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In this issue On the Cover
Billy Reid was raised in the small town of Amite, Louisiana, and recalls fond memories of time spent in his mother’s clothing store, which served as a community center where friends and family would visit, eat, drink, and have great conversations. When he founded his eponymous clothing line twenty years ago, Southern sophistication and community became part of the brand. In 2008, when Reid launched the Shindig event in his current hometown of Florence, Alabama, he brought together fashion industry insiders, artists, musicians, chefs, and neighbors for a weekend of fun and doing good. Shindig 10 was bigger and better than ever before, with concerts, a charity baseball game, meals prepared by some of the South’s top chefs, a creative panel discussion, and much more. Photo by Abraham Rowe, taken at Reid’s flagship store in Florence, Alabama
PUBLISHED BY
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LAUREN DOUGLASS ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT MORE SHE COULD DO TO SAVE THE WORLD. WHEN SHE HEARD WILLIAM CAREY’S QUOTE “I WILL DESCEND, IF ONLY YOU WILL HOLD THE ROPE,” SHE KNEW. FIND OUT HOW SENDWELL HELPS THOSE WHO DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO HELPING OTHERS. PHOTO BY BRENNA KNEISS
FEATURE 22 Good Neighbors: Billy Reid and Friends Connect in Style
VOYAGER 31 32 Conservation and Connection in
Beautiful Curaçao
38 Old Florida Meets New South on the Oyster Trail 44 Just Add Water: Underwater Museum of Art 50 Finding Your Yucatán Escape
LE MONDE 57 58 Baby Boomer Bands: Still Rolling after
All These Years
64 A Star-Studded Celebration: David Lynch Foundation 68 Equine Connections: Steps to Healing
92 Having Their Backs: Securing Children’s Futures through Food
C’EST LA VIE CURATED COLLECTION: SHINE ON 96 L’AMOUR 101 102 It’s All about the Dress! Christian Siriano Bridal 108 All the Feels: Nicola Paloma Bridal Comes to Life 112 Mr. and Mrs. Rogers 118 Mr. and Mrs. Alford
INTROSPECTIONS 124 Setting New Traditions: Give Thanks Together
72 Caring for the Sent
128 Shower Me with Your Love
76 Sitting under the Sycamore Tree
LA SCÈNE 130
80 To the Tune of Goodness: Panama City
Songwriters Festival Gives Back TheIdeaBoutique.com info@theideaboutique.com
90 Do-Gooders! Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation Makes an Impact
86 Taylor Haugen Foundation Marks Ten Years of Protecting Young Athletes
AU REVOIR! 135
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 7
CREATIVE TEAM FOUNDER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com
FOUNDER / PUBLISHER GERALD BURWELL Gerald@VIEmagazine.com
EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR JORDAN STAGGS Jordan@VIEmagazine.com
CHIEF COPY EDITOR MARGARET STEVENSON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ELLIE ALFORD, SALLIE W. BOYLES, L AUREN DOUGL ASS, CAROLYN O’NEIL, TORI PHELPS, SUZANNE POLL AK, ROMONA ROBBINS, ADAM ROTHSCHILD, L AURETTE RYAN, MEGHAN RYAN, LIESEL SCHMIDT, JANET THOMAS
ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY ART DIRECTOR TRACEY THOMAS Tracey@VIEmagazine.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS OLIVIA PIERCE HANNAH VERMILLION
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS MICHAEL BOOINI, MARSCHA CAVALIERE, DZIUREK, GABRIELE FANI, STEVEN GRAY, K AMIRA, BRENNA KNEISS, JAKE MEYER, RANDY MIRAMONTEZ, COOPER NEILL, NEIL RASMUS, ROMONA ROBBINS, ABRAHAM ROWE, CARL TIMPONE, TERA WAGES, SARA WINTER, DEBBY WONG, BFA, BULE SKY STUDIO, EVERETT COLLECTION, GETT Y IMAGES, PURE 7 STUDIOS, SHUTTERSTOCK, SPRING RUN MEDIA, WE CREATE LIFT
ADVERTISING, SALES, AND MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR MEGHN HILL ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ABIGAIL RYAN BRAND AMBASSADOR LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER TIM DUTROW DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR SHANNON QUINL AN
VIE is a registered trademark. All contents herein are Copyright © 2008–2018 Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Incorporated (Publisher). All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. VIE is a lifestyle magazine and is published twelve times annually on a monthly schedule. The opinions herein are not necessarily those of the Publisher. The Publisher and its advertisers will not be held responsible for any errors found in this publication. The Publisher is not liable for the accuracy of statements made by its advertisers. Ads that appear in this publication are not intended as offers where prohibited by state law. The Publisher is not responsible for photography or artwork submitted by freelance or outside contributors. The Publisher reserves the right to publish any letter addressed to the editor or the Publisher. VIE is a paid publication. Subscription rates: Printed magazine – One-year $29.95; Two-year $54.95. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.VIEmagazine.com.
8 | NO V E MBE R 2018
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Editor’s Note
THE GOOD NEWS EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
See, God has come to save me … THE LORD GOD is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. In that wonderful day, you will say, “Thank the Lord! Praise HIS name! Tell the world what he has done.” VIE editor-in-chief Lisa Burwell
—ISAIAH 12:2
U
Photo by Romona Robbins
nless you have been living on another planet this year, you probably know that we could all use a double dose of good news, positive affirmations, love, help, friends, family, nurturing, and kindness in general. In these unsettled and shifting times, it is important to combat negativity with positivity. I am sure that there are many people having the time of their lives this year, and that makes me happy since we can’t all be experiencing the ground shifting underfoot at once—can we? For me and for many around me, though, it’s been a year of mixed blessings. I guess that’s life.
Inside are countless feel-good, celebratory stories on love and weddings, creativity, and so much more. We hope you find all the love and happiness this world can offer you!
The beauty of life is that it is ever changing, with seasons of highs and lows, and that creates our individual life tapestries. It is truly what makes us who we are and, to some degree, who we will become. Courage, strength, and resilience are found in the hardest of times, and that is why we present to you our first Goodness Issue. There is so much good out there—it needs to be shared and shouted from the rooftops and allowed to shine brightly! One of the most significant lessons I’ve learned since publishing VIE is that there are many gifted, generous, and wonderful people in the world, but, unfortunately, their stories do not get enough attention or recognition.
This issue is dedicated to Bob Brown and Meredith Snow, who tragically lost their lives on August 31, 2018. Bob worked with VIE for eight years, and we loved him dearly, as we loved his beautiful wife and our cover girl, Meredith. To say they embodied the concept of living your best life would be an understatement. They serve as an example for many that each day should be lived to its fullest.
The amazing story of how Food For Thought Outreach was founded by Tiffanie Nelson and what the organization has accomplished since its inception is a shining example of how one person’s vision and generosity of spirit can move mountains. Please read “Having Their Backs” by Tori Phelps.
To Life!
Our hip cover guy is fashion designer Billy Reid, and the story of his life and passion is full of goodness and fun! He recently celebrated his tenth annual Shindig event in Florence, Alabama, where St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Kacey Musgraves
headlined. Managing editor Jordan Staggs covered the event—fitting since she too hails from Florence. Don’t miss her article, “Good Neighbors: Billy Reid and Friends Connect in Style.”
—Lisa Marie Founder/Editor-In-Chief V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 13
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La conversation
GIVE US A LIKE WE LOVE TO COMMUNICATE AND INTERACT WITH OUR READERS! AND WE LOVE IT EVEN MORE WHEN THEY PROUDLY SHARE THEIR STORIES AND POSE WITH VIE FOR A CLOSE-UP! THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT: SHARING, LOVING, AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. WE THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AND WE APPRECIATE YOU!
@lisamburwell The @viemagazine crew @nyfw making a stop for lunch @bergdorfs and @ashleylongshoreart’s Palette—a feast for the eyes!
@sketchnyc Ty Hunter for @viemagazine. 2018 Lisa Bayer
©
@ravenroxanne @viemagazine stopped by the house to interview me and snapped this cute picture of my sweet family! Story in the Art & Culture Issue at VIEmagazine.com. Photo by @elizabethervin
@oasispearldestin @viemagazine, we see you sitting over there on our stunning @palecekdesign oyster coffee table…
@vishionco This week is all about glittering gold, and this beautiful bathroom backsplash is the perfect way to start off the week! @q_tile @viemagazine
LET’S TALK! Send VIE your comments and photos on our social media channels or by emailing us at info@viemagazine.com. We’d love to hear your thoughts. They could end up in the next La conversation! @viceroycentralpark We’re keeping up with all the current trends thanks to @viemagazine, which you can view in our lobby and look at this amazing human being who also happens to be the ultimate fashion stylist/designer, Ty Hunter!
@ecfoodtours That’s a wrap! Thanks to all who joined us tonight for A Little Taste of the Emerald Coast. We hope you left with happy taste buds and full stomachs!
VIEmagazine.com
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 17
18 | NO V E MBE R 2018
In Loving Memory of Bob and Meredith Robert Michael Brown 1975–2018
Meredith Margaret Snow 1973–2018
Kalani 2016–2018
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 19
PROJECT: VIE Magazine Headquarters, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida ARCHITECT: Gerald Burwell FURNISHINGS: Modern Interiors, Miramar Beach, Florida
A MODERN WORK SPACE
114 Logan Lane, Suite 4, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459 BurwellAssociates.com | (850) 231-6377 Florida LIC AA0003613
By
22 | NO V E MBE R 2018
All the world’s a shindig, and fashion designer Billy Reid invites everyone along for the ride.
A S E N S E O F P L AC E
Designer Billy Reid Photo courtesy of Billy Reid Right: Photo by Jake Meyer
As bright lights lit up the concrete aisle and guests took their places in long rows of church pews, the soulful voice of Candi Staton filled the industrialstyle event space, and Billy Reid’s Spring/Summer 2019 runway show took flight. Onlookers sipped rustic cocktails garnished with sprigs of rosemary while enjoying an array of casual yet elegant styles for men and women inspired by the natural beauty, wildlife, and historic cultures of the Gulf Coast. Staton’s powerful voice and the smooth instrumentals of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section—you might know them as “the Swampers” since they’ve been known to pick a song or two—set the mood. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 23
ut unlike other shows put on by leading designers in the American fashion industry, Reid’s presentation took place not during New York Fashion Week, but in the small town of Florence, Alabama.
Right: Shindig 10 kicked off with a sandlot baseball game at the University of North Alabama in Florence on August 24, 2018. Billy Reid designed custom uniforms for the Alabama Slammers and the Texas Playboys. Below: Soul sensations St. Paul and the Broken Bones headlined Friday night’s concert at the Shoals Community Theatre. Photos by Tera Wages
You might be thinking, Why there? And it’s a perfectly valid question. Reid himself admits that when he first moved to Florence in 2002, “It wasn’t some grand plan I had; it just sort of happened.” His wife, Jeanne, is from the town. Reid started his clothing brand out of his bedroom in Texas twenty years ago, and shortly afterward, his style of simple Southern luxury hit some of the industry’s biggest runway events. He hosted a show on September 10, 2001, at New York Fashion Week, and then everything changed. After the harrowing events of 9/11, Reid realized moving back to small-town life after working in cities like New York and Dallas was the right thing to do. “We kind of had to start all over,” he says. He opened stores in Houston and Dallas in 2004. The next year, he opened the Florence flagship store and moved his business operations and design studio there. Florence, so named by Italian surveyor Ferdinand Sannoner in 1818, has a population of just about forty thousand, yet it’s a famed destination for professional musicians and artists, thanks to recording studios
such as FAME, located just across the Tennessee River in Muscle Shoals. Its sound booths have hosted Percy Sledge, Otis Redding, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, and many others. W.C. Handy, the Father of the Blues, was born in Florence, and, much like Detroit, the area’s industrial success once ran on the back of the Ford Motor Company. In the late 1900s, however, most of the area’s factories and plants closed, leaving Northwest Alabama with a rich cultural history but little else to draw outsiders. Its revitalization in the past decade or so can in large part be attributed to business owners like Reid, along with the award-winning Muscle Shoals documentary released in 2013 by Magnolia Pictures, which captured the FAME story and catapulted the area into the spotlight for music lovers and hipsters alike. Still, Reid asserts that Florence and the Shoals have always been “progressive.” “We’ve watched Florence develop—it’s a small Southern town in a conservative state, but if you watch Muscle Shoals, you know there’s always been this creative spirit here. I think it creates a progressive vibe in a lot of ways. We’ve been here ten years and brought people from all over the world. People visit who might not have otherwise experienced the lifestyle and culture here, and we’ve garnered exposure for the locals as well. You have to credit the people here for welcoming visitors and opening their minds to different people; we’re all working toward something good—that’s what life is all about.”
24 | NO V E MBE R 2018
You have to credit the people here for welcoming visitors and opening their minds to different people; we’re all working toward something good—that’s what life is all about. It was these connections—made with business partners, producers, buyers, neighbors, and fans around the world—that led Reid to create an event that would bring to life the cultural energy of his brand and Florence and share it with the world.
W O R K H A R D , P L AY H A R D Classic rock tunes filtered through the hum of a small crowd and the excited announcements from the press box at Mike D. Lane Field, the baseball complex at the University of North Alabama, on August 24, 2018. As the Alabama Slammers and the Texas Playboys faced off in a battle for bragging rights on the diamond, chefs Rodney Scott of Rodney Scott’s BBQ and Rob McDaniel of SpringHouse ran the concessions stand on a mix of wings and burgers begging to be washed down with an ice-cold Grapico. Donations collected during the sandlot festivities benefited UNA baseball. But more unusual than the charity match between two ragtag teams with no university affiliations and a live band performing near the dugout were the custom uniforms they were wearing and the designer attire sported by most of those in the stands. This was the annual baseball game kickoff to Shindig, Billy Reid’s long weekend of fashion, art, music, culture, creativity, and good old-fashioned fun. Each Shindig weekend has comprised concerts from hit bands from the South— the Shoals’ proximity to Nashville is a big draw for musicians recording at FAME and other nearby studios—as well as meals prepared by top chefs and local restaurants, art displays, and, of course, fashion. What began as a few of Reid’s buyers and other contacts enjoying a somewhat private affair ten years ago has blossomed into a full-on festival of sorts. There are public concerts in Wilson Park, tickets available for anyone who wishes to join, and a community-driven mission to show off the town to newcomers and to give the locals an experience unlike any other all year. “The planning process for Shindig is arduous—so once the planning stops and we get to start enjoying it, that’s my favorite part,” Reid says. “That and the baseball game, because I get to have fun and think about nothing but baseball for three hours.” Shindig 10 was highlighted with concerts by St. Paul and the Broken Bones with Robert Finley and Dan Auerbach at the Shoals Community Theatre on Friday evening and headliner Kacey Musgraves with Joshua Hedley on Saturday night. Public concerts in the park included The War and Treaty, Dee White, and the Texas Gentlemen, who also performed at the baseball game. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 25
riday’s VIP welcome dinner, presented by Buffalo Rock at Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, treated guests to an incredible meal prepared by James Beard Award finalists and winning chefs Frank Stitt of Bottega, Sean Brock of Husk, Michael Fojtasek of Olamaie, and Cassidee Dabney of The Barn at Blackberry Farm. Wines were from the illustrious Eric Solomon of European Cellars, and the surroundings were elegant yet rustic with the feel of an intimate, relaxed garden party. Blackberry Farm Brewery and Tito’s Handmade Vodka also kept the party going. Other special meals included a buffet-style spread by Big Bad Breakfast on Saturday and the Sunday Gospel Brunch by chefs Josh Quick, Kelly Fields, and Todd Richards at Odette in downtown Florence. Saturday afternoon’s aforementioned runway presentation was a first for Billy Reid, as previously they had only shown existing lines during Shindig. This year, however, they went all out with their upcoming Spring/Summer ’19 collection. That meant bringing in buyers from around the world and editors from the fashion industry’s biggest publications. “I think it creates interest to have it in Florence,” Reid explains. “Some of these people see hundreds of shows every season, so it’s something different for them. Others are locals who might never have experienced it before. And it’s a home-game advantage for us—we have customers in that room who came for Shindig and now they get to see the clothes directly on the runway.” A surprisingly poignant part of the weekend was the panel discussion at 116 E. Mobile, an event space behind Reid’s store in downtown Florence that he co-owns with neighboring Single Lock Records. Reid was joined onstage by an impressive and insightful group of creatives: Joy Thigpen, visionary and marketing director of Pinewood Forest, a new urban community outside of Atlanta; Karen Elson, founder of the Clary Collection organic skincare line; John Ryland, the entertaining founder of Classified Moto custom bike shop; photographer Adam Katz Sinding; and panel host Nick Sullivan of Esquire. The group talked casually about what it takes to run a business and retain your creativity, building a brand in the digital age, the struggles of perception on social media versus real life, the importance of teamwork and delegation of tasks, and having fun with what you do. The weekend wrapped up with the annual Lake Party Send-Off on Shoal Creek, which Shindig VIPs and locals alike attended, many arriving by boat for an afternoon of revelry, food, and, of course, great fashion by the water. 26 | NO V E MBE R 2018
Above: Country star Kacey Musgraves rocked the Shoals Community Theatre for Saturday night’s feature concert. Left: Billy Reid’s Spring/ Summer 2019 runway show took place at Shindig this year with live music by Candi Staton and the Swampers. Photos by Tera Wages Right: Classified Moto, a custom bike shop in Richmond, Virginia, was on the scene with creations including Daryl Dixon’s famous hog from The Walking Dead. Photo by Jake Meyer Far right: The Sunday Songwriters Brunch at Odette featured food prepared by chefs Josh Quick, Kelly Fields, and Todd Richards. Photo by Tera Wages
Billy always puts on a great show, and the city is vibrant while the festivities are happening. Since the opening of his headquarter store on Court Street, Billy Reid has continuously given back to his community in many tangible ways. “Once again, Shindig was an amazing event filled with music, food, fashion, and culture,” says Rob Carnegie, president and CEO of the FlorenceLauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Billy always puts on a great show, and the city is vibrant while the festivities are happening. Since the opening of his headquarter store on Court Street, Billy Reid has continuously given back to his community in many tangible ways. Shindig introduces Florence and the Shoals to a variety of audiences with the hope that they will return for a leisure visit. We’re proud of this event because we’re proud of Billy Reid and that he calls Florence his home.” The appreciation is mutual. “The local community has been our biggest supporter,” Reid says, explaining that this model is how most of his twelve retail stores have thrived. “As we’ve opened stores, we’ve really tried to be part of those communities. For example, our Bond Street store in New York—when we opened there, the area was quiet, and it’s exciting to be part of something and watch it grow and work together to make that happen. It is a sense of being a good neighbor and giving back locally to do good.” V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 27
ONE BIG H A P P Y FA M I LY The concept of wanting a real community surrounding his store and his brand was something bred into Reid, whose mother owned a clothing store in his tiny hometown of Amite, Louisiana. The store was set up in Reid’s grandmother’s old house and became a gathering spot for locals. “There was lots of denim, and it had a kitchen,” Reid recalls, “and people would come from all over just to hang out. I always tell people to picture it like Steel Magnolias if it was set in a clothing store.”
Billy Reid hopped on stage with the Texas Gentlemen to perform during the Friday night afterparty at 116 E. Mobile. Photo by Tera Wages
Shindig 10 mural featuring the event’s bear mascot painted by AM PM Paint Co. Photo by Jake Meyer
Reid’s influence and desire to do good have, of course, grown far and wide outside of just North Alabama. He has hosted Shindig events in Tennessee and Austin, Texas, and philanthropic efforts are top of mind as a way to further expand Shindig and the overall brand. Reid is an avid supporter and corporate sponsor of Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. The brand has also given back to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, the Trombone Shorty Foundation, Savannah College of Art and Design, and more. Whether it’s through his retail stores, Shindig events, or larger philanthropic projects, Reid says he’s always aspiring to be part of a larger community. “We look for a way to be part of something and help it grow,” he says. “Pulling people in from other industries—whether that’s food or music or something else—gains local support and makes a mission more sustainable, real, and rewarding.” Making a positive difference in the world starts at the local level. Being a good neighbor has become synonymous with the Billy Reid brand, and its founder has inspired his team and friends to do the same along the way.
Visit BillyReid.com to learn more about the brand, discover Shindig, and shop men’s and women’s collections. 28 | NO V E MBE R 2018
Voyager
Visit GardensBy TheBay.com to learn more. Photo by Bule Sky Studio/Shutterstock
Voyager
SEE THE WORLD
No, this isn’t a scene from the latest Guardians of the Galaxy or Star Wars movie; it’s the nighttime view visitors will get when they head to the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore! Spanning 250 acres and located just a five-minute walk from the Bayfront MRT Station, Gardens by the Bay is an award-winning independent garden/museum led by a team of skilled landscape designers, horticulturists, arborists, engineers, and plant health, research, and breeding professionals. Measuring between 82 and 164 feet tall, the structures at Supertree Grove are designed with large canopies that provide shade in the daytime and come alive with an exhilarating display of light and sound at night. Admission is free!
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 31
Voyager
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROMONA ROBBINS
CONSERVATION AND CONNECTION
Curaรงao IN BEAUTIFUL
32 | NO V E MBE R 2018
W
hen summer hits, so does the travel itch, and this past June I got the most beautiful chance to scratch it. I consider myself well traveled, but I hadn’t been on a real “girls’ trip” in almost six years (since just before my daughter was born). Curaçao was the perfect place to make up for lost time. Before I go further, I need to go over pronunciation: if you only know curaçao as that blue liqueur, then you’re probably not saying it right (I wasn’t). It’s always been “ker-AH-cow” to me, but it’s pronounced “CURE-a-sow.” So raise your glass and take a shot with me (blue curaçao, of course!) if you’ve learned something new before this adventure even begins. Ahhh… Now, let’s go to the Caribbean and learn some more! Flying in for my first time, one thing became glaringly obvious: Curaçao is tiny. At just over 170 square miles, this is a desert island you can tour from end to end in only a few hours. It’s also a cruise ship destination, so I was concerned that I left my Destin, Florida, home just to get snared in a different kind of tourist trap—one that would only mimic an authentic Dutch Caribbean culture. Luckily, I was worried for no reason. Sitting just forty-four miles off the coast of Venezuela, Curaçao is literally as colorful as it is rich in culture and history. The multicolored colonial architecture of Willemstad (the island’s capital and only city) creates a picture-perfect setting, especially when viewed from the Queen Emma Bridge. A closer look brings stunningly detailed murals into focus. Combine these things with an array of delicious offerings at restaurants to satisfy any palate (Hofi Cas Cora served authentic farm-to-table fare), friendly locals, and a bustling nightlife. What’s not to love about this little island? My first impressions were overwhelmingly positive, but I had traveled there to delve a little deeper. The water surrounding Curaçao is as blue as the liqueur. And with around sixty-five tropical dive sites teeming with diverse marine life, this is a world-class destination for scuba divers and snorkelers—like the girls and me. The main attraction for us was the
coral forests, which are said to be as colorful as the capital city. Early on our first morning, we eagerly departed from the Hilton Curaçao near downtown to get our feet wet for the first time. After teaming up with the knowledgeable and fun crew from Go West Diving, we motored out to the west side of the island to dive Santa Cruz and Paradise. These dive sites live up to their names and are home to everything from tiny invertebrates and pelagic fish to eels and hawksbill turtles (my favorite!). With eighty feet of visibility, spotting
“
Opposite: A snorkeler swims with a green sea turtle at Playa Piscado off the northwest point of Curaçao Below: This mature planted staghorn coral was transplanted from a coral tree nursery.
SITTING JUST FORTYFOUR MILES OFF THE COAST OF VENEZUELA, CURAÇAO IS LITERALLY AS COLORFUL AS IT IS RICH IN CULTURE AND HISTORY. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 33
The next day, we dove the south side of the island with a crew from Caribbean Sea Sports. Double Reef is a unique dive site with two terraced reefs separated by sand. The lower reef is peppered with hard and soft corals that gently sway in the current as the seafloor slopes down into the unknown depths. Again the marine life was on full display: honeycomb cowfish, angelfish, tangs, urchins, puffers, anemones, parrotfish, and, of course, a few invasive lionfish, to name a few species. But this reef was notably healthier and more diverse than what we had seen the day before. It felt like another world. And it got us all talking on the boat during our surface interval: What causes coral to die? How do you show people your paradise without suffering from the inevitable effects of human activity? What can we do, not just as responsible divers but as responsible humans, to help preserve such a place? These were the perfect questions to lead us into our final and most meaningful dive in Curaçao. the marine life was easy. When it comes to the coral, however, it’s never that simple. Scattered throughout this intricately beautiful and healthy display, I occasionally noticed areas of the reef that were damaged or even dead. Unfortunately, this is a common sight in most popular dive destinations and it’s almost always a direct result of human activity. For me, it was a reminder to dive with the utmost care, leave everything as I found it, and take nothing but pictures.
Linking up with the staff at Ocean Encounters (located at LionsDive Beach Resort), we had the unique opportunity to dive a coral tree nursery. But before we could kick out on the shore dive to Stella Maris tree nursery, our dive instructor, Pol, and his intern, Shane, from Coral Restoration Foundation Curaçao took us into a small classroom for a little underwater education. They taught us about the life cycle of coral, its significant role in the ocean’s ecosystem, and the processes of restoring, protecting, and preserving the staghorn and elkhorn corals that are the foundation of the island’s shallow reef system and are thought of as the reef-building coral species. The foundation’s goal is to
Clockwise from top left: Divers explore Curaçao’s Double Reef; small fish gather on a condylactis gigantea anemone; staghorn coral growing at a tree nursery; red hind grouper swimming at Double Reef; courting behavior of two honeycomb fish; a hawksbill turtle at Paradise dive site 34 | NO V E MBE R 2018
“
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SIMPLE PRACTICES SUCH AS RECYCLING, PICKING UP TRASH FROM THE BEACH OR THE GROUND, CUTTING OUT THE USE OF DRINKING STRAWS AND OTHER SINGLE-USE PLASTICS, USING SUNBLOCK WITHOUT OXYBENZONE AND OCTINOXATE,
”
AND SIMPLY NOT TOUCHING ANYTHING ARE EASY WAYS TO KEEP NATURE HEALTHY AND BEAUTIFUL.
rehabilitate these coral populations by taking broken fragments from wild healthy ones and hanging them on PVC pipes that resemble tall trees. The “trees” are placed in shallow waters that offer plenty of nutrients and oxygen flow for the coral. Once the coral grows to a healthy mature size (this can take up to eight months), the team will transplant them by attaching them to a rock’s surface via gluing, tying, or nailing them to the substrate where they can grow successfully in their new home. This method of coral rehabilitation is also known as coral gardening.
Here’s the reality: the chemistry of our oceans is changing, and coral forests are in peril due to bleaching from warmer temperatures, pollution, irresponsible tourism, coastal development, and destructive fishing practices. This is a heavy burden that I carry with me whenever I leave any popular dive site and inevitably see how beautiful the place once was. This time, I left Ocean Encounters feeling hopeful, especially after participating in a little coral gardening myself. I got to experience something special that will only become more beautiful with time, and even with human intervention. But that doesn’t mean my work is done. Simple practices such as recycling, picking up trash from the beach or the ground, cutting out the use of drinking straws and other single-use plastics, using sunblock without oxybenzone and octinoxate (or better yet, wearing a sun shirt),
Above: A diver explores the underwater ecosystem at Paradise dive site V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 35
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Divemaster Loys, Michelle, Stephanie, Romona, Divemaster Floris, Rana, and Breanna take a break after exploring the western side of the island with Go West Diving
and simply not touching anything are easy ways to keep nature healthy and beautiful. And when it comes to Curaçao, my only hope is that you can see it just as beautiful as it was when I did—maybe even more so.
If you would like to learn more about Coral Restoration Foundation Curaçao or even adopt a coral, check out the website at CoralRestorationCuracao.org. Romona Robbins is a Northwest Florida photographer and dive master who specializes in travel and underwater photography. Over the past decade, she has worked on many network, commercial, and independent projects in over thirtyfive countries for clients such as National Geographic, Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, and, of course, VIE.
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NEW SOUTH OLD
ON
FLORIDA
THE
MEETS
OYSTER
BY ADAM ROTHSCHILD PHOTOGR APHY BY STEVEN GR AY
38 | NO V E MBE R 2018
TRAIL
CLOS E YOUR E Y ES AND IM AGINE YOU’R E ON THE PE R FECT FLOR IDA VACATION. WH AT IM AGE COM ES TO M IND? A SUGA R-WHITE BE ACH, TURQUOI S E WATE R , AND A S M AT TER ING OF PA LM FRONDS SWAY ING IN THE WIND? What probably doesn’t come to mind is Apalachicola—a tiny fishing outpost perched on the knuckle of Florida’s Panhandle midway between the Alabama border and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a small-type town, the kind of place you’d likely overlook if quickly scanning a map of the Sunshine State—more “maritime” than Mickey Mouse. Mayberry, not Miami Beach. Talk to T.S. Strickland, though, and you might be persuaded you’ve been missing the best Florida has to offer. “To me, this area is one of the best-kept secrets in Florida,” Strickland says. “The beaches are unspoiled, the people are warm and hospitable, and the seafood is as fresh as can be.”
Strickland, a tourism marketer turned oyster evangelist, knows a thing or two about seafood. In September, he was gearing up for Peat & Pearls—a four-day celebration of Scotch and farm-raised oysters he hosts each fall in the colonial-era seaport of Pensacola. Strickland is also the creator of the Florida Oyster Trail, which launched this month. The trail—more an idea than a physical route— stretches from Pensacola in the state’s extreme northwest down to Cedar Key in the rural Big Bend region. It’s an area often overlooked by the more than one hundred million visitors that stream through the Sunshine State each year, but it is rich in history, natural beauty, and cultural charms. It also grows some mighty tasty oysters. Strickland hopes that last resource can form the basis for a new sustainable tourism industry in the state’s more rural environs—one that preserves Florida’s working waterfronts while also helping restore an ecosystem still reeling from natural and manmade disasters.
An Oyster Revival “We want to be the Napa of oysters,” Strickland says. The metaphor is apt. Oysters, like grapes, take on the flavor of their environment. While wine aficionados like to rhapsodize about terroir—a French term for the way geology, climate, and husbandry impact the flavor profile of a given wine—oyster nerds love to talk about merroir, the marine equivalent. Until recently, however, oyster aficionados weren’t talking about Gulf oysters at all. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 39
IN FLOR IDA A LONE , NE A R LY A HUNDR E D FA R M E R S H AV E S ECUR ED LE AS ES FROM THE STATE’S DIV I S ION OF AQUACULTUR E . “Southern oysters have gotten a bad rap,” Strickland explains. “Even today, if you talk to most chefs north of Boston about Gulf oysters being anything other than terrible, they’ll laugh at you.” Bryan Rackley isn’t one of those chefs. Rackley opened his first restaurant, Kimball House, in Atlanta in 2013 and, in doing so, helped kick off the oyster revival that is now sweeping the South. He also helped found the leading advocacy organization for the region’s oyster farming industry, Oyster South.
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Rackley’s second restaurant, called Watchman’s, opened this summer in Atlanta and has been greeted by gushing reviews and packed wait-lists. If any chef could be the poster child for oysters with a Southern drawl, it’s Rackley. Still, five years ago, even he was cynical about the idea. “When we opened, we had no intention of serving anything from the Gulf,” Rackley admits, “because the perception was that wild Gulf oysters were all you could get, and those oysters weren’t necessarily what people wanted at a metropolitan-style, New York-influenced raw bar.”
In the years since, small-scale oyster farms have sprouted up across the Gulf Coast, churning out premium oysters that have astonished critics and inspired an almost religious fervor among Southern foodies. In Florida alone, nearly a hundred farmers have secured leases from the state’s division of aquaculture. But you don’t have to parse government spreadsheets to bear witness to this trend; you just have to scan the menu at Kimball House, Watchman’s, or any other of the dozens of high-end raw bars in the region.
In other words, they were ugly, and the quality wasn’t consistent.
“Two years ago, maybe 5 percent of the oysters we sold were grown in the South,” Rackley says. “Today, that number is closer to 40 percent.”
At the same time, down on the Gulf, a change was brewing—fueled largely by the introduction of new aquaculture techniques developed in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. This movement started in Alabama at Auburn University and quickly spread to other states in the region.
Oyster Town, U.S.A. Probably few folks are more representative of this sea change than T.J. Ward. To understand his story, you have to understand something about his hometown of Apalachicola.
Voyager “Apalach,” as locals call the place, is renowned for its oysters. At one time, this tiny fishing village supplied 90 percent of all oysters consumed in Florida and 10 percent of those consumed in the US. Apalachicola Bay and the river system that feeds it create one of the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems in the country, and generations of oystermen have hauled a living from its sandy bottom. Ward’s grandfather, Buddy, built a seafood empire on that sand. But it shifted, as sandy things are prone to do—and then the bottom fell out entirely. A decades-long water war with Georgia, prolonged drought, and overharvesting have decimated Apalachicola’s wild oyster fishery. Ward’s father, Tommy, was forced to lay off workers and scale back operations. More than that, he’s had to wrestle with the emotional toll of watching his way of life and his family’s legacy teeter on the brink of ruin. T.J. Ward abandoned his plans to study history to help shore up the business. Now, he has started an oyster
farm called Indian Lagoon Fish & Oyster Co. in the hope of charting a new course. “I never thought I’d be an oyster farmer because the wild fishery was always so productive,” he admits. He’s hopeful farming can help replace lost livelihoods, restore the environment, and preserve his family’s way of life.
Bay to Belly Tourism is a big piece of this puzzle. While Apalachicola’s wild oyster fishery has suffered, the town’s tourism industry has grown. The Wards now operate a retail market on the waterfront in the town’s center. The revenue from that operation has helped replace the losses from their oyster house. Ward said he sees opportunity in oyster tourism, pointing to the success of similar initiatives in states like Virginia and Maine. Virginia, which has a substantial oyster farming sector, created the Virginia Oyster Trail in 2015, bringing together farmers, tour operators, hoteliers, and others to promote agritourism
Consistently Delicious since 1995! www.cafethirtya.com
3899 East Scenic Hwy. 30A, Seagrove Beach · 850.231.2166 Online Reservations. Major Credit Cards. Open Daily At 5.
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“M E ETING CON SUM ER S AND GIV ING THE M THI S V I SUA L CONNECTION S HR INKS THE DI STANCE BET WE EN THE FA R M AND THE R ESTAUR ANT TA BLE . NOT TO M ENTION THE FACT TH AT M AN Y OF THES E TOWN S AND FA R M S AR E BE AUTIFUL .” in the state’s coastal regions. The results have been successful—so much so that the Virginia Tourism Corporation has made the oyster trail a key focus of its tourism marketing efforts in 2018.
“We’re trying to do the heavy lifting so our farmers can focus on simply raising really great oysters,” he explains. “That means building bridges with tour operators and innkeepers to offer the kind of authentic, immersive travel experiences people crave.” What kinds of experiences can people expect on the trail?
“It’s like going to a vineyard and sampling the wine that’s grown there,” says Ward. “Virginia has seen success with that model, and, no disrespect intended, our oysters are a lot better.” Rackley, the chef, agrees. “For a farmer, I don’t think you can put a price tag on the value of showing people what you’re doing in that way,” he says. “Meeting consumers and giving them this visual connection shrinks the distance between the farm and the restaurant table. Not to mention the fact that many of these towns and farms are beautiful.” For Ward, like many of his peers, the marketing and logistical challenges of navigating a different industry are intimidating. This is the gap Strickland hopes to fill with the Florida Oyster Trail. 42 | NO V E MBE R 2018
“We want to provide options that appeal to a wide variety of people,” Strickland says, “whether that’s a rustic farm tour followed by an oyster roast right on the beach or, on the higher end, a chef ’s table experience where we walk people through the art of tasting an oyster and pairing it with different wines. Whatever the experience, we hope people walk away from it with more than a full stomach.” Strickland says the last point is crucial. “Oysters embody the characteristics of their environment. That makes them interesting from a gastronomic perspective—it also makes them a phenomenal vehicle for building connections between oyster consumers, the folks who grow them, and the environment that sustains this whole supply chain. If we can get folks to understand that, we have a shot at not only giving people a great time but also doing some good.”
TO LE A R N M OR E , V I S IT FLOR I DAOYSTE R TR A I L .COM.
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WA Self-Portrait sculpture by Justin Gaffrey Photo by Romona Robbins 44 | NO V E MBE R 2018
THE COUNTRY ’S FIRST UNDERWATER MUSEUM UNITES ART LOVERS, DIVE ENTHUSIASTS, AND MARINE CONSERVATIONISTS.
hen a destination is named to Time’s list of “World’s Greatest Places,” it’s an honor. When it is added to that list after only two months in existence, it’s nothing short of a recommendation to drop everything and Go. See. It.
TER BY TORI PHELPS
The Underwater Museum of Art (UMA), a permanent sculpture exhibit located in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, opened just this summer. But it gained icon status almost immediately thanks to a Time designation that placed it among global marvels like Vietnam’s Golden Bridge and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The first museum of its kind in the United States—and one of only a handful on the planet—UMA was the brainchild of Florida artist and diver Allison Wickey. She had read about underwater sculpture pioneer Jason deCaires Taylor and his projects in Grenada and the Canary Islands. She was familiar, too, with the work of South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA), which drops reefs along the coast to buoy the health of Gulf waters. Could we put sculptures into the water that become reefs? she wondered. Since Wickey is also president of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA), she brought the idea to the board, whose members gave it an immediate green light. Next up was convincing SWARA, with whom they knew they needed to partner. Admittedly a bit hesitant at first, SWARA founder and president Andy McAlexander questioned everything from the project’s sustainability to the potential interest in such an outside-the-box idea. But it wasn’t long before he caught the underwater museum bug, too. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 45
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Opposite left: Shane Reynolds and a school of fish explore the sculpture JYC’s Dream by Kevin Reilly. Photo by Romona Robbins Opposite right: The Grayt Pineapple by Rachel Herring is dropped into the Gulf of Mexico on June 25, 2018. Photo by We Create LIFT Below: Allison Wickey’s Anamorphous Octopus is deployed. Photo by Spring Run Media
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veryone involved in bringing UMA to fruition—a true group effort, Wickey stresses— was adamant about respecting the Gulf ’s ecosystem when it came to sculpture materials. Those strict guidelines (clean concrete, aluminum, limestone, or stainless steel) could have discouraged artists, but CAA Executive Director Jennifer Steele says the number of submissions they received was beyond their expectations. Ultimately, seven designs were chosen, including Wickey’s Anamorphous Octopus. An optical illusion based on intentional distortion, the concept combines her interests in octopi and murmuration (the phenomenon of thousands of starlings flying in an intricately coordinated pattern). The result is a bit of magic wherein every angle offers a new perspective. Dallas artist Marek Anthony, who submitted plans for a piece called Propeller in Motion, was also chosen for the project. Drawing inspiration from the environment in which the art would be located, Anthony decided to create a ship’s propeller that
captures the energy and movement of waves, with the hollow propellers suggesting the inside of a shell when viewed from above. Other sculptures chosen for the first installation include Rachel Herring’s The Grayt Pineapple (so named for nearby Grayton Beach), Evelyn Tickle’s Concrete Rope Reef Spheres, Vince Tatum’s SWARA Skull, and Justin Gaffrey’s Self-Portrait.
“A WEEK LATER, THERE WERE TEN TIMES THE NUMBER OF FISH AND ALREADY SOME MARINE LIFE BIOMASS STARTING TO GROW. ” The public got its first look at the pieces—on land, anyway—during a weeklong exhibition at Grand Boulevard Town Center in Miramar Beach, Florida. A high-profile launch party held in conjunction with the exhibition is where McAlexander fully grasped the power of UMA. “The number of people there who aren’t typically big reef supporters—and their willingness to support the project—was absolutely humbling,” says the SWARA president. “I was blown away by the impact this project was having on so many different people’s lives.” Indeed, the underwater museum was turning art aficionados into artificial reef supporters, a big boon for SWARA. In turn, SWARA arranged for the sculpture deployment to piggyback on a planned artificial reef drop scheduled for June
25, 2018. A barge loaded with sculptures and reef structures, three donated yachts carrying artists and project producers, and a few curious kayakers and paddleboarders all met about three-quarters of a mile off Grayton Beach State Park to celebrate a day that had been years in the making. And while the mood was undeniably festive as they watched cranes drop the sculptures into the water, Steele said it was also bittersweet because some of the people gathered there would never see the pieces again. But plenty of others will. Wickey and Anthony are both waiting to dive UMA for the first time with their children, but McAlexander has been down multiple times since the installation. “We dove the reef within an hour of deployment, and there were already fish congregating around the structures,” he reports. “A week later, there were ten times the number of fish and already some marine life biomass starting to grow. A month after deployment, it was completely different once again.” That evolving nature of UMA is what separates it from the static museums to which most of us are accustomed. The creation of a living museum where art grows and changes while offering a habitat to marine species is a win-win for both the arts and artificial reef supporters. And it has solidified an ongoing collaboration between the CAA and SWARA. The CAA will issue another call to artists this fall, with a second deployment tentatively scheduled for summer 2019. That will mean more fund-raising,
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Fish and marine life biomass have already made homes within Evelyn Tickle’s Concrete Rope Reef Spheres sculpture. Below left: SWARA Skull by Vince Tatum marks the center of the UMA. Photos by Romona Robbins
of course, but unlike museums on land, there’s no ongoing cost to maintain the deployed sculptures. “They belong to the Gulf of Mexico now,” Steele says. She expects to spend up to ten years filling the CAA’s one acre of seabed with new pieces, a prospect she’s looking forward to. Calling it “inspiring” to tackle a project outside the agency’s usual comfort zone, she says it’s also a pleasure to partner with community organizations she might not have otherwise.
McALEXANDER HOPES IT ’S ALSO A REMINDER THAT A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT LINKS EVERYONE TOGETHER, NO MATTER THEIR PASSION. 48 | NO V E MBE R 2018
The teamwork that went into launching UMA seems to have struck a chord with everyone involved. Wickey points out that the museum wouldn’t exist if not for the grassroots efforts of individuals who joined forces with the sole purpose of giving back to the area. That labor of love served as a good reminder of what makes this community of Northwest Florida special, says the longtime local artist.
McAlexander hopes it’s also a reminder that a healthy environment links everyone together, no matter their passion. Art lovers, he believes, can’t help but become environmental stewards when they see art literally sustaining life. Steele agrees that UMA is the kind of experience that will change viewers for the better. “They’ll never see anything like it again,” she says, “and I think it will help people appreciate the importance of art by seeing it in a new way.”
Visit UMAFL.org to learn more or plan your trip. Tori Phelps has been a writer and editor for nearly twenty years. A publishing industry veteran and longtime VIE collaborator, Phelps lives with three kids, two cats, and one husband in Charleston, South Carolina.
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FINDING YOU R
YUCATÁN ESCAPE BY C AROLYN O’NEIL
50 | NO V E MBE R 2018
WITH SO MANY PL ACES TO STAY IN MEXICO’S QUINTANA ROO, PICK THE ONE THAT HAS THE RIGHT VIBE FOR YOUR VACATION. The bustling Cancún International Airport is a happy hive of travelers, with half of them enjoying “just one more” margarita before reluctantly flying home and the other half arriving with that first margarita in mind, eager to begin their vacations along the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. More than twenty million visitors come each year for the sunny allure of white sand and blue waves bordered by flower-filled jungles alive with the sound of birds and the whispers of ancient Mayan history. The party-town nightlife in Cancún attracts some, but others travel a bit farther, drawn by the serenity and natural beauty of this peninsula that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. While all the resorts and hotels in the Yucatán offer a healthy dose of sunshine and hospitality, their styles are as varied as the guests who choose them. Here is a look at two welcoming properties with distinctly different charms:
A REMOTE RESORT ON A NATURAL PRESERVE MUK A N RESORT, SOU T H OF T ULUM The final leg of the journey to Mukan Resort begins as you step onto a speedy motor launch and set a course through the mangrove-lined channels across the San Felipe Lagoon. Wildlife abounds as fish jump and birds take flight, greeting guests who’ve chosen this intimate getaway tucked into the natural setting of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The beachfront bungalows at Mukan Resort are the perfect spot to relax. Photo courtesy of Mukan Resort
The Grand Velas Riviera Maya resort in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula offers luxury, beauty, and a host of activities for its guests. Photo courtesy of Grand Velas Riviera Maya V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 51
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ukan may be off the beaten path by road and sea, but laid-back luxury and seamless service await guests here. Nine spacious rooms with soothing island-style decor are either tucked into the breezy main villa or in beachfront bungalows. The only decision to make is which shoes not to wear, as guests go barefoot on soft sand and make plans to spend their days swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and fly-fishing or perhaps just relaxing in the shade of a beach cabana with a pile of books, listening to the waves, and sipping from a freshly cut young coconut. Of course, you can choose a combination of both solitude and adventure. The twenty-plus staff members at Mukan are ready to organize everything from a boat tour to scout for sea turtles and dolphins with ice-cold beer on board or, back at the beach, an alfresco bottle of champagne on ice with artfully prepared fresh seafood ceviche, just-baked tortilla chips, and the best guacamole you’ve ever tasted. Or maybe after a morning yoga class, you’d prefer a colorful vegetarian ceviche with a revitalizing green juice made with cactus leaves, celery, pineapple, and a hint of ginger! The meals at Mukan unfold with as much beauty as the lush scenery, with tables set under the palms day and night. Locally caught fish, grilled lobster, slow-cooked pork, and tender beef tacos are prepared with inspiration from the traditions of Mayan cuisine. There’s a different ceviche every day and a parade of fresh salsas
BREAKFAST IS ONE OF THE BEST REASONS TO RISE FROM YOUR CANOPIED BED TO GREET THE DAY. 52 | NO V E MBE R 2018
GRAND RESORT ON A GLISTENING BEACH G R A N D V EL A S R I V I ER A M AYA
as hot or as mild as you like. Breakfast is one of the best reasons to rise from your canopied bed to greet the day. From quesadillas with chorizo and Oaxaca cheese to huevos rancheros with avocado, the morning meal is served with handmade tortillas and a rainbow of tropical fruits. To add even more local flare to the vacation vibe, there’s a selection of wonderful wines from Mexico’s Baja to discover—or how about a tasting of fine tequilas while toasting to the sunset from the rooftop terrace? There’s more relaxation served with a selection of massages offered by spiritually guided therapists. Choose your Zen setting either in the quiet spa or on the shaded deck overlooking the lagoon. Even as you unplug, it’s good to know that Wi-Fi is available and there is a flat-screen smart TV in each room. There’s also a large-screen television in the main villa’s sleek, all-white living room, perfect for enjoying a must-see sporting or entertainment event. (During my visit our little group gathered to watch the Academy Awards with celebratory after-dinner drinks and delicious desserts.) Every view—from beach to bungalow—is a postcard of nature. The presence of a wind turbine and solar panels on the resort are indications that the owners of Mukan are invested in protecting this remote and unique oasis of Yucatán beauty and calm. V I S I T MU K A N .CO M TO L E A R N M O R E O R B O O K YO U R T R I P!
From the moment you enter the impressive white walls and gates edged by shimmering blue pools, you know you’re in for something special. The Grand Velas Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen is a destination in itself, with over two hundred private acres of Yucatán jungle meeting manicured gardens and the sleek Mayan pyramid–inspired architecture of a 540-suite resort overlooking the deep blue Caribbean. This allinclusive property offers three unique accommodation experiences: the Zen Grand set in the lush tropical jungle; the family-friendly beachfront Ambassador; and the adults-only Grand Class, with plunge pools on private terraces and a tranquil infinity pool on the edge of the sea. Each suite is beautifully designed for relaxing with plenty of space (1,100 square feet or larger) and a twenty-four-hour personal concierge to take care of your vacation wish list, from frozen drinks at the pool to a hot stone massage at the spa. (Pool concierges will stop by to polish your sunglasses, and beach concierges will bring you a chilled towel.) At the not-to-be-missed Grand Velas Spa, step out of the Mexican sun to be greeted with an icy orange blossom–scented face towel and refreshing water flavored with lemon and strawberry.
Above: The Zen Grand at Grand Velas is set in a jungle oasis ideal for rest and meditation. Photo courtesy of Grand Velas Riviera Maya Opposite top: Stargazing from the Yucatán beaches is sure to be a wondrous experience. Opposite bottom: From healthy options like fresh green juices and salads to authentic tacos and more, dining at Mukan Resort is never disappointing. Photos courtesy of Mukan Resort V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 53
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oted best spa in the world by Virtuoso, the spa at Grand Velas is a holistic wellness escape like no other, with forty treatment rooms that have tranquil views and the soothing sound of water everywhere. The Water Journey hydrotherapy circuit takes guests through various water-based experiences, from steam sauna to clay room to frozen room (sparkling with iridescent tiles) and on to the welcome warmth of a dry sauna, the joy of a water-bubble bed, and more in the circuit of pools within the spa. Water lovers can dive even deeper into the Yucatán’s aquatic history by organizing a day trip to the area’s brilliant blue natural cave pools called cenotes.
The beachfront Ambassador is Grand Velas Riviera Maya’s ultimate family getaway with luxurious pool, private balconies (right), kids’ club, and beach games.
Grand Velas takes the all-inclusive promise seriously so guests can truly unwind and experience food and beverage luxury. Suites are stocked with complimentary snacks, coffee, water, soft drinks, premium wines, top-shelf liquors, and, as this is Mexico, Don Julio tequila! Need some suggestions on the best ways to enjoy tequila or mescal? Sign up for a mixology class to learn all about the magic of the blue agave plant. The dining scene here is an adventure in local and world cuisines at the highest level. Cocina de Autor (Author’s Kitchen) is the first restaurant at an all-inclusive resort to hold the coveted AAA Five Diamond Award. The elegant menu is a gastronomic tour often featuring guest chefs from around the globe, many of whom are from Michelin-starred restaurants.
Photos courtesy of Grand Velas Riviera Maya
VOTED BEST SPA IN THE WORLD BY VIRTUOSO, THE SPA AT GRAND VEL AS IS A HOLISTIC WELLNESS ESCAPE LIKE NO OTHER. 54 | NO V E MBE R 2018
The seven restaurants on property are varied in their culinary focus, from Frida, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of all Mexico, to Sen Lin for Asian fusion dinners. Guests craving Italian cuisine after a busy day burning calories in the surf can head to Lucca for seafood risotto with an Italian Chianti. Or if traditional French fare is what you’re looking for, an evening at Piaf is in order. For a delicious lesson in the taste traditions of Mayan cuisine, head to Chaka.
multicolored macaron bar. Of course, there are eggs made to order, pancakes, waffles, and all the rest, but don’t miss the warm tortillas with avocado and salsa—the best kind of avocado toast! What’s for lunch? Don’t be surprised if a tent pops up along the beach and chefs start grilling seafood they just caught a few feet offshore. The Grand Velas Riviera Maya is indeed a food lover’s paradise. Now, how about another mango margarita? S TA R T YO U R TA S T Y VOYAG E
Special culinary-themed events are held at Grand Velas throughout the year, so travelers who prioritize food and wine experiences should check the calendar for what’s coming up at this resort.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A BOHEME DESIGN AND MCGINN PHOTOGRAPHY 2017
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A BOHEME DESIGN AND MCGINN PHOTOGRAPHY 2017
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Meanwhile, mornings begin by greeting the sun and enjoying a breakfast extravaganza at Azul, offering relaxed seating inside or on the beachside open-air terrace. The buffet is beyond fabulous with everything from freshly pressed tropical fruit juices to a
BY P L A N N I N G O N L I N E AT R I V I E R A M AYA .G R A N DV E L A S .CO M .
Carolyn O’Neil is an Atlanta-based food writer who specializes in culinary travel and healthy lifestyles. She believes travel is the ultimate way to learn about people of the world, and cuisine is the most exciting way to learn about their history and culture. Find her blog at TheHappyHealthyKitchen.com.
Award-winning spa services at Grand Velas range from meditation to a variety of massages, healing rituals, hydrotherapy, and more. Photo courtesy of Grand Velas Riviera Maya
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Le monde
Visit AixEn ProvenceTourism. com to learn more or plan your trip. Photo by Sara Winter/ Shutterstock
Le monde GOES ROUND AND ROUND
Lavender has been revered in Provençal culture for millennia as a critical ingredient in medicines, soaps, cosmetics, and even food. In France’s Luberon region surrounding some of the country’s most beautiful villages, rolling fields of lavender grow and blossom each summer. Lavender distillery tours and festivals are abundant in the area, and visitors can even stop by the Lavender Museum in Coustellet to learn more about how the plants grow and how they are processed and used, and, of course, to pick up some handmade products.
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BY JANET THOMAS
F r o m D e a d h e a d s to Pa r r ot h e a d s , b o o m e r fa n s —a n d t h e i r h e r o b a n d s — ta k e i t to t h e l i m i t o n e m o r e t i m e . Okay, Baby Boomers (you know who you are) and classic rock lovers of all ages: Remember in great detail some of your favorite, earth-shattering live concerts and music festivals? Perhaps some are slightly hazier than others; but oh, the vinyl albums, the 45s, the cassettes, the eight-track tapes! Pop the top off a group discussion about classic rock bands you grew up loving, and it can quickly expand into an entertaining evening of memories. Some may be deeply individual recollections, like the songs you listened to endlessly in your bedroom as you gazed at your groovy band posters or in your car (Meatloaf ’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” anyone?). Others are collective group remembrances, nostalgic flashbacks lasting a lifetime. Barely making it into the younger side of the Baby Boomer club, I cut my teeth on Elvis. From the age of seven, every birthday and Christmas would bring me his latest release. From there, I had a brief brush with disco (The Bee Gees, heartthrob Andy Gibb, KC and the Sunshine Band, everything Saturday Night Fever). Next came my purple faux-fur bedroom, black lights, and lava lamps—much cooler than my brother’s black fur bedroom. With my driver’s license came The Cars, Supertramp, Head East, Cheap Trick, and Bad Company. We’d drive around small-town Iowa for hours blasting these tunes, checking out all the other teens doing the same thing. It was the best of times.
coat, next to two of the Beatle wives and another Apple staffer. “I witnessed their final moments as a live rock ’n’ roll band,” Ken writes in the book. The specifics of the unannounced concert and why it ultimately happened on the Apple rooftop at 3 Savile Row are fascinating for seasoned Beatles fans and newbies alike. Mansfield told me a great story of a nineteenyear-old lad that was on the roof that day working with sound equipment. Years later, he discovered it was Alan Parsons, of Alan Parsons Project fame, who became a musician, composer, and multiplatinum producer and sound engineer to the Beatles
Below: Ken Mansfield and the Beatles at a 1966 Hollywood press conference Photo courtesy of Ken Mansfield
Recently, I sat down with Ken Mansfield, former US Manager for Apple Records. The Beatles were his main focus, and when the foursome created Apple, they specifically requested that he guide the stateside business. Warm, witty, and softspoken (sporting a sometimes-mischievous sparkle in his eye as we talked music for more than two hours), Mansfield recalled the details with precision. Mansfield has authored several books, including The Beatles, the Bible, and Bodega Bay: My Long and Winding Road. But hold on to your hats, because November 13 marks his release of The Roof: The Beatles’ Final Concert. The book reveals, in heartfelt and glorious detail, the people and events surrounding the monumental day in January of 1969 that the foursome played together for the last time. Their last concert before that was years earlier, in August of 1966 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. Few people witnessed the rooftop occurrence in London that almost didn’t happen. Mansfield was there, bracing the cold in a white trench V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 59
Le monde and Pink Floyd. Parsons had this to say about The Roof book: “Ken Mansfield and I unknowingly shared the experience of the famous Apple rooftop session. Ken was not only working for the Beatles through their heyday, but he was also their trusted friend. There is no one better equipped to tell the Beatles’ story truthfully—and more important, factually—from the inside.”
Right: Ringo Starr and Ken Mansfield backstage after one of Starr’s shows, still hanging out decades after the historic London rooftop performance, which is magnificently detailed in Mansfield’s new book, The Roof: The Beatles Final Concert. Below: Dolly Parton, Ken Mansfield, and Ringo Starr at Mansfield’s Laurel Canyon “Hangover House” in the Hollywood Hills Photos courtesy of Ken Mansfield
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Few common denominators span generations and walks of life as music does. People have such a deep and personal attachment to certain bands and songs, often connecting them intrinsically to special moments of their life. Baby Boomers, most often described as those born between the early to mid-1940s to about 1964, have collected a wealth of musical memories and continue to do so. But younger generations are also clinging to classic rock, sporting T-shirts with the likes of The Who, Journey, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin and flocking to concerts and festivals. Many bands have hit astonishing fifty-year anniversaries. You do the math, and it’s hard not to notice how many septuagenarian stars are still performing—Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Elton John, and Jimmy Buffet, to name a few. The October release of Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin celebrates five decades since the band’s inception and is the only book produced in collaboration with the musicians themselves, according to Amazon. Aerosmith just announced big news of a Las Vegas residency for 2019 to celebrate their fiftieth
anniversary, with shows at MGM’s cutting-edge Park Theater. (Here’s betting these shows will be incredible history in the making—we’d expect nothing less from America’s top-selling rock ’n’ roll band of all time.) ZZ Top promises great things for their fiftieth, which
The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards at Clearview's Ziegfeld Theater in New York in March of 2008 Photo by Everett Collection/Shutterstock
People have such a deep and personal attachment to certain bands and songs, often connecting them intrinsically to special moments of their life.
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Le monde also happens in 2019, including a tour—fingers crossed they release new music, as well!
Right: Paul McCartney performs at NYCB Live on September 27, 2017, in Uniondale, New York. Photo by Debby Wong/ Shutterstock Below: Queen and Adam Lambert perform at a rock ’n’ roll festival in Wroclaw, Poland in 2012. Photo by Dziurek/Shutterstock
VIE’s hometown area of Northwest Florida has hosted many classic rock bands, to the delight of visitors and locals alike. Richard Sanders, vice president of sports and events for Visit Panama City Beach, attributes some of the appetite for classic rock to the sheer population of baby boomers in the area. “The music of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s has been termed as a timeless music period. It’s arguably the greatest music period ever—music that never dies,” declares Sanders. “A good number of boomer parents raised their small children on the music, taking them to concerts they attended. Our Chasin’ the Sun Music Festival focused on ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s beach music, and past PCB Seafood Festivals have featured classic rock performers including Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foghat, Styx, and REO Speedwagon. ZZ Top was the first rock group to perform at the new Aaron Bessant Park Amphitheatre when it opened in 2013.” Classic rock is a lesson in economics, outperforming other music genres. There is serious money to be made (legacy headliners in concert tend to be a cash cow right now), and there’s often an accompanying rush for the musicians. Mansfield agrees many of them do it for the love of the music and performing. At a Hall & Oates and Train show I recently attended, the mixedgeneration crowd was going nuts for Hall & Oates. Daryl Hall shook his head
and beamed, “It just doesn’t get any better than this.” The crowd had a similar reaction at Foreigner’s Juke Box Heroes Tour with special guests Whitesnake and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening. There is no doubt that baby boomers are supporting their heroic musicians and are willing to open their wallets and leisure time to the cause. Speaking of leisure, if you’ve never been to a Jimmy Buffett concert, it’s a sight to behold. RVs and “Parrothead parties” often fill the areas surrounding the venue, and many groupies go “on tour” with Jimmy, making a pastime of supporting him in multiple cities—changes in latitudes, no doubt. Leave it to business genius Buffett to deliver the lifestyle his fans crave; he’s now in the business of active adult communities. His third Latitude Margaritaville is slated to open in early 2020 near Panama City Beach. The St. Joe Company, a master at creating beautiful developments with loads of amenities, is working with Minto Communities and Margaritaville Holdings on the project. Who wouldn’t want to be at that community clubhouse come five o’clock anywhere? Classic rock and Southern rock cruises continue to swell thanks to Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues and bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd. Skynyrd also announced a second wind of shows in their Last of
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the Street Survivors Farewell Tour, sharing the stage with acts like Kid Rock, Blackberry Smoke, and Bad Company. Elton John has kicked off his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, hitting five continents with three hundred spellbinding shows. Queen and Adam Lambert teamed up and will surely rock the house, and just-released feature film Bohemian Rhapsody celebrates all things Queen and Freddie Mercury. Van Morrison, Robert Plant, Toto, Billy Joel, John Mellencamp, Paul Simon, Eagles (now with Vince Gill and the late, great Glen Frey’s talented son, Deacon)—tons of legends are truly in this for the long run. Paul McCartney just kicked off a tour supporting Egypt Station, his new solo album, and Bob Dylan is back on the road and has released a line of whiskey called—wait for it—Heaven’s Door. Boomers and their favorite bands are most certainly aging differently and more defiantly than their predecessors (guess it’s better to burn out than to fade away). Mansfield suggests that classic rock is still going strong because the music is just so good. “The creativity, the hard work, the dedication to the music—there’s nothing like it,” he says. “These bands are like the classical masters of the past.” On my boomer band bucket list? Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd for sure, along with Fleetwood Mac, whose 2019 concerts are sure to sell out in a heartbeat,
THere is no doubt that baby boomers are supporting their heroic musicians and are willing to open their wallets and leisure time to the cause. so grab tickets while you can! And inquiring minds are sure to wonder about Mansfield’s favorite Beatles album. It’s Abbey Road. His fave Fab Four song? “Come Together.” If I had to pick a classic rock favorite, I’d need a drink and a quick decision. Classic rock, Southern rock—it’s all rock ’n’ roll to me. See you at the show.
Above: Lynyrd Skynyrd performs at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort in Lincoln, California, in 2013. Photo by Randy Miramontez/Shutterstock
Ken Mansfield’s book The Roof: The Beatles’ Final Concert is now available for pre-order at Amazon. Check official band and artist websites for the latest concert and tour news. Janet Thomas, shown here with her first foray into rock ’n’ roll, circa 1969, describes her work as a fairy tale. She travels the world for a good story, and has been published in Modern Luxury, Dallas Morning News, Organic Spa, Jezebel, and more. She’s a former longtime editor-in-chief of American Airlines’ premium magazine, Celebrated Living, and writes often for VIE. She no longer has a purple fur bedroom.
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Le monde
A Star-Studded Celebration Stella McCartney and Fern Mallis Receive Humanitarian Awards BY Lisa Burwell PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF David Lynch Foundation
J
ust the mention of Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, and Blue Velvet can send David Lynch’s fans into a frenzy of adoration. The Guardian echoed that sentiment, referring to him as “the most important filmmaker of the current era.” This filmmaker, artist, musician, actor, photographer, and philanthropist has had his sights set on goals loftier than just making an indelible mark on the entertainment industry. Renaissance man Lynch is also a longtime student and teacher of Transcendental Meditation (TM), spreading peace and wellness to as many people as he can with his eponymous foundation. “I started practicing Transcendental Meditation in 1973 and have not missed a single meditation ever since. Twice a day, every day. It has given me effortless access to unlimited reserves of energy, creativity, and happiness deep within. This level of life is sometimes called ‘pure consciousness’—it is a treasury. And this level of life is deep within us all,” he opines on his foundation’s website. He adds, “But I had no idea how powerful and profound this technique could be until I saw firsthand how it was being practiced by young children in inner-city schools, veterans who suffer the living hell of post-traumatic stress disorder, and women and girls who are victims of terrible violence.”
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On May 8, the David Lynch Foundation (DLF) hosted the second annual Women of Vision luncheon. International fashion and design consultant Fern Mallis and fashion designer Stella McCartney were honored with humanitarian awards for their contributions to the fashion industry and tremendous support of women in need. Tickets for the star-studded event, held at swanky 583 Park Avenue, started at a thousand dollars each. Proceeds help fund a New York City initiative to teach Transcendental Meditation (TM) to women survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Rosanna Scotto of Good Day New York hosted the luncheon alongside DLF director Bob Roth, author of Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation. Scotto, who also practices TM, spoke with Roth about her life before meditation: “I was anxious, angry, unhappy, stressed out, frenetic. And that was just before breakfast. Now that I’ve learned
the practice, I’m much calmer and definitely more focused.” When interviewing Roth on the telephone a few months ago, I knew I was talking to a very well educated man and a TM guru, but I had no idea he would be as down-to-earth as he was. He was certainly self-effacing as he recounted telling his sister about his book being named a New York Times bestseller. When I asked if TM was a religion, he said, “TM is, in a word, life-changing for the good. It is not a religion. It is not a philosophy. It is a tool that tones the brain.” He quoted William Butler Yeats toward the end of the interview: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
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TM is, in a word, lifechanging for the good. It is not a religion. It is not a philosophy. It is a tool that tones the brain. Bob Roth is a world authority on Transcendental Meditation who has spent forty-five years helping people access their innate creativity and power with TM. He has brought TM to many thousands of students ranging from war-scarred veterans and inner-city youth to Fortune 100 CEOs and such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Gisele Bündchen. Every day, a growing epidemic of stress is damaging our physical and emotional health—and at younger and younger ages. People from all walks of life and of every race, age, and income level make the same confession: “I am so stressed.” It is literally killing us.
Right: Filmmaker and philanthropist David Lynch V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 65
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Above left: Isabella Rossellini and Stella McCartney Above right: Norma Kamali, Stella McCartney, and Fern Mallis Opposite top: Host Rosanna Scotto with 2017 honorees Carolyn Rafaelian, Robin Roberts, Gisele Bündchen, Joni Steele Kimberlin, and LaToya Mack Opposite bottom: Rosanna Scotto and David Lynch Foundation CEO Bob Roth Far opposite: Stella McCartney takes the stage.
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W
hile there is no one single cure, there is a simple practice that dramatically changes how we respond to stress and life’s challenges: the Transcendental Meditation technique. With scientifically proven benefits—improved focus, sleep, resilience, creativity, and memory, to name a few—this five-thousand-year-old practice has a clear and direct impact on our very modern problems. Roth trained under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the twentieth century’s foremost scientist of consciousness and meditation, and has since become one of the most experienced and sought-after meditation teachers in the world. Roth saw the profound and practical capabilities of the technique, and as cofounder and chief executive officer of the David Lynch Foundation, he has helped bring TM to more than five hundred thousand at-risk youth, veterans with PTSD, and women survivors of domestic violence. He also teaches TM to top leaders in government, business, medicine, and the arts. In Strength in Stillness, Roth breaks down the science behind meditation in a new, accessible way. He highlights the three distinct types of meditation—focused attention, open monitoring, and self-transcending—and showcases the evidence that the third, Transcendental Meditation, is the most effective and efficient way to reduce stress, access inner power, and build resilience. Free of gimmicks, mystical verbiage, and over-inflated research studies, Strength in Stillness is a simple and straightforward guide to calming mind, body, and spirit.
Movie star siren Isabella Rossellini presented the Women of Vision Humanitarian Award to Stella McCartney, who explained her connection to TM. Although she had learned of it at an early age, she turned to meditation “through trauma and loss” after her mother, Linda, died twenty years ago. “I went to meet the Maharishi. I said, ‘Dad (Paul McCartney), this is the time to get back into the meditation mode.’” McCartney, citing the foundation for helping the less fortunate, said that is “probably one of the best gifts you can have because it is something that you can take everywhere. I’m sure a lot of people in the room travel a lot; we carry our bags around and we have a lot going on in our lives. Meditation is something that I just carry around in my back pocket and in my heart for free. It’s weightless, effortless, and it’s a real gift.” Fern Mallis, who accepted her Humanitarian Award from Norma Kamali, said, “The fact that I am being honored by the David Lynch Foundation is really crazy.
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Meditation is something that I just carry around in my back pocket and in my heart for free. It’s weightless, effortless, and it’s a real gift.
It’s the last organization on earth that I thought this would happen with.” She reminded the crowd that the event was a fund-raiser for women and children victims of sexual assault and said, “I only wish that we could get to all the horrible men in the world and teach them to meditate.” As it turns out, the David Lynch Foundation is also starting an initiative to teach perpetrators to meditate. Since abusive behavior is often triggered by stress, teaching them to meditate might nip the problem in the bud. “Prevention is always superior to cure.” In a world rattled by chaos and confusion, it is good to know that men and women are sharing their tools, time, and resources with a world in need. To learn more about the David Lynch Foundation, visit www.davidlynchfoundation.org. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 67
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ST E P S TO H E A L I N G
CONNECTIONS
BY LIESEL SCHMIDT | PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HEALING HOOF STEPS
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epending on your perspective, horses can be awe-inspiringly majestic or intimidatingly powerful and unpredictable; so large are they in stature and possessing of a quiet power that seems all the more mysterious to human understanding. And while many people overlook horses as humble beasts to be tamed and ridden, it is their strong will and inner strength that make them such a powerful catalyst for overcoming fears we have hidden inside, for facing struggles that seem too great to overcome. Every touch, every whisper, and every movement can be a reflection of a battle raging within. And sometimes it takes a horse to see—and to heal—what nothing and no one else can. It was that very connection that Northwest Florida native Narissa Jenkins felt in each touch she shared with her horse. She heard a voice in every whinny, knicker, and neigh and communicated in every wordless look. It was in her daily interactions with her horse that Jenkins found healing and respite from the emotional struggles that she faced daily both professionally and personally. It was a healing that went deeper and was, for her, far more effective than therapy sessions spent talking for hour after hour, week after week, could have ever been.
“My horse saved my life—every day,” says Jenkins of the chestnut brown mare whose bloodline makes her a direct descendant of the famed racehorse Secretariat, though Saideira was never fast enough to qualify for life on the racetrack. Instead, the special animal was fated to serve in a way that might have had a greater impact than she would have ever realized under the guidance of a jockey. The daily visits that Jenkins had with her beloved horse eventually led her to research an alternative method of therapy proven to have life-changing effects. “Being with her and spending time with her seemed to make everything else okay, and it struck me that it couldn’t be just me who felt this way,” Jenkins recalls. At the time, Jenkins was a divorced mother of two, newly remarried and working in a high-pressure corporate marketing job in Orlando that often left her stressed and feeling unfulfilled. She was a horse lover since early childhood, though her dreams of ever owning one had been sidelined by parents and a first husband who saw her love of the majestic animals as a frivolity. It wasn’t until she remarried that she was given the opportunity—and the loving encouragement—to pursue her passion and buy a horse. When Jenkins began researching in earnest, her passion found a real purpose, as her tireless quest for information led her to connect with the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA), the world’s leading nonprofit association for equine therapy professionals. “I became enthralled in having to learn everything about equine therapy because it was something that I had experienced myself on a personal level,” she says, “The thought of being able to do it as a profession and leave my high-pressure corporate job for something so rewarding was a big deal for me.”
Left: Healing Hoof Steps offers equine therapy programs for veterans, at-risk youth, couples, and all other types of people in need of mental and emotional support. Opposite: HHS founder and executive director Narissa Jenkins started the program in 2014.
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Le monde s Jenkins delved further into her research about equine therapy, she worked closely with EAGALA to get the certification she would need to begin her new career. While volunteering with traumatized individuals and at-risk youths in the Orlando area, she saw firsthand the very real effects that equine therapy had on their lives. When opportunity seemed to knock in 2014, Jenkins presented her idea to her family to begin Healing Hoof Steps, LLC, hopeful that they would support her dream and allow it to take shape fully. It required moving from their home in Orlando to “a much smaller house in the middle of the woods,” as Jenkins says with a laugh.
Right: HHS offers sessions for people of all ages and from all walks of life.
That house in the middle of the woods was indeed an adjustment, as it meant living in a different part of the state, bringing Jenkins and her family to Okaloosa County where she had grown up. The daughter of a Vietnam vet, Jenkins had deep ties to the military community and personal understanding of the devastating effects of PTSD so often suffered silently by members of the armed forces. She felt a profound desire to help heal the unseen wounds of those brave individuals as well as those of so many traumatized by the events of their lives.
Below: In early 2018, a private donation funded the construction of a new barn in Crestview, Florida, with a finished office for client use. The barn completed phase one of the threephase master plan for HHS’s growth.
“It’s such powerful work and it changes people so quickly—I’ve worked with human trafficking victims, at-risk youth, veterans, individuals, couples—and the difference that you see in people is amazing,” Jenkins says of the equine therapy sessions held at the Healing Hoof Steps facility in Crestview. The programs utilize a
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tri-team approach combining an equine expert, a licensed mental health professional, and a horse to achieve results. “The horses are all loose—there’s no riding—so they’re active participants in all the activities and they’re free to choose how they participate and to what degree,” she explains. “Sometimes we might ask clients to construct something and lead the horse through it or ask them to go after a horse and try to catch it. Whatever we do, the lesson is in the emotional tactic. You remember emotions attached to an event even if you don’t remember words someone might have spoken to you. In that way, we use metaphors in everything we do—using the horse’s behavior as a metaphor for whatever’s going on with the client.” And what’s going on with the client is sometimes even more than they realize until they’ve had that meeting of the minds—that wordless connection of the spirit—with the horses to make them feel what they’ve not truly been able to grasp. As client and horse interact, Jenkins, along with EAGALA military-designated therapist and licensed mental health counselor Connie Baldwin, determines the direction the sessions might need to take, watching things play out naturally as emotions come to
Thanks to its success and effectiveness, HHS is making major strides, growing its facilities as finances allow. Naturally, funding isn’t always easy to find; but as more people become aware of its mission, it is able to grow and accommodate the needs of those who can benefit from their time with these gentle beasts.
the surface and breakthroughs are made. Baldwin is a highly valued member of the HHS team who found the organization in 2017 after working as a team leader for Lone Survivor Foundation in Texas under the direction of founder Marcus Luttrell. The breakthrough is ultimately the reward in all of this, bringing life-changing effects that cause ripples well outside the immediate understanding of the client. “The idea behind equine therapy is to let go of your frustrations, your fears, your anger—all of it,” says co-owner of Props Brewery Travis Peterson, who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as well as major emotional and physical trauma due to a helicopter crash during his deployment to Afghanistan in 2013. Peterson was treated at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., or NICOE, where both Eastern and Western medicines are utilized for TBIs, and there he experienced the power of equine therapy. That experience led him to become a board member of HHS.
VISIT HealingHoof Steps.org TO LEARN MORE. Mark your calendar for the inaugural Double Down ’n’ Derby Day at Arnett’s Gulfside Farm and Stables on May 4, 2019. The event will include watching the day’s races, fabulous hats, mint juleps, carriage rides, local entertainment, and a silent auction. All proceeds will benefit Healing Hoof Steps. Liesel Schmidt lives in Navarre, Florida, and works as a freelance writer for local and regional magazines, a web content writer, and a book editor. Having harbored a passionate dread of writing assignments when she was in school, she never imagined making a living at putting words on paper, but life sometimes has a funny way of working out. Follow her on Twitter (@laswrites) or download her novels, Coming Home to You, The Secret of Us, and Life Without You on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.
Le monde
Caring for
By L A U R E N D O U G L A S S | Photography by B R E N N A K N E I S S ook down at your phone, turn on your computer, or glance at any screen displaying the state of the world. You will find your heart overwhelmed and your mind flooded with the abundance of devastation and need swirling rampantly in every corner of the earth. At least, that’s what happened to me as a young woman living on the cushy coast of the spectacular Santa Rosa Beach Florida.
In the midst of my comfortable lifestyle, I found my heart aching over the insurmountable pain that circulates on such a vast scale; and so my mind began the desperate pursuit of what my greater purpose could be. You hear the numbers that represent human lives: 27 million tortured and trapped in human trafficking, 68.5 million innocent victims of war who are forced to find refuge in a foreign country, 100 million homeless children suffering on the streets, 780 million without clean water, three billion people living under the poverty line, and so on. Too many precious lives dwell in utter hopelessness.
the
Sent
I wondered where I could start and what I could do. Do I sell everything I have and move to rural India or the jungles of Africa? Do I pack up and go to Eastern Europe to join the fight against sex trafficking? Do I head to the nearest refugee camp? Maybe all of the above? How is one to decipher which human life is more important or which ache is stronger? Should I just push them out of my heart and mind because they are out of sight? Is that not what we all do?
We do. Often, we do it because we must. We cannot bear the weight of the needs of the whole world upon our feeble shoulders. We think, what do I have to offer? What difference could I possibly make to chip away at this monstrous mountain of need that puts Everest to shame? These are the questions to which we hang our heads in bitter defeat and turn our eyes back to the tasks that we know how to tackle.
SendWell partners with Hope for the World to put on camps and clinics for the Roma Gypsy villages.
But what if we didn’t? What if we pressed past the daunting size of the mountain and recognized our role in scaling its heights together? What if we realized V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 73
Le monde that we each have specific gifts designed to help conquer the seemingly impossible task of bringing hope to the dejected, healing the broken, and freeing the captive? We aren’t all designed to pack up our lives and put down new roots among the needy; however, some of us are. Those who are hurting need hands physically present to bind their wounds—but whose hands? I’ve found that across the world, there is already a faithful troop of laborers devoting their lives to caring for those in need, but their toiling is far from done. Much work remains, and their hands have blistered, their bodies are tired, their hearts are weary, and, all too often, they feel alone in their labor. As I sat searching for what my role could be, I stumbled across a quote by an incredible world-changing missionary to India, William Carey. Addressing the insurmountable darkness and devastation into which he was about to plunge, he turned and faced the church that was sending him out and said, “I will descend, if only you will hold the rope.” When I heard that quote, my heart quickened, my mind steadied, and my purpose became clear.
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"
I will descend, if only you will hold the rope."
Yes, many extraordinary people have taken on the task of scaling this mountain and are descending into the darkest pits of the earth to bring light, hope, and healing—but they are left with no one holding their rope. So, with much help from a few dear friends, I launched SendWell. Our goal is to rally those who are created to support, encourage, and equip others so that we might fully engage in our role as senders of aid. We hope to partner with those who are sent around the world so they can remain joyful and strong in the tasks to which they have devoted their lives. We want to send out these workers well and never let them go. We aim to provide for all of their needs, whether that be practical, emotional, spiritual, relational, or all of the above. God has designed each of us with passions and
desires that are strategically crafted to contribute to the global good; it’s just a matter of partnering with those who are in desperate need of what you have to offer! What could your role be? Think about your passions. What makes your heart beat faster and your mind race with excitement? There are incredible people scattered across the world waiting for exactly what you have to contribute. They feel the lack of your gifts and talents in their labor; I can say this with the utmost confidence because I have heard it tearfully professed from their lips. You can help just by sending a handwritten letter or a care package, opening your home for them to rest, taking a short trip to document and tell their stories, providing a prudent eye to review their finances, or just making a phone call to tell them they’re not alone. You’ll be surprised to hear the needs you can meet, even in the seemingly smallest of ways. So it is with this hopeful question that I now come, heart in hand to you: In what simple way could you contribute to this global effort?
Above left: “I will descend, if only you will hold the rope” has become the mantra of SendWell founder/ president Lauren Douglass (above right). Opposite left: One of the many precious yet extremely marginalized Roma Gypsy children. Opposite right: One volunteer who represents the many devoting their lives to the global good.
Visit Send-Well.org to learn more or get involved today. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 75
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sitting under the
BY LAURETTE RYAN
WHAT IS CONSERVATIONISM? On a recent cloudy afternoon, I sat down with Pam Musk in a lovely little coffeehouse in downtown historic Plymouth, Massachusetts. Musk is an accomplished environmental consultant who works in the United States and Kenya as a manager of environmental education programs and nature centers. We talked about her work in conservationism, the movement that advocates the preservation of nature, wildlife, and natural resources. I asked Musk, “What was the first event you remember that led you down this path?” “I don’t think it was one event,” she replied. “I have always loved being outdoors, and teaching has always been part of my life. I lost my parents at a young age. My mother’s family took my siblings and me in, so I was always aware of my mother and felt I had more of a connection to her than to my father. My father was a scout leader and an outdoorsman. I think I wanted to share something with him, and so I found any way I could to be outdoors. This included being a Girl Scout and a camp counselor and, eventually, studying environmental science in college.” Musk studied environmental science and biology at Saint Lawrence University. After graduating college in 1985, she joined the Peace Corps and went to Kenya as a high school science teacher. While in Kenya she taught biology, physics, agriculture, home science, and English and was the soccer coach, nurse, and dorm parent. She also planted a tree farm, helped build a water tower, and installed solar panels at the school. In 1985, the population of Kenya was around 19.6 million. Today, Kenya’s population has grown to more than 42 million and is projected to hit 77 million by 2030. Poverty is widespread and often puts humans and wildlife at odds. Water pollution, flooding, deforestation, and poaching are all environmental challenges in Kenya today. Although Musk left the country three decades ago, she still consults on conservation efforts
there. She sadly declares, “I never thought species such as elephants could be extinct in our time, but that is a reality.” Before Musk arrived for our interview, I had ordered an iced mocha, which was quite lovely. Personally, having grown up in the 1970s, I was educated at a young age by Woodsy Owl (“Give a hoot—don’t pollute!”), Smokey Bear (“Only you can prevent forest fires.”), and the Native American who shed one powerful tear in the poignant Keep America Beautiful campaign. I was enthusiastic to hear what Musk was going to tell me about the status of the planet. She is an educator first and foremost, and one of the revelations I had while speaking with her was how easy and convenient it was for me, enjoying my little coffee break, to be oblivious to the crucial choices in the way I was going about my daily life. Had Woodsy taught me anything? Musk is among the most nonjudgmental, delightful people I’ve met, but she reminded me that the plastic straw and cup I would toss away in the next hour had to go somewhere. She queried, “What if they charged extra for cups—wouldn’t we just bring our own?” It made me wonder why I even need a straw; I am capable of drinking from a cup and have been for decades! Throwaways like these contribute thousands of pounds of plastic daily to waste and recycling systems that are already overloaded. Watching plastic grocery bags blow along roads and highways, I’m reminded of the powerful Keep America Beautiful PSA (you can still find it on YouTube). That campaign once moved us, and a real effort to take care of our environment was reborn. Many places now ban plastic bags, which is a step forward. (The entire country of Kenya has already done so!) How much better would it be if we all brought reusable grocery sacks to the store? I’ll be frank: it is sometimes tough to remember to bring them, but it’s a habit that is well worth developing. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 77
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These are memories that stick with an individual, connecting them for a lifetime with nature. Many children now are heavily involved in sports, science and math camps, and accelerated programs. Have we lost touch with the natural world? Technology is here to stay, but is there a balance between technology, progress, and nature? In a world where we can talk to a plastic cylinder on a countertop and have a new wardrobe delivered the next day, is it too much to believe we can create harmony with the planet? An appreciation for the natural world must come first, through the guidance of persevering and motivated teachers who don’t just teach from a book but take students into the woods, to ponds, streams, and oceans, or across meadows, prairies, and even the savanna. s I spoke with Musk, it became clear she has cultivated the wisdom of a leader through years of learning and teaching. She offered this: “I used to think that if I could teach people the things that I know, they would want to act to protect the environment. I now know that education is not enough. We have to engage people to foster that connection to the natural world so that they want to protect it. I try to do that with my programs.” Musk explained that with so much emphasis on STEM programs (science, technology, engineering, and math), we are losing many natural science programs that teach children and adults to identify, experience, and make a connection with plants, animals, and the natural resources that determine the health and livability of our planet. Without such experiences, it is difficult for most people to empathize with the topic. I think that we need to engage kids while they are young—but anyone can get involved in protecting the environment. I am not talking about saving the world, just doing simple things in our communities that have an impact. I try to live that way and hope my example inspires at least some people.” Musk was a camp nature counselor in her youth, and she relates a story about how she would teach children to identify sycamore trees, one of the first types she learned to recognize. She says, “The kids called it the sunburn tree, and we talked about the sycamore bark, and how it looks like the tree got a sunburn because it’s peeling.”
These are memories that stick with an individual, connecting them for a lifetime with nature. 78 | NO V E MBE R 2018
“I am usually optimistic and try to live my life that way, but lately I have not been very optimistic about the state of our environment,” Musk admits. “Overpopulation has led to overuse of resources, pollution, climate change, and more. I do think we can reverse the negative effects we have had on our environment, but I don’t see the dedication to this that is needed. There are some positive signs, such as recent movements to ban plastic bags and straws, but we are losing species and polluting our oceans at an alarming rate.” I asked Musk for three easy things we can all do to help take care of the planet. Her great advice was simple: take a look at your single-use plastics. First, get a reusable water bottle. Second, use a reusable shopping bag. Third, don’t use plastic straws; go without or get yourself a reusable one. These are habits everyone can easily implement. “I think it is extremely important for everyone to get outside and enjoy the natural world,” Musk stresses. “It rejuvenates us, supports good health, and just makes us feel good. Having a connection to nature is the first step to protecting it.”
Pam Musk’s twenty-five years of experience as an environmental advocate has led to an expertise in fund-raising, nonprofit board development and management, human resource management, and program development and implementation. She was a member and development chair at Watkinson School and is a current board member of the Association of Nature Center Administrators. Laurette Ryan is a professional in the health and wellness industry and has been a national fitness presenter for over thirty years. She is the author of four books on fitness, self-improvement, and life coaching. She is also the mother of four amazing children.
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Tune of Goodness
TO THE
PANAMA CIT Y SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL GIVES BACK B y S a l l i e W. B o y l e s 80 | NO V E MBE R 2018
I T ’S N O S E C R E T, A N D Y E T M A N Y FA N S W O U L D B E S H O C K E D TO L E A R N T H AT T H E I R M U S I C I D O L S D I D N’T W R I T E T H E S O N G S T H E Y ’V E M A D E FA M O U S.
star-quality voice might launch a song to the top of the charts, but where would that voice be without lyrics and music? As Will Thompson, producer of the inaugural 2018 Panama City Songwriters Festival, points out, “There are a lot of great singers, but it takes a great song to make a hit.” A songwriter, singer, musician, producer, and music teacher, Thompson has orchestrated an event that showcases the composers, with some legendary songwriters among the seventy performing in November’s festival in Panama City, Florida. Charlie Black (“Shadows in the Moonlight” and “A Little Good News” for Anne Murray; “Right on the Money” recorded by Alan Jackson) and Dana Black (“Check Yes or No” and “Write This Down” for George Strait) have scored over twenty top hits between them. Monty Powell (“Sweet Thing” and “Kiss a Girl” recorded by Keith Urban) has more than ten number-one songs. Hits of Brandon Barnes (“One Last Cry” and “Anytime” recorded by Brian McKnight) top the R&B charts. Brian White’s music (“Holding Out Hope to You” recorded by Michael English; “The Promise” recorded by the Martins) has delivered fourteen top hits and garnered two Dove Awards. Other notables include Travis Meadows, Eric Erdman, Will Kimbrough, Grayson Capps, Gabe Dixon, and Adam Wakefield (The Voice). Taking the stage, too, are regional and local talents.
so everyone has a VIP experience. We’re not selling more tickets than seats.” General admission tickets ($50) allow access to all venues during Saturday, November 17, and Sunday, November 18. Enhanced VIP options add a Friday evening party ($85) or a Sunday sunset cruise ($125) with live music, hors d’oeuvres, and drinks. Ticketholders receive a schedule with the songwriters’ bios as a guide. All venues are indoors and within walking distance of each other. Running from noon to nine o’clock on Saturday and Sunday, performances are divided into hour-long segments. Two acts go on stage at once, taking turns back and forth. The format engages audiences and, Thompson says, “You get intimate exposure to the artists.”
Will Thompson Photo by Michael Booini
He could have arranged a beach happening to maximize crowds and sponsorships, but Thompson chose in-town venues to set a personal tone. “We have seating for about fourteen hundred people,” he says. “It’s a nice, comfortable festival, not too big, V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 81
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he cool thing about the songwriter festival is that you get to hear the story behind the song,” says Charlie Black. “They might tell you about their inspiration for the song, or what was going on when they wrote the song, and, if they cowrote it, what took place. People are interested in the process.” “It’s a unique opportunity to hear from the heart of the songwriter,” says Brian White, “and we convey it differently. We’re most likely sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar or at a keyboard, so you hear the song in a very transparent or stripped-down way. For the person coming to the songwriter festival, the song takes on a whole new meaning.” Besides featuring music veterans like Black and White, Thompson says, “This is also about those songwriting treasures who aren’t yet heard. We are very big on giving people a chance and a place to perform.” Accepting submissions from all over the nation, Thompson called on a panel of judges to review each entry, requiring two audio recordings of original songs and one video.
Adam Wakefield
Also encouraging teens between the ages of twelve and eighteen to submit a song, Thompson says, “We picked special students to perform at the festival. It’s important to let them know there is a place for their songs.” The event’s proceeds will benefit the Bay Youth Music Association (BYMA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that Thompson formed five years ago to fund music education in Florida’s Bay County high schools. “Florida ranks forty-eight out of fifty for school funding for the arts,” says Thompson. “I started BYMA by just teaching kids music here and there.” The charity also gave low-income students their own instruments, but parents would sometimes pawn them, so with teachers’ input, the instruments are now donated to schools. In 2018, BYMA further awarded its first monetary scholarship to a talented student pursuing a music degree at Troy University.
Brian White
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Thompson’s goal is to build what he calls “a YMCA for musicians. Instead of coming up to the front desk for a basketball or football, the student will get a trumpet or other instrument to practice.” The facility would provide soundproof practice rooms and volunteer music teachers for lessons. Fund-raising
“THEY MIGHT TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR INSPIRATION FOR THE SONG, OR WHAT WAS GOING ON WHEN THEY WROTE THE SONG, AND, IF THEY COWROTE IT, WHAT TOOK PL ACE. PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN THE PROCESS.” through endeavors like the PC Songwriters Festival and contributions from those who appreciate a music education’s value, even if not for a career, is vital. “Will’s charity is so cool,” says Charlie Black. “The prospect of enabling kids to play music in whatever fashion or form they can to express themselves is important. It gives them a broader perspective. It helps with math. We can all learn a musical instrument at any age, but starting early helps.” A music career seemed inevitable for Thompson. “Both of my parents are retired Bay County music teachers,” he says, recalling a childhood of waking up to music playing. “The house was saturated with music of different varieties.” His parents preferred jazz and classical. Of Thompson’s two sisters, one gravitated to country and the other to rock and roll. He took up several instruments and enjoyed all genres. “In high school, I was into grunge,” he says, but found himself “more moved by soulful music, blues. In my senior year of high school, three other guys and I formed an a cappella quartet.” Thompson was a college sophomore when he seized an opportunity to work with Brian McKnight, the multiple Grammy-nominated R&B artist. Having McKnight, his most powerful influence, take him under wing seemed a dream but led Thompson to his “little Jerry McGuire moment,” he says. “I was offered a record deal in New York, Nashville, and LA. I want to be a musician on a record label, but none of them was right.” Waking away from everything, he spent a year working on a chicken farm in Goshen, Alabama, before returning to Panama City.
Gabe Dixon
While teaching and occasionally “singing out,” Thompson was “looking for someone who would partner with me, care about my well-being, my longevity—not just a quick hit. I wanted to build something that had integrity and felt right.” After seeing him perform, music producer Tommy Jackson offered Thompson an attractive sum to take his career seriously. Keeping a quarter of the money, Thompson gave the rest to charity, a musician buddy, and his wife, Lindsey, who is now making a name for herself as a singer-songwriter. “Her career has snowballed,” says Thompson. He also set up a recording studio next to his home, where he produces everything from R&B to country for other artists, charity projects, and himself. Singing his songs and playing all instruments, he solely produced his album Turn It Up. “I fell in love with music again,” he affirms. Garnering the industry’s love and respect is tough. “They hardly pay songwriters anything,” says Dana Black. “If you get really hot and meet the right people or the right person to record the album, that’s a big thing, but a rare thing.” Still, while competing for limited spots on the same celebrities’ albums, Nashville’s veterans contend that songwriters support each other.
Will and Lindsey Thompson
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Also, as Brian White expresses, “There’s never been a better time to get your music heard because there are so many outlets. I love to give that encouragement to aspiring songwriters. All of them have a story and experiences to convey that I can’t. Different things are put into each one of us to put out into the world. I’ve had people walk up to me at shows—they might be seventy-five years old—and tell me they’ve always wanted to write songs, and I say, ‘Go do that!’” Songwriting is a calling. For Thompson, it’s about creating art, connecting with people from all walks of life, following his dreams, and helping young musicians do the same. Whatever comes next, the Bay Youth Music Association and PC Songwriters Festival are already important chapters with more to be written.
For additional information about the PC Songwriters Festival and Bay Youth Music Association, readers should visit PCsongwriters.com, Facebook.com/ BayYouthMusic, or Facebook.com/PCSongwriter.
Dana Hunt Black and Charlie Black
Sallie W. Boyles works as a freelance journalist, ghostwriter, copywriter, and editor through Write Lady Inc., her Atlanta-based company. With an MBA in marketing, she marvels at the power of words, particularly in business and politics, but loves nothing more than relaying extraordinary personal stories that are believable only because they are true.
Start a FUN Family Tradition
Thanksgiving Weekend 2018
@Aaron Bessant Park Amphitheater
We at Visit Panama City Beach and the Bay County Tourism Development Council know Thanksgiving is all about sharing.
For a list of all our holiday events, go to VisitPanamaCityBeach.com/holidays.
HOLIDAY CONCERTS TREE LIGHTING CHRISTMAS CAROLERS CAMPFIRES WITH S’MORES SANTA & MRS. CLAUS FIREWORKS
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Fighting
Lives The Taylor Haugen Foundation Marks Ten Years of Protecting Young Athletes
By T O R I P H E L P S
f you can’t readily name the worst day of your life, consider yourself lucky. For Brian and Kathy Haugen, it’s all too easy: August 30, 2008. That’s the day their fifteen-yearold son, Taylor, sustained a fatal abdominal injury while playing high school football. In the decade since, the Haugens have survived that unimaginable loss in the only way they can: by throwing themselves into the fight to protect other children—and parents—from a similar fate.
equipment had existed, it would have been on our son,” says Brian.
Soon after Taylor’s death, which shook the entire community of Niceville, Florida, the Taylor Haugen Foundation was launched to bring awareness to abdominal injuries and provide protective gear to young athletes who play contact sports. As it turns out, an item costing less than eighty dollars would likely have saved Taylor’s life. “If we had known this
The Haugens’ donations and awareness campaigns are specifically directed at young athletes, their coaches, and governing bodies because collegiate and professional athletes regularly use rib protectors to prevent abdominal injuries. (Although Kathy points out that at least three NFL players were out due to such injuries at the time of this interview. “It’s
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That equipment, a rib protection shirt whose panels mold and then harden to its wearer’s torso, is now part of their everyday vocabulary. Through the foundation’s Youth Equipment for Sports Safety (YESS) program, over 4,500 athletes in seventy-five schools across the country have been outfitted with those shirts.
something I keep track of,” she says.) The danger is present from the first tackle, they say, and rib protector shirts should be, too.
“If we had known this equipment had existed, it would have been on our son.”
The Foundation, which also awards an annual trophy and six scholarships to local students who embody Taylor’s combination of Christian faith, leadership, academics, community service, and athletics, is making inroads—but not quickly enough to stem a rising tide of abdominal injuries. With high school football’s new helmet-to-helmet contact and chop block rules—both designed to prevent other kinds of injuries—the torso is becoming more of a primary target, Brian explains. They know this because Kathy and Brian are often the first points of contact for parents whose children have sustained abdominal injuries. “Every year, we hear about more and more of them,” Kathy says. The Haugens pass this information along to agencies like the National Center for Catastrophic Injuries in North Carolina, but it’s an uphill battle because abdominal injuries aren’t considered as dangerous as concussions, for example. The two have a lot in common, though. Brian compares the lack of understanding about abdominal injuries to a time when people didn’t consider concussions to be a big deal. We know now, of course, that they are. The Haugens are desperately trying to ring the bell about abdominal injuries to prevent a similar legacy of athletes who are facing lifelong, catastrophic consequences. Part of that bell ringing, they hope, includes partnering with NFL players to give their message a wider audience. They need those big guns because time is ticking. Again mirroring concussion findings, the medical community has discovered that repeated blows to the abdomen can result in damage to or loss of the kidneys, gallbladder, liver, spleen, pancreas, and small intestines—all cases the Haugens have learned about from former football players. But because not all contact-sport abdominal injuries seem to require immediate medical attention, they don’t necessarily get classified as such when patients eventually see a doctor. Hence, the perception that the problem is neither widespread nor serious. The Haugens and other parents of injured or deceased children beg to differ.
To help encourage real change, the Foundation is adding a #PledgetoProtect campaign, which is aimed at everyone involved in youth athletics, from players to referees to booster club members. The six-point pledge includes a resolution to wear—or ensure the availability of—proper protective gear, as well as to openly communicate about abdominal injuries. It also incorporates aspects like teaching youth football players the most advanced tackling and blocking techniques. In meeting with NFL players, the Haugens hear over and over that a lack of technique in secondary schools increases the risk of injury. Programs that teach proper tackling are easily accessible, Kathy says, adding that the Seattle Seahawks have even posted educational YouTube videos of the tackle training their team receives.
Above: Brian and Kathy Haugen display the rib-protecting shirt that could have saved their son's life. Now they dedicate funds from the Taylor Haugen Foundation to equipping young athletes with this and other protective gear. Photo courtesy of Taylor Haugen Foundation
The pledge also prescribes emergency medical personnel on the sidelines at every game and at every practice, where 60 percent of abdominal injuries occur. The Haugens understand that many districts can’t fund an athletic trainer at all, much less a trainer for every game and practice, but they contend that there are ways to implement community resources to achieve that goal. Lastly, the pledge encourages those who regulate or supervise youth football to make abdominal protection equipment standard throughout the United States by 2028. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 87
Le monde Several pieces of the pledge require substantial amounts of money. Direct donations help support the foundation, but its most significant source of income is the annual Savor the Season event. The upscale food-and-wine extravaganza takes place this year on October 25 at the Emerald Grande in Destin, Florida, which offers the stunning Destin Harbor as a backdrop. Expected to attract approximately eight hundred revelers, Savor the Season highlights cuisine from nearly a dozen of the area’s most talented chefs, along with individual wine pairings. The Haugens admit they are “wine people,” so the event has developed a reputation for quality offerings and fun vino-related events. The evening also includes live and silent auctions studded with extravagant trips, sports excursions, shopping packages, and much more. Savor the Season is about having a great time while raising much-needed funds, but the Haugens are hopeful that it also prompts attendees to learn more about protecting the young athletes in their lives from abdominal injuries. Regrettably, parents can’t count on coaches to know about or enforce safety protocols, so they have to be their child’s advocates. Ask questions about whether there’s medical help on the sidelines and what protocols are in place for various injuries, they advise, and never feel bad about insisting that your child wear proper protective gear. Perhaps surprisingly, the Haugens don’t think football should be restricted or banned. Kathy admits, “A lot of people think that’s crazy coming from a mother who lost her only child to the game. But a lot of good things come out of sports. If we just play smarter, we’ll have a lot fewer injuries.”
“If we just play smarter, we’ll have a lot fewer injuries.” Reflecting on the foundation’s accomplishments over the last ten years is bittersweet for the Haugens. There’s immense joy in knowing that they’ve helped protect thousands of young athletes. But it’s impossible to forget for even a minute why it has become their mission or that they still have mountains to move. They draw strength from Taylor’s personal motto—“Never Quit and Never Give Up”—when it comes to sharing truths that could have saved their son. “If all I can do now is get this information out to people, I’ll do it,” Kathy says. “I think Taylor would be quite proud of his parents.”
Visit TaylorHaugen.org to learn more, buy Savor the Season tickets, and see how you can get involved. Tori Phelps has been a writer and editor for nearly twenty years. A publishing industry veteran and longtime VIE collaborator, Phelps lives with three kids, two cats, and one husband in Charleston, South Carolina.
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DO-GOODERS! Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation Makes an Impact
PHOTOGR APHY BY GER A LD BURW ELL
Demetrius Fuller, Alycia Mondavi, Cindy Garrard, and Jimmy Chambers
Dr. Dennis and Glenda Lichorwic
Lisa Burwell, Tyson Peterson, Daned Kirkham, and Eric Wagenknecht Glenn and Dana Armentor
Hillary Fosdyck, Stacey Brady, and Briane O’Dell
Zoe Babcock and Rob Babcock
estin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (DCWAF), recognized as the third largest charity wine auction in the country by Wine Spectator magazine for the second consecutive year, is excited to announce that it’s adding a new organization to its lineup of supported Northwest Florida children’s charities! Westonwood Ranch, a new nonprofit designed to fill the gap in transition services as young adolescents affected by autism enter adulthood, is located in Freeport and slated to open its doors in April of 2019. “Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation is proud to welcome Westonwood Ranch as one of our supported charitable organizations. We appreciate the unique
opportunity to assist organizations at the earliest stage of formation,” says DCWAF president John Russell. “We see in the Westonwood Ranch team the same passion and drive to make a difference in the lives of children in need as exists in all of the DCWAFsupported charities. Westonwood Ranch is the next step in providing support to families and individuals as they face the challenge of autism.” Independence is a critical milestone in a child’s development. This is especially true for children with autism and related pervasive developmental disabilities who often require more assistance to develop functional life skills. The mission of Westonwood Ranch is to provide a nurturing farm-based environment for students with special needs to explore their full capacities and pave the way for productive, independent living. Benefits of utilizing a holistic farmstead model include opportunities for selfpaced, diverse learning activities that are tailored to individual interests and skill levels. DCWAF connects wine enthusiasts to raise money to benefit children in need in Northwest Florida. Founded in 2005, DCWAF has donated $18 million to Northwest Florida charities by hosting world-class wine and culinary events. With the addition of Westonwood Ranch, the foundation now supports sixteen Northwest Florida charities, all of which serve children in need by touching on a variety of critical needs such as homelessness, food insecurity, mental health, and more. DCWAF recently distributed $2.7 million raised at the Thirteenth Annual Destin Charity Wine Auction to its fifteen 2018 benefiting charities at an intimate check presentation ceremony held at the WaterColor LakeHouse in WaterColor, Florida, on Tuesday, August 21.
Mike and Deidra Stange
DCWAF’s 2018 benefiting charities included AMIkids, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast, Children in Crisis, Children’s Volunteer Health Network, Emerald Coast Autism Center, Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center, Food For Thought Outreach, Habitat for Humanity of Walton County, Mental Health Association of Okaloosa/Walton Counties, Opportunity Place, Pathways for Change, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, Shelter House, The Arc of the Emerald Coast, and Youth Village.
Steve and Mary Ellen Buffington, Demetrius Fuller, and Jimmy Chambers
Will Palmer and Morgan Strother-Palmer
But patrons don’t have to wait until next year to take part in DCWAF events. As producers of Harvest Wine & Food Festival, DCWAF also recently announced that Domaine Serene would join the lineup of winery headliners showcased October 25–27 in WaterColor. The Domaine Serene Celebrity Winemaker Dinner will be held at the newly renovated FOOW (Fish Out of Water) at the WaterColor Inn on Thursday, October 25. Domaine Serene joins VGS Chateau Potelle and Robert Craig Winery to complete the list of winery headliners that will be hosting private dinners throughout the South Walton area to kick off three days of festival events. A silent auction featuring a variety of rare wines, staycations, and unique experiences will open on the evening of Friday, October 26 and will run through noon on Sunday, October 28.
THE DATES FOR NEXT YEAR’S DESTIN CHARITY WINE AUCTION WEEKEND, THE FOUNDATION’S SIGNATURE FUND-RAISING EVENT, ARE SET FOR APRIL 26–28, 2019. LEARN MORE AT DCWAF.ORG. TO LEARN MORE OR PURCHASE TICKETS FOR THE HARVEST WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL, VISIT HARVESTWINEANDFOOD.COM. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 91
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HAVING THEIR BACKS SECURING CHILDREN’S FUTURES THROUGH FOOD By Sa llie W. Boyles
T
he start of kindergarten is a momentous occasion that can be as much of a growth experience for parents as it is for their little ones. The Nelsons never anticipated what they’d learn and subsequently accomplish as a family and a community upon enrolling their eldest of three children in a Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, public school. Nine years ago, Tiffanie Nelson was filling out kindergarten enrollment paperwork when she encountered some surprising questions. Were issues like hunger and homelessness concerns for her family? Clearly, they were not, and she wondered why her neighborhood’s elementary school would inquire about students’ basic life needs. “I have never met anyone who thought hunger in children existed in their community,” Nelson says. Neither did she. Nevertheless, she recalls, “I went home and started Googling for information about children and hunger, and I came across the term food insecurity.”
on homework but being riddled with hunger.” Wasting no time, she called the school’s principal. Their conversation was eye-opening. Yes, students in their elementary depended on the school’s breakfasts and lunches for meals, and that wasn’t enough. “I wasn’t in a position to start a charity,” says Nelson, “but I was driven to start an effort.” She requested help from her pastor, and with a three-hundred-dollar donation from their church, they provided food for six children that week. “We quickly found we could serve an unmet need.” In 2010, Nelson established Food For Thought Outreach, a privately funded 501(c)(3) charitable organization which works to “bridge the gap between school meals during the weekend and holiday breaks.” Through a coordinated effort, requiring two-hundred-fifty volunteer hours per week, Food For Thought delivers health-conscious foods (for breakfast, snacks, and the main meal) weekly to three thousand children who receive either free or subsidized meals at thirtytwo schools within Florida’s Walton and Okaloosa counties.
“I imagined a child, sitting in a chair, trying to focus on homework but being riddled with hunger.”
The USDA defines the condition as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.” “First,” Nelson relays, “I thought how horrible it must feel to be a parent in that situation, and what the stress and anxiety would feel like from not being able to provide for a child. Second, I imagined a child, sitting in a chair, trying to focus 92 | NO V E MBE R 2018
“We use six thousand pieces of produce each week,” Nelson reveals. The sheer volume—their first food order of the 2018–2019 school year arrived at Food For Thought’s headquarters in Santa Rosa Beach on seventeen pallets—necessitates using food brokers to source the best deals. A variety of events entice individuals,
“We are a childfocused organization. If a parent at home isn’t making the best decisions, the child shouldn’t suffer.” businesses, and various organizations to contribute requested items, but Nelson says, “We cannot depend on donated food to run our program.” Spending a half-million dollars on food annually, Food For Thought requires monetary assistance, including grants, from multiple sources. In her role as executive director, Nelson draws from her former high-level management career in retail to lead the operation. A committed board of directors, well-trained volunteers, and an engaged community are also imperative in meeting the challenges. Nelson clarifies that they “receive no state funding, and we are not a chapter of another organization.” Food For Thought’s independent status is important. “We are allowed to address our programming based on how the schools need us to do that,” she explains. The schools, in turn, willingly cooperate. “We are most known for our backpack program,” says Nelson. Food For Thought fills backpacks with goods such as apples and bread and gets as close to placing the food in students’ hands as possible: delivering to their classrooms. Taking food to the source has always been the objective. With programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as Food Stamps, people often wonder why Food For Thought is necessary. “We aren’t a parent program,” Nelson answers. “We are a child-focused organization. If a parent at home isn’t making the best decisions, the child shouldn’t suffer. Every student, every child, deserves to eat three times a day.” In some cases, children don’t live with their parents. Many are in foster care, homeless, or living with V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 93
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“Our goal is to empower them so they can get the most out of their education, stay in school, graduate, and become productive citizens.” friends. Others, too young to reach a grocery store or assemble a meal, are home alone while parents work. “Five-year-old children have no capacity or impact on how they live,” Nelson contends. “Our goal is to empower them so they can get the most out of their education, stay in school, graduate, and become productive citizens.”
Previous page: Food For Thought founder Tiffanie Nelson Below: Students from the Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast with donations for a pantrystocking event for Food For Thought Photos courtesy of Food for Thought Outreach
Currently spending five dollars per child per week, Nelson says, “Our commitment is to provide ten food items that are as healthy as they can be within our budget. The food must also be easy to open and prepare.” Children with food allergies receive adjusted selections. Assigning a number to every child in the program to identify all backpacks by numbers instead of names protects students’ privacy. Even the volunteers who transport the backpacks by vans to the schools and distribute them to the classrooms reference a mapping system with numbers. Without
any fanfare, a child knows which one to grab and, days later, to drop off the empty bag at the school’s return station. Likewise, the backpacks are nondescript to avoid drawing attention. “Accepting a backpack is harder for kids in middle and high school because of peer pressure,” Nelson acknowledges. But hunger motivates them. “We see up to a sixty-percent increase in school attendance during our service days because the kids make sure they get to school for the food.” In 2017, thanks to a generous grant from the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Food For Thought initiated a program of teaching nutrition, food preparation, and related life skills to high school students who are enrolled in Food For Thought. In addition to the physical facility, Emeril’s Full Circle Kitchen (located at Food For Thought’s headquarters) recruits restaurant partners and local chefs as instructors. An extension of that program, the Full Circle Garden, gives students the experiences of planning, planting, and maintaining a garden and later harvesting and using what they’ve grown in their culinary classes. Indeed, Food For Thought is sowing seeds to impact generations, all because a mom paused to consider a poignant question on a standard school form and then thoughtfully responded. “We have truly created our own little community of volunteers,” says Nelson, sharing the credit. “Food For Thought is part of the fabric of our family and a lot of others. Once people hear about what we do, they realize there are students in their own kids’ classrooms who are taking our help and that the need is close.” Consequently, although the charity can put money to work more efficiently than food donations, Nelson understands the value of having people take that first backpack home to fill. “You need to understand what it feels like to pack a backpack and return it,” she says. The sensation of handling something that represents so much to a hungry child is hard to ignore.
Since children are not in school to receive meals during the holidays, volunteers and contributions are critical during this season. Food For Thought Outreach wholeheartedly welcomes those who are interested in learning more about giving their time or money at any level to visit the website at FFTFL.org. Sallie W. Boyles works as a freelance journalist, ghostwriter, copywriter, and editor through Write Lady Inc., her Atlanta-based company. With an MBA in marketing, she marvels at the power of words, particularly in business and politics, but loves nothing more than relaying extraordinary personal stories that are believable only because they are true. 94 | NO V E MBE R 2018
C’est la vie
SHINE ON
All that is good does not glitter—but some of the items in this shimmering C’est la VIE Curated Collection certainly do! This month, we’re celebrating good brands that are dedicated to creating quality products for their consumers, such as perfectly tailored pieces of clothing, unique jewels that sparkle just right, and beautifully designed books that will bring warmth and style to any home or office. These are just a few of the good finds that have our squad getting a head start on holiday shopping!
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Garden Party
Fiesta Gold-Plated Resin Clip Earrings by Mercedes Salazar $215 – netaporter.com 96 | NO V E MBE R 2018
Chasing Waterfalls
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Azul Chandelier Earrings in Blue Topaz and 18-Karat Gold $13,770 – irenelummertz.com
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Look Inside
Louis Vuitton Windows Ultimate Collection Edition From $495 – amazon.com
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The Eyes Have It
#457 Paper-Thin Titanium Sun Frames by Modo Eyewear $270 – Rx available through odonnelleyeinstitute.com
I’m in Stitches
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Coach x Chelsea Champlain Dreamer Bag in Signature Canvas with Tattoo $695 – coach.com
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Paint It Black
Kelso Dress in Black/Cream $595 – billyreid.com
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It’s All Gold
Penny Pleated Knot Slide $395 – loefflerrandall.com
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Color Block
Shanty Cabinet Model B “Summer” by Doshi Levien $13,694 – 1stdibs.com
Tickled Pink
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Blush & Whimsy pH-Sensitive Magical Color Changing Lipstick From $22 – blushwhimsy.com
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Anything’s Possible
The Impossible Collection of Warhol $845 – 1stdibs.com
Cozy Up
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Asteria Flip-Sequin Coffee/ Wine Sweatshirt, $68 Connie Ankle Skinny Jeans in Ideal Wash, $89 LFL by Lust for Life Sneakers, $80 kutfromthekloth.com 98 | NO V E MBE R 2018
NEW YORK — LOS ANGELES — SAN FRANCISCO — MIAMI
L’amour
L’amour IT’S ALL YOU NEED.
Photo by Kamira/Shutterstock
It wouldn’t be the Goodness Issue without a celebration of love! While it’s embodied within this department through beautiful weddings and bridal fashions, we also have to give a shout-out to American pop artist Robert Indiana, whose LOVE sculpture has delighted the world since he created the original in 1970. It now resides at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, but reproductions can be found around the US in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Minneapolis, New York City (shown here), and many other locales. The sculpture has also been reproduced internationally and even translated into Italian, Chinese, Hebrew, and Spanish. At least fifty-six versions of the sculpture have been displayed, and we’d like to thank Robert Indiana for spreading LOVE around the world! V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 101
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dress! a It’s All about the
Photography courtesy of Christian Siriano
lthough his looks have been seen from the runways of Paris and New York to the red carpets of entertainment’s most significant events, Christian Siriano’s bridal lines prove that his gowns and other creative outfits can have an even bigger wow factor when they’re walking down the aisle. The New York-based designer and CFDA member showed his wedding-gown design chops in 2016 as he teamed up with esteemed bridal retailer Kleinfeld to offer custom-tailored gowns to brides from around the world. After receiving a great response, he expanded his offerings this year with a complete bridal line. The Christian Siriano Bridal 2018 collection features classic princess-worthy silhouettes, lots of tulle, pearls, and sparkles—but, in true Siriano fashion, with a few surprises in store, such as fun separates and a chic white pantsuit.
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Siriano has dressed celebrity brides including actresses Samira Wiley, Lydia Hearst, and Sasha Pieterse, fashion writer Nicolette Mason, and more. Last year, he also released his stunning coffee-table book, Dresses to Dream About, which offers an inside look at the creation of some of his most beautiful frocks from concept to completion. No doubt brides are dreaming about their very own Christian Siriano gown after seeing this collection, and we can’t wait to find out what’s up next for the designer.
ChristianSiriano.com
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The Christian Siriano Bridal 2018 collection features classic princessworthy silhouettes, lots of tulle, pearls, and sparkles—but, in true Siriano fashion, with a few surprises in store.
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THE
RETREAT D E C E M B E R 6 – 8 , 2 0 1 8 | W A T E R CO L O R , F L O R I D A
ENVISION.PLAN.GROW. GROWING YOUR VISION NEVER FELT SO REFRESHING We’ve all heard that our WHY is what matters the most when it comes to our work, whether we are in the private or public sector. What we don’t often talk about is the burnout that can come when your WHY drives you to perform at a high level of excellence at all times. Eventually, it gets harder and harder to develop new ideas or to execute impactful initiatives. The purpose of The Refresh Retreat is to bring business women of faith together to strategically position themselves for success while also taking time to relax. It’s a Retreat that is just as much about gaining new information as it is about enjoying life through self-care.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO PURCHASE TICKETS TheRefreshConference.com | (334) 305-0304 precious@bfcmanagement.com
2018 SPEAKER LINEUP PRECIOUS FREEMAN Convention Host & Founder of BFC Management
LISA BURWELL
Photo courtesy of St. Joe Club & Resorts
Founder/Publisher of The Idea Boutique & VIE Magazine
TRETTA BUSH Managerial Accountant & Author
J.W. CARPENTER, JD Executive Director of Birmingham Education Foundation
LATOYA LEE, MS Founder of Precision Grant Writing & Consulting Services
YULUNDA TYRE, PHD, LPC, NCC Author & Owner of Reignite Counselor, Coach & Consultation Service
L’amour
feels
ALL T HE B Y J O R DA N S TAG G S PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARSCHA C AVA L I E R E
N I C O L E PA L O M A B R I D A L COMES TO LIFE
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rayton Beach, Florida, might not be the fashion capital of the world, but some of the most creative, up-and-coming designers do call it home. Just stop by the Nicole Paloma store at Monet Monet on Scenic Highway 30-A, and you’ll see. Paloma has created unique clothing for women (and a few menswear pieces) since 2011, though her foray into the design world started long before that, at age four, when she began cutting old T-shirts into new creations.
NICOLE: Honestly, it was the profit margin. My
This year represented another evolution for the Nicole Paloma brand as she launched her first bridal collection with an official White Dress Party in the garden at Monet Monet in early July. We caught up with the designer and her mother, photographer Marscha Cavaliere, to talk about this new endeavor in design and what’s next for Paloma and her brand.
VIE: What do you think sets these gowns apart from your other creations?
VIE: Why did you decide to create a bridal line?
plan for launching bridal was to ease my schedule so I can spend more time with my babies—actually, it’s not the time with them, because they get all of me already. It’s my sleep that needs me. There are two parts to my life—home and work—and it is a constant balancing act between the two!
NICOLE: It’s fun to do the unexpected, especially in this realm, but the goal wasn’t to make outlandish wedding gowns. The goal was to sell them. I felt that I had to rein it in a bit, working with just ivory fabric. It’s tempting to go really edgy to give the contrast to the femininity and innocence. The construction was different for me. Someone once told me that I am a process artist—I don’t visualize the finished piece ahead of time. I start with an emotion and a key design element and work from there. But the White Dress Collection gowns have to be built like structures: they need framework. That was a twist I enjoyed, reversing my process and building these dresses.
VIE: Marscha, you were very inspired by the textiles and the beach for the bridal collection photo shoot. How did you play up those elements to feature the gowns? MARSCHA: Textiles, fabrics, and color are about touching, feeling, seeing, and creating. It is truly in our DNA. Nicole’s great-great-grandmother worked with exquisite materials and designer apparel on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach from the 1940s to the 1970s. Her great-grandmother designed and made matching collections, which included the hats, gloves, purses, and covered shoes. She and my mother were always on the hunt for new materials as they made hand-sewn clothing for all of us. Running my hands through fabric was my favorite part—I hated sewing clothing. But major fabric shopping trips with Nicole woke me to the fact that the years of touching and choosing memories have enabled me to understand the properties of textiles.
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ecause of those memories, I also understand Nicole’s rebellious designs. I see what the fabric does in her hands, and that makes me pay homage to her and our lineage by trying to capture the intentions with my photography. I can also see and feel how women react and carry themselves in her clothing. The runway models know they have on couture gowns that are beautiful and wild and dramatic from both front and back. Our models have amazing chemistry, and the collection photographs caught that. The beach shoot was something else entirely. Nicole wanted the dunes and the designs to show off the White Dress Collection. I wanted to “feel” the fabric and its reaction to the white sand and the sunlight. It was ethereal. But I wanted all of the elements of her designs to be punctuated, and those details were so drenched in light that they were blown out. Post-production took two weeks while I drew in all of the stitches, folds, flounces, tucks, roses, and hand-jeweled structures. This collaboration honors our heritage and the bridal collection it became.
VIE: Your shows, events, and photos are nothing short of theatrical. Why do you think that works for your brand and how will you continue to raise the creative bar? OUR MISSION IS TO INSPIRE OTHERS , TO “ L I V E Y O U R T R U T H ,” T O D A R E G R E A T LY, TO S E E T H E L I G H T A N D L OV E I N I T A L L , A N D TO U N D E R S TA N D T H AT T H R O U G H DA R K N E S S , S H I N I N G I S P O S S I B L E . 110 | NO V E MBE R 2018
NICOLE: Art is an emotion expressed in the physical form. We have so many senses—touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste. Why not use as many as possible to capture the essence of the collection? That is the beauty: to live it, breathe it, and connect to each other through it. Raising the bar, I only worry about blowing my own mind. One of my favorite quote tees that we make is “Once in a while, blow your own damn mind.” I try to make it a daily thing, even if it’s just with a new level of patience and compassion.
VIE: What is #love_sewn? Tell us a little about that project. NICOLE: There is magic when you learn to do something with your hands, something empowering about pure creation. #love_sewn is a business that teaches individuals—ones in a position to take a step forward in life and believe in themselves—how to sew, market, and grow a business to support themselves and give gratitude for who they are by seeing the light in what they might see as darkness. This tailorable blueprint of a business will manufacture sellable goods that will support their causes. Our mission is to inspire others, to “live your truth,” to dare greatly, to see the light and love in it all, and to understand that through darkness, shining is possible.
To learn more about Nicole Paloma and #love_sewn, visit NicolePaloma.com or shop the store at Monet Monet—100 East County Highway 30-A, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
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4·5·2018
Amy Kelly and Eric Rogers might have met along Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast in the beautiful fishing town of Destin, but when it came to their nuptials, they opted for a romantic Italian dream wedding instead of the usual ceremony on the beach.
OUR LOVE STORY As a fourth-generation native of Destin, Amy’s deep roots along the Emerald Coast stemmed from Mattie Kelly, her great-grandmother and a Destin matriarch. Amy studied interior design at FSU and then obtained a master’s degree from Accademia Italiana in Florence, Italy. Currently, Amy works in Grayton Beach and designs upscale homes along Scenic Highway 30-A. Eric is from Long Island, New York, but moved to Destin in 2005. Eric studied culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. While Eric currently works in the construction industry and is truly a jack-of-all-trades, his passion lies in food, wine, and culture. His favorite thing to do is cook for family, friends, and even strangers, preparing meals with fresh ingredients straight from his garden—yes, he has a green thumb, too! Eric lives by the motto “Break bread with people and you will have friends for life,” as he believes food has the power to bring people together. Amy says, “We met while we were both living at the Palms of Destin condominiums. After crossing paths several times, we started hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. Eric courted me from the start through his amazing culinary skills, from preparing shrimp scampi on our first date to being at my door every morning to make breakfast. I often brag to friends and family that I haven’t cooked a single meal since we met in 2013, and that’s one thing I don’t think will ever change!” Eric says, “I proposed during the Thanksgiving holiday while we were visiting my family in New York. It was Amy’s first time meeting my family, and they immediately welcomed her with open arms. I custom designed Amy’s ring at the Jewelers Trade Shop in downtown Pensacola, Florida. I wanted something different, and my design incorporated blue sapphires in a unique way. I believe the union of diamonds and sapphires is regal and it also symbolizes romance, nobility, truth, sincerity, and faithfulness. Sapphires have decorated the robes of royalty and clergy members for centuries, and in ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens were convinced that blue sapphires protected their owners from envy and harm. This really spoke to my “old” soul and love for history.” V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 113
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OUR VENUE – FOUR SEASONS HOTEL FIRENZE Amy says, “Being a Destin native, I didn’t want the typical sandy-feet beach wedding. I wanted it far from the beach; in fact, I envisioned enchanting gardens, historical architecture, and a romantic fairy-tale setting. Unfortunately, no venue along the Emerald Coast offered exactly what we both had in mind. When Eric and I discussed the venue, it was a push and pull between a local soiree with all our family and friends or a dreamy destination wedding. Neither one of us likes to be in the “spotlight,” so the idea of sweeping each other away was the best gift we imagined a husband and wife could give each other. Planning our intimate dream wedding began. “Ten years ago, I lived in Florence, Italy, while obtaining my master’s degree in interior and product design. Ever since I stepped foot in that majestic city, I became eternally drawn to it. It holds a permanent place in my heart and soul. Eric grew up in New York around many Italian families and has always been inspired by Italian food and culture. With my familiarity of Florence—I consider it my second home—I figured it wouldn’t be much of a challenge trying to plan a wedding from five thousand miles away. “The only venue that had everything we wanted and needed for our big day was the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, a fifteenth-century Renaissance villa with an ancient convent and the largest secular garden in the entire city, the Giardino della Gherardesca. As enchanting as the venue sounds, the service was also first-class with an inclusive in-house event and wedding planner who made the process as stressfree as possible. They helped with all the little details including the flowers, the photographer, the food, the music, and the transportation, and they were surprisingly flexible on all their requirements. When we finally arrived, we were treated like royalty and even received a room upgrade with all the bells and whistles and complimentary breakfast in bed the following morning.”
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“Eric’s son, Nick, resides in South Carolina, and we planned our wedding around his spring break vacation. It was very important for Nick to stand by Eric’s side as best man and be a part of our unity.”
OUR WEDDING DAY The couple planned an intimate getaway with just thirteen of their closest family and friends for a magical destination wedding in the spring. Amy recalls, “Eric’s son, Nick, resides in South Carolina, and we planned our wedding around his spring break vacation. It was very important for Nick to stand by Eric’s side as best man and be a part of our unity. “As an interior designer, style is very important to me, down to every detail, but in this case, it was also relative, as our special moment was set against a beautiful Florentine backdrop, which was the most crucial detail we could have decided on. We wanted the feeling to be romantic, elegant, and timeless, and to us, that meant styling with natural elements without overdoing it. The overall color accent was soft
Above: Eric (center) with his groomsmen and his son and best man, Nick (left) Opposite left: The beautiful bride with her sister and maid of honor, Ivey V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 115
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pink. My dress was embellished with lace, pearls, and rhinestones with a nude pink undertone, and Eric was striking in deep blue. “During our stay in Italy for several days before the wedding, we toured multiple wineries and decided to incorporate this into our ceremony by performing a wine box ceremony. The unity ritual consisted of placing three bottles of wine in a wooden box that is to be kept sealed until our first, third, and fifth anniversaries. We cannot wait to open our wooden time capsule together, share a glass of wine, and reminisce on the declaration of our love.
Our special day wouldn’t have been complete without our family and friends who traveled far and wide to show their love and support on our big day. “The wedding party comprised Nick as best man and my sister, Ivey, as the maid of honor. I couldn’t have done it without my sister and my team—my bride tribe—by my side each step of the way. Our special day wouldn’t have been complete without our family and friends who traveled far and wide to show their love and support on our big day—Mom (Barbara), Ed, Ivey, Nick, Juma, Kim, Maggie, Veronica, Jessica, Lissette, Jerry, and Eric S. “Our reception was also at the Four Seasons, and then we had dinner at La Loggia Restaurant at Piazzale Michelangelo. In keeping with the intimacy of the wedding, we held a small aperitif cocktail hour with appetizers, champagne, and a string duet playing music in the temple garden of the hotel for our guests. While they enjoyed one another and the gardens, Eric and I left the Four Seasons after the ceremony to take photographs around the city. Our photography session concluded at sunset at the famous Piazzale Michelangelo, which was a perfect place to have the guests relocate for dinner at La Loggia Restaurant, overlooking Florence with majestic views.” 116 | NO V E MBE R 2018
OUR HONEYMOON Amy says, “Over the course of four weeks, we traveled throughout Italy and Greece with a total of ten days spent in Florence. After the wedding, we headed south and flew to Sicily, rented a car to drive the entire Sicilian perimeter, and stopped in the beautiful towns along the way. Next, we drove to the Amalfi Coast, visiting Positano and Sorrento. Our Italian tour ended in Rome where we took a flight to Santorini, Greece, stayed several days, and then ferried to Mykonos. Our magical honeymoon concluded in Athens. “Upon returning to the States, we hosted a ‘Happily Ever After Party’ for all our family and friends who were unable to be in Florence with us on our special day. This party was held on July 21, 2018, at the Sky Room in Sandestin, Florida.”
SPECIAL THANKS FLOWERS: Vincenzo Dascanio – Milan, Italy VENUE AND CATERING: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze PHOTOGRAPHY: Gabriele Fani with Studio Bonon – Florence, Italy VIDEOGRAPHY: Live Wild Studios by Alan LeBlanc – Nashville, Tennessee
Origin Custom al ary Us e
Kitty Taylor, Broker, GRI, CRS, CIPS Catherine Ryland, Broker Associate “Grayton Girl Team” Selling Grayton and Beach Properties along 30A. Realtor of the Year 2017 for the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors 1971
850.231.2886 | 850.585.5334 133 Defuniak Street, Grayton Beach, FL 32459 www.graytoncoastproperties.com
L’amour
&
Mr. Mrs. Alford M A Y
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1 9 ,
2 0 1 8
W
hen Ellie Romair and Alexander Alford said “I do” in the Big Easy with nearly five hundred friends and family in attendance, it was the couple’s ultimate fairy-tale moment in a breathtaking setting at Holy Name of Jesus Church. How did this beautiful couple go from middle school crush to together forever? This is a love story for the ages, as told by the bride.
OUR LOVE STORY I was born in New Orleans and moved to Destin, Florida, when I was seven years old. Alexander was born and raised in Niceville, Florida. We both attended Destin Middle School and met in the sixth grade when we were eleven. Around seventh or eighth grade, I started to have a crush on “Big Al,” but he only liked to flirt with me (and all of my friends). We went to separate high schools— I attended Fort Walton Beach High School, and he went to Niceville High School. We continued to like each other off and on throughout the first few years of high school until junior year when I invited him to my prom, and we made it “official” soon after. We have been together and going strong ever since. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 119
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We both went on to college at LSU, and there was never a doubt that we were meant to be together forever. Shortly after my graduation in December of 2016, Alexander called every member of my very large family and invited them to spend New Year’s Eve weekend at the beach on 30-A. He let them in on the secret that he was planning to propose. My parents planned a huge engagement party—which they disguised as a New Year’s Eve party—and they invited my entire family. Alexander and my cousins convinced me that we were going to a party in Alys Beach, and so we got dressed up and headed to the “party.” The two of us then walked to the Alys Beach Gulf Green, where Ryan Manthey of Pure 7 Studios was waiting to secretly take our pictures as Alexander got down on one knee. Immediately following, we had the most exciting and surreal engagement photo shoot throughout Alys Beach. Once the sun had set, we headed back to the house where our entire families were waiting to surprise us with a party we will never forget. It was an incredible weekend.
O U R V E N U E – H O LY N A M E O F JESUS CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS We decided to get married in New Orleans because that’s where both my mom’s and my dad’s families are from and where some of Alexander’s family is from. We wanted to bring those deep roots into the biggest day of our lives. We also wanted to give out-of-town guests an unforgettable traditional New Orleans wedding experience. Having access to all the amazing venues and vendors the city has to offer, we were sure to put together a memorable event. When we started to discuss venues, we kept open minds but we were both pretty positive about both the ceremony and the reception locations. We chose the Holy 120 | NO V E MBE R 2018
Name of Jesus Church on Saint Charles Avenue for the ceremony and the New Orleans Country Club for the reception. We chose Holy Name because my great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents were all married there, so it was extremely special for me to literally walk in their footsteps on my wedding day. I was baptized at Holy Name as a baby and I walked down the aisle there as a flower girl at my own parents’ wedding, which added a lot of sentimental value to this particular church.
OUR WEDDING PLANS The planning process was a mixture of a lot of emotions for me! During our engagement, I was at home in Florida and Alexander was in Louisiana, so for me, planning remotely was a bit of a challenge. I would definitely become overwhelmed at times and feel like I had a never-ending to-do list. Alexander was nothing short of amazing when it came to planning. He handled the majority of the vendor coordination, making sure we were up to date on any deposits and payments and regularly talking me out of a panic and keeping me calm! We joked the whole time that he would make a great wedding planner. We hired a “month of ” planner, and that was the best decision we made throughout our entire wedding planning process. We chose Elyse Jennings and Ashley Parker for our planning, and there are not enough kind words for me to even begin to describe
“
We chose Holy Name because my great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents were all married there, so it was extremely special for me to literally walk in their footsteps on my wedding day.
“
We chose the New Orleans Country Club for the reception because both my grandparents and my parents had had their receptions there. It is a beautiful place—timeless and classic—not to mention it was one of the few venues that could fit our five-hundred-person guest list!
them! I have never met such professional, organized, and amazing women, and they made our wedding weekend what it was. Every single detail—even the ones I never thought to imagine—was handled and accounted for with complete perfection. All we had to do that weekend was have the time of our lives.
Left: Ellie and Big Al’s quintessential New Orleans wedding welcomed five hundred guests for a grand celebration with friends and family. Opposite top: One of Ellie’s favorite moments of the day was riding to the church with her father, Jason, in a vintage Rolls Royce. Opposite bottom: Holy Name of Jesus Church was an extra-special venue for the bride, whose parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents all married there. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 121
L’amour O U R W E D D I N G D AY Our wedding weekend is hard to put into words, but I guess it could be described as one big party filled with endless love and excitement. We kicked off the weekend with the most incredible rehearsal dinner at Mardi Gras World on the Mississippi River—another location special to us—surrounded by Mardi Gras floats and our closest friends and family. Immediately following dinner, we hosted a welcome party for all five hundred of our guests that started with a fireworks show and a second-line parade featuring Rebirth Brass Band. This set the tone for our funfilled New Orleans–style weekend. The wedding day was sunny and beautiful and filled with excitement, love, and a lot of family. I would describe our decor as traditional, classic, and timeless, so as to mirror my great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents in the very same place. I wanted to be able to look back in fifty years and love every detail just as much as I had on May 19, 2018.
It’s hard to choose just one moment from the day as my favorite, but one that stands out to me is the ride from the hotel to the church with my dad. We rode in a vintage 1957 Rolls Royce surrounded by an NOPD police escort. The perfect weather, the loud sirens, the people waving on the streets, and the anticipation of seeing my groom at the church made for the most exciting moment of my life so far. Another moment that I will never forget was during the ceremony when the deacon, Tommy Lotz, asked everyone in the pews to gather toward the center aisle and join hands to recite the Our Father. Standing up at the altar and looking out over a packed church of people joining hands to pray in unison was one of the most beautiful moments of the weekend.
OUR HONEYMOON We left for our honeymoon in Eleuthera, Bahamas, bright and early (six o’clock!) the next morning. We both had been to the Bahamas many times, and it is a special place to us, but neither of us had been to that particular island before. There were a couple of boutique hotels that we had been dying to check out—The Cove and The Other Side—so we got the opportunity to do that. It was beautiful and relaxing. We ate fantastic food and even made some new friends along the way!
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The wedding day was sunny and beautiful and filled with excitement, love, and a lot of family. I would describe our decor as traditional, classic, and timeless, so as to mirror my great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents in the very same place.
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SPECIAL THANKS Planning and coordination: Elyse Jennings and Ashley Parker Flowers: Bella Blooms Floral Lighting and decor: Luminous Events Band: The Phunky Monkeys Photography: Pure 7 Studios Videography: Nathan Willis Wedding Films Invitations and graphics: Frill Seekers Gifts DJ: DJ Nitro Cake: Chasing Wang Photo booth: Boogie Booth Furniture rentals: Distressed Rentals & Revival Rentals: Event Rental Transportation: Big Easy Limos and American Luxury Limousine Hair: C’est la Vie Salon Makeup: BLEU, a Blowdry Bar Wedding dress: Wedding Belles Rehearsal catering: Joel Catering and Special Events Rehearsal band: Rebirth Brass Band Reception venue and catering: New Orleans Country Club Ceremony venue: Holy Name of Jesus Church Officiant: Deacon Tommy Lotz Accommodations: The RitzCarlton, New Orleans V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 123
Introspections
TRADITIONS
SETTING NEW
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BY SUZ ANNE POLLAK
Trends happen suddenly. A random person decides, “Hey, dude, it’s time to pivot. I prefer this to that. And you should too.” Such a person, well known or not, must have confidence, authority, and gravitas so that others perk up and follow. J.Crew CEO Jim Brett recently opined that a glen plaid jacket with a graphic tee and camouflage pants is anything but pretty and that femininity is critical. Brett laid down the new fashion law, and we love his declaration that pretty is powerful. The principle leaps back to the days when it was an everyday thing, perhaps taken for granted—think of the 1950s suit, hat, gloves, and lipstick look. There was a time when you wouldn’t go out without “putting your face on” first, even if it was just to the grocery store. Trends take time to stick and might transition slowly into tradition. The long take occurs in the world of domestic pursuits because the family has to buy in before a trend can truly be adopted. Another difference in trendsetting at home is that even a shy wallflower can ignite a shift. The meekest person can have authority over her domain, especially if she has a strong sense of how best to operate. A domestic trendsetter turns an idea or belief into a new culture that morphs the way things are done for the whole family. The trend may involve manners, how to use the rooms in the house, or even how to spend holidays. One person can stamp personal style onto their family history, and that person could be you. Who wants to be a copycat anyway? Nobody! It may not be apparent that a domestic trend has turned into a tradition until years later. For instance, you may observe your offspring setting the Thanksgiving table
in a way that you had demonstrated in the past as they try to re-create wonderful family memories. Cooking your first Thanksgiving dinner might be new territory. Maybe you are inviting your in-laws and making the entire meal, and you have little children underfoot. Don’t worry! It will all be worth it because you are embarking on a lifetime of curating everyone’s holiday experience for decades to come and creating love and memories. You are investing energy into something that will pay deep dividends later. My family switched to frying our turkey at the start of that particular trend because I know to adopt a smart idea when I see one. Roasting a turkey for a four o’clock afternoon feast involves getting the big fat bird in the oven at seven in the morning to have enough oven space to finish the sides on time. Manning the oven all day smacks of one person doing all the work—hardly gratifying for any mom. As soon as my three sons were capable and mature enough to take on frying a turkey, the job became theirs. I figured the chore would fuel their testosterone, cause them to feel vital, and lessen my workload. They calculated how much oil to buy, procured the necessary equipment, and set up the outside workspace within eyesight of the kitchen window (so I could keep an eye on them). Watching my three sons hang out together, hearing their deepening voices as they handled the hot oil and flames, and then feeling V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 125
Introspections
their pride as they presented and carved the bird added to the joys of being a mom of teenagers. The fried turkey was even tastier than a roasted one. We proved the point by both roasting and frying turkeys for three years running (for a grand total of twenty-one guests); the fried turkey, with its crispy skin and moist meat, became part of the fabric of our family’s history. My children continue the tradition to this day. We all know it’s the side dishes that make Thanksgiving personal. The sides are a chance to recall a place and time in your family lineage. All over the country, they offer a window into our cultural communities. Maine is the home of lobster. The Southeast is all about pecans, cornbread, and sausage. Farther west, they celebrate with tortillas and green chilies. In San Francisco, it’s Dungeness crab and sourdough. And in the heartland, it’s Idaho potatoes gratin. Look to your hometown and choose a recipe that represents those roots.
remember is people want to be given jobs and you do not need to be in charge of every single thing. Your Thanksgiving might be a long weekend, not just one big dinner. The beauty of the holiday is that it spans four days, giving family and friends many opportunities to connect. Putting your entire effort on Thursday’s meal is like concentrating on the wedding and not the long marriage ahead. Start a trend by planning the whole weekend for more memories and more fun—but not necessarily more work. It could be fun to make buttermilk pancakes and sautéed pears for breakfast on Thursday while everyone wanders in and out of the kitchen. It’s casual, and you are probably already standing in front of the stove anyway. Plus, pancakes might fill people up so they will be satisfied until your late afternoon feast.
No matter what you choose to cook, the tradition could catch like wildfire and become the Thanksgiving trend that continues for generations, so make the most of it!
Pitching in is cool! Give each person a dedicated job. An elderly uncle can be in charge of helping a five-year-old pour the water and wines. The athletic thirty-somethings could organize touch football games. A creative person might fashion centerpieces. The obsessive guest gets the opportunity to handle cleanup. Your job as the executive chef is to be thankful for the help but not critical of the way it is done. The important thing to
On Friday, the ideal breakfast is leftover pie and coffee. (Often leftover pie tastes better than it did the first time around.) If your brood includes starving teenagers, consider macaroni and cheese for lunch. It can be made ahead of time as long as you have enough refrigerator space to store it. Friday night is ideal for some kind of roast to feed the masses. How about an oyster roast? The bivalves are in high season at that time, and the event makes for an unforgettable party. It doesn’t matter if they’re raw, steamed, or fried—all preparations are delicious. Another crowd-pleaser requiring even less work is gumbo, a complex and elegant stew that can easily be prepared the month before and frozen. The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits has tested over fifty versions, and, not surprisingly, ours is in a class by itself. Paired with cornbread and Carolina Gold rice, nothing could be finer. If your group is down to six or eight on Friday night, then go back to the oyster idea and serve a scrumptious oyster stew. Have cocktails in the kitchen and prepare the stew in front of your guests. To gild the lily, ladle the stew into silver cups so your freshly polished ladles will be put to more use than just serving the Thanksgiving gravy. By Saturday night, your gang might be craving a piece of meat. For a dozen years, we had an annual steak-and-cheesecake night with a game of charades after dinner. No matter what you choose to cook, the tradition could catch like wildfire and become the Thanksgiving trend that continues for generations, so make the most of it!
Suzanne Pollak, a mentor and lecturer in the fields of home, hearth, and hospitality, is the founder and dean of the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits. She is the coauthor of Entertaining for Dummies, The Pat Conroy Cookbook, and The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits: A Handbook of Etiquette with Recipes. Born into a diplomatic family, Pollak was raised in Africa, where her parents hosted multiple parties every week. Her South Carolina homes have been featured in the Wall Street Journal “Mansion” section and Town & Country magazine.
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Introspections
SHOWER ME W ITH
Your LOV E BY MEGH A N RYA N
Good is a word we use for everything. When someone asks, “How are you?” the typical response is, “Good, how are you?”
When something is described as good, it rarely gives the full explanation. Throughout our education, English and grammar students learn to use a thesaurus to avoid using good as a noun or an adjective. As a word, it’s too vague and too cliché. The same could be said for its antonym, bad; However, “bad” is rarely used to describe how someone is doing. It’s easier to say, “Not good,” or, “Things have been better.” Bad becomes a bad word to use.
What does “good” really say, though?
Good is used far too flippantly. When something is truly good, there is weight to it, but its value has diminished because the word isn’t being used in its proper context.
Add high volume, an enthusiastic tone, and a big smile, and “good” can translate to something exciting or positive. With a shoulder shrug, a little nod, and a somber tone it can mean things are less than great, but they aren’t bad. Good could mean anything or nothing at any given time.
The world craves good and wants to avoid bad. Look around, and you see people desperately longing for goodness. Turn on the news, and you’ll see one bad thing after another, from school shootings to arguments over political opinions. But scroll through social media, and there are perfectly curated highlight reels showing “the good life.” When people receive bad news or simply have a bad day, they tend to search for something good to fix it, even if it’s just looking through a virtual window at something good.
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Too many “good” things don’t stay good for very long. The feeling of goodness might last, but it often fades quickly. Everyone likes what feels and tastes good— Instagram likes, food, sex, money, and everything in between are good things, but they won’t make the bad things go away. It all goes back to the beginning when God created the world and all creatures and things in it, and He described all of it as good. From light to water, trees, and people, it was all goodness. It was the kind of good humanity can’t comprehend, but something inside us wishes it could. A couple of chapters into this story, there is a shift. Things are no longer good. One small decision separates the first man and woman from God, and therefore they separated themselves from all that was good. They chose to disobey God because they thought he was withholding something good. Ever since then, the world has been fighting to find its way back to the beginning, where goodness abounded. Over time we have created our own versions, but they don’t satisfy. But here is the good news: what happened thousands of years ago is not the end of the story. Much later, God sent his son, Jesus, who is the essence of God himself—righteousness and goodness. Fully God and fully man, he lived the only real definition of a good life, which he ultimately sacrificed so we might have an eternal chance to experience it. Death, which we often see as the opposite of good, is what God uses to restore goodness forever.
Goodness is swimming against the current of all that is wrong with the world and trying to make things right again. We have to acknowledge the bad to enjoy the good. We can hold sorrow, hope, pain, and joy in the same hand. The day is coming when what is truly good will be restored and what is wrong will be made right. In the meantime, we can experience goodness through the essence of being good. It is righteousness in action. Righteousness embodies justice, morality, and other characteristics that would naturally be described as good. Goodness is swimming against the current of all that is wrong with the world and trying to make things right again. We remember the words of Romans 12:9: “let us cling to what is good.” Not our skewed definitions of it, but the true goodness of God that we experience through Jesus. By learning from Him, we can put our righteousness into action and give goodness away wherever we go.
Photo courtesy of Visit South Walton
Meghan Ryan is a proud native and local of Seagrove Beach, Florida. Since graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Florida, she has spent time working in college ministry and the nonprofit world. Her passions outside of writing include teaching Pure Barre, reading, and traveling. If she’s not at the beach, she probably wishes she were there. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 129
GOOD+ FOUNDATION HAMPTONS SUMMER DINNER Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld and Net-a-Porter president Alison Loehnis hosted this year’s Summer Dinner to benefit the GOOD+ Foundation on August 4 in East Hampton, New York. Founded by Jessica Seinfeld, GOOD+ Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works to provide a safety net of social services, education, goods, and support for families living in poverty. A large component of the two-year partnership with Net-a-Porter includes the annual donation drive that allows their premier same-day delivery customers in the greater New York area to donate new or gently used children’s clothing to GOOD+ Foundation. Guests enjoyed specialty cocktails, locally sourced food, and a special DJ performance by Harley Viera-Newton. Photography by Neil Rasmus and Carl Timpone/BFA
Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld with Alison Loehnis 130 | NO V E MBE R 2018
Alison Loehnis and Gwyneth Paltrow Jessica Stark, Brandi Garnett, Stacey Bendet, and Julie Pierce
Delfina Blaquier and Nacho Figueras
Amy Astley and Rosie Assoulin
Stella McCartney and Jessica Seinfeld
Leslie Mann, Jessica Seinfeld, and Tory Burch
Gucci Westman and David Neville
Neil Patrick Harris, Judd Apatow, and Jerry Seinfeld
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La scène
(Standing) Jennifer Fisher, Tabitha Simmons, Dorit Bar Or, Tory Burch, Jessica Seinfeld, and Kiane von Mueffling and (seated) Alison Loehnis and Laura Brown
Sascha Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney, and Jessica Seinfeld
Indre Rockefeller and Wes Gordon
Anson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard
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BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK On August 28, The Bachelorette Season 12 star JoJo Fletcher hosted an exclusive charity event supporting the Vera Bradley and Blessings in a Backpack back-to-school tour at the Grand Prairie Boys & Girls Club in Grand Prairie, Texas. The reality star joined the partnering brands in continuing the coast-to-coast philanthropy pledge of donating twenty-five thousand backpacks filled with food for underprivileged children and their families across America. The club’s gymnasium was transformed for an afternoon filled with games including a pirate bounce, ring toss, skee-ball, whack-a-mole, life-size connect four, inflatable obstacle course, mini golf, double shot basketball, foosball, and much more. Photography by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
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The collection is available exclusively at Pottery Barn Kids stores nationwide and online at PBModernBaby.com. Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn
This summer, Pottery Barn Kids unveiled Pottery Barn Modern Baby, a new line of nursery furniture, bedding, wall art, rugs, lighting, decorative accessories, and baby gear. Available in five distinct design aesthetics—Glam Modern, Hip Modern, Natural Modern, Casual Modern, and Minimal Modern—all wooden and upholstered furniture in the collection is GREENGUARD certified, and all cotton bedding is 100 percent organic. The Glam Modern Blush Nursery seen here features the Coco Toddler Quilt, Organic Blush Falling Dot Crib Sheet, Art Deco Crib in Simply White, Lola Swivel Glider and Ottoman, Faye Rug, Mother & Me Gold Mirror, and the Anewall Blush Floral Temporary Wallpaper.
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