Emerald Coast Magazine April/May 2022 by Rowland Publishing, Inc.

Myron Hines

Civil rights champion pens righteous second novel

Country Jam

Lucille’s Kitchen & Music Hall Serves Warm Hospitality

Four-day festival fuels PC Beach’s Economy

High Fiber Nicole Hemmerly’s textile artistry yields tapestry of many textures

Your Dream Home Is Our Passssiion

ARCHITECT: CHRIST & ASSOCIATES | PHOTOGR APHY: CHRIS LUKER BUILDER: DAVIS DUNN CONSTRUCTION | INTERIOR DESIGNER: CINDY ME ADOR

THE PRIDE OF A MASTER CR AFTSMAN When old-world craft meets new-world technology, an unprecedented level of quality is birthed. At E. F. San Juan, the quality and long-term function of our woodwork are the keys to creating elements that will transform a house into your dream home.

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EMERALDCOASTMAGA EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM April–May April-May 2022 2022 2020

Commercial Banking, Lending & Real Estate Services Stephen Stabler President, Walton County

Capital City Bank proudly brings to Walton County more than 125 years of specialized lending that supports growing businesses. Stephen Stabler is a banker who knows business, so ask how our loans for everything from essential equipment to commercial real estate can help your business meet its potential. Call Stephen today.

205.394.5032 ccbg.com/business 4

Loans subject to credit and property approval. April-May 2022

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Contents

APR/MAY 2022

FEATURES

For Nicole Hemmerly, fiber art was a fulfilling hobby. Then people began asking her to make pieces for their places and spaces. The demand for her creations surprised Hemmerly. Folks snapped up existing art and placed orders for custom pieces, and Hemmerly permitted herself to believe that “people like what I do.” Three years into her life as a commercial artist, she decided to switch to a sustainable business model, opting to use vintage and natural fibers and staying away from buying supplies from big businesses while incorporating wool from her family’s sheep farm in Pennsylvania.

When Rendy Lovelady walks out onto the stage at Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, he looks past the performers. He’s focused on the crowd. “I call them my Jammers,” says Lovelady, the executive producer of the festival. “I love to see their faces, how happy they are. It’s just a big ol’ redneck party. God and country, you know what I mean?” Gulf Coast Jam is tuning up for its 10th anniversary festival, scheduled for June 2–5 at Panama City Beach’s Frank Brown Park. This year, it has been extended to include a fourth day and 30 acts, along with barrels of bourbon.

Classically trained in the Vaganova style, Hannah Holtsclaw, the principal dancer at Ballet Pensacola, has starred in dozens of large-scale performances. Offstage, she serves as youth division manager for the Ballet Pensacola Academy, teaches modern dance to students age 7 and up, and is a respected choreographer. Most dancers don’t branch into professional choreography until later in their careers, but Holtsclaw, 23, has been choreographing since 2017. “Hannah is a prime example of excellence in our local and national arts community,” says Ballet Pensacola artistic director Darren McIntyre.

by PAIGE AIGRET

by EMMA WITMER

MOSSHOUND DESIGNS

photography by MIKE HAYATCK

JAMMERS

HANNAH HOLTSCLAW

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April-May 2022

Contents

APR/MAY 2022

19 DESTINATIONS

113 GETAWAYS Crested

19 PERSONALITY Rick

22 HEALTH Equine-

Michelle Kerrigan, the founder of the Surfside Music Theater in Grayton Beach, excels as a voice teacher. She estimates that she has taught about 9,000 voice lessons to her students in the last 35 years.

April-May 2022

44 CITIZEN OF STYLE

Gallery owner and artist Jason Lindblad favors art that typically is not found for sale along the Emerald Coast. A rugged indoor type, he favors loud print shirts and contrasting black jeans.

48 WHAT’S IN STORE

A roundup of the latest in fashion, accessories and creations by artists including the Salt Hippy.

GASTRO & GUSTO

53 DINING OUT Chicagoans Mary and Patrick O’Neil have worked together in the restaurant business for 30 years. Their 10th

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

12 FROM THE

establishment, located in Destin, is a family-style barbecue joint with the best mac and cheese in town.

EXPRESSION

65 MUSIC Lucille’s Kitchen &

Music Hall in Miramar Beach is a latter-day replication of a house that owner John Wehner knew in New Orleans as a young drummer. There, the lady of the house offered good food, good music and reasons to smile.

72 BOOKS Civil rights advocate and longtime broadcast professional Myron Hines’ second novel explores racial dynamics, military hierarchies and the dangers of temptation.

76 PUBLISHING To succeed

in self-publishing, begin by understanding what your market is and then ensuring that your book is truly ready for market. When all else fails, hire an editor.

14 136 141 146

ABODES

101 EXTERIORS Cold-

hardy citrus cultivars do well in North Florida. In the opinion of some experts, satsumas are the best fit of all.

106 INTERIORS The very

language of light bulbs has changed. Lumens have replaced watts. Meanwhile, there has been a proliferation in the types of bulbs available, including some that interact with smartphones.

110 GREEN SCENE It’s

time to add color to landscapes. The caladium, a popular ornamental with showy leaves, is a striking plant to start with.

DINING IN Blooms and petals make for unconventional, colorful and tasty pizza toppings, but be sure to wait until after the pizza is baked to add them.

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR'S LETTER SOCIAL STUDIES DINING GUIDE POSTSCRIPT

Myron Hines

Civil rights champion pens righteous second novel

» CITRUS TREES » GEM CUTTING » FLORAL PIZZAS

26 PERFORMANCE

have brought about pants that flow, sandals with lots of sole and necklaces adorned with bits of stingray.

IN EVERY ISSUE

BALLET PENSACOLA

assisted mental health counseling, like that offered at Healing Hoof Steps in Crestview, can help people dealing with autism and stress disorders express fears, grow in confidence and interact successfully with others.

39 FASHION Local designers

72 EMERALD COAST MAGAZINE

Moriyama was twice retired, once from the Air Force and again from work as a military contractor when he happened by a gem show. Fascinated by what he saw, he enrolled as a student in a jewelry workshop; today, he is a master faceter.

PANACHE

Lucille’s Kitchen & Music Hall Serves Warm Hospitality

Country Jam

Four-day festival fuels PC Beach’s Economy

High Fiber Nicole Hemmerly’s textile artistry yields tapestry of many textures

ON THE COVER:

Fiber artist Nicole Hemmerly started MossHound Designs in North Carolina in 2015, but as a military spouse, she moves frequently and her business had to be portable. She has discovered ways to work from anywhere and finds that traveling keeps her creative brain active. She draws inspiration from whatever environment surrounds her. A lot of her work is given to earth tones — burnt oranges, mossy greens and browns. But living in the Niceville area, she has found new inspiration from Gulf waters and white sands. Hemmerly has begun to incorporate coastal colors into her work and plans to do more of that in the future. PHOTO BY SEAN MURPHY

PHOTOS BY JOHN HARRINGTON (19), MICHAEL BOOINI (39), LINDSEY MASTERSON (58) AND MIKE FENDER (72)

THE WAVE

Butte, Colorado, makes its living entertaining people who like to hike, ski and fish and who relish a little solitude.

EMERALDCOASTMAGA EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM April–May April-May 2022 2022 2020

Contents

PROMOTION

APR/MAY 2022

SPECIAL SECTIONS AND PROMOTIONS

ERALD C O

← BEST OF THE EMERALD COAST BALLOT

Simply the best! Support the businesses and service providers that you most admire and rely upon by voting for them in our annual readers’ choice poll.

↑ TOP EVENTS Grand Boulevard Town Center brings locals and visitors a packed calendar of

world-class cultural events such as the South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival, ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival, 30A Songwriters Festival and more.

108

↑ LENS ON LIFE Wayne Simpson travels the world capturing images that he shares with admiring fans of his work.

121 34

↑ TEED UP In a major upgrade, Santa Rosa Golf & Beach Club completes a multimillion-dollar renovation and announces its transition to a private club.

SUN SAFETY To greatly reduce the

chance of skin cancer, Dermatology Specialists advises that people wear sun protection 365 days a year.

NEXT ISSUE 8

April-May 2022

↑ GOING UP The Cascade at

Sandestin® will rise into the sky with 24 stories of luxury condominium suites. Located Inside the gates of the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, the project will bring a bigcity feel to the coast.

GOOD EATS After checking out

the menus at Capt. Dave’s on the Gulf and Fat Clemenza’s, you’ll be picking up your phone to make a reservation.

In our Medical Profiles section, we introduce you to leading practitioners along the Emerald Coast.

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SACRED HEART FOUNDATION Stories from

the Heart describes people who have been helped by the Sacred Heart Foundation and the expertise and dedication of the caring men and women who make up the Sacred Heart Health System.

128 CALENDAR Along with blooms, spring brings a full calendar of events throughout Northwest Florida. Fill your weekends and weekdays with festivals, performances, outdoor events and fundraisers.

134

BEACH PATROL Walton County’s Volunteer Beach Ambassadors have a passion for keeping our coast and community clean.

PHOTOS BY WAYNE A. SIMPSON PHOTOGRAPHY (108) AND KURT LISCHKA / MOON CREEK STUDIOS COURTESY OF GRAND BLVD. (32), SANTA ROSA GOLF & BEACH (34) AND THE CASCADES AT SANDESTIN® (36)

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96 BEST OAST MAG AZ DC I AL

Paradise has arrived ON THE EMERALD COAST

LIVE THE LIFE YOU’VE DREAMED AT LATITUDE MARGARITAVILLE WATERSOUND! Sunshine and cool breezes. Palm trees and margaritas. Welcome to Latitude Margaritaville, a 55-and-better community inspired by the legendary music and lifestyle of Jimmy Buffett, built on food, fun, music and escapism. Escape to the place where fun and relaxation meet. Escape to island-inspired living as you grow older, but not up. Escape to Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, located on Hwy 79, less than 8 miles from the beach. New Homes from the mid $200s

Sales center and 13 models open daily

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9201 Highway 79, Panama City Beach, FL 32413 Mon. - Sat. 9:00am - 5:00pm | Sun. 11:00am - 5:00pm

Visit online for more information LatitudeMargaritaville.com

Obtain the Property Report required by Federal law and read it before signing anything. No Federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. WARNING: THE CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF REAL ESTATE HAS NOT INSPECTED, EXAMINED, OR QUALIFIED THE OFFERINGS. Latitude Margaritaville Kentucky Registration Number R-201. For NY Residents: THE COMPLETE OFFERING TERMS FOR THE SALE OF LOTS ARE IN THE CPS-12 APPLICATION AVAILABLE FROM SPONSOR, LMWS, LLC. FILE NO. CP20-0062. Pennsylvania Registration Number OL001182. Latitude Margaritaville Watersound is registered with the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 710, Boston, MA 02118 and with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20552. This material shall not constitute a valid offer in any state where prior registration is required and has not been completed. The facilities and amenities described are proposed but not yet constructed. Photographs are for illustrative purposes only and are merely representative of current development plans. Development plans, amenities, facilities, dimensions, specifications, prices and features depicted by artists renderings or otherwise described herein are approximate and subject to change without notice. ©Minto Communities, LLC 2022. All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced, copied, altered, distributed, stored, or transferred in any form or by any means without express written permission. Latitude Margaritaville and the Latitude Margaritaville logo are trademarks of Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC and are used under license. Minto and the Minto logo are trademarks of Minto Communities, LLC and/or its affiliates. St. Joe and the St. Joe logo are trademarks of The St. Joe Company and are used under license. CGC 1519880/CGC 120919. 2022

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EMERALD COAST MAGAZINE

VOL. 23, NO. 2

APRIL-MAY 2022

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BRIAN E. ROWLAND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER MCKENZIE BURLEIGH

EDITORIAL

WE ARE NORTH FLORIDA’S ONLY EXCLUSIVE SINGLE AGENCY BROKERAGE AND CONSULTING FIRM SINGLE AGENTS

TRANSACTIONAL AGENTS

CONFIDENTIALITY

OBEDIENCE

LOYALTY

FULL DISCLOSURE

Held to a Higher Standard by Florida Statute for your Real Estate advantage

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Steve Bornhoft SENIOR STAFF WRITER Emma Witmer STAFF WRITER Hannah Burke CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Les Harrison, Hannah Holtsclaw, Lis King, Jack Macaleavy, Thomas J. Monigan, Wynn Parks, Audrey Post, Liesel Schmidt

CREATIVE VICE PRESIDENT/PRODUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY Daniel Vitter CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jennifer Ekrut ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Lindsey Masterson SENIOR PUBLICATION DESIGNERS Sarah Burger, Shruti Shah PUBLICATION DESIGNER Jordan Harrison GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sierra Thomas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Michael Booini, Mari Darr~Welch, Mike Fender, John Harrington, Mike Hayatck, Jacqueline Ward Images, Jennifer G Photography, Kristin Nicole Photography, Lindsey Masterson, Kurt Lischka, Lynn Crow Photography, Bob O’Lary, Sean Murphy, Seana Larsen Photography, Shelly Swanger, Wayne A. Simpson Photography, The Workmans

SALES, MARKETING AND EVENTS SALES MANAGER, WESTERN DIVISION Rhonda Lynn Murray SALES MANAGER, EASTERN DIVISION Lori Magee Yeaton DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, WESTERN DIVISION Dan Parker DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EASTERN DIVISION Daniel Parisi ADVERTISING SERVICES SPECIALIST Tracy Mulligan SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Julie Dorr ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Darla Harrison DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Zandra Wolfgram MARKETING MANAGER Javis Ogden SALES AND MARKETING WRITER Rebecca Padgett Frett ADMINISTRATIVE & CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST Renee Johnson

OPERATIONS CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER Sara Goldfarb CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE/AD SERVICE COORDINATOR Sarah Coven PRODUCTION EDITOR Paige Aigret PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION SPECIALIST Melinda Lanigan STAFF BOOKKEEPER Amber Dennard

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EDITORIAL OFFICE 1932 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. (850) 878-0554

CHAD KITTRELL (850) 570-0604 | ck@agency4re.com Equal Housing Opportunity, Agency 4 Real Estate and Consulting, LLC

April-May 2022

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SUBSCRIPTIONS One year (6 issues) is $30. Call (850) 878-0554 or go online to emeraldcoastmagazine.com. Single copies are $3.95. Purchase at Barnes and Noble in Destin and Pensacola and Books-A-Million in Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City and Pensacola. Availability may change subject to COVID-19 restrictions. CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUBMISSIONS Emerald Coast Magazine and Rowland Publishing, Inc. are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. Editorial contributions are welcomed and encouraged but will not be returned. Emerald Coast Magazine reserves the right to publish any letters to the editor. Copyright April 2022 Emerald Coast Magazine Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

The area’s only hospital with an ‘A’ for safety Ascension Sacred Heart is committed to keeping you and your family safe while in our care Getting the right care at the right time is critical to your overall health. Care teams at Ascension Sacred Heart have earned the area’s only “A” for safety from the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. From advanced heart care to joint replacement and spine surgery, doctors and care teams at Ascension Sacred Heart are dedicated to safely caring for you and your family.

Find a doctor and get care near you at ascension.org

EMERALDCOASTMAGA EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM April–May April-May 2022 2022 2020

from the

associate publisher

ART HEALS AND UNITES US Its universal language touches all of us

Overtaken by sadness, my entire being hurt. The shock for me was more than I could process, but I understood that it surely was even greater for my niece who lost her mother, for my parents who lost a daughter. Cancer had claimed the life of my sister. Pain surrounded the hole in my heart, and I grieved to the bottom of my soul. But over time, I began to heal. Music helped. I listened to Dear John by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, and I was reminded that I was not alone in loss and found some comfort there. Music and other arts speak a universal language. They unite us, promote understanding and enlarge perspectives. They are teachers, motivators and healers. The pandemic made use of the phrase “essential workers” commonplace. Artists are, for me and for everyone, essential workers. I am grateful for all of the artists who stay true to their passions and bring richness to life. They have enabled me to see beauty in the loss of others. The arts can usher in that rush when everything in life seems more exciting — when you greet each day with gladness. Food and wine taste better. Love grows and inspires and enlightens you and seems to overflow from your body. You are overtaken by optimism. When I look at a landscape by Monet, my senses are engaged, and I come to believe that I know what the artist must have been thinking when he created the work. Listen to Charlie Parker with Strings: Alternative Takes, and you will grow confident that you and the jazzman have experienced big love in similar ways. I hope you will enjoy this edition of Emerald Coast Magazine and its emphasis on the arts. I encourage you to make art a bigger part of your lives. Invest in art, and it will never stop giving back to you. Discover your own way to create art, and you will find the experience rewarding. Paint, sing, knit, dance, act, write or build a castle on the sand! Our creations are extensions of us, reflections of who we are. They tell stories and can connect us with others. Connection is the most powerful thing on this earth. It is like art, universal in nature and, at its best, lasting.

MCKENZIE BURLEIGH, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER mburleigh@rowlandpublishing.com

April-May 2022

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PHOTO BY SEAN MURPHY

Love you,

forever YOU WILL

always

BE MY

Voted the “Best Place to Pop the Question” by Destin Magazine, Vue on 30a is home to dramatic sunsets with its panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico through expansive floor-to-ceiling windows. From its sleek, contemporary look to its inviting atmosphere, Vue on 30a offers something for everyone and can accommodate intimate weddings of 35 to large-scale weddings or rehearsal dinners up to 200 guests.

EMERALDCOASTMAGA EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM April–May April-May 2022 2022 2020

editor’s letter

SO LONG, VOLLEY

It’s sad to see you meet the end of your road

April-May 2022

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

has dropped herself, pouring sweat, into the driver’s seat. We have learned that perspiration has a corrosive effect on leather; there is no seat where once there was one. We have always driven cars to exhaustion. This approach departs radically from that taken by a couple of my co-workers who are seen always to drive immaculate, leased BMWs. Their fastidiousness about their rides is beyond Felix Unger of The Odd Couple. They go through Armor All like Bubba goes through beer. I once toted one of those Beemer folks from the Emerald Coast to Tallahassee in a Ford Explorer whose transmission had begun to slip before I finally offloaded it. Along about Clarksville, the Beemer’s face had turned ashen. You know, I would go to pass a pulp truck on State 20, and the Explorer would fumble around for a bit before finding the next speed. Some folks find that unsettling. The Accord was young when it was T-boned by a spring breaker who attempted to hang an ill-advised Louie out of a McDonald’s while (presumably) drunk. The breaker never stopped, but Margot turned around quickly enough to get his tag number, which we reported to police to no effect, but reported to our insurance company with great effect. Our insurer got in touch with the insurer of the breaker’s daddy’s car, and I am prepared to believe that sonny boy was placed on restriction until he might achieve financial independence. Later in life, the Accord sustained a dent of unknown origin in its rear

quarter panel on the passenger side. One of Margot’s tennis buddies suggested that our son, Nick, who has the body of a contortionist, climb into the trunk and push the dent out with his size 12s. We never bothered. I had never named the Accord until today. I am calling it Volley, a tennis term that sounds like it could be a name for an all-electric compact, suggesting as it does the word, volt. Volley, for these two decades plus, it’s been good to know you. We will not soon forget you. The oil you have dropped on our driveway has made for a Rorschach inkblot test that will be slow to fade. Drive carefully,

STEVE BORNHOFT EXECUTIVE EDITOR sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BOOINI / RPI FILE PHOTO

Today will bring the end of an automotive era. We will be trading my wife’s year 2000 model Honda Accord in for a spanking new Civic. At 22, the Accord was within eight years of officially qualifying as a relic. I had begun to picture it in one of those Carolina blue Florida ANTIQUE tags, but that will never be. It’s time. The Accord’s headlight lenses have turned opaque, like an old person with eyes clouded by cataracts. Its paint job has failed. Over recent years, we have replaced its tires one at a time, choosing, like a skinflint of a golfer, not to invest in a matched set. It’s been years since paradise was seen by its dashboard light, which has not worked for I don’t know how long. (RIP, Meat Loaf.) There is a trick to getting the windshield wipers to come on, and when you do finally succeed in activating them, turning them back off is even more difficult. Long ago, the power windows ceased working, the gears that drive them having grown toothless with age. We chose to get one of them, on the driver’s side, fixed. When I last went to get the Accord’s oil changed, the man in the pit shouted to the topside attendant, “Multiple leaks,” as if they were too numerous to precisely count. I have friends ’round here who refer to certain high-mileage vehicles as “grocery gitters” or “young’un toters” or “fishin’ cars.” The Accord’s chief duty has been to carry my wife to and from tennis matches. On countless occasions, Margot, following third-set tiebreakers,

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PROMOTION

EMERALDCOASTMAGAZINE.COM GIVEAWAYS

Cheers to Free Wine! In conjunction with the South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival’s 10th anniversary event, scheduled for April 22–23, we are giving away a spectacular Emerald Coast wine and beer experience. Sip amazing wine, savor delicious food and listen to live music at this award-winning event in beautiful South Walton.

Enter to win at EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/ giveaways.

I heART You

ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival is back on Mother’s Day weekend, May 7–8. Produced by the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County and presented by Grand Boulevard Town Center, ArtsQuest provides an opportunity to view and purchase original art from over 150 artists from around the country. To learn more, visit EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/local-events.

A CALL FOR PINNACLE AWARD NOMINATIONS

HERE COMES THE SUN

The Pinnacle Awards spotlight leading women in business who hold themselves to high standards and contribute to the betterment of the community. Nominate your candidate online here 850BusinessMagazine.com/ pinnacle-awards.

In conjunction with National Skin Cancer Awareness Month in May, the experts at Dermatology Specialists of Florida share advice for safely facing the warm weather season. EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/ sponsored-content/beauty-links

WOMEN WE LOVE

This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is Providing Healing, Providing Hope. In celebration of Mother’s Day, we invite you to post a pic of the most influential woman in your life on Instagram and tell us why you love her. Include #LoveEC, tag us at @emeraldcoastmag and you may be included in an upcoming issue.

@emeraldcoastmag

April-May 2022

@EmeraldCoastMag

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Emerald Coast Magazine

EVENT-FUL SPRING Promote your event to Emerald Coast readers. Submit your event to our new online calendar for free! Check it out at EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/local-events.

PHOTOS BY THE WORKMANS (PINNACLE EVENT), LYNN CROW PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF CULTURAL ARTS ALLIANCE OF WALTON COUNTY AND KURT LISCHKA / MOON CREEK STUDIOS COURTESY OF GRAND BLVD. AND MYKOLA SOSIUKIN / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS (BEAUTY LINKS)

Congratulations! Susan Sheets of Pensacola was the lucky winner of two full-access passes valued at $700 to the four-day 30A Songwriters Festival in January. Thanks for reading Emerald Coast Magazine and entering the contest. Check out our Giveaway page at EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/giveaways and you just might be a winner, too!

Waterfront Dining

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2021 of

OAST MAG AZ DC I AL

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We’re the

CENTER

of attention! Bealls Outlet • Dick’s Sporting Goods Ross • The Fresh Market

EATERIES Chili’s • Wayback Burgers • Craft Bar: a Florida Gastropub Texas Roadhouse • IHOP • Jersey Mike’s Subs • Zoë’s Kitchen Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt

SPECIALTY STORES PetSmart • Kirkland’s • Verizon • Bed, Bath and Beyond Michael’s • Chan’s Wine World • World Market Shoe Carnival and more! 15750 Panama City Beach Pkwy PierParkNorth.com

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April–May 182022 April-May 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA 2022 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM

CASTOinfo.com

wave

THE

APR/MAY 2022

A CONSCIOUS, COOL COMPENDIUM OF COASTAL STUFF

PERSONALITY

BEAUTY BEYOND COMPARE

Gem cutter creates symmetries from stone by WYNN PARKS

HEALTH photography by JOHN HARRINGTON

Equine Energy

|| PERFORMANCE

All Her World’s a Stage

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

THE

wave

←

Rick Moriyama uses a power magnifier to check facts on a garnet. Moriyama served for 26 years as an Air Force service officer and worked as a military contractor before enrolling as a student at a jewelry workshop.

nce upon a time, the quintessential gemstone, the “Jewel Beyond Compare,” was said to be found in the head of a serpent, or more enchanting still, a dragon! Such a gem might confer the power of invisibility, might cure any ill or even grant immortality. “Nah, I don’t believe that kind of stuff, but I love transforming raw chunks of stone into these neat, ideal symmetries: facetted stones!” said Rick Moriyama. “There’s all the colors, as clear as a frozen sky, an assembly of nano-mirrors, all at angles to each other.” With a name as recognizable on the West Coast as O’Hara is on

April-May 2022

the East Coast, it doesn’t take a linguist to infer something about Moriyama’s family roots. A secondgeneration American, his home state is Hawaii. He grew up on Oahu and graduated with a degree in zoology from the University of Hawaii. Next, he headed east to the West Coast and earned a master’s degree in systems management at the University of Southern California. Starting in 1975, there followed a 26-year career as an Air Force service officer. After Moriyama retired in 2001, he did as so many ex-service people around the Panhandle do, working

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

↑ Rick Moriyama, top left, polishes rare gems using a faceting machine. The stones are secured to a dop stick with hard wax; the grinding machine is called a lap. Moriyama is a master faceter with the U.S. Faceting Guild.

as a civilian military contractor with weekends off for fishing and golf. Finally, in 2010, he thought he had retired again. But that just didn’t work out. He attended by random chance a gem show in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was smitten by the display of iridescent gems cut from “sunstone.” Before the year was out, Moriyama enrolled at William Holland, a wellknown jewelry workshop in the mountains of North Carolina. Moriyama’s “apprenticeship” there introduced him to the lapidary secrets of grinding and polishing dome-shaped cabochon gems, a traditional but low-tech skill. More to his liking were the precision gem-cutting wheels. He experimented with the manual skills of faceting. He gained an understanding of the mineral hardness scale (MOH), whereby everything is compared to diamond, which rates a 10. He became aware of a mineral’s molecular crystal structure, too. It’s nice to know whether a photography by JOHN HARRINGTON

sample will tend to cleave along a plane or shatter when worked with. Each gemstone provides at least one cutting pattern: square cuts, emerald cuts or baguettes. Cutting each facet exactly to the pattern and grinding each facet, each nano-mirror, so that it meshes exactly with every other minute polygonal facet dictated by the pattern requires intensely focused precision. Sunstone, ruby, aquamarine or just plain quartz — all crystals, hard or soft, submit to the pattern. Cutting a perfect stone is like playing mumbly peg between one’s fingers: No mistakes allowed. Compared to Sleeping Beauty visions of dwarves digging pre-cut jewels from the walls of a cave, Moriyama’s work might seem tedious to those of the “Just Do It” ethos. But to those touched by the mysterious ambiance of jewels, dragons included, it’s a romance. A reader at this point might be excused for asking what hitherto unexpressed facet of Moriyama’s inner landscape suddenly led him to become a gemstone man.

“No,” he shakes his head, “there were no artists or craftsmen in my family. Me, I took no art classes. I have less than no interest in interior decorating. Nope, I don’t think it’s genetic.” Moriyama regards creating lapidary sparklers as a hobby, but with regional jewelers, he enjoys a reputation as a rare and handy man to know if someone brings you a chipped gem to fix. His approach to lapidary has endeared him to his rock hound friends at the Playground Gem and Mineral Society in Fort Walton Beach, where for three years he served as club president. Moriyama’s affinity for things that glitter led him to earn the distinction of master faceter in the U.S. Faceting Guild. Achieving that stature starts with the guild’s annual gem-cutting contest. Postulants can attempt apprentice, novice, pre-master or master level faceting challenges. “I skipped the novice level, but it took two tries to cut my master’s gem,” Moriyama said. “They gave everybody raw smoky quartz. The pattern was a pretty intricate round cut. I’ve cut precious stones like ruby and sapphire since, but it was a sparkly, 10-millimeter smoky quartz stone that qualified me as a master!” Don’t think that Moriyama’s habit is to be cooped up all the time, staring through a loupe in a rock lab. Not at all. Being a holistic sort with an R.V. and a wife who’s ready to travel, he takes to the road like a dyed-in-the-wool rock bum. Hitting the road in search of his own raw material is more fun than buying it from a catalog or middleman. Moriyama gathers raw material on field trips to sources close in, like North Carolina, and as distant as Idaho or Washington state. In 2017, he and compatriots from the Gem and Mineral Society trekked to Montana via the Black Hills. Reflecting on the driving commitment required to be a master faceter, one wonders if Moriyama’s infatuation and pursuits relate in a contemporary, metaphysical way to the core of traditional, medieval gemstone lore with its magical ideal of crystalline beauty — or whatever aspect of that beauty ignites so much of humankind’s enduring affinity for that glittering Jewel Beyond Compare. EC EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

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Ever-alert horses live in the present. People, given to regrets about the past and worries about the future, have a hard time staying there. Healing Hoof Steps programs help military personnel stay centered in the “now.”

HEALTH

EQUINE ENERGY

Therapist mends hearts and minds with the spirits of horses by PAIGE AIGRET

April-May 2022

s far back as she can remember, she loved horses, and over time, they overtook her life. Narissa Jenkins is the CEO and founder of Healing Hoof Steps. The organization, established in 2017, offers equine-assisted mental health counseling and therapeutic riding services. It is located less than a half-mile off U.S. Highway 90 in Crestview. Humans live every day with regrets, worries and apprehension about the past and the future. By contrast, horses, as prey animals, must stay alert and in the present to survive.

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“It’s a unique experience for humans to get centered back into today,” Jenkins said. “Anxiety lives in the future, and depression lives in the past — neither of which we can do anything about.” Before buying the acreage where her business is located, Jenkins was a cog in a corporate machine. She had begun to ask herself it there was going to be more to her life than making money. Her future husband encouraged her to take up a hobby, and she began to ride. “It was my horse that inspired me to make that jump from corporate America to start a nonprofit where nothing existed,” photography by MARI DARR~WELCH

PHOTO BY SEANA LARSEN PHOTOGRAPHY (ARMY)

→ Left to right, top photo: Amara Ham, Healing Hoof Steps therapeutic riding program director; Narissa Jenkins, chief executive officer and founder; Connie Baldwin, licensed mental health counselor and clinical program director. Michael Viel, lower photo, sets his horse to trotting while participating in the Hoof Steps 4 Heroes program.

Jenkins said about her creation of Healing Hoof Steps. After spending several years looking for someone to help start her program, she crossed paths with Connie Baldwin, who worked as a team leader for equine therapy retreats with the Lone Survivor Foundation. “That was the beginning — having somebody that understood what I was trying to do, how to do it and how to use this model of therapy,” Jenkins said. Now, Baldwin is the clinical director of Healing Hoof Steps, and she’s helped Jenkins’ dream come to fruition. Jenkins, the daughter of a combat searchand-rescue Vietnam veteran, said she grew up not understanding why her family didn’t attend happy occasions such as parades and fireworks displays. As an adult, she came to realize that such avoidance was rooted in her father’s traumatic war experiences. She feels a deep connection to veterans and to their families who struggle alongside them. Veterans often resist suggestions that they consult mental health professionals. They may believe they can tough things out on their own, or they may find that counselors who have never experienced combat cannot relate to what they went through in war zones. “To be able to help families heal, even if it’s just a little bit, it’s worth it,” she said. Healing Hoof Steps is one of just 27 programs in the United States that receive funding for mental health through a Veterans Administration sports grant.

EQUINE THERAPY

Promises Behavioral Health, a business with offices in four states including Florida, cites five areas in which horses can effectively teach people lessons: identifying and coping with feelings; communication and interpersonal skills; setting boundaries; overcoming fears; and trust. Promises Behavioral reports that horses, due to their strength and size, can bring up unmet needs, fears, past trauma and feelings of inadequacy or lack of control. Equine therapist Dede Beasley says many people fear that a horse won’t like them and might hurt them physically or emotionally. Rather than trying to escape or get defensive, people learn to tolerate andprocess the emotion. “When I do equine work, I feel like I’m witnessing grace. In the barn with the horses, everything is just as it should be,” Beasley says. “These special animals allow people to bring all kinds of issues into the horse’s world and accept them as they are, imperfections and all.” EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

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Volunteer Alyssa Williams escorts rider Rebecca Cogman and her mount. Healing Hoof Steps serves military veterans, at-risk youths, people who have been traumatized, people with disabilities and others.

“We’ve got to start making it OK to get help; we’ve got to take the stigma away,” Jenkins said. The grant allows veterans to receive services they need without the fear of documentation and how it could affect their careers.

↑ Narissa Jenkins, the Healing Hoof Steps founder and CEO returns the gaze of one of her horses. In 2020, the business added a therapeutic riding program for people dealing with mental, physical and behavioral issues.

April-May 2022

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According to demographics listed on the VA website from 2018, Florida’s 1st Congressional District has the highest number of military personnel and veterans per capita in the country. The district extends from the western edge of the Florida Panhandle to just west of Panama City. Healing Hoof Steps serves veterans, at-risk youth and people who suffer from trauma in many forms. The program is open to clients age 5 and up. The business employs three licensed mental health counselors and one clinical psychologist, who were all trained per the Eagala Model of equine therapy standards. This form of therapy uses metaphors and interactions with horses to help patients. One scenario, Jenkins explained, involves a patient filling a bucket with scoops of horse manure. Each scoop represents a problem or worry, and patients are required to carry the bucket

throughout a therapeutic session. The weight of the bucket becomes a burden and illustrates a truth: We should put some things down rather than carrying them with us in everything we do. In February 2020, Healing Hoof Steps added a therapeutic riding program led by certified instructors who take a holistic approach to patients with physical, emotional and behavioral conditions. The riding sessions may be coupled with counseling sessions, depending on a patient’s needs. Jenkins is planning to better serve the community with an expanded program. Healing Hoof Steps will be collaborating with Alaqua Animal Refuge to provide weekly mental health sessions in Freeport, something Jenkins and her team are very excited about. “Watching my childhood dream help foster others’ healing and their dreams is the coolest part of this whole thing,” Jenkins said. EC photography by MARI DARR~WELCH

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ALL HER WORLD’S A STAGE

Michelle Kerrigan and the Surfside Music Theater by WYNN PARKS

heater mogul Michelle Kerrigan is the oldest of five sisters. So it was that she couldn’t help but learn a lot about the teaching, nurture and regulation of growing entities, that is, the same sort of things that have been valuable in creating the Surfside Music Theater, a multi-faceted theater workshop in Grayton Beach. In August 2015, Kerrigan pulled up stakes at her previous location in Destin and moved BETA (Broadening Education for the Arts) or more familiarly, the “Children’s Theater” to yuppiehaunted Grayton. With the Surfside Music Theater, she has been working to expand her “curricular repertoire.” “Call us an umbrella organization,” Kerrigan said. “I teach, coach and manage all experience levels. But singing, dancing, dressing up and declaiming are already coded into kids’ DNA, so the earlier they start, the better.” While the BETA program has been inconvenienced by the pandemic, it has continued to provide a venue for young thespians by scaling back productions to “tea party” vignettes based on characters and themes like Lewis Carroll’s Alice. Salt Light, the Surfside Music Theater’s promotional wing, handles portfolio shots, fields audition calls and reassures stage moms.

April-May 2022

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Michelle Kerrigan, the founder of Broadening Education for the Arts (BETA) and the Surfside Music Theater in South Walton, focuses first on voice in working with students. Her “graduates” include Allison Bailey and Tyler Whitman.

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wave ↙ Michelle Kerrigan brings a smile to the face of Avery Horn, a student in the BETA Arts Institute, where she had been taking voice and “Acting for Stage and Screen” classes for three years plus. Avery is 11 years old and is home schooled.

“I’m a good voice teacher,” Kerrigan said. “About 90 percent of my students start out in voice. That’s about,” she pauses to calculate, “9,000 lessons over the past 35 years. That’s more than one lesson per student, of course.” She begins ticking off fingers. “Allison Bailey is on a national tour as Glinda in Wicked. You know, from The Wizard of Oz? “Ariel Fournier’s a regular on Nickelodeon. “Last fall, CeCe Campus from Gulf Breeze Elementary School, landed a speaking, singing and dancing part in Hallmark’s Nashville Christmas Carol.

“Tyler Whitman? He started in with me before he could shave. Now, he’s a reality TV star on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listings: New York, probably a millionaire. Me, I’m happy with a new pair of shoes.” She concludes the enumeration on her pinky. “And Maria Kerrigan’s doing great! I don’t say it because I’m her mom. Anyone who’s tried teaching their own kids will know what that means. Maria’s played Belle in Beauty and the Beast (Disney.) Plus, now she’s an LSU med student; she took me into the anatomy

lab and showed me the vocal cords of a cadaver! Amazingly delicate!” Kerrigan has probably been a theater person since before she even knew it. Born in Houston, she describes the family picture taken for her father’s city council campaign as if it were the billboard for a production featuring Michelle Kerrigan! “I was dressed all, you know, 1960s style,” she smiles, then arrives at a distant look. “Polka-dot pants, maybe bell-bottoms ... .” Pictures of Kerrigan at 16 show a petite, Irish-Mexican American blonde with a face that makes one reflexively

GOOD FOR ALL

“Throughout theater history, the stage has been a place for people to communicate in different ways: from monologues and singing to interpretive movement and rhythmic dance. The arts have set the scene for people to learn about the world and themselves. The three parts of musical theater — acting, singing and dancing — can be a very important tool in the continued development of a person who experiences the world through the lens of autism. Among the many wonderful benefits of theater is that it serves as a fun practice for much of what can challenge those on the spectrum, including holding a conversation with another person. Theater as an art form is just generally a fertile ground for friendship. The act of joining others in being brave and respectful of others onstage naturally leads to sharing a kinship with them that is hard to shake off for all who try it.” — Katie Mann, 4th Wall Theatre Co. co-founder, Houston

April-May 2022

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wave smile. When asked how her Spanish is, Kerrigan cast a sidewise glance. “My mom and dad met in the military while stationed in Virginia,” Kerrigan said. “Because the ‘loving law’ was still in effect, they had to get their C.O.’s permission to marry on post. Mom never stressed learning Spanish. She might have been afraid of class prejudice, or us getting stereotyped at school. Glad you asked. I’ve let my Spanish studies slide lately, and I need to get back on it.” Kerrigan’s teenage predilections were for dance and the trampoline. She choreographed her own fairy-godmother dance for a drama club production at Katy High School in Houston. By 15, Kerrigan was studying violin and doing spots, including Crime Stoppers ads. “It was a perfume commercial as a client at the Barbazon modeling agency that settled me on the difference between modeling and acting,” she said. “I will gladly set up modeling opportunities for students still, but for me, acting is the real deal.” Kerrigan graduated from the University of West Florida on a scholarship. There, studying with fellow thespians and hobnobbing with visiting film and stage professionals, her affinity for theater crystalized. For a thesis, she performed original choreography to the canter of Bob Seeger’s Turn the Page. “It’s been so long since I performed before an audience that a lot of whatever records of it exist haven’t even been digitized,” Kerrigan said. “There are a few more recent things like playing Monique in the independent film, He Can Get It. I did the voice of Martha in MTV’s Payoff. I was stunt coordinator in Belle.” Signifying Kerrigan’s drive to broaden the Surfside Music Theater’s recognition, by the time this profile appears, she will have produced a BETA cabaret version of My Fair Lady for Christmas. “We’ve struggled through the past two interminable years with virtual tutorials for our adult Equity and SAG-AFTA clients. We kept BETA doing plays, plus relocated the studio to Grayton Beach,” Kerrigan adds, “Now, it’s tomorrow, the sun’s come out, and gee, we’re still here — and we’re still winning!” Damn straight, Michelle. Break a leg. EC

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Mark Your Calendars Grand Boulevard Town Center fills your weekends with world-class cultural events

April–May 2022

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n January, soulful croons and string tunes float through the air at the 30A Songwriter’s Festival. April warms up with wine and good times for patrons at the South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival. May is the month for ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival, where attendees can peruse and purchase art from local and national artists. October congratulates and celebrates the best in business at the Best of the Emerald Coast event. The year ends with the Festival of Trees and the magical lights and events of Coastal White Christmas. Grand

Boulevard Town Center has become a destination for these marque annual events and more. For 15 years, Grand Boulevard has thrived as a retail destination offering national and nearby brands alongside eateries and entertainment. Stacey Brady, director of marketing and communications and executive director of South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival, wanted to stand out among other retailers even more so, deciding to carefully curate a series of events under the name of Coastal Culture with Grand Boulevard as the host location.

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Coastal Culture events are carefully curated to surprise and delight visitors to Grand Boulevard. A-list wine and spirit celebrities such as Greg Brewer (Brewer-Clifton), Jill Russell (Cambria), Niccolo Maltini (Antinori), Freddie Noe IV (Jim Beam), and a new Best Craft Cocktail Bartender “Golden Shaker” competition give eventgoers exciting new reasons to head to the 10th annual South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival April 21-24.

“For several years, we have been identifying events we thought would marry well with the Grand Boulevard brand and create another compelling reason for the customer to come to the Town Center and ultimately enhance the customer experience, because that’s what it’s all about,” Brady says. “It’s not enough to be a great shopping and dining destination. Folks expect more, and you’ve got to deliver more, and exciting events are a great way to do that.” The launch of Coastal Culture was highly strategic as Brady wanted to ensure that every event interwove the presence of cultural arts and included a charitable

portion as these are core values of Grand Boulevard’s corporate culture. “I do think that our community outreach and being good community stewards is ultimately important to our community and to our citizens,” says Brady. “We’re helping to elevate our community through charitable donations with the events and entertainment we provide that have an emphasis on cultural arts.” Where the funds stay local, the attendees come from all over the country for these events that are presented at a world-class caliber. Each event has obtained multiple major awards; the most highly praised being the South Walton Beaches Wine & Food Festival. This event has won the Flagler Award in the special events category in 2014, Award of Distinction from the Florida Public Relations Association in 2016, and the Best Event from the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association in 2018, among others. This festival is a weekend of wine, fine food and stunning scenery benefitting the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation, which supports more than a dozen area charities. The event celebrates its 10th year in 2022. 30A Songwriter’s Festival shines a spotlight on singer/songwriter’s from throughout the country that gather at venues throughout 30A and South Walton, including Grand Boulevard, to share stories

through song. This event supports the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County. ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival benefits the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County as well with exhibits promoting over 200 artists from throughout the country. Best of the Emerald Coast is presented in conjunction with Emerald Coast Magazine. Attendees celebrate their favorite businesses while knowing their ticket supports the Junior League of the Emerald Coast. Coastal Culture consists of the four major, signature events alongside yearround seasonal celebrations, including Coastal White Christmas, Halloween on the BOO-levard, Festival of Trees, Theatre Thursdays, Shakespeare in the Park and more. For locals, during these events, their beloved venue to shop, dine or catch a film transforms into a hub that generates spectacle-worthy events and distributes valuable dollars right back into their community. For visitors, these events provide memorable event experiences and the chance to visit one of the premier retail destinations in the country, surely with plans to come back in the future.

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Tapping Into Members’ Passions KATIE METZGER

Santa Rosa Golf & Beach Club celebrates improvements

or those that love it, golf is more than a game; it’s a lifestyle. Knowing that, the Santa Rosa Golf & Beach Club committed to a multi-milliondollar renovation of the course and club and to private membership. The renovations, completed in the fall of 2021, are apparent everywhere from the turf on the fairways and greens to state-of-the-art technology in the training facility. Architect Bill Bergin and contractors Medalist Construction and Kelly Barker designed course improvements, revamped the clubhouse interior and spruced up landscaping. Located on 85 acres on the Gulf of Mexico, the course winds among white sand dunes. The redesign emphasized the use of native plants. The six-hole short course called “The Loop” is ideal for those limited on time and for beginners and children. The training facility features TrackMan

simulators, V1 pressure mats and personalized instruction from trainers. “To say the staff, the board and even more so, the members are excited would be an understatement,” said Sarah Brazwell, director of membership at the Santa Rosa Golf & Beach Club. “Many members have been with the club nearly 50 years since its start as a 9-hole course, and could only have dreamed of the amenities and opportunities we now offer.” Brazwell said improvements coincided with increased member support. “Thanks to our members, we were able to reinvest and modernize in the ways we had wanted and needed to for years,” said Michael Bickett, general manager. “Privatization sets us up for more future success in what we can be and can offer.” As a private course, members have full access to the 18-hole course, the training facility, the six-hole short course, the Vue on 30A restaurant, fittings by partner

PXG Golf and club events. Currently, membership is capped, but the club hopes to be able to offer waitlists for future members soon. “When you come here, it’s not just a course, it’s an experience and an experience unlike any other I’ve been a part of,” Bickett said. “The amount of passion for the club, love for the game and friendship is something I’ve not seen elsewhere.”

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April–May 2022

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The Cascade at Sandestin

Condos with Gulf views and a big-city vibe

he Cascade at Sandestin® will present a strong upside — 24 stories worth. Located inside of the gates of the Sandestin® Golf and Beach Resort, The Cascade will feature three- and fourbedroom condos and penthouse suites, all of them examples of modern opulence. The project will answer the desires of people seeking contemporary and luxurious spaces, enviable amenities and the ease of a beachfront, private lifestyle. “This development is unique in this area because there are no other ultra-modern, super sexy high-rise buildings,” said Sara Becnel, Asset Manager and Vice President of Development of Sandestin® Golf and Beach Resort. “The finishes and luxurious style and amenities are more like what you’d get in a big city. We are thrilled to be able to bring this product with views of the Gulf of Mexico to our area.” The groundbreaking, at this writing, is in the near future. Becnel said construction

will last about two years. She is confident that the project will interest both area residents and people from large inland markets such as Atlanta and Dallas. The Cascade will feature private elevators and, inside the units, European white oak floors, kitchen islands, quartz countertops, chef’s kitchens, oversized master bedrooms and other exquisite touches. The amenities alone are reason enough to invest. An expansive pool deck will surround a 2,030-square-foot swimming pool with a sun shelf. Plans also include a pickleball court, hot tub, barbecue grills, a fire pit, lounge area and cabanas. Inside, a social room will nicely accommodate group activities with its catering kitchen. The Cascade will also include a game room and fitness center, work-share space and guest suites will be available for rent by owners entertaining visitors.

“The Cascade will be luxe and lovely, yet still comfortable and relaxing with thoughtful design elements throughout,” Becnel said. “I am excited to bring this type of development to this area and to continue to elevate the options offered at Sandestin® Golf and Beach Resort.”

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ELEMENTS OF STYLE RANGING FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE MORE SUBLIME

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Designer Mary Ellen DiMauro, who has a studio at Watersound, models blush pink overalls made with double-weave gauze fabric. Relaxed, casual and feminine, they are adjustable with ties at the shoulders.

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t isn’t the most elegant or exceptional gem in my jewelry box, but the dainty, smoky quartz pendant I purchased on a trip to Colorado has for years been my favorite accessory. Each time I wear it, I’m reminded of that dewy, summer morning stroll through Colorado Springs, where I encountered an elderly couple who made their living panning for raw gems and minerals in the Arkansas River. Their modest shop was cluttered with handmade jewelry, each piece unique. I learned that the proprietors had descended from prospectors and were keeping a tradition alive. They thanked me for my $20 purchase as if it meant all the difference in the world, and on that day, maybe it did. It is well worth it to sometimes forego the convenience of big-box retailers and patronize creators from within our Emerald Coast communities. Pensacola resident Christine Miller started her business, Storm Shadow’s Jewelry, shortly after her mother’s passing in 2013. Miller, who is part Cherokee, Creek and Apache, said she learned indigenous beading techniques from her mother at an early age and created her online gallery (stormshadowsjewelry.com) to honor her. “My business’s name is a combination of my Indian name and my mother’s,” said Miller, who today specializes in gemstone, wire and chain mail jewelry. “When I went to settle out her estate, I discovered tons of beads and jewelry she had made. Some of that is for sale, but I have learned how to make my own creations.” Miller said she continues using the techniques her mother taught her but, through her own studies, has developed a penchant for chain mail — armor-like accessories made of intricate, metallic-ringed “weaves.” Some take “days and days to learn,” she said, while others are simpler. In Miller’s opinion, some of her best pieces were specially made for individual customers. Recently, she helped a woman memorialize her departed pet by encasing a bit of its fur in a miniature glass bottle. “I did wirework around that bottle and wove her a chain so she could always carry it with her,” Miller said. “She trusted me to

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make that tribute for her, which meant a lot. I always love receiving custom orders and being able to create unique, specific pieces for people.”

Wear Merry A former wardrobe stylist in Nashville, Merry Beth Myrick began making her own accessories to complement the unique looks she put together for celebrities, such as Grammy award-winning artist Brandi Carlile.

↑ Merry Beth Myrick’s stingray necklace, above, is a bestseller, she says, due in part to its versatility. The piece can be worn as a choker, a 20-inch necklace or lariat style with a V-neck. It is made up of Myrick’s signature paperclip chain, a bronze textured tube and actual stingray skin molded in her studio. The tree line cuff bracelet, at left, is a Merry Beth MyrickAllison Wickey collaboration. Made of forged copper, it is etched with a famous Wickey painting. Copper, says Myrick, is a healing metal known to reduce inflammation and heighten energy.

←

Mary Ellen DiMauro’s ice-blue gauze pants tie at the ankles or can be worn open as flowy pants. They are paired with a best-selling, textured cotton crop top.

photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

But the glitz and glamor of styling photo shoots, red carpet events and commercials eventually faded, and Myrick yearned for true community. She packed up and headed for Santa Rosa Beach, where she has been honing her metalsmithing techniques for the past five years. Working with copper, silver and gold, Myrick likes to incorporate unique materials, such as hand-molded sting ray skin, to stretch her creativity. Her creations are available at a number of local retailers and Wearmerry.com. “I let the metal talk to me,” Myrick said. “I never plan a design or draw it beforehand, because the final product will be a let-down. Working with new materials is a way for me to take my brain to a place it doesn’t normally go. It’s a challenge, and even if I have to back down, I’m learning along the way.” Myrick often listens to audiobooks while she works. She is moved by words and acknowledges their influence on her artistry. “A character will be angry, and suddenly, I find myself working with points and making dagger-like designs,” she said. “But, if I’m swept away in a romance, the metal will look brushed and soft.” For that reason, custom orders are her favorite projects. Learning people’s stories and creating pieces that embody them, she said, is the best part of her job. “Jewelry is sentimental,” Myrick said. “It speaks and reminds you of a feeling. When I can capture that for people, it feels like a therapeutic experience for both of us.” EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

panache Textile Hoarder Like Miller, Mary Ellen DiMauro’s calling stemmed from a family pastime. At age 10, DiMauro received a sewing machine for Christmas from her grandmother, who then taught her how to work with fabric. Today, she sells her gauzy, beachy, bohemian apparel at maryellendimauro.com and by appointment at her studio at 416 S. County Highway 393. Originally from Athens, Georgia, DiMauro first traveled to the Emerald Coast for a college fashion internship, and in 2016, she participated as an emerging designer in South Walton Fashion Week. It was the feedback and support she received from that experience, she said, that “got the ball rolling on the beach.” “I fell in love with the area and knew I wanted to build my brand here,” DiMauro said. “Everything I make, I design with comfort in mind. It’s loose, flowy, relaxed and much of it is one-sizefits-all. People can shop the collections I have available, but right now, I’m doing a lot of made-to-order pieces.” DiMauro is a self-proclaimed “textile hoarder” whose designs are often inspired by the materials from which they’re made. There is beauty in imperfection, she said, and she demonstrates that with asymmetric hemlines and the use of repurposed, vintage cloth. “I love anything with texture,” she said. “I cannot throw away a scrap of fabric, and I think that’s something special because in the fashion industry there’s so much waste. I like to say, ‘No scrap left behind!’ In 2022, I’m working to get all my fabric sourced sustainably, whether I’m recycling material or getting remnants from major fashion companies.”

Southern Soles Brandy Carter also has experienced the effects of what she calls a “throwaway society.” She and husband Brent Carter inherited her parent’s footwear repair business in Panama City, but they found that today’s consumers are quick to toss out an old pair of shoes and buy new ones. Brandy wondered, “Other people make shoes, why can’t we?”

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↗ Silk halter dress by Mary Ellen DiMauro hangs beautifully and moves, she says, like “liquid silver.” Adds DiMauro, “The silk charmeuse is as soft as butter against your skin and feels heavenly.” ↘ Sandals by Southern Soles, lower photo, are made with high-grade marine vinyl and sponge rubber sole for outstanding durability and comfort.

Focusing on sandals, the Carters took apart Brandy’s flip-flop collection and redesigned a shoe founded on comfort. They amassed a following selling their “Southern Soles” brand at farmers markets and in 2019, opened The Gulf Coast Sandal Factory at Pier Park in Panama City Beach. “It’s a factory because people can come in and pick their foot bed and strap colors, add arch support or a wedge, request an embroidery and get it custom-fit to their foot,” said Brandy Carter. “You get to be the designer.” Carter said customers can expect a 24hour turnaround time. They ship orders for free. Southern Soles are made from marine vinyl (the same material used for boat seats) and are washable and waterproof.

“The reception has been overwhelming,” Carter said of being a local artisan. “Each year, customers are coming back to buy more. They’re coming back with their friends and family; they’re putting in more online orders. “Word of mouth alone has helped us grow tremendously. I can’t talk about it without getting emotional; the whole experience has been a blessing.” EC photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

DESIRÉE GARDNER PHOTOGRAPHY, DESIREEGARDNER.COM

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CITIZEN OF STYLE

A GAMER WITH GAME Jason Lindblad realized a fantasy by opening gallery by HANNAH BURKE

hen I arrived at the J. Leon Gallery + Studio in Destin last winter, its entrance was festooned with clusters of pink, red and silver balloons. From behind a counter, Jason Lindblad, the gallery’s owner and featured artist, assured me the froufrou was not to welcome me, but was instead for an upcoming “Sip, Shop and Stroll” event. → For Jason Lindblad, In addition to artist illustration is the preferred workshops and ceramics form of self-expression, but classes, Lindblad hosts these clothes and accessories also make statements. occasions monthly, inviting The artist is seen here in a the community to enjoy Calvin Klein button-down libations and peruse the work shirt, suspenders, Levi’s 511 jeans, a Madonna button, of 19 mixed-media artists. leather cuff and clear Lindblad led me through Ray-Ban glasses. a sea of beachscapes and depictions of marine life to a couple of velour loveseats at the back of his place. Here, a wall was splashed with Lindblad’s own work: chromatic, contemporary etchings of liberated performers with impressive cheekbones and untamed pastel hair. “That’s my ‘Dancing Divas’ series, which was primarily inspired by Pride month,” inspiration, you won’t find Lindblad at Lindblad said. “It’s the way the light hits the beach or aboard a fishing boat. He your face on the dance floor, the big, wild prefers spending his free time engrossed wigs worn by drag queens that fly around in his PlayStation, thrift shopping with when they’re moving.” friends and making art at home. Lindblad’s art is to his gallery as Lindblad Taking the form of both pen-andis to Destin: anomalistic. ink illustrations and digital paintings, As a curator, Lindblad said he is usually Lindblad’s creations are often inspired the one “pushing for the innovative, by the vivid world of video games — contemporary art that wouldn’t typically sell especially the wispy, watercolor Final in this area.” And, whether for recreation or

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Fantasy character concept art by Yoshitaka Amano. Lindblad’s forearms are tattooed with these characters as a reminder of his late grandmother, Virginia, with whom he played the game series. For Lindblad, illustration is the ultimate form of self-expression. Growing up in Paducah, Kentucky, he began taking private art lessons at age 5 and, unlike most LGBTQ+ kids from photography by JENNIFER G PHOTOGRAPHY

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→

Jason Lindblad says he is not a planner, but his wardrobe appears to be well thought out. At right, he is styling in a Goodthreads leather jacket and floral print shirt. Below, Lindblad wears his favorite shirt, suspenders and Levi’s 511 jeans.

small towns, was able to flourish in a supportive, nurturing environment. His high school English teacher gave him books by David Sedaris to read, and Lindblad said his art teacher “taught me how to look at art, develop a sense of style and be my most authentic self — she’s still a good mentor of mine.” Lindblad attended both SCAD Atlanta and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In Chicago, he

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gained an appreciation for the Art Deco movement. “I’m not a planner,” said Lindblad. “Often, I listen to music while I’m drawing and let the movement of whatever song is playing influence the direction of dots and lines. Usually, it’s upbeat electronic music with lots of different sounds and rhythms.” Lindblad frequently draws women who inspire him. His longtime

↑ Jason Lindblad’s muses have included Madonna and another musician, Alison Goldfrapp. “Powerful, elaborate women have always intrigued me,” he says. Above, two digital media creations: Strike a Pose in the Purple Rain, at left, and The Tortoise Touch.

↓ J. LEON GALLERY + STUDIO

Established with the goal of making highend art attainable for everyone, J. Leon supports and promotes its artists while presenting guests with unique ways to uncover their next favorite work of art. J. Leon is home to a working ceramics studio and offers events and classes. 13370 U.S. Highway 98, Miramar Beach; (850) 842-3051.

muse was Madonna, but lately, it’s been English electronic musician Alison Goldfrapp. During my visit, her songs, with their siren-like vocals and ethereal, synth-pop percussion, were playing at the gallery. “Powerful, elaborate women have always intrigued me,” he said. “I’m always drawing them and my fashion ladies.” Indeed, Lindblad frequently defaults to sketching vintage fashion models. These women, with their signature oversized, platform shoes and ostentatious costuming convey his love of theater and outmoded style. “Fashion is art, and art is fashion,” Lindblad said. “You can’t have one without the other. Designers sketch their concept, it goes to a sewing machine, then a runway and to the magazine where somebody sees it and redraws it. It’s cyclical.” Lindblad today is dressed in a black tee, dark denim and Converse sneakers. Later on at the Sip, Shop and Stroll event, he’ll wear one of his loud, printed dress shirts. “I love print!” Lindblad declared. “If I could wear funky wallpaper all the time, that would be my wardrobe. That and velvet sports coats. I like to wear crazy stuff, and I don’t think things have to cost $100 to be stylish.” He cites his mother as one of his major style influences, as well as the “cool, vivid programming”

of old-school Nickelodeon that featured production design by pop and street artist Keith Haring. While attending school in Chicago, Lindblad enrolled in classes in the fiber arts department, where many of his peers were fashion students. “I was this kid from Paducah wearing ratty T-shirts and cargo shorts, and my friends were like, ‘We’re going to Yves Saint Laurent, and you cannot show up like that!’” he laughed. “I learned a lot from them, and it was actually a friend from there who told me I should start going by J. Leon, my middle name, because it was much more stylish. My last name tends to be misspelled or mispronounced, anyway.” For Lindblad, opening the J. Leon Gallery + Studio in 2020 was a dream realized. Despite having attended art school, Lindblad said drawing had remained a “side gig” and a mere creative outlet while he worked for many years at GameStop. “Going from working at the same company for so long to owning an art gallery is a completely different world,” Lindblad said. “I’m learning something new every day, and I get to be an artist while supporting all the other artists in this community, which makes me very happy. “Even in the past year, the art and culture in our area have grown so much. I want to help keep things moving forward and to make sure artists have a space to showcase art and make art for art’s sake.” EC EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

panache Local Lines

signature, “French Marketscented” candles and home fragrance spray.

➸ Inspired by classic rock

and vintage fashion, Kim Styles fuses used and recycled band tees with funky fabrics to create wearable art at her boutique, STYLES EVER AFTER, in Panama City Beach. Place a custom order, or shop unconventionally chic jeans, tees, dusters, dresses and vests for a one-of-a-kind addition to your wardrobe.

➸ If custom-made bling is your thing, CREATIVE GEMS INC. in Panama City has you covered. Owner Nick Adamson is a third-generation jeweler, designer and repairman, and he and his team are primed to forge unique bridal and men’s rings, chains and gemstonestudded accessories for any occasion.

➸ For over 20 years, sisters

Kathy and Jodie Stroble have mingled elements of comfort and class into their clothing line, JEWEL TOFFIER. Find their resort wear and signature tees, as well as other designer goods, at the Jewel Toffier boutique in Gulf Place on 30A.

A roundup of retail happenings throughout the Emerald Coast by HANNAH BURKE

In Panama City Beach, the “intuitive” artist Chulynda is better known as the SALT HIPPY who expresses herself with brilliant acrylic, watercolor and charcoal artworks. Her groovy mermaids, seascapes, flowers and abstract designs adorn canvas prints, decals, ornaments, notecards and more at salthippy.com.

➸ Fifteen-year-old artist and fashion designer Jada Brown dazzled Pensacola last year when she debuted her brand, YADA KHOOM. Available through her Etsy store, etsy.com/shop/Yadakhoom, Brown’s original and often abstract designs stand out on swimsuits, shirts, hoodies and skirts.

➸ LILY CHARTIER PEARLS’

timelessly elegant, lustrous pearls travel from the South Seas and Tahiti to their design studio and store in Miramar Beach. Knotted with hand-spun “mermaid” rope or kangaroo leather, the pearls adorn necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, rings and more.

➸ Delicate shell bracelets, pastel seaglass pendants and hand-stamped, oceaninspired earrings comprise Kristen Browne’s original accessory line, CHANGING TIDES JEWELRY. Browne, a Pensacola resident, sometimes sets up shop at the Palafox Market, but she offers her full collection at changingtidesjewelry.com.

Jewels of the Sea ➸ A Santa Rosa Beach staple, ALBERT F’S

FASHION, ART & ACCESSORIES has been

a source of handmade trinkets and treasures for more than 20 years. The Seaside shop specializes in coastal-inspired, original jewelry, smart style and their

COASTAL CRAFTSMANSHIP

April-May 2022

➸ While on a trip in France, Carla Hard encountered “The Beehive,” an artist community in the Montparnasse district of Paris. She was inspired to create a similar hub in Pensacola at ROCK HARD DESIGN HOUSE, a place for fine custom jewelry, redesigned modern vintage furniture and period lighting and artworks. Preview signature collections at rockharddesignhouse.com, or visit the shop on Palafox Street.

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

➸ ANDREA CHIPSER is

an acrylic artist in Destin who aims to capture the unpredictable, organic wonders of the natural world. Visit andreachisper.com and peruse imaginative, acrylicpoured and resin landscapes, abstracts and animal portraiture that will add color to your home.

↑

➸ Every first and third Saturday of the month, THE SALTY MARKET in Destin proudly showcases the work of local farmers, artists and craftsman. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the new open-air market floods Main Street with organic produce, homemade treats, clothing, home goods and various modes of art and entertainment.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANDREA CHIPSER, SALT HIPPY AND CREATIVE GEMS, INC.

↑ WHAT’S IN STORE?

↓

Experience the Best of the Emerald Coast at Hotel Effie

Featuring 250 well-appointed guest rooms and suites, four culinary concepts by James Beard Award-Winning chef Hugh Acheson, a luxury spa, and the only hotel rooftop pool and lounge on the Emerald Coast. Hotel Effie delivers chic accommodations and the ultimate in Southern hospitality.

We appreciate your votes for 2022 Best of the Emerald Coast! HotelEffie.com | 844-901-1290

EMERALDCOASTMAGA EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM February–March April-May 2022 2022

CUSTOM CONTENT

Holding Rays at Bay Sunscreen is vital in decreasing skin cancer risks

ay is National Skin Cancer Awareness month, but the staff at Dermatology Specialists of Florida educates people on the importance of sun protection every day of the year. Sun exposure is the leading cause of skin cancer. The most effective way to prevent sun exposure that could lead to skin cancer is to wear sunscreen and wear it correctly. “The biggest battle with sunscreen is actually getting people to wear it before they realize the importance of it before damage has been done,” said Ariel Perry, a certified physician assistant at Dermatology Specialists of Florida in Panama City Beach. The average adult should use enough sunscreen (if in liquid form) to fill a shot glass to cover their body. For best results, apply 15 minutes before going outdoors and reapply at least every two hours, more often if you are swimming or in water. Whether you are wearing an SPF 30 or 100, you should still be consistently applying sunscreen. SPF

30 is the minimum you should wear; it blocks 97% of the sun’s ultraviolet B rays. In recent years, mineral sunscreen, also called physical sunscreen, has gained popularity. Physical sunscreen contains zinc oxide and/or titanium oxide, which create a physical barrier between the skin and sun and reflect harmful rays. Physical sunscreens tend to be thicker with a white tint, but many companies have improved the formula resulting in less sheen. Chemical sunscreens, meanwhile, are easier to rub in and, as Perry notes, much better than wearing nothing. “The best sunscreen is the sunscreen you’re actually going to wear,” Perry said. Perry advises parents to stress the importance of sunscreen to their children early on, so as to make applying sunscreen a habit that they will carry into adulthood. She also encourages people to get their skin examined by a dermatologist regularly and to perform skin checks on their own. Many skin cancer signs are visible and can be caught early, especially in the case of moles. Follow the ABCDs —

asymmetrical, border irregularity, color uniformity and diameter. Should any of these aspects appear abnormal, it’s wise to schedule a dermatology appointment. “Think of seeing your dermatologist like seeing your eye doctor, gynecologist or primary physician; it’s an appointment you should have at least once a year,” Perry said. “Exams are vital for early detection of skin cancer and any other skin concerns.”

ARIEL PERRY

DERMATOLOGY SPECIALISTS OF FLORIDA & AQUA MEDICAL SPA | (850) 659-9393

April-May 2022

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EXPERIENCE Upscale shopping, sophisticated dining options and South Walton’s premier events and entertainment await you Along the Boulevard.

DINE

SHOP

Another Broken Egg Café

Altar’d State

The Bistro

Anthropologie

(Located in Courtyard by Marriott Sandestin at Grand Boulevard)

Arhaus Arula

Black Bear Bread Co.

Billabong

Cantina Laredo Modern Mexican

Bluemercury

The Craft Bar

J.Ji l l

Emeril’s Coastal

J.McLaughlin

everkrisp

The Jewel

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

La Luna

Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria

lululemon

Hemline

Lilly Pulitzer

Kilwins

Ophelia Swimwear

PF Chang’s China Bistro

Orvis

Starbucks

Peter Millar

Tommy Bahama Restaurant & Bar

Pottery Barn

Vin’tij Food & Wine

Southern Tide

The Wine Bar

Sunset Shoes

Rose & Co

The Beaufort Bonnet Company (Now Open) Vineyard Vines Williams Sonoma

Courtyard by Marriott Sandestin at Grand Boulevard

Residence Inn by Marriott Sandestin at Grand Boulevard

Hyatt Place Sandestin at Grand Boulevard

Grand Fitness

AMC CLASSIC Boulevard 10

Emerald Coast Theatre Company

grandboulevard.com #GrandBlvd

February–March 52 April-May 2020 EMERALDCOASTMAGA 2022 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM

P U R E CO L L ECT I V E S A LO N & J OH N N I E- O ’ S NOW OPEN

DINING IN Flour and Flowers

gastro&gusto APR/MAY 2022

DINING, IMBIBING AND LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST

↗ The signature Destin-Y burger with sweet potato fries is among the offerings at Chipper’s BBQ, an eatery that combines Chicago cuisine with Southern hospitality.

DINING OUT

CHIPPER’S BBQ

Chicago-style comfort foods go coastal

by THOMAS J. MONIGAN

photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

gastro & gusto

April-May 2022

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hree years ago, the O’Neil family was driving through Northwest Florida on their way to the Florida Keys and encountered Destin for the first time. Now they’re back, as owners and operators of a new restaurant they call Chipper’s BBQ. “We instantly fell in love with the breathtaking beaches, the emerald water, the climate and the people,” Mary O’Neil said. Husband Patrick and son James are part of the team at Chipper’s, which opened last August at the eastern end of Commons Drive. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday. “Southern hospitality is real,” Patrick said. “These people are genuinely extraordinarily kind, and that’s what brought us to Destin.” James, 26, handles serving beer and wine and will become the restaurant’s bartender once a liquor license is secured. “I love it here,” he said. “We just want to bring great quality products to Destin. We love the weather here. We’re from Chicago, so it’s a lot different. Plus, the people are really nice, and the beaches are awesome.” The O’Neils bring decades of experience to their new enterprise. “Patrick and I met in a fast-food establishment almost 35 years ago,” Mary said. “Maybe it was a foreshadowing for our future. We have been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years. Our past restaurants ranged from pasta to steak and seafood, fine dining and finally barbecue.” For the O’Neils, Chipper’s is their 10th restaurant and is inspired by their last barbecue joint. They enjoyed 19 years in the rib business until the pandemic hit. Then came the big transition. “We shut down and knew we needed a new start, which included an area like Destin with a new mindset, weather and governor,” Mary said. After they decided to move south, the O’Neils made three trips to find photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

↑ TEMPTING OPTIONS A loaded potato with Chipper’s signature sauce and Southwest slaw, above. At right, a seared steak with green beans and Maw Maw Bea’s fried cornbread, an item that is named in honor of a regular customer.

a location for a restaurant and a new home. In January 2021, they permanently left the cold behind. Chipper’s features appetizers, sandwiches, platters, wraps, salads, side items and homemade desserts. There are four offerings for children 10 years old and younger. The platters include a “loaded tater.” Two of the platters are named “Mr. Hayden” and “Mr. Bob’s Big Triple Play” after customers. EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

gastro & gusto

↑ A pulled barbecue chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread with a side of mac and cheese, said by customers to be the best in town.

“They requested the platters,” Mary said. “Mr. Hayden wanted both brisket and pulled pork and a choice of two sides. To that, Mr. Bob added a serving of five ribs. Maw Maw Bea’s fried cornbread ↗ The O’Neil family, is also named after a customer. from left, Mary and All of Chipper’s meats are spice rubbed Patrick and son James. The comfortable booths prior to a “low and slow” cooking process at Chipper’s are intended that takes 12 to 14 hours. to go along with the “Our sides have not disappointed, eirestaurant’s assortment of comfort foods. ther,” Mary said. “We have had wonderful testimonials from customers that we have the best mac and cheese in town, as well as our spicy slaw.” Chipper’s also offers “family style” Steve Short and Deborah Channel are dining, which gives customers the opregular customers. tion to buy by the pound. Meats are “We love that it’s family owned, and we served with no sauce or sauced upon love the food,” Channel said. “They make customer request. it a special experience. You feel like you’re “Our signature sauce is also offered by a part of their family. It’s really amazing.” the bottle,” Mary said. “We also have a “Their baked chicken is to die for,” white barbecue and a spicy Steve Short said. “It’s barbecue sauce. We brought phenomenal.” our best sellers, knowing that “We go all over,” Channel we can satisfy even the most said. “We do South Walton Southern taste buds. Our as well as Destin, so we’re 4419 Commons Drive East, Ste. 101, Destin goal is to welcome you to enwell acquainted with local (850) 353-2753 joy comfort food and a cool restaurants. Ambiance is imchippersbbq.com beverage at the antique bar.” portant to us, and here it’s

CHIPPER’S BBQ

April-May 2022

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amazing. The décor is inviting, and it’s quiet but not too quiet.” Chipper’s is notable for its large wood-and-leather chairs and six semicircular booths. “We wanted comfortable interior décor to match our comfort food,” Mary said. Chipper’s has unveiled “early bird” specials from 3 to 5 p.m. daily. There are plans for live music entertainment by local artists. The O’Neils have applied for a liquor license and permission to allow outdoor dining and smoking meats on the premises. EC photography by MICHAEL BOOINI

Celebrate the joy of living, eating and drinking well.

L ocated at The Pe ar l H ote l 8 50.588.2882 | t h e p e ar l RB . c o m | 6 3 Mai n Str eet | Ro s em ar y B ea ch , F L 3 24 61 EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April–May 2022

gastro & gusto

DINING IN

FLOUR AND FLOWERS Blooms add color and flavor to pizzas by LIESEL SCHMIDT

ew York. Chicago. Sicily. Napoli. Whose pizza reigns supreme? And which toppings are the best? Passions run hot, and it seems that the debate will never die down. And while most people expect that pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions and mushrooms will attend a pizza party, those ingredients have been joined by the more trendy pineapple, bacon, pesto and even calamari, making the long-revered pie more irreverent and artisanal. Pizza has recently undergone yet another transformation. Edible flowers are landing on crusts, livening things up and adding both color and flavor in a way that is unexpected. And pretty. Don’t forget the pretty. Way back in ancient Rome and China, people recognized the medicinal properties of flowers and the flavor they added, and they found ways to incorporate them into their food. In the 1970s, edible flowers were briefly topical, but they fell out of vogue until recently. Now, everything from cupcakes to couscous has become floralized. Flowers, however, should be used thoughtfully. For a pizza — or any dish — you’ll want to consider the flavor profile. Some flowers have little flavor, which makes them more visual than anything, but others mirror their parent plants, just in a slightly milder form. Cases in point: rosemary, thyme, chives, sage, cilantro, fennel and basil. Their flowers taste like the plants that produce them, with the added bonus of being colorful and pretty. Fortunately, these herbs are easily grown in Florida. More Florida-friendly pie pretties include borage, which has a cucumber-like flavor; nasturtium, which has a peppery, spicy bite; marigold, which is peppery with citrusy notes;

April-May 2022

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and calendula, which is peppery. Others to consider are zinnia, viola and pansies. Flowers can be collected from vegetable plants including squash and okra as well as broccoli, radish, beetroot and arugula. Of course, for a flower to be “edible,” it must check a few boxes. Primarily, it must be intrinsically nontoxic, and it should not have been exposed to poisonous sprays like pesticides. They should also be attractive in color. Some of the flowers will be fragrant, but not all of them possess a noticeable scent. Many flowers can be used whole, such as pansies, violas and campanulas. However, in most cases, it’s best to pluck off the petals and add them to the dish. For those of us without green thumbs, some edible flowers can be found near the fresh herbs at the local grocery store or at the farmer’s market. How best to use flowers? Does one sprinkle them on the pie before or after it takes a sauna in the oven? If you have ever seen what heat does to a flower, you’ve probably figured that one out yourself. Edible flowers are best used as a finishing garnish. They keep their structure and shape, not to mention their vibrant color, making your pizza almost too pretty to eat. Beneath the layer of flowers, go with ingredients that are traditional or seasonal. Use lighter toppings like pesto and crumbled goat cheese, then finish your masterpiece with squash blossoms, nasturtium and broccoli flowers. Helpful tip for harvesting: Pick flowers at the coolest part of the day, and make sure they are clean and free of bugs. If you need to store them, make sure they are dry, and put them in a sealed container in the fridge. Most flowers will keep for a couple of days this way. EC

↙ Pork Belly Pesto Pizza INGREDIENTS

Pesto

➸ 2 cups fresh basil leaves from garden ➸ 1 cup of kale or greens of your choosing ➸ ¼ cup of parmesan cheese ➸ ¼ cup walnuts ➸ 3 cloves of garlic, roasted ➸ Lemon zest ➸½ cup of olive oil (Smashing Olive flavored olive oil)

Pizza

➸ One 16 oz. package of pre-made whole wheat pizza dough ➸ ½ cup of pesto ➸ Fresh basil for garnish ➸ Goat cheese (used lavender goat cheese but can use plain) ➸ Honey drizzle ➸ ¼ jicama diced into small cubes ➸ Pork belly cooked and diced into small cubes ➸ Micro greens and pansy flowers from Legacy Greens INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 470 degrees. Chop up pork belly into small cubes and cook in a pan, then place to the side and get rid of excess oil. Combine pesto ingredients into a food processor or blender. Roll out or throw pizza dough and place on a pizza peel with flour. Spread pesto, then drizzle lightly with olive oil. Spoon dollops of goat cheese evenly on pizza, then sprinkle pork belly. Cook for 10-15 minutes until edges are golden brown. Top with jicama, honey drizzle, fresh basil, microgreens and pansies.

Oregano Flower Pizza INGREDIENTS:

➸ One 16-ounce package of pre-made whole wheat pizza dough ➸ 1 cup mascarpone cheese ➸ 1 tablespoon lemon juice ➸ ½ teaspoon lemon zest ➸ 6 ounces pepperoni slices ➸ 2-3 small fresh tomatoes sliced thin ➸ Fresh oregano leaves and flowers to taste ➸ Coarse sea salt to taste INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the grill to medium and brush with olive oil. Roll the dough into 1- or 2-inch balls. Sprinkle a cutting board with corn meal, then roll out the dough as thin as possible. Transfer the dough onto the grill and cook for about two minutes on each side. Set aside. In a small bowl, stir the lemon juice and zest into the mascarpone cheese. Spread a generous portion of the cheese mixture onto the grilled pizza, then top with slices of cold pepperoni and slices of fresh tomato. Garnish with a sprinkle of sea salt, the oregano leaves and the flowers. photography by LINDSEY MASTERSON

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April-May 2022

PHOTOS BY CHASE YAKABOSKI

Restaurant Spotlight

Destin Landmark Has Served Fresh Seafood to Families for Generations For 54 years, visitors to Capt. Dave’s on the Gulf have reliably enjoyed fresh, flavorful food, customer-centric service and priceless water views. Capt. Dave’s defines “family-owned.” Three generations have managed and worked the business. The familial energy is present upon entry, as the staff welcomes guests and encourages them to take their time eating and taking in their surroundings. “Through the years some of our customers become like family,” said Austin Marler. “We have third and even fourth generations dining with us.” Each table has a designated server, ensuring tightly focused service. The menu offers seafood and steaks prepared the way that folks on the Gulf Coast like them. Quality is a

constant at Capt. Dave’s where an effort is made to procure the freshest seafood available. Capt. Dave’s has become synonymous with their Stuffed Shrimp Parmesan — jumbo shrimp with crabmeat stuffing broiled in a housemade Italian parmesan cream sauce and topped with more parmesan cheese. Variations include the Mahi Parmesan and the Snapper Jane, fish topped with crabmeat and broiled shrimp in a seafood cream sauce. There’s not a bad seat in the house. Floor-to-ceiling windows afford diners glorious views of the Gulf, and as Marler often says, he wants each customer to experience food as great as the scenery. The atmosphere is beach casual and comfortable. The menu offers items appropriate to a family meal or a special

celebration. No matter where you’re coming from or going, the staff intends for you to enjoy the here and the now.

CAPT. DAVE’S ON THE GULF 3796 SCENIC U.S. HIGHWAY 98, DESTIN | (850) 837-2627 | CAPTDAVESONTHEGULF.COM

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Restaurant Spotlight

A Little Bit of Chicago on the Emerald Coast parmigiana, wood-fired pizzas and calzones and the Friday Night Fresh Fish, locally caught and prepared with the chef’s own sauces. When you visit Fat Clemenza’s, check out the daily specials on the blackboard, an idea borrowed from Tufano’s in Chicago. The everchanging menu items allow the chefs to get creative with available ingredients and offer patrons something unique each visit. “The food is exceptional, the wine is top tier, and we have a comfortable, Old World atmosphere with stellar service from a large staff including folks who have been with us since we opened 14 years ago,” Damiano said. “Our multicultural presence and long-term relationships with customers further set us apart.” There’s not a night when the 16-table, 60-seat space isn’t brimming with conversation, flowing with wine and overtaken by the aroma of delectable

dishes. The restaurant is warmed by its wood-fired oven and by the sincerity of a staff that treats diners like family. “Fat Clemenza’s was once a little secret that has gotten out,” Damiano said, proving that there are some family secrets that ought not to be kept.

FAT CLEMENZA’S 12273 US-98, MIRAMAR BEACH | (850) 650-5980 | FATCLEMENZAS.COM

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PHOTO BY CHASE YAKABOSKI

As appreciative as Dominic Damiano was for the scenic beaches of Northwest Florida, he found himself homesick for the sights, sounds and scents of his Italian neighborhood in Chicago. In 2008, Damiano decided to try to create the Old World warmth and hospitality of a genuine Italian restaurant in Miramar Beach. Damiano, by way of honoring his Italian heritage, is committed to always serving authentic cuisine. Maintaining recipe consistency and quality is of utmost importance to him. If you are a repeat customer, Damiano intends that today’s meal taste exactly like the one you had last time. The olive oils, pasta, tomatoes, flour and seasoning are imported from Italy. Twice a week, a shipment of sausage arrives from Chicago. All other ingredients are sourced locally and exceptionally fresh. Menu highlights include linguine with clam sauce, housemade eggplant

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APR 14 Artz for All with Zot @ Hotel Efﬁe Sandestin.

SEPT 10 - OCT 1 Lights, Camera, Action! Join us Saturday evenings in the village for Fall Flix featuring an exciting variety of ﬁlms. Table and lawn seating available. Food trucks on site each week!

MAY & SEPT Artful Dining @ Vin’tij Food & Wine in Grand Boulevard. NOV 10 10th Annual Wine Walkabout at Ruth's Chris Steak House at Silver Shells Resort in Destin.

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OCT 29 - 30 Annual arts festival featuring ﬁne artists exhibiting their original art, live music, food trucks, crafted cocktails.

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BOOKS

Behind the Camera, Behind the Gun

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CREATIVE WORKS LAND ON PAGES, CANVASES AND STAGES

MUSIC

→ Ronnie McBrayer, who grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, transitions easily from singing the songs of Bob Dylan on a Saturday night to pastoring the Simple Faith Church in Santa Rosa Beach on Sunday morning.

SLOW TRAIN TO MIRAMAR

↓

It was a fine time to meet you, Lucille’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE BAND

by STEVE BORNHOFT

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expression

↗ Desolation Road, a Bob Dylan tribute band, and the Neil Young tribute band, Rust & Gold, frequently make joint appearances in performances titled Slow Train. Ronnie McBrayer, center, the front man for Desolation Road, recently joined Rust & Gold at a concert held to raise funds for the Gulf Coast School for Autism.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE BAND

ohn Wehner jotted down a bunch of possible restaurant names on a piece of paper and then walked away from his desk, letting them simmer. Some 20 years after creating the Village Door Restaurant at Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin, Wehner, overtaken by a desire to “do something different,” had developed a second restaurant in the Seascape Towne Center in Miramar Beach. He assigned the same “Village Door” name to it, reasoning that it would be easier to build on an established brand than to launch a new one. Breakers West, Breakers East, that kind of thing. “Might have been the worst business decision I ever made,” said Wehner, who got into restaurant ownership in 1992 when he acquired The Famous Door in New Orleans. “All it did was produce confusion.” With business at his new location slowed by the impacts of a protracted highway-widening project and the COVID pandemic, Wehner thought the time opportune for a name change. Wehner passed by the list again. “Lucille’s” attracted his attention. For starters, Lucille was just a name, one with no connection to a certain famous guitar or anybody’s aunt. But before long, Wehner made Lucille the center of a short story, written in the spirit of the atmosphere that he is working to create at his new place. “The story is fictional, but everyone in it is a real person,” Wehner said of the story that resides at partyatlucilles.com. “Except for Lucille. She is a composite of three women. I wrote the story, and my daughter, who is a writing student at New College (in Sarasota), helped out. It’s basically about New Orleans hospitality.” An excerpt … The couple’s home on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter became the go-to spot for their community — people from all walks

of life. Nobody ever used the front door. Everybody entered through the back door leading straight to the kitchen. The door was never locked. Even though the house was Frank and Lucille’s, the kitchen was truly Lucille’s Kitchen. There, she was always the boss. “Frank Buscallano” operated a nightclub frequented by mobsters. As a young man, Wehner was the drummer in the house band at just such a place in Metairie, Louisiana. “All the Italians hung out there,” Wehner said. “I was the youngest member of the house band, and they loved me because I could play all of the Louie Prima-type music. I was 18, and they kind of took me under their wing. There were bookies and men who ran numbers rackets, but what they did to make money really didn’t have anything to do with me. I knew them in their social lives.” HOW DOES IT FEEL?

On a rainy night in December, two bands would perform at Lucille’s Kitchen & Music Hall. The first, Desolation Road, is a tribute band that honors Bob Dylan, himself a storyteller notorious for concocting tales that separate people from the truth about him. The front man is Ronnie McBrayer. He wears a black fedora, black shirt, black pants and dark glasses. He and his bandmates open with the foreboding and prescient Slow Train … All that foreign oil controlling American soil Look around you, it’s just bound to make you embarrassed Sheiks walkin’ around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings Deciding America’s future from Amsterdam and Paris And there’s a slow, slow train comin’up around the bend. An audience made up mostly of people gray or graying nod in

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April-May 2022

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↖ Nic Turner, left, and Ronnie McBrayer compared notes during an acoustic performance at the 30A Songwriters Festival. Turner, whose naturally high voice enables him to do a spoton Neil Young, encouraged McBrayer to establish a Bob Dylan tribute band.

unison. McBrayer is good, authentic. Comfortable, the crowd settles in. Perhaps few among its number know that McBrayer is the pastor of the Simple Faith Church in Santa Rosa Beach. He grew up in the mountain town of Calhoun, Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, in a family whose men were “preachers and bootleggers, and sometimes both roles were played by the same person.” As to his own duality — preaching the gospel of Bob Dylan on a Saturday night and preaching the Gospel hours later — McBrayer said in an interview that there are commonalities. “Even if you subtract Bob’s ‘evangelical’ years in the late ’70s and early ’80s, what he says with his music is prophetic and is as badly needed today as it was when he got started in the 1960s,” McBrayer said. “Plenty of people have sold lots of records, but Dylan has a way of transcending his own rock-and-roll genre. If you read his lyrics, music aside,

April-May 2022

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he is an incredible poet. I would put him with Frost, Dickinson and other greats.” The only rock ’n’ roll permitted in McBrayer’s boyhood home was Elvis, whose music was forgiven because he had recorded a gospel album. “I grew up in a very fundamentalist household,” McBrayer said. “My joke has always been that we were so fundamentalist that I wanted to be a Southern Baptist because they were so liberal.” McBrayer was first exposed to Dylan by a high school teacher. “He was an old hippie, and he was teaching about the ’60s and the anti-war movement and the explosion of social change in that decade. He brought his little guitar to class one day and sang The Times, They Are A-changing and Masters of War, and that was like a revelation.” Musicians getting their start in church is a familiar refrain. McBrayer conforms. “My paternal grandfather was a musician, and all my father’s brothers played,”

he said. “My first singing was in the church before I was 10 years old. By the time I was 12 or 13, I was playing guitar. Music is my very first love, and Bob Dylan’s music is not that far from the mountain tunes and hymns and spirituals I grew up with.” McBrayer likened his Simple Faith Church to the Island of Misfit Toys. “We have communion every week, and my invitation is the same,” he said. “No matter who you are, where you’ve come from or where you’re going, if you’re on the path of faith, you’re welcome at this table.” McBrayer is a friend of the disfranchised, an opponent of arrogance, exclusivity and barriers. He is rather like Dylan that way, rather like Wehner’s Lucille. Their first set complete, the members of Desolation Road depart the stage and exchange high fives and fist bumps. Joey Gates on bass and drummer Dustin Borlack are new to the mix, and McBrayer is coming off an 11-monthlong battle with long COVID, so bad

that he had been treated with experimental drug cocktails served by doctors at Vanderbilt University. The set has gone well. “I wasn’t worried,” McBrayer said. “But I was pleasantly just so pleased.” In the second set, the band is visibly more relaxed and having more fun. It’s tighter, and McBrayer is further into character, more gravelly and nasally than before. Recognizing the first few strains of Like a Rolling Stone, a blond woman half Dylan’s age gets to her feet, raises a fist and let’s fly with a roar so loud that it turns heads in Lucille’s balcony, above. How did it feel? “It felt like old times,” McBrayer said.

PHOTO BY LYNN CROW PHOTOGRAPHY (TURNER AND MCBRAYER) AND LINDSEY MASTERSON (LUCILLE’S)

HEART OF GOLD

Next up is Rust & Gold, a Neil Young tribute band with Nic Turner in the lead role. He wears a tattered hat over thinning, tousled hair and the requisite flannel shirt, open at the front to reveal a faded white tee well on its way to yellow. Facially, too, he looks the part. Turner grew up in Venice Beach in SoCal. He was 15 and in a Christian band when country singer Dorsey Burnette (Tall Oak Tree) asked Turner to back him up on electric guitar. It would prove to be a limited engagement, but Turner got a taste for secular performance. About that time, a girl named Cathleen, who would marry Turner years later, introduced him to the music of Neil Young. “She loved him, and I had a naturally high voice so it was real easy for me to do Neil Young,” said Turner, who would figure in a few bands but stopped playing for some 30 years after the first of his four children was born. A health scare returned him to music, which Turner found to be restorative. “I was working in computer programming, and I suffered a minor stroke from sitting down for long periods of time,” Turner said. “My son Andy thought it was important for me to be active at something, and he took me to get a Gibson acoustic guitar like the one I started with.” The chords had not left Turner’s fingers. He played at an open mic night at Chuck Stiles’ Graffiti & The Funky Blues Shack when it was located at Baytowne Wharf. Stiles was impressed, so much so that he booked Turner to play Neil Young songs and other music.

Subsequently, Scott Rockwood, considered by Turner to be the best guitarist on the Emerald Coast, formed Rust & Gold. The two men played together for a few years but not steadily. Always busy and in demand, Rockwood divides his time among several bands. Eventually, Turner took over Rust & Gold and made the band a full-time business. At this writing, he and bass player Mel Senter, keyboardist David Beaver and drummer Cameron Mitchell, have bookings from South Florida to Austin, Texas, and from Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin. “Neil Young’s songwriting to me is the best in the world,” Turner said. “I think that is a lot of the reason that I perform it so well because I really like the lyrics, I like the tone, I like the charisma that he brings.” And, he admires Young’s advocacy in support of the environment, disabled persons, farmers and others. Like Young and like McBrayer, Turner plays many of his concerts as fundraisers for charities — local, regional and national. The benefiting nonprofits include the Empowerment Parent Resource Center, based in Pensacola. Turner is close to Rand Hernandez, a Niceville resident and an EPRC resource specialist who works to provide support to parents and caregivers of disabled children.

↑ A PLACE

TO CONNECT

John Wehner intends for people to put their phones up when they visit Lucille’s Kitchen & Music Hall. “We want you to talk with people, talk with your family, the way people used to spend time with each other,” Wehner said. Performers and comedians who take the stage in the Music Hall are varied enough to attract all sorts, but the target audience for the restaurant is families. “A big fan of the restaurant suggested a stance line — Family Reunions Here Daily,” Wehner said. “That’s a really good line, and that’s where we’d like to take Lucille’s.” Too, Wehner wants Lucille’s to be known for “home cooking with loads of flavor.” He recently brought on Justin Sharpe, the owner of The Chef’s Table catering in Santa Rosa Beach, as his chef. Lucille’s and the catering service have merged operations. Next time you’re there, try the shrimp and grits. You get into those and your phone rings, you’ll let it go to voicemail.

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FRESH SEAFOOD FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS

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Turner knows about coping with difficulties. There was the stroke, and he also suffers with multiple sclerosis. “It’s a thorn in my flesh,” Turner said, “but I just have to look past it.” “Nic is a genuinely kind person,” Wehner said. “Heart of gold.” In putting together playlists, Turner chooses songs that mean the most to him personally, songs including Natural Beauty. “‘A greedy man never knows what he’s done,’ it’s a favorite Neil Young line of mine,” Turner said. He recalled a time when exotic vegetation was introduced to the Grand Canyon and overwhelmed the native plants. “Man was not made to be the gardener and the zookeeper of the planet,” Turner said. It was fitting that Desolation Road warmed up Rust & Gold; it was Turner who talked McBrayer into arriving at a Dylan act. Not infrequently, they share a stage at small venues and perform unplugged. “Some people want a more relaxed acoustic experience,” Turner said. When the two bands played together in December at Lucille’s, the joint concert was dubbed Slow Train. At the end of the evening, the train picked up speed. Desolation Road and Rust & Gold combined to perform Young’s rollicking anthem, Rockin’ in the Free World. When they did, no one was ready for the train to check in to the station. “Playing never gets old,” Turner said. “And you can never get it perfect. That’s the way it should be. That will keep you Young.” EC

PHOTO BY LYNN CROW PHOTOGRAPHY

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expression Hines’ first days spent at a newly integrated high school were ← traumatic, sure enough. Myron Hines drew upon his “Really, it was more like experiences growing up in a tragic,” he said. He was highly segregated Panama City, Florida, in writing his separated from friends who second novel, Shooter. were zoned to another high A lifelong civil rights school. The sports teams advocate, Hines finds that, to this day, law enforcement he had come to enjoy were serves white neighborhoods busted up. and polices Black ones. “The superintendent of schools opposed forced integration,” Hines said. “Not that the schools were integrated; they were just desegregated. The principal didn’t want us there. The white students didn’t want us there. We didn’t want to be there.” Fights were frequent and unfair. When they broke out, white students ran to their cars and retrieved chains, clubs and bats. “We didn’t have cars,” Hines said. “All we had to fight with was a belt and a buckle.” BOOKS It was from that racially charged environment that George Hobbs, the protagonist in Hines’ 2021 novel, Shooter: A Search for Love & Justice, escaped by enlisting in the Army. Hobbs finds love (twice) and imposes justice, swiftly and irreversibly. Hines, who was never in the military, found his way to a 48-year, behind-thecamera career in television in Panama City. He was an accomplished videographer and, ultimately, an executive. by STEVE BORNHOFT To prepare himself to write authentically about military service, he consulted his brothers, Wayne and yron Hines can picture very well Bay County hospital. He was a Black George, both veterans. His son, Terrill, the drinking water fountains man, and doctors were in no hurry to get currently in the military, also helped once present at a convenience to him. out. A photo of Terrill served as the store on Sixth Street in Panama Thereafter, his mother provided for basis for Atlanta artist Sidney Carter’s City, one labeled WHITE and the other, Hines and his siblings by hosting card cover design for Shooter. COLORED. Of the two, only one games and collecting two dollars from George Hobbs, Hines said, is a fountain delivered cool water. each table every four hands. blend of those family members and She learned to feed the players and to loan He recalls with ease the time he visited their experiences. them money when they got cleaned out. the store as a boy with friends, one of Hobbs’s drill instructor, aware that he “There were only two reasons to leave whom quenched his thirst with cool had joined the Army to get away from the game — you got hungry or you ran water. The owner of the store took after the punishing racial dynamics in his out of money,” Hines said. “My mother the boys, who knew that he was no threat hometown, pairs Hobbs with a white figured out how to keep the women to catch them. man from Illinois who was nicknamed playing. She could make a thousand Hines was a boy when his father was Football due to his oblong head. dollars in a weekend.” stabbed and bled out, unattended, in a

BEHIND THE CAMERA, BEHIND THE GUN In his turbulent novel, Myron Hines explores anger and violence

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expression needed to be killed, and he was going to find a way to make a buck taking out the garbage. In the midst of all the shooting, love breaks out. Hobbs encounters a woman assigned to a U.S. senator’s security detail and the consummation of their mutual infatuation soon follows. Maybe this will be the fresh start that Hobbs is looking for. Maybe he will learn that he cannot escape himself. For sure, he isn’t through rationalizing. Playing at poetry, he writes a few lines: When true love comes through pain And obstacles of tormented stormy rain Pleasures galore should rule the day Because Mom said it would be that way. Hobbs is for Hines an illustration of someone who harbors within himself the capacity to take actions that you would not think him capable of performing. “If you get angry at someone and they don’t get agitated, if they stay cool, you ↑ For George Hobbs, the central character in Shooter, a novel written by Panama City resident better back off,” Hines told an interviewer, Myron Hines, the military provides an escape from a small Southern town that offered Black men seemingly speaking from experience. few opportunities. Hines interviewed members of his family with military experience to arrive at Hines is a family man. He and his passages in his book that describe Hobbs’ encounters at boot camp and in Vietnam. wife Verma have five grown children. Long a campaigner for civil rights, he is Hobbs distinguishes himself as a didn’t matter. She loved him, and they were often called upon to represent the Black marksman and qualifies for weapons off to another life in Atlanta. community at meetings like the charrettes school where he becomes an expert A hard read. Gentle while tough. To that held to gather ideas for the redevelopment in small-caliber weapons. Hobbs and extent, Hines prepares his readers for the of Panama City’s downtown. Football fatefully meet again after chaotic romp that unfolds next. Hines dismissed the gatherings as completing tours in Vietnam and Post Army, Football settles in Las “charades” and challenged a consultant, separating from the service. Vegas, goes to work as a custodian at a asking, “Are you trying to bring about a By then a married father of two, casino and trains to bedowntown that truly will Hobbs returns to Panama City after be accessible by all or come a dealer. Fast comhe exits the military and lives in his are you making a place pany catches up with hometown long enough to embark for the rich man to walk Football, and he incurs on a career in television that parallels his dog?” fat gambling debts makHines’s own track. He moves his family Hines can make people ing him a marked man. to Atlanta after catching on as a shooter Myron Hines retired from uncomfortable, now. He enlists sharpshooter with a network affiliate station there. broadcast television Race relations have imHobbs, whose life he had after 48 years as an He looks forward to a fresh start in a proved little if at all, he industry professional saved in Nam, to take out new city, where he might make new and executive. In the finds. Today, more abusthe gangsters who were friends and hope to reinvigorate a course of his career, he es come to light because trailing him. met the likes of Julian marriage gone cold. everyone has a camera in Bond, Andrew Young One killing leads to anThe move is an occasion for Hobbs’ and President Jimmy his pocket, but “that’s all other. Hobbs is good at it wife, LaToya, too, to take stock … Carter. Born and raised in that has changed, more Panama City’s Glenwood and buys into Football’s She was athletic and smart, and she had cameras.” neighborhood, Hines rationalizations. and his wife Verma have grown up without a father in the house. More cameras. More five children. Hines is Football knew that killing Still, he had played a big part in her life. guns. More shooters. available for book signings was wrong, and yet he felt George somehow reminded her of her father, Hines simmers and and can be reached at myronhines52@gmail.com. strongly that there were some the way he was stubborn and caring, gentle writes … but doesn’t people in this world who while tough. He was a hard read, but that shoot. EC

↓ ABOUT THE AUTHOR

April-May 2022

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photography by MIKE FENDER

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April-May April–May 2022 2021

expression

PUBLISHING

THE RUSH TO PRINT Self-publishing has unleashed a torrent of writers by WYNN PARKS

ince the 1970s, word processing and photocopying, abetted by the advent of personal computers, the pdf, the jpeg, flash drives and graphic software, have become capable, like Shakespeare’s monkeys, of transforming almost any grab bag of words into a book. The digital revolution has eliminated drafting on paper, that tedious trial-by-dedication of yore. Plus, no matter what combination of words that grab bag might contain, professional formatting lends them a blanketing gravitas! The field has come a long way since Gutenberg’s grand innovations. No more typesetting. No need for 5,000 copy editions. It’s an affordability that has set off an explosive efflorescence of

independent publishing, and books march from the kitchen tables of would-be authors like the brooms in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Anyone who can type an email can now sidestep the interference of the hoariest of traditional publishers. Established in 2008, Smashwords, the premier, groundbreaking website for self-published books, now claims to have built a digital catalog of almost 600,000 titles. Smashwords’ founder, Mark Coker, writes earnestly about “democratizing” book publishing through digital technology, a well-intentioned goal with the promise of an alternative platform for independent publishing. Initially, writers of offbeat and niche material everywhere hailed digital

publishing, hoping to see their work presented to a broader world of readers … or any readers at all. But while Coker and later imitators espouse idealistic goals, the result has been a kind of literary populism; truly outstanding material can become lost in a free-for-all of not-readyfor-primetime listings. On the other hand, and to mix a gargantuan metaphor, ’tis a far better thing to tolerate the feathers with the chicken than throw out the baby with the bathwater! The canon of English literature is filled with examples like self-publisher William Blake, who “presold” his Songs of Innocence — “Tigre, tigre, burning bright ...” — by subscription to patrons. Critics originally dismissed Blake’s

WRITER TIPS

J.J. Herbert, an author and the CEO at MindStir Media, offered advice for writers in a post that appeared on Forbes magazine’s website last year. In it, he listed five questions writers should ask before embarking upon a self-publishing adventure: 1. Is your book ready for the public? Be sure to consult a professional editor prior to publication. 2. Which self-publishing platforms are you going to use? Some will go the DIY route and others will turn to a self-publishing company. 3. Which book formats do you plan to offer? Print books are still more popular than e-books. 4. Who is your target audience? “Everyone” is the worst possible answer to that question. 5. Where and how will you market your book? Digital marketing is the most efficient and affordable way to reach target audiences.

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illustration by SIERRA THOMAS

poetry as that of a mad man, yet later generations have come to regard his poetry as classic. In the sordid world of commerce, no sooner had Smashwords shown signs of prospering than Jeff Bezos and Amazon elbowed their way into the field, cataloging a pyramid of more than 6 million tributary e-titles. Plus, Amazon stealthily diverted Smashwords’ internet links to itself and eroded both Smashwords’ and its own authors’ source of income by drowning them in a sea of themselves! Consequently, none of today’s overpopulated e-platforms are especially browser-friendly, even if one is on the 200,000th listing page. Still, hope springs eternal. Today’s indy publisher can do everything from justifying the text to designing a book cover with a reasonable investment of time. One simply formats his masterpiece into a computer e-book file as easily as following a cookbook recipe for a chocolate-covered Turducken. Next, one casually uploads the file to the e-book platform of one’s choice, and Voila! — one is a self-published, indy author waiting for the celebrity to begin and the percentages to roll in! Paper still confers an extra dollop of prestige, and the process for upgrading to hardcopy requires more or less the same sort of twiddling as the e-book — except that the penultimate digital file needs to be activated by a check to the print-ondemand outfit, like DiggyPOD, that one chooses. Printing costs per copy drop depending on how many are printed at a time — as little as 15 to 20% of the retail per-copy price! Then, in two or three weeks, one has in hand a first edition of The Real Great Adventures of Me! But heads up! At some point in the process, the intoxicating prospect of publication makes it easy to overlook the expenses of the whole D.Y.I. shtick. Assuming one has a budget, caveat emptor, dude. No sooner do the ghostwriters, programmers and freelance editors somehow get wind of what’s going down than they are all up in your face with tempting words about how much one needs their services to crack the market in New York or Hollywood, while the mother of all expenses — marketing and distribution — also awaits! With paper books, however, the author may choose to be on his or her own. This has brought about 21st-century independents and a return to the time-honored strategy of the aforementioned William Blake. And be happy one doesn’t have to evade the fate of Johannes Gutenberg. As big an innovator as he was, they repossessed his printing press! EC

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fiber N I C O L E H E M M E R LY TURNS ORGANIC MATERIALS INTO STATEMENT PIECES S T O R Y BY PA I G E A I G R E T P H O T O G R A P H Y BY S E A N M U R P H Y AND KRISTIN NICOLE PHOTOGRAPHY

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April-May 2022

Reggae music is playing, and about her are three looms and a macrame station. Nicole Hemmerly floats about her studio moving from project to project and spoiling her four rescue dogs with attention. So go the days in the life of Hemmerly, owner of MossHound Designs. Hemmerly, who founded the business, is a fiber artisan who works with materials including macrame, cotton and wool to create unique pieces for homes, businesses and events. Hers is a one-woman business — she curates supplies, designs and creates pieces and packages her finished projects for shipping.

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↗ Nicole Hemmerly weaves a wall hanging on an upright loom. She makes her creations from farmgrown and locally sourced handspun natural fibers. In the photo at left, dogs Maycie, Arnold and Bobo line up for treats served by an incurable animal lover.

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April-May 2022

“ I T WA S S O F U N A N D S O O T H I N G A N D M E D I TAT I V E ; I T W A S E X A C T LY W H A T I N E E D E D AT T H AT P O I N T I N M Y L I F E .”

Hemmerly started MossHound Designs in North Carolina in 2015. But, as a military spouse, she moves frequently and her business has had to move with her. Hemmerly finds that she can work from anywhere. Traveling keeps her creative brain active, and she draws inspiration from whatever environment surrounds her. A lot of her work is given to earth tones — burnt oranges, mossy greens and browns. But living in the Niceville area, she has found new inspiration from Gulf waters and white sands. Hemmerly has begun to incorporate coastal colors into her work and plans to do more of that in the future. Hemmerly is the product of a conservative upbringing who entered upon adulthood convinced that she needed to get a degree and follow a career path. She earned a master’s degree in athletic training and felt that she had followed the script perfectly. “But after 10 years, I was completely burnt out,” she said. Her husband gave her the time and space she needed to explore alternatives. She happened upon a book on the history of fiber arts, then went looking for a book on macrame. Soon, she found herself stocking up on materials at craft stores.

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↗ A woven wall hanging

adds texture and color to an empty, flat space and gives off, says fabric artist Nicole Hemmerly, “a night sky and landscape vibe.”

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April-May 2022

↑ The artist

“It was so fun and soothing and meditative; it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life,” Hemmerly reflected. Fiber art had become for her a fulfilling hobby when people started asking her to create something unique for their own spaces. The demand for her creations surprised her. People were snapping up existing creations and placing orders for custom pieces. Magazines were reaching out to feature her. Hemmerly permitted herself to believe that “people like what I do.” Three years later, however, she found that she was merely replicating rather than creating. She decided to switch to a more sustainable business model, opting to use vintage and natural fibers and stay away from buying supplies from big businesses. She began incorporating wool from her family’s sheep farm in at work on a macrame piece. Hemmerly limits herself to using certified, cotton organic materials.

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Pennsylvania. Her success had given her the financial freedom to overhaul her business. “I did reach a point where it was feasible, and I decided to dive all in with it,” Hemmerly said. Hemmerly began to use packaging made from compostable and recyclable materials. She researched suppliers whose missions aligned with hers. “I only work with suppliers who offer certified cotton, organic materials,” she explained. Hemmerly uses materials from the garment industry, vintage rugs and mill ends. Her supplier breaks them down, reducing them to fibers, which are then repurposed as rope, string or yarn. This approach enables Hemmerly to create pieces that not only are made of natural materials, but that in many cases would have ended up in landfills. In addition to her love of art and sustainability, Hemmerly has a passion for animals, specifically for senior dogs. The name of her business sprung from this passion, with “moss” referring to her love of earthy

PHOTO BY ©LILASGH - STOCK.ADOBE.COM / ART BY NICOLE HEMMERLY (MOUNTAIN MOON LANDSCPE #2)

→ A piece called Mountain Modern Landscape #2 makes a bold statement. Artist Nicole Hemmerly departed a 10-year career as an athletic trainer to launch her business, MossHound Designs.

colors and “hound” referring to her love of dogs and a hound named Maycie, in particular. She donates a portion of the proceeds from MossHound Designs to helping animals by giving money to shelters, donating supplies to shelters, sponsoring a dog or in many cases fostering several at a time. “I always joke that I either donate or adopt a dog,” Hemmerly said with a laugh. “It’s hell to do, but it’s so rewarding.” Hemmerly’s most popular pieces include her Ethereal Woodland Macraweave, Jewel Tone Macraweave and her Terracotta Table Runners. She sells a lot of macrame chandeliers, which work perfectly as stand-alone statement pieces or in numbers when hung from the ceiling over a dance floor at a wedding or other events. Hemmerly’s work can be seen in person at the Maxine Orange Gallery at 21A Eglin Parkway in Fort Walton Beach. Orders and inquiries can be placed through her website, MossHoundDesigns.com, or her social media pages. EC

↑ Hemmerly’s dog Bo was malnourished and scared when he was dropped off at an animal shelter, but he has become a “sweet and loving dog,” her owner says.

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam is pure country

«««««««««««««««««««

BIG OL’

««««««

««

When Rendy Lovelady walks out onto the stage at Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, he looks past the performers. He’s focused on the crowd. “I call them my Jammers,” said Lovelady, the executive producer of the festival. “I love to see their faces, how happy they are. It’s just a big ol’ redneck party. God and country, you know what I mean?” Gulf Coast Jam is tuning up for its 10th anniversary festival, scheduled for June 2–5 at Panama City Beach’s Frank Brown Park. This year, it has been extended to include a fourth day and 30 acts, along with barrels of bourbon. Musical giants including Brooks & Dunn, Florida Georgia Line and Old Dominion are set to dominate the main stage alongside a truckload of other talent ranging from up-and-comers to more household names. story by

EMMA WITMER photography by

MIKE FENDER

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

April-May 2022

→ Lynyrd Skynyrd headlined Day 1 of the 2021 Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, held at Panama City Beach’s Frank Brown Park. It was the first major festival held in the U.S. as the country began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

««««

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We call it the biggest party on the beach, and we’ve got a jam-up team that helps us make it a reality.” — Rendy Lovelady «««««««««

Putting on a shindig like Gulf Coast Jam is no small task. A whopping 1,300 staff members and volunteers work to transform Frank Brown Park from “a bunch of ball fields into a small city” and carry out the event, said Gulf Coast Jam publicist Craig Campbell. Half of that crew spends seven to 10 days prior to the festival setting up staging, sound and lights, erecting fences and seeing to other must-haves. The other half serves as boots on the ground during the festival, working in food and drink stations, and handling ticketing, parking and security. When it’s all said and done, it takes roughly three days to tear the whole thing down. In that two-week span, Gulf Coast Jam requires 63 buses, 68 semi trucks, 55 golf

carts, 240 walkie-talkies and more than 200 portable toilets to get the job done. According to Campbell, crew members average just three hours of sleep per night from set-up to tear-down. “We call it the biggest party on the beach, and we’ve got a jam-up team that helps us make it a reality,” Lovelady said. Lovelady, who got his start in the music industry as a tour manager for Van Halen, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi in the ’80s, is well past the point of getting star-struck. He considers many of the headliners personal friends, but he has a special fondness for the newbies on the scene. Every year, Lovelady reserves a slot in the Gulf Coast Jam lineup for the winner of his Southern Original Talent Search. Aspiring musicians from all 50 states

show up to compete, and the top 10 acts participate in a sort of battle of the bands at Newby’s Brew & Booze House. “I tell them before they go on, ‘You’re gonna play for 30,000 people. Leave it all on the stage. You have a moment where you can make an impression,’” Lovelady said. It’s not just the stages that heat up when those throngs of Jammers roll into town. Beach businesses from Whiskey’s Saloon to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! enjoy a spike in business during Gulf Coast Jam. According to a study published in the Journal of Tourism Insights, Gulf Coast Jam’s total economic impact on the county totaled $21,254,643 in 2017, alone. “We encourage festival attendees to hang out at the beach, go to restaurants,

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April-May 2022

↑ COWBOY HATS AND DAISY DUKES The Pepsi Gulf

Coast Jam attracts throngs of up to 30,000 country music fans. The event’s executive producer, Rendy Lovelady, affectionately calls them “Jammers.” ««««««««

shop locally and visit other attractions before they head over to listen to music,” Campbell said. “The city helps us spread the word about Gulf Coast Jam all year.” Back Beach Barbecue has hauled its food truck out to the Gulf Coast Jam several times over the years, according to manager Jackson Taylor. “Not only have we generated a lot of advertisement and business (with the food truck), the entire city is booming when they come into town,” Taylor said. “We weren’t vendors last year, but we still saw a lot of business in-house. Most of the crowd is very pleasant and respectful when they come into our businesses. It brings a great sense of camaraderie.” As a multi-day festival without a campground, Gulf Coast Jam promotes local lodgings where Jammers can get a bit of shut-eye. “As a promoter, my whole motto had always been about putting butts in the seats, and now we’re saying, ‘We’ve got to put heads in the beds,’” Lovelady said.

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Gulf Coast Jam has grown exponentially since its inception in 2013. That year, Lovelady said, roughly 7,000 people came out each day. By 2021, that number had climbed to nearly 25,000. Numbers like that can test security teams. “I’m not saying we don’t have our problems,” Lovelady said. “But I tell you this, in 10 years, I can count on two hands how many people have ever been arrested. When people get out of line, we cut the wristbands and send them on their way. We don’t play. ” Some problems, no one can be completely prepared for. Historically, the festival has been the close-out event of the summer concert season, but due to the COVID pandemic infection rates in 2020, Lovelady postponed Gulf Coast Jam several times, eventually settling on June 2021. Last year’s festival made local and national headlines as the first major festival to take place since the start of the pandemic. “There was a lot of tension because, honestly, nobody really knew what was going on,” Lovelady said. “Nobody had had mass events at that point in time. I mean, somebody had to be first. We actually were looking at buying 25,000 COVID tests, but it physically became impossible. Back then, tests were hard to come by. How do you get 25,000 people in the gate three days before the event?” After extensive discussion with the artists and local officials, Lovelady resolved to rely on a system of mutual trust. Each attendee was required to sign a liability waiver and fill out a form outlining their history of exposure and symptoms. According to Lovelady, there were “zero traceable COVID cases after June.” The next Gulf Coast Jam, scheduled for the following September, was canceled due to another spike in cases and was rescheduled for June 2022. The fates seemed to favor June Jams. “Over the years, Gulf Coast Jam has grown in size, in quality of talent and I think it’s also grown in love,” Lovelady said. “I think everybody in the Panhandle loves Gulf Coast Jam. When we had to cancel it because of COVID, I think there were a lot of sad people. So when we finally had it, it was just really exciting. I’m ready to go again.” EC

↖

Luke Bryan took to the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam stage on Day 3 of last year’s festival. In 2022, the event has been expanded to four days and will include big names including Brooks & Dunn and Florida Georgia Line. ««««

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April-May 2022

FOR AN UNCOMPROMISING BALLERINA, DREAMS CAME FIRST

POINTE HER FEET ARE BLISTERED AND BLOODIED, BUT SHE DOESN’T N OT I C E . T H E S TAG E I S H A N N A H H O LT S C L A W ’ S H A P P Y P L A C E .

Ballet can be a brutal art form, both physically and psychologically. It requires the dedication of a priest, athleticism of an Olympian and focus of a scholar. Holtsclaw learned early what the pursuit of her dreams would cost her and knew that they might never be realized. But she was given to unwavering passion. “I was 12 when I decided this is what I really wanted to do,” Holtsclaw said. “It’s not easy, and people tell you that you’re not going to make it. You have to believe it and never stop.” Holtsclaw is the senior principal dancer at Ballet Pensacola, the area’s only resident professional ballet company.

story by

EMMA WITMER photography by

MIKE HAYATCK

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April-May 2022

Classically trained in the Vaganova style, Holtsclaw, 23, has starred in dozens of large-scale performances. Offstage, she serves as youth division manager for Ballet Pensacola Academy, teaches modern dance to students age 7 and up, and has established herself as a respected choreographer. Most dancers don’t branch into professional choreography until much later in their career, but Holtsclaw has been choreographing both classical and original pieces since 2017. “Hannah is a prime example of excellence in our local and national arts community,” said Ballet Pensacola artistic director Darren McIntyre. “She has done nothing but excel to new horizons as an artist with her dynamic portrayal of Lucy in Dracula to her exquisite execution of the role of Clara in The Nutcracker.” Holtsclaw has become a Pensacola treasure during her four seasons with the company. She balances graceful, flowing movements with crisp precision. Her enchanting facial expressions, nearly as much as her dancing, have positioned her for leading roles in shows including Snow White, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Paquita. “That is the best way I can communicate and express everything inside of me. By taking on another character, I can create and share these emotions with the audience,” Holtsclaw said. This month, Holtsclaw will take Pensacola down the yellow brick road in the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Performances will be held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from April 22 through May 1. While sweet and graceful, Holtsclaw said that her favorite role was that of Lucy, the female lead in McIntyre’s original adaptation of Dracula. “I had to transform into a vampire on stage,” Holtsclaw said of a performance

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PHOTO COURTESY HANNAH HOLTSCLAW (CLASS)

that was her most physically demanding. “One moment, I was this normal girl getting engaged, and then all of a sudden I was Dracula’s first victim. Pensacola is used to seeing me as Snow White, so I loved getting to change up my character and be the bad guy for once.” Holtsclaw’s journey has been one marked by long hours, sore muscles and a lot of hairspray. Like most professional ballerinas, Holtsclaw started training young. By the time she was 12, she was far more advanced than the other students at her hometown recital school and enrolled in the Connecticut Concert Ballet. Schoolwork and ballet consumed 12 hours a day, but Holtsclaw was committed to both. (continued on page 138)

←

At left, senior principal dancer Hannah Holtsclaw of Ballet Pensacola teams with its principal male dancer, Marsalis AndersonClausell. Above, Holtsclaw works with children in her role as the youth division manager for the Ballet Pensacola Academy.

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April-May 2022

EM ER

2022

E’S N

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BEST E

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The Emerald Coast region merges the allure of tourism, the bustle of developing businesses and the comfort of familyoriented communities. These cities provide our homes, our workplaces and our sources of enjoyment. We look forward to the opportunity to again experience all of the many businesses that enhance the quality of an Emerald Coast lifestyle with their outstanding service, products, professionalism and personalities. Express your appreciation for the businesses that you support and admire by casting your online ballot in the 2022 Best of the Emerald Coast readers’ choice awards.

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↖ “Kumquat” is a word meaning golden orange or golden tangerine. The fruit is produced by slowgrowing evergreen shrubs that deal well with North Florida winters.

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CITRUS SUCCESS IN NORTH FLORIDA Satsumas and kumquats withstand cold well ↓

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← Mature satsumas hold well on trees for a few weeks. Says horticulturist Trevor Hylton, “If you plant just one citrus tree, make it a satsuma.”

Mary Salinas is the resident horticulture extension agent for Santa Rosa County. She suggests fruit trees including: alamondin, a lesser-known tree C variety that bears small fruit resembling tangerines. The tart fruit is great for jams and chutneys. Fruit is borne all year. n Sweet oranges including navel, Hamlin and Parson Brown. They are cold hardy to 14°F once established and are harvested November through January. n Minneola or honeybell tangelo, which is hardy to 14°F and harvested in January. This is a cross between a Duncan grapefruit and a Darcy tangerine. This bell-shaped fruit is very n

juicy and sweet. Unlike the other citrus varieties, it needs another citrus nearby for cross-pollination in order to produce an abundant crop. n Meyer lemon is the choice to make if you would like to grow lemons in the Panhandle. Other lemons may be damaged by our occasional freezes. The two most cold-hardy types of citrus trees are satsumas and kumquats. A satsuma is a member of the mandarin orange family that is easy to peel, like a tangerine. Satsumas are the most commonly grown citrus in North Florida and South Georgia, ripening from October through December and holding well on the tree for a few weeks. Frost will sweeten the taste.

The satsuma was first reported in Japan in about 1300. During the late 1800s, the Owari cultivar was introduced from Satsuma, Japan, and established throughout the lower Gulf Coast states. Satsumas were virtually eliminated in the states bordering the northern Gulf of Mexico by severe freezes in 1894 and 1899. However, the satsuma acreage rebounded. By the 1920s, Jackson County had billed itself as the “Satsuma Capital of the World.” Later, freezes, hurricanes and the lack of workforce due to World War II eliminated the satsuma industries on the Gulf Coast until the 1990s. But mild winter temperatures during the last three decades and the development of microsprinkler irrigation in the early 1990s to reduce the effects of freezes have led to a resurgence of interest in cold-hardy citrus, including satsumas, in North Florida. — From the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida

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f you’re a gardener, you’re blessed to be living in North Florida. Not only can you grow vegetables year-round, but you can also grow a variety of fruit trees, including citrus. The key is making sure you get cold-hardy citrus cultivars that have been bred to thrive in our winters. Let’s clear this up from the get-go: Blood oranges will not survive a hard freeze, nor will Persian limes — the ones you’re used to seeing in the grocery stores. Unless you want to spend hours protecting them whenever frost or freeze is forecast, broaden your horizons and select varieties that are equally tasty and will do fine in our area with proper care. You might be surprised at your options.

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Owari is the most commonly grown satsuma and generally reaches 12 feet tall, although dwarf cultivars mature at about six feet tall. The advantage of shorter trees is that the fruit is easier to reach for harvest. The international Slow Food movement, which champions agricultural biodiversity and small-scale, family-based food production to promote sustainability, includes the Owari satsuma in its Ark of Taste directory of foods as an heirloom that should be grown more widely because of its superior taste. Louise Divine and husband Herman Holley operate Turkey Hill Farm in eastern Leon County, and they’re big fans of Owari satsumas and sell them, as well as other fruit, at the Tallahassee Farmers Market and through the Red Hills Small Farm Alliance’s Online Market. “It’s about flavor,” she said. “The Owari is quite flavorful.” Kumquats produce small round or oval orange fruits that can be either sweet or tart. The round ones, such as Meiwa, are sweet and good for eating whole, rind and all. The oval ones, such as Nagami, are tart and make great marmalades and jams. In addition to being tasty on their own, kumquats are often crossbred with other citrus that is less cold hardy to create citrus that will grow in our area. Key limes won’t survive here, but limequats, a cross between a key lime and a kumquat, have the flavor of a key lime and the cold-hardiness of a kumquat. Several cultivars, including Lakeland and Eustis, grow well here. Speaking of limes, don’t let the orange color of the Rangpur lime fool you. It has all the tangy flavor of its green counterparts but grows better in our region. ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUITS

Hamlin is the most commonly grown orange in our region. It’s great for juicing and for eating out of hand. While blood oranges can’t take the cold unless protected, red navel oranges can be a fine substitute. Cara Cara is a red navel commonly grown in North Florida, with sweet flesh and a thick rind that makes a flavorful zest. Several types of grapefruit grow well here, but Duncan white grapefruit is probably the most common. It has great flavor, but it also has a lot of seeds. Red grapefruit has become more common over the past few years. Trevor Hylton, a Florida A&M University horticultural extension agent who works with homeowners and neighborhood groups to establish gardens and dooryard citrus, teaches workshops around the community. He recommends adding at least one citrus tree to your landscape. “If you can plant only one citrus tree,” he said, “plant a satsuma.” EC

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INTERIORS

LIGHTBULB MOMENT Illumination options have multiplied by LIS KING

VINTAGE VIBE

“There are so many options,” he acknowledged. “But it’s worth a homeowner’s while to learn about them. Picking the right bulb for the right job can absolutely improve the way a home functions and feels.” Derek Powell, the owner of a Batteries Plus Bulbs franchise, agrees, stressing that the right bulb can also help the bottom line. “Typically, an LED bulb that burns three hours a day can last about 13 years before it needs changing,” Powell noted. “So, yes, upfront it’s more expensive, but its long life more than makes up for it. Plus, prices are coming down all the time. Energy efficiency is another LED

advantage. LEDs boast 80 percent higher energy efficiency than incandescent bulbs and 40 percent higher than CFLs. So I’m happy to report that homeowners in our area are buying way more LED bulbs these days.” THOSE CLEVER LEDS

There is a lot more to appreciate about LEDs than long life and energy savings, and McGowan says that too many homeowners still don’t realize just how versatile, decorative and even fun LEDs can be. For example, LED bulbs come in numerous shapes and sizes. The most common

Bulbrite’s 776909 longlife LED bulb provides lasting vintage appeal for up to 15,000 hours. It features an antique finish and very warm 2100K LED filaments. It is fully compatible with all dimmer types, ideal for decorative lighting in homes and commercial areas, has a medium base for use in outdoor lanterns and is UL rated for wet locations. In contrast, Thomas Edison’s bulb worked by passing electricity through a thin platinum filament in a glass vacuum bulb, which delayed the filament from melting. The lamp burned for only a few hours.

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Bulbrite 776909 7W bulb

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PHILIPS HUE AND BULBRITE.COM

hen did it become so confusing to buy a light bulb? Legislators — unwittingly — started it all. Intending to save energy, they advocated replacing Edison’s incandescent bulb with the CFL. Both consumers and interior designers hated the spiral bulb, thus inspiring the lighting industry to an awesome burst of creativity that ended up bringing us an overwhelming lineup of lighting options. Terry McGowan, director of engineering for the American Lighting Association, sympathizes with our confusion.

↑ DIAL UP A MOOD With Philips Hue LED bulbs, party hosts can choose from a range of hues, and colors can even be synced to music. At $70, however, the bulbs are not cheap. After the guests depart, the bulbs can function in a regular mode. ← BEYOND EDISON’S IMAGINATION With a smartphone, it is possible to change the colors emitted by Philips Hue LED light bulbs.

are the standard light bulb, reflectors, flood lights, globes, candle lights, track light and vintage light bulbs. But keep an eye out for LEDs with special talents. McGowan especially likes the Bulbrite 776609 7W bulb because it provides a vintage vibe. It features LED stripes arranged to mimic the thin, glowing filaments of an Edison bulb. “Its amber-tinted globe design gives it a lovely, old-fashioned look,” he said. “Visible filament bulbs like this are trending right now. Because it’s able to shine 15,000 hours and can replace a 60watt incandescent bulb, it’s perfect for difficult to reach fixtures such as chandeliers in two-story entryways and rooms with vaulted ceilings.” If you’re the entertaining sort, get to know the Philips line of Hue LED bulbs. Powell explains that with your smartphone, a bulb of this type lets you choose from a range of hues, and you can even

sync color changes to music. When it isn’t party time, it can work like an ordinary bulb. One of these bulbs may cost upwards of $70, but it would probably last more than a dozen years. Also consider that LED bulbs are increasingly designed as fixtures. “They are so long-lasting that they can become fixtures all on their own,” explained McGowan. “Often they emerge as pure sculptural, ultra-contemporary designs.” And then there are those yellow bulbs. They are “bug lights” and a blessing for anybody with a covered porch. The yellow coating makes it hard for most flying insects to see them, so they are not drawn to the fixture the way they are to a white bulb. LABELS MATTER

Pay attention to the packaging when you buy bulbs, Powell advises. This is where you find all the information, including lumens and color. Lumens are the new way to tell how much light a bulb emits, Powell explained. People are used to watts, but they merely indicate the amount of power a bulb draws. Packaging will list the equivalents, so don’t worry. Color information is shown as “light appearance,” and this has nothing whatsoever to do with the colored bulbs you might associate with Christmas. A bulb in the 1,000 to 5,000 K range (K stands for Kelvins) simulates ambient sunsets while

a bulb ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 range provides cool, clinical light. If possible, it’s a good idea to see a bulb lit before you buy it. Stories abound about homeowners buying the wrong “color” and finding that they hated the mood it created. The color value could make a huge difference in the way you sleep, too. Warm lighting is helpful when you’re getting ready to sleep, but in the morning, cooler, brighter light will help you feel awake. Dimmable, soft white bulbs offer both. WORDS OF WARNING

Do you really have to pay attention to that wattage warning label that’s attached to a lamp? “Absolutely,” Powell said. “It’s a safety issue. The label tells you how much heat the fixture can take without damaging the socket and wiring. Be especially careful if you’re using a standard incandescent bulb. With an LED, you have more flexibility because it uses significantly less energy than the standard bulb. It actually allows you to go up in wattage if you want a brighter light.” However, as wonderful as LEDs are, don’t use them to replace oven bulbs, McGowan said. Both CFL and LED bulbs contain electronic circuitry, which would fail at oven temperatures. Instead use a specifically intended incandescent or halogen bulb. EC

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Have Camera, Will Travel

KATIE METZGER

Wayne Simpson photographs wild and wonderful environments

ayne Simpson recalls the first time he saw the lion king. He was not in a theater but instead on the Northern Serengeti plains. Simpson was in the midst of photo safari and could hardly believe his luck when a male lion paused atop a rock and posed for a 30-minute photo shoot. At the age of 12, Simpson’s parents gave him his first camera. Six decades later, Simpson has traveled the world with his camera and has brought images of natural scenes and wildlife into the homes of his patrons. Early in his career, Simpson focused on wedding photography and portraiture and shared a studio with a friend. He later traded in a brick-andmortar shop for a suitcase, allowing him to pursue his true passions: photography and travel.

Simpson selects a location on the map and travels there with an eye toward shooting natural vistas and indigenous creatures. He then sells prints online. “Through my own travels and adventures, I get to share the amazing sights I’ve seen with other people,” said Simpson. “It’s rewarding to be able to transport people there and make them feel connected.” Simpson has a special connection to Africa, especially Tanzania, home to his favorite subjects — lions, elephants and giraffes. Via his work, he seeks to raise awareness about endangered species and rally support for efforts to prevent extinctions. Simpson, whose father was based in Northwest Florida while in the Air Force, calls Valparaiso home. He is delighted when his work from afar ends up in nearby residences. A feature of his online shop

enables prospective buyers to virtually place one of his prints in their homes to determine if it is a good fit and what size would be best. “I love travel, meeting new people and learning new cultures, but as I frame each shot, I’m thinking about the end goal, which is to evoke some form of emotion, to cause the viewer to have a reaction, to experience it for themselves,” Simpson said.

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GREEN SCENE

COLORFUL PERENNIALS Showy caladiums prefer to avoid full sun by

LES HARRISON

he return of warm spring days and gentle rains has produced limitless opportunities to garden. Annual bedding plants, vegetable sets, herbs and bulbs can be planted in these lengthening days. One popular tuberous ornamental with showy leaves is the caladium. The foliage offers a striking display of colors whether in containers or in mass landscape plantings. Plant the roots in light soil that is rich in organic matter but well drained. Peat moss is an excellent amendment as it allows easy root

penetration and acidifies the bed while adding nutrients. Mulch with three to four inches of leaves and pine straw over the planting bed. The layer of mulch helps regulate moisture and soil temperature. Exposure to direct midday sun should be avoided. The delicate arrow-shaped leaves need a shady setting to produce their best color with ample shrubbery. The variety of colors and patterns available is almost endless. Plant breeders have at least one new offering of this warm-season perennial every year.

Pest pressure on these plants is relatively minor. Aphids may attack the foliage, and moles sometimes eat the roots. The bright foliage will last into autumn but will die back as the season moves toward winter. Adding several inches of leaves and pine straw to the bed will help the roots successfully overwinter. In the spring, many of the roots will sprout new leaves when the soil temperature stays above 75 degrees. The regrowth will renew the colorful show for another year.

A prudent course of action is to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. One area of preparation is readying trees for the potential assault of hurricane season. Trees in decline are especially hazardous. Their compromised health makes them vulnerable to uprooting and loss of limbs. There are several key indicators for tree health. Mushrooms growing on or very close to trees is a sign the tree is dying. The fungus is not the cause of decline, but only an indicator of the eventual fate. Spores of the mushrooms are scattered on the wind and by water. Landing randomly, most never sprout when arriving on a site devoid of necessary resources. Those lucky spores that land on decaying wood will likely sprout and take nourishment from the rotting plant material. Their roots expose more of the tree to colonization by mushrooms. Another indicator of tree health is its crown, or the uppermost branches and leaves. Healthy trees and plants have green and growing crowns. When the crown turns brown and the leaves drop off, the tree’s days are numbered. The causes may be disease, lightning or damage to the root system. Lastly, bifurcation or trunk forking results in a structurally weak tree. This condition may display itself when the tree emerges from the ground or at a place on the trunk. When the wind direction stresses the tree with enough force at its angle of vulnerability, a collapse results. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to tell how much wind is required to produce the failure.

Les Harrison is a retired University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Wakulla County extension director.

Aphids have an insatiable thirst for the juices of plants. They locate a suitable victim and latch on to try to satisfy their unquenchable need while avoiding exposure to the sun. They prefer to stay in the shady cloisters of their plant hosts. All the while, these tiny vampires are draining life-sustaining fluids by using their piercing mouthparts to savage the plant’s vascular system. Aphids are tiny, pear-shaped, soft-bodied insects. Their reproductive potential and ability to transmit viral diseases make aphids a significant pest of crops worldwide. In spring, female nymphs hatch from the eggs on the primary host plant and feed to maturity. Winged forms of this insect migrate and feed on summer crops. Winds carry them to places they would be unable to reach unaided. Males and females are hatched in the fall. They then migrate onto winter hosts where eggs are laid for overwintering during the cold weather. Aphids come in several colors. Red, black, yellow and green can be found in the area. Ladybugs are tiny carnivores and nature’s pest control agents and have an affinity for aphids. The slow, soft-bodied aphids are easy prey for the much larger ladybugs’ fearsome jaws.

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VISITING NOTEWORTHY PLACES NEAR AND FAR

↘ The lushness of summer surrounds lodging houses in Crested Butte, Colorado, an area known for its quaking aspen trees.

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↑ Blair and Fred Garth of Pensacola own Cinnamon House, a four-story structure that is accessorized with many of Blair’s artworks.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS (SKIING)

orthwest Florida offers visitors disparate experiences, depending on exactly where they stay. The Emerald Coast is distinct from the Forgotten Coast as to accommodations, dining options, retail shops and the relative concentrations of people who go there. In the course of a bicycle ride along Scenic Highway 30A in South Walton County, a tourist will encounter communities with unique identities and histories, some relatively long, another that didn’t begin until Robert Davis had a vision. Colorado, too, presents contrasting settlements. On one side of the Maroon Bells in the Elk Mountains lies ritzy Aspen and on the other, Mt. Crested Butte. Both destinations offer world-class skiing in the winter and breathtaking hiking throughout the rest of the year for anyone seeking a Rocky Mountain high. But whereas you will find long rows of luxury private jets at Aspen’s airport, Crested Butte is more low-key and laid-back. Leaving behind heat and humidity, my wife and I arrived in the Rockies just as the leaves were turning brilliant yellows, oranges and reds. We stayed in a beautiful mountainside home overlooking ski slopes and the quaint village of Mt. Crested Butte, which aligns with the St. George Island experience. We flew into Colorado Springs and enjoyed a three-hour scenic drive along the Arkansas River, crossing the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass and rolling into town in time to grab groceries before heading up to Cinnamon House, owned by Blair and Fred Garth of Pensacola. Blair is an accomplished artist and has filled the four-story home with her creations, many of them three-dimensional, making for a museum with a view.

Learn more about Cinnamon House on Mt. Crested Butte at VRBO.com/336001.

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↑ For generations, people in Crested Butte made their living mining coal. The area’s first ski resort opened in 1962.

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PHOTOS BY ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS: JILL MEYER MILLET (SKILIFT), DAVE KOZLOWSKI (LICENSE PLATES AND SUNSET) AND COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS (SKIER)

From green to black Travel magazines have dubbed Crested Butte the “Last Great Ski Town in Colorado.” Slopes range from the gentle to the extreme. There are plenty of beginner and intermediate runs appropriate for the whole family. Among 16 lifts, 80 percent service “green” and “blue” slopes. The other 20 percent carry adventurers to the tops of runs challenging enough to get the most radical of skiers stoked. The craggy North Face offers a plethora of “double-black-diamond” chutes, cliffs and descents and usually opens in late January or February, depending on snowfall. Banana Peel, Teocalli Bowl and plenty of other black runs are enough to keep the adrenaline flowing in the most experienced skiers. If you’re not into high-speed airtime, Paradise Bowl and the runs served by the Red Lady lift offer consistently blissful, machine-manicured “groomers.” There, three outstanding on-mountain restaurant/bars serve hot adult beverages and delicious food. Photography bugs will find spectacular views just about everywhere. A stunning panoramic view awaits those who head up Painter Boy lift to the Umbrella Bar. Crested Butte may not have the sprawling terrain of Vail or ready access to Denver, but it has its own advantages. Locals refer to skiing as doing laps because the lift lines are usually sparse, ensuring that you have more “down time” and less wait time.

↑ Crested Butte is home to the License Plate House, a coffee shop shingled with old car tags. Nearby is a house whose front is covered with old tools. EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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Rocky Mountain chill

↑ The Crested Butte area is criss-crossed by numerous hiking trails of varying degrees of difficulty. There, no dog will wait for long for its owner to get to its feet.

On our trip, we were into a different kind of downtime. Each day, we took our time reading and relaxing before heading out for the day. On a Sunday, we took the 10-minute drive to town to catch the final day of the Summer Street Marketplace. It was packed with local vendors selling their crafts and food items. We walked the main drag and strayed into residential areas where we met many welcoming locals who relish their simple, healthy lifestyle, far removed from urban chaos. When in the course of our stay we felt like we had adjusted somewhat to high altitude, we resolved to go hiking. We had many trails to choose from of varying degrees of difficulty. We opted to hike up to the Umbrella Bar, and while it took us two hours to reach the peak, the view from there made the effort — and the tight legs to come — worthwhile.

Outfitters in Crested Butte offers biking, hiking, rafting, fly-fishing and horseback riding day trips, all customized to your interests and abilities. Cinnamon House was a welcome sight at the end of each day. Mostly, we ate in, taking advantage of a fully equipped gourmet kitchen. On an outdoor grill, we prepared steaks that we had purchased at the marketplace. And, yes, there is a big difference between fresh, grass-fed beef and the cuts you get at the grocery store. Our week in Crested Butte passed quickly. On the last day, I spent an hour in a hammock listening to the mountain breezes and the rustling of yellow aspen leaves. I savored the last moments of daylight before the sun disappeared behind the mountain across the valley, and I told myself that I would be back. EC Learn more about Cinnamon House on Mt. Crested Butte at VRBO.com/336001.

COAL COUNTRY The Town of Crested Butte, known as “The Gateway to the Elk Mountains,” sits at an elevation of 8,885 feet and is CRESTED BUTTE

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located 28 miles north of the city of Gunnison. The area was originally home to the Ute Indians. The town was incorporated in 1880 with a population of just 400 people but grew and became a center of coal mining following the arrival of a railroad. With the closing of Big Mine in 1952, the era of coal came to an end in Crested Butte. Then in 1960, Dick Eflin and Fred Rice purchased the Malensek Ranch three miles northeast of town and, in the winter of 1962, opened a ski area. Tourism was about to become Crested Butte’s lifeblood.

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STORIES from the

HEART INSPIRING STORIES OF PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE The life-changing care Ascension Sacred Heart provides has touched the hearts of many who strive to ensure that this incredible mission of care continues for future generations. Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation is proud to be a partner in this endeavor. Please enjoy these ”Stories from the Heart.”

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Katie Mitchell to Serve as Children’s Miracle Network® Champion Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation is pleased to announce that Katie Mitchell has been chosen as our 2022 Children’s Miracle Network® (CMN) Champion, advocating for member hospital Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart. CMN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds and community support for 170 children’s hospitals throughout North America. Each year, CMN hospitals are invited to submit the story of a child who has been treated in their facility. This child will serve as a CMN ambassador and face of the hospital for partner campaigns and various events that generate donations. One hundred percent of the donations stay in our local area to support pediatric treatments and healthcare services, medical equipment and philanthropic care. As Champion, Katie’s role will be to raise awareness of pediatric cancer and campaign for the charitable needs of kids treated at Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart. Herself a cancer survivor, Katie is committed to encouraging the financial support needed to ensure that all children, regardless of their parent’s ability to pay, receive the same miraculous care with which she was blessed. Katie’s journey began in 2013 when she was taken to a hospital closest to her home after exhibiting troubling signs of illness and then fainting. The emergency room doctor entered with her blood work results and a troubled look on his face. He said, “I am so glad you guys came in here. Your daughter is in need of a blood transfusion. We need to transfer her to Studer Family Children’s Hospital.” There, Katie was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where an oncologist confirmed the

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diagnosis of cancer. The family was shocked to learn she would require two and a half years of treatment. Following a month of inpatient chemotherapy, Katie went into remission and was able to return home. But six months later, she was back at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital when her liver shut down due to one of the chemotherapies. Her mother Jamie describes the experience the family underwent during Katie’s battle as “eye-opening now that we have gone through it and have seen what childhood cancer really is. I thought you got some chemo, lost your hair and you were good to go.” She feels that most people lack awareness, mostly because it is a subject that no one wants to talk about. The years of treatment also had a huge impact on the entire family. There was sadness, fear and lots of tears. The effect on Katie’s little body was scary and severe. She lost half her weight, her ability to walk and her voice; at times, she literally looked like a skeleton. Jamie felt she had done something to cause her daughter’s illness, that she had somehow been irresponsible. But after talking with other parents, she learned that her feelings of guilt were a common reaction. Katie’s brother Ryan was emotionally affected as well. When he was in first grade, his class had a project about the growth of flowers. Each student was asked, “What makes you bloom and what makes you wilt?” Ryan answered, “I wilt when Katie is in the hospital. I bloom when Katie gets better.” Other kids wrote, “I bloom when I get a PlayStation. I wilt when I have to pick up my room.” Throughout Katie’s inpatient stay, the family continued to be grateful that treatment was available

locally and amazed at the depth of compassionate care given to their daughter. The doctors would explain the treatment and prepare the family for side effects. The nurses, who went above and beyond to spend time with Katie, would even play “tea party” with their tiny patient. “They were there late at night and really took care of us. They became family,” Jamie says. “I credit Sacred Heart with saving Katie’s life.” Today, Katie is cancer-free. She still struggles with what she went through physically and mentally; the past few years were marked by nightmares and a fear of recurrence. But, with a most difficult journey behind her, she is celebrating life. At the age of 10, she is in the fifth grade and her days are filled with the enjoyment of singing, dancing and playing soccer. Her immediate future also will include activities as a CMN Champion, helping to raise funds for the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart. A variety of national corporations give to the Children’s Miracle Network; in turn, their local businesses become CMN Hospital Partners, dedicated to generating donations in the community, often one dollar at a time. Ace Hardware, CEFCO, Credit Union for Kids, Dairy Queen, Direct Energy, IHOP, Kiwanis International, Log A Load, Love’s Travel Stops, Panda Express, Publix, RE/MAX, Sam’s Club, United Network of America and Walmart serve as Studer Family Children’s Hospital partners. Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation extends its gratitude to these partner corporations, associates and customers for their support. CMN also offers a variety of programs throughout the year that encourage people to connect with and help sustain the Children’s Hospital. Current programs include the University of West Florida Dance Marathon, Extra Life and Radiothon.

A MESSAGE FROM CAROL CARLAN Children and their needs are front and center in this edition of “Stories from the Heart.” When the Bear Family Foundation Pediatric Oncology Center for Hope opened at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital, highly specialized cancer care for the young became available in our region. One of our stories tells what local access to this world-class care has meant to one child: leukemia patient Chase Dang and his grateful family. The Children’s Hospital has long been affiliated with the nonprofit organization Children’s Miracle Network (CMN), which helps raise funds and community support for some 170 kids hospitals. Annually, member hospitals are invited to nominate a child who was treated in their facility as the CMN Champion of the Year. Katie Mitchell was chosen as our champion, and her story details a long and miraculous journey to become cancer free. On April 22, Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation once again launches the fabulous Emerald Ball at the Hilton Sandestin, featuring dinner, live music and dancing. Proceeds from this black-tie event will benefit the acquisition of a state-of-the-art CT scanner for pediatric and adult patients at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast. Likewise, proceeds from the 2021 Charity Golf Classic were earmarked for this muchneeded scanner. Check out the full page of photos from the Golf Classic featured in this edition of “Stories from the Heart.” We are so grateful for all the support you provide to those we serve! Many blessings,

Carol Carlan President, Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation

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Small Details Make a Big Difference Two years ago, Oanh Dang took her son Chase to the pediatrician’s office because she was concerned that her 3-year-old wasn’t acting like a typical toddler. He was tired all the time and his skin was pale. When blood work detected an extremely high white blood count, Chase was referred to the Studer Family Children’s Hospital Pediatric ER for further workup. He was quickly admitted to the pediatric ICU. It was then that Oanh received news that no parent is ever prepared to hear: Chase had acute myeloid leukemia, a condition where white blood cells turn cancerous and don’t work as they should. “I was in such shock that the diagnosis didn’t register at the time,” Oanh said. “Everything happened so fast that I didn’t have time to sort out my feelings.” A couple of days later, Chase underwent surgery to place a central venous line that

would provide a more comfortable way to deliver chemotherapy. During Chase’s twoyear journey with leukemia, he has received care locally and away from home. “It’s absolutely amazing to have a children’s hospital close to home because I can lean on my family for support,” Oanh said. The times she’s been away from home, she said it’s been exhausting to have it all rest on your shoulders. When life is filled with big changes, sometimes it’s the little things that bring the most comfort. Last year, Studer Family Children’s Hospital opened the Bear Family Foundation Pediatric Oncology Center for Hope. With a play area, family room and movie room, it was designed to give kids the space they need to be kids. Oanh said the pediatric oncology unit meant Chase could see his siblings and connect with other kids like him. It was also the first time Oanh had

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the chance to talk to other moms who are on a similar journey. Oanh is grateful for the Child Life staff who always remember the small details that make hospital admissions more home-like. “Chase doesn’t like hospital sheets, so when he is admitted for treatment, a special set of sheets is already on his bed.” Chase has undergone two bone marrow transplants, with the latest taking place in April. While Chase relapsed 70 days after recovering new blood cells, Oanh and her family are taking it day by day and continue to stay positive. “Chase started hospital homebound school this year, which keeps him busy.” For more information on pediatric cancer care, visit getascensioncare.com/pediatrics/ oncology/florida/pensacola.

DR. GUY HARVEY AND JESSICA HARVEY INVITE YOU TO

SNORKEL WITH THE WHALE SHARKS OF ISLA MUJERES

Jessica Harvey filming in Isla Mujeres

COST $3,250 PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY

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Guy Harvey apparel to be sent to all

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Personalized signed print of Guy Harvey art

JUL. 31–AUG. 2, 2022

ADD-ON DAYS CAN BE ARRANGED FOR EXCURSIONS

3 days snorkeling with whale sharks with Dr. Guy Harvey and Jessica Harvey

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Education presentation prior to dinner by Jessica Harvey on marine science and marine education being done by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Airport pick up and all transfers

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Breakfast, lunch and dinner included 2 cocktails per day Membership to Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Subscription to Guy Harvey Magazine (Service tips not included)

Land to archeological sites Turtle hospital visit Coral reef restoration exploration dive Fishing Manta ray experience

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APR/MAY 2022 For more events in the EC, visit EmeraldCoastMagazine.com and 850tix.com. compiled by JAVIS OGDEN,

REBECCA PADGETT FRETT

and ZANDRA WOLFGRAM

APRIL 7-10

Sandestin Wine Festival

↓

The Sandestin Wine Festival, named the “Best Annual Event” by Destin Magazine, is a highly anticipated annual happening in the Visit South Walton Beaches Wine and Food Festival area. Now in its 35th year, the festival invites you to enjoy tastings, meeting winemakers, live music, culinary tents and much more.

Ticket and additional event information can be found by visiting SandestinWineFestival.com.

ARTZ FOR ALL WITH ZOT → Celebrate the potential in all of us. Join the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation for lunch at 11:30 at the Hotel Effie at Sandestin and experience the creativity of Dwayne Szot. An inventor and champion of people of all abilities, Szot explores possibilities enabled by adaptive art tools used to create murals and much more. To purchase tickets for this special ArtsReach event, call (850) 650-2226 or visit MKAF.org

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KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

Pandemic and social distancing policies may affect gatherings. Check websites to see if the listed events will occur as scheduled.

April-May 2022

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APRIL 30

Sinfonia Gulf Coast Presents

‘RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK’

→ Outfitted with his hat, whip and wits, an intrepid hero faces formidable enemies and long odds in his efforts to save the day and the world. Visit the DestinFort Walton Beach Convention Center and take in a showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark accompanied by a live performance of John Williams’ extraordinary score by Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s full orchestra. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are from $29.50 to $55 per person. Purchase tickets online at SinfoniaGulfCoast.org.

HAVE AN EVENT YOU’D LIKE US TO CONSIDER?

Send an email to sbornhoft@rowlandpublishing.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SANDESTIN ® GOLF AND BEACH RESORT, MATTIE KELLY ARTS FOUNDATION, SINFONIA GULF COAST, TALLAHASSEE TENNIS CHALLENGER, EMERALD COAST THEATRE COMPANY, CULTURAL ARTS ALLIANCE OF WALTON COUNTY, SACRED HEART FOUNDATION AND MAXINE ORANGE STUDIO GALLERY

APRIL 14

PROMOTION

MAY 4

Maxine Orange Studio presents

GABRIEL DISHAW & MICHAEL LUNSFORD

→ The Maxine Orange Studio Gallery presents the art of Gabriel Dishaw and Michael Lunsford in a collaborative show from 5–8 p.m. Dishaw uses scraps from luxury items to create unique sculptures and wearable pieces inspired by pop culture characters. Lunsford finds inspiration in Dishaw’s wild vibe in bringing about his highly detailed paintings. Meet the artists at the opening celebration for the featured artist collection at the Maxine Orange Studio Gallery at 21a Eglin Pkwy NE, Fort Walton Beach.

REGIONAL

MAY 13-22

APRIL 18-24

‘Xanadu: The Musical’

TALLAHASSEE TENNIS CHALLENGER

→ It’s hilarity on wheels. The Emerald Coast Theater Company presents this roller-skating adventure and its original hit pop-rock score, based on the cult classic movie of the same name. Xanadu is sure to inspire anyone in pursuit of a dream.

→ The Tallahassee Tennis Challenger is set to return at Tallahassee’s Forestmeadows Tennis Complex, site of the past 14 Challenger events.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for the tournament or volunteering, contact tournament director Karen Vogter at KVogter@tallahasseechallenger.com. For more information, visit TallahasseeChallenger.com.

Tickets are $30-$36. Purchase online at EmeraldCoastTheatre.org.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT LIVE APRIL 1

APRIL 30

Sacred Heart Foundation Emerald Ball

→ Enjoy an elegant evening of cocktails, fine food and live music at the Hilton Sandestin while benefiting Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast. Event proceeds will help the hospital acquire a state-of-the-art CT scanner. Tickets are on sale for $150 per person. Attendees are encouraged to wear emerald green! For more information about the event, tickets and sponsorship opportunities visit SacredHeartEmeraldBall.com.

MAY 7-8

ARTSQUEST FINE ARTS FESTIVAL

→ The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County’s 34th annual ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival, presented by the Grand Boulevard Town Center, gives attendees an opportunity to view and purchase original art from more than 150 artists from around the country. To learn more, visit CulturalArtsAlliance.com/arts-quest.

Come on down! The popular television game show, The Price Is Right, will be filmed live at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center. Attendees will have a chance to take to the stage for chances to win cash, vacations and other prizes. All the familiar games — Plinko, The Big Wheel and more — will figure in the fun. mattiekellyartscenter.org/ events

FRANKIE AVALON APRIL 3 Legend of stage and screen, Frankie Avalon,

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THE BACHELOR LIVE ON STAGE APRIL 14 Bachelor nation fans unite and delight for the ultimate fan experience, including tell-alls, interactive games and special guests. The evening will be hosted by former bachelorette Becca Kufrin. REGIONAL

APRIL 23–24

LEMOYNE CHAIN OF PARKS ART FESTIVAL

→ LeMoyne’s 22nd annual Chain of Parks Art Festival will be held on Saturday, April 23–24, in Downtown Tallahassee's “Chain of Parks.” A premier fine art event, visitors can view and purchase works of art from 150 carefully selected fine artists while enjoying a weekend featuring history re-enactments, 3D artistic creations, good food, interactive children’s art activities and live entertainment. The event is free and open to the public. Visit ChainOfParks.org for more information. PROMOTION

is set to perform at Saenger Theatre. Avalon dominated the charts with dozens of popular songs in the ’50s and ’60s, including No. 1 hits Venus and Why. pensacolasaenger.com/events/ frankie-avalon

TOM SEGURA – I’M COMING EVERYWHERE WORLD TOUR APRIL 7 Actor, comedian and writer Tom Segura is one of the biggest names in the comedy business. Laugh until you cry while enjoying his latest routines and material. pensacolasaenger.com/events/ tom-segura-im-comingeverywhere-world-tour

MULLET MAN TRIATHLON

ZACH WILLIAMS

APRIL 9

APRIL 10

The Mullet Man Triathlon, presented by the Flora-Bama, enthralls spectators while challenging participants. The course begins behind the Flora-Bama with a quarter-mile swim in the Gulf, transitions to a 16.5-mile bike ride and ends with a 3.9-mile run. Proceeds benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Join Zach Williams and special guest Anne Wilson for a night of music and ministry that will fill your heart and have you singing along all night long! Grammy Award winner Zach Williams and his signature blend of Southern rock, country and faith-filled music are unlike anything else in contemporary Christian music.

florabama.com/mullet-triathlon.html

AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN APRIL 10

Charles Payne, a financial expert and host of Making Money with Charles Payne on the FOX Network, will talk money matters in this free event with limited seating.

An Officer and a Gentleman, based on the Oscar-winning film starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger, is a breathtaking production that celebrates triumph over adversity and includes one of the most iconic and romantic endings ever portrayed on screen. This musical will be staged by Mattie Kelly Arts Center and Northwest Florida State College.

mattiekellyartscenter.org/event/ charles-payne

mattiekellyartscenter.org/event/ an-officer-and-a-gentleman

CHARLES PAYNE APRIL 8

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pensacolasaenger.com/events/ zach-williams-with-anne-wilson

pensacolasaenger.com/events/ the-bachelor-live-on-stage

SEABREEZE JAZZ FESTIVAL APRIL 20–24 The Seabreeze Jazz Festival brings together top smooth-jazz artists with a full weekend of fun, sun, good times and great tunes. Performers will include Boney James, Charlie Wilson, Spyro Gyra, Gerald Albright, Sheila E, Norman Brown and more. seabreezejazzfestival.com

MICHAEL JACKSON LIVE APRIL 21 Santana Jackson is one of the top Michael Jackson tribute artists in the world. He has been a dedicated MJ fan since he was 6 years old and is committed to bringing the magic of Michael Jackson to audiences around the world. Catch up with him at the MKAF Cultural Arts Village.

RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES

mkaf.org

APRIL 13

APRIL 22

In celebration of the anniversary of the Abbey Road album, RAIN will bring the greatest hits of this epic recording to life in addition to all your early Beatles favorites. The retrospective performance will take you back in time to the era of Beatlemania.

Hosted by the Northwest Florida State College Department of Dance, Dance Facets is an annual dance concert that displays original choreography by NWFSC students, dance faculty and guest choreographers. This year’s show features classical ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap performances

pensacolasaenger.com/events/ rain-a-tribute-to-the-beatles

DANCE FACETS 2022

by NWFSC students and members of the community. mattiekellyartscenter.org/event/ dance-facets-2022/2022-04-22

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF APRIL 24 A fan favorite both on the stage and screen, Fiddler on the Roof is coming to Pensacola’s Saenger Theater. The original production won 10 Tony Awards, including a special Tony for becoming the longestrunning Broadway musical of all time. A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heartwarming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. pensacolasaenger.com/events/ fiddler-on-the-roof

SOUTH WALTON BEACHES WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL APRIL 25–28 Cheers to 10 years! More than 800 wines, spirits and craft beers will be poured and paired with celebrity chef cuisine and local bites during this four-day celebration benefitting the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation. Enjoy VIP and Grand Wine tastings, live music and seminars with the country’s leading winemakers and distillers as the festival marks its 10th anniversary. sowalwine.com

THUNDER BEACH SPRING MOTORCYCLE RALLY APRIL 27–MAY 1 Rev your engines for the 24th annual spring rally on Panama City Beach. Motorcycle enthusiasts will enjoy vendors, rides, demonstrations, contests, live music, food and beverages. thunderbeachproductions.com/ home

PHOTO BY BOB O’LARY COURTESY OF LEMOYNE CHAIN OF PARKS ART FESTIVAL

calendar

Award-Winning Pediatric Care Close to Home! Dr. Alison Colonna

Dr. David Erickson

Dr. Mervin Manuel

Dr. Evan Meeks

Dr. Melanie Parm

Dr. Richard Reno

Dr. Douglas Rigby

Fort Walton Beach

Crestview

Niceville

Navarre

Destin

Fort Walton Beach

Dr. Shane Robinson

Dr. Robert Shelton

Dr. Kyle Simmers

Dr. Irina Smith

Dr. Dale Volquartsen

Shana Haywood, PNP

Crestview

Paul Tartarilla, APRN

Fort Walton Beach

Niceville

Fort Walton Beach

DeFuniak Springs

Niceville

Fort Walton Beach

To schedule, visit white-wilson.com or call 850-314-6194.

Residential and Commercial Contact us for a free estimate Window Cleaning | Pressure/Soft Washing Solar Panel Cleaning | Gutter Cleaning 850.326.2140 | OptimumWindowCleaning.com | OptimumWindowCleaning1@gmail.com EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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Laser Tag Virtual Reality Sky Rider Ropes Course Climbing Wall and more!

SAVE THE DATE

JUNE 22–26

Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic

→ Located at the South’s No. 1-ranked resort destination, the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic at Sandestin coincides with the peak of the Gulf Coast’s blue marlin season. Last year, team High Cotton boasted the winning marlin with a 681-pound marlin and over $394,000 in prize earnings.

14081 Emerald Coast Pkwy, Destin (850) 398-4729 urbanairtrampolinepark.com

Visit FishECBC.com for registration and tournament details. PROMOTION

APRIL 28

THE HILARIOUS HIT BROADWAY MUSICAL

Naturally 7 is more than a tightly orchestrated collection of great singers. They transform their voices into actual human instruments, effortlessly producing music of any genre. mkaf.org

PENSACOLA CRAWFISH FESTIVAL APRIL 29–MAY 1

MUSIC BY SARA BAREILLES (“LOVE SONG,” “BRAVE”)

April 30 | 7:30 PM

Mattie Kelly Main Stage TickeTs: $50

Call or click for tickets (850) 729-6000 or MattieKellyArtsCenter.org

MATTIE KELLY

Northwest Florida State College is committed to equal access/equal opportunity in its programs, activities, and employment. For additional information, visit www.nwfsc.edu.

April-May 2022

fiestapensacola.org/crawfish-festival

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Peel and eat at the Fiesta of Five Flags Crawfish Festival in Seville Square and Fountain Park in Pensacola. Thousands of pounds of this Cajun favorite will be served along with po’boys, gumbos, jambalaya, boudin, etouffee and more. Activities include crawfisheating contests, live Cajun music and kids activities.

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

Inspired by the beloved film, Waitress tells the story of Jenna, an expert pie maker who dreams of a way out of her small town. A baking contest and the town’s

new doctor may offer her a fresh start, but Jenna must summon the strength to rebuild her own life. Don’t miss this uplifting celebration of friendship, motherhood and the magic of a well-made pie. mattiekellyartscenter.org/event/ waitress

UNDER THE SEA FUNDRAISER MAY 4 The Underwater Museum, part of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County’s Art in Public Spaces program, helps create marine habitats while enhancing creative, cultural, economic and educational opportunities for South Walton. This 6–9 p.m. benefit at Grand Boulevard Town Center in Miramar Beach will provide a unique opportunity for guests to view art sculptures before they are submerged, enjoy food and live music — all to support the UMA. culturalartsalliance.com

SHANIA TWAIN TRIBUTE MAY 5 Dance along to this classic country queen’s hit songs

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMERALD COAST BLUE MARLIN CLASSIC

NATURALLY 7

AD DESIGN COURTESY OF BRAND ON US™, AN IDGROUP INITIATIVE.

performed by Donna Huber, the most successful Shania Twain tribute act in the United States, Canada and Europe. mkaf.org

of fun, including a parade, contests, vendors and a variety of obstacle courses at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach. jeepbeachjam.com

IRONMAN FLORIDA AND IRON MAN 70.3 GULF COAST

DIGITAL GRAFFITI MAY 13–14

MAY 7 Begin with a two-loop swim course in the Gulf of Mexico, exit to the bike course and end with a scenic run through St. Andrew’s State Park. Challenge yourself while enjoying the beautiful beach views. ironman.com/im703-gulf-coastregister

The white walls of Alys Beach will serve as canvases for highly talented national and international digital projection artists. Thousands of dollars in prizes will be awarded to digital artists, filmmakers, musicians, designers, photographers and producers. digitalgraffiti.com

GRAND LAGOON TACO’S & TEQUILA FEST

SIX PIECE SUITS

MAY 8

The Six Piece Suits is a band for all who love to party. Vocalist Kyle Hooks and musicians Nicky, Mike, Corey, Raywood, and Nick Hooks combine to create a powerhouse sound and experience.

Find your voice. At the center of every great story is a voice. At the Pensacola Cultural Center, we encourage you to step into your story and find your voice through acting, volunteering or attending our shows. The Center serves as downtown Pensacola’s cultural and artistic hub. It is home to local theatre, ballet, education, events, community organizations and more. As we look to the future, we plan to reimagine our space, and we invite you to join us on the journey. Learn more at

find your center pensacola.com

MAY 19

Enjoy festive tacos and tequila cocktails made by local bars and restaurants all competing for the Best Taco and/or the Best Tequila Cocktail. It’s a people’s choice award, so each attendee will get to cast one vote for their favorite taco and one vote for their favorite tequila cocktail. visitpanamacitybeach.com/event/ grand-lagoon-tacos-and-tequilafest/25714/

Network Support & IT Solutions

mkaf.org

TAYLOR DAYNE MAY 26 Taylor Dayne will bring her top hits to MKAF’s Cultural Arts Village. Taylor has sold over 75 million albums and singles worldwide and earned three Grammy nominations.

JEEP BEACH JAM MAY 10–14 Jam in your jeep for five days

mkaf.org

PROMOTION SAVE THE DATE

OCT. 15

BEST OF THE EMERALD COAST EM ER

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OAST MAG → Celebrate the best the Emerald Coast has AZ DC I AL to offer at the 2022 Best of the Emerald Coast 2022 showcase honoring local businesses earning the coveted “Best” awards in our 23rd annual readers’ poll. Held throughout Grand Boulevard of E A EM ERALD C O Town Center in Miramar Beach, this year’s event benefits the Junior League of the Emerald Coast. Come gather with us to support the best in food, fashion, entertainment and services that give the Emerald Coast its distinctive sense of place. See ballot on page 96.

Visit EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/Best-of-Emerald-Coast2022Ballot to cast your vote online by April 30, 2022!

Cloud Computing

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CUSTOM CONTENT

Ambassadors of the Beach and Beyond

ou can always identify them by their bright, cheerful “uniform.” The proud members of Walton County’s Volunteer Beach Ambassadors (VBA) program are easy to spot in their light blue collared golf shirts. March through October each year, you may see them at beach accesses, on the beach, along scenic bike paths or even out in the community. These ambassadors truly epitomize a destination so well known for its inviting, helpful vibes. The mission of the ambassadors is to continually improve the overall beach culture of Walton County one friendly greeting at a time. Each of these new introductions presents another opportunity for them to make an impact by sharing information and advice — plus old-fashioned kindness and hospitality. Their knowledge of the area is seemingly endless, and it applies to everything from entertainment to ecology. “The team is here to help with such a wide range of topics,” said Laurie Reichenbach, who served as the program’s director for years before recently transitioning to a new role. “We like to think of ourselves as sort of a mini Chamber of Commerce.” This insightful service benefits tourists and locals alike. Looking for a recommendation on great restaurants, shops or salons to check out around the community? Need an insider tip on fun activities or helpful services such as equipment rentals and beach bonfire setups? The beach ambassadors can advise you on everything from fishing

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charters to where to dine on some fresh local catch. South Walton is constantly evolving, so it helps to have a team that can keep you up to speed. When it comes to fun on the sugar-white sand, the ambassadors work hard to educate visitors on beach etiquette and ordinances. They may clarify policies about dogs on the beach, or even provide you a plastic cup if they notice that you have glass containers. Maintaining the natural beauty is another major role of the ambassadors. From eco-diverse state forests to rare coastal dune lakes, there’s so much to learn about the pristine local environments, as well as aquatic and animal species. This initiative particularly involves protecting shore and marine life, such as the sea turtles who come to nest in the dunes. The ambassadors’ message is an extension of the bigger goal we should all strive for when it comes to these incredible beaches: “leave no trace.” And they certainly practice what they preach – helping to fill in holes, pick up trash, and flatten sand art at the end of the day. These tasks fall in line with their educational mantra, #CleanDarkFlat, which speaks to the ideal conditions for those nesting turtles. Since these ambassadors are everywhere, they also serve as a valuable set of extra eyes for essential organizations such as the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, the South Walton Fire District Lifeguards and Code Enforcement. They help spread the word regarding the beach safety flag system, educating visitors about how the various colors of flags can warn of everything from Gulf conditions to the presence of marine pests such as jellyfish. On days when a double red flag is indicating highly hazardous surf, the VBA team wears blue whistles to call out any distress.

The mission of the ambassadors is to continually improve the overall beach culture of Walton County one friendly greeting at a time. Each of these new introductions presents another opportunity for them to make an impact by sharing information and advice — plus old-fashioned kindness and hospitality.

The program that started in 2016 with just 30 volunteers has now grown to 231 volunteers (up from 214 in 2020). Also involved in the effort are Junior Beach Volunteers – 9 trained and countless nontrained. Altogether, their hard work amounted to more than 8,000 hours served during the 2021 season. The goal is to grow to more than 300 volunteers in 2022. Want to contribute all your local knowledge as part of the team? To become an ambassador, you must be a Walton County resident for at least three months out of the year. And of course, you need to have a strong passion for preserving the beaches that make this county so unique.

VISIT SOUTH WALTON If you’re interested in learning more or signing up to join the program, contact Director of Volunteer Beach Ambassadors Donna DonFrancesco at Donna@VisitSouthWalton.com or (850) 333-0298. VisitSouthWalton.com

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PROMOTION

SOCIAL STUDIES 30A Songwriters Festival JAN. 14–17 More than 5,000 music lovers came together over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in January at the 30A Songwriters Festival. The four-day musical extravaganza, co-produced by the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County and Russell Carter Artist Management, featured more than 225 songwriters and musicians performing original songs in genres ranging from country to Americana, folk, blues and soul at more than 30 locations along South Walton’s Scenic Highway 30A and beyond.

PHOTOS BY LYNN CROW PHOTOGRAPHY AND SHELLY SWANGER

1 Rickie Lee Jones

3 Mavis Staples

2 Andy Saczynski

4 Emmylou Harris

VOTE THE REGION’S MOST PREFERRED ORTHOPAEDIC PRACTICE*

2021 of

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PROMOTION

SOCIAL STUDIES Emerald Coast Magazine Pop-up Party A pop-up party, hosted by the Oasis Santa Rosa Beach restaurant, celebrated the arrival of the February/ March edition of Emerald Coast Magazine, which featured artist Bradley Copeland on the cover. Copeland brought her easel to the “Eat Your Heart Art” event and painted as violinist Jessica Heit provided background music. Guests enjoyed an eight-course meal prepared by Chefs Amy and Divaldo. At evening’s end, guests departed with copies of the magazine that had been signed by Copeland and adorned with the bold red lips that figure in much of her art. FEB. 14

PHOTOS BY SEAN MURPHY

1 Bradley Copeland with Patrick Powers 2 Bradley Copeland and Palmer Davis 3 Lauren Sehman and Bradley Copeland 4 Violinist Jessica Heit 5 Bradley Copeland and McKenzie Burleigh

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(continued from page 95)

FOR AN UNCOMPROMISING BALLERINA, DREAMS CAME FIRST

POINTE HER FEET ARE BLISTERED AND BLOODIED, BUT SHE DOESN’T N OT I C E . T H E S TAG E I S H A N N A H H O LT S C L A W ’ S H A P P Y P L A C E .

story by

EMMA WITMER

photography by

MIKE HAYATCK

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Thanks for voting us “Best Property Management Group” on the Emerald Coast.

D ESTIN — MI R A MA R B E AC H — 3 0 A

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She transferred to boarding school at the Maine Central Institute’s Bossov Ballet Theatre. There, she achieved both academic success and trained under celebrated dancers from around the world. She grew exponentially under the tutelage of Moscow Ballet star Natalya Getman during her years with Bossov. Getman could be demanding. She wasn’t satisfied with good dancers. She wanted her students to know their history, respect their craft and be good people. Despite a rigorous dance schedule, Holtsclaw graduated with honors as class president and continued her education in the University of Cincinnati’s dance program. She began choreographing for the Student Choreographer’s Showcase in her free time and developed Letters From Reims, an original work inspired by her great-grandfather’s service in World War II and the love letters he sent home to his wife. In the midst of this process, she was called upon to contribute choreography for Bolero to the university’s 150th anniversary celebration performance. Holtsclaw was juggling classes, a part-time waitressing gig and rehearsals while choreographing two major performances. That’s when she met former Ballet Pensacola artistic director Richard Steinert. Steinert was a visiting instructor and stopped by to observe Holtsclaw in rehearsal. She was exhausted but didn’t let her tiredness show. When the class ended, he tapped her on the shoulder. “Do you have plans for next year?” he asked. She shook her head no. “You’ll hear from me,” Steinert said. “Oh, what’s your name again?” A few months later, she packed her bags, registered for online classes and flew to Pensacola. After five weeks as a trainee, Steinert made her the principal dancer for his company. “It’s amazing how things come together,” Holtsclaw said, looking back. “If you’re patient, and you put the work in and stay focused, sometimes things go perfectly. Your dreams are right in front of you.” EC

Reserve Online at

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For same day reservations call (850) 236-3467

Half or full day rentals ShellIslandBoatRentals.com | ExecutivePontoonRentals.com

For same day reservations call (850) 234-SAIL (7245)

Treasure Island Marina, 3601 Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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CONSISTENTLY DELICIOUS SINCE 1995!

3899 E. County Highway 30A, Seagrove · 850.231.2166 · Open Daily at 4:30 · cafethirtya.com 140

1402020 April-May 2022 EMERALDCOASTMAGA April–May EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM ZINE.COM

dining guide

Mimmo invites you to enjoy and experience traditional authentic Italian cuisine from his hometown of Sicily.

Pandemic developments and social distancing policies and protocols may affect restaurant operations. Check websites for the latest information.

AMERICAN

LOUISIANA LAGNIAPPE ★

A taste of New Orleans hits the coast through Louisiana-style favorites like shrimp and grits and Cajun seafood gumbo. 775 Gulf Shore Dr., Destin. (850) 837-0881. $$ D

ARA ROOFTOP POOL & LOUNGE ★

Hotel Effie’s rooftop oasis offers panoramic Gulf views plus handcrafted cocktails and high-end wines. 1 Grand Sandestin Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 351-3033. $$ L D

LULU’S

Lucy Buffett’s funky hangout features cocktails, burgers and seafood, plus allergy-friendly menus. 4607 Legendary Marina Dr., Destin. (850) 710-5858. $$ L D

BUFFALO’S REEF ★

Hot wings and cold beer. 116 Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 243-9463. $ L D

MAGNOLIA GRILL

DHARMA BLUE

NICK’S BOATHOUSE

DIXIELAND CHICKEN CO. ★

OVIDE ★

Authentic Creole-style fried chicken, walk-up and drive-thru only. 4629 Opa-Locka Lane, Destin. (850) 353-2464. $ L

EMERIL’S COASTAL ITALIAN

Located at Grand Boulevard in Sandestin, the famed chef’s first restaurant in Northwest Florida combines Italian cuisine with the variety of fresh Gulf seafood and local ingredients. 435 Grand Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 608-7040. $$$ L D

FIREFLY ★

Serving a wide variety of seafood, steaks and flatbreads by the waterfront. 455 W. Main St., Pensacola. (850) 912-8775. $$ L D Located inside the new Hotel Effie, acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson brings together classic Gulf Coast flavors and impeccable classic French technique. 1 Grand Sandestin Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 351-3030. $$$ D

SPORTS TO GEAUX ★

$$ B L D

JACO’S BAYFRONT BAR & GRILLE

THE GROVE

Emerald Coast 2021 Winner

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

850.460.7353

EatMimmos.com

Thank you from

Serving American cuisine for brunch and dinner. 3375 W. Hwy. 30A, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 660-1594. $$ L D

The restaurants that appear in this guide are included as a service to readers and not as recommendations of the Emerald Coast Magazine editorial department, except where noted. B L D

979 US HWY 98 E | Destin

(in the 98 Palms Shopping Plaza)

THE BODACIOUS CAFÉ

This coffee house and eatery specializes in handcrafted espresso, lattes and cappuccinos. For breakfast, try their omelets and acai bowls; for lunch, salads, wraps and flatbread pizzas are on the menu. 407 S. Palafox St., Pensacola. (850) 434-6300. $ B L

★ Best of the

ITALIAN

Find great American food with a Cajun flare from this food truck. Freeport. (850) 520-0429. $

This all-day cafe puts a new spin on classic with a mix of international cuisines, Southern cooking and local food and produce. 83 Central Square, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 231-7327.

THE KEY

SHADES BAR & GRILL ★

GEORGE’S AT ALYS BEACH

Waterfront restaurant serving burgers, salads, seafood and brunch daily. 997 S. Palafox St., Pensacola. (850) 432-5226. $$ L D

ERALD C O

Restaurant and lounge offers rich coastal flavors in its innovative dishes. 82 S. Barrett Square, Rosemary Beach. (850) 534-0400. $$$ D A 30A mainstay for over 20 years, Shades features 17 high-def TVs plus a menu of salsas, steaks, sandwiches and fish tacos. 10952 E. Hwy. 30A, (850) 231-9410. $$ L D

GREAT SOUTHERN CAFE ★

RESTAURANT PARADIS ★

Fresh Gulf seafood, steak, sushi and signature cocktails. 535 Richard Jackson Blvd., Panama City Beach. (850) 249-3359. $$$ D Seafood, burgers and sandwiches. 30 Castle Harbour Dr., Alys Beach. (850) 641-0017. $$ L D

MARINA CAFÉ ★

Atmosphere and service match an expansive menu including everything from sushi to pork tenderloin. 300 S. Alcaniz St., Pensacola. (850) 433-1275. $$ L D

2021

BEST

Seafood, po’ boys, burgers and salads. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, 9300 Emerald Coast Pkwy. W., Miramar Beach. (850) 267-7778. $ B L D Gourmet pizzas, Creole and American cuisine. 404 E. Hwy. 98, Destin. (850) 837-7960. $$$ D

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Craft brews on tap along with artisan cocktails and elevated bar fare. 4424 Commons Dr., Destin. Also in Grayton Beach and Pensacola. (850) 460-7907. $$ L D

MARINA BAR AND GRILL

THE CRAFT BAR ★

Steak, seafood, pasta, soups, salads and desserts. 157 SE Brooks St., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 302-0266. $$ L D

E’S N

Serving up diet-friendly meals to promote a healthy lifestyle. 1191B N. Eglin Pkwy., Shalimar. (850) 613-6880. $$ L D

EM ER

CLEAN EATZ ★

Outdoor Dining Live Music $ Inexpensive

$$ Moderately

Expensive

$$$ Expensive

We can do fundraising, festivals, schools, athletic events, corporate events, resort and park amenity, & so much more! Locally owned and operated by Wayne and Tami Scott. p. 850.567.5057 | e. wscott@kona-ice.com | www.kona-ice.com EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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BBQ

THE RED BAR ★

New and improved and now reopened; get classic meals at one of the area’s most renowned locations. 70 Hotz Ave., Grayton Beach. (850) 231-1008. $$ L D

THE WINE BAR ★

A gathering spot for lunch or dinner, plus daily happy hour specials. Destin and Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 269-2902. L D

ASIAN BAMBOO SUSHI AND HIBACHI ★

Offering fresh Japanese cuisine like sushi, tempura and hibachi dishes, plus a sake bar. 117 W. John Sims Pkwy., Niceville. (850) 678-0771. $$ L D

98 BAR-B-QUE ★

Award-winning barbecue, gumbo, sandwiches and salads in a casual atmosphere. Dine in, take out, catering. 5008 Hwy. 98, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-0679. $ L D

BLUE MABEL ★

This local smokehouse features made-from-scratch dishes and is stocked with everything from smoked meats to homemade sauces. 2260 W. Scenic Hwy. 30A, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 744-0040. $$ L D

CHIPPER’S BBQ

This family-run barbecue joint offers an array of smoked treats like ribs, brisket, pork and chicken, plus steak, burgers, salads and pulled pork nachos. 4419 Commons Dr., #101, Destin. (850) 353-2753. $$ L D

DOMO CAFÉ ★

This Asian kitchen offers dozens of sushi options, including vegetarian, signature, fried and baked rolls. 1823 Hurlburt Rd., #3, Fort Walton Beach. (850) 226-6412. $$ L D

DYNASTY CHINESE CUISINE ★

This family-owned restaurant serves up fresh authentic Chinese street fare and classic entrees. 12889 U.S. 98, Miramar Beach. (850) 837-6675. $$ L D

OSAKA ★

Known for its sushi but serves a variety of dishes, including chicken, steak and seafood. 34845 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 650-4688 or (850) 650-4689. $$ L D

THAI ELEPHANT AUTHENTIC THAI CUISINE ★

Serving traditional Thai favorites that were voted the area’s best. 3906 Hwy. 98, Ste. 5–6, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 660-6711. $ L D

BREAKFAST/ BRUNCH/BAKERY ANDY’S FLOUR POWER CAFE & BAKERY

Lively brunch/lunch destination known for its French toast, rolled omelets and cheery ambiance. 2629 Thomas Dr., Panama City Beach. (850) 230-0014. $$ L D

BLACK BEAR BREAD CO. ★

Contemporary cafe for craft coffee, house-baked breads, pastries and sandwiches and all-day breakfast. 26 Logan Lane, Grayton Beach. (850) 213-4528. $ B L

BLUE MOUNTAIN BAKERY ★

Featuring catering, sweet treats as well as mealsto-go for breakfast and lunch. 2217 W. County Hwy. 30A, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 267-0400. $$

GREEK

DONUT HOLE BAKERY CAFE ★

Eat breakfast all day with fresh-baked donuts and hearty comfort food. 635 Harbor Blvd., Destin (also in Inlet Beach and Santa Rosa Beach). (850) 837-8824. $ B

GOT BAKED ★

Whether gluten free, low carb, vegan, no sugar or dairy-free, this bakery has the right bite for any dietary restriction. 80 Mc Davis Loop #1110. Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 598-7438. $

MAMA CLEMENZA’S EUROPEAN BREAKFAST

Old World family recipes. Multiple award winner. 273 Emerald Coast Pkwy. W., Miramar Beach. (850) 424-3157, 75 Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 243-0707. $$ B

AEGEAN RESTAURANT ★

Authentic Greek restaurant. 11225 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Miramar Beach (and Shalimar). (850) 460-2728. $$ B L D

ALA BABA GRILL CAFÉ

Casual spot for familiar Turkish and Greek recipes offered à la carte and at a buffet, plus beer and wine. 550 Mary Esther Cutoff, Fort Walton Beach. (850) 986-5555. $$ L D

YIOTA’S GREEK DELI

Traditional Greek food made from family recipes. Order at counter. 130 E. Miracle Strip Pkwy., Mary Esther. (850) 302-0691. $ L

SUNSET BAY CAFÉ

Casual and outdoor dining overlooking Choctawhatchee Bay, featuring locally sourced ingredients and sustainable seafood. 158 Sandestin Blvd. N. (850) 267-7108. $$ B L D

DESSERT KONA ICE OF SOUTH WALTON COUNTY ★

This shaved ice truck spreads smiles one frozen treat at a time. Main St., Freeport. (850) 567-5057. $

FRENCH BAY CAFE FRENCH RESTAURANT ★

Step out on the bay for authentic European cuisine, featuring fresh local seafood and decadent creme sauces. 233 Alconese Ave. SE, Fort Walton Beach. (850) 244-3550. $$ L D

Capt.on Dave’s the

IRISH JOHNNY MCTIGHE’S IRISH PUB

Easygoing pub providing Irish and American eats, a game room for kids and deck seating. 2298 Scenic Hwy. 30A, Blue Mountain Beach. (850) 267-0101. $$ L D

MCGUIRE’S IRISH PUB ★

Burgers and pub grub and the famous 18-cent Senate Bean Soup. 33 Hwy. 98, Destin (Also in Pensacola). (850) 650-0000. $$ L D

ITALIAN/PIZZA AMICI 30A

Offering authentic Italian cuisine with a flair for celebration. 12805 U.S. Hwy. 98 E., Suite R101, Inlet Beach. (850) 909-0555. $$$ L D

SERVING LOCAL FLORIDA SEAFOOD AND STEAKS Dinner 4pm UNTIL … For more information visit captdavesonthegulf.com

Gulf

C ald er m Ser rS ving the e yea 0 5 for over

Enjoy cocktails on the deck for sunset Happy Hour: 4–6pm Open 6 days a week (closed Tuesdays)

oaSt

Casual Gulf Front Dining. Gulf to plate since 1968! 3796 Scenic Hwy 98, Destin | 850.837.2627 | captdavesonthegulf.com

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SEAFOOD

ANGELENA’S ITALIANO ★

Classic Italian. Wood-fired pizza, private dining, cooking school. Multiple award winner. 75 Eglin Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 243-0707. $$ B L D

FAT CLEMENZA’S

Classic Italian. Wood-fired pizza, specialty desserts, fish Fridays. Multiple award winner. Holiday Plaza, Hwy. 98, Miramar Beach. (850) 650-5980. $$ L D

GRIMALDI’S PIZZERIA ★

Pizzas and calzones baked to perfection in their signature coal-burning oven, delivering experience not possible from conventional ovens. 780 Grand Blvd., Ste. 100, Miramar Beach. (850) 837-3095. $$ L D

MIMMO’S RISTORANTE ITALIANO ★

Authentic Italian dishes bursting with flavor and color. 979 Hwy. 98, #5, Destin. (850) 460-7353. $$ L D

PAZZO ITALIANO

BOSHAMPS SEAFOOD & OYSTER HOUSE ★

Gulf-to-table Southern cuisine. 414 Harbor Blvd., Destin. (850) 424-7406. $$ L D

BROTULA’S SEAFOOD HOUSE & STEAMER

Fresh steamed and boiled seafood dishes. Destin Harbor, Destin. (850) 460-8900. $$$ B

BURRITO DEL SOL ★

This Mexican restaurant serves fresh Bajastyle Mexican food, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas and more. 201-B Miracle Strip Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 226-8016. $L D

CANTINA LAREDO ★

A gourmet twist on Mexican favorites. 585 Grand Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 654-5649. $$ B L D

PEPITO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT ★

Serving award-winning authentic Mexican food with the finest ingredients available since 2000. Multiple locations: Destin, Niceville and Fort Walton Beach. $$ L D

RED FISH TACO ★

Featuring fresh takes on classic fare, such as street tacos, burritos, taco salads and quesadillas. 2052 W. Hwy 30A, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 994-7443. $$ L D

THE TACO BAR AT BUD & ALLEY’S

Baja fish tacos, homemade guacamole, burritos and top-shelf margaritas. 2236 E. Hwy. 30A, Seaside. (850) 231-4781. $$ L D

ERALD C O

GUMBO

CAPT. ANDERSON’S RESTAURANT

DEWEY DESTIN’S HARBORSIDE

Award-winning seafood in a quaint house. 202 Harbor Blvd., Destin. (850) 837-7525. $$$ L D

Fresh seafood cuisine and Southern specialties in a setting overlooking Pensacola Bay and the Seville Harbor. 600 S. Barracks St., Pensacola. (850) 470-0003. $$ L D

MEXICAN

Since 1967, offering traditional seafood items, flavorful salads and soups with a view of the marina. 5551 N. Lagoon Dr., Panama City Beach. (850) 234-2225. $$$ D

THE PIZZA BAR AT BUD & ALLEY’S

Pork tenderloin or pan-seared grouper from the open kitchen. 80 E. Hwy. 30A, Grayton Beach. (850) 231-9167. $$ D

Sea-to-table dining, serving fresh seafood, steak and vegetarian dishes. 2236 E. Hwy. 30A, Seaside. (850) 231-5900. $$$ L D

DEWEY DESTIN’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT & MARKET ★

TRATTORIA BORAGO

2021

BUD & ALLEY’S WATERFRONT RESTAURANT ★

Destin’s newest Italian restaurant offers authentic Italian cuisine such as wood-fired pizzas, pasta, calzones, salads, chef specialties and nightly specials. 34904 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Ste. 114, Destin. (850) 974-5484. $$ L D Artisan cheese, fresh salads, antipasto dishes, homemade soups, seasonal vegetables, hearty pastas and homemade wood-fired Neapolitan pizza. 2236 E. Hwy. 30A, Seaside. (850) 231-3113. $$ L D

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Featuring a clean-burning coal oven to impart a unique, full flavor to their pizzas, whole fish, steaks and roasted chicken. 24200 U.S. Hwy. 331 S., Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-3871. $$ D

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FARM & FIRE SOUTHERN PIZZERIA

This family-friendly waterfront restaurant overlooking Choctawhatchee Bay features Gulf Coast cuisine, sushi, a 12-draft beer system, plus wine and crafted cocktails. 24215 Hwy. 331, Santa Rosa Beach, (850) 622-2291.

CLEMENZA’S UPTOWN

THE BAY SOUTH WALTON ★

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In the heart of downtown, nationally renowned Chef James Briscione’s menu serves up rustic-yet-elegant plates with an Italian coastal vibe. 101 E. Intendencia St., Pensacola. (850) 542-8398. $$ D

@sportstogeaux ( 850) 520-0429

Outdoor setting, fresh seafood. 9 Calhoun Ave., Destin. (850) 837-7575. $$ B L D

THE FISH HOUSE ★

FOOW RESTAURANT

Southern coastal cuisine with an Asian flair. Located in the WaterColor Inn, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 534-5050. $$$ D

HARBOR DOCKS

A surf-and-turf restaurant. Breakfast, lunch and dinner and great sushi. 538 E. Hwy. 98, Destin. (850) 837-2506. $$ B L D

JACKACUDA’S SEAFOOD & SUSHI

Seafood, sushi, salad and sandwiches. 36120 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 460-2909. $$ L D

OLD BAY STEAMER ★

The perfect place for quality steamed seafood, outstanding steaks and incredible ribs. 102 Santa Rosa Blvd., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 664-2795. $$ D

BEST OF THE EMERALD COAST multiple award winner

RUNAWAY ISLAND

Crab, oysters and grouper sandwiches in a casual beach bar and grill with steps onto the sand. 14521 Front Beach Rd., Panama City Beach. (850) 634-4884. $$ L D

SHUNK GULLEY OYSTER BAR ★

This seafood and casual fare restaurant features classic coastal cuisine and genuine Southern hospitality plus live music daily inside the panoramic bar. 1875 S. Hwy. 393, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-2733. $$ L D

STINKY’S FISH CAMP ★

This seafood and wine mainstay promises Gulf-fresh fare. 5960 W. County Road 30A, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 267-3053. $$ L D

The original, award-winning wood-fired pizza and classical Italian cuisine Lunch M–F 11–2 · Dinner M–Sat 5–9 · 850.650.5980 12273 US Hwy 98, Miramar Beach · fatclemenzas.com EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

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Fresh, to go. 2021

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Buckhead Beef Fresh deli salads and entrees Mrs. Dean cakes Assortment of breads & wines

Thank you for voting us Best Seafood Market! EM ER

WE STEAM, WE PACK TO TRAVEL

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STEAK & SEAFOOD AUSTONS ON 98 OYSTER BAR AND GRILL

Home of the 102-foot bar, specialties include littleneck clams, raw oysters, clam chowder and jumbo shrimp cocktail. 125 Poinciana Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 842-3200. $$ L D

BEACH WALK CAFE ★

Located at the Henderson Park Inn, this award-winning fine dining establishment features a range of favorites including grouper Vince, peppercrusted yellowfin tuna and seafood pasta Rockefeller. 2700 Scenic Hwy. 98, Destin. (850) 650-7100. $$$ D

BIJOUX RESTAURANT & SPIRITS ★ Fine dining coastal cuisine with a New Orleans flair, Gulf seafood, prime steaks. The Market Shops, 9375 Emerald Coast Pkwy. W., #22, Miramar Beach. (850) 622-0760. $$$ D

BOATHOUSE OYSTER BAR ★

Your new favorite spot for fresh oysters, cold beer and live music, right on Destin Harbor. 288 Harbor Blvd., Destin. (850) 837-3645. $$ L D

Destin Ice Seafood Market & Deli 663 Harbor Blvd • Destin, FL (850) 837-8333 • destinice.com

CAFE THIRTY-A ★

Offering the best in steaks and Gulf fare, Café Thirty-A is also available for weddings and special gatherings. 3899 E. Scenic Hwy. 30A, Seagrove Beach. (850) 231-2166. $$$ D

CAPTAIN DAVE’S ON THE GULF

Inspired by traditional waterfront dining, Captain Dave’s features American seafood cuisine infused with a contemporary Gulf Coast twist. 3796 Scenic Hwy. 98, Destin. (850) 837-2627. $$$ D

GRAYTON SEAFOOD ★

This fishing shack eatery serves up fresh Southern seafood favorites, including Sunday brunch. 50 Uptown Grayton Cir., Grayton Beach. (850) 714-2155. $$ L D

Join us for a meal experience to remember

THE GULF – FORT WALTON BEACH

Locally inspired food and beverages in a beautiful waterfront setting, alongside a curated vinyl record collection. 284 Marler Ave., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 387-1300. $ L D

JACKSON’S STEAKHOUSE ★

High-end steakhouse cuisine with fine wines. Local seafood is hand-selected and artistically prepared to perfection. 400 S. Palafox St., Pensacola. (850) 469-9898. $$$ D

MARLIN GRILL

Seafood, steaks, salads and appetizers. The Village of Baytowne Wharf, Miramar Beach. (850) 351-1990. $$$ D

NOLA BOILING CO. ★

From crawfish and crab legs to chicken to sausage, these classic Creole and Cajun boils are perfect for groups and catering jobs. 47 Talon Court, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 672-2847. $$

100% PLANT BASED VEGAN INDOOR AND OUTDOOR BARS AND DINING PATIO AND POOL LOUNGE AREA 306 BALD EAGLE DRIVE, SANTA ROSA BEACH (850) 660 - 2000 • THEOASISSRB.COM

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OLD FLORIDA FISH HOUSE ★

Nestled beside Eastern Lake, find your retreat for oysters, fresh seafood fare, sushi and other classics. 33 Heron’s

Watch Way, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 534-3045. $$$ L D

RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE ★

Steak and seafood. New Orleans-inspired. Silver Shells Resort, 1500 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 337-5108. $$$ D

SEAGAR’S PRIME STEAKS & SEAFOOD ★

Premium steak, fresh seafood and caviar. Hilton Sandestin, 4000 S. Sandestin Blvd., Miramar Beach. (850) 622-1500. $$$ D

SLICK LIPS SEAFOOD & OYSTER HOUSE

Family-friendly seafood and oyster bar featuring locally caught fare and nestled in picturesque Baytowne Wharf. 140 Fisherman’s Cove. (850) 347-5060. $$ L D

TAKE OUT 30AGRUB2GO

Fast delivery of all the high-quality cuisine that 30A has to offer. Download their app on Google Play or the Apple Store, or visit 30agrub2go.com to get started. (850) 260-3139.

DESTIN ICE SEAFOOD MARKET & DELI ★

Fresh fish and seafood items, pastas, salads and side dishes, Buckhead meats, decadent desserts, wines, cheeses, spices and more. 663 Emerald Coast Pkwy., Destin. (850) 837-8333. $$ L D

JC’S GOURMET

A chilled mix of fresh shrimp, lime zest and vinegar-soaked cucumber, red onion and sweet pepper, this is shrimp cevichestyle. 4621 Hwy. 98 W., Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 687-2810.

MODICA MARKET ★

Find delicious lunch specials and brews at this gourmet specialty food store. 109 Seaside Central Square, Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 231-1214. L

SARAH K'S GOURMET ★

Known for their jumbo-lump crab cakes, Sarah K specializes in gourmet, ready-to-heat, take-out cuisine. Everything is hand-packed in aluminum tins along with complete cooking instructions. 34940 Emerald Coast Pkwy. #183, Destin. (850) 269-0044. $$

STEWBY’S MARKET ★

The area’s freshest and best seafood, and the first seafood market around that offers steamed dinners for dining in. 231 Santa Rosa Blvd., Fort Walton Beach. (850) 226-8448. $$ L D

TOWNSEND CATERING COMPANY ★

Outstanding service and meticulous menu planning for your next event or family meal. 124 Mussett Bayou Rd., Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 622-0663.

VEGAN THE OASIS SANTA ROSA BEACH

This 100% vegan restaurant offers a cozy, speak-easy dining room, outdoor bar, patio, pizza bar and pool lounge area. 306 Bald Eagle Dr., Santa Rosa Beach. (850) 660-2000. $$$ D

Visit our comprehensive, searchable dining guide online at EmeraldCoastMagazine.com/Restaurants.

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postscript

BRINGING LOVE TO LIFE

With music and dance, ballerina tells a story of commitment by HANNAH HOLTSCLAW

Hannah Holtsclaw is the principal dancer at Ballet Pensacola.

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I was eager to adjudicate my first original production for the 2018 Choreographers Showcase. A love story that I knew well developed quickly into Letters from Reims, a production based on letters exchanged between Ivan B. Holtsclaw Sr. and his wife, Anita Ferguson. In all my years of studying and training in ballet, my favorite element of the art form has always been storytelling. It is important to me as an artist to inspire and share a story that people can relate to on an emotional level. When creating Letters from Reims, I knew my greatest challenge would be telling the story within the 15 minutes I was allowed. I began by repeatedly listening to the original interview. I wanted to build the piece, its music and choreography around Ivan’s words. To do so, I focused on those parts of the interview that would be most appropriate to artistic expression. Ivan spoke about the unity of America during a time of war and said, “Everyone was willing to give the supreme sacrifice.” It was important to me to speak to that solidarity and the willingness to put country before self. I started the piece with the moment my great-grandparents met for the first time in New Orleans before the war. At its conclusion, Ivan has returned from Reims, France, where he was stationed as an Army medic. When he leaves for the war, he keeps his relationship with Anita alive by pouring his love for her into letters, which speak to his resolve and

EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM

↑ Anita and Ivan Holtsclaw posed for a photograph

in 1941. Ivan served as a medic with the U.S. Army in Europe in World War II. The letters he sent home to Anita from the war have formed the basis for a performance choreographed by his great-granddaughter.

his desire to survive and return home before becoming a forgotten man. Once the costumes, lighting and final product came together in the theater, I knew that Letters from Reims was much more than a personal story passed down through the Holtsclaw family. I saw my pawpaw’s voice move an entire audience. In truth, my work with Letters from Reims is not finished. As a choreographer, I believe you can never be finished with an original piece of work. One of my greatest career goals is to restage Letters from Reims and share the greatest love story and sacrifice I have ever known. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan B. Holtsclaw Sr. were married on Dec. 20, 1942, and remained so until his death on Veterans Day of 2000. Their story has many more hearts to touch. EC

PHOTO BY MIKE HAYATCK AND COURTESY OF HANNAH HOLTSCLAW (IVAN AND ANITA)

y great-grandfather, Ivan Bernard Holtsclaw Sr., was in New Orleans on that day that still lives in infamy. Pearl Harbor had been bombed. He responded by sacrificing four years, one month, three weeks and one day of his life in the fight to save America and survived to tell a story that would be passed down for generations. Years after Ivan’s return home, his story was documented and recorded in an interview. This wasn’t just any interview; my father, equipped with a cassette recorder, conducted it for an American history project he completed as a seventh grader. At the time, my father could never have imagined sitting down with his own three daughters decades later and telling them about his old World War II history assignment. As a student growing up, I always felt compelled to share what my pawpaw said during the interview whenever a class focused on World War II. In 2017, I was on summer break from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati after completing my first semester of choreographic studies. Anticipating the fall semester of my sophomore year,

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