During the day, Mandarin resident Leonard Alterman practices law—primarily in the areas of business law, wills, probate and litigation—but after hours, you will find him pursuing his passions of acting and music.

You can find Alterman performing on stage acting in local theater productions, and playing his saxophone in the Putnam County Community Band in Palatka (where he grew up) and clarinet in the Clay County Community Band.

Getting bit

He says that he has always had the performing bug in him, recalling that his first “real gig” was being the narrator in his kindergarten May Day pageant. To his acting love, he then added his love of music and went on to play the saxophone in his high school band and performed in many of his schools talent shows.

His first experience acting in a play was at Theatre Jacksonville as the Rabbi’s son in “Fiddler on the Roof.” After that he has never looked back and has been in more than 60 musicals and plays at local theaters and has even appeared in movies and commercials. He says people often say to him “You must really love trial work because it’s like acting.” His response to that: “I act for fun, but trial work is serious business.”

Revisiting old loves

After high school, Alterman’s music took a back seat to other events. In fact, he didn’t get back into music again until about 10 years ago when a member from his high school band organized a meeting of band members so they could all get together and play at a class reunion.

He bought a saxophone on eBay and the group practiced during the summer of 2002 until the reunion. Alterman says, “That little event led to me taking saxophone lessons, which then led later to clarinet and flute lessons and the formation of the Putnam County Community Band.”

Playing a new tune

The band, which Alterman was instrumental in starting, has grown from eight to its current 25 members. In addition to playing in the Putnam County Community Band, Alterman also plays in the Clay County Community Band and has played pit orchestra for a few theatrical productions, giving him a chance to combine theater and music.

He finds himself quite busy combining all of these performing loves—a play usually requires about six weeks of rehearsals averaging three nights a week, which becomes every night the week of opening, and his band rehearsals are weekly for one and a half to two hours.

But Alterman loves all of it. “I love doing theater and music because as a child I always admired and envied performers I saw on television and in the movies and wanted to do what they did,” he says, and is grateful that it turned out that he had the ability to do it.

“Besides the artistic satisfaction acting in theater companies and playing music with bands provides, I love the social activity and camaraderie—people pulling together to pursue a common goal and having fun doing it,” says Alterman. “Not to mention the lifelong friends I have made in both arenas.”

Leonard Alterman is an Attorney at Law in the Jacksonville area. He can be reached at 904-739-3440, alterlawjax@gmail.com, or through www.altermanlawyer.com.

In addition to participating in many events aimed at promoting and improving the community, Giselle Carson, a shareholder with Marks Gray, P.A. (www.marksgray.com), is currently training to complete her first Boston Marathon and the Miamiman.

“Every year, my husband and I pick two to three key sporting events to participate in from our ‘bucket list,’” says Carson. “This year, they include the Boston Marathon in April and the Miamiman Half Ironman in November.”

As an immigration and business attorney, she works long hours, but still finds time to train four to six days a week—alternating between swimming, running, cycling, yoga and walking. “Since I never know what the day may bring, I schedule my training for early in the morning. I swim and run at 5:30 a.m. during the weekdays and run and bicycle in the morning during weekends.”

At the starting line

Carson recalls that it all started when her and her husband Jeff started training for the Bike MS 150—a 150mile, two-day bike ride that benefits the North Florida Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “My husband works for Mayo and they have a very strong Bike MS 150 team. In 2002, we started training with them and have completed six MS 150s since,” says Carson.

To add variety to her fitness routine and stay involved with the athletic community of Northeast Florida, she also began training and completed her first Gate River Run in 2004, and is now one of her favorite races. “This year will mark my ninth year running it, and placing in the top 10,” says Carson. “Several running friends told me the Boston Marathon was the world’s greatest running race and that I had to train, qualify and finish it. So I trained, qualified and now continue to train to run and finish the legendary and demanding 26.2 miles across eight towns from Hopkinton to Boston in April!”

Pure joy of it

Carson says the main reason she does all of this is because of the people she has met and the places she has seen. “It is a beautiful sight to run or walk over Jacksonville’s Main or Acosta Bridge at sunrise or sunset,” says Carson. “It is beautiful and peaceful to run, bike or walk through the city in the early morning hours when the streets are quiet, and there is little traffic. You can appreciate the beauty of Jacksonville’s environment and our quality of life.”

Her husband is also very physically active and they enjoy cycling, walking and hiking together in Jacksonville and wherever they travel. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for them to run a race or hike a mountain when they travel. “Last year, while I was a forum speaker at the annual American Immigration Lawyers’ Association conference in Arizona, Jeff and I extended our stay to climb Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. with an elevation of 14,497 ft.,” says Carson. “Some careful planning, conditioning and a positive mental attitude allowed us to submit and make the 22 mile round trip hike an unforgettable experience.”

Reasons behind it

For Carson, a marathon, a triathlon, a challenging hike is about living life, achieving goals, creating friendships, and learning from the experience. “There are so many reasons why I run and train and compete—the experience, friendships, confidence, bragging rights,” jokes Carson. “But primarily because being physically active and living a healthy lifestyle is the key to my personal and professional development.

“It makes me more productive throughout the day and I have more energy for my profession and life. I encourage anyone looking to have more energy, less stress and a happier life to start exercising! And the effect is compounded. Physical activity will benefit you, your family, your friends and your colleagues….how can it get any better?”

While it may be something we all played in our childhood, kickball is more than that for Keith Johnson, CPA, owner of Keith E. Johnson CPA PA.

“I think the last time I played kickball before I started playing in this league Jimmy Carter was president,” jokes Johnson. “But I find it a great way to stay fit and the people are great. I may be the slowest person on the team, so it’s not a pretty sight when I am up at bat, but I have a great time playing.”

Johnson got involved with adult kickball about four years ago through a website called MeetUp.com, which is where people can “meet up” with other people with a common interest, such as wine tasting, flag football, happy hour groups, small business networking groups, book clubs, etc.

“I started back in 2007 with one group and through that I got an email about a kickball group. I emailed back for details and decided to go,” says Johnson.

Let’s kick it!

That meeting ended up segueing into the World Adult Kickball Association or WAKA (www.kickball.com). “Basically, it was a practice—but I had such a blast that when they asked if I wanted to join the league, I couldn’t say, “No!”

The leagues are made up of four to 16 teams of co-ed adults (ages 21 and over) of all skill levels and thegame is played just like the elementary school game—with the big red playground ball. Each team has somewhere around 20 people and the rules state that you have to have at least four guys and four girls to play and you can play up to 11 on a team.

“One other fun aspect are the team names,” says Johnson. “They are usually clever and a little risqué, but still off a kickball theme. My first team was called ‘New Kicks on the Block,’ while one of my more recent team names was ‘Pitches Be Crazy!’”

Time out

Johnson especially likes that kickball doesn’t really take a lot of his time. A WAKA kickball season generally consists of eight regular season games and a league championship tournament with qualifying teams from each league being eligible to compete in the annual Founders Cup World Kickball Championship held in Las Vegas.

“There are three leagues a year—summer, fall and spring—but I don’t/can’t do the spring season because of tax season,” says Johnson. “There is usually only one practice a week, but basically you show up on Thursday night ready to play.”

Johnson’s team meets at Carver Park, where the game is designed to be played for six innings or within one hour. “You remember playing it as a kid and it being competitive and good natured, and here you are playing it again with adults, a referee, scoreboards, schedules, league standings, and playoffs,” says Johnson. “But at the same time, we all know there is a lot more to life than kickball.”

Competitive edge

This past season, WAKA split the league into a competitive side (a little tougher and a sidearm ball pitch) and a fun side (slower ball pitch), of which Johnson chose the competitive side. “I want to be competitive; I don’t want to be a wimp. I’m out to win!” jokes Johnson. “The thing about the leagues is, yes, everyone wants to win and, yes, you want to be competitive, but it’s really about the social aspect that is more important.

“I started doing this in ’07 and I’ve noticed that it is tougher to play now than it was when I started,” says Johnson. “Physically I can tell I am older now than I was just a few years ago, but I intend to keep playing as long as my body holds out.”

Keith E. Johnson CPA, is owner of Keith E. Johnson CPA PA in Jacksonville, Fla., a full-service CPA firm providing accounting, auditing, consulting, and tax services to individuals, businesses, and non-profits. He can be contacted at 904-727-0077 or kejcpa@comcast.net.

Whether it is in front of a classroom or in front of a crowd at a festival, Joseph Catalano has a passion for involving, as well as entertaining, people on the subject of history. His passion runs so deep, in fact, that he has performed history for close to 15 years now.

History behind the history

Catalano, who is a regional sales manager for Compass Tech Systems by day, has always been around history. “I was born in Boston, so the history behind and the founding of the country was always rampant,” says Catalano. “I mean, you can’t even graduate high school without knowing it all!”

He says that knowledge comes in handy when he and his partner Michelle Murillo perform their “point-counterpoint” history performance, as she was born and raised here and he a “Yankee.”

Together, they formed Presenting the Past (www.presentingthepast.com) and have been putting on history lessons, performances, and attending festivals and re-enactments for more than a year under the formed partnership—actively performing two to three times a month, or between 25 and 35 times a year, depending on the time of year.

Putting on performances

“There are little groups all over country that bring history to life,” says Catalano. “But with Presenting the Past, we take it to a whole new level and want people to understand the history in a nutshell. The whole living history thing is more than just engaging someone and telling them history, it’s getting them involved and letting them see it, touch it, feel it, and understand it more than just listening to it.”

Part of the audience experience comes in the fact that during a history presentation, they are the character they are talking about. They come in costume, use accents if needed, and bring along things from the past that help people understand what it would be like to live back in that time period they are presenting.

“It’s not just that I am the Spanish guy trying to take over St. Augustine, it is more, ‘This is why we are here, this is what we do,  this what it was like in the day, this is how the battle was fought, this is what happened, this is why it happened the way it happened.’ It is so much more than you can read in a book,” says Catalano.

Beyond books

To help engage people, Presenting the Past uses a few approaches and chooses the most appropriate approach for each audience. When they do a classroom presentation, they discuss the coquina walls at the fort at St. Augustine and how those walls would absorb musket and cannon balls—even bringing a piece of fort wall with musket balls stuck in it for them to pass around and touch. Then they discuss how the Spanish would come over the wall at night, tie up the cannon balls, and shoot them back at the English. “The children just think it is the coolest thing!” says Catalano.

Another engaging approach is the point-counterpoint. This is where audiences get to hear two sides of the story from a Spanish Lady (Murillo) who tells tales of what the night felt like in St. Augustine and how a peaceful sleep turned into a waking nightmare and the victory cries of an Englishman (Catalano) who maps out Searle’s strategy in a play-by-play of the sacking of the city. The two then campaign the audience and begin a new battle over who should control the historic outpost.

Living history

“A lot of people are presented history though a book,” Catalano continues. “Then, when the books don’t really work anymore, they move on to slide presentations and movies—but imagine having somebody who can immerse you in that history.

“They are standing in front of you, telling you all about it in a way that is engaging, and you understand it—it’s amazing! We work very hard to try and get people engaged because if they aren’t engaged and bored then were not really doing our job.”

“I’m not a history major, but when you get immersed in it, you learn all about it,” says Catalano. “And the history down here is amazing—you can’t help but get immersed in it when you do what we do!

Boating is something Mark Taylor, CPA, owner of Mark Taylor & Associates, PA which specializes in individual and small-to-medium business tax and financial needs, has known for most of his life.

Having had a boat growing up, he has always loved being on the water. “I just love the hum of the motor, which is probably a guy thing,” admits Taylor. “But when you are at cruising speed and can hear the motor humming and you are outside and it’s nice and quiet in the sunshine (because it’s not hot on the water when you are moving)—it’s just wonderful.”

Joining in

One thing Taylor didn’t absolutely love about boating was personal ownership, which is why about a year ago he joined the Freedom Boat Club (www.freedomboatclub.com/locations/43-jacksonville-fl).

Mark & Jessica

“I’m generally a nervous person when it comes to new ventures, so when Lisa sold it to us, I wondered if we would really be able to get a boat, if it would be the boat we wanted, and is it as good as they say it is,” says Taylor. “Honestly, I’ve got to say it’s as good as they say it is—it’s been fantastic!”

“When you look at the price and look at what it offers, it’s a fantastic opportunity. You can’t even store a boat for the price you pay per month there. How can you beat it?” adds Taylor. “The boat that comes to you is clean, fully fueled, and ready to go—all you have to do is get in and go. When you’re done, you fuel it up, drop it off, and they take care of it. I call it Cadillac boating.”

Family fun time

Ashley & Troy

One way the boat club has been good for Taylor is being able to spend quality time with his family. “My wife Teresa and I have a 16-year-old son (Troy) and two 14-year-old daughters (Ashley and Jessica), and if you know anything about kids at that age, that’s when they start to not want to be around the parents,” jokes Taylor.

But boating is something they have all come to love together and Taylor sees it as an opportunity to be, and stay, involved in each other’s lives. “You get a lot of time to talk and have fun with the family playing and swimming in the water and joking around,” says Taylor. “I got to tube and even ski the other day with my kids because we finally bought another rope and got another set of skis—and now we are out there double skiing! Boating just gives us a lot more opportunity with our kids than we otherwise would have.”

Quality time

Taylor says boating has also been beneficial for quality time with his wife. During the summer, he will oftentimes take Fridays off and will treat his wife to a boat ride and lunch.

“When I take those days and the kids don’t want to go, her and I will just take the boat across and go to

Mark & Teresa

lunch at Whitey’s Fish Camp, or take it to the Landing or Outback Crab Shack,” says Taylor. “We’ve even taken advantage of the St. Augustine boat club location and tootled around, went downtown and ate at Cap’s, which is right on the river and absolutely gorgeous.”

The ease of it all

Taylor knows for a fact he and his family use this boat more because it’s so easy. “I know it may not be as easy for others, but I can be at the marina within five minutes and on the water in 20 minutes. I don’t have to trailer anything or pay launch fees; I don’t have to do anything—nothing,” says Taylor. “And financially speaking, if you use it, it’s a fantastic deal; if you don’t use it, it’s a fantastic deal in comparison to buying your own boat.”

Ever heard the expression, “Hoity toity?” Well, that is how Taylor feels. “I feel hoity toity when I do this because it’s one of those things where you aren’t paying a lot of money, but you’re sure getting the service like you are.”

For Ed Exley, managing partner of Rick’s RVs (www.ricksrvs.com), his passion to travel,discover new things, and face new adventure has always been a driving force in his life.

After a move to Montana, he discovered the RV lifestyle. He used to have wicker furniture that he moved around, but as he got older and kept moving, he wanted a better way to move without being such a hassle. “When I saw an RV coming down the road, I knew I had to buy one,” says Exley. “It was in 1996 and I went to Dick Gores RV and bought a big, 40-foot RV, sold the house, and moved into it.”

On the move

Exley says that at this point, he and his wife of nearly 20 years have been pretty much everywhere in the country. At first she didn’t like it, but after a couple of years she loved it. “A while back, you could make $80,000 to $90,000 in three months and then just travel and live off of that because you really had no bills.”

He admits the RV lifestyle might be hard to get your mind around at first, but after a while that RV becomes your house and you have your personal touches and it feels just like your home does now. “People think you have to be on the road moving all the time and they will ask me, ‘What do you do when you want to get off the road?’” says Exley. “I just tell them you stop driving—you’ve got your house with you with all the amenities!”

There are a number of reasons why Exley loves the RV lifestyle, including no lawn maintenance and all the people you meet, but mainly it’s the total freedom to get up and go whenever you want. “I used to tell my wife that in 30 minutes time, no one will even know we were here,” says Exley with a laugh.

Changing paths

Having spent 14 years in the auto business for high-volume dealers, he knew auto sales. So when he was buying his RV and realized they have a similar structure as an auto dealer, he was elated. “The whole lifestyle is mobile and I thought, ‘Man, this is for me! So I switched from the auto business to the RV business,” says Exley.

“Moving used to be difficult when I was in the auto business because employers didn’t like you to quit after six months, but RV dealers didn’t care because sales are really seasonal. You travel to Arizona in the winter, sell some RVs, and then you migrate back up to Montana or Oregon and spend the summers there selling.” Exley also traveled with RV show teams as part of his job.

Putting down roots

After 10 years of traveling with his wife, they decided to start a family and moved back to Jacksonville, where she is from, and they are raising a son here and not on the road. “I wanted to home school him from the road, but my wife wouldn’t go for that,” he laughs.

Not that his work at Rick’s RVs is a temporary career, because he will always be in the RV business, but he sees himself traveling and doing show teams again. “We don’t travel that much now because I am here working,” says Exley. “It’s funny because I pitch about not working so hard and taking it easy and traveling, but right now I am working a lot of hours. I just have to see it as working toward my goal of returning to the RV lifestyle. I mean, really, my son is 10 years old and when he gets out of school then I’m going again—I figure I’ve got eight years and a wake up to go.”

About the business

Exley, along with his partners, Mike Conley, investment partner, and Leah McCrum, administrative partner, run, manage, and operate Rick’s RVs on Beach Blvd.—and according to Exley, the three of them are kindred spirits.

“We all knew each other before on a different level, but since we all have a similar mindset, we just clicked and decided to go into business and become partners. Where I am weak, they are strong, and where they are weak, I am strong, so we make a real good team,” boasts Exley.

Ed Exley can be reached at 904-400-RICK (7425), RicksRVs@yahoo.com, or through www.RicksRvs.com.

After owning and operating Maron’s Furniture for 23 years, Jeanne Maron decided to close its doors and go back to public relations. She was working for JEA when she and 400 other people were laid off in October 2008.

Since she and her husband had already planned a vacation, they decided to go and enjoy themselves. She expected to have a good time, but she didn’t expect to come home with a new business idea.

“We went on our vacation to Sedona, Arizona, and visited some wineries because that’s always been our hobby,” says Maron. “I went into a gift shop that looked kind of interesting, but found their displays were just lousy.” She began telling her husband how she thought they could do a better job with their displays by placing wine bottles in the wine holders and doing things a little differently.

“My husband was laughing at me and said, ‘Why don’t you open a wine shop?’”

Put into action

All throughout the vacation, she pondered the idea of a wine shop. By the time they returned, she decided that she did want to open a wine shop—and The Gifted Cork (www.TheGiftedCork.com) was “born.”

After talking to retailers in St. Augustine, she discovered that even though business was down people were still buying and she felt that would be a good place to open her store—if she could find a good location.

“I walked around St. Augustine with some friends and checked out all the locations I thought would be good, but I really didn’t find anything,” says Maron. “So I called Len Weeks and asked if they had anything coming available.

“It just so happened that the art gallery, which is right next door to their office, was about to come available in one week and they hadn’t even advertised it yet! The square footage and price was basically perfect so I said, ‘Don’t advertise it; I will be there tomorrow!’”

She visited the very next day and loved the space. She then brought her husband a day later and after telling him her vision for the store, they decided to go for it. “When things just fall into place, you go for it,” says Maron.

Bringing it to fruition

She began buying things for the store at the end of January with the plan of opening March 1, 2009, but after discovering that Bike Week started one week earlier, she had to work extra hard and stay until midnight almost every night getting things tagged and out so she could be open for it. But it has paid off.

“I just finished my second year and already made a profit. I am on my way to success, and my long-term goal is to eventually franchise the store,” says Maron. “I keep saying baby steps—that’s kind of my mantra. I do everything, and try to do it right, in baby steps until I can see it grow at a nice, comfortable pace and see that it’ll keep going. I think if you try to do a lot too soon that it can fall back and hit you in the face.”

Passion and love

“I’ve always had an appreciation for wine and visit wineries while on vacation, so it’s just been a passion and a love,” says Maron. “I finally get to do something that I really love. I like the furniture business, but I don’t miss it. Wine is just much more fun and it makes people happy.”

The Gifted Cork not only sells wine, it also sells gifts, wine baskets, and holds special events for people as well as for the store. The store hosts two evening events a month in addition to its daily wine tasting in the store.

Always learning

“I learn something every single day, and that is what is fun about this industry,” says Maron. “You can never really know it all and wines are always changing. Even if you’ve had that wine before, when you get a new vintage it’s going to taste different.”

She says one of the best things about her wine shop is how her customers can teach her and how she can teach them. “We all basically have a good time, and I have built many friendships out of my customers because of it,” says Maron. “Not too many people can really do what they love as a hobby for their job.”

Extended role

While Jeanne Maron may work seven days a week at the shop, she dedicates some of her off time to the Children’s Home Society of Florida (CHS). Maron, who was actually adopted through CHS, has been on the board for more than eight years and the chairman of the board for the past two years.

“I got started with CHS because I just thought it would be interesting and fun to be on the board and give money for where my passion lies,” says Maron.

About the agency

Chartered in Jacksonville in 1902, Children’s Home Society of Florida (CHS) is dedicated to embracing children and inspiring lives. Every day, CHS works to restore and strengthen families through its various programs and services such as adoption, foster care, and child abuse prevention programs.

CHS (Buckner Division) is based in Jacksonville and provides direct services and activities for 2,500 children and families every day to help them cope with the challenges related to the foster care system. It offers prevention services to help families avoid the system and intervention services such as counseling and therapy to stabilize lives so today’s children can be more successful in school and in life after foster care.

Jeanne Maron, owner of The Gifted Cork, can be reached at 904-810-1083, info@thegiftedcork.com, or through www.thegiftedcork.com.

“You know how it is for excitement,” says Bob Pittman, executive vice presidentofJacksonville-based R.E. Holland & Associates, professional land surveyors and mappers. “It’s whatever satisfies your need for that thrill, that heartbeat.”

And for Pittman, that thrill and heartbeat comes from racing his ZO6 Corvette and Sportside Silverado truck at nearby drag strips in Gainesville, Fla., and Adel, Ga.

While doing proposals and mapping in CAD on a computer during his working hours can present its own challenges, he finds racing cars a bit more exciting.

Starts and finishes

Pittman got into racing as “just one of those things” from when he was a teenager, starting with fast motorcycles and then progressing into cars. “They say it’s in your blood; you ether like that stuff or you don’t,” says Pittman, who loves it—but took a break from racing when his son was born.

“I kind of quit doing it to spend time raising him and being there for football, surfing, etc.,” says Pittman. “But when he hit 16 years old, you know, ‘car age,’ he got me back into it again and I’ve been doing it again the past seven years.”

Pittman is what they call an ET chaser, where he tries to beat his own time and the times of his friends that all run the same kind of cars.

The gear

Pittman’s 2003 ZO6 Corvette and 2000 Sportside Silverado truck are not your average vehicles—anymore. While they can be driven on a “normal” road, they both have newer LS2 stroker motors, transmissions, and rear ends. In fact, the Silverado truck was Pittman’s daily driver last year.

“It’s super fast on the street, but you can’t give it any gas because it will spin the wheels. You have to gingerly hit the accelerator,” laughs Pittman. He says he is almost to the point where the vehicles are where they are, but he is considering nitrous once he beats his two outstanding times.

“I’ve been sitting here for two years waiting for the perfect air to beat my two times and haven’t gotten lucky yet. So here I am, waiting on fall again,” says Pittman. “With racing, there needs to be perfect air. Cold, dry air is denser and you get more air pack in the cylinders, which create more horsepower. Some days we’d get the perfect air, but the track wouldn’t be open that day or night. So I wait.”

Feel the power

Pittman usually races in the quarter mile, which is where you race in a straight line for time and mile per hour, but not for money. He races in what is called the test and tune. He competes against others, but it is where anybody can run so whoever you line up against is who you race.

“Sometimes you get lucky and it will be a car almost like yours. I’ve actually run a race, gone to find the guy if I didn’t know him, and asked if he wanted to run again,” says Pittman. “That’s part of the fun.”

However, Pittman finds that the most fun is the feeling of racing. “It really is exciting because you are going from zero to 135 mph in 10 seconds in the Corvette and from zero to about 125 mph in 11 seconds in the truck. That is pretty thrilling,” says Pittman.

“And when you are nailing the gas in the Corvette (it’s a clutch), I actually have to give it gas and let the clutch out quickly—it just throws you against the seat real hard and the front end almost comes off the ground and that’s the really thrilling part. It’s like bam!

“But you know what? It’s never fast enough for you. At about half way down, you’re like, ‘Come on, come on,’” laughs Pittman.

First run nerves

One race he enjoys attending is the Gator Nationals, but he says watching it on TV does it no justice. “You have to be there to realize how fast they are going down that track. They are actually going 320 mph in four seconds,” says Pittman. “If you’ve never been to one, you are missing out. It shakes your insides as they go by and you are scared watching them—not for yourself, but that something is going to happen to them.”

Pittman says he was never scared about racing, but admits to getting first run jitters. “I always do get nervous on the first run and I don’t know why. My hands get a little shaky, but by the time I go on the second run I am as cool as if I was sitting around drinking beer or something. I just don’t know what it is about that first run.”

Bob L. Pittman, PSM, is executive vice president of R.E. Holland & Associates, professional land surveyors and mappers. He can be contacted at 904-260-6300 or through www.reholland.net.

“I’ve always been brought up with a sense of social justice to helping those who need help,” says Howard Caplan, of the Caplan Law Firm, P.A. (www.caplawfirm.com), “And I do receive a sense of satisfaction to be able to do my part to hopefully make someone’s life better.”

Caplan, a solo law practitioner whose practice is concentrated in the areas of business law, corporate law, franchise law, trademark and copyright law, and technology law, not only helps makes others’ lives better through his law practice, he also does it through his involvement with the Jewish Family & Community Services (JFCS) (www.jfcsjax.org).

Getting involved

Caplan learned about JFCS’ Feed A Needy Neighbor (FANN) program, which is the Winn-Dixie emergency food pantry, from being a member of the Temple. “During Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year and is generally in September, many synagogues pass out bags to collect food for the needy, and then during Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is 10 days later, people bring the bags back full of food,” says Caplan.

He decided to help out FANN even more by requesting that people who attend his biannual New Year’s Day party also bring food for FANN. “I figured as long as you are having a good time, bring something for someone else to have a good time,” says Caplan.

After his party, when he called up the food pantry to arrange the drop off of his party donation, he was asked to consider joining JCFS’ board. “The more I learned about the agency, the more I believed in its mission, and I joined,” says Caplan.

Being on the board

Caplan has now been involved with JFCS for the past five years, serving first as secretary, then for two years he served as first vice president, which is essentially the president-elect, and “when they asked me to serve as president, I accepted it as definitely an honor,” says Caplan. He has been president since June 2010.

In his presidential role, he has spent 180 hours in the last year helping plan events and participating on all of the committees. “I am an ex-officio member of all standing committees and make it a point to try and participate in all committee meetings,” says Caplan. “As president, I also meet with the executive director each week, attend eight regular board meetings a year, and then there are two or three committee meetings a month that I participate in.”

Giving back

Caplan says he does it all because he enjoys it and the “good feeling” that comes from helping others and knowing you are doing something good for someone else that may be less fortunate.

“I feel this responsibility to the community at-large to give back,” says Caplan. “It’s almost a sense of noblesse oblige in that there is far too little noble today and way too much me, me, me, and I, I, I. I feel this helps balance that out.

“I’ve always been socially conscious and believe that a measure of a society is how it takes care of its less well-off people.”

About the agency

Jewish Family & Community Services (JFCS) takes great pride in providing services to everyone throughout the North Florida community, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Through nearly 100 years, Jewish Family & Community Services has remained true to the mission of helping people help themselves. JFCS offers emergency financial assistance; the Winn-Dixie emergency food pantry; adoption services—First Coast Adoption Professionals; adoption services—child safety adoption; child safety, foster care, and prevention; and counseling and workshops.

Howard Caplan is a solo law practitioner of the Caplan Law Firm, P.A. He can be reached at 904-256-3333, info@caplawfirm.com, or through www.caplawfirm.com.

For Jack Francis, a financial advisor with Waddell & Reed (www.jackfrancis.wrfa.com), lacrosse has been in his life since he was in the seventh grade. He went on to be an All-American at the University of Maryland and captain of the team until his 1984 graduation.

Jack Francis, his wife Julie, and one of his players from Nease's lacrosse program that went on to play at John’s Hopkins University.

“It’s a passion of mine, and, in fact, lacrosse changed my path in life,” says Francis, referring to his career on Wall Street. “A lot of guys from Long Island on our team went to work on Wall Street, and I didn’t even know what Wall Street was!”

From not knowing what Wall Street was turned into a 23-year career for Francis. He was in the institutional equity trading business and his last job on Wall Street was co-head of equity trading for UBS.

“In 2003, I decided to exit the business. People thought I was crazy because I had such a good job and a big job, but it dawned on me after 9/11 and a few other situations in life that  it wasn’t about going to work and making as much money as you can,” says Francis.

So he and his wife sold their home and moved their three children to the Jacksonville area with the thought that he would help his wife raise their children and he would do some coaching for various teams in the area—but what he found was a lack of lacrosse.

Making a difference

“The interest level was here, but on a smaller scale and I knew if we introduced them to what lacrosse really was that it would take off,” says Francis. The introduction came when he and his assistant coach at the time, Adam Silva, were able to have the first NCAA Division 1 regular season lacrosse game to ever be played in north Florida at Fletcher High School in 2008.

“It was to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, and we had 7,500 in attendance, a Navy flyover, and wounded warriors as honorary captains of each team—it really helped the sport take off,” says Francis.

Francis

Francis also had the time and the passion to help an already existing group grow lacrosse to where it would be a viable recruiting ground for college coaches—and he did that by being part of the group that helped lacrosse become a Florida High School Activities Association (FHSAA) sanctioned sport.

“My ambition was to turn it into a sport that was accepted as a mainstream sport like it is up north,” says Francis, who became the head coach of lacrosse at Nease High School in 2003 and coached until 2009. “In that time frame, lacrosse [in Jacksonville] went from just a club sport to where many players were going off to play college lacrosse and at some schools like Johns Hopkins University, Notre Dame, UPenn, the United States Naval Academy, the University of Maryland, and many more,” says Francis.

He says the toughest part of it all was finding coaches. “Up north, there are generations of lacrosse players, so there’s a million guys who can coach because they know it. But down here, you have to hope someone played in college and moved here and want to coach.”

Francis says that is starting to change as second generation players that have gone off to college and are home for the summer or graduated want to coach. He says it also helps that Matt Kerwick, head coach for Jacksonville University’s men’s lacrosse team, and his team go to all of the schools and programs and teach people how to coach lacrosse.

Current coaching

“While I am taking my 23-year Wall Street career and meshing it with my 8-year coaching career as a financial coach/financial advisor with Waddell & Reed, my after hours are devoted to coaching still,” says Francis. “But it’s really pre-hours because I am an assistant coach at Ponte Veda High School now and to accommodate the coaches and their careers, the players have agreed to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and be at practice at 6:30 a.m. before school starts. We really have to take off our hats to them.”

In his 35 years of being involved with lacrosse, he stills has a deep interest and a love for it, and he jokingly adds, “If I didn’t smell hamstring meat burning when I was getting on the field, I would probably get out and play—but I don’t want to hurt myself.”

For Lisa Waas, the property manager for Airport Industrial Park (www.aip-jax.com), cooking and food has always been part of her life. “My Mom and Dad are great cooks, so I’ve been exposed to different foods and

cooking for years,” saysWaas, who attributes that to her being less shy about exploring new foods in the kitchen.

Waas, her husband, and two children have been cooking for quite a few years recreationally together, but their small kitchen in their Fernandina home would get in the way. “It used to drive us crazy when we would cook together because there would be at least one moment when you wanted to tell someone to move because they were in your way,” says Waas.

Old kitchen

New kitchen

That craziness lead to the remodeling of their kitchen. Two and a half years ago, they put in some sweat equity and did the renovations themselves, but it was worth it to more than double the size of the kitchen and put in a six-burner gas stove. “It was about six months after finishing it that I looked at my husband and said, ‘We’ve basically been cooking the same food we used to cook in this big beautiful kitchen and, even though it’s easier, I think it’s kind of silly,’” says Waas.

Waas’ habit of cutting recipes and ideas from magazines prompted them to do something different. Since most of the recipes are typically from the higher-end cooking magazines and are quite an effort to do, she set out to see how many new recipes they could cook in 2010.

The challenge

In November 2009, they began to tackle the challenge. “We would sit down and write out two weeks’ worth of recipes. We would go through the columns and articles and put together menus—writing down each recipe we did in a journal calendar. We kind of put ourselves into the position that we had to start cooking differently,” says Waas.

She says the more they got into it, they decided to put together a wish list of things they were going to learn to cook, such as homemade pasta, butter, ketchup, Asian dumplings, and short ribs.

“We never cooked with short ribs before and now we have three different types we can make. When we realized we weren’t cooking enough fish, we pulled fish recipes and put them on the menu, and by the end of the year we had logged 102 new recipes,” says Waas.

“Where 102 recipes over 365 days may not seem like a lot—with 200-plus days there that we didn’t make anything new—but it is a lot when you think they are brand-new, never-made-before recipes and we all have busy schedules.”

The column

One afternoon at a swim meet, Waas was complimenting her friend on her articles in the Nassau Sun newspaper, told her how much she liked them, and asked her how she started writing.

“While we were talking, I told her that I think I want to share what we were doing with somebody because we were learning so much and there were so many interesting recipes we were trying,” says Waas. “I know there are a lot of people out there that look at recipes and go, ‘Wow, that’s too hard,’ but if I can cook it, maybe somebody would be inspired to cook it as well.”

Waas’ friend introduced her to the editor of the Nassau Sun and he asked for a sample column. Waas explained how she would talk about what kinds of things they did wrong, what they learned, and how it brings her family together—and he loved it. Next thing she knew, she was in the next month’s newspaper and now has a column called The Inquisitive Cook that comes out the first week of every month.

“It’s a different creative energy that I don’t get at work or at home,” says Waas. “And having to sit down and process something that I think someone else would enjoy reading is exciting.” She also likes to add a little of that “uh-oh” factor, such as starting a recipe without reading it through completely and then realizing you don’t have all the ingredients.

“I mean, how many times have I done that? If someone sees that and says, ‘If she does that and gets through it and moves to another recipe, there’s no reason I can’t cook too.’ I really feel it’s important to push out of comfort zone in a lot of different things, and the kitchen for us is the place we do it,” says Waas.

She feels that writing about her foibles makes it more approachable to someone who might be a reluctant cook. “My desire is that people reading my article and the recipes I post will possibly try something new and maybe get other people in their lives, such as a spouse, children, friends, and family, involved in the cooking process.”

Lisa Waas is a resident of Fernandina Beach and has been a foodie and home cook for 34 years. She can be reached at lisaphr@bellsouth.net.

To read her latest column, visit http://jacksonville.com/community/nassau/2011-01-01/story/inquisitive-cook-knowing-your-knives-makes-dicing-much-easier

Lauren Little, owner of two Edible Arrangement franchises in Jacksonville, creates fresh fruit bouquets as part of her business. But what she likes to create most are healthy feelings in the homeless at the Clara White Mission (www.ClaraWhiteMission.org).

“Having worked with the homeless before and having that prior experience of seeing that people are hungry and children are hungry, I knew that once I opened my business, and we have what I like to refer to as excess fruit versus waste, that it needed to be donated  to someone,” says Little.

 “It is still good quality fruit. Just because it may not be large enough for us to put on our bouquets or a pineapple was miscut doesn’t mean it should be thrown away. Someone can still eat it.”

Making the donation

Pineapples, strawberries, honey dew, and cantaloupe are among the 25 pounds to 30 pounds of fruit that gets donated and delivered to the Mission every day by Little or someone on her staff.

Little says she doesn’t mind paying her staff the extra 30 minutes to 40 minutes to go down there and make that delivery because, to her, it’s important someone gets to eat.

“It makes me smile when people run to the truck when we drop off the fruit,” says Little. “They unload it, dump my fruit in their bins, and then wash out and put my bins back—all while being very appreciative.”

Once the delivery is made, the Mission takes over from there and cuts it down and uses it whichever way they see fit—whether it’s to serve the hungry or be used in its culinary program.

Filling a need

Little says the Mission pretty much has everything they need for a meal—the meat, potatoes, vegetables, and drinks—but while serving at the Mission the first year before she bought her  business, Little found it interesting that they didn’t have any fruit.

Now she finds it very moving when she walks around somewhere downtown and has her Edible Arrangement hat and shirt on and someone says, “I’ve eaten your fruit. You donate to the Clara White Mission.”

 “Because they don’t get to have fruit, it’s their treat,” says Little. “Whereas for me, it’s just my business—but I have no business throwing it away when I know it’s going to be something nutritional for someone else, and they really appreciate it.”

The choice was clear

Little chose the Clara White Mission for a couple of reasons. One reason is it is convenient to her two locations (The Shoppes of Avondale and The Shoppes at Bartram Park) with its downtown location. The other, more important reason is it has a culinary program with a kitchen.

 “A lot of food banks don’t have a kitchen,” says Little. “And so with freshly cut fruit, there is no means to care for it. I felt that this was something the Clara White Mission could use and have been told our fruits are in the pies and the things they bake.”

The recession has seen a lot of people trying to make ends meet and the Mission’s food lines have gotten a lot longer as a result, so it uses the fruit for those recipients as well.

Going forward

While most people think about the needy most around Thanksgiving and Christmas time, Little would love to get people to do more when the donations and efforts are fewer.

“I think it’s important for anybody in business to figure out how they can help someone, whether it’s mentoring someone young or another business owner,” says Little.

She realized it’s tough for a lot people on their P&L, but for her, the reward is knowing that at the end of the day somebody’s going to go to bed with some fruit in their belly—even if that’s the only thing they’ve eaten all day. “It’s something small for me to do, but for the recipient it’s something big for them.”

“You never know if you are ever going to be in that line someday,” says Little. “I would hope that if I ever have to be on the receiving end that somebody has decided that it was worth paying an employee an extra 30 minutes so I could have something to eat today.”

What is the Clara White Mission?

For over 100 years, the Clara White Mission has helped Jacksonville’s at-risk individuals gain new perspectives on life. The Mission has been the one-stop community center stimulating economic development through job training in educational programs, daily feedings, advancement, and more.

It offers a 20-week culinary curriculum designed to offer students an opportunity to practice their skills in an environment that will prepare them for a career in the industry.

After a terrible car accident at the age of 16, Jeremy P. Miller, vice president of Harden & Associates (http://hardeninsight.com), finds himself fortunate to even be alive today.

In that accident, Miller’s car flipped six times, the vehicle was totaled, and he was rushed to the emergency room. By the time doctors determined his condition and found what was causing him problems, he had been bleeding internally for quite some time from a ruptured spleen.

“They had to rush me into the operating room immediately to save my life,” says Miller, who has the rare O-negative blood type. The surgeons later told him that if they didn’t have the ample blood supply to replace what he had lost and sufficient blood to actually perform the surgery, they would not have been successful.

“If it weren’t for the efforts of my community blood bank in my small hometown, I wouldn’t be here today,” says Miller. “At 16 years old, that really opened my eyes to the efforts and importance of community blood banks.”

Getting involved

After his recovery, he became active in his local blood bank by becoming a regular donor and continued his efforts while attending the University of Georgia. But it was after his move to Jacksonville in 2003 that he really began giving back on a grander scale.

He immediately sought out The Blood Alliance (www.igiveblood.com) to donate blood and to learn more about it, its operations, and mission. “With every blood bank, the optimal outcome is the same, but everyone does things differently,” says Miller. “I was interested to learn how they were different, which communities they serve, and which hospitals they work with.”

 Through donating and learning more, he took on the role of a blood donation chairperson, where he coordinated and set up Harden’s regularly scheduled blood drives on a quarterly basis and encouraged his associates to participate.

“We’ve had tremendous success across our company in scheduling those quarterly drives and we’ve been doing them now for about six years,” says Miller. “In fact, three years ago, after finalizing our new building, our blood drive grew from just a Harden blood drive to a building-wide blood drive.”

 Many companies in the building appointed their own blood drive chairperson and got other companies to participate in the quarterly blood drives that the donations have grown from 15 per quarter to more than 50 per quarter.

Through these efforts, Miller was approached to join The Blood Alliance’s board of directors. “I happily and humbly accepted the offer and have been on the board now for about five years,” says Miller.

Being on the board

In the last few years, Miller has taken on a few different roles on The Blood Alliance’s board—as head of the strategic planning committee, treasurer, and vice chairman, but his most recent role was that of chairman.

As the chairman, he was the “go to” person. He oversaw the board of directors and worked directly with The Blood Alliance’s CEO on a number of matters that might need approval or insight, as well as participated on a number of different projects throughout the year.

With each fiscal year, The Blood Alliance ushers new officers into its positions, and this past October was no different. While Miller will still be active and play a major role on The Blood Alliance’s board, it will be that as the immediate past chairman.

“I’ll be on the executive committee and participate in a number of other committees we have, but I will also be there as an advisor of sorts to the new chairman to support her wherever I can bring value as she sees fit,” says Miller.

Making it all worth it

Although never in any formal capacity, Miller’s experience is what drives him to reach out and educate the community. “I find that just meeting people and discussing what you are involved with in the community is a good way for me to express my passion for the mission of The Blood Alliance,” says Miller. “It also educates people and helps them become more motivated to give back to the blood banks that might be in their own communities.”

Because he’s personally felt the difference a community blood bank can make in somebody’s life, Miller says his motivation is to “make sure the next person who is in the same circumstances that I was in at age 16 gets the same outcome I received—they were able to save my life and to make sure I lived another day.”

Jeremy P. Miller, AAI, ARM, RPLU, is vice president and commercial insurance division account director at Harden & Associates, one of the Southeast’s leading insurance, risk management, and employee benefits firms. He can be contacted at (904) 354-3785 or through www.hardeninsight.com.

“Everybody asks me why I do it, and the only reason I can think of is because I can right now and may not be able to in the future,” says Sherri Frith, PA-C, Aesthetic Physician Assistant and owner of Mana Medical Spa in Jacksonville Beach, about being one of more than 70 girls on the Jacksonville RollerGirls roller derby team.

“I just don’t want to have any regrets later in life, asking myself, ‘Why didn’t I do that?’” says Frith. “There are no guarantees in life. My sister, Diana Lanier, is stoically fighting breast cancer as we speak.

“As a medical practitioner in Jacksonville for the last 17 years, I have seen many people taken before their time. I am grateful for the health I have and don’t want it lost on me. I want to live breath-per-breath and burn it up in honor of those who cannot.”

Becoming a RollerGirl

After injuring her knee at Ironman Florida in 2007, she had to have subsequent surgery that left her with no quad strength. In trying to rebuild its strength, she found running was too high impact and continued having knee issues. Since she had been skating since she was 5 years old and even speed skated for three years, she looked at getting back into skating.

She called up the RollerGirls and was going to meet them at Skate Station Mandarin one evening in April 2009, all the while thinking, “I can do that. That shouldn’t be so hard,” says Frith. “Boy was I wrong!”

While there are no tryouts and everybody’s welcome—even if you can’t skate—you start your roller derby career in what they call the “kiddie pool,” which is an area off to the side away from the girls practicing or “scrimmaging.”

 But to get out of the kiddie pool and in to a scrimmage, you have to pass a detailed skills test and then become proficient as a roller derby skater to be rostered on to a team for a bout.

“I tried to get out of the kiddie pool the minute I got there. I was the one scratching, clawing, and kicking thinking, ‘I don’t need to learn how to skate. I can already do that,’” says Frith. “Thankfully, they didn’t let me scrimmage prematurely and I was able to build the necessary strength in practices to bout and not get too beat up.”

While she was excited to compete in her first bout, she admits her nerves were flying. “In retrospect, I probably should have stayed in the kiddie pool longer,” quips Frith jokingly. “Those girls are really tough and the hits are for real!”

She also had to pick a roller derby name, and knew she wanted something professional, but tough. She was raised in Puerto Rico and loves the Spanish culture—even naming her business after the Spanish word Mana, which means substance of which souls are made; your essence. It is associated with altruistic feelings and philanthropy and its primary purpose is abundant reciprocal altruism.

“I came up with my theme—you’ll need surgery (as in, after I hit you hard)—based on my surgical background, then threw a Spanish twist on it and made it Yulanita Surgerita,” says Frith, whose jersey number is 0600, which is the typical time surgeries begin the next morning.

Hitting the big time

While the RollerGirls compete against other teams about once a month, they are always in preparation—and practices, which are held four times a week.

“Some of these girls go to every practice and then continue training by doing Taekwondo, running, and cross training to get themselves ready,” says Frith. “I mean, you are getting ready to face other women that are as strong or stronger than you that want to hurt you so they can score—and there can be some very serious injuries such as broken necks and dislocated shoulders.”

In fact, there were three broken ankles in three weeks of practice alone. “Derby is not for the weak of heart or body. There is a time and practice commitment all derby girls must follow to be rostered and play safe against other teams. This is how we keep injuries down to a minimum in such a high-contact, fast sport,” says Frith.

They also protect themselves with helmets, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards, “but when you run into a wall at 20 miles per hour, it still hurts and you still break things,” says Frith.

And all that training has paid off as they became a Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) team this year, allowing them to compete nationally. Adding to the excitement is the new venue for next year—they will be playing at the UNF arena and featured on the Jumbotron!

“Our goal,” says Frith, “is to place in the top 10 in the country our first year out in WFTDA, and we feel like we can do it!”

The big attraction

The RollerGirls, a totally volunteer organization, range from the very young to a “little older” and from college students to doctors and school teachers, and while they “are not aggressive people in their normal lives,” says Frith, “they enjoy being fit and using their bodies to accomplish things most people would not try to do.”

“My boyfriend Jordan, although supportive of my endeavors, kind of rolls his eyes at the fact that I want to do this even though I can get injured, but the only two injuries I have right now are not even derby related! I have three broken ribs from him giving me a bear hug when I wasn’t expecting it and a broken toe from stumping it on something.”

“There is a thrill in being strong and hanging out with girls that are like you in many ways,” says Frith. “But you know what they say about the ones that look tough on the outside… Many of us are softies on the inside; sweet, caring, compassionate girls, but all that changes when the pads and helmet go on! It’s game time!”

Don’t let the tattoos and piercings fool you; their sweet, caring, compassionate side shines through as the Jacksonville RollerGirls are committed to charitable deeds and often placing at the top of local fundraising events for breast cancer and domestic abuse causes, just to name a few.

For Frith, her enjoyment comes from being in a big group of cool, edgy, compassionate, dynamic, fun women who are competitive and athletic. “And that’s why I do it—because they are my friends and they’re good people, and it’s a blast to have fun with your friends.”

Sherri Frith is owner of Mana Medical Spa located at 1260 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, Fla., 32250, which performs medical aesthetics, such as Botox, laser hair removal, skin resurfacing, acne treatment, and skin care; podiatry; massage; and esthetician services. She can be reached at 904-853-6996 or through www.manamedicalspa.com. To find out more about Jacksonville RollerGirls, visit www.jacksonvillerollergirls.com.

Defining Mana

“Mana is the substance of which souls are made; your essence; an impersonal force or quality that resides in people; the Kahuna believe that Mana is the vital life force which flows through all living things. It is associated with altruistic feelings and philanthropy and its primary purpose is abundant reciprocal altruism.”It is for these reasons Sherri Frith, PA-C, Aesthetic Physician Assistant and owner of Mana Medical Spa in Jacksonville Beach, named her spa after it. The culmination of her dreams has manifested itself as a place of technical expertise in a setting of relaxing ambiance filled with aromatherapy, candles, and warm-natured, caring experts in their fields. These include medical aesthetics (Botox, fillers, laser hair removal, photofacials, fractional ablative and non-ablative skin resurfacing, acne treatment, and prescriptive and non-prescriptive skin care), podiatry, massage, and esthetician services.Mana Medical Spa’s mission is to enhance your Mana so that everyone around you benefits. When you look and feel great, you give more back to those you love and your community. Mana Medical Spa is dedicated to giving back to both local and international charities that benefit those most in need.

The first line in a poem called “The Legacy” reads: When I die, give what is left of me to children. When Judy Hicks, a successful Re/Max realtor, first read that poem, she knew what her life passion would be—to work hands-on to make the lives of needy children better.

“I love real estate; I am good at what I do. But I do not want my legacy to be about real estate,” she says. Although she is not a biological mother, Hicks tells people, “Just because you don’t have children, doesn’t mean you don’t have children in your life.” The children in her life are those who live at daniel (www.danielkids.org), considered Florida’s largest childcare agency.

Originally begun in 1884 as an orphanage, daniel has grown into a childcare institution that provides mental health and social service programs aimed at improving the lives of at-risk children and their families. These services include therapeutic foster care for abused children, independent living services for homeless teens, intervention services for delinquents, and residential treatment for emotionally disturbed and behaviorally disruptive children.

“daniel probably sees 600 kids each day,” says Hicks. “They also have three residential cottages on Belfort Road, each with eight to 12 bedrooms, for kids who are removed from their homes because of some type of abuse. Some of these kids stay for 180 days and go back to their parents; some never go back to their parents; and some are adopted. Some live at daniel until they are 18 and on their own.”

Hicks’ love affair with daniel began in 1994. Then working as a new realtor in the Jacksonville area, she was asked to join daniel’s board of directors. That same year, her father passed away. Several months as his death, she decided to put together a book of memoirs on him to give to her nephews, who were then very young. “When I read ‘The Legacy’ poem, I realized I wanted to do more than serve on daniel’s board. That poem made think about what kind of legacy I would leave. What would people remember me for?” Those thoughts spawned the birth of Womenade (www.womenadejax.com), an organization of women who support daniel.

She explains, “Womenade is a dedicated group of women who come together three, four, sometimes five times a year. When we get together at each of these events, which are usually held at someone’s house, we bring a check for $30 that pays for dinner and wine, with the surplus going to support daniel.”

The first Womenade meeting was informal. Spurred on by the lines of “The Legacy” poem, Hicks invited a number of friends to her house, saying,  “Instead of getting together at a restaurant, come here with a covered dish and a check for $25. We’ll have a good time and support daniel.”

The organization is now in its ninth year. The women (no men allowed!) still get together at someone’s house, but instead of bringing a covered dish, they have dinner catered. “We decided to go the catering route after having six key lime pies show up for one pitch-in dinner,” laughs Hicks.

The group has raised about $90,000 so far, most just from the get-together events. “We did have a bachelor auction in 2006,” says Hicks. “It brought in about $26,000. And we may do other events in the future to raise money for a Womenade Classroom at a school being built on daniel’s campus. We have approximately $50,000, but need another $100,000 for a total of $150,000for that to happen.”

One of the projects Womenade takes pride in is daniel’s Literacy Library. “In 2009, we purchased almost $3,000 in books,” says Hicks, who says members of the group read to the kids, ranging from 6 to 17 years old, once a month. “We help them learn to read and watch them start loving books and stories.”

Reading is not the only thing Womenade does with daniel kids. The group sponsors “daniel Honors.” “Any kid who gets no F’s and at least one A or are on the A-B honor roll gets to have dinner with us,” says Hicks. “they also get a gift card and a goodie bag. Once kids get Honors, they get it time and time again.”

Working hands-on with the kids at daniel is providing Hicks with the legacy she wants to leave. But it is giving her something more. “I had great parents,” she says, “but we had a lot of turmoil growing up. There was always chaos and turmoil in our home. I felt I always need to heal as a little girl. daniel is giving me that healing.”

Judy Hicks is a Re/Max realtor. She can be contacted at 904-463-2877 or through her web page at www.judyhicks.com.

Sidebar 1

How you can help Womenade and daniel

Womenade is a women’s-only organization, and all women are invited to belong. For information, go to www.womenadejax.com. All small business owners—men included—are invited to support Womenade’s efforts for daniel. You can do this in a number of ways:

• Direct donations. Go to www.womenadejax.com and click on “Donate.”

• Christmas gifts. Womenade reaches out to local small businesses to help provide holiday cheer to about 200 kids each year. Companies can sponsor a child or a cottage or even a food basket. All donations are welcome, no matter how small, says Hicks.

• Coffee service. Womenade has recently partnered with Fazzini Coffee & Tea and will receive a portion of profits from coffee sales. (See “Brock Fazzini: Coffee, Tea, and Trees, http://advantagebizmag.com/archives/3403.) Monies raised from this partnership will go toward building a Womenade Classroom at daniel.

Sidebar 2

The Legacy

When I die, give what is left of me to children.
If you need to cry
Cry for your brothers walking beside you.

If the sun should rise
And find your eyes
all filled with tears for me;
Put your arms around anyone
And give them what you need to give to me.

I want to leave you with something…
Something better than words or sounds.
Look for me in the people.

And if you cannot live without me,
Then let me live on in your eyes,
your mind and your acts of kindness.

You can love me most
by letting hands touch hands
and letting go of children
that need to be free.

Love does not die—people do…
So when all that is left of me is love…
Give me away…

—Author unknown 

If you were to pass by the business office of Tony Caribaltes, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear a sharp bark or a tiny meow escape from behind the closed door. Caribaltes is an animal lover who sometimes harbors a dog or (more infrequently, because of allergies) a cat in his office.

As a member of the board of directors of the Friends of Jacksonville Animals, Inc. (FOJA, www.friendsofjacksonvilleanimals.com), Caribaltes sometimes has a hard time saying “no” when an animal needs fostering, even when the animal turns out to be ungrateful. “I once fostered a cat that was missing part of its jaw and was in bad shape. But, he ended up running away from me! He was about three years old, and I guess he liked his freedom more than getting all the food he could eat and having a cool place to sleep.”

More frequently, Caribaltes will take in a dog as part of the fostering program. “The Animal Care and Protective Services needs people to foster animals until they are healthy enough for adoption,” he explains. “I am getting a dog in the next day or two that has a cold—an upper respiratory infection. If he isn’t fostered and brought back to health, he would be put down at the [Animal Care and Protective Services] shelter. Unfortunately, the shelter is not no-kill. I’ll keep the dog and administer medications for about 10 days, then he’ll go back on the adoption block. That’s how we save a lot of animals.”

FOJA’s mission is to save the animals at the shelter, which receives about 2,000 animals a month, according to Caribaltes, and many of them are euthanized. Even those in good health only have 30 days to be adopted before they are put down.“Those numbers are pretty hard to take, especially when you see a perfectly healthy dog or cat that just needs a break and a home,” he says.

He says sick animals are tagged to be put down. But so are ones tagged as aggressive or hyperactive because of too much barking. “But barking doesn’t mean the dog is aggressive,” he says. “For example, I kept Sasha, a 6 year old mixed breed, for about a week. She was so well house-trained that she would not use the cage for her toilet, so she barked to go out. But, because the shelter is understaffed, the dogs don’t get walked often enough, so Sasha got constipated and was in pain, which caused her to bark even more. The shelter labeled her aggressive, but all she needed was to be relieved of her constipation. A FOJA member got her to the vet who fixed the problem, and then she recuperated in my office. She was adopted.”

Caribaltes admits fostering can be emotionally difficult, so instead of being a constant caregiver, he supports FOJA more actively in another way— by applying his skills, knowledge, and experience as a sales and marketing professional to FOJA fund raising and adoption events.

During business hours, he owns Caribaltes Consulting LLC., a year-old business that has two divisions with five employees. The sales division is called The Best of Jacksonville (www.thebestofjacksonville.net). “We act as the sales division to local small businesses who outsource that function to us because they don’t have the time, knowledge, skills, or money to do their own sales.” The marketing division of his company does social media management, marketing campaigns, fund raising, and event planning.

“FOJA is a nonprofit, and our mission is to save as many dogs from the shelter as possible,” he says. “One way our group does this is by holding adoption events. Recently we held an event at a local business from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We took five dogs and three cats, and before noon, we had all five dogs adopted. We went back to the shelter and brought back some more dogs. Within the four hours, we got nine dogs adopted and one cat. We were ecstatic, because all of those dogs were going to be put down within the next couple of days.”

FOJA volunteers hold adoptions almost every weekend at the PetSmarts at the Regency and Southside for cats and sometimes for dogs, and the group puts on one or two organized events a month at other sites, such as outside of a Winn Dixie.

“We also do fund-raising events two or three times a year,” he says. “For example, the company where we adopted out nine dogs and a cat was a fund raiser. All week the employees raised money, such as through a silent auction and a bake sale. Money from those events goes toward medications, toys, food, and blankets for the animals at the shelter.”

He adds, “When FOJA celebrated its first birthday in 2009, we turned that into a fundraiser. We had a first annual reunion and invited everyone who had adopted an animal from the shelter to bring their animals and celebrate. We had vendors, a show, a live band. It was a real party atmosphere.”

Parties and events are fun, but the real joy to Caribaltes is saving a dog from destruction and gaining a friend for life. His advice: “Adopt whenever you can. If you have a choice, try to save a life. The feeling is just incredible.”

FOJA welcomes volunteers. For information on volunteering, go to www.friendsofjacksonvilleanimals.com. Tony Caribaltes, principal of Caribaltes Consulting LLC. can be reached at 904-379-9060 or through his Web site, www.caribaltesconsulting.com.

It happens to employees far too often—corporate burnout. Personal chef Shirley Munn, owner of Let’s Eat IN! Personal Chef Service, distinctly remembers the day it happened to her:

“I was director of medical staff services for a major healthcare facility in Jacksonville. I’d been in the same job for 20 years. My department was responsible for credentialing all the doctors and allied health professionals who came through to make sure they were licensed and had the experience and training they claimed.

“One day, at the end of an especially frustrating day, a friend walked into my office, and I began to vent at her. When I was done, she calmly said, ‘You’re eligible for early retirement, why don’t you become a personal chef?’ She was aware of my love for cooking and sensed I was ready for a change,” remembers Munn.

Even though Munn wasn’t sure what a personal chef was, her friend’s suggestion that day ultimately changed her life.

“I thought a personal chef was someone who cooked for a private household on a daily basis, which didn’t appeal to me. But, my friend suggested I go home and research personal chef to discover whether it was something that did appeal to me. After a few hours on the Web that night, I called to thank her for the great suggestion.  I knew I had found a professional outlet for my passion for cooking. I took the first step in finding my bliss!”

Munn’s epiphany was in July 2004. In September, she attended a four-day conference in Portland, Ore., sponsored by Professional Chef’s Network. During the conference, she affirmed her personal-chef aspiration. “The conference had breakout sessions, workshops, and vendors. It was wonderful being with so many people who shared my passion for cooking. I was like a kid in a candy store, and by the time the conference ended, I was totally convinced that Chef Shirley was about to emerge,” she said.

She completed a home-study course to learn about the business side of being a personal chef. Then she registered her fictitious name with the state, got a business license and liability insurance, a Web site, and marketing materials. She was ready to dip her toe into the personal chef world, and requested to go part time on her “day job.”

“I started working three days a week, with Mondays and Fridays devoted to my new career. Then in January 2005 I took the plunge: I took early retirement and have been living my dream ever since. They say if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. I’ve been very fortunate that, even though I took a risk, everything fell into place, and I just love what I do.”

According to Entrepreneur magazine, the personal chef industry is one of the fastest-growing businesses in America. Personal chefs are not to be confused with private chefs. The latter work as full-time employees in private households. Personal chefs, on the other hand, run their own businesses.

Munn says the role of a personal chef is to simplify life for busy people by relieving them of the stress of menu planning, food shopping, and meal preparation. “As lives become busier, mealtime is usually the first to suffer, and families resort to fast food, dining out, and fragmented mealtimes. It doesn’t have to be that way,” she says. “A personal chef can be your best friend.” Instead of going out, Munn suggests, “eat in.”

Although she does not require a signed contract, Munn says most of her clients are on a monthly menu program. For a couple, that means she plans a menu (in consultation with the client), does the grocery shopping, and cooks four servings of six different entrees and sides (which allows the couple to eat each meal two times during the month). She packages, labels, and freezes each of the entrees and then delivers them to the client.

“Since each entrée is individually packaged, one member of the family may select one meal and the other something different on any given evening. Meals can be prepared on site in the client’s kitchen if that’s their preference.

Munn attributes the success of her business in part to her well-designed Web site. “At first I got a few clients from friends and acquaintances, but mainly I’ve gotten most of my clients through my Web site,” she says, adding, “My Web designer really knows his business. If you Google ‘personal chef Jacksonville’ my Web site is one of the first to come up. I believe it was divine intervention that got us together. He was formerly a personal chef himself and was getting into Web design, and I was just getting into the cooking business. I was his first client. It’s worked out well for both of us.”

Munn has been known to barter for her services if the client offers a service she may need, which benefits both parties. She also offers gift certificates.

Although most menus she creates are “normal,” Chef Shirley also accommodates requests for special diets. “I’ve had requests for salt-free, gluten-free, vegan, low cholesterol, and vegetarian. There seems to be an increasing need for gluten-free diets—food prepared without any wheat, barley, or rye. Any specialized diet only broadens my culinary repertoire, so I welcome the challenge.”

Munn foresees her business taking off in a slightly different direction—one that may be indicative of baby-boomer demographics. “Lately, my business seems to include more elderly folks. says Munn. “I have elderly clients whose adult children are concerned for their parents’ welfare, but who live too far away to tend to them. They find me on the Web, and we’re able to work out a solution that gives the children peace of mind that the parents are eating healthy meals.”

“I’m blessed to be living my dream.,” she says. “Not too many people can say that.” For anyone interested in becoming a personal chef, Munn’s advice: “Life is short. Take a risk, jump in, and follow your bliss!”

Shirley Munn is owner of Let’s Eat IN!, www.letseatinjax.com. She can be contacted at 904-629-5391.

SIDEBAR

To become a personal chef

• Research. The Web is full of resources, says Munn. Google “personal chef.”

• Visit association Web pages. As part of your research, check out www.uspca.com (United States Personal Chefs Association) and www.personalchef.com (American Personal & Private Chef Association).

• Attend a conference. You’ll get immersed in the industry and find out quickly if this is for you.

• Take a course. Certification courses are available, either through classroom study or home study.

If you think all beers taste the same, Ken Stevens would like a word with you. Stevens, the owner of Just Brew It, a retail establishments that supplies everything needed for home brewing and wine making, is a beer aficionado. Two of his recipes have earned him medals for their taste, quality, and craftsmanship, and those medals—along with years of experimenting with hops, yeast, and grains, qualifies him to appreciate the differences in beers.

Stevens’ knowledge of beers has developed over about 15 years. “I’ve been a home brewer for quite some time,” he says, assigning “blame” for his hobby (and store) to his wife, who initially bought him a home-brewing kit. “The shop where I used to buy supplies went out of business,” he says, “and I didn’t like ordering my supplies over the Internet. It was too impersonal. I didn’t want to travel to Gainesville or Orlando, so I decided to open up a home-brewing store myself.” That was in 2005, and business is flourishing.

“Our customer base has really grown. We have customers coming in from all over—from as far away as the Netherlands. That customer found us on the Internet and exchanged e-mails with us for a while. When he went on vacation to Orlando, he drove up here to pick up some supplies and ship them back home,” says Stevens.

International customers are the exception, not the norm, he says; the store caters to the wine and beer-making community of northeast Florida and South Georgia, and his Web site serves to point potential customers to the brick-and-mortar establishment, not as a point of sale. “There are a lot of home brewers in Jacksonville,” says Stevens. “When we opened the store, it was hard to find a really good craft beer here. Now craft beers are sold in groceries, because people are into variety. It’s the want for variety, I think, that has spurred an increased interest in home brewing.”

Stevens explains that craft beers are beers that emphasize quality, taste, and craftsmanship. Breweries are limited in what they can make, he says. Even microbreweries cannot make the variety and styles of beers that home brewers can.

“The cost of some of these craft beers is prohibitive for breweries,” says Stevens. “For instance, one of my recent beers was an imperial chocolate milk stout. The ingredients for a five-gallon batch came to about $80. That’s too expensive for even a small brewery to make. But, it’s a very nice beer that uses about three cups of cocoa powder as well as lactose, a non-fermentable sugar. The alcohol content of that beer is about 11%.”

Chocolate is not the most unusual ingredient Stevens has tasted—or used—in beer. “One of the most unusual I’ve tasted is swamp cabbage beer,” he says. “It definitely sounds weird. When the American Home Brewers Association had its annual convention in Orlando a few years ago, one of the Florida brewing clubs sponsored a hospitality suite. They served beer made from a palm called the swamp cabbage. It was surprisingly good, despite its name.”

Another unusual beer—one that has earned Stevens a silver medal—is a cranberry IPA (Indian Pale Ale). That beer incorporates a gallon of cranberry juice into it for aroma and flavor. Yet another unusual flavor is a cucumber beer. “People who have tasted it says it is very refreshing, with just a hint of cucumber taste,” he says.

About 200 home brewers are members of the CASK (www.thecask.org/), a local home-brewing club. “CASK stands for Cowford Ale Sharing Klub,” explains Stevens. “Cowford was the first name given to the city of Jacksonville.” The club offers members a monthly opportunity to find out how good their home-made concoctions are. The contests focus on a particular style of beer, such as lagers, ales, stouts, cream ales, pilsners, Belgians, and fruit beers. Altogether there are about 28 different styles with subcategories, according to Stevens.

Beers in a particular category are judged on head retention, clarity, taste, aroma, and alcohol content, all according to the standards of the Beer Judge Certification Program, an organization that sets criteria for beer evaluation. Local competitions can lead to national recognitions. The American Homebrewers Association (www.homebrewersassociation.org) also has national competitions to find the best of home brews, so individuals who want to enter their beers can do so on several different levels.

“Brewers like variety,” says Stevens. “Today you have many different varieties of hops, grains, and lots of strains of yeast. Brewers like to take chances, too—to experiment. It’s amazing the results you can get.”

Results like that imperial chocolate milk stout Stevens enjoys. “Yeah, that’s a good one,” he admits. “So good you can sometimes find me pouring it over ice cream for a beer float.”

Ken Stevens is owner of Just Brew It (www.justbrewitjax.com), currently located at 1855 Cassat Ave. In July he will be moving his establishment to 2670 Rosselle. He can be reached at Ken@justbrewitjax.com or 904-381-1983.

SIDEBAR

To get started in home brewing

Getting started in home brewing will cost a novitiate from $250 to $300, says Stevens. “Compared to other hobbies, such as golf or woodworking, that’s not a lot of investment. And that cost includes your first batch of beer—five gallons.” After you purchase the equipment (which comes in a kit), the cost drops to about $40 to $50 for two cases of beer.

Before investing in equipment, however, Stevens recommends doing some reading. “The Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian is a classic;” he says, “it’s good reading.” Papazian is the founder of the American Homebrewers Association.

Once you become familiar with the process, attend some club meetings, and then just do it. “Don’t give up if it doesn’t work out the first time,” says Stevens, who says that people rarely fail the first time out.

He gives one more piece of advice: Buy from a local retailer. “You’ll get the expertise and advice from the staff. We encourage our customers to call us with questions. Most problems can be corrected. Like, we had a fellow once who made a batch of beer. He put the yeast in when it was too hot. The heat killed the yeast. He thought he had made a fatal error and dumped the batch down the drain. I wish he had called us before he did that. All he had to do was let it cool down and throw in some more yeast. It would have been fine.”

If he had his druthers, Greg Swink, co-owner of Hobby World (along with his wife Rita), would rather take to the air in a four-seater Cessna than do most other things. In fact, he plans to bring his pilot’s license up to current status and buy a plane (the second he will have owned) so he and his wife can easily visit their daughter, who lives in Washington, D.C.

But, to get his fill of flying in the meantime, he has to content himself with piloting smaller (yet very realistic) radio controlled (RC) aircraft. “I’ve had up to 16 RC planes, although I only have three right now,” he says.

Swink has been an airplane buff all his life. “I took my first flight in a private airplane when I was about 9 years old and living in a small town in Indiana. The guy who owned our town’s only car dealership had a Cessna. Somehow I convinced him I really needed to go flying. So, he took me up. That day I swore I would become a pilot.”

When Swink was in the  second tour of his Navy enlistment, he and his wife made the vow come true. They both earned a pilot’s license. “It was on May 12, 1977. Rita’s has had her license an hour longer than me,” he chuckles.

About the same time they took to the skies, they also started planning for their future. “We decided to find a business we could run after I got out of the Navy,” he explained. “We saw a ‘for sale’ ad in the paper for a hobby/arts and crafts shop in Orange Park. It was a small store, with only about a couple thousand dollars in merchandise. My father, who was a baby-furniture rep, had connections with a hobby distributor in Miami. We put up about $20,000 and told them to send us what they thought we would need. They sent a truckload of stuff. That was the start. Now, almost 33 years later, we have two stores and more than $1 million in inventory.”

Both stores—one in Orange Park and one off I-295—are full-service hobby stores that carry radio control planes, boats, and cars; model trains; plastic models; rocketry; and other scientific activities. “Not a lot of craft items, though,” says Swink. “Mostly ‘big-boy’ toys.”

It was because of the hobby store that Swink enhanced his flying abilities from maneuvering full-sized aircraft to RC models. “For the first couple of years, while I was still in the Navy, Rita ran the store. Once I got involved in the store, I figured it would be good for me to learn some of the hobbies, so I got into them.”

He did something he advises newcomer RC pilots not to do: He taught himself how to fly. “Teaching myself how to fly only cost me about an airplane and a half,” he laughs. “But I did learn, and I fell in love with RC flying.”

Perhaps it’s a throwback to his second stint in the Navy—he re-enlisted after getting his pilot’s license and chalked up more than 8,000  hours as a flight engineer on P3 aircraft—but Swink’s RC aircraft of choice are “war birds.” “They are fast—really fast,” he says. “They can go more than 100 miles an hour. I like to fly them fastand low.” And land them upside down sometimes, he confesses.

“I’ve landed inverted three times,” he says. “The first time I was flying about five feet off the ground, going as fast as I could, and then the engine quit on me. I decided to land it on its back. It wasn’t too bad—only a broken propeller, scraped canopy, and about one-half inch shaved off the tail.”

The next two inverted landings weren’t so pretty, he says—especially the last one. “It was my favorite plane. The wind changed on me, and I accidentally relaxed my finger on the controls. The plane inverted and hit the ground at about 120 mph and left parts for about 100 yards.”

The crash demonstrates the danger gas RC models pose. Swink says they should only be flown at a flying field, such as those kept by the model airplane clubs around the area. Electric-motored aircraft, which are slower and much lighter, can be flown on playgrounds or other open areas, however.

Swink says he has seen trends in hobbies come and go as people cycle through them. They always seem to have an interest in airplanes, although the type may vary. Right now he says giant-scale aircraft weighing more than 40 pounds with wingspans exceeding eight feet—are gaining in popularity.

“I’ve been flying for 30 years,” he says. “I’ve got customers who have been flying for 50 years. RC airplanes are a lifetime hobby.”

Swink is intent on buying an airplane (a real one), but until he does, it’s a sure bet when he has a few minutes of free time, you can find him practicing take offs, maneuvers, and landings behind the flight simulator in either of his stores or out back demonstrating an RC aircraft to a customer. “Once you get the bug, it never lets go,” he says.

Greg and Rita Swink are owners of Hobby World, www.hobbyworld.biz, located at 7273 103rd St., Jacksonville, and 175 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park. He can be reached at 904-772-9445.

SIDEBAR

How to get started with RC aircraft

• Get the right airplane. Start with a trainer. They are slower, easier to maneuver, and more forgiving than some other aircraft, such as war birds. Swink and his staff work hard to match the customer to the right plane. “ If you give the customer the wrong airplane and it crashes on the first flight, you are going to lose a customer. So we try to fit customers to the right product.”

• Get instruction. Flying clubs have members who will teach you how to fly, usually free of charge.

• Join a club. The area has several RC clubs, including JAX RC, Gateway RC, Shade Tree, Clay County Flyers, and Ancient City flyers (St. Augustine).

If you met John Duss near the office complex where he works, you might correctly guess (in one or two attempts) that he is an attorney, one of five partners in Duss Kenney Safer Hampton & Joos, P.A., a well-rounded business practice whose bedrock is commercial and residential real estate.

What you probably would not guess (just by looking at him) is his passion—motorcycles. He is a far cry from the stereotypical middle aged, tattooed and gray-haired pony-tailed biker who rides down the highway straddling a Harley Davidson. “Actually, I consider myself a motorcyclist rather than a biker,” Duss chuckles. “A motorcyclist is someone who has an interest in motorcycles. The common profile of the biker-type as portrayed in the movies is a bit different.”

An early love affair

Duss’ love affair with motorcycles began when he was a boy. “When I was about 12, I had my sights set on getting a motorbike. I got a paper route and saved for about a year to buy one. That was in 1956. Later I got a motorcycle to ride from our home on the west side of Jacksonville to Bishop Kenney High School on the south side. I put a lot of miles on that bike. I’ve had motorcycles virtually all my life since then.”

Once he buys a bike, Duss usually holds onto it. He now owns 14 motorcycles. “I tend to keep things. I actually have one that I bought in 1975. It’s considered an antique now, but it wasn’t when I got it!” he jokes. “I like to say I liked motorcycles before they were fashionable—which they are now. But, for a long time, they weren’t.”

Duss loves all things motorcycles, but especially vintage collector bikes. He says he has only one bike manufactured in this century. “That one’s not even here in Jacksonville,” he says. “It’s in Colorado.” The oldest bike he has is a 1931 Indian. “Indian was a very successful world renowned motorcycle manufacturer. It survived World War II but went out of business in 1953. I own one of their most celebrated models, a 101 Scout.

Vintage bikes appeal to him primarily because of their history, he explains. “They represent a different mechanical success at different times in the history of vehicles. I enjoy the complexity of some of them and the operational differences that are distinct from modern pieces of machinery.”

If history and education were not enough of a justification for owning vintage motorcycles, Duss says the investment is. “They represent a reasonable investment. Once you buy them, they tend to increase in value over a period of time, so they are basically cost-neutral. Of course, I hardly sell anything. I’ve sold a few over the years and regretted it when I did.”

His avid interest in vintage motorcycles has led him to be actively involved in the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, which was held in March, as well as Riding into History, an annual event that attracts several thousand visitors each May.

“I’ve been involved in the Amelia Island event from the very beginning. It’s primarily a vintage automobile show, but we have a class [competition] for motorcycles. This year we had Triumph vertical twin cylinder motorcycles that were first begun in 1938 and went up until the middle ’60s. We had 12 on exhibit.” In addition to coordinating the motorcycle end of the Concours, Duss also judged the motorcycles, with appearance and style taking precedence over historical correctness.

Riding into History, scheduled to take place in World Golf Village May 15, is a charity event benefitting the Wounded Warriors. Sponsored in part by the BMW Motorcycle Owners of Northeast Florida and the Historic Motorcycle Society, it will feature 300 bikes in competition for trophies. Duss will be one of about 30 judges for the event. “I’m the chief judge there. This year we are featuring British motorcycles, which are classed by years: older than 1946, younger than 1965, that kind of thing.” As the name suggests, the bikes are vintage models. To win in this competition, motorcycles must be historically accurate and stylish.

Owning vintage bikes can sometimes be challenging, according to Duss. “If you are dealing with something that was made in the past, it may have been the best that was available then, but it doesn’t exceed that which is available now.” He admits to tinkering with the mechanics of the bikes, but he does not restore them.

Duss gets a regular weekly “fix” of vintage bikes when he meets with other members of the Historic Motorcycle Society (HMS) for dinner and bike talk. “HMS is social, and there’s not any real structure in terms of officers and dues,” he says. He belongs to many other bike clubs, including the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Antique Motorcycle Club of America (AMCA). I’m an officer in AMCA Sunshine Chapter, which is devoted to antique bikes that have to be at least 35 years old.” He also belongs to “just about” every club dedicated to a specific make, such as the BMW Motorcycle Owners of Northeast Florida

Although not all of his 14 motorcycles reside with him in Jacksonville, Duss still has a tough time deciding what to ride. “It depends on a number of factors,” he says. “If I am going to an event, it might dictate what I ride, if the event has a particular theme to it. Another factor is the distance. If I’m riding a long distance, some of my bikes are better suited for that than others, especially in terms of weather protection.”

He doesn’t really care what he rides, however, so long as he gets to ride. “When I see a motorcycle policeman, I think, ‘Gee, he gets paid to ride!’”

John S. Duss IV, Esq. is a partner in Duss Kenney Safer Hampton & Joos, PA, 4348 Southpoint Blvd., Suite 101, Jacksonville. He can be reached at 904-543-430.

SIDEBAR

Interested in vintage bikes?

Motorcyclists come from all walks of life, says Duss. Many have had an interest since a young age, but others have their interest reawakened when they go to an event such as Riding into History. And some are “slow starters” who take an interest late in life. If you want to get involved in vintage bikes, Duss suggests:

• Read. Bookstores carry a number of magazines devoted to vintage motorcycles.

• Attend shows. Go to the shows and talk with the owners.

• Hang out. Go to some club meetings. HMS members, for example, meet at a local restaurant weekly. You don’t have to own a bike to get to meet the motorcyclists.

Some people run away from their problems. Not Jo Shott. She chases her challenges to the finish line.

Shott is a competitive runner, and when she’s in a race—or just running for the fun of it— the promise of finishing fills her with an exhilaration that is difficult to put into words.

“I love running,” she says. “I love the wind in my face and the feeling I get. I think it’s the endorphins. People think that running hurts and wonder why anyone would want to do that. I think it’s a matter of ‘it hurts so good!’ You get a runner’s high. You get so satisfied with yourself that you tested your own limits and pushed yourself to do better. The sense of satisfaction makes it all worthwhile.”

Because she loves running so much, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she is co-owner of The Jacksonville Running Company, along with her husband Owen and friend Ted DeVos. Opening the business was a natural fit with their passion for running.

“We opened the store a year ago,” she says. “Although the economy was bad, we decided to go for it. Owen had a vision of what he wanted—something more than an ordinary running store. Ted had a financial background. We think we’ve succeeded, because despite the economy, we had a fantastic year.”

Their success may be partially due to their investment in technology and because they opened their market to more than dedicated runners. “We didn’t want to be just another running store,” she says. “Our passion is to genuinely help people. Our logo is ‘Fitting shoes to make you fit.’ We fit shoes by making a scan of a customer’s feet to see where their pressure points are. Then we put them on a treadmill and video them as they walk or jog, to show them why they may be having pain. We’re able to better fit them in the right shoes that way. We also have a mobile unit that goes to businesses and health fairs to work with people who wouldn’t go to a running store because they don’t think of themselves as runners. We want to help people get healthier.”

Although running is in her blood now, it wasn’t always. “I was a late bloomer,” she says. “I didn’t start running until I got into college. Most runners start early—when they are in middle or high school. My high school—University Christian—didn’t have a track and cross country team for girls. I’m athletic, so I played basketball for several years, but I wasn’t very good at it. I enjoyed the drills, though—running back and forth. I finally realized that I was more of a runner than a basketball player. When I enrolled at the University of North Florida, I started running every day for exercise. I would see the cross country team practicing, so inevitably I ended up running with them in order to have company.

“I did this for two years. Finally the coach said, ‘You come to practice more than the people on my team. Why don’t you join the team?’ I didn’t think I was good enough, so I turned him down. But, finally, he prevailed, and I joined the team my senior year.”

Her desire to have company while running had a permanent (and pleasant) result in her life: her husband. “Owen started running with the UNF team for company. We like to say that we ran into each other so we were meant to be!”

Owen is more than Shott’s husband and business partner. He is also her trainer and coach and has encouraged her to be a serious runner. “A serious runner is someone who has a goal—either time and/or a race. We put a plan in place to get ready for a race. It’s a process that lets the body get prepared.”

Shott has been running 5K races for several years, but she has recently started to run 10Ks, which are about six miles long. “I’ve been mentored by a lot of veteran runners who tell me, ‘Don’t try to compete in really long distances like marathons until your body has matured and you have been running a long time. Women peak in their early to mid-30s. I’m not there yet,” says the 30-year-old.

Although she does not usually run marathons, she did run in the 26.2 for Donna Breast Cancer marathon in February. “I really like running in races that have a cause, especially for women’s health, like the 26.2 for Donna. When you see so many people carrying signs that say ‘I’m running for…’ you get really inspired,” she says.

Shott also enjoys “off-the-wall” runs, such as the one she and her husband did with their dog. “the dog run was a lot of fun,” she says. “Another one that I really enjoyed was the Ragnar Relay in November.”

That relay race started in Tampa and finished in Daytona. Shott and her 11 teammates passed the other 50 teams and came in first. “It took us about 21 hours to run across the state,” she says. “We started about 1 p.m on Friday and finished about 10 a.m. on Saturday.”

Her next competitive race? “There’s a 10K in Charleston, S.C. I’m going with a group of girl friends and we’ll make a weekend of it.”

Jo Shott is one of three owners of The Jacksonville Running Company, www.jacksonvillerunningcompany.com, located at 9823 Tapestry Park Circle, Jacksonville, Florida 32246.

SIDEBAR

Before you want to start running…

Running is something anyone in good health can do, says Shott. So, if you want to start running, make sure your doctor gives you the OK. Once you have the green light, Shott suggests:

• Get a good pair of shoes. Make sure they are properly fitted for the kind of running you want to do.

• Start slow. Don’t try to run two miles the first day. “It will hurt and you’ll quit,” says Shott.

• Get a partner. “Having a partner gives you accountability,” she says. Ask someone to walk or run with you. You’ll increase your chance of success if you make yourself accountable to someone.

Some people look forward to weekends so they can fish, go to movies, or just lay back. Deborah Thode, a business coach and owner of Inside Out Solutions, Inc., looks forward to the weekend so she can clown around—literally.

“I become Knock Knock the Clown,” she confesses. “I let my alter ego take over and have a lot of fun doing it.” Her alter ego doesn’t look anything like the serious business coach it replaces. Knock Knock has curly green hair, wide white eyes, a big red smile, and a red ball nose.

Thode says her clown face and outfit have evolved over the years. “I started out as a white-faced clown with big rabbit buck teeth. Now I don’t paint my whole face, and my costume has changed a bit.” She chose her name—Knock Knock—because she loves to tell knock-knock jokes. “Today’s kids grow up too fast, and they don’t understand knock-knock jokes,” she laments. “I love to teach them and get them to laugh.”

Thode has clowned around since 1991, but clowning wasn’t something she set out to do. In fact, the idea had a grim beginning. “My dad was seriously ill, and I asked him what he wanted to do before he died. He told me. Then I asked my mom the same question, even though she was in good health. Very seriously—my mother was always serious— she said, ‘I want to become a clown.’ That shocked me, because I had never heard her say anything funny!

“A while after my dad passed away, mom told me she wanted to sign up for a community education clown class, but they needed five more students for the class to happen. She recruited four friends and ‘shamed’ me into enrolling. I didn’t want to go. I had a stressful life and a difficult marriage, and I was working 50 hours a week. I was an unhappy person, and the last thing I wanted was to go to clown school.”

But Thode went, “kicking and dragging my feet.” The third week of class, Thode remembers, the group experimented with face painting. “My mother ‘volunteered’ me to be painted. The instructor painted a rabbit on my face, with big buck teeth.” When everyone burst out laughing, she looked in the mirror to see what was so funny. “It was like cracking the code. I looked at myself and started laughing harder than I could ever remember. It made me feel good, and I knew I was hooked. I was a clown.”

After the clown class ended, Thode and her mother felt a letdown, but it didn’t last long. The following week they discovered Gator Clowns was hosting a class of its own, and the pair enrolled for the six-week course. Thode has been a Gator Clown ever since.

“Gator Clowns is a not-for-profit organization that has two main goals: to preserve and promote the serious art of clowning, and to assist North Florida nonprofit, civic, and charitable organizations with their fund-raising events.” Anyone who has gone to the Jacksonville Car and Truck Show, the Scottish Highland Games, or some of the Daniel Foundation events has seen members of Gator Clowns entertaining the crowds, explains Thode.

Its annual six-week clown school is how the organization works on “preserving and promoting” the art of clowning. Tuition of about $100 includes the cost of makeup. “Wanna-be” clowns learn about the history and roots of clowning, how to apply makeup (the smile should not go beyond the corners of the eyes and only a few colors should be used or the face becomes scary), and humor.

Today, Thode only clowns with the Gator Clowns, but at one point she supplemented her income by clowning. “Jacksonville has a lot of corporate clowns,” she says. “For some people, clowning is their livelihood. In 1997 when I was going through my divorce I started doing a lot of paid clowning. Unfortunately, clowning three parties each Saturday and two on Sunday for two years straight burned me out,” she says. Other things such as family life, working on her MBA, and assuming a new role as a vice president for Arnold Palmer Design Company, took priority over painting her face; clowning went on a back burner.

When Palmer’s golf design business moved from Ponte Vedra Beach to Orlando in 2006, Thode decided it was time to take her career in a new direction. She became a certified business and executive coach and opened Inside Out Solutions. “Clowning helped me, I think, especially when it came to making presentations. When you’ve dropped your pants [as a clown] in front of 200 people, it’s nothing to get up and talk in front of a roomful of executives.”

Since she joined Gator Clowns in 1992, Thode has been involved in a variety of leadership positions. The group asked her to take the helm (again) as president in 2009 to reinvigorate it—something she has done. Membership is up from just a few volunteers to more than 50. Her clowning know-how has not gone unrecognized: The local Shrine Temple, which has its own alley of clowns, hosted a national Shrine Clown Convention in 2009. She was asked to be one of the judges.

Why does Thode take so much time and trouble to clown around? She ticks off a number of reasons: friendship (“The people are great!”); laughter (“Clowning taught me how to laugh again”); family fun (“It’s brought me closer to my mom, my daughter, and my granddaughter”); and a deeper appreciation of life (“We are who we choose to be”).

Although she is stepping down from the Gator Clown presidential role in 2010, she is looking forward to another successful National Clown Day at Riverside Arts Market where about 40 Gator Clowns entertained the crowds last August. Look for the clown with the curly green hair. It will be Knock Knock, telling corny jokes and having the time of her life.

 SIDEBAR 1

4 kinds of clowns

Although no two clowns ever look exactly alike, every clown fits into one of four basic types, explains Thode:

• White-face clowns. These are the ones, like Clarabell of Howdy Doody fame, whose faces are painted entirely white.

• Auguste clowns. These clowns have face paint, but their faces are not completely white; they are more flesh-toned. Most Ringley Bros. Circus clowns are auguste.

• Hobo or tramp clowns. Red Skelton is a classic example of a tramp clown.

• Character clowns. Whether white-faced or auguste, these clowns always act the part of a character, such as a firefighter or a Keystone Kop.

SIDEBAR 2

What’s an alley of clowns?

An alley is to clowns as a gaggle is to geese, explains Thode. The term came from the old days of tent circuses, which had a separate tents  for men and women. Clowns were not allowed in either tent because the talcum powder the clowns used got onto the shiny costumes of the others performers. So, the clowns were banished to the alley between the men’s and women’s tents. Thus evolved the term “alley of clowns.”

By Linda Segall   

Crisis management is serious business. So is public affairs and corporate communications consulting. So, when Simon Keymer, founder and CEO of the Keymer Group, a Jacksonville-based public relations agency, had an opportunity to take a week off and have some fun last summer, he jumped at the opportunity—which was to buy a $500 clunker and drive it, with a team of friends, from New York to New Orleans, in the 2009 BABE (Big Apple to Big Easy) Rally.

“My company is a public relations agency,” he explained. “But, our specialty is at the serious end of the PR spectrum. Though we’d jump at the chance to handle Britney Spears’ publicity, that’s not where our strengths lie.”  

That “serious end” includes helping companies to manage political and regulatory issues, building and protecting positive corporate reputations and handling business crises of all kind.

The gravity of his work finally got to him: It was time to do something fun, and last summer’s BABE Rally (www.baberally.com) provided the perfect opportunity, he said.

“Actually, I had three reasons to do it,” Keymer admitted, in a way that clearly identifies his British origins. “First and probably most important: I wanted to have a good time with my mates [friends]. Second, I wanted to raise some money for charity. And third, I wanted to raise our profile in the local community.

“We have a national client base,”,” he said, adding that his firm has a Washington, D.C. office in addition to its Jacksonville headquarters. “We actually have few north Florida clients; so we fly a bit beneath the radar here. The BABE Rally was in part intended to help us begin to change that.”

Keymer moved to Jacksonville when his wife, Dr. Tannahill Glen Keymer,took a position as clinical professor of neuropsychology with the University of Florida at Shands Hospital. “I’ve lived in Jacksonville longer than anywhere else,” he said, indicating that he has planted firm roots here. “It was time to give back. So, I thought I could use the BABE Rally as a way to raise money for a local charity and connect to our own community.” He chose the daniel Foundation (www.danielkids.org) as the recipient of his charity drive.

Having a good time was high on his agenda, however. “I’m nearly 40. I thought this would be a kind of last hurrah, to spend a week with my male friends,” he said. “That said, I seriously overrated the ‘fun factor’ of sitting in a car with my friends for nine hours a day!”

That “fun factor” was tested several times throughout the rally—beginning a couple of days before it even started.

The rally had one strict rule: The value of the clunker could not exceed $500. “I looked for weeks and test drove a number of vehicles, even one in which possums had been living ,” said Keymer. “I was getting desperate as the date approached. But finally I found a 1995 Dodge Stratus whose condition seemed OK and whose interior was clean. I talked the owner into selling it to me for $500 because this was a charity event.” Jim at Cedar Hills Tire & Auto Care gave the car a thumbs-up once it had new tires and brakes.

The evening before they were to put the car on the auto train, Keymer decided to have his mechanic take one last look at the electrical system. “There was an intermittent electrical problem I couldn’t find,” he said. “Sometimes when you turned the engine on, the car would drive, but it wouldn’t have any electrics—no radio, lights, wipers. You could drive for miles without noticing. It was worrisome.”

It was actually more than worrisome; it was almost catastrophic. On the way to the mechanic, in Friday evening rush-hour traffic, the car caught on fire. Thanks to the help of Good Samaritan motorists who stopped and poured water and soda on the fire until it was extinguished, the car did not die a complete death. But its new paint job was semi-ruined, and the pristine interior was smoke-damaged.

“I must admit, I felt quite glum,” said Keymer. However, an hour later his mechanic found the cause of the problem—a loose wire that was sparking—and fixed it. The next day, the car was on the auto train, enroute to Staten Island, N.Y., the start of the 1,500 mile drive to New Orleans.

Keymer and his local pal Holland Johnson were joined by Justin Doherty, an old army buddy of Keymer’s, who flew in from Abu Dhabi, where he resides. On Sunday they and 70 other clunker-driving teams started their five-day adventure, which was to include a kind of photo treasure hunt. Participants were to take pictures of specific things, such as a hot-air balloon or a Ferrari, to earn points. The team that earned the highest number of points—and finished the race—would win a cash prize at the end.

The first two days of the rally, Keymer and his team considered the rally a serious contest—and they came in first each day. “We made a big deal of it. Then we realized something: Everyone else was having fun and we weren’t! We were approaching this like a job to be done.” The third day, they decided to live it up and detour to Knoxville for a night on the town. A good time, however, was not to be.

“We broke down in the fast lane of the interstate,” he said. “The engine overheated. Smoke started pouring out. I had a bit of post-traumatic stress disorder considering my previous fire experience four days earlier. But when the engine cooled down and we turned the car on, the electrics came on, and I suddenly had an epiphany: It’s like a locked-up computer. You have to reboot it occasionally. We didn’t have any more problems after that.”

No more electrical problems, that is. On the morning of the last leg, from Birmingham to New Orleans, they were the last car out of the parking lot. “I was driving,” he said. “Suddenly I heard this massive bang, as if someone had hit a fragile part of the engine with a sledge hammer.” We got out of the car and found that one of the wheels had come off its ball joint.”

That was it; the race for Keymer and his Team Preteen Spirit was over. Keymer signed the title of the clunker to the tow-truck driver and the team flew to New Orleans for the end of rally party.

The rally was a bust, but the week was not. Keymer said, “We achieved our objectives: We raised some money for charity; we had a good time; and we drew attention to our business in our home community. All in all, a job well done.”

Simon Keymer is founder and CEO of the Keymer Group, www.keymergroup.com He can be reached at 904-383-4834 or simon.keymer@keymergroup.com

SIDEBAR

What is the BABE Rally?

BABE Rally stands for Big Apple to Big Easy: The Great American Banger Rally. It is a 1,500 mile rally, which the organizers stress is not a race, starting on Staten Island, N.Y., and ending in New Orleans, La.

“Banger” is the British word for “clunker,” explained Simon Keymer, founder of Keymer Group, a Jacksonville-based public relations firm. “Banger rallies are quite popular in Europe.”

The first BABE Rally was in 2006. Founded by StreetSafari (www.streetsafari.com), the main purpose is to have fun through “a unique motoring experience.” BABE’s Web site says it is easy to join the fun. “Just get yourself the worst looking vehicle you can for $500 or less and enter the rally.”

According to Keymer, the cars are environmental disasters. Some seem to be held together with duct tape and wire. But the participants really get “into” the event. “One team was dressed like clowns,” he said. “They did everything in their clown costumes and red noses—eating breakfast, working on their car. Every time you saw them, the funnier it was.”

To enter the BABE Rally participants had to agree to a few rules. Among them:

• The car cannot be valued at more than $500.

• It must carry insurance.

• The clunker must pass the safety inspection of the state in which it is licensed.

• All drivers must have a valid license.

• Basic safety rules must be followed.

• The team is responsible for disposing of the vehicle.

Throughout the five-day drive, the teams are challenged to do certain tasks, such as photograph specific sites. The team that comes in first with the most points earned from these tasks can win a prize: $1,500, first prize; $350, second; and $150, third. Only teams that finish with their clunker are eligible for the prizes. Keymer did not win, since his banger broke down before they could even start the last leg of the journey.

The rally is a fun event, but teams, like Keymer’s may participate as a money-making event for charity. Keymer’s team raised about $5,000 for daniel Foundation. The team kept the spirit alive by taking photos and posting them and commentary on Facebook and Twitter each day.

Keymer's clunker--before its BABE paint job

Keymer's clunker--after its BABE paint job.

BABE Rally clowns

Clunker alley

The Keymer team with its broken down banger. From left: Justin Doherty, Simon Keymer, and Todd Johnson

By Linda Segall    

To most people, “surf and turf” is a menu choice—seafood and steak. To Paul Beiderwell, surf and turf—or rather, turf and surf—expresses what he does—for a living and for fun.

“Turf” refers to Green Vision Services, the business he operates, which he describes as primarily a grass-cutting service, although he says he has also done some extensive landscaping. He’s been providing these services for homeowners in the Riverside and Ortega areas of the city for more than 20 years.

“I did the ‘corporate thing’ for a while,” he said, explaining how he got into lawn service, “but I discovered the company I worked for wasn’t employee-friendly. To keep my sanity, I decided to open my own business.” Lawn care appealed to him. It was something he knew well, since he had done it as a youngster; and it gave him the freedom to be outdoors as well as to schedule his own time.

At one time, Beiderwell was on the go from sunrise to sunset, servicing 85 yards a week. “That schedule was extremely tiring and hard on me,” he confesses. “Over the years I’ve let the business ‘relax’ so that the schedule is not as demanding.” He now has about 25 contracts. “People are happy with what we provide, both in the quality of our work and in our prices, which are generally about 20% less than others.” he says.

His less demanding work schedule allows him to engage literally in the “surf”—through kitesurfing.

Beiderwell got into kitesurfing in 1998, a period in which his lawn service company was at its peak and its demands were physically draining. “My relaxation was limited to collapsing on the couch and watching TV,” he says. “One evening I came across a channel with the kitesurfing championships from Maui. I was captivated. A week later, I had a trainer kite, and a month later, I had purchased my first full-sized rig with a board and various pieces that go with it.”

The sport was in its infancy then, and not much information was available on how to kitesurf safely. He says he was lucky. “I didn’t understand the power of wind on a piece of fabric. I didn’t know that a kite generates enough power to pull a car down the beach. I had no idea how close to death I was! I just set up the rig and let it happen.”

As he mastered the sport and learned to appreciate its very real dangers, he decided to help budding kitesurfers learn how to do it safely. At the time there were very few trainers and learning was very sketchy. In 2002, he became certified to train others. “Some of the best kitesurfing in the state is right here at Huguenot Memorial Park. The park’s conditions can be right for any level of kitesurfing. People with any skill level, in any wind direction, and at any tide level can find a safe place to practice,” he says.

Because the location is so well suited for the sport, it attracts kitesurfers from all over. “At one time the city and park management considered closing the park to kitesurfing for at least part of the year because they were concerned about kiters injuring other people,” he says. “I didn’t want the park to close to kitesurfing, so I got into training people how to do it safely.” He estimates that since 2002 there have been more than 500,000 hours of kitesurfing at the park without a single injury to the non-kiting public.

Beiderwell has taught more than 500 people, from ages 7 to 77, how to kitesurf, using a 14-step lesson plan that exceeds the certification requirements of PASA (Professional Air Sports Association). He starts with the basics, teaching his students about meteorology and concentrating on safety. The powerful kites are tethered to the instructor during the most dangerous part of the lesson and until students learn to control the kite in a safe way. Students don’t sign up by the hour; they sign on and work with him until they become competent, he explains. “Anyone who takes lessons and develops good safety habits can have hundreds of hours of fun without even stubbing their toe.”

He emphasizes that kitesurfing is a sport and requires the acquisition and honing of skills. “If you have good winds, you can learn the basics in two to four sessions,” he says. “Some people like my wife Linda are ‘fair weather’ kitesurfers. They go out to cruise the flat water. Others are into riding the waves and doing tricks, which require more skills.”

To Beiderwell, kitesurfing offers a way to let go of the day’s stress. “My wife says it’s a

Paul and Linda Beiderwell

 way to ‘defrag the hard drive’,” he says. One thing is for certain: Paul Beiderwell is a turf-and-surf man, and if the wind is up, you can probably find him at Huguenot Park, riding the surf.

Paul Beiderwell operates Green Vision Services. He can be reached at 904-424-2721. For information on kitesurfing lessons, go to his Web site, www.1stcoastkiting.com.

SIDEBAR

What is kitesurfing?

Kitesurfing, also known as kiteboarding, is an extreme water sport that uses the wind to pull a rider through the water using a wake or surf style board. The rider has control over the kite and often performs tricks or rides waves in the water, similar to a skateboard rider on land.

Kitesurfing differs from parasailing, which Beiderwell describes as a recreational activity. “In parasailing, the person pays a fee, gets strapped into a special parachute rig, and is pulled by a boat. He has no control. In kitesurfing, however, the rider is in control; it is a sport requiring skill.”

Watch a demonstration of kitesurfing at Huguenot Memorial Park:

As Tim Blin, owner of Premier Garage of Northeast Florida, approached the age of 40, he decided to make a “bucket list.” One of the items near the top of the list was completing a 480 mile bicycle trip across the state of Iowa.

RAGBRAI stands for the “Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa,” sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. The ride starts on the western border of Iowa at the Missouri River, where bikers dip their back tires into the river’s waters for good luck, and ends on the eastern edge of the state, where bikers, by tradition, end their trip by dipping their front tires into the Mississippi River.

“We started in Council Bluff in the west,” said Blin, “The weather was great. You just never know what the weather is going to be in Iowa. I was thankful it was not one of those 90-degree plus weeks. RAGBRAI is a seven-day ride and takes place the last week of July. This was its 37th year. It is the longest, largest, and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. It attracts people from all 50 states and many foreign countries. This year they had 13,000 registered riders— people of all ages and physical abilities. I even saw someone riding a unicycle and another on roller blades.”

RAGBRAI is not a race; you take it at your own pace, averaging around 70 miles a day, Blin explained. Many riders take their time and stop at all the pass-through towns. Blin and his brother-in-law took a different approach: They rode to the overnight host towns as quickly as they could, although they did stop to enjoy the sites and food along the way.

“The towns really roll out the red carpet,” he said. “The town squares transform into a festival atmosphere with bands and all kinds of food. The homemade ice cream and pies were amazing!”

To take the ride, Blin shipped his bicycle to the starting pointing and flew to Omaha, Neb., where he met his brother-in-law, brother, and father, who were his support team. His father also had a motor home, where they slept each evening.

“This year the ride zigzagged through the southern part of Iowa,” he explained. “Every year the route changes. Many of the stay-over towns are quite small and to have about 20,000 people converge in one day is truly a site to see. Campgrounds and fairgrounds become tent and motor-home cities.”

To those who think riding across Iowa would be easy because the state is flat, Blin says, “Think again! It’s a beautiful part of the country, but it is definitely not flat. This ride was one of the 10 hilliest in the history of RAGBRAI. We climbed 22,000 feet over the course of the week. We found all of Iowa’s hills, and the muscles in my legs can attest to that!”

For Blin, riding across Iowa was as much of an accomplishment as opening his own franchise business five years ago. “I had been considering different business options when I visited my sister in Phoenix and saw that most of the garages out there had coated floors and storage cabinets—something you did not see a lot Florida. I then visited the headquarters of Premier Garage in Phoenix, and that led me to becoming Florida’s first franchise owner.”

Blin said business has held its own, even during the economic downturn. “Especially in uncertain times, people find comfort when things are in order. Getting rid of the clutter and having things organized has a strange effect on the brain. It makes you feel good and gives you a sense of control. I have a great team and we are approaching our 700th garage installation.” he said.

Blin is continuing to add to his “bucket list.”, “I’ve now taken up kite-boarding. This summer, I traveled to the outer banks of North Carolina to learn the sport and I’m hooked.”

After that? “I haven’t yet decided. But it will be something exciting—guaranteed.”

Tim Blin is the owner of Premier Garage of Northeast Florida, www.premiergarage.com. He can be contacted at 904-234-1699.

A 100 pound tarpon was no match for this kayak fisherman    

A plea for “just five more minutes” turned into 50 and caused Brett Hastings to be late for a meeting with a new client, but he didn’t mind. Because he gave in to his kayak-fishing mate’s request, he ended a quest he had yearned to fulfill for years: He landed a 5 foot, 100-pound tarpon.

The achievement of this fisherman’s goal happened June 26 around 2 p.m. “We [Hastings and his friend Zsolt Takaczs] had been fishing for more than five hours,” explained Hastings. “Although all the conditions were right—the right weather and the large schools of bait fish—and we could see the tarpon, they just weren’t taking our bait. I was ready to head in because of a 3:30 p.m. appointment I hadn’t been able to cancel, but Zsolt begged me to try one more time. As luck would have it, within five minutes, the fish took my bait. Needless to say, I was late to my meeting, but that was OK, because it turned out my client is also a kayak fisherman. He understood.”

Hastings, who during working hours is a trial attorney and a partner in the law firm of Reznicsek, Fraser, Hastings, White & Shaffer, says landing a tarpon is not easy—especially from a kayak. “I’d caught tarpon from a boat,” he says. “Ever since I started kayak fishing about eight years ago, I’ve always wanted to catch one from a kayak. But the conditions have to be absolutely right.”

In June and July the bait fish—menhaden shad, locally called pogies—congregate in pods and move up and down the coast. Following them are tarpon (and other fish, such as sharks), who see the pods as dinner. Fishing for tarpon requires, in addition to the pods and the tarpon, a third condition—prevailing west winds. “Westerlies keep the seas flat,” says Hastings. “When you are in a fishing kayak, you need calm seas. When all three elements come together, you have a limited window of time. You have to take advantage of it!”

For a sports fisherman, the allure of catching a tarpon is the fight. And the fish Hastings caught didn’t disappoint him. “It took 50 minutes to bring him in,” he says. “But the coolest part was that because the ocean was so calm, the water was clear. I actually saw the fish take the bait. When he realized he was hooked, he took off about 50 to 60 yards in about two or three seconds. My reel felt like it was going to blow up, and I felt like I was hooked up to a Porsche 911! Then he jumped a good six or seven feet out of the water and took me for a quarter-mile ‘sleigh ride’!”

Slowly over the course of the next 25 minutes, Hastings was able to “play” the fish. “All of a sudden, the fish went down vertically,” he says. “That was when the fight got really difficult, because I had to literally pull him up from straight down. I completely underestimated the physicality of that feat. Every other time I’ve fought a large fish, I had the ability to use my legs. But this time, I had to sit the whole time. It was like in weight lifting holding a 100-pound curl for 20 minutes. I was completely worn out from the fight.”

To make sure friends would not think Hastings was telling a “fish story—since he revived and released his catch—” his friend Takaczs recorded everything on camera. “When you go kayak fishing for tarpon in the ocean, you always have a companion for safety,” says Hastings. “There is an unwritten rule that you each have a camera, and if one of you hooks a fish, the other one starts taking pictures.”

Hastings has fished all his life, and although he still fishes from boats, kayaks have become his love. “When I started kayak fishing about eight years ago, not too many people were doing it. Now, it’s different; a lot of people kayak fish. I love it. Although you go out with others, you are alone on the water. The solitude is therapeutic. It’s a great way to de-stress from work.”

When he isn’t fishing for tarpon, he enjoys hopping into one of his three kayaks or onto his gheenoe, which is essentially a motorized canoe. “I live on the marsh in Jacksonville Beach,” he says, “so after work, I go out in one of my kayaks and fish inshore for redfish, trout, or flounder.”

Hastings says he can’t wait until his three boys—4-year-old twins and a 2-year-old—are old enough to fish with him. “They fish a bit now,” he laughs, “but they don’t have a long attention span.” His wife Carrie also enjoys fishing from kayaks, so the two of them split their time on the water. “It will be nice when we can go this as a family,” he says.

In the meantime, Hastings has set a new goal: To catch another tarpon from a kayak, but this time on the fly. “Catching a tarpon in a kayak is a great challenge,” he says. “Doing it with a fly rod instead of with bait is even harder. But it’s my next great quest.”

Brett Hastings is partner in the law firm of Reznicsek, Fraser, Hastings, White & Shaffer, www.rfhlaw.com, 4230 Pablo Professional Court, Suite 200, Jacksonville, FL 32224, 904.567.1060.

By day she’s the energetic owner of Statewide Reporting Service, a thriving court-reporting business. By night, Gayle Featheringill is a passion-driven volunteer impresario at Players by the Sea, an amateur play group in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. Each of her “occupations” is work, she says, but she loves them both.

Featheringill formed her own business in 1980 after working several years as a typist and a court reporter. She says her company performs an important function: Its eight freelance court reporters take depositions and record court proceedings, administrative hearings, and other public hearings—anything in which a verbatim transcript is needed. “When there is an appeal,” she says, “the appeals judge only sees the transcript of the proceedings, never the witnesses. So the transcripts have to be verbatim.”

The recession has had an inverse effect on Featheringill’s business, so much so that she herself has had to re-engage in reporting. “Business is thriving now, so much that they call me to go to work!” she says. “We deal in crime and bankruptcy, which go on the rise in a recession. We got along with only four reporters for many, many years. We were content and could have a weekend. Now we have eight reporters and we never stop!”

Despite her busy schedule, Featheringill finds time to indulge in her “other work,” volunteering both as an actor as well as a behind-the-scenes worker at Players by the Sea, where she has been involved since its inception in the late 1960s. She got the acting bug while she was in college and tried out for the lead in Picnic at the urging of her English professor. That was in 1959, and she has never shaken the bug since then. “I’ve worked at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine, the [now defunct] River City Playhouse in Jacksonville, and Theatre Jacksonville. I enjoy the production aspect of theater as well as the acting.”

Usually actors and stage crew have about six weeks to prepare for a production. But Featheringill remembers one time when she had only hours to act in a Shakespeare production. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “I received a call from the executive director at 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning, asking if I could go on that night. They faxed me the lines so I could learn them. The cast and crew came in early so I could get my blocking [stage moves] down. And the prop master put my lines on parchment paper so I could ‘cheat’ a bit. Since my character had to talk about the law, I would hold up the parchment paper and the audience thought I was talking about the law. I was actually reading my lines. There are life accomplishments. This was one of them for me.”

Putting on amateur theatrical productions is “fun work” but work nevertheless, says Featheringill. “There are never enough people. It takes about three people backstage for every actor you see on stage—people running the lights and sounds, directing, helping with costumes, and getting the actors dressed.”

The time commitment is considerable, too. The actors may rehearse three or four times a week for several hours each time. The stage manager, a role Featheringill enjoys fulfilling, is even more involved, working up to five nights a week, and even more during “hell week,” the week prior to the week before the play goes on. “That’s when everything comes together—lights and sounds with the acting, over again and again, to get the timing right. You work hard all week.”

Why does she do it, if the work is so hard? “Why do some people play golf?” she answers with a question. “Working in the theater is hard work, but it’s not just that. It’s a passion. The only thing we get in amateur theater is the reaction of the audience, and that is so rewarding. Applause is part of it, but it’s more than that. When you are on stage, you can make yourself disappear and become someone else, or make people think you do.”

Featheringill may disappear on stage, but not from Players by the Sea nor her own business. “I’ll never retire!” she states. “This is ‘my thing.’”

Statewide Reporting Service is located at 233 East Bay Street, Suite 606, Jacksonville, FL 32202, 904-353-7706. Players by the Sea, www.playersbythesea.org, is located at 106 Sixth Street North, Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32250.

Deadlines are a way of life for David P. Barley Sr., CPA. The most urgent deadlines for Barley and his colleagues at Barley, Martin & Wild, CPA, PL, are March 15 (corporate taxes) and April 15 (personal income taxes), because the firm specializes in taxes. But he says other deadlines unrelated to taxes are common, too, such as deadlines imposed by bankers who have loaned money to clients.

Whether the deadlines are tax-related or not, however, they all create stress. “The most stressful thing about my job is managing the variety of deadlines that occur,” he says. “And there are emergencies that occur and have to be fit in, and you have a variety of people relying on you to provide tax-planning information, so you do what you have to do.”

Doing “what you have to do”—especially in tax season, the weeks prior to federal deadlines—means putting in significant time at the office and away from the family. “Fortunately, we generally know when those stressful, high-volume times are,” says Barley, “and our families know it, too. Everybody just gets used to it. You plan around it.”

Barley truly enjoys his work, especially when he sees clients benefit from his tax and financial-planning advice. “When I see long-term clients who have been able to get their kids through college, prepare for their retirement, and are able to lead a comfortable life equal to or better than what they wanted, that’s probably the most satisfying long-term benefit of my job,” he says.

Running his own firm is also satisfying. “Some people just have an entrepreneurial spirit,” he explains, “I’m one of those people. I like the challenges and risks of owning my own business. You have to worry about paying rent, covering overhead, and keeping the doors open, But it’s very rewarding knowing that at the end of the day you are successfully taking care of your family, as well as providing your employees with good jobs, financial security, and a chance for advancement, training, and learning, as well as taking care of your clients and their needs.”

Despite the challenges of running his own business and the stress of the deadlines inherent to accounting work, Barley has made his family his top priority, and he lives by one simple rule: “I never miss my kids’ activities.” He and his wife Debra have two sons, David Jr., 18, and Ryan, 15. Both boys have been involved in sports since they were old enough to throw a ball. He takes his self-imposed rule of not missing their activities seriously. “Even during tax season, I’ve been fortunate in being able to not miss their activities,” says Barley.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that for 13 years—including the two years he spent working on an executive master’s degree at the University of Florida— he has only missed one activity of each of his sons. “I had to travel to Gainesville for one weekend a month during the period when I was getting my master’s,” he says. “It was during one of those weekends that I missed an athletic event.”

When deadlines have passed and it’s time to “de-stress,” Barley and his family like to “kick back” at their house on Lake George, in Georgetown, Fla., about 20 minutes south of Palatka. The house is actually on an island, reachable only by ferry or by boat. “When we go there, it’s a way to really get away,” he says. “We ski, knee-board, tube, jet ski. Sometimes we just go out to the middle of the lake, throw down the anchor, ride the jet skis, and relax. The operative word is relax. That’s exactly what we did after April 15.”

When the entire family is at the lake house, daytime hours are filled with activity, with boating, swimming, and even a little fishing (very little; Barley admits he is not a fisherman). It’s a different story when he and his wife enjoy time alone at the house. “We just sit back and enjoy nature and the serenity and seclusion of the island,” he reflects. After meeting all of those deadlines, that’s a good thing.

SIDEBAR

Two reasons to be part of your kids’ lives

David Barley has found that involvement with his children’s lives has done more than merely give him a way to relax and unwind. “Involvement is something I advise other to do. It serves a twofold purpose,” he says:

• It forces you to get out of the office of time. Kids’ activities are regimented and scheduled, he says. “The activities start when they start, not on your schedule. If you are running late, you are going to miss the game. Being involved forces you to leave the office on time.”

• You get to know your kids. “Kids just want your approval. They want to make you proud. And when you spend time with your kids, you also spend time with your spouse,” he says. That time helps build relationships, something that can be hard to do in hectic times.

When the office lights go off at night, some men turn to wine, women, and song to relax. Not Ralph Nicewonger. “For me, it’s always been cars,” he says.

And in recent years, it has been classic cars. “My wife, Judy, and I have two classic Thunderbirds—a ’57, which was the last two-seater model Ford manufactured, and a ’58, the first four-seater. “Since I turned 15,, I’ve owned 79 cars, trucks, and motorcycles, says Nicewonger. “Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how valuable some were until after I sold them.”

Nicewonger’s daytime job is owner, along with his wife Judy, of Publication Distribution Services, a business he created in 1997 for another company and bought out in 2003. The company, through its 30 contracted carriers, distributes free publications from southern Georgia down through Ocala and Silver Springs.

After hours, as a way to relax, reduce stress, and “to preserve history,” the Nicewongers like to take one of their classic cars out for a spin. “The fun is to get [the cars] out and run them around. It’s neat when you drive down the road and somebody recognizes that you’ve got something unusual,” he says. “Somebody will drive by you and blow the horn and wave. I think all old-car owners get a kick out of that. It probably strokes their ego somewhat.”

Although some classic-car buffs do their own restoration, Nicewonger says he doesn’t pretend to be an expert. “Our cars, according to judging classifications, are considered ‘drivers.’,” he says. And although the Thunderbirds they currently own are not “concourse quality” vehicles, they have won a few trophies, some based on their great condition and some for fun. “Last Halloween, we won a trophy for ‘Best Halloween Performance.’ We borrowed a mummy from a party store and put it in the trunk and decorated the car with cobwebs. It was fun.”

The awards are won at car shows put on by various classic-car organizations to which they belong—the Thunderbird Club, First Coast Car Council, the Florida Show Car Association, and the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA).

“These organizations do everything from Saturday-morning cruise-ins from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at a Crispy Crème to different shows sponsored by churches or organizations.” He says the AACA goes to senior citizen centers regularly. “You sit there for a few hours and get the chance to talk to some people who remember their first date in the back of a Model A.”

Driving his cars and exhibiting them are only two ways in which Nicewonger’s hobby keeps him busy after hours. A third is organizing events. In April, he organized the classic-car show at the Cecil Field Air Show, which this year was billed as the largest air show in the United States. It was also a fund-raising activity for the auto club. “Typically we raise money for different charities at our car shows. This year we joined with the Cecil Field Air Show to raise money to help a stunt pilot who broke his neck in a tragic accident and became paralyzed,” explains Nicewonger.

The car buffs raised money by inviting visitors to vote on their favorite auto. Each vote had to be purchased. “It was the first time we’ve had this kind of contest,” he says.

Owning a classic car can be a little “pricey,” says Nicewonger, but it is a great family hobby. The only downside? “We have a two-car garage,” he says, “and unfortunately, our ‘regular’ cars have never seen the inside of it.”

Publication Distribution Services, 904-737-7327, is located at 5107 University Boulevard West, Jacksonville, FL 32216.