Finding kindness between a rock and a hard place
Lena Shore credits rocks for helping her resolve her artistic blockage. Not just any old rocks, but ones that she paints. “I discovered rock painting a few weeks ago and find it to be very useful for relieving stress,” explained Shore. “When I was first introduced to rock painting through a friend, I said, ‘What […]
Pineapple Prince of Ortega
Sunny, warm, humid. No, it’s not a weather forecast for a typical North Florida summer. Instead, it’s the atmospheric recipe for growing pineapples. While people and pets are wilting in the Jacksonville heat and humidity this summer, pineapples are thriving, and one Ortega man has a bumper crop. It all began 17 years ago when […]
Studio aims to make Jacksonville a movie-making mecca, one short film at a time
Once known at the Winter Film Capital, Jacksonville’s heyday for movie studios was largely curtailed in the 1930s for a variety of reasons but, in the end, mostly due to Hollywood’s magnetic draw. Movie making in Jacksonville then waxed and waned, with another production spurt occurring in the early 1980s after Gov. Bob Graham made […]
Weise family celebrates 50 years in pharmacy service to community
Under the watchful portrait of their predecessors, Dr. Emil H. Weise and his father, Emil Weise, Sr., three generations of the Weise family – Gilbert Weise, Sr., his son, Gilbert, Jr. and granddaughter Tiffany Weise Schaible – are carrying on a family tradition in pharmacy, nutrition, and homeopathic medicine at their drugstore in Ortega. Although […]
Venetia neighborhood school gets new outdoor library
There’s probably nothing more natural for a book club to do than to promote reading outside its own circle. That’s just what the 7-year-old Venetia Book Club did when they decided to install not one, but two Little Free Libraries at Venetia Elementary School. Linda Hunter, a member of the club and 30-year resident of […]
Plucky giant chicken finds new roost in Riverside
Snacker has a new home, her fourth in the past seven years, but this one is her forever home. The giant orange chicken recently flew the coop from Hemming Park, where she has been on display since April 2016, staring at park visitors and passers-by from between her scrawny chicken legs when she wasn’t gawking […]
Repainting Murray Hill one blank wall at a time
If Jason Tetlak has his way, Murray Hill will become known as a fun, creative place to live and work. A graphic designer, former elementary school art teacher, and member of the Murray Hill Preservation Association board, Tetlak has big plans for the historic community. As coordinator for the MHPA-sponsored mural project, Tetlak began procuring […]
For the love of laughter
Barbara Anderson of San Marco loves to make people laugh. For her it is not just a hobby or a pleasant thing to do, it’s her passion. Anderson joined Gator Clowns in 1998 to provide an outlet for her mirth-making. Gator Clowns of Jacksonville is the oldest, active Clown Alley in North America, according to […]
