry Rd. Pastor John DiLeo

JOURNEY CHURCH 352-281-0701 22405 W. Newberry Rd. Milam Funeral Home Chapel Dr. Michael O’Carroll, Pastor

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MT ZURA FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH 352-472-4056 225 NW 2nd Ave. Pastor Natron Curtis

BAPTIST CHURCH

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NEWBERRY, INC 5577 NW 290 Street 352-472-7770 Pastor Henry M. Rodgers UNION 352-472-3845 6259 SE 75TH Ave Pastor Travis Moody

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LIBRARY SCHEDULE Alachua Branch Library .....................14913 NW 140th St. .............................. 386-462-2592 High Springs Branch Library ...........135 NW 1st Ave........................................ 386-454-2512 Newberry Branch Library .................110 South Seaboard Dr. ..........................352-472-1135 For further information on scheduled events visit www.acld.lib.fl.us All branches are closed December 23 - 26 and January 1 - 2, 16

ALACHUA

Discuss books or work on crafts.

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN

Teen Advisory Book Club and Advisory Group Jan. 12, Feb. 9, March 15 - 4pm The Teens Advisory Group meets to discuss upcoming teen events and to discuss books.

Preschool Storytime Thursdays - 11am Stories, songs and dance.

Pre-teen Book Club and Advisory Group First Wednesday of each month - 3pm Group meets to discuss upcoming library events and books.

Club Day for Pre-teens Third Wednesday of each month - 3pm Discuss books or upcoming library programs or work on crafts for ages 9-12.

Celebration with Music and Books Thursday, Dec. 22 11am Special Holiday program presenting live music and Alachua Branchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Friends of the Library book giveaway.

PROGRAMS FOR TEENS Gaming @ Your Library Thursdays - 2pm Spend the afternoon with friends gaming in the SPOT. Board and video games are available.

Club Day for Teens 2011, Third Thursday of each month; 2012, Last Thursday of each month - 4pm

156 | Winter 2011

Super Smash Brothers Brawl Saturday, Feb. 11 12:30pm Compete in an online Super Smash Brothers Brawl tournament between library branches for your chance to win a prize.

PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS Zumba Classes Mondays - 6pm Mix of body-sculpting movement with dance steps derived from Latin music.

Pilates Classes Wednesdays - 6pm Pilates focuses on building strength without bulk. Improve flexibility and agility, and prevent injuries.

Computer Class Wednesdays - 11am Learn basic computer skills from using a mouse and keyboard to e-mail and word processing. Class seating is limited.

Holiday Crafts Thursday, December 15 - 10am Crafting for the holidays.

Poets and Writers Among Us Wednesday, December 28 - 4pm Poets and writers meet to inspire and be inspired.

AARP Tax Help Feb. 2 and March 3 - Noon IRS-certified volunteers from AARP will provide tax counseling and tax return preparation services free of charge. By appointment only: Call 352-339-2063 weekdays between 1pm and 5pm. Be sure to bring all your tax documents.

Celebrate Alachua Libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 30-Year Anniversary Sunday, February 19 2:30pm The Alachua community and others are invited to share the memories of the 30 years the library has been in existence -- from a trailer to our present beautiful building. Come to mingle over punch and cake.

HIGH SPRINGS PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN Preschool Storytime Tuesdays - 11am (December 13) Stories, songs and activities for the preschool set.

Santa Extravaganza Tuesday, December 13 11am and 2:30pm Santa and his Elf will be here. Join the party for preschool children! Have your picture taken with Santa.

PROGRAMS FOR TEENS Afternoon at the Movies Thursdays - 3:30pm (except Dec. 22 & 29) Watch favorite movies and new releases on the big screen.

AniManga!

First Tuesdays - 4pm Are you an anime and manga fan? If so, hang out with other teens who love Japanese entertainment.

Crafternoon!

Third Tuesdays 3:30pm Time to get crafty!

Join us the third Tuesday of each month for fun craft projects.

Teens only. Special December theme and time - Create with Duct Tape, 4pm.

Teen Advisory Group Second Tuesday of each month Help plan events and work on special projects for teens at the library. 3pm for Juniors, 4pm for Seniors.

Teen Reads 2012 - Fourth Tuesday of each month, 4pm Join us as we discuss popular teen titles.

Bring a favorite to share.

Minute to Win It Tuesday, January 3:30pm Johnny Applestack.

Worm Diving. Chocolate Unicorn. They’re all games from Minute to Win It. You’ve watched the TV show.

Now it’s your turn!

Check out NBC’s Minute to Win It website and start brushing up on your mad skills for our Minute To Win It program!

Silent Library Tuesday, February 28, 3:30pm Teens, are you up for the challenge? You’ve seen it on MTV. Now try it in the actual library. Can you complete the task AND remain silent the entire time?

PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS Lady Gamers Dec. 2, Jan. 6 - 2pm Join other senior women for a fun afternoon of gaming.

Mystery Reading Group Third Thursday of each month - 6:30pm Join fellow readers for discussions of mystery novels. Bring any mysteries you have read this month to discuss. December theme: Anti-holiday

novels. Newcomers welcome.

National Novel Writing Month TGIO Party Thursday, December 1 6:30pm You did it! Thank goodness it is over!

Come celebrate the end of National Novel Writing Month.

PROGRAMS FOR ALL AGES Crafter’s Circle Wednesdays - 1pm If you embroider, quilt, knit or enjoy doing any other “non-messy” craft, this is the group for you. Share what you know, or learn from someone else.

The Rug Bunch 1st & 3rd Wednesday of each month - 3pm Crochet a rag rug with a group of fellow enthusiasts. Beginners welcome.

WIC 2011, Mondays - 10am Women, infants and children welcome.

Services will be offered in the library meeting room.

An Afternoon of Music Sunday, December 4 2pm Join Nancy Gillespie for a relaxing afternoon of music with her harp. Refreshments will be served.

Bunny Rescue: Gainesville Rabbit Rescue Tuesday, January 10 2:30pm Come learn about rabbits and the local organization that rescues them from unhappy situations.

Meet a sweet rabbit and learn how to properly care for the bunny in your life.

Snakes, Lizards and Toads Tuesday, February 14 2:30pm Join the staff from Morningside as they take you on a journey exploring the world of creepy crawly animals.

The Compost Kid Tuesday, March 13 2:30pm Learn about the process of composting both in nature and in a compost bin. Then play the compost game with Waste Watcher.

NEWBERRY PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN Preschool Storytime Wednesdays - 11am Stories, songs and activities for the preschool set.

Junior Panther Den Tuesdays, 3:30pm Go wild after school.

Adventures and gaming awaits. Play sports and dance with Wii games, karaoke and crafts. For pre-teens.

PROGRAMS FOR TEENS Yum-Yum: Nutritious No-Bake Snacks for Kids Monday, February 20 3:30pm Come hear about the USDA’s new “My Plate” nutrition guidelines for healthy eating from a representative of the local extension office, then get some recipes for no-bake snacks.

PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS Computers for Beginners First Mondays 10:30am Learn how to use a computer in a relaxed

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setting at your own pace.

Tempting Reads Book Club Fourth Wednesday of each month, 6pm Book club discussions featuring popular and recently published books including books recommended by participants.

AARP Tax Help Saturday, February 18 Noon IRS-certified volunteers from AARP will provide tax counseling and tax return preparation services free of charge. By appointment only: Call 352-339-2063 weekdays between 1pm and 5pm. Be sure to bring all your tax documents.

PROGRAMS FOR ALL AGES Gingerbread House Contest Wednesday, December 21 - 1pm Build your very own gingerbread house this holiday season.

The best gingerbread house will win a prize.

Each attendee can eat or take home his own creation.

Popular Quilting Sunday, January 22 2pm It’s cold outside!

Let’s quilt! Join us for a trunk show of beautiful quilts.

We’ll also learn to make simple quilting projects for gifts.

Black History Wednesday, February 8 6pm Join us to celebrate local African American history.

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COLUMN >> DIANE E. SHEPARD

Mama Musings “Star Light, Star Bright…”

Shepards Keeping Watch by Night “…If we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds?” — Author unknown t’s amazing what a little stargazing with your kids can do to change your outlook — your perspective on everything.

I have always felt a deep affinity for the stars — a great fascination with all things celestial. I was always a stargazer, watching and waiting for them to reveal their magic to me.

When my kids were toddlers, we ventured out almost every night to watch the night sky, reciting together, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight...”

One of my sweetest memories is that of my daughter Elizabeth and I watching the moon and stars from the lounge chair in our backyard. With her head on my chest, she contently fell asleep. She was 14 months old.

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My son Nicholas learned his first song while outside looking at the stars. “Tinkle, tinkle, liddle tar...”

But this sweet ritual got swept away in the wake of school-night bedtimes, deadlines, and the vice grip rule of the clock. We simply stopped venturing outside into the dreamy darkness to stargaze.

Last year, Elizabeth played a shepherd in the church Christmas program. The choir director had chosen a program with no angels or “girly” roles for little girls, but Elizabeth embraced her inner Shepherd, making the little shepherd girl part her very own, and — I think — stole the show.

Afterwards, as we were walking out of the church, we talked about the shepherds “keeping watch over their flocks by night,” and how they watched their sheep and the sky for any sign of trouble. They watched the stars just as they did their sheep, with care, contemplation and anticipation. Then one night they noticed The Star, and their lives forever changed.

But on this particular night, the only thing I am watching is the clock. I’ve got to get the kids home to sleep. After a long day of errands and Christmas prep, I am weary, and wanting to collapse into bed myself.

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But my little shepherd girl has other ideas.

“Mommy, can we watch the stars together like we used to?”

“Baby, it’s late,” I say hurriedly, trying to ignore the pang of regret nagging at me, as I try in vain to steer them toward the car. All the while, their eyes are fixed on the stars.

“But Mommy, what if the shepherds decided not to watch the sky and their sheep? What if they decided to take that night off?” she muses. “Think what they would have missed!”

Her eyes plead with me. Her words shake me to the core. I want our life to slow down a little; it’s going too fast.

That’s all it took.

“Goodnight stars, Goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere,” Nicholas says in a hushed whisper, quoting a favorite book.

In the gentle stillness of this night, the sky is bright with starlight and moon glow, the cool, crisp air, and the sweet sound of silence. I look at the stars as if seeing them for the first time.

I will not let anything keep us from enjoying sweet time together — or the awesome wonder of a star-filled sky.

Just a moment before my thoughts had been a tangle of stress and worry and a swirl of things left undone, presents waiting to be wrapped, cookies to be made, Christmas dinner to be planned...

But now, I find myself letting these things go. What matters most becomes as clear to me as this starry, December night.

From now on, I will not let anything keep us from enjoying sweet time together — or the awesome wonder of a star-filled sky. As the poet Grace Noll Crowell wrote: “I will not miss the silver silence of the stars, as I have before...”

Rushing our kids makes them feel unimportant.

Taking time to honor some of their wishes to linger — not to rush — lets them know that they matter. It reinforces their worth, to us and to this world. What a gift.

I look at these two angels in disguise, my shepherd girl and her little brother, and I squeeze their hands, just enough that they can feel it through the thick wool of their mittens.

“Did you make a wish?” I ask her.

“Yes, mommy.”

“What did you wish for, sweetie?”

Elizabeth looks up at me, her face now serene, lit by moon and starlight, her joy and peace as palpable as the cool night air.

“It’s coming true right now.”

Then, as if on cue, we whisper together, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight...” s

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Winter 2011 | 159

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95 + Tax & Freon

Expires 03-15-11. Not valid with other promotions or offers.

Redeem only at City Boys Tire & Brake. Our Town Magazine

Winter Inspection 10% off with any work done *Most cars. Disposal extra.

Expires 03-15-13. Our Town Magazine

4-Tire Balance & Rotation

24

$

95 • Most Vehicles • Plus Env. Fees

Oil & Filter Change

14

$

95 • Most Vehicles • Plus Env. Fees

includes up to 5 quarts 10W30 Formula Shell oil

Expires 03-15-11. Our Town Magazine

Expires 03-15-11. Our Town Magazine

City Boys

Coolant Drain & Fill

Tire & Brake • HIGH SPRINGS •

(386)-454-2193

29

$

95 • Most Vehicles • Plus Env. Fees

Dex Coolant Extra

www.cityboys.com

Expires 03-15-11. Our Town Magazine

Front-End Alignment

FREE Brake Inspection

95

39

$

• Most Vehicles • Plus Env. Fees

Expires 03-15-11. Our Town Magazine

with 20% Discount work done - All Vehicles *Most Cars, Disposal Extra Expires 03-15-11. Our Town Magazine

CITY BOYS APPRECIATES YOUR BUSINESS 160 | Winter 2011

We Pay Top $$ for Broken & Used Jewelry Huge Firearm Selection Confidential Loan Service 352-327-9067 • 55 SW 250TH ST • NEWBERRY (next to Kangaroo) www.VisitOurTowns.com

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ADVERTISER INDEX 4400 NW 36th Avenue • Gainesville, FL 32606 352-372-5468 352-373-9178 fax REAL ESTATE Atrium ....................................................................... 112 Coldwell Banker MM Parrish .................168 (HS) Forrester Realty .................................................... 141 Innovative Home Builders .............167, 168 (NB) PRO Realty ............................................................ 148 Savannah Station .................................................. 57 Springhill Village....................................................54 The Village ................................................................. 4

AUTOMOTIVE City Boy’s ...............................................................160 Jim Douglas Sales & Service ........................... 132 L&S Auto Trim ........................................................83 Newberry Auto Repair Inc .................................34 Roger’s Tire & Brake.............................................83 RPM Automotive ................................................. 125 Auto Swap Meet .................................................. 103 Sun City Auto .........................................................85 Tuffy Tire & Auto Service ............................ 2, 145

FINANCIAL / INSURANCE Allstate - Hugh L. Cain ........................................99 Ameriprise Financial ........................................... 141 Campus USA Credit Union .................................19 Easy Tax & Accounting ..................................... 158 H&R Block ................................................................76 State Farm, Tish Oleksy ......................................66 Sunshine State Insurance ................................. 136 SunState Federal Credit Union ........52, 88, 149 Three Rivers Insurance ......................................144

MEDICAL / HEALTH Affordable Dentures ............................................42 Alachua Dental .......................................................55 Alachua Family Medical Center .......................95 Altschuler Periodontic ......................................106 Caretenders .............................................................78

162 | Winter 2011

Community Cancer Center ..............................144 Douglas M Adel DDS.......................................... 136 Loving Care Assisted Living ............................ 46 McCauley & Associates Medical Group ........65 North Florida Women Care ................................. 7 Palms Medical Group ......................................... 123 Reliant Family Practice ............................................

Samant Dental Group ..........................................39 Dr. Storoe, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery........ 10 Tioga Dental Associates ............................... (NB) Dr. Vishnu Reddy .....................................................11

FITNESS and BEAUTY All Creations Salon ...............................................70 Charisma for Hair ................................................. 44 Dawn & Co. Hair, Nails, and Tanning .............. 75 Hair & Nail Depot ................................................ 153 Jodies Beauty & Barber Shop ..........................70 Jonesville Barber Shop ..................................... 158 Nails N Spa ............................................................160 Sarah Vierra Salon ............................................... 115 Underground Fitness Revolution ....................99

PETS and VETS A Paradise for Pets ...............................................34 Animal Health Center ..........................................32 Bed ‘n Biscuit Inn ................................................. 131 Dancin’ Dogs Day Care & Boarding ..............137 Flying Fish Pets and Aquatics ...........................71 House Call Vet ...................................................... 148 Pampered Paws ......................................................71 Pamper Your Pet .................................................. 110 Spring Hill Equine Vet Clinic .............................69 Vacation Station Pet Resort............................ 148 West End Animal Hospital ............................... 123

CHILD CARE / LEARNING Alachua Fine Arts ................................................ 131 Gainesville Country Day School .................... 120 Sun Country Sports Center ......................... (HS)

RETAIL / RECREATION Alachua Children’s Theatre .............................. 131 Alachua Farm & Lumber .................................. 153 Alachua Pawn & Jewelry ............................ 56, 67 Badcock Home Furniture & More ..........56, 102 Beacher’s Lodge................................................... 131 Bennett’s True Value .....................68, 71, 133, 141 Blue Springs ..........................................................108 City of Gainesville ...............................................108 Coin & Jewelry Gallery ...............................93, 107 Colleen’s Kloset..................................................... 114 Cootie Coo Creations ................................. 54, 127 Dance Alive! ............................................................ 111 Dirty Bar .................................................................. 30 Elite Pro Ball Academy .......................................34 Gary’s Tackle Box ..................................................83 Gold Buyers of Alachua .................................... 164 High Springs Pawn & Jewelry...................6 (HS) High Springs Farmer’s Market ..........................70 Hippodrome ..........................................................104 Indulge! .....................................................................38 Jewelry Designs by Donna ................................70 Klaus Fine Jewelry .................................................. 8 Lentz House of Time ...........................................127 Lifestyle Cruise & Travel ...................................109 Liquor and Wine Shop, The.................. 167 (NB) Meadowbrook Golf Club ....................................63 Ms. Debbie’s Cakes & Sugar Art ......................34 Nanna’s Creations .................................................45 Old Irishman’s Pawn Shop ................................. 75 Oliver & Dahlman ................................................ 153 Paddywhack........................................................... 30 Pawn Pro ................................................... 56, 67, 161 Radio Shack ...........................................................127 Rum Island Retreat .............................................. 64 Sapp’s Pawn, Gun & Archery .......................... 125 Sanders Jewelers ...................................................51 Stitch In Time Embroidery .................................34 Tan USA ................................................................... 141 Tioga Town Center.................................................15 Valerie’s Loft ......................................................... 159

SERVICE ACT Computer Solutions ...................................70 Affordable Residential Design & Drafting....95 Alachua Pest Services ....................................... 153 Alachua Printing ..................................................160 AllState Mechanical, Inc......................................35

Bertie Heating & Air ............................................ 64 Big Blue Recycling .............................................. 143 Blooming House Nursery ...................................95 COX ..................................................................... 9, 143 Creekside Outdoor ...............................................77 DirecTV ................................................................... 133 Gainesville Regional Airport ...........................144 Grower’s Fertilizer Corporation ..................... 164 Gulf Coast Supply & Manufacturing ...............43 Jack’s Small Engine Repair................................87 Lotus Studios Photography ............................. 20 Quality Cleaners ....................................................62 Steeplechase Storage..........................................29 United Rent All .......................................................86

HOME IMPROVEMENT Al Mincey Site Prep ............................................. 110 Clint S. Davis LLC ..................................................67 Cook Portable Buildings ................................... 132 Floor Store ....................................................... 35, 42 Gonzales Site Prep ............................................. 148 H2Oasis Poos .......................................................... 27 Heckard’s Door Specialties.............................. 166 Kurt Johnsen Energy Systems .........................54 McGriff Fencing ................................................... 103 Overhead Door Company ................................ 124 Sherer Studio Glass & Stone ............................ 131 Whitfield Window and Door .............................25

RESTAURANT Amy’s Country Buffet & Grill.............................96 BubbaQue’s ............................................................ 141 Gator Q BBQ, Wings and Things .......... 96, 109 Gator Domino’s .................................................. 5, 17 El Toro Mexican Food & Salsa ..........................99 Flying Biscuit Café ................................................98 Joe’s Place ...............................................................96 Kazbor’s Grille ................................................... 3, 97 Los Aviña Mexican ................................................97 O Sole Mio Pizzeria...............................................97 Pepperonis Pizza ........................................... 70, 99 PizzaVito...................................................................76 Saboré .......................................................................99

MISCELLANEOUS Alachua County EPD .........................................160 Pasteuria Bioscience .............................................31

www.VisitOurTowns.com

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“A FLORIDA COMPANY DOING BUSINESS IN FLORIDA”

We Invite invite We you to You To come visit Come Visit our new Our New warehouse Warehouse and Retail retail and store in Store in Newberry!

Newberry!

S ER R V I N G H O M E O W NEE R S,, L AW N S E R V I C E C O M PA N I E S A ND T H E A G R I C U LT U R A L C O M M U N ITY

SINCE 1934

NOW IN NEWBERRY! Contact Our Friendly, Knowledgeable Staff

• :HO 7D: B?GK?: <;HJ?B?P;HI GARDEN SEED AVAILABLE • 9KIJEC#8B;D:;: <;HJ?B?P;HI DRY AND LIQUID FERTILIZERS • <EB?7H =H7:; D?JH7J;I%9>;B7J;I CUSTOM-BLENDED FERTILIZERS • F;IJ?9?:;I 7D: >;H8?9?:;I PESTICIDES AND HERBICIDES

PHONE: (352) *-*#,(-* <7N0 (352) 474-6323 JIM SMITH Manager & Certified Crop Advisor Mobile: (352) *(-#-&&& D[nj[b0 '+. '- )(/* jsmith@growersfertilizer.com DEL DOUGLAS Warehouse Manager & Sales Representative Mobile: (352) (-/#-*/* D[nj[b0 '+. '- )))) ddouglas@growersfertilizer.com AMANDA “MANDY” BRADLEY Office Manager Mobile: (352) (-/#-(./ D[nj[b0 '+. '- (*.& abradley@growersfertilizer.com

,)) DM (+&J> IJ$" D;M8;HHO" <B )(,,/ EF;D -0)& 7C JE +0&& FC CED:7O#<H?:7O 164 | Winter 2011

page

109 >> WISH YOU WERE HERE

With its record-breaking hits and sellout tours, Pink Floyd remains one of the most influential rock bands of all time.

The Pink Floyd Experience – complete with 200,000 watts of light, full quadraphonic sound and six brilliant musicians – performs Pink Floyd’s greatest hits including: Money, Have a Cigar, Time, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell and many rarities not often heard live.

www.VisitOurTowns.com

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Smile.

FREE

upgrade to Low-E glass

Every time you come home.

Custom Sizing and Expert Installation • Upgrade Your Sliding Glass Doors • Beautiful French Doors • Huge Selection

• All Budgets, All Tastes • Free In-Home Consultations • Severe Weather Glass • Lifetime Warranties • Interior doors

• Entryway doors in all styles • French and Patio doors in all sizes and styles • Replacement hardware • Repairs and adjustments (NO GARAGE DOORS)

Gainesville’s Full Service Door Company.

1315 NW 53rd Ave., Ste. C, Gainesville, FL

352-376-0422 Jacksonville: 904-370-4967 www.heckardsdoor.com

Installer License #CRC 1330289

Ashton Ridge S U B D I V I S I O N

CBC #1256897

Drive a little save a lot!

NEW HOMES STARTING AS LOW AS $116,900 — MODEL HOME PRICING — Madison ....................... $116,900 Moultrie......................... $118,852 Macon ............................... $121,775 Newnan .............................$124,113 Hampton ..................... $125,277 Albany ............................. $125,962

Albany Two............... $129,910 Henderson.................$130,106 Charleston ................ $135,534 Savannah ....................$138,670 Charlotte ....................... $141,510 Douglasville........... $152,488

www.ashtonridge.me For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call

352-359-1070

The Camerons… Make it happen!

5110 SW 91st Drive, Suite A • Gainesville, Florida 32608

Ralph Cameron.........................352-359-1060 MOBILE Bonnie Cameron..................... 352-359-1070 MOBILE www.VisitOurTowns.com

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