A Place To Call Home

Tenants of The Estates at Hawthorne Village of Ocala find a new home and way of life.

Carefree Independence

Sitting on his patio, Richard Ostrowski points to where the sunlight streams in. He’s surrounded by beautiful flowers in almost every color, displayed in pretty pots.

“I sit here most days after lunch,” the 90 year old smiles.

Richard decorated his patio with the help of a friend. They measured, cut and lay a faux lawn carpet over the patio’s floor, giving the appearance of a garden setting. Now, Richard enjoys a handmade oasis at his home of three years.

Richard is a man who takes his lovable sense of humor with him wherever he goes. He heard about The Estates at Hawthorne Village of Ocala from his neighbor who had given him a brochure. He was tired of keeping up his own home and yard and decided to look into it.

“The idea is that it’s as represented,” Richard says. “They do a lot of things for the people; it is a great community here.”

Richard loves going to events, gatherings and outings with the other tenants, too. His favorite outing is the weekly shopping excursion on Thursday mornings. Tenants of The Estates gather at 9:30am and take the Hawthorne Village van together to various locations. He has a copy of the Life Enrichment calendar of events and happenings at The Estates, and he loves participating in many of them.

“We dance together, and I tell jokes,” he says.

For Richard, life is simple at The Estates. Everything is taken care of, and he enjoys the company of tenants and sta .

Community With Personality

Dolores Abner proudly talks about her beautiful family, displayed in a gallery of photos on her living room wall. She has three daughters and six grandchildren.

It wasn’t until her primary doctor recommended Hawthorne Village of Ocala to her that she considered moving to an independent living retirement community. In October 2015, Dolores moved to The Estates.

“Oh, it’s wonderful,” she says. “The people here are so nice, kind and helpful.”

Dolores was a volunteer at Munroe Regional Medical Center for 21 years. She started out in the nursery, moved to answering phones and worked in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. She loves helping people, and her role at the hospital allowed her to do just that.

Now, Dolores is always speaking kind words or lending a helping hand. At 88 years old, she utilizes the gym membership included in her monthly rent at The Estates, AJ’s Fitness Center, every day for 20 to 25 minutes, and she always sees other tenants she knows. She encourages them and enjoys the friendly conversations.

“I recommend this place to everyone,” she says. “It’s a personable place and my home now.”

Dolores has a word search workbook open on her table. She enjoys completing those, going on the weekly shopping outings, dining with fellow tenants in the beautiful dining room and walking and sitting outside in the sun. But, what Dolores truly loves is the people at The Estates.

The Little Things

After one week living at The Estates, Jean Barnes felt it was home. Four years ago, her daughter, Karen, found Hawthorne Village of Ocala for Jean.

“I walked in and loved it,” Jean says.

Jean is 94 years old but looks much younger. She has three children, six grandchildren and 12 greatgrandchildren. Her walls are full of paintings created by her late husband and daughter, Karen. Besides the chair and desk she brought from her prior home, Jean and Karen enjoyed shopping to purchase new furniture and décor to make Jean’s apartment home uniquely hers.

“I really enjoy my apartment,” Jean says. She loves spending time enjoying the beautiful Florida weather on her screen-enclosed patio as well.

Jean loves to read, play games and spend time with her friend and neighbor, Lucy. Jean and Karen spend each Tuesday afternoon shopping, but Jean also loves going on the weekly shopping outings with other tenants at The Estates.

At one point, Jean underwent physical therapy with the therapists on sta in the outpatient Bounce Back Rehab program. Though she didn’t like that she needed therapy, she was thankful for the skilled therapists. In addition to having health care available when she needed it, she has enjoyed the transportation service that is provided to tenants.

“I’m very appreciative of the accommodations of the bus and the bus driver, Gloria,” Jean says. “She’s so helpful.”

Jean recalls good times at many of The Estates’ Life Enrichment social events, emphasizing how much fun she has had with other tenants and neighbors as well as sta members.

All-Inclusive, Worry-Free Living

Hawthorne Village of Ocala, is a not-for-profit, full-service retirement community, conveniently located near Paddock Mall, major health care providers and a variety of cultural and historical venues. The Estates of Hawthorne Village o ers exquisite apartment homes for the independent retiree, who seeks an active lifestyle with an all-inclusive monthly rent. Worry-free and maintenance-free living awaits you at The Estates, as weekly housekeeping and linen service, two restaurant-style meals per day, transportation to medical appointments and scheduled Life Enrichment activities are just a sampling of what is available to the tenants.

Assisted living accommodations are available at The Inn at Hawthorne Village of Ocala. The Inn is a lovely, home-like setting for those individuals who need assistance with daily self-care in a supportive and attractive environment.

As part of a full-service retirement community, Hawthorne Village of Ocala provides a full spectrum of care to meet all of your health care needs, including state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient Bounce Back Rehab and skilled nursing. All of this, on one beautifully manicured, and easily accessible campus.

Several innovative ecipes and backstories dot Ocala’s oster of homegrown auces and preads.

BY BRETT BALLANTINI

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN JERNIGAN

ot a day goes by without consuming some sort of sauce, be it a spread on a sandwich or a dip for a snack. Several of the most delicious spreads to touch your lips are made right here in Ocala. Here’s a glimpse at some of the producers of Ocala’s most popular spreads.

455 Sauce: The BarbaCuban Revs It Up!

Before Live with Kelly and Michael, before becoming the BarbaCuban, Jose Juarez was just a dude with an addiction.

To grilling.

And his unlimited devotion to the pit now has placed him among the biggest surprises in the culinary world.

“I always did a bourbon barbecue sauce I’d smoke for eight hours—it was my special-occasion sauce,” Juarez says. “I never wanted to sell it, because the barbecue market is so saturated.”

But Juarez’s wife, Kelly, knew there was something more for Jose to contribute than just a one-o hobby sauce—especially for a guy who was grilling all the time. So she pushed him to enter 2015’s America’s New Grill Star contest hosted by Live with Kelly and Michael

“So I entered a combined Cuban sandwich and hamburger that I called the Cuban Missile [pulled pork, sweet ham, ground rib-eye steak, Swiss cheese and grilled pickles],” Juarez says. “I used to put mayo and mustard on it, but I knew I needed something unique to put me over the top.”

Enter the 455 Sauce.

“I started playing around to find the perfect sauce, and after three days, I had it,” Juarez says. “And once I came up with it, I wanted to use an automotive theme to name it.”

Juarez loves his 1971 Pontiac GTO convertible and its 455 engine, so with four parts mojo sauce, five parts mustard and five parts mayo, the revved-up name fit. (The label on the sauce is pulled right from the air cleaner as depicted in his GTO manual.)

The mojo was the magic.

“There’s nothing in the market like the 455 sauce,” Juarez says. “The sauce had to work with a Cuban sandwich, and mustard and mayo are already staples of a Cuban.

The mojo—it’s a complex sauce, with lots of ingredients—gives it a twist.”

It’s actually a little more complicated than adding the Mojo Marinade, which now sells alongside the 455 Sauce. “The Mojo Marinade gives it a kick, but the second secret is the ghost pepper,” Juarez says. “I’ve been messing with ghost peppers for a few years now. They have a reputation for being scary-hot, but when used correctly, they don’t kill the flavor of the food. They’re called ghost peppers because the heat eventually goes away without overwhelming the food.”

So, you can guess how this story proceeds: Juarez, the “BarbaCuban,” became America’s New Grill Star, and sales have taken o for the 455 Sauce. Although Juarez didn’t start producing his bottled sauce until last October, he sold 1,700 bottles in his first four months, with 95 percent of the sales coming from Marion County.

“Next is my 455-HO (high output) sauce. So many people wanted a supercharged version of the 455, [so] we’re doing it,” Juarez says. “Eventually, we’ll add a mild version of the 455 as well.

“And I’ve got another sauce I’ve been playing with—but it’s a secret sauce for now. It’s scheduled to launch in November.”

After a whirlwind year or so, what continues to bubble to the surface for the gregarious BarbaCuban is pride.

“The cool thing is, I’ve got 1,000 followers on my Facebook site now,” Juarez says. “I already had a day job with my marketing company [Victory Solutions]. Cooking was a hobby, and it turned into something big.”

Buy it › Jose Juarez’s 455 Sauce is available online at 455Sauce.com and is in Ocala stores, including Ocala Fresh Produce, Your Heart’s Desire, Florida Grub Hub, the Olive Obsession and Marley Mae Market & Paperie.

A Long Time Coming

Derrell Croft was still in North Carolina when he toyed with a few old family recipes and started producing barbecue sauce that tingled the tongue. Those tongues took to wagging—and requesting and demanding—and soon all of Derrell’s gift-giving came in pint-sized jars full of the good stu .

Years later, a friend told him it was about time he stopped giving and started selling. After a move to Dunnellon and wowing the owner of Prima Foods in Ocala with his flavors in 2000, Croft Farm House BBQ Sauce was born.

“We’d sell our kitchen-made sauces at flea markets, but people wanted it more and more,” Croft laughs. “It was hard to keep up.”

Eventually, Croft built a stable of sauces: Original, Hot, Bourbon, Mustard and Wing Ding. The first three sauces are all tomatobased, and the Mustard is fashioned for South Carolina-style barbecue. Per Croft, his Mustard is great with chicken, and a half-Mustard half-olive oil mix is a great salad dressing; Bourbon is good for steak and meatloaf; Hot is perfect for shrimp and oyster dips; and Original “is good on everything.”

All five sauces mix about 20 ingredients together, often including tomato, mustard, celery and molasses.

“There may be a few secrets in each jar I’m not going to tell you about,” Croft smiles.

Sales have been consistent over the past couple of decades, including a predictable bump in October, when Croft burns though 20-30 cases a day (250-350 bottles) at the McIntosh 1890s Festival. (Original and Mustard are his biggest sellers.)

The stable may be growing soon, as Croft is tinkering with a North Carolina vinegar sauce. “I’m about halfway there,” he promises.

Buy it › Croft Farm House BBQ Sauces cost $4 per bottle and are found in around 20 local stores, including Discount Quality Meats in Ocala. To order call (352) 445-4567 or visit CroftFarmHouse.com.

Golden Harvest

Spring is usually a very busy time for a beekeeper, moving houses out to the orange groves so thousands of tiny, buzzing workers can crank up their yearly honey production.

And what might be called a real-life enactment of the 1997 drama Ulee’s Gold plays out in Crystal River, home of Bee Happy Aviary.

Bee Happy’s heartbeat, William Mashburn, finally is less a bee mover and more a honey bottler, however.

“It got too hard for me. Moving the bees, bottling the honey and delivering was too much,” says Mashburn, who turns 72 this year. “It’s hard to keep on top of everything, so I had to make some choices.”

Increased spraying in the groves has made a beekeeper’s job ever more arduous.

“It’s a whole lot more work than it used to be,” says Mashburn. “The [chemical] spraying causes a lot of problems. We used to put the bees in a grove and just leave ’em. But now, you’ve got to really stay on top of the spraying.”

Another huge factor in honey production is the weather.

“You’ve got a Tupelo honey shortage these days,” he says. “The past few years, the Panhandle has had bad weather, so there’s hardly been any Tupelo production.”

As Mashburn says, he’s been “messing” with bees ever since he got out of the service and “really got into” beekeeping in 1992. His Bee Happy online products include raw orange blossom and wildflower honeys, cream and crystallized honey, and a variety of hot sauces.

Honey is well established as a miracle substance, whether ingested or used topically. Its antioxidant qualities make honey a valuable beauty aid, dental aid, first aid and medicine.

Even more popular is honey’s role as a sweetener. It isn’t an empty calorie like corn syrup, thus becoming a “health sweetener” for co ees, teas and water.

Mashburn has two favorite ways to take his honey: in beverages, like iced tea, or spread over a simple biscuit.

Mashburn’s other sauces (including Swamp Sauce and Mustard Sauce, with Datil peppers from St. Augustine) have one key ingredient: honey. How’d he make that jump?

“Winn-Dixie stopped making the barbecue sauce we liked, so we had to make up our own,” Mashburn laughs.

His wife, Shirley, has always run the paperwork side of the business, while William was in the field. But in a wrinkle reminiscent of Ulee, there’s a new addition to the Bee Happy family: granddaughter Savannah Barnes, who has started working full-time at Bee Happy.

“She’s just 20, and she’s working hard,” Mashburn says with pride. “The business will be hers, if she wants it.”

Buy it › Bee Happy Honey is in three Rural King stores in the area, among other shops and stands. Mashburn also sells all of his products, in various sizes, at beehappyhoney.net or by calling (352) 795-5578 or emailing sales@beehappyhoney.net.