GOOD NEIGHBORS: CULTURE VULTURES
What’s In A Name? The admittedly weirdly monikered Stone Creek club the Culture Vultures is a cultural force to be reckoned with. Their enthusiasm for all things cultural has raised nearly $50,000 for the Ocala arts community—although the name may not make it past intermission.. BY RICK ALLEN PHOTOS BY STEVE FLOETHE
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hances are, if you’re not in tune with the Marion County arts scene, you may not have heard of the Culture Vultures. But look! There’s the name on the sponsor roll at the Reilly Arts Center. And there’s a bunch of them typically in attendance at any given show at the Ocala Civic Theatre, the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, the Orange Blossom Opry, or even the Hippodrome in Gainesville. Based at Stone Creek, the Culture Vultures—CV for short—is a group of residents with a love of the arts and a desire to see them thrive locally. Most are from somewhere else, typically a large-population area with a thriving arts scene. And just as typically, they tend to be surprised by the depth of cultural activities they find here. But not all who
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Back Row: CV Vice President Bev Wiggins and CV President Paul Benoit Front Row: CV Secretary Susan Benoit and CV Treasurer Gloria Salvaggio
retire to the upscale 55-plus community on Southwest 80th Avenue are aware of the arts world beyond. “A lot of our residents don’t know what’s outside the gates,” says Paul Benoit, current president of the club. “Our job is to inform them of what’s out there.” THE PRIME MISSION of the CV is twofold, Benoit explains. First is to promote these activities by attending cultural events ranging from architecture lectures and concerts at the Reilly to ballet and dinner theater at West Port High School. And second, to promote these activities by spreading the word to their neighbors and encouraging them to come along. “They attend more live shows and exhibits than most, if not all, native
OCALA’S GOOD LIFE retirement redefined
Ocalans,” notes Dave Schlenker, the former entertainment editor for the Ocala Star-Banner. “They are everywhere.” CV Vice President Bev Wiggins agrees. “There’s not a week goes by that we don’t go somewhere.” Along the way CV members have raised nearly $50,000 to support the arts in Marion County. A few years back they purchased a new Yamaha concert grand piano, a Horse Fever horse, a reflection garden, and new stage lights for the performance center at Stone Creek. Moreover, in their nearly ten years of existence, the Culture Vultures... Wait, let’s talk about that name. Vultures, really? “We eat up culture,” Rita Singer, founder of the group, told the StarBanner when asked the same question
