otjv_2020-07-nov-dec

SPECIAL SECTION: MEET LOCAL INDUSTRY LEADERS IN THE SECOND ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF THE FACES OF OUR TOWN!

The Maker Issue

NOV/DECEMBER 2020 | VOL. 18 ISSUE 07 | NEWBERRY & JONESVILLE EDITION

From artists and hobbyists to tinkerers and dreamers, our community is made up of talented creators

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CONTENTS

N O V/ D E C 2 0 2 0

G R E AT E R A L A C H U A C O U N T Y

| V O L . 1 8 | N O. 0 7

ON THE COVER >> IN THIS ISSUE WE INVITE YOU TO LEARN ABOUT SOME OF THE MAKERS WHO HELP FORM OUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY. FROM MACRAME ARTISTS TO SCULPTORS AND AUTHORS TO CHEFS, THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT FORMS OF CREATIVITY!

FEATURE STORIES 19 THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

Learn about the inspiration for today’s Turkey Day traditions.

22 PARK OF POSSIBILITIES

Discover the social and economic impact of the first playground in High Springs to specifically cater to children with physical and mental handicaps.

28 DIY HOLIDAY CRAFTS

Let’s get crafty — ‘Tis the season to make memories!

62 BEULA HONEY

Enjoy the buzz of the bees and explore the joys of beekeeping with local honey maker Liana Teigen.

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CONTENTS

N O V/ D E C 2 0 2 0

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WHIMSY AND MADNESS Sit pretty while drinking out of an ugly mug! Learn about the journey of the Ugly Muggery & Emporium’s owner, and how she began creating mugs with faces only a mother could love.

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PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN Brandon Shenk, a Gainesville-native and filmmaker, creates an impactful movie about a teenage male’s eating disorder.

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THE ARTISANS' GUILD GALLERY Delve into the past, present and future goals of this tight-knit group of artists.

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HISTORY IN THE DECORATING Celebrate the origins of a few festive trinkets, trimmings and timeless traditions during the holiday season.

PIESABILITIES Understand the difficulty of finding meaningful work for adults with disabilities and how Jennifer Dempsey is doing her part by baking pies with a purpose.

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RENAISSANCE MAN Marvel at the many talents of Michael A. Eaddy — photographer, multiinstrumentalist and woodworker. The man can do it all!

OUR TOWN MAGAZINE

LORD OF THE CLOUDS Enter a world that is one part Alice in Wonderland, one part Dante’s Inferno, with a dash of dystopia and a pinch of Narnia thrown in for good measure — and you’ll get a taste of Gator Grad G.S. Lewis’ debut novel.

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NOV/DEC 2020

COLUMNS 42 F ARM TALES

by Mother Hen

52 N AKED SALSA

by Crystal Henry

74 E MBRACING LIFE

by Donna Bonnell

184 F UREVER FRIENDS Spotlight on Rescue Animals

SPECIAL SECTION: MEET LOCAL INDUSTRY LEADERS IN THE SECOND ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF THE FACES OF OUR TOWN!

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HISTORY IN THE MAKERS Become inspired and admire the creative minds of past makers in different industries from wood carvers to painters.

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CLOVE AND COTTON Weave through the beginnings of a local macrame business.

REVIEWS 86 R EADING CORNER

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

INFORMATION 76 T aste of the Town 136 Charity Winners 182 B usiness Directory

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FLOWER FIBERS Take a look into the colorful world of Kelly Perez. Creating her handcrafted, plantdyed products has become a passion.

The articles printed in Our Town 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. © 2020 Tower Publications, Inc.

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PUBLISHER Charlie Delatorre PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Brian Knepp

Complete Pregnancy Care from Conception through Delivery

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ericka Winterrowd editor@towerpublications.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kaitlin Applegate, Dana Bryan, Cameron Cobb, Summer Jarro, Michaela Mulligan, Addison Pezoldt, Joanna Grey Talbot, Hayli Zuccola CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Michael A. Eaddy

Anthony B. Agrios, MD Joseph S. Iobst, MD Jean C. Cook, MD

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Gainesville (352) 331-3332

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CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS If you would like us to publicize an event in the greater Gainesville area, send information by the 1st day of the month prior to the next issue.

For example, submissions for the March/April issue are due by February 1. All submissions will be reviewed and every effort will be made to run qualified submissions if page space is available.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We want to hear from you. Send your letters to the attention of the editor at 4400 NW 36th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32606 or editor@ towerpublications.com. Letters must be signed and include a phone number in the event we need to contact you. (Your phone number will not be published.)

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OUR TOWN MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY BY TOWER PUBLICATIONS, INC. REPRODUCTION BY ANY MEANS OF THE WHOLE OR PART OF OUR TOWN WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER IS PROHIBITED. VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE EDITORIAL PAGES DO NOT IMPLY OUR ENDORSEMENT. WE WELCOME YOUR PRODUCT NEWS. INCLUDE PRICES, PHOTOS AND DIGITAL FILES WITH YOUR PRESS RELEASE. PLEASE FORWARD PRODUCT SAMPLES AND MEDIA KITS TO REVIEWS EDITOR, OUR TOWN MAGAZINE, 4400 NW 36TH AVENUE, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606. WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED PRODUCT SAMPLES.

A Publication of Tower Publications, Inc. 4400 NW 36th Ave., Gainesville, Florida 32606 phone: 352-372-5468 fax: 352-373-9178

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EDITOR ’ S LET TER

N O V/ D E C 2 0 2 0

The Muse in You

It comes out of nowhere.

But when it strikes you know it… you feel it: the call to create.

I’ve always been intrigued with where inspiration comes from. As an editor who is tasked with creating story ideas and issue themes on the regular, I like to do my share of research and creative digging. However, at other times an idea for a story, theme, or magazine cover seems to just suddenly strike – like lightning.

So where does that come from?

My first foray into the arts began with theatre. I fell in love with drama and the spoken word of Shakespeare.

I remember when I was cast in a high school production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I was entranced with the magical world of fairies and lovers, and the rhythm I felt as I read such beautiful words in iambic pentameter.

It was later that I discovered just how much I love words in general and that they, too, can be a form of art as well. Writing can be a tricky business, though. Most often it’s a solitary one, but I happen to like it that way. I see the process as a sacred time where I sit at my desk staring at a blank word document and repeat these words: “Just tell the story, Ericka.” And then I begin. You see, the beginning is always the hardest part. How do I start? And when is that creative muse going to pay me a visit?

I’m sure you are familiar with the saying, “The Muse is upon me.” This is in regard to finding that creative spark that propels you into your art form and ultimately into making something. Ancient writers appealed to the Muses at the beginning of their work. Homer asks them in both the “Iliad” and “Odyssey” to help him tell the story in the most proper way, and even today these Muses are symbols of inspiration and artistic creation.

I interpret the idea of the muse as more of a spiritual experience. I believe an artist’s work is sacred – one that is very much connected to a higher power, to God. The ideas that reside in each one of us are just waiting to be unlocked, but we must first quiet the mind and listen for the whisper. That’ll be “the Muse” talking to you…

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Ericka Winterrowd, Editor-In-Chief

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CONTRIBUTOR S

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N O V/ D E C 2 0 2 0

SUMMER JARRO is a journalism student at the University of Florida. Along with writing, she loves Disney, watching old films, going to the beach and traveling to new places. summerjarro@gmail.com

ADDISON PEZOLDT is a journalism major at the University of Florida. In her free time, she enjoys reading, practicing yoga and exploring new eateries in Gainesville. akpezoldt@gmail.com

DANA BRYAN is a journalism student at the University of Florida and a freelance writer. In her free time, she loves to read, write amateur code and watch television. itsdanabryan@gmail.com

MICHAELA MULLIGAN is a junior journalism major at the University of Florida and freelance writer. In her spare time, she loves to soak up the sun at the beach or curl up indoors with a good cup of coffee and a book. michaelarmulligan@gmail.com

KAITLIN APPLEGATE is a Rock School graduate. In her spare time she enjoys creative writing and finding inspiration in unexpected places (in truth, mostly from Netflix). kaitlinapplegatewrites@gmail.com

CAMERON COBB is a UF grad with a master’s degree in Mass Communication. She’s also an Air Force veteran. Cameron loves traveling, writing and all animals (her favorite being her rescue dog, Maggie). cameronacobb5@gmail.com

HAYLI ZUCCOLA is a New England native who enjoys listening to music and traveling. After graduating high school with her AA degree, she received her Bachelor’s in Journalism from the University of Florida.

HayzDesigns@yahoo.com

JOANNA GREY TALBOT is the marketing director for the Matheson History Museum and the author of the blog “Florida Revealed: Dispatches from the Land of Publix, Citrus, and Alligators.” joannagtalbot@gmail.com

CRYSTAL HENRY is a freelance writer and columnist born and raised in West Texas. She received her B.S. in Journalism in 2006 from the University of Florida. She is in love with the Florida landscape. ces03k@gmail.com

DONNA BONNELL became the author of Embracing Life, more than a decade ago. She shares her personal challenges and victories with the goal of inspiring her readers to analyze why things happen in their own lives. bonneldj@gmail.com

GOBBLE GOBBLE Y’ALL CULTURE >> TRADITIONS

THE INSPIRATION FOR TODAY’S TRADITIONS

The First Thanksgiving W R I T T E N B Y H AY L I Z U CCO L A

Thanksgiving — a crisp November day known for gathering friends and family to watch the colossal Tom Turkey take over New York City during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or to cheer on a beloved football team.

Of course the biggest and most enjoyed Thanksgiving tradition is covering the dinner table with a delicious home-cooked meal; but what food was actually present at the first Thanksgiving and how has it transformed into today’s classic fare?

A buttery graham cracker crust filled with pumpkin puree and covered in a fluffy whipped cream, a tart cranberry sauce, a golden turkey and melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes are all Thanksgiving staples — and none were present at the first Thanksgiving.

What is now referred to as the official first Thanksgiving feast

transpired in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as a celebration between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians to honor a successful autumn harvest. Surprisingly, this three-day feast didn’t become a national holiday until 1863, according to the history.com video “Bet You Didn’t Know: Thanksgiving” — an over-200-year gap that is partially to blame for such a drastic change in holiday festivities.

The main course during the first feast consisted of duck, geese or other wildfowl and five deer brought by members of the Wampanoag. Current traditions tend to veer toward NOV/DEC 2020

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CULTURE >> TRADITIONS

Photo from November 10, 1916 at the first community Thanksgiving celebration at Park View School in Park View, D.C.

roasted turkey, probably because hunting down Bambi or dining with Donald Duck isn’t as appetizing today as it was in the 17th century. Another difference is that people today don’t have to hunt and gather their own food, unless one considers plowing through fellow shoppers to make a beeline for the freezer section at the supermarket a form of hunting and gathering.

Vegetables such as spinach, cabbage and peas were likely served at the first Thanksgiving, as well as corn, but not roasted with butter or turned into cornbread like today’s holiday favorites. According to the history.com article “First Thanksgiving Meal,” corn was removed from the cob and turned into a powder-like cornmeal. It would then be used to make a thick porridge and was likely sweetened using molasses.

Living on the east coast of New England at the time, it isn’t much of a shocker that fish and shellfish were a probable side dish to the main course of geese and venison. Here in the 21st century, seafood isn’t typically eaten during the fall holiday, in part because November isn’t the optimal weather for seafood and with a season celebrating pumpkin-spice everything, the flavors of seafood and pumpkin don’t really go together.

One flavor, however, that has lasted for over 400 years has 20 |

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PHOTOGRAPHY: HARRIS & EWING, 1916

been pumpkin. Sorry for those who cringe at the thought of pumpkin spice lattes or detest the smell of pumpkin streusel muffins, but it is an autumn favorite that has stood the test of time, well sort of. Although it wasn’t baked into pies and the Pilgrims certainly weren’t using it to flavor a hot macchiato, according to the history.com article, the orange gourd was hollowed out and used like a bowl to make a sweet custard and was then roasted with the filling inside.

Another tradition that has somewhat endured for the past few centuries is outdoor sports. During the first Thanksgiving, shooting targets or playing a game similar to ring toss were popular forms of entertainment, according to the scholastic.com article “The Feast.” Of course, today most people spend time watching an intense football game rather than playing the game themselves, but it is still a tradition that has been tied to Thanksgiving for years.

Discovering the delicious history of the first Thanksgiving definitely makes one wonder: what will Thanksgiving traditions be like in another 400 years?

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PARKS AND REC >> INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND

FOR THE KIDS

Park of Possibilities New Physical and Mental HandicapAccessible Playground S TORY A N D PHOTOG R A PHY BY A DDI SON PEZOLDT R E N DERING S BY G A METIME

T

he City of High Springs has traditionally been a rural town, full of deeprooted history and a close-knit community. As times have changed and the city has grown, it is slowly shifting toward more development to meet the needs of its people. With the help of a new grant from the state, David Sutton and Damon Messina

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are doing their part to help. For the past nine months, the pair has spearheaded a project focused on implementing a new handicap-accessible playground for children in the community.

The grant comes from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program (FRDAP) through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and was officially awarded in 2019.

Robert Basford, the previous High Springs Parks and Recreation

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PARKS AND REC >> INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND

David Sutton is proud of what he and Damon Messina have accomplished with the playground. Sutton said it was important to be patient and get things right because many handicapped children do not have such amenities available to them.

director, applied for the grant back in 2018 before passing the project into the hands of Sutton and Messina. When he executed the grant, Basford had already installed two other playgrounds through the Recreation Advisory Board and the city manager at the time.

“At the time, there was nothing on this end of the county for individuals with disabilities,” Sutton said. “That’s not only physical disabilities, but also things like autism.”

When Messina became the new director of the Parks and Recreation department, he brought on Sutton, who previously worked in the Parks department and is now the Community Redevelopment Agency coordinator.

“He felt the need and wanted to pick up for the most part where Robert left off,” Messina said. “He wanted to be the lead guy to sunset the project.”

The FRDAP grant is a matching grant of $70,000, where the city must provide the matching money and is reimbursed by the state. The city has to go above and beyond the $70,000 to meet all the expenses. With the grant included, the team expects to spend between $200,000 to $300,000. The initial grant money is just used for the installation of the playground, and the city will pay for the maintenance and upkeep once it is built.

Sutton said the playground should be fairly maintenance-free with minimal costs.

While there are already playgrounds in High Springs that are handicap-accessible, this will be the first playground in the

area specifically catered to children with physical and mental handicaps. The playground will be built at the Sports Complex in High Springs, which is the only park in the area that does not currently have a playground. The location is also right across from High Springs Community School, conveniently placing it in a heavily trafficked area.

The High Springs Sports Complex caters to a large portion of the community. The complex has multi-purpose athletic fields, disk golf, BMX track, trails and multi-purpose ball fields.

Messina said at least eight to ten times a calendar year the park, along with the BMX track, helps to bring thousands of people to the area.

“Economic impact plays a role for almost everything we do.

We want out-of-town visitors to come into our amazing town and spend [their] money here,” he said. “From playgrounds to

“To recognize the needs of those who now live here, I think, is important.”

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youth sports, adult activities, senior activities — that’s one of our primary goals: to provide first and foremost for our local residents, but [also] our out of town residents for economic impact.”

The initial renderings for the playground followed the sports theme much more, and as Sutton and Messina dove more into the process, they determined which aspects worked and which did not.

“All-inclusive playgrounds are still fairly new to recreation, and we were just taking advantage of our resources,” Messina said.

Sutton and Messina still need to make some other changes to the Sports Complex to make room for the playground and all the amenities that must go along with it. A new parking lot is being developed with handicapped parking spots next to where the playground will be. They’re also moving where the sidewalk currently is and adding a convenience stand. A shade structure will be added to provide protection from the heat on the playground, in addition to the natural shade provided by the trees at the location. A barrier netting will surround the playground to protect it from the softball fields.

Having this handicap-accessible playground is important for more than just bringing a new play area to the community.

According to Messina, the playground also helps local residents, outside visitors and, most importantly, the residents who have disabilities and are handicapped. It may also have an economic impact.

“It’s just another piece to the puzzle that he and I are trying to do for High Springs to improve the quality of life for everybody,” Sutton said. “Like [Damon] said, to help the town with economic impact, to provide another benefit for those who currently live here, who are looking to move here, who want to spend time here.”

Sutton said he simply wants to see kids playing and having

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PARKS AND REC >> INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND

For the two of them, it was important to be patient with the process due to the significance of what they were building.

They wanted to be educated about how to go about properly implementing a playground that would meet the needs of the community.

Once they had an idea of a location, Messina said they had to narrow it down and come up with the nuances and amenities to go along with the playground.

It is important for the playground to be functional but still aesthetically pleasing, so determining things like what colors and type of panel to use play a factor.

“You get one chance to get it right,” Sutton said.

One of the most innovative pieces of equipment for the new playground is a wheelchair-accessible boat swing. A wheelchair can roll up onto the apparatus and sit there while it swings back and forth. The playground will be the only one within 100 miles to have this type of structure. The playground will also have a pour-and-play surface, which is better for wheelchair accessibility. There will be sensory items (visual and auditory) for kids to touch and move.

“I am a parent of a son with autism,” Sutton said. “He is 14 now and has high-functioning Asperger’s. Growing up, he had severe sensory issues. There’s a personal aspect to it.”

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PARKS AND REC >> INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND

The new playground will be built at the Sports Complex in High Springs. Sections of the sports complex must be renovated and removed to make room for the playground and its equipment. The sidewalk will be moved, and handicapped parking spots will be added next to the playground. Damon Messina said the playground should have a positive economic impact on the city. "We want out-of-town visitors to come and spend [their] money here," Messina said.

a good time. Although this playground is designed for kids, adults with disabilities also have a greater opportunity to come and play.

“I have been able, for 14 years now, to relate to parents who have children with disabilities. My son is not in a wheelchair; physically he is fine, but as far as his mental and emotional capabilities—there are issues there," he said. "These playgrounds can help with that.”

Because High Springs has changed from the small, country community it once was, Messina and Sutton want the playground to reflect the diversity of the city. For them, having a more inclusive playground represents a more inclusive community.

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“To recognize the needs of those who now live here, I think, is important,” Sutton said.

As this issue was going to press, construction for the playground was expected to begin in the fall. The contractor for the project has already been selected. Sutton and Messina said they should have a plan finalized within the next two months, and the park will perhaps be completed by spring 2021.

Sutton said having an inclusive playground like this in the community will provide handicapped children with an experience they have never had before. To them, this playground will be like Disney World.

“That’s why I do it,” he said. “To see an autistic child have his own sensory toys to play with.”

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CRAFT PROJECTS >> HOLIDAY DECORATIONS

HOLLY JOLLY

DIY Holiday Crafts Create Memories By Making Decorations S TORY A N D PHOTOG R A PHY BY ERICK A WINTER ROW D

I

t’s the most wonderful time of year! Even though the holidays might be celebrated a little differently this year (as people continue to social distance), those who are able to be together can still carry on the tradition of making precious memories. I’ve always loved Thanksgiving, and not just because of the food. My favorite sound in the whole world is the faint laughter of my family members in the next room. Of course, I’m quick to join in the chuckles with them, but I always like taking a moment to myself beforehand, thanking the Lord for allowing me to spend another holiday with my loved ones.

After Thanksgiving, my all-time favorite holiday arrives — Christmas! The sweet taste of hot cocoa and the smell of cookies baking in the oven are just some of the “sensory memories” embedded in my mind and heart this season. Homemade decorations are sprinkled throughout every room of my mom’s house, reminding everyone of Christmases past.

Creating holiday crafts every year has always been such a special memory growing up. What better way to gather loved ones together than to create a “Tom the Turkey Mason Jar” for Thanksgiving, and a “Christmas (Straw) Tree,” which can hang on your front door all December?

Below are instructions to make these two crafts, and boy, are they fun. I hope you enjoy the finished products, but more importantly I hope you revel in the process of making them. For as you create decorations, you also make memories. And holiday memories are the best presents to give and to receive.

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TOM THE TURKEY MASON JAR SUPPLIES

• 1 small Mason jar • Construction paper (brown, red, yellow, orange) • Yellow felt • Glitter (metallic brown/orange color) • Googly eyes • Spray adhesive glue • Pencil • Scissors

STEP ONE Take the small Mason jar and spray adhesive glue inside. Be sure to spray all areas inside jar.

STEP TWO Pour a good amount of glitter inside the jar. Twist the top of the Mason jar tightly and shake so the glitter can adhere to the glue.

STEP THREE Pour out any excess glitter.

STEP FOUR Using the yellow felt, cut out a triangle shape. This will be the beak of your turkey. Adhere this to an upside down Mason jar.

Glue the triangle in the center of the Mason jar. Make sure the triangle shape is upside down too. This will give the appearance of a pointed bird beak.

STEP FIVE Glue a pair of googly eyes above the beak.

STEP SIX Trace your right and left hand on each of the construction papers.

After this is completed, cut out your hand shapes and set aside.

STEP SEVEN Take your hand shapes and glue each of them together in a fan-like fashion. Once they are glued together, adhere them to your turkey’s behind. This will create tail feathers for your turkey. Allow time to dry.

After the drying is complete, Tom the Turkey is ready to party. This craft makes a great decoration on a table, shelf, or even as a gift. Get the kids involved in this one. Shaking the glitter inside the jar is usually their favorite part!

Gobble Gobble!

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• Flat wooden tree form (available at craft stores) • Green decorative straws • Red bows • Hot glue gun • Scissors *Flat wooden tree forms are available at most craft stores during the holiday season and come pre-hung. However, this craft can be completed with any type of thin flat wood by gluing the pieces together, creating your own tree form.

STEP ONE Cut the green straws into smaller pieces by measuring them against the width of the wood pieces. Repeat this process until you have enough for your entire tree.

STEP TWO Using a hot glue gun, glue the smaller straw pieces vertically onto the wooden tree. Be careful not to burn your fingers during this process. “Haste makes waste!” Repeat this process until all of the “branches” of your Christmas tree are covered in straw.

STEP THREE Now it’s time to glue the red bows on each of the branches, one on each branch right in the middle.

Now your Christmas (Straw) Tree is complete. All you need to do is hang “O Tannenbaum” on your front door. What a festive way to let your neighborhood know you’re ready to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year!

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CULINARY MAKER >> CHEF CHARLIE

BON APPÉTIT

Covey Kitchen + Cocktails Cooking Up Something Special with Chef Charlie S T O R Y A N D P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y K A I T L I N A P P L E G AT E

F

rom scrubbing dishes to designing delectable plates, Chef Charlie has run the culinary gamut.

“I started washing dishes very young” said Covey Kitchen + Cocktails Executive Chef, Charlie Keller. As a 15-year-old looking for work in Long Island, rinsing pots for cash was his best career path. Stuffed behind the sink, Keller’s scenery was chefs cranking out quality meals fast. Before long, he started picking up cooking techniques.

“I got bored watching everyone else mess with food,” he said.

Somewhere in the flurry of filled food tickets, bused tables and clinking glasses, Keller caught his passion for cuisine. Cooking gave a young Keller the

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chance to hone his craft without having to part with his wild side. “You can party as hard as you want but you’re going to get in trouble if you don’t show up to a shift.” The kitchen soon became his best boss, teaching him structure while leaving room for fun.

“I could still be myself.”

After high school, Keller studied culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University. He graduated with an associate degree in culinary arts alongside a bachelor’s in restaurant and food services management. Looking back, Keller sees university as the least important component in his growth as a chef.

“It will teach you your seven mother sauces, how to press a chef coat and be clean shaven,” he said.

Keller explained that at the end of the day, all that matters is if you can cook under pressure. He

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CULINARY MAKER >> CHEF CHARLIE

For aspiring chefs, Keller recommends learning from the ground up. “Go to Manhattan, apply for a dishwash position and you’ll learn how to cook,” he said. “Bottom line, it’s as easy as that.” From there, Keller said becoming a professional cook is a matter of hard work and patience.

said that cooking in crowded Manhattan restaurants gave him better job experience than any degree could.

In the heart of Manhattan, it’s not uncommon to find your favorite Broadway performers waiting tables between shows.

After leaving the army, Morgan Anderson studied Opera at the Manhattan School of Music. Soon, she started serving at a restaurant on 77th street and Broadway, where Keller happened to be working as a sous-chef.

“Every night, front and back house would go to Amsterdam Ale House on 76th and Amsterdam [to relax after closing],” Keller said. One evening, he invited Anderson to join. She said yes and the rest is a Manhattan-made love story. “Next thing you know, after 8 months, I asked her to marry me,” he said.

Gainesville. Trading New York City for Gainesville put Keller on the culinary hunt again. Initially, Keller thought about opening a restaurant, as he had successfully done several times over back home. But Keller is not one to settle. After looking at 20 different places, nothing made the cut. “None of them screamed at me,” he said.

Despite his experience and talent, he was hard pressed to find a company in need of his expertise. Keller wanted to keep his options open while also remaining cautious of going stir crazy.

After many dead ends, Keller took a job as a line cook making $14 an hour. To put the cherry on top of a dumpy sundae, the pandemic was well underway by this point. After much fruitless searching to find the right fit, Keller’s fortune flipped when a

“Everybody on this staff has been chosen for their own outstanding traits. They’re all here for a reason.”

After tying the knot, Morgan and Charlie started thinking about moving to Gainesville, where Morgan was born and raised. The couple were itching for a change of pace, and Keller wanted his wife to be closer to her mother. “So I was like, ‘let’s just do it and figure it out along the way,’” Keller said.

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great opportunity found him.

“Out of nowhere I got a phone call,” he said.

The person on the other end of the line wanted Charlie to join Hotel ELEO in opening a restaurant unlike anything Gainesville had seen. When Keller met with hotel general manager Rich Richardson, Charlie asked him if he wanted his references. “No,

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CULINARY MAKER >> CHEF CHARLIE

your food will be my reference,” Richardson said.

Keller ended up cooking him a 12-course tasting menu out of his mother-in-law’s kitchen. “That night he offered me the job,” Keller said.

From there, Keller was tasked with creating a menu that made outstanding high-end food approachable. Keller designed Covey’s menu with Gainesville’s demographic in mind and innovation at heart. The finished menu tells stories with spicy kicks like boiled peanuts to bold turns like the roasted veggie salad with nutritional yeast vinaigrette.

“The theme is honestly what I like to eat,” Keller said with a laugh. Since Bahn Mi is one of Keller’s favorite sandwiches, he asked himself, “How can I put a Bahn Mi on here and make it approachable?”

Traditional Bahn Mi comes on a French baguette with ham, pork and pâté typically made from head cheese. Since hog head can be intimating to the casual restaurant goer, Keller replaced it with a smooth chicken liver mousse. The tender pork belly and country ham gives the sandwich a trendy indulgent feel.

Top it off with roasted garlic aioli and some fresh cilantro and most people are open to trying Bahn Mi. Every dish at Covey is made with the freshest, highest quality ingredients. Keller gets his carrots from the same vendor that supplies Le Bernardin, an upscale restaurant in New York City.

Every guest that eats at Covey leaves with a little taste of New York.

Keller also designed most of the restaurant’s handcrafted cocktails. While the Jalapeno Muddle is Keller’s personal favorite, the Jus de Poire is a crowd pleaser. When he opened a restaurant back in New York, the Jus de Poire became a best seller.

“It’s like an adult Capri Sun.” Like most of his food, some cocktails put a new twist on old classics, like The Triple Helix, a reimagining of a Gibson. Keller aims to provide a refuge where people can forget about the day, “even if it’s only for that one whiskey.”

Since Keller has studied under French, Asian and Italian chefs, he sees this restaurant as an amalgamation of new American flavors. The diverse menu, with a local flare, takes guests on a culinary adventure while still making them feel at home.

In addition to the Florida feel, Keller seeks to make patrons feel welcome through offering outstanding hospitality. Keller wants Covey to embody the South African greeting “ubuntu,” which he learned from Shake Shack founder and restaurateur, Danny Meyer. In Meyer’s book “Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business,” he says “Ubuntu is an expression of humanness, which conveys ‘I see you.’ That simply and effectively addresses the core human need to be seen and to feel seen.”

To the staff at Covey Kitchen + Cocktails, making people feel seen ensures everyone has a seat at the table. Since the restaurant is owned by UF Health Shands and located right next to UF Health Heart & Vascular and Neuromedicine hospitals, Keller

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CULINARY MAKER >> CHEF CHARLIE

very much sees Covey as a part of the hospital’s community.

“Everybody on this staff has been chosen for their own outstanding traits,” Keller said. “They’re all here for a reason.”

All restaurant workers are equipped with empathy and cleaning protocol training to keep standards high. In addition to the training, Keller credits the staff quality to the type of people Covey Kitchen employs. In his mind, service and hospitality are two different concepts. “Service is what you do to a person: you serve them bread or a beer, whereas hospitality is the way you make someone feel,” he said.

A hotel guest once came in and asked Keller if they had any clear liquid. His wife was in the hospital but even most cafeteria food was off limits for her. Keller gladly put together a homemade chicken broth.

Before leaving, Keller caught the man and said “I’m going to put a recipe on the whiteboard so if you ever need broth for your wife they’ll know exactly how I made it this time.”

The next day the guest came back to say his wife thought it was the tastiest chicken broth she ever had. Although the couple was blown away by Keller’s hospitality, he shrugged when recounting the story. “If you take 30 seconds to think about how easy it is to put together a delicious chicken stock for a woman who may be [about] to receive bad news, just give ‘em the best soup you can give ‘em, you know?” Keller said.

While cooking at Covey is where Keller spends most of the day, coming back to his wife and mother-in-law after every shift is starting to make Gainesville feel more like home. Morgan and Charlie celebrated their tenth anniversary in October and their first year living in Gator Nation.

People often ask Morgan what kind of food her husband cooks at home. Except for the occasional barbeque, Keller doesn’t cook on his day off.

“A commercial kitchen is different than a house kitchen,” he said. “There’s a lot more dishes.”

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COLUMN

FARM TALES

From Mother Hen DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?

MOTHER HEN IS PROUD TO BE A “BABY BOOMER” RAISED ON A FARM POPULATED BY DOGS, CATS, CHICKENS, DUCKS, GEESE, HORSES AND COWS. THE WISDOM SHE GAINED WHILE GROWING UP IN THE COUNTRY CAN’T BE FOUND IN BOOKS. YOU CAN CONTACT MOTHER HEN AT motherhenfarmtales@gmail.com.

I RECENTLY READ A BOOK THAT CHANGED MY WHOLE OUTLOOK ON MAGIC.

N

ot the “pull a rabbit out of a hat” kind of magic, but the magic that happens when inspiration hits and something new, beautiful, innovative or just plain joyful is created. The book is titled “Big Magic”

by Elizabeth Gilbert. She’s the same author who wrote “Eat, Pray, Love.”

In it she suggests that new ideas—the ones that keep you up all night and you can’t get out of your head—are actual entities unto themselves trying to find someone to bring them into existence.

You just need to believe in yourself and go for it! And when this happens, it is what the author calls big magic.

Okay, I’m with you here. It took me awhile to wrap my 70-year-old brain around this concept. But once I thought about my life and the people in it, I actually could see what Ms. Gilbert was saying. Within these people, myself included, I see the creativity that was there all along begging to come out, but life just got in the way. It’s easy to talk yourself out of going for it. You say, “I’m not Picasso, or Hemmingway. I’m nobody special. I wouldn’t know where to start.” But when you hesitate or lack confidence, the magic gets lost or at least put on a shelf for someone else to discover.

Case in point: my father, a farmer since boyhood when he worked the Midwest fields with my grandfather, was an artist at heart. Growing up it was common for me to see his doodles on scraps of paper kept near the telephone to take messages. Sometimes the conversations were long ones, and the doodles became sketches. I remember one in particular of a pheasant among the prairie grasses. I wish I had kept it.

It wasn’t until after a near fatal heart attack that big magic struck. My father acknowledged a desire for wood carving that was calling to him—a call he couldn’t resist. He began

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with a small project, a pelican, and next he focused on ducks and geese. Each piece became larger and more intricate. My favorites are a grizzly bear with a freshly caught fish underfoot, and an angelfish we worked on togther. I drew out the pattern and he carved it into existence. He could see, within the wood’s natural grain, a pattern that lent itself to an animal. As he lost himself into the carving, a beautiful piece of art was created.

It brought joy to him in the creating process, and to us in the finished product.

The word got out about this new talent of his, and neighbors started bringing him wood from trees they had cut down. Walnut, hickory, and other beautiful pieces came to life in his workshop. That’s the thing about big magic, once you believe and set it in motion—it finds a way to make things happen.

When my father passed, I was talking to my aunt about this wonderful talent he had and discovered so late in his life. She was his eldest sister and remembered he always had this artistic talent. She told me as a young boy he was constantly drawing cars and was obsessed with creating modern aerodynamic sleek designs. Keep in mind, at this time their family car was a used Ford Model A and there was no such thing as aerodynamics. Big magic was definitely calling him even then. How different would life have been if he had been able to follow that dream and pursue it with auto makers. It was during the Great Depression, however, and that inspiration had to wait for another time and someone else to bring it to life.

One last story about my father, told to me by my aunt.

There was a family “heirloom” passed on to my father. A very simple tiny wooden shoe, carved by my great-great grandfather on the ship as he immigrated to America. The carving itself may not be of much value to anyone else, but the true value it carries is the gift of creativity that was passed on to my father.

That spark of artistry, to see a piece of wood and visualize

something hidden within the grain… that’s big magic.

There are many other talents hidden within each of us, just waiting to be discovered. My mother was also ahead of her time with her creativity. For example, I remember when we moved into the old farmhouse, vacated by my grandparents when they retired, my mother was given the go-ahead to make it her own and redecorate any way she wanted. She decided the old varnished wood kitchen cabinets needed brightening up. She stripped off the varnish and dark stain, repainting them a bright coral/orange.

My grandmother’s eyes popped when she saw this startling change to the kitchen, but not long afterwards all the ladies’ magazines were showing kitchens with these bright pastel colors.

Finally, my husband used to quiet squabbles between our chicks when they were little by saying, “Now, what would Jesus do?”

Several years later the same words became a catch phrase, and WWJD bracelets were everywhere. I kind of think big magic was at work there, too.

As for myself, even as a child I would sit in our small town’s library and dream of one day writing a book which would sit on the shelves among my favorite authors. That persistent, nagging thought kept buzzing around in my head and still does even today.

Reality has tried to bat the thought aside like an annoying mosquito. Even though life has happened, time has passed, and I feel the opportunity has surely passed me by—just like that annoying mosquito the thought keeps coming back. Quite unexpectedly, an offer came along to write this column which now makes me question a little harder.

Maybe it could still happen… even for me.

Listen closely, I’m sure big magic is speaking to you, too... just believe.

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ADVERTISEMENT

Smooth Sailing at SunState Federal Credit Union It has been said that you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. So as challenge after challenge has washed over all of us this year, SunState Federal Credit Union has gladly held tight to our board and learned how to ride the waves. We’ve adapted. And through expansion of some of our services and creative solutions from our staff, SSFCU has discovered some wonderful new ways to serve our community that we might not have tested. In every challenge, we’ve found an opportunity.

At SunState Federal Credit Union, safety and security are our top priority. So to honor our commitment to both, we expanded our drive-thru services to provide the same trusted services in a new and convenient format.

“We recently had a member who was thrilled that we were able to open a money market account for her in under five minutes right in our drive thru lane,” said Vice President of Marketing Robert Hart.

Employees have been shifted to provide space for social distancing, and we’re following CDC protocols by providing face masks and encouraging hand washing and sanitization 44 |

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for the safety of our staff and our members. It’s all part of our continuing approach to customer service and reliability.

“Our new protocols display our commitment to meet our members’ needs and their safety, as well as the safety of our staff,” said Carol Tucker, Regional Director of Member Experience. “These past few months have taught us to be more flexible and nimble in decision making. We’ve become more compassionate, understanding and diligent. Like our members we are all in this together.”

SSFCU has been a leader in online services for years, but over the past month we’ve shifted resources to be

able to provide an even more robust virtual experience. We’ve cross-trained staff members and reconfigured our phone services to ensure that even the remote SunState experience has the personal touch our members have come to expect.

We’ve extended our phone service hours, and our members can also schedule virtual appointments to speak online face-to-face with a representative to open a checking or savings account, apply for an auto or personal loan, and credit cards.

“Our call back option has decreased members’ wait time as well,” said Daryl Pressley, AVP of our Centralized Lending Center. “They don’t have to wait on the phone to talk to someone. We will simply call them back without them losing their spot in line.”

Daryl said the past few months have been rewarding and challenging, but he’s been proud of the sense of community between SunState staff and its members.

“Through this pandemic we have had opportunities to help members in ways we never thought possible. We are our member’s advocates, and if we can help them financially, we will do everything we can,” Daryl said. “We want members to know that we are here for them. Our goal is to serve them, whether that is by saving them money on their loans, or whether that is helping them through a difficult time due to COVID. We are here to serve the members. We can serve members digitally, or in person. Just know we are here to serve.”

So as we look toward the horizon, know that although we can’t see what lies ahead, your team here at SunState Federal Credit Union has embraced the tides as they have turned. And we will be here for our members and our community as we ride this out together.

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POTTERY >> THE UGLY MUGGERY & EMPORIUM

UG MUG

Whimsy and Madness The Ugly Muggery & Emporium S T O R Y B Y H AY L I Z U C C O L A PHOTOG R A PHY BY ERICK A WINTER ROW D

W

ith heavy bags under her eyes and red lipstick emphasizing her grimace, Barb has a permanent expression of annoyance and disgust with her surroundings. Mortimer is reserved and uses his thick beard and mustache to mask his sharp overbite. As for Dr. Mars, his bulging eyes and crazed gaze give him the appearance of having guzzled down one too many cups of coffee. These are just a handful of the quirky characters created by sculptor and Ugly Muggery & Emporium owner Brooke Madsen.

Established in 2016, Madsen’s business venture began like most success stories do: by accident. Introduced to 46 |

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POTTERY >> THE UGLY MUGGERY & EMPORIUM

Participants of last year’s October sculpting class work on making their own ugly mugs and witch jars. Madsen provides handheld mirrors so attendees can make dramatic facial expressions. Many participants said they took inspiration from what saw in their own reflections.

the world of pottery in high school, Madsen was a natural at transforming shapeless blocks of clay into vases, jars and other vessels. Nevertheless, she quickly found that her creativity was limited as there were only so many things that could be made on a potter’s wheel.

After enduring changes in her personal life, Madsen enrolled in college to work toward a second career – her first being a full-time mom. The free time she had was spent in the art studio where she began playing with sculpting. Using the skills she learned in 2D art classes, Madsen made a little clay nose, eyes and mouth and applied them to an otherwise plain mug. Amused by the cute creation, she made enough to take to an art show where she proceeded to sell every last one. With a second soldout show, Madsen realized she could turn her self-proclaimed ugly mugs into a business.

To date, Madsen has modeled an estimated 400 to 500 different ugly mug characters – all of which started from a slab of clay. Like a scene from the movie “Ghost” (minus Patrick Swayze), Madsen begins each project by meditatively throwing wet clay onto a potter’s wheel – twisting, turning and manipulating the medium until it forms a basic mug. After attaching a handle, she scratches the exterior to ready the surface for applying sculpted clay appendages. Inspiration for each mug stems from studying her facial features and expressions as well as taking notice of interesting 48 |

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attributes from those around her. Like pieces of a puzzle, she blends wrinkles, indentations and blemishes with variations of noses, eyes and grins to create caricature-like mugs, jars and planters.

“It’s like you draw and it’s there, but with clay. I can put the nose on and then do the eyes, and the eyes look kind of droopy and I go ‘oh, he’d be really cute if his nose was droopy too,’ and then I just push the nose down and ‘oh let’s just push it a little further make it hook or whatever,’” Madsen said.

While the main facial features are important, Madsen shines a light on the often-overlooked details in physical traits to make her mugs more lifelike.

From eyebrow crinkles formed in a look of confusion; frown lines that deepen with anger and dimples that suddenly appear behind a smile, Madsen takes realistic and distinguishing characteristics and pushes them to the extreme to create ugly yet borderline cute characters.

“[Since] I’ve been doing this for three years, they’ve kind of gotten cuter, which is like ‘Oh, hold on, I’m getting better at it,’ so I kind of have to purposefully make them ugly sometimes,” Madsen said.

“It’s interesting to watch them kind of evolve as I get better at sculpting.”

In total, each mug touches Madsen’s hands 12 different times from start to finish, beginning with throwing the clay and configuring the contours and overall facial appearance to

and Barry is plagued with fear, worry and utter dismay after returning from a recent trip to IKEA. Some of the characters Madsen has created are so popular she’s had to make molds of the designs so everyone can have a Wanda, Barb or Mortimer in their life.

Trailing behind her passion for art is her love of teaching so it’s no surprise that Madsen combined the two to show others how to make an ugly mug of their own. Capped at 20 people per class and typically sold out, Madsen provides her students with a handmade mug and encourages them to take notice of their

“They kind of tell me their name, and I know that that’s weird. I’ll say in my classes like while they’re making them, ‘Their name will come to you as you go and they do.’ They just kind of pop in your head.”

Of course, it doesn’t end with a name as each one is gifted with a personality and short biography dreamt up in Madsen’s mind. These come from a mix of personal experiences relating to her own life’s annoyances, her friends’ struggles and her step dad’s stereotypical grumpy-old-man quips. Wanda, for example, illustrates a passive-aggressive eye roll as the phrase “Heaven help us” spins in her thoughts. Gerta holds a glaring frustration at the lack of peace needed to enjoy an episode of “Matlock”

POTTERY >> THE UGLY MUGGERY & EMPORIUM

preparing the mug for firing and using paint to bring the piece to life. Her characters are based on an older generation with wrinkles, jowls and little imperfections, which make them more visually interesting.

However, before the mug can be passed to the customer it has to have a name. Madsen keeps a running list of classic names she comes across in movies and obituaries. “They kind of tell me their name, and I know that that’s weird. I’ll say in my classes while they’re making them, ‘Their name will come to you as you go and they do.’ They just kind of pop in your head,” she said.

expressions and of those around them to create a one-of-a-kind mug.

“It’s really fun because people are surprised by what they can do,” she said. “It’s just baffling to me that all these people just show up for me. It just makes me really proud of what I created.”

Every October, Madsen, who was born on Halloween, gives her classes and her for-sale items a spooky twist by making

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POTTERY >> THE UGLY MUGGERY & EMPORIUM

witches, pumpkin faces, skeletons and other hauntingly adorable creatures. Though she isn’t planning on retiring her muggery business any time soon, Madsen wants to expand her sculpting skills to possess more than a knack for making silly faces, which she’s already started by making goddess mugs and a bust depicting the emotions felt after a breakup.

“I really want to get into sculpture because this weird thing with the mugs has taught me how to sculpt for real,” she said.

In addition to broadening her artistic talents, her future aspirations include becoming a high school art teacher. From a full-time mom of four kids to a business entrepreneur, Madsen created a path that, like clay, she could shape and mold until she reached a desired outcome.

“I feel really strongly that life is like an art project,” she said.

“That we create our lives through a series of eliminating things that don’t work and people that don’t work. We’re the creators of our life, so we have to build it. We have to build the things that we want. They’re not just gonna happen. It’s kind of a dance with trusting the universe and creating and using our power to create.”

To find out more about Madsen’s work and info on her sculpting classes, visit her website at: uglymuggeryandemporium.com.

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COLUMN

CRYSTAL HENRY’S

Naked Salsa THE CREATIVE ONE

CRYSTAL HENRY IS A FREELANCE WRITER AND COLUMNIST BORN AND RAISED IN WEST TEXAS. SHE RECEIVED HER B.S. IN JOURNALISM IN 2006 FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA. SHE IS IN LOVE WITH THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE. ces03k@gmail.com

FROM A YOUNG AGE I WAS MARKETED

BY MY MOTHER AS “THE CREATIVE ONE.” I THINK IT WAS JUST A NICE WAY TO SAY “SHE’S A ‘B’ OR ‘C’ STUDENT WHO ISN’T GREAT AT MATH.”

M

y mom was always very generous when looking to highlight our strengths, so she sometimes dug up imaginary talents for us. She’s the ultimate marketing genius who missed her calling.

Mom initially tried to get me into sports, and she tried to tell me I was capable of As. But eventually she leaned into the idea that I might be more musical and artsy fartsy.

She enthusiastically signed me up for band in junior high, and thank goodness she did because the only place I ever really felt like I belonged was in the band hall.

A few years ago, when I was visiting my mother-in-law and her girlfriend, Claire, I revisited a part of my creative brain I’d put in storage years ago.

Claire is basically who I would be if I didn’t have a salty foul sailor mouth.

She is a gentle soul who loves animals, humans and nature. She’s basically a woodland fairy, so it was only natural that Claire played the flute.

I hadn’t picked up a flute since my beginning band days in junior high, but Claire offered and I couldn’t resist.

My fingers felt at home as they curled over the cold metal keys, and my bottom lip instinctively pouted into playing position. It took a hot minute to get my breath in control and my brain to access some of those finger patterns. Once I got going, I probably annoyed the whole house for a good four hours reliving my days as a fledgling flautist.

Thinking about playing another woman’s flute in COVID-19 times is cringey, but please remember this was a different time.

Lizzo hadn’t even twerked at the BET awards yet.

When I talk to people about my band days I identify as an oboe player. I only played flute for a year before I was given

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the opportunity to advance to the double reeds, but flute was actually where my heart was. I took the oboe gig because it was a promotion. Only the best of the best woodwinds were given the chance to climb to such an advanced instrument.

But I should have stayed in my comfy flute pond. My oboe career was a bit of a disaster.

The only thing the oboe and the flute have in common are some finger patterns. Everything else is worlds apart. With the flute I could play my heart out, and I was encouraged to do so.

I could freely riff on the notes I was given in any piece, and the response would always be a sumptuous “More! More,” from the conductor.

The oboe however is a more invasive species. The menacing quack has to be tamed and controlled. If you play your heart out on the oboe, you’ll overpower the rest of the ensemble. And it takes real talent to turn the nasally quack into a sultry melody that anyone wants around.

Typically, there are only two or three oboes in the whole band competing against a herd of clarinets, a gaggle of trumpets, a swarm of flutes and a pack of rabid trombones. Still we’re a force to be reckoned with and with great power comes great responsibility.

While my fellow oboe players were frequently awarded the solos, my main job was to tune the band. For my talents lied not in my nimble fingers, but rather in my stationary ears. Amy Campbell’s fingers would glide effortlessly playing trills and running up and down scales, leaping across octaves. But I was just good at hearing whether an A was sharp or flat and holding it steady for a minute or two.

Shockingly, there’s not much glory in being a human pitch pipe.

I stuck with the oboe throughout the remainder of my junior high and high school career, dipping out only during marching season to twirl as a majorette and completely kill it as the middle bass drum. After high school, my oboe sat quietly in my closet until a husky friend of mine sat on it one day, snapped it in half and broke any intentions I had of continuing with music beyond

graduation.

Still when Claire gave me the opportunity to reconnect with my first love, a deeply buried, but familiar warmth emerged. The flute was my gateway into that band nerd life that shaped me into the “creative type” human I am today.

I might not have had the talent to shine in the oboe section, but band gave me a place to belong. Everyone had a place. Everyone had a role. Everyone had a note.

Yesterday I came downstairs to grab a snack, and I was met with a grinning husband who told me he got me a gift. He pointed me to the kitchen island where a black case was waiting for me. Inside was an old beat up oboe and a brand new reed.

The oboe wasn’t my crowning glory, but it was the instrument by which I learned to find those little bits of talent within myself that I could, and completely own them the way my mother taught me.

I took the black duck out of the case, and almost 20 years after I put it down for good, I was able to reconnect to the place where I belonged, with a long, solid A.

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GATOR GRAD >> FILMMAKER: BRANDON SHENK

MOVIE BUFF

Portrait of a Young Man A Brandon Shenk Film W R I T T E N B Y D A N A B R YA N

A

lthough this story is mostly fiction, it’s rooted in the very real necessity for forgiveness through enduring love, said filmmaker Brandon Shenk. Shenk, 35, is the writer, director and producer of the movie “Portrait of a Young Man,” filmed in Gainesville, Florida. The film is a coming-of-age, family drama focused on a student in his junior year of high school battling an eating disorder while facing the many ups and downs of adolescence. His family attempts to heal past wounds and nurture future hope while he questions his identity.

The small-budget, indie film is loosely based off of Shenk’s personal experiences as a young man with an eating disorder.

At the age of 13, Shenk was a victim to an eating disorder that lasted nine years. He describes it as an addiction. It began with anorexia and later, turned into compulsive bulimia. Through it all, the love and sacrifice of his family set an example for him to 54 |

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GATOR GRAD >> FILMMAKER: BRANDON SHENK

Portrait of a Young Man revolves around a lower middle class family striving to heal past wounds and nurture future hope. It’s an unflinching look at a male teenager with a severe eating disorder. It’s a meditation and invention of Shenk’s adolescence, as well as an ode to his parents’ merciful love.

always turn to. His personal experiences turned this film into an unflinching look at the reality of being a male teenager with an eating disorder, a young man’s unrelenting search for his identity and an ode to his loving and patient parents.

The journey to who he is now has been tough, Shenk said.

However, his mother always encouraged him to take his struggles and turn them into a positive that can benefit others. Although he said he’s never been a public speaker, he explained that he

inspire others to be kind to one another and to lift each other up during difficult times.

“Genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger,” he said, quoting George Bray, a renowned researcher of obesity.

“I want this story to show how it’s the small things that add up to an addiction.”

Despite it being difficult to capture on film, Shenk regards it as “an exciting challenge.” He explained there weren’t any

“I want this story to show how it’s the small things that add up to an addiction.” has no problem getting into the nitty gritty of eating disorders for this film, especially because it comes from a truthful place.

In the midst of filming one take after another, sometimes Shenk would tell the actor or actress to perform the scene in a different way to push them to get the best shot. He described a scene in the film where the father enters and catches the children off guard. To get the best take, Shenk did not tell the actors that the father would be arriving. This caught them off guard, creating a reaction that was so honest and genuine it had to be used in the final cut of the film.

Shenk understands eating disorders are a sensitive topic and that there are sensitive people in the world. He strives to 56 |

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scenes in the movie that were hard to film due to his personal connection, but it was tough for him watching his mother be embodied on screen. She passed away a few years ago.

“The actress did an amazing job,” he said. “It’s not a comment on her work, at all. [However,] there were moments when this fictional mother is being played, and I think, ‘That’s not my mother.’”

Shenk was born and raised in Gainesville, and his immediate family still resides there. He said he will always have a strong affinity for Gainesville because he lived there during his formative years when he was deep into his eating disorder. During that time, he experienced a heavy and strong disconnect with reality.

GATOR GRAD >> FILMMAKER: BRANDON SHENK

However, after going to the University of Florida, living out of town and getting older, he is able to appreciate all Gainesville gave to him and all it has to offer.

Shenk has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in English and Mass Communications, and he received his master’s degree in Film Production from Florida State University.

He said he loves Gainesville and filming this movie allowed him and the viewers of the movie to immerse themselves into the feeling of the community. “It’s really beautiful,” he said.

Shenk did not always see the beauty in films. In fact, for many years, he saw films as a waste of money. A large part of his childhood was spent with his grandparents, and his grandfather had over 15,000 cassette movies. Shenk preferred books.

After years of only appreciating literature, he wanted to create something for his family from Cuba based on their experiences. The quickest thing to write was a screenplay. Shenk explained that writing it changed everything for him. He saw screenplays as a highly visual art and felt connected to it on a spiritual level. Soon, he realized that when he writes, he doesn’t want to simply give up his work for others to bring to life, he wants to see it to the end.

“I’m the first method actor in the stories I want to tell,” he said. “I completely immerse myself in the world I want to create.”

In the world of a creative’s mind, he or she is thrown into reality when forced to figure out the meaning of success. Is it money or critical acclaim? Mass approval or simply the number of people one can get to read, watch or observe the art? Although he admits he has to wait and see until he reaches a high level of recognition and income to understand the true effects, Shenk’s defintion of success is when he and the people he is working with are proud of their work. He said money and recognition would be nice, but if he is proud of the project, then that is all that matters.

“Writing, directing and editing are, arguably, the three most creative parts of cinema, and I love them equally,” he said.

Shenk is planning on submitting “Portrait of a Young Man” to the Sundance Film Festival — a widely known, annual film festival dedicated to highlighting the potential of American, independent films. It is held every year by the Sundance Institute, and is open to the public. Some of Sundance’s most successful films include, “Napoleon Dynamite,” “500 Days of Summer,” and “Get Out.” The journey to making films is not an easy one, but Shenk’s advice to young, aspiring directors is to “just do it.”

Shenk said he was on the older end of the spectrum when he started producing, directing and writing, so he went to film school. He wanted to be in a concentrated environment where he could focus on films every day, all day and be surrounded by people who wanted to do the same. However, he said if you are young and interested, “just grab a camera and start filming.”

To stay updated on the film, visit: sirinfilms.us, or check out their Facebook page: facebook.com/PortraitofaYoungMan. NOV/DEC 2020

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THE GUILD >> A GALLERY OF ARTISTIC WONDERS

COMMUNITY HEART

A COMMUNITY OF CREATORS COMING TOGETHER

The Artisans’ Guild Gallery W R ITTEN BY SU MMER JA R RO

Members enjoy being a part of the Artisans’ Guild Gallery because it feels like a community.

“It’s a close family,” said Jeanne Bunting, president of the Artisans’ Guild Gallery who has been a part of the Guild for the past 10 years. The Artisans’ Guild Gallery opened in 1970 and is located in Gainesville. It is a place where local artists can meet, spend time talking about their work and display it in the gallery for the community to see and buy.

“We’re open to all mediums, but we try not to have a tremendous overlap,” Bunting said. “We want to make sure that we’re covering a lot of bases so that people who come into the gallery can find something that appeals to them.”

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consignment members. It displays work ranging from paintings and jewelry to glasswork and fabric pieces, etc. In the past, the gallery has also offered classes and events to the community.

Currently there are no classes available due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1970, Miriam Greenfield, a local potter, and Jim Brown, a University of Florida economics and sociology professor, teamed up to create a Gainesville artisans cooperative. Other local artists were asked to join and the Artisans’ Guild Gallery was formed, according to the Guild’s website. Fifty years later, the Guild is still around. The location has grown in the past five decades by adding new members and moving to a new space.

They also display multiple art collections and offers events.

The Guild used to have every member working in the gallery.

It wasn’t until recently that operations were changed with just the core membership working at the location. The Guild’s recent moved to a new location was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

display their work at the outside portion of the Guild’s location.

“Our point with this Art Market is to reach out to artists we don’t know — young emerging artists, people who don’t normally have an outlet to sell their art — and to try to encourage development of the art talent community that is here,” said Abby Hogan, vice president of the Guild.

As this issue was going to press, the first Art Market was scheduled for Oct. 31, and the plan is to host more in the future on the second Saturday of each month.

Currently there are about 18 core members and 30 consignment members at the Guild. “We’ve become a very close-knit group,” Bunting said. “We help each other not just with our work,

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THE GUILD >> A GALLERY OF ARTISTIC WONDERS

Now, it is located at 224 NW 2nd Ave. The new location is smaller, so artists have had to downsize their displays. “But we’ve been concentrating a lot on [artists] bringing in brand new works, stuff that has never been in the Guild before,” Bunting said.

This year the Guild’s mission is to diversify its artists and the market its trying to reach. “We want to help emerging artists get established, and we’re in the process — the very beginning stages — of trying to become a nonprofit,” Bunting said.

The Guild is also working on reaching out to the local community. It has put together the Art Market, a mini art show where invited local artists and some members of the Guild will get to

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Established in 1970 to create a network and market for local artists, the Artisans’ Guild Gallery is among the oldest artist cooperatives in the country.

ideas and encouragement, but we help each other personally and financially.”

Those who want to apply to be a part of the Guild must fill out an application. The applicant meets with the board and shares some of their work. Core members are able to vote if someone should join the Guild. Members have to be constantly producing work to be able to stay part of the group. Currently the Guild is not accepting new members.

Bunting has been making jewelry at the Guild since she joined about 10 years ago. Hogan has been part of the cohort for the past nine years. “It’s a group of really wonderful people. There are a lot of different personalities and backgrounds, and then we get to meet other people who come in to buy art,” Hogan said. “It’s been my social life for a large part.”

Hogan works with African fabrics making items such as quilts, clothing and notebook covers with the medium. She was introduced to the fabrics when she was in Africa and fell in love with them.

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Joyce Marie Lottinville also works with fabrics, designing pieces that represent the natural world and local environment.

She joined the Guild in 1975 and said she has progressed as an artist because of it. “Just being around everybody we sort of inspire each other,” Lottinville said.

Jacquelyne Collett has been a part of the Guild since the early 1980s and produces glasswork such as fused glass and slumped glass. She finds the artform mysterious. “It is something that I can work with in a very design-oriented way and that’s what I enjoy doing, working in design with lines and textures and things like that” she said. Being a part of the guild has helped Collett grow as an artist. Members assist each other and find ways to accomplish things that others are not quite sure how to do.

Collet explained that she was first drawn to the Guild about 40 years ago because it is a great place to sell her work. The strong sense of community involved with the group is just the icing on the cake. “[It’s] a very wonderful group of people,” Collett said.

“Like a family.”

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LOCAL HONEY MAKER >> BEULAH HONEY

BUSY BEE

Liana Teigen The Queen Bee of Beulah Honey

S T O R Y A N D P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y H AY L I Z U C C O L A

L

iana Teigen is the embodiment of a modern-day Snow White. Sitting outside in her forest-lined backyard, she’s greeted by two affectionate dogs, a handful of curious cats and a flock of ducks. On occasion – much to her dismay – she’s visited by bears and other, gentler, woodland critters like squirrels, birds and butterflies. Nevertheless, her most abundant animal companions are her coworkers: thousands of pollen-dusted, yellow-striped, nectar-sipping honeybees.

During her last year of college, Teigen, who was questioning her career path at the time, took a summer job with a local beekeeper and despite having little to no experience, she discovered her passion – a painful realization.

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LOCAL HONEY MAKER >> BEULAH HONEY

To get different flavors of honey, Teigen loads pallets of the bees onto a semi-tractor-trailer truck after the bees return to their hive for the night. She then drives to their temporary home where they spend their mini-vacation making orange blossom, clover or sourwood honey.

“The first day I went out, I got tore up because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I came home that night and I was like ‘I’m never doing anything else,’ so I’ve worked with bees in some way or another ever since,” she said.

With aspirations of having her own colony and honey-harvesting business, Teigen began studying bee biology while working for the University of Florida’s Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab – a position she held for about six years while laying the groundwork for her company: Beulah Honey.

Named after her great grandmother and the Hebrew phrase Beulah Land, which translates to the land of milk and honey, Teigen established her sweet enterprise with a mere two hives.

“My philosophy has always been I don’t want any more bees than I can handle,” she said. “This year we jumped to 400 and then we’ll hopefully jump to between 600 and 700 by the end of this month.”

The increase in hives is the result of routine splits, which occurs when beekeepers divide frames of brood, or larvae, in a healthy colony to create new colonies.

“In the springtime, it’s for swarm prevention,” she said.

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bee colonies reproduce is by swarming, so with three pounds of bees up in the air with the queen, you know you’re losing your honey production potential for that hive for a month and a half or two months until it can recover.”

Completing splits twice a year not only provides the benefit of expanded, more controlled honey production but also gives Teigen an in-depth look at her bees and the overall health and sustainability of the colony.

“Every time you open a hive, it’s like a puzzle. You’ve got to figure out what is wrong with it, what’s going on and just be able to read a hive. From what the queen looks like to how she’s laying, to identifying any pests and diseases,” she said. “I feel like there’s a little bit more artistry that goes into it. Knowing the different honey flows, the different nectar flows and the plant biology.”

A glimpse inside a hive’s amber honeycomb walls reveals an organic workshop coated in liquid gold. Overseeing the progress of this natural candy store is the queen, who assigns a vital role to each worker bee. Nurse bees are the youngest in the colony, and as such, their first job is to take care of and feed the larvae.

The middle-aged bees are promoted to guards – protecting the hive with stingers at the ready and alerting the others for signs of danger by releasing a banana-scented hormone. The older, veteran bees are foragers, who leave the hive in search of pollen, nectar, water and propolis, better known as sap. When they find a treasure trove of brightly blooming flowers and delicious nectar, they communicate their location to other bees via pheromones and the waggle dance.

“The waggle dance is when a bee goes out and finds a really great area where there’s a lot of flowers and a lot of nectar,” Teigen said. “She will come back, and she’ll do this little jittery dance and [make] patterns and shake her abdomen. She’s giving directions to the other bees on where to go — that’s called the waggle dance.”

Black Jar Contest,” she said Despite producing award-winning honey, even in blind taste tests, Teigen isn’t actually a fan of the sticky syrup.

“I do not have a sweet tooth. I don’t love honey. Like, I don’t put it in my tea, I don’t add it to anything because I eat so much of it with the bees because I’ll shake out the nectar, taste it, see what they’re making.”

Though she actively creates five-star-rated wax tealights, votives and hand-dipped tapers, Teigen no longer bottles her own honey – aside from a few small batches for local and loyal customers.

“I used to do farmer’s markets and sell in different local stores, but I really missed the bees,” she said. “So now that’s what I enjoy doing. I just do bees and let someone else handle the honey.”

After 10 years, Teigen, whose surroundings are filled with the sounds of a harmonizing buzzing, has yet to develop a boredom for bees. Regardless of her now decade of experience, Teigen is always learning something new about bees and the act of beekeeping.

“Just like everything else, the longer you do it, you realize the less you actually know,” she said.

“My dream was always to have my own bees and have my own operation. I don’t have dreams of grandeur or having 10,000 hives or anything like that. I just want to keep it tight, keep it sustainable and just keep good bees.”

Check out Beulah Honey’s FB: facebook.com/BeulahHoney NOV/DEC 2020

OUR TOWN MAGAZINE

LOCAL HONEY MAKER >> BEULAH HONEY

After enjoying their flora buffet, the foragers return to the colony to provide the ingredients needed to begin a honey-making production line. Nectar is placed into the cells of the honeycomb, mixed with enzymes, fermented and dehydrated.

When it reaches its desired syrupy-consistency, it’s sealed in a layer of wax, which signals to beekeepers that it’s their turn to take over.

To extract the honey from the comb, the protective wax barrier is shaved off and the frames are spun in a machine that scrapes and separates the honey from the remaining wax before being pumped into 55-gallon drums. The wax can then be melted down into blocks for clean, freshscented candles, which Teigen makes and sells in her Etsy shop.

Just one healthy bee colony can easily make 100 pounds of honey a month – the flavor of which changes based on the nectar source.

Bees tend to stay within a 2.5-mile radius from their hive, so if Teigen wants a honey profile other than her locally made gallberry, she and the bees have to embark on a road trip. Once the bees rest for the night, Teigen loads pallets of up to 128 hives for transport to orange blossom groves in south Florida, clover in the Midwest or the smoky mountains to develop her all-around favorite honey – and that of other beekeepers – sourwood.

“My sourwood has won Best in Show. It’s been a few years, but it was at the Florida State Beekeepers Association in their

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FESTIVE DECOR >> ORIGINS OF HOLIDAY DECORATING

‘TIS THE SEASON

History in the Decorating Explore the origins of a few festive trinkets, trimmings, and timeless traditions S TORY BY C A MERON COBB

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hile the approaching holidays might look a bit different than those from previous years, this season still presents an opportunity to celebrate — or at the very least, decorate. From traditional Thanksgiving centerpieces to cheery Christmas wreaths, there is so much more to such festive ornaments than meets the eye. Check out the history of these five holiday decorations to jumpstart the season!

Thanksgiving Cornucopia Centerpiece While the Thanksgiving feast itself never fails to gobble up everyone’s attention, 66 |

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nothing adds pizzazz to the dinner table like a colorful cornucopia centerpiece.

While it has become a traditional staple associated with the November holiday, strangely enough the cornucopia was absent from the very first Thanksgiving celebration, according to countryliving.com. Derived from the Latin words “cornu” (which means “horn”) and “copia” (which means “plenty”), the cornucopia’s history actually ties back to Roman and Greek folklore. According to an ancient Greek legend, as a child Zeus was being cared for by a goat nurse named Amalthea, and one day he broke off one of her horns. Her severed horn started to overflow with a constant supply of food for young Zeus, thus leading to the cornucopia to be dubbed as the “horn of plenty.” Though the exact

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FESTIVE DECOR >> ORIGINS OF HOLIDAY DECORATING

Did you know that fireworks and flowers have a bit in common? Types of fireworks and their displays are often referred to as floral terms, including “chrysanthemum” (when a firework explodes into a vibrant, colorful circle that gets brighter as the shape continues to expand) or a “bouquet” (a collection of smaller chrysanthemum displays).

reason for how the cornucopia found its way into Thanksgiving, it’s theorized to have come from the cornucopia’s symbolism of “prosperity, wealth, and abundance” combined with the bountiful harvests during the fall season.

When it comes to brainstorming for a Thanksgiving decoration, the cornucopia acts as a blank slate for a creative centerpiece. Traditionally, many Americans will stuff a cornucopia with different vegetables, gourds, grains, and fruits (typically sticking to a fall-focused color palette). No matter how you decorate, cornucopias are proof that the Thanksgiving meal doesn’t always have to be the only center of attention.

Christmas Popcorn Garland As a string of literal popped corn spiraling around the Christmas tree, the popcorn garland is arguably one of the more unusual holiday decorations. The Christmas tree tradition started in Germany during the 1500s and was eventually introduced to the United States by some of the early European settlers, according to parade.com. Though considering many Americans initially thought the idea to be a symbol of Paganism (even though it was based on Christianity), it wasn’t until the mid-18th century that Christmas trees officially made their way into America’s hearts and homes. Back then, Americans relied on do-it-yourself methods for decorating Christmas trees—with one of those holiday crafts none other than colorfully dyed pieces of popcorn strung together (occasionally with other foods as well, such as cranberries) to create a festive garland.

Did you know December 13 is National Popcorn String Day? And what better way to celebrate than by creating your own popcorn garland! This simple DIY project can be made from just a few common household items—all you really need 68 |

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is a needle, thread or floss, and cooked popcorn (tip: have it sit overnight, as stale popcorn is easier to work with than fresh!). The rest is up to your imagination, but no doubt this decoration is a sure way to make any Christmas tree POP!

Temple & Hanukkah Menorahs With religious beginnings, the menorah boasts rich historical value—particularly throughout both ancient and modern Israel. The menorah (which means “lamp” in Hebrew, according to chabad.org) is a multibranched candelabra and refers to either the Temple menorah or the Hanukkah lamp.

Upon the menorah’s first reference in the biblical book of Exodus, it is said that God unveiled the desired design of the lamp to Moses on Mount Sinai. This menorah was to be constructed from a slab of gold and formed into a candlestick with six branches—three on one side and three on the other, according to britannica.com. These branches stemmed from the menorah’s center piece, which was crowned by a cup (slightly elevated to signify the Sabbath). Eventually, the Jewish leader known as Judas Maccabeus instructed the creation of a seven-branched menorah. In the 20th century, Israel declared the seven-branched candelabra that had been carved into the 1st-century Arch of Titus (in Rome) as the state’s emblem. This paved the way for the creation of the similarly structured Hanukkah lamp, though it differs some from the original Temple menorah. The Hanukkah lamp features eight branches that flank both sides of what’s known as the “shamash” (or servant) holder, which stems from the center of the menorah and typically stands taller than the other branches. The holders at the top of each branch are meant to house either oil or candles, with the shamash light used to kindle the others, according to britannica.com.

FESTIVE DECOR >> ORIGINS OF HOLIDAY DECORATING

The Christmas Wreath Nowadays, decorative door wreaths have expanded from their place as a solely wintertime display to be showcased all throughout the year—whether they be seasonally designed, catered to different holidays, or even crafted to show support for a favorite sports team. But beyond their modern-day versatility, the traditional Christmas wreath has long since established its historical roots.

The word “wreath” comes from the Old English term “writhan” (which means “to twist”), and these ornaments have been present for centuries throughout multiple cultures and are thought to date back to the Persian Empire, ancient Greece, and ancient Egypt, according to santasquarters.com.

Though wreaths were used for countless reasons throughout history (including being worn on the head of royals as a sign of power), the Christmas wreath stems from Christianity. The traditional holiday wreath’s evergreen-covered circular base is thought to represent “eternal life and the unending love of God,” and the decorative additions of thorny leaves and bright-red berries from the holly oak symbolize the crown of thorns Jesus wore and the blood he shed in doing so.

New Year’s Eve Fireworks The evening of December 31 is known for being a farewell celebration to the past year while counting down its final moments—and what better way to welcome the new year

than with a dazzling display of fireworks decorating the night sky? Originating in China, fireworks were invented as early as 800 A.D., according to livescience.com. Though believe it or not, this colorful creation was an accidental discovery made by Chinese alchemists who were actually experimenting on a concoction for eternal life. Instead, their combination of charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur made a rough version of gunpowder, which was stuffed inside bamboo shoots to be tossed into a fire. This set off an explosion that the Chinese thought could be a great tactic for chasing away evil spirits.

As the methods for making fireworks got more advanced, other countries started adopting the tradition. Considering the variety of sizes, colors, sounds, and more, it’s easy to see how even today the fireworks market literally exploded in popularity. Though fireworks are occasionally used outside of just a New Year’s Eve party, their thunderous sounds and ability to illuminate the darkness are still thought of by many cultures to be a brilliant way to ward off any evil during the transition from one year to the next.

While 2020 may seem void of all things merry and bright, this year has certainly shown the importance of appreciating each and every day. As the holiday season offers a wondrous escape during the last two months of the year, what better way to get into the spirit than with some historical holiday decor and traditions?

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EMPLOYMENT POSSIBILITIES >> SHINING LIGHT ON THE DISABLED

BAKING HOPE

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PiesAbilities Pies with Purpose W RIT TE N BY MICH A EL A MU LLIG A N

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hat started as a mission to bake the perfect piecrust, has shifted into a business model meant to inspire other businesses and provide hope for people with disabilities.

PiesAbilities is a Gainesville, for-profit pie-baking company that began in January. Its owner, Jennifer Dempsey, wanted to establish a business environment where someone like her 8-year-old daughter, Joscelyn, who has a neurological disability, could get worthwhile work.

Joscelyn was a year old when doctors diagnosed her with hemimegalencephaly, a rare neurological condition in which the left half of her brain was abnormally larger than the right side. Because of this size difference, Joscelyn was experiencing life-threatening seizures, and medication could not help. As a result, Joscelyn had the left side of her brain removed.

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“I mean, people kind of throw the word amazing around about everything, but these kids are,” Dempsey said. “They’re truly amazing.”

Five years ago, when Joscelyn would have been three, Dempsey began her journey to discover the perfect piecrust. As an avid baker, with a penchant for late night insomniac cooking, Dempsey is familiar with the world of cookie and muffin baking.

Until five years ago, Dempsey had all but given up on pie baking after a few too many piecrust mishaps. However, in 2015, with the new year approaching and with no real reason, Dempsey knew she wanted to nail the perfect piecrust. Within that same year she made around 54 pies (about one pie a week) all in the name of a flawless, buttery and flakey crust.

“It was the new year, so everybody else around me was making resolutions that they were going to lose weight,” Dempsey said.

“I resolved that I was going to make a pie a week.”

Joscelyn is now 8, and able to walk, talk and help her mother bake. As a second grader, she’s in many of the same classes as her neurotypical peers. Dempsey thinks of her as an absolute miracle.

As Joscelyn has grown up, Dempsey has met other families that have children with disabilities. It made her realize how little exposure she’s had to the community in her past. When Dempsey was in school, they kept children with intellectual disabilities apart from children without disabilities. In her time as an adult, she’d had almost no exposure to any individuals with a significant disability. Dempsey had four kids before Joscelyn, all of whom are neurotypical.

“As [Joscelyn] grew up, she said all of the typical things like ‘momma, when I grow up, I want to be a ballerina,’ or just things that kids say,” Dempsey explained. “I started learning more about employment for people with disabilities and what her future opportunities might be.”

Dempsey described the statistics as sobering.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019, OUR TOWN MAGAZINE

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the percentage of individuals employed, without a disability was 66.3%. In contrast, the percentage of individuals employed with a disability was 19.3%.

People with a disability were more likely to be hired as a part-time worker, with 32% of workers with a disability being hired part time versus 17% of workers with no disability working part time.

“It’s very, very difficult for an adult with disabilities to find really meaningful employment,” Dempsey said. “And by meaningful, I mean, you get paid at the same rate as everybody else.”

Dempsey is referring to Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which the government enacted in 1938. The act allows businesses to petition to the Department of Labor to receive a certificate that allows that business to pay a person with a disability less than the minimum wage. However, a business has to prove they can’t hire a person with a disability for the regulated minimum wage, which is often difficult.

For example, a business would have to provide evidence that a person without disabilities paid $9 an hour can make 3 pies in an hour, and a person with a disability can only make one pie an hour. That business could then receive the allowance to pay that person with the disability $3 an hour.

The government originally put these waivers in place to promote the hiring of people with disabilities, but over the years, some businesses have been able to exploit the law.

The U.S. government passed the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against people with disabilities. However, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act remains in place today.

While learning about and understanding these laws and statistics, Dempsey was also thinking about her daughter.

“I wanted to make sure that she always had a job and had meaningful work that she could do that she enjoyed,” Dempsey said. “So, that’s helping me in the kitchen. She loves baking.”

Dempsey also spent a year, after Joscelyn was born, at a

school in Lake County for children with severe disabilities. At this school, the students could attend until they were 21, and many of them had hopes for a job. There, she also met parents who shared the same concerns Dempsey had for her daughter. She said these students are also a part of what inspired her to create PiesAbilities.

“I’ve met a lot of parents who are excited about what we’re doing and want to support us and hope that we can get to a point where we can bring people on,” Dempsey said.

Around October 2019, Dempsey did more research into becoming a business.

PiesAbilities is not a nonprofit because, Dempsey said, she wants it to be a model for other profitable companies.

“We’re not hiring people who have disabilities because we’re particularly nice people or we’re saints or we’re different from anybody else,” Dempsey said. “We’re business owners, and we have a bottom line. We need and want to make a profit.”

Dempsey says that she thinks it intimidates employers to bring in people with disabilities because they think accommodations

will be expensive. However, those accommodations could be as easy as raising a table or converting instructions to Braille.

PiesAbilities made an investment into equipment to help people with disabilities in the kitchen. They invested in a machine that helps form pie dough with just the turn of a crank. Joscelyn, who can only use her left hand, can make pie by herself with the machine. It’s a simple tool that allows them to make up to 250 pies an hour.

“It’s really just finding the person who’s a good fit, and then figuring out what you can change, so that they can access what they need to do the job,” Dempsey said.

PiesAbilities, which Jocelyn sometimes refers to as her business, has made pies for farmer’s markets, weddings and local restaurants since its inception in January. Like many local businesses, PiesAbilities ceased production during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During that time, however, Dempsey had virtual baking classes on the PiesAbilities’ Facebook. If you’re interested in purchasing a pie in the future, you can place an order at piesabilities.com.

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74

COLUMN

DONNA BONNELL’S

Embracing Life TURN! TURN! TURN!

DONNA BONNELL BECAME THE AUTHOR OF HER COLUMN, EMBRACING LIFE, MORE THAN A DECADE AGO. SHE SHARES HER PERSONAL CHALLENGES AND VICTORIES WITH THE GOAL OF INSPIRING HER READERS TO ANALYZE WHY THINGS HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. bonneldj@gmail.com

TO EVERYTHING (TURN, TURN, TURN) THERE IS A SEASON (TURN, TURN, TURN) AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE, UNDER HEAVEN

S

ongwriter Pete Seeger simply inserted the phrase, “turn, turn, turn” in the first eight verses of Chapter Three in the “Book of Ecclesiastes.”

Seeger rearranged the sequence of words to form the song’s stanzas and wrote one additional lyric. In 1965, The Byrds, pioneers of rock ‘n roll, created the tune’s music. Voila! By the end of that year their rendition of the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” became an international hit.

The history of this song is fascinating! It is unique for having a sizable series of passages from “The Bible,” with lyrics set to rock music. Those verses came from “Ecclesiastes” and were written as early as the tenth century BC. The words and their meaning remain steadfast and describe the changing seasons of our lives. Sometimes they are glorious, and sometimes they are difficult (maybe even bad), but there is a reason for every season.

Today the world is experiencing the season of Coronavirus.

Just as described in “Ecclesiastes” many centuries ago this season is, “A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing…

A time of love, and a time of hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Humankind has been forced to face unfamiliar challenges.

While we all hope that this new normal is only temporary, many have chosen to turn, turn, turn to non-traditional methods of survival – financially, mentally, physically and spiritually! Many have turned their hobbies into businesses.

Kiara and Lexi, my two ten-year-old granddaughters created homemade hand sanitizers and sold them at a stand early in the morning. Their idea developed during the shutdown, when sanitizing products were nearly impossible to find. Setting up shop at the entrance of a subdivision, where essential employees exited on their way to work, was brilliant.

Scented soapy sanitizers were sold, but so much more was given. These sweet girls provided hope for the future with their

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untainted energy and youthful ingenuity. Their customers had something to smile about before they faced another scary somber summer day.

In the November/December edition of Our Town, I typically encourage everyone to embrace the spirit of this special season.

COVID-19 has created an unusual 2020 holiday setting. Black Friday deals at major malls and box stores may cease to exist.

Will the typically enthusiastic crowds of shoppers turn to the isolated internet event know as Cyber Monday?

My granddaughters’ enterprise was short lived, but many adults have cultivated new ways to make a living. I propose this year we buy gifts from locals who are trying to survive 2020.

We should skip the lines (if there are any) and avoid shipping nightmares. Embrace the idea of purchasing produce baskets from farmers, crafts from creative folks and gift cards from struggling family-owned restaurants.

Travel concerns and coordinating safe Thanksgiving Day feasts are daunting tasks. Holy holiday services might not be held in beautifully decorated sanctuaries. They may take place on Facebook or Zoom. Christmas caroling and candle lighting ceremonies simply will not be the same. If they will return in 2021, just imagine how excited and thankful we will feel.

Perhaps the pause, caused by the pandemic, was intended to remind us to be grateful rather than greedy. Maybe humans needed a reset. Life has many types of seasons – not just winter, spring, summer and fall; not just holidays, hunting or hurricanes.

Mankind must recognize the seasons that Seeger sang about that are more important, “A time to be born, a time to die; A time to plant, a time to reap; A time to kill, a time to heal; A time to laugh, a time to weep.”

Has humanity learned lifelong lessons during this season?

Will the craziness, partially created by COVID, end in 2021? The answer is yet to be determined. I concur with the final stanza in Seeger’s song (the only other addition from “Ecclesiastes”), “I swear it’s not too late.”

Let’s collectively make our resolution for 2021 to be the season of healing. Together, we can do anything!

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76

TASTE OF THE TOWN

SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL

352-372-5468

FOR RATES AND INFORMATION.

Leonardo’s Pizza 4131 NW 16th Blvd (Millhopper) Sunday - Thursday: 11:00am - 9:30pm Friday - Saturday: 11:00am - 10:30pm

352-376-2001 leonardosmillhopper.com Mouth Watering — Family friendly and locally-owned-and-operated pizza joint with a unique, nostalgic atmosphere that is as distinctive as our delicious food.

Chicago-style pizzas, hand tied garlic knots, and Italian baked dinners and salad bar, we know you’ll be back for more. Come and see why Gainesville loves our signature deep dish pizza pie, the Big Leo. Since 1976 Gainesville has grown up on pizza from Leonardo’s Millhopper and we are still going strong! Our dedicated staff (many have been with us for 15-20 years) knows how important it is to treat you properly. We take great pride in our welcoming atmosphere. We can’t wait to make you part of our family.

Dave’s New York Deli 12921 SW 1st Road • Tioga Town Center Open 7 Days

352-333-0291 www.DavesNYDeli.com Authentic NY deli — The Reviews are in and here’s what customers are saying about Dave’s NY Deli Tioga Town Center! “Best Reuben, Best Pastrami and Best Philly. Dave’s continues to be the place to go for authentic NY Deli food and Philly Cheesesteaks. Owner Dave Anders says “Nothing beats quality ingredients combined with a friendly staff. Dave serves New York size Pastrami and Corned Beef sandwiches, Cheesecake from New York, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, NY Kettle Boiled Bagels, Nova Salmon, Knish, Cannolies, Philly Cheesesteaks, Cubans, Subs, Kids Menu and more.”

Come out and enjoy Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at Dave’s NY Deli. Now serving beer and wine.

Copper Monkey West

14209 W Newberry Road, Jonesville, FL 32669 Across from the Steeplechase Publix Sunday-Thursday 11:00am - 11:00pm Friday-Saturday 11:00am - 11:00pm

352-363-6338 mycoppermonkey.com Restaurant & Pub — We are located in the heart of Jonesville, this All-American dining is convenient to all neighborhoods in Gainesville, Alachua, Newberry, High Springs and beyond. Our family-friendly dining features great food at a great price. Whether you come in for the “best burger in town” or try any one of our freshly made salads, pastas or sandwiches, you will not leave disappointed. Our USDA choice steaks, served with 2 sides, offer a great alternative for the perfect celebratory meal. We also feature a full-service bar with signature drinks.

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Bangkok Square

Two Gainesville Locations: 6500 SW Archer Road & 8181 NW 38th Lane Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:00am-3:00pm • Saturday-Sunday 12:00pm-3:00pm Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 5:00pm-9:30pm • Friday-Saturday 5:00pm-10:00pm

352-375-4488 Archer 352-672-6969 39th Ave. bangkoksquarefl.com Authentic Thai Cuisine — Thai cuisine, blending the best elements of the freshest foods. Thai herbs; garlic, basil, ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal root, chili and more, prepared with the finest blending of fish sauce, shrimp paste, and coconut milk. All of our meals are made to order and prepared on site. We specialize in vegetarian, vegan and gluten free orders. All of our foods can be prepared to your satisfaction with mild, medium, hot, or Thai hot, balanced to the four tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and slightly bitter. Meals can be prepared for take out and we cater to any event. We also have gift cards available. Save 10% off your next dining experience when a gift card is purchased.

Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza

(Archer Road) 5757 SW 75th St. — 352-371-8646 • (Millhopper Road) 5200 NW 43rd St. — 352-371-7437 (University) 1250 W University Ave. — 352-375-2337 • (Grand Oaks Plaza) 2575 SW 42nd St. Ocala — 352-351-6000

Mon-Thurs: 11am-10pm Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm Sun: 11am-10pm

www.piesanostogo.com Pizza, Pints & Pies — Piesanos is a locally owed and operated restaurant that is proud to use only the finest ingredients available, including Grande brand premium mozzarella. We are a full service dine in restaurant with an attached take out center and also offer catering.

Our dough is made fresh daily and all of our pizzas are baked directly on the stone in our unique Granite Stone Fired Pizza Oven. We offer a great variety of Specialty pizzas, such as our Pizza Antico-(ultra thin crust- Fresh Mozzarella, mini cup & char pepperoni & fresh basil) Specialty Pastas, Calzones, Fresh soups and salads, classic italian entrees, and a great selection of craft beer. We also offer a gluten free menu. For full menu please visit PIESANOSTOGO.COM. Order online or download our APP PIESANOSTOGO.COM.

El Toro

15202 NW 147 Drive, Suite 1100, Alachua (Rolling Oaks Plaza) Monday – Thursday 11:00am – 9:00pm Friday & Sat 11:00am – 10:00pm Sunday Noon – 8:00pm

386-418-1039 www.eltorogainesville.com Get Full At The Bull — Bienvenido! Welcome! We are a family owned and family friendly business. We have been serving our guests high quality fresh food for over 28 years. We welcome our guests with our Award Winning Salsa and warm homemade chips, add some fresh guacamole and our homemade white queso and you have a great start to a great meal! Try our Fish Tacos, Shrimp Tacos, Fajitas, Aaron’s Overstuffed Burrito, Nachos Supreme or one of our Daily Specials, we have something everyone will enjoy! We serve Lunch 7 days a week till 4 P.M. and our Kids Meals come with a drink and dessert. Check out our menu on our website. Our outdoor patio is perfect for “Para Cenar Afuera”. So, won’t you please come join us and Get Full At The Bull! See you there!

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TASTE OF THE TOWN

SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL

352-372-5468

FOR RATES AND INFORMATION.

Brown’s Country Buffet 14423 NW US Hwy 441, Alachua, FL 32616 Monday-Friday 7:00am - 8:00pm Saturday 7:00am - 2:00pm Sunday 8:00am - 3:00pm

386-462-3000 brownscountrybuffet.net Casual — Country-style cooking at its finest, just like Grandma’s house! A buffet style restaurant, Brown’s Country Buffet is open seven days a week! Foods like fried chicken, grilled pork chops, real mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage, banana pudding and coconut pie, just to name a few, are served in a laid-back, relaxing environment. We offer AYCE fried shrimp on Friday nights from 4-8 along with whole catfish & ribs. In addition to their buffet, Brown’s also offers a full menu to choose from. Serving lunch and dinner daily and a breakfast buffet Friday-Sunday until 10:30am, you’re sure to leave satisfied, no matter when you go. So, when you’re in the mood for some good home cooking, Grandma’s style, visit Brown’s Country Buffet.

Crafty Bastards

4860 NW 39th Ave. ( Magnolia Parke, between Starbucks and TiresPlus) Open at 11am every day

352-872-5970 www.thecraftybastards.com Restaurant - Pub — Crafty Bastards Restaurant has lunch specials M-F 11am-4pm.

Come see our NEW Menu items, including fresh salads and soups. Don’t worry, we still proudly serve what you have voted, the best Wings, Burgers, Fish n’ Chips, and REAL Shepherds Pie around! While also offering entertainment every day of the week, we have the largest selection of 60 Craft Beers on tap, and next door at the Bottle Shoppe, we offer over750 varieties of Craft Beer with Free Beer Tastings every Thursday. 6p-8p. Visit our social media and web for ongoing events and new craft beer. Private party room for office or birthday parties available.

CRAFTY BASTARDS - WELCOME HOME!

Cilantro Tacos

Tioga Town Center - 12921 SW 1 Rd Suite #103 Monday - Saturday from 11:00am to 9:00pm

352-472-1300 Authentic Mexican — A family-owned restaurant that was founded through a passion for great food and hosting dinner parties with friends. Originally from Southern California, their love for Mexican food moved to the wonderful community of Newberry in 2013. They take pride in the quality, freshness, and vibrant flavors of their food — with meats that are never frozen and everything prepared fresh and made-to-order.

Enjoy the tastefully marinated meats and savor the mild, spicy, and mouthwatering salsas that are created from scratch. They feel their purpose is to spread happiness, make contributions to the community and create lasting memories of fun, laughter, and great times. When you eat with us, you’re family. So come on in!

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Mi Apá Latin Café

Gainesville – 114 SW 34th Street (352-376-7020) Jonesville location coming soon!

Alachua – 15634 US Highway 441 (386-418-0838) Both locations open every day 7:00am - 10:00pm

MiApaLatinCafe.com Cuban — “When it comes to authentic Cuban cooking, you cannot go wrong with Mi Apá Latin Cafe,” said Trekbible in their article, Top 8: Best Restaurants in Gainesville, FL. Featuring authentic ingredients and classic recipes, such as Pollo Asado, Vaca Frita, Medianoche sandwiches, and the local favorite, Cafe con Leche, we bring the tastes of Cuba to Gainesville and Alachua. Whether you’re dining in on our sunny patio or picking up your online order, your food will always be hot, fresh, and full of Latin flavor! And our Gainesville location even has a drive-thru! Don’t forget kids eat free every Wednesday from 4:00-9:00pm!

The Social at Midtown 1728 W. University Avenue, Gainesville, FL Monday-Sunday 11:00am – 2:00am

352-373-7383 www.thesocialgnv.com Upscale restaurant and rooftop bar — Hidden among the college bars of the midtown area, The Social at Midtown provides an unique, upscale, and affordable dining and late-night experience for the diverse and ever evolving population of Gainesville. Whether you are in search of high end spirits and craft cocktails or one of the 37 beers on tap the Social at Midtown will undoubtedly bring you back for the next big game with its fantastic menu and over 60 Large LED TVs. Check out our web page to see our weekly specials and plan your next Happy Hour with $4 Local Craft Pints!

I Love NY Pizza

2645 SW 91st St, Haile Plantation (Market square) Gainesville Monday-Saturday 10:00am – 9:00pm Closed on Sundays

352-333-6185 www.ilnyp.com Pizzeria — We are a family owned, family friendly restaurant that serves authentic New York style pizza and delicious Italian entrees. We offer dine, take out, delivery and catering. We make everything fresh and with high quality ingredients from our dough, to our sauce, to each of our dishes — including classics such as Baked Ziti, Chicken or Veal Parmigiana, Chicken Marsala or Alfredo, and many more. If you are in the mood for pizza, you can “take and bake” at home or let us prepare you one of our specialty Brick oven pizzas. So many choices of specialty pizzas, try them all! Pizza by the slice is available for lunch or dinner! Let’s not forget about the Stromboli, Calzones, Salads, Desserts and yes, we have a kids menu too! What ever you choose, we guarantee to bring you all the unique flavors of New York City. Visit our website for a full menu and coupons.

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ARTIST >> MICHAEL A. EADDY

CR AFTSMAN

THE MANY TALENTS OF MICHAEL A. EADDY

Renaissance Man S T O R Y B Y H AY L I Z U CCO L A PHOTOGR A PH Y BY ER ICK A W INTER ROW D

The right side of Michael A. Eaddy’s mind is infinitely layered in artistic outlets. From being a multi-instrumentalist and skilled woodworker to an accomplished photographer and palm frond origamist, Eaddy’s imagination and creativity know no bounds.

Contrary to most gifted people, Eaddy is humbly unaware of his unique abilities – a personality trait most apparent in his childhood. In elementary school, Eaddy was kicked out of violin lessons, not because he lacked the ability to play, but because after a year of classes, he still couldn’t read sheet music – probably the only skill he struggles with. What his teacher didn’t realize was that although he didn’t understand the difference between a stave or a clef, he could seamlessly replay anything he ever heard – usually after a single listen. It was a natural talent and one that wasn’t limited to the violin.

“I play basically anything with strings: guitar, banjo, mandolin and violin,” he said.

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all that surprising considering he grew up in an orchestral family. His father was versed in the clarinet and violin and his grandfather with the piano, violin and any other instrument he put his hands on.

“I grew up in a house full of artists and music,” he said. “I was surrounded by music and art. Ever since I can remember, it was just there. It was part of our life and our family, so it was just kind of natural. I thought everybody did that.”

As if becoming a one-man-band wasn’t ambitious enough, he also designs his own instruments as a woodworker and luthier.

Helping his grandfather with small construction projects were the stepping stones that paved the way for Eaddy to combine his knack for molding lumber with his passion for music.

During a stroll through a little shop in north Georgia, Eaddy heard an unrecognizable melody humming in the background: a mountain dulcimer, a new stringed instrument to add to his repertoire. After buying one and quickly learning how to use it,

ARTIST >> MICHAEL A. EADDY

he ultimately took it apart to learn how to build one of his own.

As any wood artisan knows, timber is like a painter’s palette — available in various shades with different varieties evoking distinct results. When making instruments, choosing the correct wood doesn’t just impact the visual appearance but also affects the sound. Hardwoods, like ebony and northern red cherry, produce a brighter, sharper sound where softer woods like red cedar or mahogany generate a smoother, mellower noise — Eaddy’s preferred tone.

After getting a large log of wood, Eaddy mills the piece to the right size and shape before adding decorative touches on the body of the dulcimer or psaltery he’s making. In addition to handcrafted instruments, Eaddy uses wood to create furniture, jewelry boxes, walking sticks, slingshots, figurines and hairpins inspired by nature. Each piece he constructs, whatever it may be, ranges in difficulty and awe from more simplistic designs like entryway tables and puzzle boxes that allow the natural beauty of the wood to shine through, to intricately detailed owl, scorpion and leaf hairpins or expressive gnomes adorned with flowing beards and slouching hats.

“I’ll have pieces of wood,” he said. “Some of them I’ll know immediately what I want to do with it. Other pieces of wood I’ll have for years and years, and then when they finally tell me what they want to be, I’ll do it.”

Though his instruments and furniture are breathtaking in their own right, Eaddy prefers smaller, more complex projects, whether that means whittling a fish from a peach pit or an eagle in an alligator tooth.

To sharpen his finger dexterity and love for meticulous projects, Eaddy added palm frond origami to his growing list of aesthetic know-hows. Flora crabs, multifold grasshoppers and delicate birds accumulate in a basket tucked away in his workshop beside rows of carved wooden gnomes, slingshots and photography equipment. Oh, yeah, he’s a professional photographer too.

After undergoing back surgery, Eaddy needed a relaxing, less labor-intensive hobby to keep himself occupied during his recovery. To fill this newfound void in his life, he picked up a camera and looked for inspiration, which he found in macro

photography — capturing the life of butterflies, insects and other creepy-crawly critters. Though he enjoys getting a glimpse into a bug’s life, Eaddy is always experimenting with different subjects and settings from splash portraits, smoke movements, landscapes, water droplets, headshots and 360 photography, some of which have been featured on the front covers and within the pages of Our Town.

Needless to say, Eaddy’s leap to photography didn’t come out of left field. Like music, he was introduced to photography at a young age through his mother, who was a photographer for the Department of Agriculture and the Florida State Museum.

If he wasn’t helping his mom process film in the darkroom, he was accompanying her to photoshoots of Indian Mounds and other discoveries. This boredom-buster hobby became a fullfledged career for Eaddy, who was the in-house photographer for the Hippodrome Theatre, where he worked as the technical director and production manager until he retired in 2019. It was a passion that pushed him to open his own photography business.

“The main reason I do it is because I love it, and I like the interaction with people,” he said.

Not to be outdone by other multi-talented souls, Eaddy doesn’t cap his visionary endeavors at woodworking, photography and music. Being the Renaissance man of the visual arts, throughout the years Eaddy has also taken up floral design, book folding, stained glass, pottery, martial arts and more traditional art forms like drawing, painting and sculpting.

“Everything I’ve always done has been in the art world,” he said. “My mother and father were always very, very supportive of any artistic, creative venture that I wanted to try or do. They were behind me 100%.”

As for what imaginative interests await him next, that remains a mystery as each new artistic pursuit Eaddy undertakes is rather spontaneous. One thing’s for certain, whatever he creates next will exemplify sheer wonder and amazement.

To check out some of Eaddy’s photography work, visit: michaelaeaddyphotography.com PHOTOGRAPHY: ERICKA WINTERROWD, MICHAEL A. EADDY

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AUTHOR G.S. LEWIS >> UF ALUM PENS FIRST BOOK

DASH OF DYSTOPIA

A GATOR GRAD’S DEBUT NOVEL

Lord of the Clouds WRITTEN BY ERICK A WINTER ROWD

A

bright pink cover stares intently back at readers, beckoning any adventure-seeker to its vivid color. On it, a yellow-tusked elephant marches towards anyone who possesses the curiosity to pick it up. One can only imagine why this majestic creature must carry the load of an entire cityscape on its back. This is how author G.S. Lewis first lures readers into his penned world that is “Lord of the Clouds,” – and that’s just the front of the book.

Years before releasing his debut novel, Lewis studied Fine Arts (with a focus in sculpture) and Anthropology at the University of Florida. After graduating, he said he began to navigate life as an artist; and subsequently, he became interested in software engineering. UF had just started a new graduate program: Digital World Institute’s Masters in Digital Arts & Sciences degree. Lewis was accepted into the program, and his

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next chapter began.

It was in grad school, as he began learning software development and engineering, when he started a mobile app company called NicheMobile. After finishing his grad program, he stayed in town a few more years to pursue opportunities with the mobile app company before heading to Delray Beach to work for a startup. In total, Lewis logged nearly nine years in Gainesville.

Even though his career eventually led him to Boston, where he worked for a robotics company for four years, his love for Gator Nation continues to run deep.

“I really loved the community, the UF Gator community,” Lewis said. “Even in Boston, if I see someone with a Florida plate or a Gator tag, you know you can just go up to them and talk and you’ll have so much in common. It’s great. That’s my biggest [Gainesville] takeaway – the community follows you

around the world, and it’s a strong community.”

After working more and more in the corporate world, Lewis said he could feel his creative side begin to wither and languish a bit. “And that’s where I think the desire to start writing really came in,” he said.

Lewis explained that he loves art and the process of making things, which is why he went into programming in the first place – to make art that has interactive elements programmed into it. However, most artwork, even programming, can require some kind of studio space or materials.

“The amazing thing about writing is that you’re completely free,” he said. “You just need a word processor, and you’re good to go. You don’t need to build a whole team of people or anything of that nature. You can do it alone, and I’ve always kind of been someone who wants to do every aspect on my own. Maybe that’s just the artist’s mind. You like to have control over your product.”

The inspiration for his novel came from an idea he started kicking around while he lived in Gainesville. Initially, he said he envisioned it as more of a science fiction story.

“It was the idea of a virtual afterlife where things like Google and Amazon had become self-realized, like AIs, almost like deities of this world that everyone is kind of stuck in,” he said.

“Then, when I finally sat down to start writing – it took a very different turn. That’s still kind of the underlying back end idea, but it’s not the explicit point of the book.”

Lewis described the process of writing the novel as a very cathartic one. He had written short stories before, just for

himself. However, it was after going through a sudden divorce that he found himself delving into writing, in general, as a way to process and heal.

He found it so therapeutic that he circled back to his sci-fi idea that first began germinating in Gainesville years before. “It evolved completely into this much more metaphysical, fantastical world where this guy’s wife goes missing, and he’s kind of left in the dust trying to figure out what happened to her,” he said. “He’s going through this sort of Alice in Wonderland hallucinatory world as he’s searching.”

Lewis explained that writing from his own personal low seemed to crystalize the core conflict of the book. “Just this sense of loss and of longing and not having answers,” he said.

He describes the book as one part Alice in Wonderland, one part Dante’s Inferno with a dash of dystopia and a pinch of Narnia thrown in for good measure. The story explores the consequences of choice, infinity, true love and redemption.

The primary antagonist is a character named Golgotha, a really heavy guy with a big elephant head. “So right away you know this book is in this sort of fantastical place and you’re like, ‘what is going on here?’” Lewis said. “Hopefully, it’s intriguing to the reader to find out more.”

Golgotha sends Albus, the story’s protagonist, on a task that requires him to descend to the “Low Place,” where he must kill a prophesized child who is supposedly going to destroy their world. When Albus refuses Golgotha’s orders he races home and finds his wife missing. “So [Albus] sets out. He’s kind of lost so

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AUTHOR G.S. LEWIS >> UF ALUM PENS FIRST BOOK

A reader may wonder why there is no title on the cover of G. S. Lewis’ book. This is because, in the story itself, the lead character finds a book with no title that he begins to read.

he goes on this vacation quest,” he said. “He’s sort of intent on removing Golgotha from power while also hoping to find a clue to his wife’s disappearance along the way. This sets everything

in the book in motion.”

Lewis explained that the reader will be trying to figure out where Albus really is. Is this heaven, hell or purgatory?

Perhaps, he is being punished.

Lewis said as the author he is not really interested in saying it’s any of those things definitively. It’s simply the world in which the character finds himself in. “I went with a lot of different themes,” he said.

“Loss and religion, things like that.”

Without giving too much away, Lewis hints that even though Albus starts out in a fantastical world, he may not have to remain in it. “It’s almost like a reverse Alice in Wonderland,” he said. “He

becomes more real later on.”

Lewis released his book by self-publishing under his own registered LLC, Two Tall Trees Publishing. He also created the

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consequences, and sometimes the end of the journey is not what you were expecting.”

Lewis is hopeful that if his novel continues to be well-received, perhaps a literary agent or an advance for a next book could be on the horizon. “It’s all about opening doors and just continuing to move forward,” he said. For now, he’s happy with having as many people read his book as possible.

In looking forward, Lewis said he would love to become a fulltime writer. Prior to the pandemic, he decided to leave his tech job to focus fulltime on the completion of the novel. “Had the pandemic not become a part of my life in an individual way, maybe I would have been going out a lot more or maybe I would have gone out and tried to look for another job sooner,” he said.

“Because of the estranged time it really caused me to reflect and even double down on the writing process.”

For those hoping to take the same leap of faith that Lewis took and begin putting pen to paper, he has some words of advice.

“Just start,” he said. “Just start doing it and then get obsessed with it. It doesn’t matter if it’s good. Doesn’t matter if you’ve never written before. In whatever language possible, get your idea down on paper and just keep doing it.”

AUTHOR G.S. LEWIS >> UF ALUM PENS FIRST BOOK

cover art, dusting off his old graphic design skills he dabbled in during his arts education. He said at first it was frustrating since he hadn’t used those skills in 10 years or so, but he kept pushing himself to relearn it and then it became kind of fun.

“I had a vision for what I wanted,” he said, “and I kind of knew that if I had someone else do it – it would never be exactly what I had envisioned.”

The cover is filled with many symbols that will be discovered as the book is read, including a large elephant that represents Golgotha. A reader may also wonder why there is no title on the cover. This is because, in the story itself, Albus finds a book with no title that he begins to read. “There’s little Easter eggs in it that reference back,” he said. “Again, coming from my art background, I have to make everything symbolic and have all of these hidden things and meaning.”

Since self-publishing in July, Lewis has been sending the book to reviewers and review websites. “It’s a really competitive world, there’s just so many people trying to break into it,” he said, “and therefore, it’s kind of hard to sort the noise from the good stuff. You really just have to look at every avenue and angle and send your book to people.”

Reviewer Chris Allcorn, of reedsy.com, rated the novel 5 Stars. He stated that “Lord of the Clouds” is a book he’d highly recommend anyone to read. “It was as wild a ride as Alice in Wonderland was, and it has a message: actions and choices have

Readers can connect with Lewis on Facebook, lordoftheclouds. com, and Instagram @g.s.lewis.author. To order your copy of “Lord of the Clouds,” visit: amazon.com.

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86

BOOK REVIEW

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER’S

Reading Corner HEROES WEAR MASKS: ELMO’S SUPER ADVENTURE

by Lillian Jane, pictures by Ernie Kwait C.2020, SOURCEBOOKS, $7.99 / $9.99 CANADA,40 PAGES TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER HAS BEEN READING SINCE SHE WAS 3 YEARS OLD AND SHE NEVER GOES ANYWHERE WITHOUT A BOOK. SHE LIVES WITH HER TWO DOGS AND 11,000 BOOKS. HER BOOK REVIEWS ARE PUBLISHED IN MORE THAN 200 NEWSPAPERS AND 50 MAGAZINES THROUGHOUT THE U.S. AND CANADA. bookwormsez@yahoo.com

PEEK-A-BOO!

Y

ou played that game back when you were too little to even remember. Hide your eyes, move your hands, and BOO! These days, though, it’s a different kind of game with different rules. In “Heroes Wear Masks: Elmo’s Super Adventure” by Lillian Jane, pictures by Ernie Kwiat, there’s no BOO! to it.

The minute Elmo woke up this morning, he was “super excited... and super nervous!” He put his hands over his tummy and took a slow, deep breath. Today was the day he went to school and there was lots to remember!

He washed up and ate a good breakfast while Mommy let Elmo know what might happen at school. He might have his temperature taken, but it won’t hurt. He’ll need to wear his mask, to keep his mouth and nose covered.

He’ll want to remember not to touch his mouth or eyes or nose after he’s washed up. And he’ll have to stay a safe distance from his friends in school and on the playground.

That’s a lot to remember. One more deep breath. That makes Elmo feel better.

He had a fancy new face mask to wear, and that was exciting!

Masks should be clean and just the right size – not to big, not too small. Elmo doesn’t have to wear his mask at home while he plays inside. He wears it whenever he goes anywhere else, though. He wears his mask in school, on the bus, walking 86 |

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around, on the playground, in gym class, and at the grocery store. And he won’t be alone when he does it: Elmo’s classmates will be wearing masks. His teachers will have them, too. Mommy says that Super Grover even wears a mask, and that makes Elmo want to wear his everywhere.

Just before he gets on the bus, Elmo gives Mommy a hug and kiss and that’s okay; with his friends, he can only wave.

And when he gets home, he’ll wash his hands and tell Mommy about his exciting day.

As an adult, it can be hard to wrap your head around the “new normal” of masking wherever you go. Your child may seem more resilient and willing to mask up everywhere – or they may need this book.

“Heroes Wear Masks” is everything you expect a Sesame Street-based book to be: simple but gently persuasive, slightly repetitive, instructional without seeming so, and full of characters your kids already love. Author Lillian Jane takes the big deal out of mask-wearing, instead making it seem like a privilege your child will want. For a parent who’s tired of fighting the issue, that’s a benefit; another plus is that hand-washing is likewise stressed in this story and it’s also done without fuss.

While 3-year-olds can surely enjoy the Elmo they adore, this is really a better book for kids ages 4 to 7, especially if school is an on-again, off-again thing in your area. Hide your nose, hide your mouth, and “Heroes Wear Masks” is a book you’ll want to peek at.

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Tried and true. Locally loved. Contributors to our community. This special section of Our Town puts names to the north central Florida faces who always bring their A-game, keep customers smiling and continually lead the region into the future. Look for these special photo pages throughout this issue. These are the faces of Our Town.

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The team at Little Pine Pediatrics consists of experienced, compassionate pediatricians and friendly, nurturing staff members who take pride in giving their young patients the personalized pediatric care they deserve. They understand you have a choice of pediatricians, and look forward to showing you how they differ from other practices. All of their providers are highly educated professionals who have undergone rigorous

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OneStop Medical and Urgent Care is now open in Alachua, Florida. Locally owned and operated, they truly understand the importance of a patient-centered environment. Available to assist with minor illnesses and injuries, the staff is committed to providing the best care possible while getting you back to your everyday life as quickly as possible.

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Country-style cooking at its finest, just like Grandma’s house! A buffet style restaurant, Brown’s Country Buffet is open seven days a week!

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Let Jim Douglas Sales & Service show you how easy it is to buy a quality used car. Located in beautiful, historic High Springs, they believe fair prices, superior service, and treating customers right leads to satisfied repeat customers. Our friendly and knowledgeable sales staff is there to help you find the car you deserve, priced to fit your budget. Shop our virtual

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Schneider & Associates Insurance Agencies, Inc. is a family owned and operated independent insurance agency established in 2003. As an Independent agency they have the advantage of writing Commercial Insurance with over 50 highly rated insurance carriers (and counting) as well as Group Health Insurance. Independent insurance agencies are able to offer a wide variety of coverage options and prices. Schneider & Associates is your “one stop shop�. The commercial team has combined experience in underwriting, auditing, and sales. Whether it is a general liability, commercial property, workers compensation or any other commercial coverage you are looking for, they are right around the corner and will be your personal advisor and advocate. Schneider & Associates is the local agency that you can trust!

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RELIEVING CHRONIC PAIN

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Experience the finest of Eastern Chinese and Integrative Medicine at the new Neuropathy Pain Institute at Spark Health, where your health concerns are the only priority. With Dr. Akemi’s 15 years of experience, each patient is accepted on a case-by-case basis and a treatment plan is tailored to address individual concerns for exceptional results. After evaluation, she customizes a program to each patient’s needs. They treat a variety of complex chronic conditions including neuropathy (nerve damage), chronic pain and migraines through innovative integrative Acupuncture, ATP Bio Resonance Therapy™, O3 Regenerative BioTherapy™, and Acupuncture Point Injection Therapy. Their typical patient has often exhausted all options everywhere else without doctors listening or offering a solution before they come to this clinic of last resort with best results.

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of craft beer right next door at their bottle shoppe. If you love your Happy Hours, Crafty’s has quite arguably-the BEST happy hours in town. You can also enjoy great M-F lunch specials, Monday’s the BEST All You Can Eat Wings (kids eat free), Tuesday Trivia, Wednesday, Karaoke, and Live musician Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays.

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Dr. William Avonda, his wife Debbie, and their experienced team at Alachua Family Eye Care will give you and your family personalized care during your visit. They are a family owned, complete vision care provider. As active members of the community, they are excited to serve Alachua and surrounding areas. As a licensed optometrist, Dr. Avonda specializes in comprehensive exams as well as the treatment and diagnoses of glaucoma, macular degeneration and many other disorders. Debbie Avonda is a licensed optician who is highly skilled at assisting patients in picking out the ideal pair of glasses for their vision and fashion needs. Experience the family atmosphere at Alachua Family Eye Care. You will notice the difference!

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HISTORIC MAKERS

History in the Makers The Long Tradition of Alachua County Creators W R I T T E N B Y J O A N N A G R E Y TA L B O T

A

simple definition of a maker is someone who makes something. Yet, if you talk to someone who uses their hands and talents to create art or buildings or musical instruments or furniture you quickly understand it is so much more than that. Makers put their heart into their creations, and it shows. Although we will only focus on eight of them, the history of Alachua County is filled with makers.

Gino Cavaceppi (1931-1987) The Appalachian School of Luthiery’s website states that, “Archaeologists have found harps dating back to the land of Ur of the Chaldees in the time of Genesis. Very early in our own American history, variants of the harps, things like ‘zitters’ and ‘scheitholts,’ could be heard ringing through the hills and hollers along with fiddles. And very early on, African slaves introduced an instrument which was to become the banjo.”

Gino Cavaceppi, born in Rome, Italy, was one piece of the long history of luthiery – the constructing and repairing of stringed instruments. From a young age he was both fascinated with playing and building stringed instruments. As 110 |

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The UF Baptist Student Center was designed by the firm of Goin and Moore in 1949. Pictured here in 1960, it is still in use today by the Baptist Collegiate Ministries. Courtesy of the University of Florida Archives, Special Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries.

a young man, he toured with a variety of bands around Europe and the Middle East.

In 1965 Gino worked as the head of entertainment and band leader for the Cavalieri Hilton (now the Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel) in Rome. It was there that he met his wife, Florida-native Sharleen Ownbey, who worked in the travel industry. They were married in Rome in 1967.

That year they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and Gino began working for Emile Baran of DeKalb Music Supply. In 1968, they moved to the town of Alachua to be near Sharleen’s family, and Gino established his own shop. According to his son Silvio, Gino not only made violins, cellos, violas and basses, but he also did instrument repair for local performers and the University of Florida, restored a large pipe organ, composed music, and played multiple instruments, including the bass in a jazz band. He became a naturalized citizen in the 1970s and was a member of the Violin Society of America. His achievements are also listed in the Violin Makers of the United States by Thomas Wenberg.

Johnson Chestnut (ca. 1828 – 1898), William Watts (ca. 1838 – 1910), and Henry Gaines (ca.

1828 – 1890s) Located west of Gainesville is a 164-year-old beautifully constructed home, which was built by enslaved craftsmen. We do not know all their names, but we do know three. Johnson Chestnut and William Watts were enslaved on the Haile family’s 112 |

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Kanapaha Plantation. Henry Gaines was enslaved on Dr. W.H. Clarke Stringfellow’s plantation in Fort Clarke. These three men and their fellow craftsmen constructed the Haile Homestead, which was completed in 1856. Henry Gaines was a stonemason and reportedly built the chimneys, limestone piers and fireplaces.

Johnson Chestnut was also a skilled furniture maker and some of his pieces are on display today at the Homestead.

The Haile family moved from Camden, South Carolina, to Alachua County in 1854 with an unspecified number of enslaved laborers.

They purchased 1,500 acres of the Arredondo Grant and began planting Sea Island cotton.

The 6,200 square foot home has ten rooms and two center halls. The front porch is called a “rain porch” because the roof extends past the edge of the porch and rests on six solid wood pillars over limestone bases.

The boards used to construct the home are a mixtured of hand-hewn and sawed. The home was cooled by twelve-foot ceilings and large windows and warmed by four brick chimneys and eight fireplaces on the first floor.

The interior walls were finished with thick horsehair plaster over lath.

The beauty and long-lasting construction of this historic home is a testament to the enslaved craftsmen who built it.

Today the home operates as a non-profit museum, the Historic Haile Homestead, which tells the story of the Haile family and the enslaved laborers who lived there.

HISTORY >> LOCAL CRAFTERS

(Clockwise) Jesse Aaron at work on a sculpture – 1976; Gino Cavaceppi at work in his shop – 1977, both courtesy of the State Library & Archives of FL; Elmer Harvey Bone at the entrance to his studio, courtesy of the Matheson History Museum.

Emmaline Hardy Buchholz (1887-1973) One of Gainesville’s “foremost artists,” according to a 1931 Gainesville Sun article, was born in Ormondsville, North Carolina. Emmaline Hardy attended Randolph Macon College and received a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied under painters Hugh H. Breckenridge and Thomas P. Anshutz.

After leaving the academy she taught at the Women’s College of South Carolina and was the supervisor of art in the Shreveport, Louisiana public schools. Seeking further study, she moved to Chicago to attend the Art Institute. It was there that she met her husband Frederick W. Buchholz, an educator and politician.

They first moved to his hometown of Tampa and then in 1914 moved to Gainesville and made it their forever home. Frederick was hired as a teacher and coach at Gainesville High School, and Emmaline focused on her art and the community. She joined the Gainesville Women’s Club and continued painting.

In 1921 Emmaline began studying famous paintings and artists’ biographies on Saturday afternoons with three friends from the club.

She and her friends wanted to share the club with the community so in 1923 they founded the Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA) with the slogan “Take art to the community and the community will take to art.” The organization is still going strong today.

In the fall of 1926, the Orlando Art Association sent the women of GFAA an invitation to discuss creating a statewide art association. They met in Orlando on April 7, 1927, and elected Emmaline the first president of the Florida Federation of Art. It flourished for many years but was dissolved in 1977.

Emmaline exhibited her paintings all over Florida. In 1935, she had a one woman show at the Ringling School of Art. The Sarasota Herald said that, “She has caught a real flavor of truth in her interpretation of her home state. There is much of the imaginative and the mystery of nature in her work, expressed through the eyes of an artist who sees as a poet, with quietness and dignity.”

That same year Emmaline was commissioned by the Florida legislature and Secretary of State R.A. Gray to make a copy of the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington to replace NOV/DEC 2020

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an earlier copy that was damaged. She spent the summer in Philadelphia copying the original at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Once finished in 1936, it was hung in the House Chamber. Secretary Gray said that “only artists of recognized ability are approved by the academy to make copies of famous original portraits.” According to the Florida Historic Capitol Museum, the painting hung in the House of Representatives from 1936-1945. Then from 1945 to the 1960s, it hung in the Cabinet Meeting Room. The State Department transferred it to the Museum of Florida History in 1975. It is currently on loan to the Florida Historic Capitol Museum and hangs in the restored 1902 House Chamber.

Jesse Aaron (1887-1979) Jesse Aaron was the oldest of twelve children and was born in Lake City. He had African American, European and Seminole heritage.

By 1910, he and his family had moved to Bland in northwest Alachua County to farm. After Jesse turned 21, he attended vocational school to become a baker and began serving as a cook on the Seaboard Coastline Railroad. In 1913, he met and married Lee Anna, who worked as a teacher. They initially lived in Starke but moved to Gainesville by 1930.

Jesse worked as a cook in local hotels and University of Florida fraternity houses. On the side he also built cabinets and furniture. His love of constructing and creating also helped him to build their house on NW 7th Avenue. Some of Jesse’s earliest carvings were faces on trees that he used to mark the boundary of his property.

Jesse’s career took a major turn in 1968 when his wife, Lee Anna, began losing her sight to cataracts. He was not sure how they were going to afford the surgery she needed but according to him, the following happened early one morning around 3 a.m.

He woke up after hearing the Lord say, “Jesse, carve wood!” He immediately went to his workshop that was attached to the house and carved his first sculpture.

Pleased with what he was creating, he opened a shop in his home to sell the sculptures. Within his first year of carving wood, he was able to pay for Lee Anna’s first surgery.

His work quickly caught the eye of people in the art world, including Roy Craven, the first director of the University Gallery at the University of Florida. Craven curated an exhibition of 31 pieces of Jesse’s work at the University Gallery, which opened on October 14, 1970. Most of the sculptures sold within the first hour and a half.

Jesse’s wooden sculptures had visual similarities to carvings of several traditional cultures, such as Native American and African. He also enjoyed adding found materials, such as fabric or plastic eyes, to his pieces in order to create what he had envisioned. Jesse stated in a 1971 oral history interview with the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) at UF that he could “walk out into the woods and see a tree and know what I’m going to get out of it before I put my hands on it.” In a 1983 oral history interview with SPOHP, Lee Anna was asked what she thought of Jesse’s work, and she said, “I thought it was the greatest thing in the world.”

In 1982 several of his pieces were included in an exhibition curated by the former Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The exhibition, “Black Folk Art in America 1930-1980,” toured the country. Today you can find his pieces in collections throughout the country at such institutions as the Minneapolis Institute of Art, High Museum of Art, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

Sanford Goin (1908-1958) 1953 Lincoln High School graduate Pauline Jenkins, photographed by Elmer Harvey Bone, courtesy of the Matheson History Museum.

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Sanford Goin was born in Frankfort, Kentucky but his family moved to Gainesville by 1920. His father, Newbold, was an architect and Sanford grew up studying under him. Sanford worked with his firm in Gainesville from 1926-1930.

After attending the University of Florida, he worked

HISTORY >> LOCAL CRAFTERS

with architect Forrest Kelley, Jr. As many men did, Sanford put his career on hold when World War II began. He served with the Seabees (US Naval Construction Battalion) from 1942-1945.

After the war, he came back to Gainesville and founded his own architectural firm. In 1948, he brought Jack Moore on as a partner. Their firm designed several homes, churches and schools in the Gainesville area – Gainesville High School, Stephen Foster Elementary, First Methodist Church, University of Florida Baptist Student Union building and more.

Sanford achieved the rank of Fellow with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1954. Throughout his career he served multiple roles in AIA, including state president.

Sanford also served his community on the Alachua County Zoning Commission, City Commission and the City Plan Board.

According to his obituary, at the time of his death he was serving as “a director of Gainesville Mutual Building & Loan, Alachua County School Board architect, a Kiwanian, Mason, American Legion member and a director of the Florida Foundation for the Advancement of Building.”

After his passing, the Gainesville chapter of AIA created the Sanford W. Goin Memorial Scholarship for architecture students at UF. Today his firm, Goin and Moore, operates as Brame Heck Architects, Inc.

Elmer Harvey Bone (1885-1976) Elmer Harvey Bone was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, in 1885 and moved to Wellsburg, West Virginia, in 1887. At age 17, he opened his own studio in Wellsburg. In 1910, he married Margaret and their family grew to include four children — Elmer Jr., Sarah, William, and Ralph.

In 1925, they moved to Gainesville and Elmer began working with local photographer William Van Sickel. He later opened his own studio at 105 SE 1st Street. His studio was called The Quality Studio, but he renamed it The Bone Studio in 1951. He “retired” at age 83 but continued to photograph events around town. This city lost a great artist when he passed away in 1976 at the age of 90.

Elmer photographed everything from homecoming parades to construction sites to group picnics to individual portraits to river baptisms. He saw beauty in the everyday mundane and routine. Alachua County is indebted to him for the decades he spent chronicling life in our communities.

The Elmer Harvey Bone collection at the Matheson History Museum consists of over 10,000 photographs and negatives from 1929 to 1969 showcasing a visual history of Alachua County and its people, as well as photographs from Wellsburg, West Virginia, in his early career and photography equipment from his studio.

Many of his photographs are accessible through the University of Florida’s Digital Collections (ufdc.ufl.edu/ bone).

Here’s to the historic makers who have laid a creatively rich foundation for our community!

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services organization, and a membership owned fraternal organization, providing financial advice, investments, insurance, banking and generosity pro-

THRIVENT

grams, we are committed to helping you achieve financial clarity. We are

Shane Matthews DeAnna and Dave Edwards, Lucy Wolterman

and Dave Edwards, financial professionals, are invested in things that pre-

6216 NW 43RD ST STE 3C, GAINESVILLE, FL 32653 352-226-8000 116 |

At Thrivent, we believe money is a tool–not a goal. As a holistic financial

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here to help provide the guidance you need to live the life you want. DeAnna pare you for the future. They are ready to have a conversation about whats most important to you and your financial situation. Call today to learn more about how they can help you develop a plan that is unique to your needs.

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SENIOR INSURANCE PLANNING

American Senior Benefits

Dominique Tillman, Dustin Clark, Jeremy Silcox, Kayla Silcox, Perry Clark, Lisa Clark, Zack Lewis, Angie Lewis, Owen Lewis 5700 SW 34TH STREET, SUITE 106, GAINESVILLE, FL 32608 352-745-7546 | AMERICANSENIORBENEFITS.COM

American Senior Benefits is dedicated to serving those in need of insurance, especially seniors. They are proudly independent, answering only to their customers. The choices their customers make are key life decisions and they work every day to help them find the right solutions at affordable prices. What they do is important, personal and precise. As a family-owned business, every time they help a customer make a decision that’s right for them, it makes them, our community and their organization, stronger. Built on relationships, American Senior Benefits adopts a “People First” philosophy and stands ready to help, in any way they can. Let our family protect your family.

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PERSONAL INJURY LAW

Law Offices of Stephen K. Miller, P.A. 101 NW 75TH ST, SUITE 1, GAINESVILLE 352-244-2067 | FORYOURLAW.COM 118 |

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An accident resulting in an injury could happen at any time. Unfortunately, when the injury is serious, it can affect your entire family by having to deal with medical bills or lost income during a long recovery. Steve Miller has been representing clients injured in accidents for 25 years. In addition, Mr. Miller has over 30 years of experience in law enforcement, which helps him analyze his cases from that perspective as well. He strives to give his clients exceptional service by handling each case personally from start to finish. In addition, there are never any charges for fees or costs unless he wins your case.

Call for a free phone consultation regarding your case.

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YOUR NEXT HOME PURCHASE

Daurine Wehbe, Realtor®

Licensed Realtor at Coldwell Banker MM Parrish 352-562-1411 YOURDREAMSCOMEHOME.COM

The Face of Your Next Home Purchase is Daurine Wehbe. As an award-winning realtor at Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish, Daurine focuses on her client’s total home buying and selling experience. She understands the importance of buying and selling a home, no matter whether it’s your first home or your 10th.

Her persistence and results-driven attitude make her goal of providing

an enjoyable process easy. She understands real estate and is willing to make it happen for you! Daurine speaks three languages, English, French, and Arabic, and has lived in our town for 15 years. She also specializes in relocation. Let her help you make Alachua County your home. You can visit her website at Yourdreamscomehome.com or call her at 352.562.1411.

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BRINGING THE FIESTA TO YOU!

Elio Piedra

WWW.ELIOPIEDRA1@GMAIL.COM 352-327-5089 | ELIOPIEDRA.COM 120 |

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Looking to hire more than just a DJ for your next event? Elio Piedra is an entertainer! His high-energy show brings the fiesta to your next event. More than just your standard DJ, Elio brings singing, dancing and even live instruments to parties, birthdays, weddings, private events, grand openings and

corporate events. Be ready to have some fun because Elio will elevate your event to the next level. It’s not a party unless Elio is there, providing his unique mix of music, percussion, dancing and entertainment. Check out his website for more information on how you can include Elio in your next event.

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AFTER SCHOOL CARE

Okito America

Trainers: Ovismar Maylin G., Joshua Kepner, Thalia Millan Students: Jacob Santiago, Sofia Chubina, Taylor Millan 6900 SW ARCHER RD, GAINESVILLE 352-338-7262 OKITOAMERICA.COM

Okito America has quickly become the premier martial arts and after-school center in Gainesville. In 2020 Okito America rocked the Best of the Best awards, winning “Best Martial Arts” and “Best After School.”

They took home Best After School Program and Best Places to Host a Birthday Party in the 2020 Our Town “Faves” Contest. They have 8-week martial arts family packages starting for as little as $99, as well as After School Programs, Zoom classes, and a Virtual Learning Program to help families during the 2020 school year. Okito America is proud to be the Face of After School Care. Call them today or visit their website for more information.

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HOLISTIC HEALING

The Healing House of Alachua

Ashley Upham AP, Savanah Penland LMT, Karen Byron DC, and Dhanya Rico M.Ed.,Ed.S 14804 NW 140TH ST ALACHUA, FL 32615 386-462-0020 HEALINGHOUSEALACHUA.COM 122 |

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Here at The Healing House, we focus on treating the body as a whole. We offer traditional healing therapies to provide comfort and relief from imbalance, whether it is mental, physical or emotional. As a one-stop shop, offering Acupuncture, Massage, Chiropractic, and Mental Health/Couples Counseling, we provide our commu-

nity with a safe-haven to internalize and focus on healing within. We also house one of North-Central Florida’s only Salt Rooms, providing Halotherapy for respiratory disorders and stress relief. Our warm, caring staff strives to connect with each client that walks through our door. Come make us your Healing House today!

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INSURANCE

Hugh Cain Allstate

Tyler Greene, Holly Bessent, Hugh Cain 16181 NW US HWY 441 UNIT 180, ALACHUA , FL 32615 352-371-5777

For more than a quarter of a century the “Cain” name has been the face of protection from all kinds of mayhem. Hugh Cain Allstate gives so much more than just local service. Hugh, Tyler and Holly extend the GOOD HANDS to all current clients and are always welcoming new faces to the agency. For all of your financial services needs please stop

in, call or click today and become part of the Allstate family. When it comes to preparing for your future, the team at Hugh Cain Allstate understands that each person’s needs are unique. As an Exclusive Agency in your area, our ongoing priority is to help you and your family create a financial strategy to achieve the peace of mind you deserve.

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RECRUITING

RECRUITINGEXPRESS

EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS

John Carr, Stephen Carr, Jason Carr 4400 NW 36 AVE, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 (352) 519-5244 WWW.EXPRESSPROS.COM 124 |

OUR TOWN MAGAZINE

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Business decisions come down to time and money, and your locally owned Express Employment Professionals office can save you both. Express provides a full range of employment solutions that include full-time, temporary, and part-time employment in a wide range of positions, including Professional, Light Industrial, and Office Services. You take care of your business while they take care of you. Your local Express team will

manage the recruiting and selection process and present you with only the best people for your business needs. Each applicant goes through a multi-step, certified selection process which is crucial in helping you find skilled, qualified employees. Not only is the team at Express Employment committed to finding the right person for the job they are also dedicated to find someone that fits your company’s unique culture.

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REINVENTING YOURSELF

FloMotion Fitness

Florine Bush, Leann Malphurs 15315 NW US HWY 441, ALACHUA 352-222-7078 | FLOMOTIONFITNESS.COM

FloMotion Fitness is the Ultimate Garage Gym Experience. FloMotion has been serving Alachua and surrounding communities since 2014. Their open air facility is Covid friendly, and they are Covid cleaning compliant. FloMotion Fitness offers Group Fitness Classes, One-on-One Personal Training, Small Group Personal Training, Nutrition Counseling, and Free Consultations. Classes are designed for all fitness levels. Their goal is to educate, support, and empower their clients while Making Fitness fun. With proper training, encouragement, and accountability anyone can grow into the person they want to be! Don’t let your excuses stop you, call today and try one of their classes. You will get a great workout and maybe meet your new best friend!

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CHIROPRACTIC CARE

Awaken Chiropractic

Dr. Shane And Dr. Brittany Semegon HUNTER’S CROSSING SHOPPING CENTER 5200 NW 43RD ST #507, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 PHONE: (352) 448-1402 AWAKENMYHEALTH.COM 126 |

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At Awaken Chiropractic, their goal is to help you function as well and as long as you can so you can enjoy the things in life that really matter. They are focused on improving the health and wellness of our entire community, and their mission is to provide you not only chiropractic care, but also the tools you need to improve your overall health and wellness for a lifetime. The chiropractic adjustments you receive at Awaken Chiropractic are safe and effective for people of all ages, including infants. They offer science-backed, ethical and principled chiropractic care to help alleviate pain and illness. Dr. Shane and Dr. Brittany Semegon are here to help you achieve the highest level of healthy living possible.

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CRAFT BEER BOTTLE SHOPPES

Crafty Bastards Bottle Shoppe Betty Brunson, Roman Brunson, Pat Brunson, and Jeff Brunson 4860 NW 39TH AVE. | 352-872-5970 THECRAFTYBASTARDS.COM

Est. in 2016, we could see the desire that our already dedicated customers of Crafty’s Restaurant, had for their very own neighborhood Craft Beer Bottle Shoppe in NW Gainesville. With over 750 varieties of Craft Beer, a growing wine section and service like no other, Crafty’s Bottle Shoppe has quickly become the local’s favorite hangout! While you enjoy this comfortable atmosphere,

pop open some cold brews and mingle with family and friends while you wait for your table next door at Crafty Bastards Restaurant. Want more Crafty? Text “crafty” to “43506” for reminders of their free Craft Beer tasting every Thursday 6p-8p, then check out videos, events, and new brews. Remember to ask Jeff how you can win beer swag. …Welcome Home!!

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BBQ

Woodyard Grill Victoria Tuttle, Penny Manucy, Amy Lollis 352-354-8100 102 NORTHWEST 250TH STREET NEWBERRY, FL 32669 128 |

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Rocky and BBQ are synonymous in Newberry. Together Rocky’s 35 year experience, his secret dry rub and Pat Post’s Southern Fuelwood BBQ wood and charcoal was a successful union taking BBQ to the next level. Southern Fuelwood has been the largest supplier of BBQ and cooking wood in the South East. The funky wood designs of the interior was Pat’s creation, making it a warm, fun place for families and friends to gather.

Enjoy his daily lunch and dinner specials along with our weekly lineup of entertainment.

Every other Monday nights a storybook princess visits while kids eat a free meal served on a frisbee. Tuesday are a hit with smoked Prime Rib cooked with SFW oak. Wednesday’s are a fun night with live music with Cliff Dorsey or Jamie Davis. Thursdays are trivia night with Bill Fritz and Friday is a crowd favorite Karaoke with Justin Nelson.

You’ve tried the rest now have the best!

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BUSINESS BANKING

CenterState Bank

John Roberts, Paul Haven, Bob Page, Tyler Melvin, Danny Gilliland 4100 NW 37TH PL. | 352-416-0330 3919 W NEWBERRY RD. | 352-332-4727 3535 SW 34TH ST. | 352-339-7270 14480 NW 152ND LN. | 386-418-8307

CenterState’s core values not only inspire how they operate as a company, but also reflect their employee’s character and influence on the communities they serve. Banking decisions are made at the local level and are approached with an emphasis on long-term growth. They strive to exceed their client’s expectations by anticipating their needs and responding with a sense of urgency. Built on

life-long friendships, they believe in communicating with honesty and transparency. They work on a belief that a relationship is more valuable than a transaction and their commitment to faith and families is fundamental to the overall culture of the institution. CenterState is regional in scope but laser-focused on earning your trust, each day and with every transaction.

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YOUR MORNING COFFEE

Mi Apá Latin Cafe

Amanda Lopez, General Manager 114 SW 34 ST. GAINESVILLE | 352-376-7020 15634 NW HWY 441 ALACHUA | 386-418-0838 COMING SOON: JONESVILLE 14209 W NEWBERRY RD | 352-545-4430 130 |

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At Mi Apá Latin Café, they use authentic, Old World Cuban recipes and give Mi Apá customers the best of both worlds, dishes that are fast and affordable but also authentic, delicious, and made from scratch. From the wildly popular Cuban, Key West, and Ybor sandwiches to the mouth-watering bowls, vegetarian options, and Family Packs, Mi Apá has something for everyone, whether you’re feeding just yourself or your whole family. Don’t forget their award-winning Café con Leche, Café Bombon, iced coffee or Café Cubano to get your day started, either! They have won the Best of the Best Coffee and Our Town Faves for their wide variety of coffee drinks that pair perfectly with their delicious pastries!

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THE LAW PARTNER OF THE FLORIDA GATORS

Meldon Law Jeffrey Meldon

352-373-8000 703 N MAIN STREET SUITE A GAINESVILLE, FL 32601 WWW.MELDONLAW.COM

Meldon Law has been a law firm serving the people of North Central Florida since 1971. We are dedicated to helping people through difficult times in their lives with a focus on people who have been seriously injured as a result of someone else’s carelessness. We take the stress out of your life and help you make everything easier to deal with. We are honored to have recently been chosen by the Florida Gators to be the only official law firm community partner of the Florida Gators. Meldon Law has also sponsored the Meldon Law TV 20 Scholar-Athlete Program since 1997 and recently established the Veterans Making A Difference Program in partnership with CBS4. Along with our community programs, we are proud to also have the longest-running legal based radio program in the southeast, which is called Law Talk Live and occurs every Saturday at 10:30 AM on WSKY. We have offices in Gainesville, Ocala, and Ft. Lauderdale, and are available to serve you throughout the state.

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THE BEST BURGER

Copper Monkey West

Mark Henry-GM, Amanda Purves, Branden McIntosh 14209 W NEWBERRY RD, NEWBERRY, FL 32669 (352) 363-6338 MYCOPPERMONKEY.COM 132 |

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An old Tom Petty tune, a tight game at The Swamp, watching the bats fly over Lake Alice… there are certain things that are uniquely Gainesville and the Copper Monkey is on that list as a Gainesville institution. For more than 40 years, memories have been made at the Copper Monkey!

Legendary burgers like The Monkey’s Uncle, The Ranch Burger and The Orange & Blue Burger are just a few examples of why we’ve been voted “Our Town’s Favorite Burger”. Open for both lunch and dinner, Copper Monkey is always here for that cold brew after work or to meet up with your friends and family for an evening of wonderful memories, just like old times! Everyday specials, delicious food and exceptional service — come get a taste of Gainesville at the Copper Monkey West!

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MAINTENANCE AND HANDYMAN SERVICES

Gainesville Turnover Specialists 7230 WEST UNIVERSITY AVE., GAINESVILLE, FL 32607 (352) 363-6622 YOURGTS.COM

The self-motivated team of hard-working professionals at Gainesville Turnover Specialists is well equipped with an exceptional set of standards, top-ofthe-line tools, and personal dedication to the deliver superior results. They strive to be the premier choice for all of your “handyman needs� through a selection of available services, including painting, cleaning services, maintenance, handyman services, plumbing, electrical, drywall repairs, carpentry, flooring, door repairs, carpet repairs, and pressure washing. Their company values include a steadfast assurance of exceptional customer service, a dedicated commitment to excellence, and attention to detail. Honest, accountable, reliable service, effective communication and a responsive management team are sure to help with any household project.

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MACRAME MAKER >> MARY MCCREADY

READY OR KNOT

A LOCAL MACRAME BUSINESS

Clove and Cotton STORY A N D PHOTOGR A PH Y BY MICH A EL A M U LLIGA N

Mary McCready just needed a plant hanger.

McCready was familiar with the world of DIY, so she set out to make her own, Before she was the owner and creator of Clove and Cotton, McCready only had a macrame cord and a basic understanding of the art form. Then, she made her first macrame piece. Muscle memory aided her, she said. McCready found the rhythm of knot tying and pulling familiar. They were the same knots she had learned as a girl while making friendship bracelets in the 80s. She had spent hours learning the ties from her friends and then teaching them to others. The movements are so repetitive that even now she still remembers them.

Three years after her first plant hanger, and McCready has found a passion within macrame. It’s a hobby she developed as a stay-at-home mother of two boys and has continued as she’s transitioned into life as a teacher at Littlewood Elementary.

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Now, she spends her nights doing macrame in front of the TV, or while chatting with her husband.

“Once I started, I just couldn’t stop,” McCready said. “I was a stay-at-home mom at the time, and macrame just gave me this outlet at night where I could just turn my brain off and relax.”

McCready describes her home style as eclectic. There are mid-century modern influences, with rich dark furniture, but she maintains a minimalist approach to design. Her house is all clean lines and purposefully placed decorations. Her eclecticism comes from her macrame, she says. The intricate knot work is cozy but refined and provides the homey feeling she was looking for.

After a while, however, macrame took over her home.

McCready decided to find new homes for some of her pieces, partly out of overabundance and partly to pay for her hobby. Her solution was to start her Etsy shop: Clove and Cotton. There she can sell different macrame designs, from bohemian style plant

MACRAME MAKER >> MARY MCCREADY

hangers and jewelry to wall art that includes a big, bright eyed owl wall hanging. The hobby can pay for itself now, and she can share it with her community.

“I’ll have an idea of something I want, and then I’ll keep it on my wall for a while. Then, maybe I’ll sell it if somebody else is interested in it,” McCready said. “Which is nice, because in my house I like change.”

Outside of her home, McCready has gone through other changes — stepping away from being a stay at home mom and into a classroom as a teacher. She’s a teacher at Littlewood Elementary, where her sons attend school. She says it’s sweet to pass them in the halls each day.

The coronavirus has complicated how teachers teach and how students learn. Like nearly everything in the age of COVID-19, it’s been a learning curve for everyone involved. McCready is thankful to have a constant in her life like macrame to turn to.

“I’m lucky that it was already something I had in place, and that I do for myself and for my self-care,” McCready said. “I didn’t even have to think, ‘what could I do right now that would be good for me.’”

As a stress-reliever, it’s common for people to turn to working with their hands. In a book called “The Relaxation Response,” author Herbert Benson says the repetitive nature of needlework can put a person into a relaxed state often associated with yoga or meditation.

“It totally has a therapeutic value,” McCready said. “It’s something I can look at the end and say, ‘well, I made that and

I love it.”

The Auk Market, a curated store of vintage and handmade goods from vendors in or near the Gainesville area, is another place you can find some of McCready’s macrame. It’s a space that has also given McCready the opportunity to bring her community together through macrame classes. McCready and the Auk Market supply all participants with what they’ll need for the project that day.

The classes are a way for the group of people attending to get to know each other and to build trust with one another.

McCready encourages her students to work together and to support each other. It can be scary in the beginning, she said, but once someone steps back and looks at the work they’ve done, there’s always a sense of accomplishment.

“It’s kind of tricky, but by the end [the participants] are like, ‘I did that!’” McCready said. “It’s so fun to watch their faces, and they’re so proud of themselves.”

Due to COVID-19, McCready’s classes at The Auk Market have been put on hold. However, she’s hopeful that they’ll be able to begin again, outside and socially distanced, by early November.

“I really love the idea of other people doing it and not just me,” McCready said. “I love the idea of other people getting to enjoy it because it’s so enjoyable.”

Follow Clove and Cotton on Instagram: @clove_and_cotton, or check out their Etsy page: cloveandcotton.etsy.com.

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We feel the best way to find and recognize local charities in our communities is by asking you!

The SunState Community Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves the communities in and around North Central Florida by promoting and facilitating philanthropy.

The Foundation was established to promote and provide charitable assistance that contributes towards the development, education and well-being of the communities, areas and residents of Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, and Levy Counties in Florida. The foundation’s initial goal is to administer and fully fund the award winning Facebook Charity-of-the-Month program. SunState Federal Credit Union started the program in 2013, but has turned over administration of the program to the foundation, with SunState Federal Credit Union acting only as a sponsor. This has been done in the belief that this path will ensure the program remains a strong and expanding community resource long into the future.

The SunState Community Foundation, Inc., provides donors/members opportunities to participate in the furtherance of the foundation’s goals in multiple ways. First, and foremost, the donors/members are providing funds to support the foundation’s charitable initiatives. Donors/members can also nominate groups for the Charity of the Month program, and then vote for the group of their choice. Donors/members are encouraged to participate and vote in the Charity of the Month program. Ultimately, the voters choose where foundation donations go as part of the infrastructure of the program.

SunState Community Foundation, Inc.

SPONSORSHIP L EVEL S AVAIL ABL E 1,000 CHARITY OF THE MONTH SPONSOR

$

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500 RANDOM CHARITY SPONSOR

$

• Recognized on all 4 Entercom Communication stations, 30 times (120 total); KTK, SKY, WRUF and ESPN.

• Recognized on 2 of Entercom Communications stations, 30 times (60 total); WRUF and ESPN

• Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page, KTK’s Facebook page and Our Town’s Facebook page.

• Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page, KTK’s Facebook page and Our Town’s Facebook page.

• Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine.

• Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine.

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300 NOMINATOR SPONSOR

$

• Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page, KTK’s Facebook page and Our Town’s Facebook page.

• Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine.

100 RANDOM VOTER SPONSOR

$

• Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page.

• Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine

MOST RECENT WINNING ORGANIZATIONS TO NOMINATE A CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE OR TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE NOMINEES, VISIT:

www.facebook.com/SunStateFCU and click on “Charity of the Month”

CONG R ATUL ATION S! AUGUST 2020 WINNER

SEPTEMBER 2020 WINNER

COMMUNITY PARTNERS >> CHARITY OF THE MONTH

CH A RIT Y OF THE MONTH WINNER S

Bronson Eagles Bronson Eagles Quarterback Club Baseball The winner of the August Charity of the Month is Bronson Eagles Quarterback Club. They will receive $1,000. Micah Herron will win $300 for nominating them.

The random charity MOTIV8U — will win $500 and the random voter Nikia Rollins will receive $100.

The winner of the September Charity of the Month is Bronson Eagles Baseball. They will receive $1,000.

Julie Robinson will win $300 for nominating them.

The random charity GRiP — General Relief in Prosthetics — will win $500 and the random voter Thomas Carbone will receive $100.

A project of the SunState Community Foundation, Inc. Presented by SunState Federal Credit Union, Our Town Family of Magazines and Entercom Communications

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ROOFING

Worthmann Roofing and Gutters Back row: Andrew Carter, Leon Hudson, Carlos Colbert, Jason Hay, Ethan Frazer, Christy Goga, Dave Goga Front row: DJ Hardy, Eli Ott, Jerrel Parker, Drew Worthmann, Michelle Worthmann, Gabriella Cook, Kelly Waffner 7325 NW 13TH BLVD, SUITE 88 GAINESVILLE, FL 32653 (352) 472-3228 WWW.WORTHMANNROOFING.COM 138 |

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Worthmann Roofing and Gutters is a local family owned business based in Alachua county and serving all of Florida since 2019. Drew Worthmann is a north Florida native who grew up on the outskirts of Gainesville. Worthmann Roofing takes pride in assisting its customers with all of their roofing needs, in providing a true customer service experience and in separating itself from competitors with outstanding attention to detail. Additionally, Worthmann Roofing and Gutters is an insurance claims specialist with over a decade of claims experience on staff. Just think – when was the last time you had your roof inspected?

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THE BEST WINGS IN TOWN

Gator’s Dockside Elizabeth Knoop

3842 W NEWBERRY RD. - ROYAL PARK PLAZA - GAINESVILLE 32607 352-338-4445 WWW.GATORSDOCKSIDE.COM

The family-friendly, sports-themed restaurant offers a fun atmosphere for the whole family! Known for their big screen TVs, great food and friendly service, the signature grilled wings have made them famous. Gator’s Dockside uses only the freshest, quality ingredients in all their menu selections including burgers, hearty sandwiches, made-from-scratch ribs, entree salads, and desserts that will bring you back again and again. Gator’s Dockside is a proud community partner and active in local fundraising programs with charities, schools, youth sports and more. The local community involvement allows Gator’s Dockside to give something back to our guests and the community. Family, Food and Fun are the ingredients to their success.

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FACE OF FLORIBBEAN CUISINE

Cintron Restaurant Chef Hector Cintrón

2441 NW 43RD ST, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 (352) 505-3131 140 |

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Opening a new restaurant during a Pandemic may sound like a risky plan, but for the owners of the newly opened Cintron restaurant in Thornebrook Village, the timing couldn’t be better. Originally from Puerto Rico, Executive Chef Hector Cintron believes in cooking with passion and his Caribbean inspired menu offers something for everyone. From traditional favorites to his modern approach on seafood, steaks and farm-fresh options, the staff at Cintron invites you stop in an enjoy both lunch and dinner. Featuring a full bar with a specialty drink menu and a wide assortment of red and white wines, Cintron is the perfect place to unwind after a busy day. Enjoy their beautiful outdoor seating area and bring the family pet – everyone is welcome at Cintron.

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IMPLANTS AND PERIODONTICS

Altschuler Periodontic and Implant Center

2251 NW 41ST ST, SUITE 10 GAINESVILLE 352-371-4141 ALTSCHULERCENTER.COM

Dr. Altschuler and his staff strongly believe that their patients’ comfort is an important part of quality dental care. They strive to make your visits as comfortable and pleasant as possible by creating a warm and caring environment. There to listen to your questions and concerns and to help provide solutions leading to your better health, the highly trained team at Altschuler Periodontic and Implant Center will customize a treatment plan that is specifically suited to your unique situation.

Using state-of-the-art technology, the team utilizes the most advanced procedures and equipment available to ensure that every patient achieves a beautiful and healthy smile. Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail if you have any questions regarding your care. For more information visit their website or call to set up an appointment. Dental health is an important factor in achieving a healthier lifestyle and the team at Altschuler Periodontic and Implant Center are ready to help.

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CAR BUYING THE WAY IT SHOULD BE

Tomlinson Motor Company Tami Tomlinson, JD Tomlinson

3580 N. MAIN ST. GAINESVILLE, FL 32609 352-373-6851 (SERVICE) | 352-500-AUTO (SALES) TOMLINSONMOTORCO.COM 142 |

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25 years ago, Tomlinson Motor Company opened the doors with the idea of creating a “car buying experience the way it should be”. They wanted to provide clean, quality vehicles with fair, transparent pricing.

They also wanted their customers to have a place where they could get a great deal and shop for vehicles in a relaxed and comfortable environment. For 25 years, they have been doing just that. During this time Tomlinson Motor Company has built a highly re-

spected automotive business. Their philosophy hasn’t changed over the years - make it easy and enjoyable for the customer and build relations through repeat business and referrals. Since most of their business is derived from word of mouth and repeat business they have welcomed back many customers over the years. Along with many loyal customers, Tomlinson Motor Company has a long-term, knowledgeable, non-commissioned staff who has been essential in the dealership’s success. The same philosophy applies to their Service Department. Tom-

linson Motor Company’s experienced mechanics are ASE Certified and work on all makes and models. Not only does it inspect and certify all Tomlinson Motor Company’s inventory, it provides a fair and friendly place for all of their customers’ automotive maintenance and repair needs, with pricing well below franchise dealers. Conveniently located on Main Street in Gainesville, Tomlinson Motor Company invites you to stop by today and experience what so many before you have, car buying the way it should be.

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COMMUNITY BANKING

Drummond Community Bank Melanie Shore, APR 3436 W UNIVERSITY AVE. GAINESVILLE, FL 3833 SW 37TH BLVD. GAINESVILLE, FL (352) 375-1890 WWW.DRUMMONDBANK.COM 144 |

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As the City Executive and Private Banker for Drummond Community Bank, Melanie Shore has been the FACE of Community Banking for over 30 years.

Dedicated and committed to her customers, Melanie has close ties to the community and is known for providing outstanding expertise and customer service. Widely recognized for her service to the community, Melanie is a respected civic leader and active board member to many charities and non-profits. Melanie is the recipient of many community service awards, most notably the Service Above Self Award from the Rotary Club of Gainesville.

Her values mirror those of Drummond Community Bank, which also has deep ties to the communities in which they serve.

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SUSHI & PAN ASIAN CUISINE

Ichiban Sushi

Tod Whipple - Owner, Genero Penaloza - Head Chef, Leonardo Alfaro - Head Sushi Chef, Lyndsey Hassell - General Manager 4928 NW 39TH AVE, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 (352) 375-8880 | ICHIBANFLORIDA.COM

If you are looking for quality pan-Asian cuisine, whether it’s a night on the town with a date, a family dinner with the kids, a business meeting or just with friends, Ichiban Sushi offers the dining atmosphere you’re looking for. Proudly serving sushi and pan-Asian cuisine for 22 years strong, we strive to make your dinning experience comfortable and memorable. If there’s an item you don’t see on the menu, don’t be afraid to ask. Our Sushi chefs are experts in a variety of Asian dishes from around the world. Expect large portions and reasonable prices, this is no assembly line restaurant – it’s a personal, intimate event.

Come in to see our full menu and daily specials.

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PROTECTION FROM THE STORM

Energy Roofing Chad Vercher

507 NW 60TH ST SUITE C, GAINESVILLE, FL 32607 OFFICE: 855-766-3852 | CELL: 386-623-6283 ENERGYROOFINGCO.COM 146 |

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The mission at Energy Roofing is to provide you with an exceptional roofing experience. This requires a dedication to excellence throughout the entire roofing selection and installation process. Their methods are seasoned with decades of industry experience which allows you to benefit from the best practices learned throughout their time in the industry. From residential roofs to

commercial applications, the experts at Energy Roofing will work with you to complete your project without worries or concerns. Their goal is to protect you and your family from the incredibly harsh elements that often accompany our Florida weather. Holding only the highest in certifications available in the roofing industry, Energy Roofing provides protection from any storm.

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SENIOR HOME CARE

Granny Nannies

Bruce Troll, Christina Stephan, Brittany Bauman and Jacquie Wilder 5800 NW 39TH AVE, SUITE #103 352-327-3877 | LIC# NR30211487 GRANNYNANNIES.COM

Living at home is essential for your loved one’s comfort, but sometimes, specialized assistance is needed. Granny Nannies of Gainesville is dedicated to ensuring you receive the home care you or a loved one require and deserve. Whether it’s short-term care, long-term care, or something in-between, caregivers are available 24 hours a day. Certified Nursing Assistants and Home Health Aides bring nursing home care to

them. Private duty caregivers specialize in the assisted living of aging seniors and have the expertise, compassion and patience to keep your loved one happy. Granny Nannies offers home care services with no contracts, no upfront costs and no cancellation fees.

Home care services are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week throughout Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties.

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FAMILY LAW

McMillen Family Law Monica McMillen

OFFICE: 352-327-8251 101 NW 75TH ST STE 1 GAINESVILLE, FL 32607-6665 148 |

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McMillen Family Law’s mission is to seek justice and be the light during difficult times. Family law litigation can be overwhelming and stressful. Attorney Monica Perez-McMillen offers free consultations and believes that educating her client on Florida family law is critical to the success of their case. Having a well prepared plan and making wise decisions prior to the start

of your case can be crucial to it’s successful resolution. Many of her Family law cases can be resolved amicably with an experienced family law attorney. Monica focuses on divorces, custody disputes, alimony, child support and a wide variety of other family law challenges. Responsive, resourceful and results-oriented, McMillen Family Law is ready to help when you need it most.

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MAKEUP ARTISTRY

Kara Winslow

321-356-3116 KARAWINSLOW.COM 150 |

OUR TOWN MAGAZINE

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For the past decade, Kara has been helping people look their best. As an on location, freelance makeup artist, Kara focuses on getting her clients’ camera ready for everything from television appearances to family photos. Her work has appeared on ESPN, TMZ, MTV, HSN, Oxygen Network, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC. She’s had the

privilege of working with politicians, Olympic athletes, Hollywood actors, beauty queens, bridesto-be, graduating seniors and families of all kinds.

With an amazing reputation online and 5-star rated reviews, Kara lives and works in Gainesville, but often travels to assist with weddings, commercial shoots and projects of all kinds.

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GRAPHIC DESIGN & MARKETING PRODUCTS

Bee Print and Design Brian Knepp

4400 NW 36 AVE, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606 570-294-8778 | BEEPRINTANDDESIGN.COM

Bee Print and Design assists businesses of all sizes with quick, outstanding graphic design work and the production of high quality marketing items.They provide printed items (business cards, brochures, postcards) Apparel (shirts, hats, hoodies) Promotional items (Tumblers, keychains, hand sanitizers, masks and more).

If you can envision your logo on something, Bee can make it happen! Their lead Graphic Artist/Owner Brian has over 14 years experience in the marketing and print world. He has designed and produced thousands of products, and also handles the layout of many publications– including Our Town Magazine! Brian and the Bee team take pride in offering great products quickly and efficiently while keeping costs fair and affordable.

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FULLY MANAGED IT SOLUTIONS

My IT Masters

Billy Canada, Boris Kuchuk, Jimi Tarantino 2020 W UNIVERSITY AVE GAINESVILLE, FL 32603 352-559-0960 | MYITMASTERS.COM 152 |

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My IT Masters is an IT support firm offering a full range of tech solutions to meet all of your small to mid-size business and/or residential needs.

Their goal is to help their customers get more from their computer technology. Their professional experience and personal approach have helped many businesses succeed with straightforward IT solutions. When your IT equip-

ment is down, business and life are at a standstill. Every minute that a network is not functioning properly can affect the company’s profits. That’s why they focus on emergency services, quick turnaround and same-day services for businesses and residential alike. Get in touch with My IT Masters to see how their IT support team can maximize your current technology.

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CONTACTLESS DELIVERY

Dominos Angel Diaz

8 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS WWW.GATORDOMINOS.COM

At Domino’s, your safety is their #1 priority. For years you’ve counted on Domino’s to deliver pizza, pasta, chicken and more for the whole family, and now more than ever, they’re doing everything they can to ensure your safety.

From never touching your food after leaving their 450-degree oven to more frequent sanitization of high-touch ar-

eas in the store – now Domino’s is committed to delivering hot & delicious food through their contactless deliveries.

Call, order online or through their App and simply select “Contactless Delivery” as an option. You can even provide special instructions, including the location of where you’d like the delivery placed.

Start your order today!

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SCHOLARSHIP, LEADERSHIP, AND SERVICE Oak Hall School

Accepting applications for the 2021-2022 school year 1700 SW 75TH ST, GAINESVILLE, FL 32607 (352) 332-3609 EXT.112 OAKHALL.ORG 154 |

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“For fifty years, Oak Hall School has been committed to providing students with a learning environment that is physically safe and emotionally supportive, where intelligence and compassion are highly valued, and dynamic teachers are dedicated to each student’s success. Under the guidance of an outstanding faculty, Oak Hall students across all grade levels, 3-year-old Preschool through Grade 12, engage in an intellectually challenging academic program. Oak

Hall is a school with wide offerings in academics, athletics, fine arts, and extracurricular activities. It provides students with opportunities to discover their unique gifts and talents and to develop the confidence that grows from knowing that they have something of value to contribute to others. Oak Hall is a welcoming, diverse, and supportive learning community empowering students to pursue their academic, artistic, and athletic passions.”

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ANTI-AGING & REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

PRP Regeneration Specialists Wendy Wiggs, APRN Nurse Practitioner/Clinical Director/Owner 216 NW 135TH WAY STE 10 JONESVILLE, FL 32669 352-260-4061 | PRPREGEN.COM

PRP Regeneration Specialists is the first Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Gainesville. Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that represents the future and seeks to shift the focus from treating disease to restoring health using natural therapies and treatments. Their mission is to offer state-of-the-art non-surgical, non-medicine, treatment options to relieve pain and naturally improve health and wellness. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) comes from a person’s own blood and can naturally heal and repair damaged tissue

(tendon tears). PRP can also decrease joint pain related to arthritis. Platelet Rich Plasma treatments are increasing in popularity and are used in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Aesthetics, Gynecology, and Urology. PRP Regeneration Specialists optimize health and wellness in men and women using Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT). Patients report decreased joint pain, fatigue, improved quality of sleep, increased mental clarity, improved muscle strength and sexual desire.

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GAINESVILLE’S HIGHEST RATED MEDSPA

Pure Aesthetics Carissa Blaser

217 NW 76TH DR. GAINESVILLE, FL. 32607 352-332-7873 PUREAESTHETICSGAINESVILLE.COM 156 |

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Pure Aesthetics provides tailored treatments, aesthetic mentoring, and ongoing education that turn each client’s needs and goals into tangible results. By genuinely caring about your wellbeing, they give the attention you expect from dedicated professionals. They provide a calm space to slow down, disconnect from the noise of modern life, and restore body and spirit. Their clients experience gra-

cious care and coaching that continues long after the appointment ends. Their hope is that you value yourself simply because you exist. They believe that is real beauty, and every service they offer is designed to make that beauty visible. What excites them is the chance to serve as a partner in the realization of your goals. Plan your appointment today, and let the team at Pure Aesthetics renew beautiful you.

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LIVE, WORK, PLAY

Tioga Town Center Cheryl Carroll Regional Asset Manager

133 SW 130TH WAY, SUITE A NEWBERRY, FL 32669 352-331-4000 TIOGATOWNCENTER.COM

Tioga Town Center is the premium example of the ‘Live Work Play’ lifestyle. The awardwinning community offers numerous retailers, restaurants, businesses, a health & fitness center, and luxury apartments. The Flats at Tioga feature brand new construction apartment homes in a pet-friendly urban community. The Flats offers 1-3 bedroom floorplans with private balconies, elevators, resort-style pool, state of the art clubhouse, and other exceptional amenities at an exceptional value. Tioga Town

Center also plays host to many exciting events, movie nights, and concerts on the Square where guests of all ages can enjoy free, local, outdoor entertainment at the beautiful covered amphitheater. All of this and more make Tioga the modern, award-winning community it is.

Owned and operated by the Hankin Group, Tioga Town Center is your destination to live, work, and play. Cheryl Carroll, along with her team at Tioga would love to show you around their beautiful community!

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NATURE MAKER >> FLOWER FIBERS

EARTH-BASED CREATIONS

The Natural Beauty of Flower Fibers A look into the brilliantly colorful world of artist Kelly Perez S TORY BY C A MERON COBB PHOTOG R A PHY BY ERICK A WINTER ROW D

W

hen it comes to tapping into the natural beauty of the world, Kelly Perez has it down to an art (literally).

Perez is the owner of Flower Fibers, and her shop features various handmade, hand-painted, and hand-dyed products that incorporate natural elements throughout the processes as well as in both the fabrics and the dyes.

“The majority of my products are dyed with plants — some of which are locally harvested,” Perez said. “My fabrics are either 100% cotton, bamboo, or rayon.”

Originally from Jacksonville, the Gainesville-based artist has a background in both landscape architecture and watercolors, Perez’s drive to design and create is one she considers to come naturally. A couple of years ago, when Perez was focusing on making jewelry, she decided to branch out and work with fabrics and dyes, a more environmental approach to the craft.

“Being able to dye stuff with plants, play around with colors and construct products — it kind of just fits with me,” Perez said. “I really enjoy doing it.”

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NATURE MAKER >> FLOWER FIBERS

wristlets, t-shirts, wallets, cloth dinner napkins, pillow covers, scarves of all shapes and sizes and more. Fully embodying the down-to-earth vibe, the Flower Fibers website refers to the style of products as being “boho, beachy and hippie-inspired.”

With different dyes, Perez says one of her favorites is indigo.

She said it’s easier to work with, and she loves the vibrant, denim-blue pigment.

“I also love the patterns indigo creates,” Perez said. “It often reminds me of water reflecting off of the lake.”

Outside of indigo, another natural dye Perez frequents is cutch, which comes from the heartwood of the cutch tree (Acacia catechu) and adds warm tones (such as rusty yellow, and even pink).

Perez even makes some of her own DIY dye, such as goldenrod flowers (for rich yellow tones), sumac (for soft reddish tones), and lichen (for pinkish tones), to name a few.

Something that makes natural dyes so unique, Perez said, is that the colors don’t end up looking too uniform or cookie-cutter on the fabric, which benefits by giving the appearance of depth and texture.

With dyeing, Perez relies primarily on the shibori, eco printing and batik processes. Shibori is a technique of dyeing that usually involves twisting, bunching or folding the fabric before binding it and submerging the fabric in dye. As often seen in many of Perez’s tie-dye designs, this method

produces a multi-patterned, almost kaleidoscopic design. The batik process uses both wax and dye, where certain sections of the fabric are “blocked out” by coating these areas in hot wax prior to being dyed or painted (as Perez often does with her pieces, such as with scarves adorned with hand-painted, brightly colored flowers). This part of the batik process can be repeated multiple times to achieve more decorative designs, with the final step being to remove the wax from the colored fabric. Eco printing uses leaves and other plant products to press and transfer the design onto fabric (think nature-made stamps). To create eco-print patterns, Perez uses pieces like flower petals (she mentions camellias turn out very well) and leaves (such as eucalyptus, azalea, and sweetgum).

“Leaves with high tannin content will give you the best prints,” she said.

Another material Perez often incorporates into her products (particularly the wristlets, wallets, and bags) is cork. She purchases the cork material, opting for a variation of colors/types, such as blue-green, rainbow-flecked, silver-flecked, and even pre-printed patterns. Beyond its chic earthy-tan color, Perez notes that cork has benefits, such as being waterproof, antimicrobial and extremely durable.

“Cork is wonderful,” Perez said. “I absolutely love to work For her eco-print patterns, Perez hand stamps earthy embellishments (like leaves and flowers) onto the fabric to create a nature-based look.

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NATURE MAKER >> FLOWER FIBERS

An artist at heart, prior to diving into the craft of working with fabric, Perez dabbled in the art of jewelry making. While her Flower Fibers store confirms that she no longer makes jewelry, the shop currently showcases some of her past handcraft pieces — including necklaces and earrings made from materials like sterling silver and copper, which have been hammered into a design and adorned with colorful beads (such as glass and turquoise).

with it. It’s a sustainable fabric, as the cork tree can be completely harvested of its bark every 10 years, and it will regrow and regenerate without causing harm to the plant.”

Perez works on her products entirely out of her home, designing and sewing the fabrics in her studio and venturing outside for the dyeing process. Although the time it takes Perez to make each product depends on the specifics, she said there is a certain order to the steps generally. First, the fabric is dyed and left to dry overnight to set the colors. Then, Perez washes the freshly dyed fabric using a mix of Dawn dish soap and vinegar. The fabrics are hung to dry a second time, Scarves and cloth napkins are done after this step, but other products (like bags) require a trip inside to her studio.

With bags for virtually any occasion, Flower Fibers boasts a diverse collection of various styles, sizes and more. Whether you’re into bucket bags, drawstring bags, shoulder bags or adjustable crossbody bags, Perez carefully crafts each one while incorporating both functionality and fashion.

“For example, the tote bags can be used as a diaper bag, or maybe a knitting or computer bag,” Perez said. “And considering these bags are made to suit personal preferences, I

like to include practical elements, like spacious pockets, key rings, adjustable straps, etc.”

Some of Perez’s most popular products are the crossbody adjustable bags and her scarves. The latter of which she says quickly sell out during festivals and are a frequent choice for shoppers during the holiday season to give as gifts. The breathable fabric of the bamboo scarves is incredibly soft to the touch and almost has a “buttery feel,” Perez said. Aside from the stylish, silky-smooth fabrics, Perez said people have expressed a lot of interest in the uniqueness of all of her products.

“Everything I make is one-of-a-kind,” Perez said, “and the feedback I get from customers really emphasizes that appeal and excitement of getting something you can’t find anywhere else.”

To learn more about Flower Fibers and Perez’s creations, check out her Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/FlowerFibers2. Perez said she also welcomes people living in or visiting the area to come to her house to avoid paying for shipping, and she can be contacted directly via email at: kellybperez@gmail.com.

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ELECTRIC SERVICE

Vintage Electric

2421 NW 71ST PLACE 352-371-8021 VINTAGEELECTRIC.NET 162 |

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Founded in 2004, Vintage Electric combines a skilled team of apprentices, mechanics, and journeyman electricians to deliver a complete solution for all of your electrical needs. Whether it’s a complete service upgrade or rewiring, new outlets and switches, ceiling fans, light fixtures or whole house generators, Vintage can do it all! Their experienced management team allows them to complete any project, large or

small, on time and in budget. “Doing business the old fashioned way” is more than a slogan for Vintage, it’s a creed by which the entire team operates. They strive to combine the craftsmanship and work ethic from days gone by with the technology and efficiency of today’s modern world, to provide the highest quality experience possible. Call them today for all of your electrical needs.

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INFORMED MEDICARE DECISIONS

Insight Insurance Group Chris Floyd

MEETING BY APPOINTMENT | 352-460-1239 INSUREWITHINSIGHT.COM

Medicare is not a “one size fits all” plan. There are many options to choose from and Chris Floyd, with Insight Insurance Group, is here to help. When you or your loved ones turn 65, having a licensed, independent agent, can ease the burden, confusion and stress that often comes with understanding the various Medicare plans available. Chris helps to navigate clients through all of their Medicare options educating them on the different parts of Medicare, the gaps in coverage and ways to cover those gaps. Protecting your health takes Insight and Chris is there to guide you before, during, and after you make your healthcare choices.

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YOUR MORNING SPORTS TALK

PodUp with Matthews in the Morning Shane Matthews WWW.PODUPWITHSHANE.COM

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PodUp with Matthews in the Morning is an hour-long podcast where no sports topic is off-limits. Gator sports, college, pro, and even local high school sports are all on the field of discussion. Join Hall of Fame Gator & 14 year NFL veteran Shane Matthews Monday through Friday at 8 am EST for his insights as he discusses the sports world with a wide range of guests, from professional athletes and coaches

to veteran journalists. Shane welcomes legendary guests, from the HBC Steve Spurrier and Bobby Bowden to Billy Donovan and Anthony Nesty to Johnny “JC” Cornell and Pat Dooley. You can listen, watch, and text the show live on Facebook and YouTube or listen whenever you want wherever you stream podcasts like Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast among others.

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VEHICLE WRAPS

The Sign Universe / Wrap Spot Brandon Behan, Andrew Benton, Kaylae Carroll, Garrick Crocker, Kurt Benton, Fallon Roznowski, Josh Henry 3210 SW 40TH BLVD, SUITE A GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA 32608 352-872-5363 | WWW.THESIGNUNIVERSE.COM

Being the face of vehicle wraps means having a great team. A team of designers, printers, installers, and all of the support staff.

Being the face of vehicle wraps also means using the best materials and the best equipment. Our wrap team exclusively uses 3m materials on vehicles and we print with state of the art HP printers Wrap Spot is Gainesville’s premier wrap solution because we have all three, the best team, the best equipment, and the best materials. Whether you’re wrapping a single vehicle or an entire fleet, Wrap Spot is the face of your vehicle wrap.

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THE SMARTEST WORKOUT

Orangetheory

Mandy Spurlin-Area Head Coach 3205 CLARK BUTLER RD. 352-242-0020 2005 NW 43RD ST. 352-559-3937 50 NW 13TH ST. 352-415-3080 WWW.ORANGETHEORY.COM 166 |

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What Happens in Class Doesn’t Stay in Class. Orangetheory is a heart-rate based, total-body group workout that combines science, technology and coaching to guarantee maximum results from the inside out. It’s designed to charge your metabolism for MORE caloric after burn, MORE results, and MORE confidence, all to deliver you MORE LIFE. Orangetheory is more than a gym because the work you do in their studio will make all the difference out there in your world. It only takes a minute inside the studio to understand it’s not a competition — it’s a community, working towards a better version of ourselves to live a longer, more vibrant life.

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WHERE GATORS COME TO CELEBRATE

Celebration Pointe Alberta

5001 CELEBRATION POINTE AVE., SUITE 140 GAINESVILLE, FL 32608 352-204-9136 | CELEBRATIONPOINTE.COM

From relaxing outside in the beautiful Promenade to shopping for your gameday gear, there are a number of amazing things to do at Celebration Pointe. Located on west Archer Road, just off of I-75. Celebration Pointe is the perfect place for area residents to gather for unlimited celebration.

Gameday @ The Pointe is an experience like no other. With TV’s streaming the game and live music there’s no better place to cheer on the Gators®.

With the exciting addition of Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille, legendary head football coach Steve Spurrier brings his dedication to excellence to Celebration Pointe. Spurrier’s will prominently feature football memorabilia, including Steve’s 1966 Heisman Trophy, two indoor bars and one of Gainesville’s only rooftop bars. Celebration Pointe - Where Gators come to celebrate.

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MRI

Titan MRI Joe Colorio, Founder,R.T. MR 919 NW 57TH ST UNIT 20, GAINESVILLE, FL 32605 (352) 672-6644 289 SW STONEGATE TERR. SUITE 102 LAKE CITY 32024 386-245-6644 WWW.TITANMRI.COM 168 |

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Titan MRI serves the greater Gainesville & North Central Florida through two area locations. Focused on you, the patient, Titan MRI is committed to providing you with the best customer service experience possible. Available during normal business hours, the staff at Titan MRI understand the hectic schedule most of us lead and can work with you to schedule your appointment on evenings and weekends when needed. Their modern MRI equipment offers one of the largest openings available allowing for comfortable scanning of claustrophobic and larger patients. As the area’s newest, premier independent diagnostic testing facility, the team at Titan MRI is ready to help in any way they can.

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ORIENTAL MEDICINE

Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine

Melissa Wrenn, Kyle Roberts, Cody Lane, Don Le, Lau Acero-Hansford 1000 NE 16TH AVE BLDG. SUITE F GAINESVILLE 32601 352-371-2833 WWW.DRAGONRISES.EDU

Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine provides the ideal environmentand resources for acupuncture students. Co-founded in 2001 by Dr Leon Hammer, DRCOM is unique among acupuncture schools offering its students a complete and far-reaching education, enabling them to become competent, confident and successful acupuncturists, able to help people achieve both genuine healing and long-term health and wellness. Providing exceptional training in all aspects of Oriental medicine, a special emphasis is placed on the science and art of pulse diagnosis. Contemporary Chinese Pulse DiagnosisÂŽ and Contemporary Oriental MedicineÂŽ form the basis of our curriculum, and provide students with an outstanding education. License No. 2425, the Fl. Commission for Independent Education, ACAOM Accredited 10 semester program.

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WELL BEING & RELAXATION

Your CBD Store Michael Oliva

1226 W UNIVERSITY AVE. (352) 278-6360 YOURCBDSTORE.ME 170 |

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Your CBD Store® is the largest hemp retailer in the United States and the exclusive home of award-winning, hemp-derived SunMed and Sunflora products. Your CBD Store® products are USDA Certified organic prodcuts made using only the high quality grown hemp from the USA. Our products come in various forms and levels to meet each customer’s needs and preferences. You can

choose from water-solubles, edibles, tinctures, soft gels, and topical applications. We even have tinctures for pets. Your wellness journey is one-of-a-kind—that’s why you’ll find options and education at every Your CBD Store location. We partner with our customers to create regimens for every lifestyle and empower them to choose the right products for their needs.

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BRINGING SMILES WITH EVERY MEAL

McDonald’s

Jackie and Calvin Paris 10 LOCATIONS IN GAINESVILLE

From Happy Meals to those glorious french fries, late night drive thrus to chicken McNuggets, McDonald’s has been an integral part of our history, both nationally and locally. Jackie Paris and her son Calvin continue this tradition of offering American classics while remaining active in the community. Locally owned and operated, they continuously show their commitment to helping others by facilitating fundraising for RMHC. The Paris’ involvement in youth sports (Jonesville Soccer park), local charities and inspiring events, demonstrate their passion for giving back. It is an essential part of their business model. They’ve been a part of this community for the past 20 years and look forward to continuing their legacy.

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BRUNCH

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The Flying Biscuit’s Southern-inspired comfort dishes include fried green tomatoes dredged in cornmeal and topped with cashew-jalapeno relish

Flying Biscuit Café

and goat cheese. Their famous creamy, dreamy grits and fluffy flying bis-

Randy Wasdin, Haley Beckham, Tara Tovkach, Ariel Etheridge, Nicole Germany, Kim Sanderson

topped with crispy buttermilk chicken tenders, two eggs, and chicken sau-

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cappuccino. Discover what many Gainesville residents and visitors have

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NOV/DEC 2020

cuit accompany delicious entrees like the Freebird Benedict, a split biscuit sage gravy. Complement your meal with a flight of mimosas or a mocha known for over a decade. The Flying Biscuit Café is the area’s favorite breakfast-all-day restaurant and is the Face of Brunch.

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HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING

Honey Baked Ham

Kenny Kingswell, General Manager & Master Glazer HOBBY LOBBY PLAZA, NEWBERRY RD 352-331-1253 HONEYBAKED.COM

As the holidays approach, we at The Honey Baked Ham Company are grateful for family, friends and so much more. This year may look different with smaller gatherings. However, you can still show how much you care by serving our Honey Baked Ham with its iconic sweet, crunchy glaze or our HoneyBaked roasted or smoked turkey.

Add any of our classic sides and delicious desserts to create a meal worth remembering. Let us help you spend more time with family and friends and less time in the kitchen. Our ham, the World’s Best Ham, has been winning the holidays for over 60 years.

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LEADERSHIP COACHING

Gary Crawford Leadership Gary Crawford WWW.GARYCRAWFORDLEADERSHIP.COM 174 |

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NOV/DEC 2020

Are you ready to take the necessary steps towards defining and achieving your personal, professional, or organizational goals? Then you need a leadership coach to journey with you towards making your dreams come true.

Gary Crawford is a high energy, experienced leadership coach who is committed to positive, high performance outcomes. Gary’s coaching principles and process to accomplish your dreams are revealed in his newest book CLARIFY SIMPLIFY AMPLIFY. Chick-Fil-A Archer Road is the documented case study in the book. One reader recently exclaimed, “If it’s good enough for Chick-Fil-A, it’s good enough for my business.”

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THE LOVE FOR HAIR

Hair by Daphne Daphne Neuhaus

5218 SW 91ST DRIVE, SUITE A GAINESVILLE, FL 32608 DAPHNENEUHAUS.GLOSSGENIUS.COM

Even as a young girl, Daphne Neuhaus has had a love for making things beautiful.

From accessorizing her Barbie’s as a young girl to helping with hairstyling for her friends and family in high school, the beauty industry has been her passion for as long as she can remember. Located in the heart of Haile’s Village Center, Daphne works with her clients to improve their image by updating their style. Working with both men and women since 2003, Daphne offers a complete line of services and products for anyone. Specializing in helping brides achieve their special day, call today or visit her website for more information. Helping you achieve your most beautiful version – Hair by Daphne is ready to help.

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AUTHENTIC TASTE

Jersey Mike’s

Drew Ditty and Joe Donnelly 3720 NW 13TH STREET | 352-283-84172015 NW 43RD STREET | 352-672-6606 2803 SW 42ND STREET | 352-792-6831 176 |

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Since 1956, Jersey Mike’s has been making the best “Submarine Sandwich” available anywhere. Everything about Jersey Mike’s is high quality. Their meats and cheeses are all premium brands and the bread is fresh-baked each day on the premises. And of course, everything is prepared right in front of you. It’s what makes Jersey Mike’s the most authentic tasting submarine sandwich available, and it’s a tradition of quality they’ll never outgrow. Today, the authentic taste – served Mike’s Way, with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, oil, vinegar and spices – is available at three Gainesville locations. The culture of giving at Jersey Mike’s is as much a part of their heritage as oil and vinegar, which is why they are committed to making a difference in our community by partnering with local charities.

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MEMBER-DRIVEN FINANCIAL SERVICE

SunState Federal Credit Union 352-381-5200 SUNSTATEFCU.ORG

At SunState they care about one thing – their members. As a not-for-profit organization, SunState Federal Credit Union operates with a different focus than a bank. Any profits SunState earns are returned to the members who are the owners of the credit union in the form of improved services, fewer fees, lower interest rates on loans

and higher dividends. Since 1957, SunState has been serving its members and our area with innovative products, outstanding customer service and locally based, member-driven financial services. Federally insured, stop by one of SunState’s branches today and speak to one of their highly trained team-members.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

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Teaching preschool children

O2B Kids

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letter sounds, numbers, and easy stuff! It takes time and some repetition – but they’ll learn it all. They will even

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GREAT GAINESVILLE TRADITIONS

CAMPUS USA Credit Union

Coach Spurrier, Head Ball Coach and CAMPUS USA Credit Union Member, and Jerry Benton, CEO 7 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS IN GAINESVILLE CAMPUSCU.COM 180 |

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NOV/DEC 2020

Like the University of Florida, CAMPUS USA Credit Union is synonymous with Gainesville. Founded in 1935 by nine University of Florida professors as a financial cooperative, on the premise of “people helping people,” CAMPUS USA Credit Union opened on the campus of the University of Florida. Since then, they have helped hundreds of thousands of our neighbors purchase their first home or car, open their first checking account, and even save for their student’s first day on campus. Worldclass member service is what has made them special. Supporting a community that has supported them for over 85 years, is what’s made them great. Just ask Coach! You know he’ll tell it like it is!

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CASUAL DINING

Great Outdoors Restaurant Michael Glover, William Sconyers, Reagen Hall 65 N MAIN ST, HIGH SPRINGS | 386-454-1288 GREATOUTDOORSDINING.COM

The Great Outdoors, located in the historic town of High Springs, specializes in hand selected steaks, fresh seafood, signature entrée salads and homemade soups and deserts. The Great Outdoors features a family friendly dining experience for everyone. It’s a perfect place to grab a cold, local craft beer after hitting

the springs all day or for that family gathering. The amazing Patio features luxurious outdoor seating with live music every Friday and Saturday night from some of the area’s bestknown bands. From craft cocktails to specialty desserts The Great Outdoors invites you to make the short drive to High Springs.

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LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY

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quality-plumbing.com 182 |

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A Place of your Own…

Introducing Relax & Restore LLC, Therapeutic Day Spa & Alchemy Bar where we offer customized Massage Therapy for relaxation and pain management

Mention This Ad For A Fre e Spa Upgrade with Any Serv ice!!!

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SPOTLIGHT

RESCUE ANIMAL ADOPTIONS

Furever Friends LOU AND ALEXA

FUREVER FRIENDS IS A RECURRING PROFILE THAT FEATURES A LOCAL RESCUE ANIMAL AND THEIR OWNER, WRITTEN FROM THE ADOPTED PET’S “POINT OF VIEW.” NOMINATE YOURSELF OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW FOR OUR NEXT RESCUED PET PROFILE! CONTACT: EDITOR@TOWERPUBLICATIONS.COM.

Greetings readers! My name is Lou and I’m a six-year-old Pekinese, Rat Terrier, Chihuahua and Pomeranian mix. In my past, I was referred to as Hermès and Paco, but someone as confident and sophisticated as me deserved a title far more regal so I was named in honor of King Louis, Lou for short.

I began my new life four years ago at a farmer’s market. I had just been given up for the second time, and I was beginning to think I’d never find my forever home. I was sitting with Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue at the market when a lady asked to take me for a walk. I knew this was my chance to show her my charming personality, so I strutted down the market, a bounce in my step and a wag in my tail with the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive” playing in my mind. My presence was grand, if I do say so myself, and it worked! Alexa Potalivo decided to adopt me right then and there.

When she brought me home, she laid out all my new toys and doggy bowls, which I instantly used to claim my territory. She wasn’t too happy about that, but she knew I was just worried and confused in my new environment.

To show my love for her, I became her shadow and followed her everywhere. At the time, Alexa was going to law school at the University of Florida and because of my size – weighing a whopping five pounds – she knew she could sneak me into the library for late-night study sessions.

After graduating, we moved to Orlando where she joined a law firm, got married, and I even got my very own pet cat.

My mom adopted Boo to keep me company when she had to work late. The two of us were close when Boo was a kitten, but now that she’s older and a lot bigger, we don’t bond as 184 |

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much. It could also be because I won’t let her play with my mom, so she can’t steal my well-deserved affection.

Because I have a lot going on in my life, I have a very tight schedule to keep. When I wake up in the morning, I rush downstairs for my walk to say “hi” to my friends and the outdoor cats. If it’s a Saturday, we also go to the local coffee shop, so I can greet all the neighbors with a smile. It may not seem like much, but it’s exhausting! After I’ve said “hello” to everyone, I go back home to take my mid-morning nap, but it doesn’t last long because I have so much more to do like guard the house, welcome the mailman and stare out

the window for a while. At the end of a long, tiring day, when mom says “night, night,” I scamper off to my crate to get a long night’s rest before starting my routine all over again.

Though I have enough self-confidence, my mom always reminds me that I have the cutest face she’s ever seen and that I’m an angel on earth – it just took three times for someone to finally realize it. I’m so glad my mom came to the farmer’s market that day, and I hope other pets can find a furever home just like mine.

If you’re interested in adopting a pet, visit Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue at: hailesangels.org.

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h lidayS! We offer an extensive selection of Champagne, Wine, Scotch, Bourbons, Beer & More!

the

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