Inweekly may 12 2016 issue

Independent News | May 12, 2016 | Volume 17 | Number 20 | inweekly.net

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winners & losers

outtakes

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news

buzz 8

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We shouldn't put competition ahead of children.

a&e

cover story

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publisher Rick Outzen

art director Richard Humphreys

editor & creative director Joani Delezen

contributing writers Duwayne Escobedo, Jennifer Leigh, Chuck Shepherd, Hamishe Randall, Shelby Smithey

contact us info@inweekly.net

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Independent News is published by Inweekly Media, Inc., P.O. Box 12082, Pensacola, FL 32591. (850)438-8115. All materials published in Independent News are copyrighted. Š 2015 Inweekly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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MAY 20, 2016 DOWNTOWN PENSACOLA Gallery Night is Sponsored by:

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May 12, 2016

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winners & losers

What will you do with the extra cash?

The Winners & Losers division of the Inweekly media and entertainment empire took the week off in anticipation of the upcoming Hangout Fest. They left a scribbled note listing only winners. The thought of hearing Alabama Shakes again must have put them in a good mood and helped them with their NY Nick wings withdrawals.

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and bazaar has become a fixture of downtown Pensacola, drawing people to the area every Saturday. A brainchild of former DIB executive director Kim Kimbrough, the farmer’s market has evolved from a small group of locals to more than 120 weekly vendors selling fresh produce, handmade goods, art and much more. The DIB celebrated Palafox Market’s ninth anniversary on May 6.

LEADERSHIP PENSACOLA CLASS OF 2016 The Greater Pensacola Chamber

Foundation's LeaP class recently unveiled its class project, A Better Way to Give, which recycles obsolete parking meters, creatively painted by various local artists, to provide an alternative to giving to panhandlers. The meters are designed to raise awareness about the homeless population in the city and create a coordinated funding mechanism for agencies addressing these challenges.

HAYDEN MICHAEL BROUSSARD

The Pensacola Catholic senior has been awarded a $12,000 four-year Fraternal College Scholarship in a national competition with other students who are members of Modern Woodmen of America. Selection is based on students' personal and academic achievement, including the results of the American College Testing Program or

the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Qualities of leadership and character and extracurricular activities were also judged. Broussard plans to use the scholarship to attend LSU Ogden Honors College.

UWF CENTER FOR CYBERSECURITY

The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated the University of West Florida as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education through the academic year 2021-22. The National Centers of Academic Excellence program promotes higher education and research in cyber defense and increasing the number of professionals with cyber defense expertise. Students attending nationally designated CAE-CDE schools are eligible to apply for specific federally-funded scholarships and grants.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES Escambia County

EMS has been selected as a Best Practices winner for the 2016 Florida Excellence Awards for the implementation of a customer satisfaction survey. The new survey evaluates service from the 911 call to transport to billing performance of Escambia County EMS. The new service allows staff to easily review the specifics on caregivers, including the patient’s perception of EMS’s quality of customer service.

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outtakes

by Rick Outzen

PUT AWAY THE LEGOS Running a municipality is not easy. As much as some want it to be like playing with a Lego play set where you can arrange the multi-colored pieces in whatever order you like, it’s not.

City and County administrators have special skillsets and understand that municipalities require leaders committed to serving the citizens, elected officials and municipal employees. Laws, rules and policies matter because they build public trust, confidence in the municipal operations and a sense of cohesiveness and fairness among the staff.

Good municipal administrators learned how to lead their city and county governments by working themselves up the ranks, gaining experience on how various departments operate. It takes time to understand how to deal with a crisis, whether it’s a tornado, hurricane or a man-made disaster.

The best municipal administrators are members of groups like the Florida City and County Management Association and the International City/ County Management Association, both of which promote professional local government. The organizations work to create excellence in local governance by developing and fostering professional management through training and standards.

Unfortunately, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward has taken the Lego approach to municipal government, and the miscues have mounted. His current administrator, Eric Olson, hasn’t the skill set, training or experience

to run the City of Pensacola. Olson’s first year at the helm proved it.

No experienced city administrator would have called the boss of the president of this town’s most active homeowners association to complain about her using her business email account to contact city staff.

A well-trained administrator would have called the president and discussed the matter directly with her. Good administrators don’t play “gotcha.”

Good administrators run to the site of a natural disaster to find out firsthand what has happened. Instead of driving to where the February tornado touched down to survey any possible damage inside the city limits, Olson went to work at city hall like any normal workday.

Councilwoman Sherri Myers called him to let know about the destruction in Dunmire Woods and Eau Claire Estates.

Good administrators understand the importance of the chain-of-command in their fire and police departments, because public safety is paramount. Letting a human resources director override a chief’s decision is a mistake that a former naval officer like Olson should have understood. Placing the fire chief and deputy chief on leave for over 90 days was unconscionable.

For the good of the city, Mayor Hayward needs to rethink his leadership team and find professional municipal help. It's time to put away the Lego play set. {in} rick@inweekly.net

For the good of the city, Mayor Hayward needs to rethink his leadership team and find professional municipal help.

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A NEW DAY FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTHCARE

Breaking ground at The Studer Family Children's Hospital / Courtesy Photo everything from the limited facilities to the event calendar will be designed for children. The children will not be sharing space On May 3, Sacred Heart broke with the adults, and this will be a hospital ground on its regional children’s hosjust for them.” pital and announced the facility will be Dr. Robert Patterson, medical director named for the Studer family. of The Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart, David Sansing, chair of the board talked about the hospital’s leadership and of directors for Sacred Heart Hospital how many healthcare systems shy away Pensacola, emceed the event and gave a from children services. history of the children’s hospital that began “To build a children’s hospital really in a women’s dormitory of the Sacred Heart requires sacrifice,” said Dr. Patterson.

Hospital campus.

“There are many more lucrative and flashy “Once again the phenomenal leaderthings to do in healthcare and other choices ship here at Sacred Heart has responded to than to care for children. Unfortunately, the a growing community need for increased children seem to be put aside in some areas of access to specialized care for women and our country, but that’s not true here.” children,” he said. “The pediatric services He added, “The members of the Ascenprovided at this hospital are vitally imporsion Health Group and the administration of tant to the health of the entire community.” Sacred Heart Hospital have come together Sansing pointed out three features of with the amazing partnership of one of the the new hospital: greatest places on earth which is Pensacola, “First, this new children’s hospital will Northwest Florida and the community here, add more beds. With beds, regional beds, and they pooled resources and made sacwe will be able to provide care for even more rifices with one goal: to do what is right and children, and even more specialized care make a beautiful place for children.” than we already do. These new beds will also The new five-story Children’s Hospital will create more jobs for our community. be constructed south of the existing Children’s “Second, the inpatient services will be Hospital, extending from the current pediatric consolidated into one space which will only transport ambulance bay into the parking lot. down-play the anxiety the parents have and The new building will connect to the current the children have when they come to the hosChildren’s Hospital by a ground-level, glasspital, but also make staff more efficient, our covered walkway and will include: coordination services better and our senior •Pediatric Emergency Department and staff better, which is even more important.

Trauma Center An expansion and relocation “Lastly and most importantly, we will of Sacred Heart’s current Pediatric Emergency design first and foremost for children; Department, which is now next to the adult

By Rick Outzen

66

Emergency Department and Trauma Center. Consolidating children’s emergency and inpatient services in one building will allow for more coordinated care and shorter discharge processes for children. Sacred Heart provides the region’s only pediatric trauma referral center.

•Pediatric Surgery With the construction of the new Children’s Hospital, Sacred Heart will add six, pediatric-dedicated operating rooms. This will consolidate all surgeries and procedures that require sedation into one area with a childfriendly environment designed to include family support, all with the goal of reducing stress and anxiety.

•Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) This expansion and relocation of Sacred Heart’s current NICU beds will enable The Children’s Hospital to care for more premature and critically-ill infants from across Northwest Florida. In addition to offering the area’s only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, The Children’s Hospital maintains two specially equipped neonatal critical care transport ambulances for the transfer of premature and critically ill newborns from other hospitals across Northwest Florida to The Children’s Hospital. The NICU of the new Children’s Hospital will offer private rooms in its Level III unit, which includes the most critically ill babies.

•Pediatric Oncology With an expanded inpatient unit to provide specialized, inpatient care for children with cancer.

•Extended stay/observation beds Will represent a new inpatient unit for The Children’s Hospital, caring for children who aren’t yet ready to go home.

Debbie Calder, chair of the Sacred Heart System board, told the crowd the expansion involved more than children medical services.

“In addition to the new Children's Hospital, Sacred Heart will expand our regional center, which is one of only 11 in the state of Florida and Northwest Florida's only inpatient unit designed for expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies,” said Calder. “The construction of the new Children's Hospital will also undergo a complete renovation and expansion with Sacred Heart's Maternity and Women's Center, the most preferred birthing center in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.”

When pediatric services moves from the third floor to the new Children's Hospital, the Maternity and Women's Center will expand to take over the space left behind.

This will raise the number of beds for mothers needing specialized maternity care from the hospital's OB Emergency Care Center, as well as postpartum beds and surgical suites for mothers needing cesarean sections.

Then Calder made the surprise announcement about the name of the children’s hospital.

She said, “Sacred Heart is pleased to announce that we are renaming the hospital to honor two people who have been instrumental in making Pensacola a better place to live and to work.”

Calder said the board wanted to recognize the couple for their efforts to improve health and education of children in our community.

“On behalf of the Sacred Heart board and leadership team, I am honored to announce, in recognition of the many good works of Quint and Rishy Studer, we will rename our facility as the Studer Family Children's Hospital at Sacred Heart,” she said as Sacred Heart staff unveiled the new logo and rendering of the new facility.

Quint Studer told the crowd that he and Rishy were humbled when Susan Davis, CEO of Sacred Heart Health System, told them that she would like the new facility to bear their name.

“We don’t like to put names on things,” said Studer. “The new downtown Y is an exception, but we only agreed to that because other families were also named.”

He talked about the need for the children’s hospital and that raising the money for it would be a “heavy lift.”

“It would be real easy for the Board of Directors and Susan Davis and others to say, ‘It just doesn't make sense to have a standalone children's hospital here in Pensacola. We're not that big,’” said Studer, who explained that most children’s hospitals are attached to an academic medical center.

“It would have been just as easy for Ascension Healthcare to say to Susan Davis and the board here, ‘Susan, I know you have big dreams. I know you want to take care of all the children, but we're just not big enough. We're just not in the right location. It just doesn't make a lot of sense,” he said.

“Thank God for us, Ascension Healthcare didn't think like that,” said Studer.

“The fact that Ascension Healthcare and The Daughters of Charity invested millions of dollars in Pensacola just shows that they are looking at all children are also Ascension children, whether they are in St. Louis, Indianapolis, or here in Pensacola.”

Before he closed his remarks, Studer said he hoped that the community would rally behind the effort and that other healthcare systems would help make it a reality.

He said, “The reality is, this shouldn't be about which hospital has what. Every hospital and every healthcare provider should pull together. We shouldn't put competition ahead of children.” {in} inweekly.net

CHARTER SCHOOL BOONDOOGLE

Newpoint sign / Photo by Rick Outzen

By Rick Outzen Last week, an Escambia County Grand Jury indicted Newpoint Education Partners, LLC; School Warehouse, Inc.; Red Ignition, LLC; and Epiphany Management, LLC for grand theft, money laundering and aggravated white collar crime in relation to the charter schools Newpoint ran in Escambia County.

Newpoint and three of its vendorsSchool Warehouse, Red Ignition and Epiphany-were charged with fraudulently billing the local charter schools for hundreds of thousands of dollars of supplies, equipment and services. It was furthered alleged that Newpoint, in concert with the vendors, laundered the proceeds of the thefts through multiple bank accounts to conceal the criminal activity. The source of the funds was the charter school program grant funds appropriated by the state of Florida for charter schools to use to procure supplies, equipment and services to start charter schools.

The investigation began in April 2015 when Inweekly reported on the claims by a whistleblower of irregularities at Pensacola Newpoint High and Newpoint Academy.

She alleged grade tampering, inappropriate conduct by teachers with female students and mishandling of funds.

After the school district’s auditors reviewed the schools’ records, the Escambia County School Board voted to terminate the contracts of the two schools. In his recommendation to the school board, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas outlined May 12, 2016

14 sections of the charter contracts that had been violated by Newpoint, including failure to maintain cumulative folders of the students’ completed courses, health, discipline and special needs.

The Florida Department of Education had been given Pensacola Newpoint High an “A” grade for the 2013-14 school year and had received a bonus check from Gov. Rick Scott at a media event hosted by the School District in March 2015. The District staff later found that three Newpoint students were given diplomas in 2014, even though they did not meet graduation requirements.

In late May 2015, 21st Century Academy of Pensacola, the non-profit set up by Newpoint Education Partners to own its Pensacola charter schools, closed the two schools and Five Flags Academy, an elementary school in its first year of operation, without paying its teachers their final checks.

Last summer, Inweekly interviewed several former teachers and administrators who worked for Newpoint in charter schools in Escambia, Bay and Pinellas counties. They mentioned Marcus May, whom they described as the president & CEO of Newpoint Education Partners.

A former teacher in Bay County liked the challenge of teaching at a charter school but was quickly dismayed at how his Newpoint school was run.

“My perspective is that charter schools have a terrific opportunity to make a terrific difference for kids that really need this kind of environment,” he shared last June.

“However, what very much disappoints me is that this has essentially become a boondoggle for wealthy people to continue to be wealthy.”

He said that May, who came from Ohio, looked down on people in Florida. “For some reason, I think Marcus got it into his mind that everybody down here in the south is dumb. I’ll tell you what; I’ve been in Ohio. They’ve got rednecks everywhere.

Anyway, that’s why I think Marcus always, whenever he did show up with his very fashionable jeans and corduroy jacket there, no tie, he just tended to not show much respect for the people.”

The former teacher said that all financial decisions at the Bay County school had to be run through May. He alleged that several school vendors had ties to May. He said, “I started to see that Newpoint is just a building, but it’s a 501(c)(3) (federal tax exempt non-profit). There’s nothing that the building has, nothing.

Newpoint Education Partners is the business. All the money from the school goes to the business. The school itself has nothing.

Everything goes through Newpoint Education Partners.”

He said that May had ties to the school’s IT provider, Epiphany Management, and other vendors.

“Everybody’s getting paid, and Marcus is sitting on the top of this pyramid,” the former teacher told Inweekly.

A former teacher from the Tampa area said he saw thousands of dollars monthly leave his school in “money bags, all cash.”

“This was money made through selling food to the students, and the school was encouraged to allow students to purchase snack food between classes and allow them to snack during class as well,” he told Inweekly.

“If the numbers did not meet his expectations or sales were low, (Marcus May) would really lay into the Internship Director who was in charge of the ‘books’ for this

“This has essentially become a boondoggle for wealthy people to continue to be wealthy.” Former Newpoint Teacher

enterprise, which never was officially part of the school's income.”

In Pensacola, teachers and parents have shared that the schools never seemed to have enough of anything.

“The teachers did not have enough text books in the classroom,” said a former teacher. “The school was advertised as a technology school, but the internet was down a lot. The phone lines were tied into the internet, so when it went down we had no phone service to call out, and parents couldn't call the school.”

When teachers complained, she said that there wasn't any money for things they needed. Parents were sent emails requesting donations for their used computers, televisions, computer speakers, mice, chairs, tables, bookcases, file cabinets and books through the years because the school didn't have enough of these items.

The school borrowed chairs and tables from the church next door. Employees picked up chairs from the curb that people threw out so every student had a chair in their classroom.

“A student's dad donated 30 computers to the school when the company he worked for bought new ones,” the former teacher told Inweekly. “It turned out that our school couldn't use them, because the system we used wasn't compatible with the donated computers.”

In June, the Bay County School District found that Newpoint Education Partners violated Florida Department of Education rules. Its auditors found that 80 items, including computers, tables and monitors, purchased with charter school program funds intended for Newpoint Bay Preparatory Academy were delivered to Newpoint Schools in Pensacola.

Recently in Pinellas County, Newpoint Education Partners told its teachers that a nonprofit with Alliance Education Services would acquire all of Newpoint's assets, including school management agreements for three financially-troubled charter schools; Windsor Preparatory Academy, East Windsor Middle Academy and Newpoint Pinellas Academy.

However, Newpoint Education Partners was still listed as the management company of record last week. When the Tampa Bay Times contacted an Alliance Education Services official about Newpoint’s indictment, the reporter was told the hand-off was never completed and Alliance had never assumed operations of any Newpoint schools.

In light of the indictment, the official wrote in an email, “…we have no intention of moving forward.”

Meanwhile, the State Attorney’s Office and School District continue to investigate Newpoint Education Partners and its operations. {in} 7

have been alive, but I am grateful for this tremendous honor,” Levin said in his acceptance speech.

Levin was diagnosed with brain cancer and stage IV lung cancer earlier this year.

After surgery, he is now “cancer free,” and continues to work daily at the firm his brother, David Levin, established in 1955 along with Reubin Askew, former governor of the State of Florida.

He was inducted into The Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2009. His partner at the firm, Mike Papantonio, is also a member. The Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame is located at Temple Law School in Philadelphia.

Levin is best known for rewriting Florida’s Medicaid Third-Party Recovery Act to allow the state of Florida to sue and recover billions of dollars from the tobacco industry for smoking-related illnesses. The Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida was named for him after he donated $10 million to the school in 1999. At the time, the gift was the largest-ever cash donation to the University of Florida.

Recently on News Talk 1370 WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks,” Levin talked about the role of trial lawyers in protecting the rights of victims.

“You think with the government, if there's something bad, if there's a bad product, if there's a bad conduct, you think the government would come in and take care of it, it doesn't,” he said. “We are the last bastion that takes up for the little person who cannot handle it themselves, and the government is not going to handle it.”

He said that his achievements in his legal career are far beyond anything that he believed would happen when he was in law school.

“A lot of it is luck, luck to get the right

cases,” said Levin. “I never dreamed that the accolades and all of the things that happened to me in the practice of law would happen.”

PENSACOLA SPORTS HONORS SENIOR ATHLETES Each year, Pen-

sacola Sports brings together the top senior, student athletes in each sport from Escambia and Santa Rosa County schools for a dinner and scholarship recognition program. Over 200 seniors and their families were in attendance on May 10 at Olive Baptist Church for the 37th Annual Senior Scholar Athlete Banquet presented by Sacred Heart Health System.

Tori Bindi from Gulf Breeze High and Nathan Andreo from Pace won the overall girls and male scholarships, respectively. The Pensacola Sports Foundation awarded these two individuals each with a $4,000 scholarship. Other awardees were Callan Taylor from Navarre (University of West Florida Scholarship), Kaci VanVoorhis from Pace and Cortavis Watts from Washington (Gary McAdams Memorial Scholarship), Trace Penton from Tate and Eliza Eligio from Pensacola High (Whataburger Scholarship), Chloe Dawson from Milton (Dr. Alec Kessler Memorial Scholarship), and Jerry Pollard, Pine Forest football coach and athletic director, won the RADM Kenneth L. Shugart, Jr. Award for his service and dedication to the community, sports and youth.

Additionally, Pensacola State College awarded each individual sport winner with a scholarship. Newly added this year are scholarships awarded for both men’s and women’s lacrosse.

“We are the last bastion that takes up for the little person who cannot handle it themselves.” Fred Levin

Fred Levin with award / Courtesy Photo LEVIN HONORED The National Trial

Lawyers recently named Fredric G. Levin its Trial Lawyer of the Year. The 79-yearold Pensacola attorney was presented the award at the 2016 Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Las Vegas in April.

Levin recognized his family, legal partners and friends who he said contributed to his success.

"I don’t know if they’re giving it to me because I was diagnosed with cancer or because I’ve been practicing 55 years, longer than a lot of attorneys in this room

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GRADE A CARE AT WEST FLORIDA HEALTHCARE The independent hospital

watchdog, The Leapfrog Group, announced at the end of April that West Florida Healthcare has earned an “A” rating for its patient safety.

“Receiving an “A” on hospital safety is a reflection of our dedication to providing evidence-based medicine that reduces variation in our delivery of care,” said Christopher Dorvault, M.D., Chief of Staff, West Florida Healthcare. “Empowering our clinical staff to have a voice in the design of our processes in a collaborative way has a direct impact on our operations, clinical practice, patient care outcomes and patient experience.”

The Hospital Safety Score is considered the gold standard rating for patient safety, compiled under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts and administered by The Leapfrog Group.

The first and only hospital safety rating to be peer-reviewed in the Journal of Patient Safety, the Hospital Safety Score is free to the public and designed to give consumers information they can use to protect themselves and their families when facing a hospital stay.

“As a 100 Top Hospital in the Nation, receiving an “A” rating, particularly for two times in a row, is a reflection of the countless hours that our dedicated nurses, employees, physicians and volunteers spend improving our quality, which results in better outcomes for our patients,” said Brian Baumgardner, president and CEO of West Florida Healthcare.

The Hospital Safety Score uses 28 measures of publicly-available hospital safety data to produce a single A, B, C, D or F score, representing a hospital’s overall capacity to keep patients safe from preventable harm.

On “Pensacola Speaks,” Kendrick Doidge, West Florida Healthcare’s ‎Vice President Business and Public Relations, credited the grade to the staff’s commitment to safety.

“What our goal has been out here for the past few years is really to transform the health care experience,” said Doidge. “What we mean by that is we bring in some of the most competent medical professionals that we can. We bring them into this collaborative environment that we've created, and we include the patient's family and the patient, so they are part of the care team.”

He added, “Really, what we try to do with that collaborative effort is use evidence-based clinical practice standards to reduce the variation that's experienced in the hospital.”

Doidge said the nursing staff formed committees that review every patient, every case, and look at the evidencebased medicine.

“They figure out what we can do better, and really follow evidence of these best practices that have been established across the country,” he said.

“Getting an A is great and we're certainly honored to receive that, but we started this effort a few years ago just to really provide the best care we could to our patients and their families. This has been the result, which is really nice.”

NEW MEMBER

“What our goal has been out here for the past few years is really to transform the health care experience.” Kendrick Doidge

May 12, 2016

EDDINS AND MILLER UNOPPOSED

With the end of qualifying at noon Friday, 12 state-attorney candidates across the state clinched the election as they did not draw opposition. Incumbents made up 11 of the 12 unopposed candidates, according to information on the state Division of Elections website. Among the incumbents was State Attorney William Eddins in the 1st Judicial Circuit. Eddins was first elected in 2004.

Voters in only five of Florida's 19 judicial circuits will cast ballots for public defenders this year, after most races were decided at the end of qualifying Friday. Candidates in 14 circuits were unopposed, with 12 incumbents and two non-incumbents clinching election. Among the incumbents was Public Defender Bruce Miller in the 1st Judicial Circuit. This will be his second term. {in}

SATURDAY, MAY 14 9AM–12PM: 4th–8th graders 12:30PM–5PM: 9th–12th graders

Please call 434-7760 to schedule your appointment FINANCIAL AID IS AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED FAMILIES

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9

BOTTOMLESS CHAMPAGNE AND MIMOSAS FOR $5 AND BLOODY MARYS FOR $2

SUNDAY BAYSIDE BRUNCH Every Sunday from 11 a.m. untill 2 p.m. From eggs Benedict to bottomless champagne, our Bayside Brunch is the perfect Sunday starter! For details, visit fishhousepensacola.com.

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PRESENTS

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R E G I S T E R A T W W W. S E V I L L E R O T A R Y. C O M SPECIAL THANKS TO SEVILLE QUARTER, E S C A M B I A B AY H O M E B R E W C L U B A N D T H E L E W I S B E A R C O M PA N Y

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By C. Scott Satterwhite May 12, 2016

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“I often like to ride my bike around town, and I was attracted to that property,” said John Ellis, a Pensacola Realtor. “I was drawn to that house, because it’s an impressive home but never saw anyone there. There’s got to be a story to that house. That house must’ve belonged to someone special.”

The house Ellis refers to did indeed belong to someone very special: one of Pensacola’s most well-known and prominent figures of the late 19th and early 20th century. That prominent figure was John Sunday.

Walking by the home today, one sees little to indicate the historical significance of the residence and nothing denoting its most famous resident, Mr. Sunday.

There are no historic markers or signs on the outside of the large and fairly ornate—if not slightly neglected—house on the corner of Rues and Romana streets in the downtown area.

“It's disappointing that John Sunday is treated as a footnote in Pensacola's history,” said Teniade Broughton, vice president of the John Sunday Society. “In reality, he's an entire chapter… [Sunday’s] house is a physical testament to his life and legacy.”

The John Sunday Society is an organization founded to save John Sunday’s house and preserve his legacy.

Currently facing demolition to make way for a series of town houses, Sunday’s historic house is at the center of controversy. A group of Pensacolans, including members of the John Sunday Society, is attempting to save the home from destruction and secure Sunday’s significant, but largely neglected, place in Pensacola history.

To tell the story of the house and its significance, one has to first tell the story of John Sunday.

Historic facts about anyone from the early 19th century are difficult to piece together—and especially so when the subjects are enslaved African Americans.

However, much of Sunday’s history is documented through court dockets, military service records, city directories, all supplemented with the family histories of this prominent Pensacolan.

Pearl Perkins is a member of the John Sunday Society. She is also Sunday’s greatgreat-granddaughter.

According to Perkins, after the death of Sunday’s white father, the father’s white children from a previous marriage attempted to claim Jinny and Sunday’s biracial children as family property.

The father, however, granted a gift to Jinny and her children by securing their emancipation in his will, essentially freeing them upon his death.

“This is all in the court records,” Perkins said.

“He absolutely gave Jinny and their four children freedom,” thus allowing his biracial children a new path outside of bondage.

Despite being a free man of color, Sunday still lived in the Deep South where life was precarious at best and dangerous at worst. Sunday knew that if he were to thrive in this environment, he’d need to take every opportunity to bring himself up from this previous condition.

“He was pretty much a self-made man,” said Perkins of her great-great grandfather.

“It's disappointing that John Sunday is treated as a footnote in Pensacola's history. In reality, he's an entire chapter.” Teniade Broughton

According to Perkins, Sunday “went to apprentice school at the age of 15” and worked very hard to help his family survive, which was not an easy task for a black man in the antebellum South.

Pensacola, in the pre-war years, offered more opportunities for free people of color than much of the Deep South, but the Southern institution of chattel slavery was an ominous part of daily life.

Everything changed with the Civil War.

“It’s a story that’s close to my heart”

With the election of Abraham Lincoln, many Southerners felt certain that the Republican president planned to end slavery. Talk of a civil war seemed more plausible. Many Pensacolans viewed the looming war with mixed feelings—mostly depending on their ethnicity.

According to Clavin’s recent book on the subject, “an angry [white] mob destroyed a wax figure of the radical white abolitionist John Brown” that a local craftsman displayed alongside statues of Jesus and the apostles.

After Lincoln’s election, angry whites sent President Lincoln a telegram: “You were last night hung in effigy in this city.”

Understandably, African Americans had a different opinion of Lincoln’s election.

In the days leading up to the war, many

enslaved African Americans were elated at the prospect of war and the possibility of freedom that Lincoln’s election symbolized.

The federal outpost of Fort Pickens, located on Pensacola Beach, was a common destination for fugitive slaves from the first rumors of war until its final days. After Pensacola’s brief time in the Confederacy ended and Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the U.S. military soon allowed African Americans to join the fight that ended slavery in the United States.

One of the first from Pensacola officially to join in this fight for freedom was Sunday.

According to his military service record, Sunday joined for duty and enrolled May 15, 1863 in Pensacola. Sunday joined the U.S. Army as a private and was soon sent to join the 6th Regiment of the Corps d’Afrique in Port Hudson, Louisiana. He was 25.

The unit Sunday joined fought in the Siege of Port Hudson and was one of the first African American regiments to engage directly with the Confederate Army.

“Because of the prejudice of the times, they didn’t want to give black men guns,” said Marvin Steinback, a park ranger with the Port Hudson State Historic Site. The Corps d’Afrique “was primarily labor troops, building siege fortifications and trenches.”

Although largely unarmed and acting as laborers and stretcher bearers, the Corps d’Afrique was in the middle of combat. “The bullets were still flying,” said Steinback.

“Because of the prejudice of the times, they didn’t want to give black men guns.”

Marvin Steinback

“He was pretty much a self-made man”

For many familiar with his story, John Sunday embodies so much of what was and is Pensacola.

“Pensacolans should care, really need to care, about John Sunday,” said historian Matthew Clavin, a professor with the University of Houston. Clavin is the author of “Aiming for Pensacola: Fugitive Slaves on the Atlantic and Southern Frontiers.” “[Sunday] teaches us so much about Pensacola in the nineteenth century.”

Born in 1838 to an enslaved mother, Jinny, and a white farmer, John Sunday was given the name of his father.

The Sunday home was unusual in many regards, not for having a biracial child, but because Jinny and John Sunday, Sr., lived openly together as a married couple. When Sunday was a baby, his father was murdered.

John Sunday House / Photo Courtesy of UWF Historic Trust Archives 212 1

inweekly.net

The Siege of Port Hudson lasted 48 days, the longest in U.S. military history.

“For the duration, [the U.S. Army] had the Corps d’Afrique digging these trenches while the riflemen were behind them, protecting them,” said Steinback. “They’d build the trenches, and the riflemen would move up.”

“They have such a colorful history that people don’t even know,” said Steinback.

“It’s a story that’s close to my heart.”

With the 6th Regiment of the Corps d’Afrique, the army promoted Sunday to the rank of First Sergeant in September of 1863. The Union Army reorganized Sunday’s regiment officially as the 78th Infantry, United States Colored Troops, and he remained with the 78th until the Union Army won the war.

Sunday’s family, however, was not all on the Union side. The white children of John Sunday, Sr. sided with the Confederacy. His halfbrother joined the Confederate Army in Florida. Both sons were named after their father.

“One brother was in the Confederate Army because he was white,” said Perkins. “The other was in the Union Army.” The white brother was killed in action fighting for the Confederacy. “As luck had it,” said Perkins, “my great-greatgrandfather survived.”

Somewhere during his time in the military, Sunday befriended Gen. Ulysses Grant. According to the Sunday family history, “they were very good friends.”

According to Perkins, “at one time, the [Sunday] family had a sword that was given to my great-great-grandfather by Ulysses Grant.”

At the end of Sunday’s military service to the United States, Sunday’s service record states that he had “been furnished with transportation and subsistence in kind for the journey to New Orleans, Louisiana.”

After the war, he came back home to Pensacola to take part in the reconstruction the city.

Jefferson Davis, Stephen Mallory and Edward Perry with a statue of a symbolic Confederate soldier standing high above the city and always facing south, looking over Pensacola. The statue’s base, where one often finds flowers, bears the phrase: “Our Confederate Dead.”

For those who fought to save the United States and end slavery, however, there is virtually no marker of prominence in the downtown area. For those who rebuilt the local government and served during the period of federal occupation and Reconstruction, there is barely a word devoted to this period, outside of the Julee Cottage Museum.

“Like nearly every other black soldier during the Civil War, Sunday chose to fight and would have given his life for the northern army, not the Confederacy,” said Clavin. “His success during the war as a soldier and later as a free man demonstrates some of the opportunities available to people of color in Pensacola in the nineteenth century.”

Once Sunday came back from his military service, he returned to his home with a wife, whom he met in Louisiana.

Together they started a family, and the Union Army veteran set forth to take an active role in rebuilding Pensacola during the Reconstruction period.

Reflecting on the lack of local scholarship and understanding of this period, Clavin said: “Reconstruction is one important area of U.S. history largely misunderstood and neglected by historians and ordinary people alike.”

Often mischaracterized as wholly a period of corruption in government, Reconstruction was the U.S. government’s effort to rebuild the South, educate those formerly enslaved, and reestablish a more equitable government that reflected the population, both black and white.

“Despite its many alleged failures,” said Clavin, the Reconstruction government “was the first real attempt at a multi-racial democracy in American history. It should be celebrated.”

With the end of slavery and federal troops occupying much of the South, there were unprecedented opportunities for African Americans. Certain characteristics made Pensacola an ideal place for African Americans to find success, including the pre-war presence of a free community of color, the lack of wholesale destruction which destroyed many southern cities, and the very large black population.

“That Pensacola during Reconstruction avoided many of the heinous acts of violence and terror that visited most urban places in the South is a real testament to the city's exceptionalism,” said Clavin.

“One brother was in the Confederate Army because he was white. The other was in the Union Army.” Pearl Perkins

“It should be celebrated”

Throughout downtown Pensacola, several monuments stand to mark the role of Confederates during and after the Civil War. In Ferdinand Plaza is the obelisk dedicated to William Chipley, a former colonel in the Confederacy and mayor of Pensacola. The Perry Mansion, which sits on the corner of Palafox and Wright Streets, is the restored home of Gov. Edward Perry.

Perry was also a former colonel in the Confederate Army who ran for governor on the platform of ending the Republican Reconstruction-era governments in Florida. He won the state, but lost in his home county of Escambia.

The most prominent Confederate monument, however, is the memorial statue at Lee Square. The memorial honors May 12, 2016

Almost immediately, Sunday began working as a mechanic at the Pensacola Navy Yard and later as a customs inspector for the Port of Pensacola. During this time, Sunday began acquiring property and building homes throughout the city.

Trained as a carpenter, Sunday used his skills to establish his wealth in real estate, a nearly impossible task before the war.

In the 1870s, Sunday began his service to Pensacola and the State of Florida. In 1874, he served as the second African American to represent Escambia County in the state legislature. After that, Sunday served as a councilman for the City of Pensacola. He held that position until 1885.

The year 1885 is an important year in Pensacola history: it’s the year Reconstruction ended.

The recently-elected governor of Florida and resident of Escambia County, former Confederate Brig. Gen. Edward Perry, acted swiftly to abolish what he saw as the “carpetbag” government of Pensacola. Once in office, he revoked the city charter over a somewhat arbitrary tax dispute and dismissed all of Pensacola’s elected officials, including John Sunday.

In a move that was unarguably a bloodless coup, Perry replaced the local government with handpicked successors, including former Confederate officer and wealthy railroad magnate William Chipley.

According to an article in the “Atlanta Constitution,” originally published in 1885, “The mayor and marshal were arrested [for refusing to vacate their posts], and the provisional officers took charge of the city without any interference.” With one legal maneuver by Gov. Perry, nearly all of the progressive gains African Americans earned after Emancipation ended overnight.

In his book about Florida Reconstruction, “Emancipation Betrayed,” historian Paul Ortiz described Gov. Perry’s political move in stark terms: “Rarely had class warfare in the United States ever been so transparent.”

The clock then began turning back on the post-war prospects for racial equity. This trend continued for the next century.

After Sunday and his black colleagues were forced from office, he helped form Pensacola’s chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a veteran organization for those who fought for the United States during the Civil War. The GAR advocated for veterans’ rights and the voting rights of African Americans after the war. Most of their chapters were, understandably, in the North, but a few were in the South. The chapter Sunday helped organize was one of those exceptions. For a time, he even held the position of post commander.

As Sunday’s business interest and community engagement grew, so did Sunday’s family. Sunday owned numerous properties in Pensacola, and he built several homes throughout the city. His personal homestead became a focus of his later years.

“Rarely had class warfare in the United States ever been so transparent.” Paul Ortiz

In the years following the war, Sunday purchased a large plot of land in a multiethnic community near the port called the Tanyard, a historic multiracial neighborhood south of Garden Street and West of Palafox. His original intention was to build a home there, but he was persuaded by his sister Mercedes Ruby to give the land to the black and Creole congregants of St. Michael Catholic Church so they could form their own church.

The African American congregants of St. Michael felt that white congregants were not allowing them an equal role in the leadership and direction of the church. As racial lines slowly returned to divide people of color from whites, the black and Creole Catholics felt they would be better served by having their own church. These African American Catholics petitioned the diocese for the right to build a new church, and it was granted.

Officially founded in 1891, St. Joseph Catholic Church was unique for many reasons, most notably its service to the black, Creole and white immigrant communities of Pensacola at the turn of the century.

St. Joseph remains a cornerstone in the community, with its volunteer-run medical clinic which serves Pensacola’s underprivileged with free medical care.

“That structure where St. Joseph church stands was supposed to be his home,” said Perkins. “That’s where St. Joseph church is today. You can’t tell the story of St. Joseph church without telling the story of John Sunday.”

“He was faithful to the church, and he was loyal to this city,” said Perkins.

The church is one of only a few structures from the original Tanyard community still standing in the original location. The other structure is the home Sunday later built a few blocks away.

In 1901, Sunday placed his foundation on the corner of Rues and Romana at 302 Romana Street. While Sunday owned several properties, according to Perkins, this is the one he intended as his family home.

“He laid the foundation a year before he started building on that plot, because he wanted to make sure the house was completely settled,” said Perkins. “He didn’t want any cracks in the walls. He wanted it to be perfect.”

“If you don’t want me, I’ll go somewhere else”

With the advent of Pensacola’s Jim Crow laws of the 20th century, Sunday saw his city dramatically change. He remained prosperous and continued to purchase property, but Jim Crow laws forced Sunday to move much of his business out of the downtown area—including a popular restaurant on the corner of Palafox and Garden.

As one of the wealthiest businessmen in Pensacola, a veteran and “self-made man,” Sunday took this indignity with surprising grace—at least publicly.

“When they chased him out of downtown, he said ‘That’s okay. I’ve got other 13

properties. If you don’t want me, I’ll go somewhere else,’” said Perkins of her greatgreat-grandfather.

After Jim Crow limited where Sunday could live and put other restrictions on his life, he decided to focus on building his community.

Most notably, he put energy, time and money into building the historic Belmont-Devilliers area. Two buildings that he helped construct—the famed Bunny Club and Gussies Records— still stand as a testament to his craftsmanship and building expertise.

Many view Sunday’s focus on Belmont-Devilliers as a testament to his love of Pensacola, not to mention his self-determination.

“If he needed it, he produced. If he wanted milk, he’d get a cow. He didn’t have to ask anyone for anything. He had his own money,” said Perkins.

In his 1907 book “The Negro in Business,” Booker T. Washington described Pensacola—a city whose population was majority black—as “a typical negro business community” having a “healthy communal progressive spirit, so necessary to our people.”

Washington took time to note a few prominent Pensacolans: “The wealthiest colored man in that section of the state is John Sunday…He owns valuable holdings in the principal business streets of the city and employs steadily a force of men to repair old, and build new, houses.”

Besides the “force of men” he employed, Sunday trained his children in the building trade. “He used all of his children,” said Perkins. “Several followed him in the family trade.”

When Washington wrote his study of Pensacola, Sunday was reportedly worth $125,000, the modern equivalent of over 3 million dollars, an incredible sum for a man born into slavery.

Sunday died in 1925. He is buried in St. Michael Cemetery. Still, rising from slavery to such prominence, despite incredible obstacles, puts him in a very unique category of local historical figures.

his home are called into question as the house at 302 West Romana is under threat of demolition.

“On the part of the developer, it’s in their best interest to minimize the significance of the house as much as they can,” said Ellis.

Ellis is the president of the John Sunday Society. “They say that we’re not even sure if John Sunday lived there… But when I see ‘John Sunday, Creole, 302 West Romana' [in historic city directories], that’s all I need to see that this was his house,” said Ellis.

“Enslaved people built the shacks and plantation mansions too,” said Broughton. “But the story of a home is always centered around who lived there and not who built it. But we know Sunday built and lived in this house.”

Perkins goes further: “When they refer to this house as ‘302 West Romana,’ I tell them: ‘This is John Sunday’s House.’ I put a face to the property.”

“This house is significant, because this is the house that John Sunday built for him and his family,” said Perkins. “It stood the test of time. He put his heart and soul into this house.”

“My grandma was raised in that house,” said Perkins. “Part of my mother’s childhood was in that house. This is personal.

It’s lineage.”

The John Sunday Society formed in response to the threat of demolition with one sole mission: “Our mission is to save the

“That’s where St. Joseph church is today. You can’t tell the story of St. Joseph church without telling the story of John Sunday.” Pearl Perkins

house and preserve it in its place,” said Ellis.

While admitting the house has deteriorated over the years, Ellis claims the demolition is extreme.

“I guarantee you, if someone marketed a home in North Hill for demolition, specifically in the property description…there would be a riot,” said Ellis.

Ellis then answers the question his critics ask: “If this house is so important, then why are people all of a sudden trying to save it? Well, the reality is that no one really perceived that it was in danger until recently.”

Ellis believes that the reason the house is under threat of demolition is because “people were just not aware of the home’s tie to John Sunday.”

“It seems like a huge wasted opportunity. If you marketed it as the ‘John Sunday Home,’ someone would be interested in restoring it instead of marketing it for demolition.”

Pensacola’s identity is deeply rooted in its history, but the city’s African American history has long been neglected by the broader community. “As of now, the African American narrative [in Pensacola] is severely marginalized, ignored or erased altogether, which is odd for a city that was largely of African descent for most of its history,” said Broughton.

Besides her work with the John Sunday Society, Broughton is currently working with an Atlanta-based company to develop

the John Sunday Legacy Trail, which “tells Pensacola history through physical sites associated with John Sunday. There’s a lot of outside interest about Sunday.”

The same Atlanta company “just completed a W.E.B. Dubois Legacy trail, so I’m excited to add Sunday next to some of the biggest names in history,” said Broughton.

“We need more uplifting stories about those who overcame oppression than those who were facilitators of other folks’ sorrow,” said Broughton.

“By preserving [Sunday’s] history, we can help convince people of the possibilities available to even those faced with tremendous obstacles,” said Clavin. “His home is not just a symbol of Pensacola's African American heritage; it is a testament to the American dream.”

For Sunday’s great-great-granddaughter, the connection is more personal. “The house is over a hundred years old,” said Perkins. “It’s been through hurricanes, floods and tornadoes; but to tear it down to build condominiums?”

Perkins’ frustration was evident in her voice, but so was her determination to save her great-great-grandfather’s home.

“I think people need to know what John Sunday did for Pensacola, and I just want people to see this house for what it’s worth.

This house can be worked with. This house can be saved.” {in}

“If you marketed it as the ‘John Sunday Home,’ someone would be interested in restoring it instead of marketing it for demolition.” John Ellis

“A testament to the American Dream”

“Everyone knows the saying about being doomed to repeat history if we don't learn it— but in some cases, I think we would be fortunate to repeat our history” said Clavin. “There's a lot of inspiration to be gained from studying a man like John Sunday.”

Nonetheless, few Pensacolans appear to be familiar with his story. In the early 20th Century, Sunday’s presence was ubiquitous. One hundred years later, his legacy and the significance of 414 1

Current view of Belmont-Devilliers area / Photo by Richard Humphreys inweekly.net

WEEK OF MAY 12-19

Arts & Entertainment art, film, music, stage, books and other signs of civilization...

The Evolution of PRECUBED

by Shelby Smithey

When he’s not playing himself, Finlay tries Finlay said that the major outline of the to catch as many local shows as possible in his music is usually created by him, but the spare time. songs are always open for additional input “Music has always been important to me from other members. ever since I was a little kid,” Finlay said. “I have “It really is whatever comes to creation always loved it and wanted to be a part of it. at the time,” Finlay said. “The writing proI am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by it. cess can change; it just depends on what The art of music is a huge central point of comes to mind.” my life, and I love sharing it with anyone who Finlay said that instrumental music was holds the same passion.” a natural fit for his solo project, and his songs reflect his love of sound.

“I have never been skilled at writing lyrics, so playing instrumental music has never been an issue for me,” Finlay said. “I feel like some of the main parts of my songs act like a vocal melody, and the music itself can move the audience in different ways.”

Finlay said that his music is inspired by many different bands, genres and experiences and listeners can hear hints of “PRECUBED” was recorded and mixed by electronic, post-rock, metal, jazz and pop.

Echevarria and mastered by Bill Roberts and “It is open for a lot of different interpretawill be released on cassette. The new EP can tion,” he said. also be listened to and purchased online on Finlay said that different experiences Bandcamp. can influence the feel of the song he is try“I'm waiting for the tapes to be duplicated ing to portray. at the moment,” Finlay said. “They should be “For example, I recently had the pleaavailable next month. Folks are really getting sure to visit the Blue Ridge Mountains in back into them. I worked at Revolver Records Asheville, N.C.,” he said. “The sights and on Record Store Day and they were selling like adrenaline of hiking all the way to the top of hot cakes.” a mountain was one of the most beautiful As far as preferring recording or playing times I have ever experienced. The song live, Finlay said that he enjoys both equally.

‘Triple Falls’ on the new EP is inspired by “Recording is great, because there is no seeing the titled landmark in Asheville.” limit to the creative process, but at the same Finlay said that the song 'Chicago' was time I love the feeling of really locking into written after two failed attempts to fly to a song with the rest of the members and havthe city. ing a positive reaction from the audience,” he “It kind of goes back to what I am listening said. “I love experimenting in the studio with to and what is inspiring me at the moment,” big sounds then stripping it down for the live Finlay said. “If I have chords or a melody in show. I always enjoy looking out and seeing mind, I will mess around with my synths, the crowd really get into the music.” {in} guitars and pedals until I come up with something that sticks. Sometimes I try to emulate sounds from records that I listen to.”

A multi-instrumentalist, Finlay plays drums/percussion, guitar, WHAT: PRECUBED with CHEW and Luckily I’m bass, keyboards and synthesizThe Hunter ers and even his day job revolves WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 13 around music.

WHERE: Sluggo’s, 101 S. Jefferson St. “My everyday job is conCOST: $7 structing aluminum-neck guitars DETAILS: precubed.bandcamp.com at Electric Guitar Company for musicians all over the world,” Finlay said.

“The art of music is a huge central point of my life, and I love sharing it with anyone who holds the same passion.” Aaron Finlay

Aaron Finlay / Courtesy Photo With a brand new self-titled EP out and an upcoming show at Sluggo’s, local musician Aaron Finlay has been plenty busy with his solo project PRECUBED. Finlay has played in different bands over the years but in 2009 started recording songs and ideas at home on a digital 8-Track.

Years later, the tracks came to life after recruiting some help from a few friends.

The resulting project is an instrumental post-rock miscellany of experimental sounds and trance-like melodies that are both unique and almost certainly pleasing to many ears.

“In 2014 I asked some of my best friends and favorite musicians to help me perform some of the songs live,” Finlay said. “The current live lineup is Brad Frick, Tobi Echevarria, David Doelker, Joe Rawley and myself.”

The band’s had a few line-up changes, with previous live members including May 12, 2016

Damien Louviere, Sean Peterson, Kyle Staples, and Brandon Warren.

Following up “Voices” released in 2014, the new four-song EP consists of two new songs as well as two songs the band has been playing live. Ultimately, he tries to write music that many different people can relate to and enjoy.

“Every track on the new EP is completely different,” Finlay said. “It's a nice mix of mellow and upbeat tunes. I've been getting into a lot of string music, and I think it shows with this EP. I'm very pleased with the end result.”

Finlay said that he records parts and riffs on his phone then re-record them at Echevarria’s studio.

“The writing process changes all the time,” he said. “I usually start off laying down a beat to build on and it goes from there. I feel like some of the main parts act like a vocal melody.”

PRECUBED

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a&e

by Shelby Smithey

The Hundred Years Tour

Jenn and Ryan Eaton / Courtesy Photo Fitting 100 years of U.S. history into one life-changing trip may seem daunting to some, but to Pensacola newlyweds Jenn and Ryan Eaton, it’s a dream come to life stemming from a love of National Parks, a sense of adventure and a desire to live simply.

Jenn, 25, and Ryan, 33, have decided to pack up their belongings (what little will fit in their car, that is) and embark on a multi-year journey to visit all 411 U.S. National Parks. In honor of the National Park Service’s 100th year anniversary, Ryan and Jenn have named their journey The Hundred Years Tour.

The National Park Service (NPS) oversees 59 national parks—and 352 additional sites that include Civil War battlefields, monuments and historic houses.

“I initially had this idea after I fell in love with the National Park Service on a trip with the UWF History Department,” Jenn said. “I had discovered this entity that was doing so much to preserve nature and history, and offer thought-provoking interpretation of it all. When I found out the 100th birthday of the NPS was in 2016, I decided that was the year I would shoot for to embark on my trip.”

Jenn said that when she met Ryan, he actually treated her dream as if it were going to happen. Ryan proposed to Jenn at Naval Live Oaks, which is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and the couple married in October 2015. Almost a year later, they find themselves preparing for this epic journey together.

“I began to see this crazy dream of mine as a reality,” she said. “It’s actually 616 1

pretty difficult to separate our decision to embark on the tour from our decision to face life together. This was the plan from the onset of our relationship. But we think it’s an important project, and we want to use it to better the public’s relationship with the NPS and improve ourselves along the way.”

Not the first to undertake the mission, the National Park Travelers Club, founded in 2004, made official an informal network of park enthusiasts that had been swapping tips and stories for years. Since then, its membership has swelled to around 1,500 dues- paying members. The club also holds an annual convention (near a national park site, of course) and publishes a newsletter.

Jenn said that she anticipates the trip taking between two to three years. The couple has held multiple yard sales, donated clothing and household items to local charities, sold their books online, and are currently both working full time jobs—Jenn at Blues Angel Music and Ryan at Nom Sushi Izakaya—in order to prepare.

They even used their wedding registry to ask for items they will need on their trip. Their final step is to sell Jenn’s car and Ryan’s motorcycle. While final details are still being planned, Ryan and Jenn have decided to take on the sites in their home state first, kicking off The Hundred Years Tour at Fort Pickens. From there

they will be heading to the Dry Tortugas, the southernmost National Park site.

“We have a basic plan for how we think is the best and most comfortable way to see all 411 sites over the next couple of years,” Ryan said. “The further out in that plan, the foggier the details get. We’re trying to follow the seasons, so we’re in a location during the time of year when it is most ideal for camping and outdoor activities.”

Ryan said that he is really excited to see the 59 national parks, specifically the giant trees in Sequoia, and that Jenn is excited for the Dry Tortugas, and also really looking forward to the sites in the Northwest.

“We do realize that life happens: financial emergencies arise, family matters can call us home, or perhaps a certain site really captures us and we decide to stay there longer than anticipated,” Jenn said. “This isn’t just a road trip; we’re approaching this as a lifestyle change.

There is no deadline. We just have a goal, and we’re going to try to achieve it.”

During the first leg of the trip Ryan and Jenn will hit all the parks in Florida, initially heading to the Dry Tortugas in Key West. Then they will wind their way diagonally across the country to the Northwest, through Texas and Colorado, etc.

Jenn and Ryan are currently searching for an alternative vehicle or a local or

“We want to live more simply, focusing more on each other and on the things we need instead of empty entertainment and distractions.” Jenn Eaton

national vehicle sponsor due to their 2001 Volvo station wagon having problems within weeks of purchasing.

“Right now the biggest challenge is our car, which is not only our transportation, but also our lodging,” Jenn said. “The car had to be towed recently to a garage, and the repairs amount to a price that would not be financially responsible for us to take on.”

Once transportation is taken care of, the second biggest challenge the Eatons face is the major lifestyle change they will be undertaking.

“The switch from the financial safety of two full-time jobs to nothing but savings and whatever we can earn through freelance work is rather intimidating, but we are looking forward to it,” Jenn said. “We have to radically alter our spending habits and learn to fit within a budget suitable for what we earn and what we are trying to accomplish.”

Nonetheless daunting, Jenn said that she and Ryan are welcoming the challenge of downsizing their life and living more simply.

“In that same vein, we have to fit our whole lives in our car,” Ryan said. “There is no room to over pack, which is hard when you just have a bunch of stuff, and are trying to be prepared for pretty much everything. We are looking forward to not only literally traveling light, but also adopting that as our mindset as we embark on this new chapter together.”

When asked what she and Ryan hope to gain through The Hundred Years Tour, Jenn said that the answer falls into two camps: the impact the tour will have on them and the impact they hope it has on others.

“We want to live a freer lifestyle, in which we can have experiences while we’re young, instead of waiting until a time others would deem more ideal, hoping we have the resources and physical abilities to do so then,” she said. “We want to live more simply, focusing more on each other and on the things we need instead of empty entertainment and distractions. We hope that our lifestyle change will inspire others to make their own changes, or at the least to appreciate the lands and history NPS works so hard to protect.”

Although park visitation numbers are up, there is an age trend of the older generation predominantly hitting all these park sites.

“Naturally, those who have retired have ample time to do all this,” Ryan said. “We hope to garner the attention of a younger generation, get them interested in what the NPS has to offer, and show them that you don’t have to finish your career and buy an RV to see all this awesome stuff.” {in} Follow The Hundred Years Tour: Website: Thehundredyearstour.com Facebook: Facebook.com/thehundredyearstour Instagram: @thehundredyearstour inweekly.net

calendar THURSDAY 5.12

WORK ON FLORIDA TRAIL 8 a.m. Regular meet up of Western Gate Florida Trail Association to work on National Scenic Trail and side trail.

Meet at Blackwater River State Park. To sign up to help meetup.com/ftawesterngate. Blackwater River State Park, 7720 Deaton Bridge Road.

BACH'S LUNCH 12 p.m. Featuring Pensacola State College Jazz Band. Free. Pensacola State College, 1000 College Blvd. pensacolastate.edu WINE TASTING AT AWM 5 p.m. Try something new every week at Aragon Wine Market’s regular wine tasting, only a few blocks from downtown. Aragon Wine Market, 27 S. 9th Ave. aragonwinemarket.com CELEBRATING OLD FLORIDA 5:30 p.m. $65 per person. The Fish House partners with Nick Nistico and Breakthru Beverage to present a handcrafted cocktail and food event. Fish House, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola.com.

ST. CHRISTOPHER'S CONCERTS 6-8 p.m. Bay Bridge Band. Free. St. Christopher's Church, 3200 N. 12th Ave. B4 6-8 p.m. Beer, bourbon, barbecue and bluegrass—those are the 4 b’s Seville Quarter is celebrating with this event. $35. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. THE SWORD 7 p.m. $18. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. vinylmusicahall.com

FRIDAY 5.13

WINE TASTING 5-7 p.m. Out and about in East

Hill on Friday night? Stop by City Grocery for their free weekly wine tasting before settling in or heading out for the night. City Grocery, 2050 N. 12th Ave.

COUPLES COOKING: ROMANCING THE FLAVORS OF SPRING 7 p.m. $50 per couple.

Pensacola Cooks Kitchen, 3670 Barrancas Ave. cookingschoolsofamerica.com/pensacolacooks DATE NIGHT DANCING 7:15-8:15 p.m. Learn the basics of several romantic ballroom and

country dance styles in a unique group class that keeps partners together. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $10. dancecraftfl.com I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

7:30 p.m. $10-$17. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre.com LIFE, LOVE, LAUGHTER 7:30 p.m. Panhandle Community Theatre, 4646 Woodbine Rd., Pace. panhandlecommunitytheatre.com GRAND PRIX OF WATERCROSS PRE-PIT PARTY

8 p.m. Casino Beach Bar and Grille, 41 Fort Pickens Rd. casinobeachbar.com 2016 BALLERS BALL 8 p.m. New World Landing, 600 S. Palafox. facebook.com/PensacolaBallersBall COWBOY MOUTH 8 p.m. $20. Vinyl Music Hall, 2 S. Palafox. vinylmusichall.com CHEW 9:30 p.m. With PRECUBED and Luckily I'm The Hunter, Sluggo's, 101 Jefferson St. facebook.com/sluggospensacola

SATURDAY 5.14

GRAND PRIX OF WATERCROSS 6:45 a.m.- until.

Pit party at 8 p.m. Casino Beach Bar and Grille, 41 Fort Pickens Rd. casinobeachbar.com PENSACOLA BEACH TRIATHLON 7 a.m. Gulfside Pavilion, Pensacola Beach. multisport.com SANTA ROSA FARMERS MARKET 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

Fresh local produce, honey, baked goods and live music. Pace Presbyterian Church, Woodbine Road, Pace.

BIG WAVE CLASSIC 8 a.m.-7 p.m. $5 parking fee.

Youth soccer tournament. Ashton Brosnaham Park, 10370 Ashton Brosnaham Dr. SCENIC HIGHWAY CLEANUP 8:45-10 a.m. All supplies are provided. Choose between two locations: Bay Bluffs Park on Scenic Highway and Summit Boulevard or Chimney Park at Scenic Highway and Langley Avenue. For more information, contact oceanhourfl@gmail.com or baybluffscleanup@gmail.com.

PALAFOX MARKET 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Fresh produce, live plants, baked goods, fine art and antiques are just a few of the items offered

at the weekly Palafox Market. Items originate directly from participating vendors, including dozens of local farmers, home gardeners and area artists. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, N. Palafox. palafoxmarket.com LIONFISH REMOVAL AND AWARENESS DAY

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Chef demonstrations, activities for kids and conservation education. reefrangers.com DEMO DAY AT SO GOURMET 11 a.m.-3 p.m. So Gourmet, 407-D S. Palafox. sogourmetpensacola.com KOREAN BARBEQUE WITH RUSS CRANDALL 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. $35 per person. So

Gourmet, 407-D S. Palafox. sogourmetpensacola.com 6TH ANNUAL CORNHOLE CLASSIC 12 p.m. $15 admission. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. MURDER MYSTERY AT THE MUSEUM 6-10 p.m. $60 per person. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum.org BLUE WAHOOS VS. MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 6:30 p.m. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 Cedar St. Tickets are $6.97 and up. bluewahoos.com IMPROBABLE CAUSE MYSTERY THEATRE 7:30 p.m. $25-$35. Village Inn, 5170 N. 9th Ave. improbablemystery.com LIFE, LOVE, LAUGHTER 7:30 p.m. Panhandle Community Theatre, 4646 Woodbine Rd., Pace. panhandlecommunitytheatre.com I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

7:30 p.m. $10-$17. Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre. com

GULF BREEZE HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA PRESENTS BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 7:30 p.m.

$10-$38. Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox. pensacolasaenger.com

BUSTOUT BURLESQUE'S BAD GIRLS OF BURLESQUE 8 p.m. $15-$60. Vinyl Music Hall, 2

S. Palafox. vinylmusichall.com

KID DEAD, JOHNNY PANIC, UNDISCOVER, JAKEWALK, STEVE STRONG, COOKIES AND CAKE 9:30 p.m. $5-$10. Sluggo's, 101 Jeffer-

son St. facebook.com/sluggospensacola

SUNDAY 5.15

GRAND PRIX OF WATERCROSS 6:45 a.m.-

until. Pit party at 8 p.m. Casino Beach Bar and Grille, 41 Fort Pickens Rd. casinobeachbar.com

LIONFISH REMOVAL AND AWARENESS DAY

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Chef demonstrations, activities for kids and conservation education. reefrangers.com GULF BREEZE HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA PRESENTS BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 2:30 p.m.

$10-$38. Saenger Theatre, 118 S. Palafox. pensacolasaenger.com

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE 2:30 p.m. $10-$17. Pensacola

Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St. pensacolalittletheatre.com LIFE, LOVE, LAUGHTER 2:30 p.m. Panhandle Community Theatre, 4646 Woodbine Rd., Pace. panhandlecommunitytheatre.com BLUE WAHOOS VS. MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 4 p.m. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 Cedar St. Tickets are $6.97 and up. bluewahoos.com The Sword / Photo by Sandy Carson May 12, 2016

17

calendar MONDAY 5.16

SEVILLE QUARTER MILERS 5:30 p.m. Run-

ners meet in front of Seville Quarter for a run around downtown Pensacola. Free pasta and drink specials after the run at Fast Eddie's.

Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com DANCE LESSONS 6:30 p.m. Swing, Country, and Ballroom. Professional partner dance instruction for all skill levels. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $10. dancecraftfl.com BLUE WAHOOS VS. MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 6:30 p.m. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 Cedar St. Tickets are $6.97 and up. bluewahoos.com A MOVIE UNDER THE STARS 7 p.m. Join Innisfree for a screening of the film “Julie and Julia” in their community garden. $35 plus fees, includes all you can eat and drink concessions.

From the Ground Up Community Garden, 711 N. Hayne St. innisfreehotels.com

TUESDAY 5.17

FREE CONCERT: GOLDIE LAHR 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Bayview Senior Center, 2000 E. Lloyd St. playpensacola.com BLUE ANGELS PRACTICE 11:30 a.m. National Aviation Museum, 1750 Radford Blvd. blueangels.navy.mil

QUICK AND EASY SUMMER FARE WITH CHEF ALYN 6:30-8:30 p.m. $50 per person. So

Gourmet, 407-D S. Palafox. sogourmetpensacola.com BLUE WAHOOS VS. MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 6:30

p.m. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 Cedar St. Tickets are $6.97 and up. bluewahoos.com STRUT YOUR MUTT 6:45 p.m. Join fellow dog walkers for a 45-minute stroll in East Hill. Dogs must be leashed and well-behaved. Walkers meet at entrance to Bayview Dog Park at 20th Ave and E. Lloyd St. BANDS ON THE BEACH 7-9 p.m. Mr. Big & The Rhythm Sisters. Gulfside Pavilion, Pensacola Beach. visitpensacolabeach.com PONY TIME, FLOSSIE AND THE FOX 9:30 p.m.

Sluggo's, 101 S. Jefferson St. facebook.com/ sluggospensacola

WEDNESDAY 5.18

DEMO DAY AT SO GOURMET 11 a.m.-3 p.m. So

Gourmet, 407-D S. Palafox. sogourmetpensacola.com BLUE ANGELS PRACTICE 11:30 a.m. National Aviation Museum, 1750 Radford Blvd. blueangels.navy.mil DANCE LESSONS 6:30 p.m. West Coast Swing. Professional partner dance instruction for all skill levels. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $10. dancecraftfl.com BLUE WAHOOS VS. MISSISSIPPI BRAVES 6:30 p.m. Blue Wahoos Stadium, 351 Cedar St. Tickets are $6.97 and up. bluewahoos.com DANCE PARTY 8-10 p.m. A mix of swing, country, and ballroom music for partner dancing on the best wood dance floor in the area. DanceCraft, 8618 Pensacola Blvd. $10. dancecraftfl.com

Lightpainting by Stephen Knapp/ courtesy photo

arts & culture

≥Exhibits

ART STUDY CLUB MEMBERS SPRING SHOW 1-3 p.m. May

8. Juried show of member artists. On view through June 5. The Wright Place, 80 E. Wright St.

FIRST CITY ART SHOW Juried show

of Pensacolaarea artists. On view through June 4. Quayside Art Gallery, 15-17 E. Zarragosa. quaysidegallery.com TAKE ME HOME

Juried work by Paula Work. On view through May 27.

Artel Gallery, 223 S. Palafox. artelgallery.org

Chew / Photo by Nick Bach

ANIMATED SHARDS

On view through

May 27. Latest portraits, sculpture, including a whimsical water fountain

by Gila Rayberg.

Artel Gallery, 223 S. Palafox. artelgallery.org

(Photography). On view through May 28. Blue Morning Gallery, 21 S. Palafox. bluemorninggallery. com

On view through May 27. Mixed media paintings by Pat Page. On view through May 27.

Artel Gallery, 223 S. Palafox. artelgallery. org

Various media and artists explore the difference between portraits and self portraits. On view through July 16. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum.org

OLD PENSACOLA LOST (AND FOUND)

SHAPE, FORM AND COLOR Exhibit

showcases a wide variety of subject matter with extraordinary personal perspectives from Tammy Caspersen (Pottery), Tom Smith (Acrylic) and Suzanne Tuzzeo

THE ARTIST REVEALED: ARTIST PORTRAITS AND SELF PORTRAITS

STEPHEN KNAPP: LIGHT PAINTINGS

Sculptural works created entirely of light and glass by artist Stephen Knapp. On view through August 27.

Pensacola Museum

of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum.org BEFORE I DIE Installation created by University of West Florida students based on the work of New Orleans artist, Candy Chang. On view through May 20.

Voices of Pensacola, 117 E. Government St. TSCHACBASOV: INNER VISIONS

Selection of etchings from Russian-born Nahum Tschacbaso.

On view through June 4. Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. pensacolamuseum.org

≥Call For Art

"I WONDER" EXHIBIT AT ARTEL GALLERY

Artel Gallery is currently accepting

—Creative Organic Vegan Cuisine, Coffee & Catering—

Now Featuring: Cooking Classes Once A Month | Menu changes weekly — Plus Daily Specials Sunday Brunch with champagne specials —Thursday ­­ 3 Course Gourmet Dinner

610 E. Wright St. | 429-0336 | eotlcafe.com 818 1

inweekly.net

calendar submissions for an upcoming show, "I Wonder." The works can be any medium and should consider future technology, fashion, architecture, food, transportation, lifestyle etc. Where will we go and how will we get there? What will we and all that surrounds us look like? What will life be like? The show will be judged by guest juror Victoria Boone. Drop off work May 28 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and May 29 1 to 4 p.m.

The show will run from May 31 to July 8. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members.

For more information, visit artelgallery.org.

THE WIDE ANGLE PHOTO CLUB OF PENSACOLA

The Wide Angle Photo Club of Pensacola sponsors the 23rd Annual Power of Photography Show and exhibit, which benefits ARC Gateway in Pensacola. The POP Show highlights the best in photography for the Panhandle.

We anticipate over 1,000 entries from approximately 100 artists from Florida and other states.

Ribbons, photography gear and money will be given to the best in numerous photo categories.

Artists can begin to submit their work May 2. Details about how to enter photographs into the show can be found on our web site at wideandlephotoclub. org. Award-winning images are available for viewing Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday.

If you have any questions about the Power of PhotograMay 12, 2016

phy Show or about the Wide Angle Photography Club email info@wideanglephotoclub.org.

GREAT GULFCOAST ARTS FESTIVAL

Artist applications are now open for the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, to be held November 4, 5 & 6, 2016 in Seville Square, in historic downtown Pensacola. Cash prizes totaling $25,000 will be awarded.

Jury fee is $40. The deadline for entry is May 31.Artists can apply at: ggaf. org/apply. For more information, visit ggaf.org.

WATERBOYZ ART SHOW

Artists of all mediums are invited to decorate a blank skate deck for the Waterboyz Art Show and Silent Auction on May 21. All entries are eligible for silent auction. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit First Ride Foundation. Cost is $15-$20. For more information, visit waterboyz.com.

GRANT FOR EMERGING ARTISTS

The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, in partnership with Artel Gallery, is offering a new grant for emerging artists.

As the inaugural event, this will be available to Escambia/Santa Rosa County full-time residents. We are looking for artists that have been practicing their craft for a minimum of two years and a maximum of five. The grant waives all GGAF entry fees ($40 jurying fee, $300 booth fee). Please contact Suzanne at hatchingartists@ gmail.com for more information.

≥Fundraisers

70 FOR $70 AT QUAYSIDE ART GALLERY

Quayside Art Gallery's 143-year-old building needs major repairs. To raise funds to cover this, artists are donating their art for sale with 100 percent of proceeds going to repair the historic building. These will all be new pieces — jewelry, pottery, paintings — ranging from traditional to modern conceptual works, photography and woodwork, all for sale at $70 each.

Don't miss this opportunity to buy valuable original art at an unbelievable low price and, at the same time, help preserve a bit of Pensacola history.

Visit the gallery at 15-17 E. Zarragosa St. quaysidegallery.com

≥Workshops & Classes

GLASS ON GLASS MOSAIC WORKSHOP 1-4 p.m. May

15 &22. $150. Learn the steps of nipping, slicing, gluing and grouting colorful glass on glass. Tools provided. For more information, call 429-1222 or visit FirstCityArt.org.

THE ARTISTIC AFFAIR A series of

mini-workshops that will be held the first and third Wednesday of each month.

May 18, Highly Textured Fiber Painting and June 1, Heavy Layered Painting on Cardboard. Cost is $40. For more information, contact 429-1222 or visit firstcityart.org.

POTTERY ON THE WHEEL Six-week

workshops are held Tuesdays from 6-9 p.m., Wednesdays from 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Thursdays from 6-9 p.m. and Saturdays

from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at First City Art Center, 1060 Guillemard St. Cost is $157.25 for members and $185 for non members.

For more information, visit firstcityart.org.

INTRODUCTION TO POTTERY ON THE WHEEL Every

Monday from 6-8:30 p.m. at First City Art Center. Classes are $40. For more information, visit firstcityart.org.

CLAY HAND BUILDING Six-week

workshops are held Tuesdays from 6-9 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at First City Art Center. Cost is $157.25 for members and $185 for non members. For more information, visit firstcityart.org.

CLAY SCULPTURE

Six-week workshops held Saturdays from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at First City Art Center.

Cost is $157.25 for members and $185 for non members.

For more information, visit firstcityart.org.

BELLY DANCING

Eight-week beginner and advanced classes on Tuesday nights. For beginner, intermediate and advanced students.

Classes held at First City Art Center, 1060 N. Guillemard St For more information and to sign up for a class visit pensacolabellydance.com LIFE DRAWING. Artists of any skill level are welcome draw life figures. 6-9 p.m. Monday nights.

Cost is $5-$10 a person. Contact phayes@ihmc.us if interested. First City Art Center, 1060 N. Guillemard St. The group is always looking for new models, contact Pat at the email address above if interested.

Bars and Nightlife

≥Bar Games

Thursdays POKER p.m. The Ticket 1, 7250 Plantation Rd., ticketsportsbar.com POOL TOURNAMENT 8 p.m. The

Ticket 2, 2115 W. 9 Mile Rd., ticketsportsbar.com

COLLEGE NIGHT 10 p.m. Drink specials, beer pong tournament starts at 10 p.m. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com.

Fridays WINE TASTING 5-7 p.m. Informative wine tasting in Seville Quarter Wine and Gift Shop. No charge for the tasting. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter. com DRAG BINGO 6-8 p.m. Ages 21 and over. Emerald City’s The Other Side, 406 E. Wright St. emeraldcitypensacola.com POOL TOURNAMENT 8 p.m. The

Ticket 1, 7250 Plantation Rd., ticketsportsbar.com Saturdays

MEMBERSHIP APPRECIATION NIGHT 8 p.m. Seville

Quarter Membership Card Holder Appreciation Night at Phineas Phogg's.

130 E. Government St., sevillequarter. com Sundays BAR AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEE (B.A.R.E. NIGHT) 7

p.m. Special prices for B.A.R.E. Card membership holders. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., sevillequarter. com Mondays TEXAS HOLD ‘EM FOR FUN AND TRIVIA 7 p.m. The

Sandshaker Lounge,

731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com TRIVIA NIGHT 7-9 p.m. World of Beer, 200 S. Palafox. wobusa.com/locations/Palafox BAR BINGO 8 p.m.

Apple Annie’s at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com MONDAY NIGHT TRIVIA 9:30-10:30

p.m. Mugs and Jugs, 12080 Scenic Highway. facebook.com/ MugsJugs Tuesdays TUESDAY TRIVIA 8 p.m. The Bridge Bar and Sunset Lounge, 33 Gulf Breeze Parkway. facebook. com/thebridgebargb TICKET TEAM TRIVIA 8 p.m. The Ticket

1, 7250 Plantation Rd., ticketsportsbar. com POKER 8 p.m. The Ticket 2, 2115 W. 9 Mile Rd., ticketsportsbar.com TEAM TRIVIA 9 p.m.

Hopjacks. 10 S. Palafox. hopjacks. com Wednesdays WINE DOWN WEDNESDAYS 11

a.m. Half- priced bottles of wine every Wednesday. Jackson's Steakhouse, 226 S. Palafox. jacksonsrestaurant.com

LADIES NIGHT ON THE DECK 5 p.m. $2

drinks and music.

The Deck Bar, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola. com

PUB TRIVIA NIGHT

7-9:30 p.m. Goat Lips Beer Garden, 2811 Copter Road. facebook.com/ goatlipsdeli RECORD NIGHT 8 p.m. Bring a record in and get $1 your first drink. Sluggo's, 101 S. Jefferson St. facebook.com/sluggospensacola WEDNESDAY QUIZ TRIVIA 8 p.m. The

Cabaret, 101 S. Jef19

calendar ferson St. cabaretpensacola.com

TICKET BAR BINGO

8 p.m. The Ticket 1, 7250 Plantation Rd., ticketsportsbar.com BAR BINGO 10 p.m.

Play, 16 S. Palafox, Suite 200. iplaypensacola.com

≥Karaoke

Thursdays Lili Marlene’s at Seville Quarter, 8 p.m.

130 E. Government St. sevillequarter. com Saturdays Krazy George 9 p.m. Hub Stacey's 312 E. Government St. hubstaceys.com Sundays The Sandshaker Lounge, 9 p.m. 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker. com Mondays The Cabaret, 9 p.m.

101 S. Jefferson St. 607-2020 or caba-

retpensacola.com Tuesdays Sandshaker Lounge, 8 p.m. 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com Play, 9 p.m. 16 S. Palafox, Suite 200. iplaypensacola.com

≥Live Music

THURSDAY 5.12 HOT RODS IN PARADISE 3 p.m.

Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com AL MARTIN 6 p.m.

The Piano Bar, Quality Inn, 7601 Scenic Hwy. LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD 6 p.m. The

Deck, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola. com

VICTOR WAINWRIGHT & WILDROOTS W/ SPECIAL GUEST TOMATO 6

p.m. Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebargrill.com

BEER, BOURBON, BBQ & BLUEGRASS

6-8 p.m. End o' The Alley, Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com DISMAL CREEK 6 p.m. End o' The Alley courtyard, Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com MODERATE CHOP

6-10 p.m. Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com

MICHAEL WHEELER

7 p.m. Hub Stacey's 312 E. Government St. hubstaceys.com DUELING PIANOS

8 p.m. Rosie O' Grady's Dueling Piano Show. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St.,

sevillequarter.com LEE YANKIE BAND

8 p.m. Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com

ALEXA & THE RIPPERS 9 p.m.

End o' The Alley courtyard, Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com RICH MCDUFF 9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mcguiresirishpub.com sandshaker.com

FRIDAY 5.13

RICHARD MADDEN 12-4 p.m. Peg

LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD & MO JILES

5 p.m. The Deck, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola.com AL MARTIN 6-11 p.m. The Piano Bar, Quality Inn, 7601 Scenic Hwy. FRWY 98 6-10 p.m.

Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com MICHAEL WHEELER BAND 6 p.m. Para-

dise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com DUELING PIANOS

Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com

HOT RODS IN PARADISE 3 p.m. Paradise

Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebargrill.com

8 p.m. Rosie O' Grady's Dueling Piano Show. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., sevillequarter.com RICH MCDUFF 9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mc-

guiresirishpub.com

THE BLENDERS 8:30

p.m. Hub Stacey's 312 E. Government St. hubstaceys.com CLASS X 9 p.m.

Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com ALEXA & THE RIPPERS 9 p.m. End o'

The Alley. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com BAD HABITS 9 p.m.

Apple Annie's.

Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com MODERN ELDORADOS 9 p.m. Lili

Marlene's. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com

SATURDAY 5.14 MIKE MAGAZZINE

12-4 p.m. Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road,

Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com HOT RODS IN PARADISE 12 p.m.

Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com CURT & FRIENDS 3-7 p.m. Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com REUNION BAND 4 p.m. Hub Stacey's 312 E. Government St. hubstaceys.com AL MARTIN 6-11 p.m. The Piano Bar, Quality Inn, 7601 Scenic Hwy. PLANTIMUM PREMIER 6-10 p.m. Peg

Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com MO JILES 6 p.m.

The Deck, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola.com

PAXTON NORRIS AND MICHAEL WHEELER 6 p.m.

Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com

DUELING PIANOS

8 p.m. Rosie O' Grady's Dueling Piano Show. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St., sevillequarter.com RICH MCDUFF 9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mcguiresirishpub.com sandshaker.com CLASS X 9 p.m.

Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com MODERN ELDORADOS 9 p.m. Lili

Marlene's. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com LYON'S LIMOZINE 9 p.m. End o' the Al-

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inweekly.net

calendar ley. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter. com BAD HABITS 10 p.m. Apple Annie's.

Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com

SUNDAY 5.15

SEVILLE QUARTER JAZZ BRUNCH 11

a.m.-3 p.m. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com GREG LYON 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Hemingway's Island Grill, 400 Quietwater Beach Rd. MIKE MAGAZZINE

12-4 p.m. Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com CORPORATE AMERICA 3 p.m.

Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com THE LOST KEYS 3:30 p.m. Hub Stacey's 312 E. Government St. hubstaceys.com LEKTRIC MULLET

4-8 p.m. Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com CADILLAC ATTACK 6-10 p.m.

Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road,

May 12, 2016

Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com

BROOKS HUBBERT

9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mcguiresirishpub.com GREG LYON 9 p.m.

End o' The Alley.

Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com

MONDAY 5.16

MIKE VANN 6-10 p.m.

Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes.com JAZZ GUMBO 6 p.m.

Phineas Phogg's.

Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com MYSTERY MUSIC MONDAYS WITH PAXTON NORRIS 6

p.m. Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill.com

MONDAY NIGHT BLUES 8 p.m. Blues

Society of Northwest Florida presents and open jam at Lili Marlene's. Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com BROOKS HUBBERT

9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mcguiresirishpub.com

SCOOT AND JEREMY

10 p.m. End O' the Alley. Seville Quar-

ter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com

TUESDAY 5.17 ADAM HOLT 6-10

p.m. Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes. com

LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD 6 p.m. The

Deck, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola. com

CORPORATE AMERICA 3 p.m.

Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com

AN EVENING OF GREAT JAZZ 6:30-10

p.m. Lili Marlene's in Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter. com RICH MCDUFF 8 p.m.

McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mcguiresirishpub.com MIKE QUINN 9 p.m.

End O' The Alley Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com

WEDNESDAY 5.18

GREG LYON 4-8 p.m.

ter Beach Rd.

DAVID DUNN 6-10

p.m. Peg Leg Pete's, 1010 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach. peglegpetes. com

JOHN DEL TORO RICHARDSON 3 p.m.

Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach. paradisebar-grill. com

JORDAN RICHARDS 7:30 p.m.

Hub Stacey's 312 E. Government St. hubstaceys.com TYLER MAC BAND

8 p.m.- midnight Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd. sandshaker.com DUELING PIANO SHOW 8 p.m. Rosie

O' Grady's, Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com MIKE QUINN 8 p.m.

Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. sevillequarter.com RICH MCDUFF 9 p.m. McGuire's Irish Bar Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. mcguiresirishpub.com

LUCAS CRUTCHFIELD & DJ TONEY 9

p.m. The Deck, 600 S. Barracks St. fishhousepensacola. com

Hemingway's Island Grill, 400 Quietwa-

21

culture

by Jennifer Leigh

The Never-ending Story "Artistically, it’s all about dynamics," "Personally, I find the themes that McNeill said. "The interaction between musical explores to be universal," McNeill two people is more engaging than just one said. "I don’t think they are exclusive to alone. Even Tom Hanks needed a Wilson romantic relationships, either. It’s just as on the island." much about self-reflection and empowerThere is a lesson buried not too deep ment. RuPaul said it best — 'if you don’t beneath the jokes, the songs and the love yourself, how in the hell you gonna emotional moments. McNeill learned the love somebody else?'" lesson, not necesIn the past two sarily from the decades since it preshow, but from her miered, "I Love You" parents. has been interpreted "My parents over and over again. have been married It's a versatile show, for 40 years, and I which can be stripped don’t think there down to just actors has been a day sitting on a stage when they didn’t or developed into a make each other bigger production. laugh," she said.

PLT's version will be "There will be days on a smaller scale, we think the people inside the courtwe love are perfect, and we will spend other room of the Pensacola Cultural Center. The days trying to change them. Be thankful for space doesn't hinder the jokes or heartfelt it all, and don’t be afraid to laugh about it moments in the show, said Meg Baisden, along the way." production coordinator.

Whatever your current relationship "This production strikes a happy mestatus is, you'll relate to "I Love You" and be dium in terms of scale," she said. "I've been entertained. fortunate enough to see the off-Broadway "Wherever you find yourself on the production twice, and at its most ambitious, highway of love—'dating' on Tinder, getit is still a four- person cast with relatively ting hitched, raising children, rebuilding an simple costumes and staging. Luckily, the empty nest, surviving divorce, or making intimate nature of the space pairs beautithe best of your golden years—this is your fully with this show." story," McNeill said. "Let’s laugh, and maybe It's a whirlwind show, with a small number cry a little, together."" {in} of actors portraying about 40 different roles in various relationship stages, but Baisden said it's a seamless production.

"The thorough line of relationships at various stages—with all of their struggles and joys —ties WHEN: 7:30 p.m. May 13-14 & 19-21; 2:30 p.m. each scene neatly to the next," May 15 she said.

WHERE: Pensacola Cultural Center, 400 S. Love is often a theme in Jefferson St. the performing arts. This show COST: $10-$17 doesn't just tackle on relationship, DETAILS: pensacolalittletheatre.com but several.

“The interaction between two people is more engaging than just one alone. Even Tom Hanks needed a Wilson on the island.” Maureen McNeill

One of the longest-running musicals is centered on one of the most discussed topics since the beginning of time—love.

"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," first debuted off Broadway in 1996 and has since been revived in various different formats on stages across the globe.

And now, it's made it way to Pensacola Little Theatre (PLT).

Director Maureen McNeill has a history with the show. In 2004, she performed in the musical and has returned for a completely different role.

"Originally, I signed onto the project as the director’s mentor," she said. "Life happened, and I ended up having to take over the production at a very late stage ... a decade later, I’m getting the chance to

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bring a whole new slew of life experiences to the table."

"I Love You" is a series of vignettes that correlate with the central theme of love and relationships. McNeill said the fast-paced show caters to a millennial audience.

"It's structured like a musical revue," she explained. "They (audience) invest in these characters for a short while, but share in their brightest moments."

Since it was written more than 20 years ago, there had to be a few tweaks and updates to the show. McNeill said she added in the element of technology, which largely affects dating and relationships today, as well as a few modern-day references. But ultimately, the show is timeless, which can explain its long run.

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news of the weird GOOGLE SEES THE FUTURE Google filed a U.S. Patent Office application on April 28 for a vision-improvement device in liquid form that, once inserted (i.e., injected directly into the eyeball!), solidifies into not only a lens replacement for the eye but an instrument that carries its own storage, radio and wireless power supply. The idea, according to inventor Andrew Jason Conrad, is to better focus light onto the retina. (The patent process does not assure that the device will ever come to fruition, but it might indicate that Google's parent, Alphabet, is concerned that other inventors might be doing similar work.)

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT! Before new parents ruin their baby daughter's chances of future success by giving her "weak" names (such as Polly), they should consult one of several services that recommend more powerful ones (such as Elizabeth). A New York City woman offers personalized naming research for fees starting at several hundred dollars, but a Swiss agency whose primary work is helping to name product brands now offers parents suggestions on their offspring's "brand" (for corporate-like fees beginning at around $29,000). (Parents in South Korea and India traditionally seek baby-naming recommendations from priests, who review religious text, culture and astrology—in exchange for modest offerings.)

LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS (1) As China's real-estate construction boom fades, tempers have flared, and according to a local government officer in Hebei province, two companies' officials angling for a contract wildly dueled each other in their bulldozers in an incident captured on video. The losing driver was seen running from his toppled machine. (2) Italy's top appeals court ruled in April that a homeless man stealing cheese and sausage from a grocery story in Genoa, and who received a six-month jail term for it, was actually not guilty of criminal behavior at all.

The court set him free using a traditional Italian legal principle that no one is required to do the impossible—which, the court surmised, would be to allow himself to starve.

LEAST COMPETENT COPS Motorist Rebecca Musarra was stopped for speeding in October 2015 by state troopers in New Jersey, and dutifully handed over her license, insurance and registration, but declined to answer the troopers' "do you know why we stopped you" questions. Annoyed at her silence, troopers Matthew Stazzone and Demetric Gosa threatened several times, with increasing aggressiveness (according to dashboard video obtained

by NJ Advance Media), to arrest Musarra for "obstruction." Musarra pointed out that—as nearly every American knows—she has the right to remain silent. The troopers nonetheless arrested her (then recited, of course, her "right to remain silent"). After nearly two hours back at the station, a supervisor offered a weak

by Chuck Shepherd

apology and released her. Musarra, an attorney, unsurprisingly has filed a federal lawsuit.

CAVALCADE OF WEIRD ANIMALS The species Acanthonus armatus first showed up in waters near Vancouver, British Columbia, 10 years ago, generating ichthyological excitement—in that it is widely known as the assfish.

The Royal BC Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, put one on display in January with its bulbous head and flabby skin resembling a "glorified tadpole," said a museum curator, who declined to guess at the origin of the assfish name (bypassing a chance to link it to the fish's large mouth and tiny brain).

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CLICHES COME TO LIFE (1) The British broadcast censor Ofcom declined to punish a January edition of "The Jeremy Kyle Show" on which a guest used a "well-known swear word" —because the speaker has a Scottish accent and, Ofcom said, probably no more than two or three people thus comprehended what he was saying. (2) The body of Peter ("Petey Crack") Martinez, 28, who had a long rap sheet, washed up on a beach in Brooklyn, New York, on May 2—with his feet encased (up to his shins) in a bucket of hardened cement. It was the first time veteran New York detectives could ever recall seeing actual "cement shoes" (though they have, of course, been icons of true crime stories for decades).

CHUTZPAH! New York City police rounded up 39 people on April 26 suspected as part of a massive credit-card-scamming operation targeted at customers of high-end retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue—and whose members are affiliated with the rap-music group Pop Out Boyz, which makes reference to the scams in its songs. (One number, "For a Scammer," features the lyric, "you see it, you want it, you have it," while another voice repeatedly brags, "I'm cracking cards cause I'm a scammer." A New York Post report describes "cracking cards" as a scheme paying a bank customer a fee to accept a phony deposit into his account to be later withdrawn—but the scammer removes much more money than the phony deposit.)

A NEWS OF THE WEIRD CLASSIC (MARCH 2012) Louis Helmburg III filed a lawsuit in Huntington, West Virginia, in February (2012) against the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and its member Travis Hughes for injuries Helmburg suffered in May 2011 when he fell off a deck at the fraternity house. The reason he gave for falling was that he had been startled, and toppled backward off the rail-less deck, after Hughes attempted to fire a bottle rocket "out of his anus"—and the rocket, instead, exploded in place. (The lawsuit did not refer to Hughes' injuries.) {in}

From Universal Press Syndicate Chuck Shepherd’s News Of The Weird © 2015 Chuck Shepherd

Send your weird news to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla., 33679 or weirdnews@earthlink.net, or go to newsoftheweird.com May 12, 2016

23

Independent News | May 12, 2016 | inweekly.net