SAVE THE DATE!
March 6, 2010
ART. DANCE. ROCK ‘N ROLL
A fundraiser to benefit the Wellington Art Society!
March, 2010 – W.A.S. Art. Dance. Rock ‘N Roll.
February, 2010 – W.A.S. on the Move
NEWS FROM THE WELLINGTON ART SOCIETY
CONTACTS:
Adrianne Hetherington, President
561-784-7561 Tilemaker@aol.com
Mag and David Frye, Publicity
561-792-6185 magfrye@bellsouth.net
www.wellingtonartsociety.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wellington Art Society is on the move!
Arts partnership with village namesake announced
Wellington, FL – January 26, 2010 The Wellington Art Society has a new home, just in time for its February meeting…and a lot of other activities in the weeks ahead.
The group recently entered into a cooperative partnership agreement with the Village of Wellington that will allow it to use village facilities for its meetings and events in return for providing arts-related cultural activities for local residents to enjoy.
As a result of this partnership, a permanent exhibit space for W.A.S. members is being established at the Wellington Community Center, located at 12165 West Forest Hill Blvd. Original works will be rotated quarterly in the space as part of the village’s Art in Public Places program. The first of these free public exhibits will debut Wednesday, February 10, with a small opening reception from 5:30-6:30pm. Light refreshments will be served.
That same evening, the W.A.S. monthly meeting will also take place—the first to be held at the Community Center under the new agreement–starting at 6:30pm, with a brief business meeting at 7, followed by a live demonstration on jewelry making will be presented by member-artist Suzanne Redmond (see attached photos).
Growing up in Cocoa Beach, Redmond was influenced and encouraged early on by her mother, also a talented artist. Now living with her own family in Royal Palm Beach, Redmond has been seriously pursuing jewelry making for about six years, studying locally and in Portland, Oregon to hone her craft. She incorporates chain maille, wire work, and cold connections into her designs and particularly loves working with copper and sterling silver. She has shown her jewelry at various art shows and has been published online in the design blog Objects and Elements.
As a way of meeting other artists and challenging herself artistically, Redmond is a moderator of an online group called Charmsters, where she has created dozens of jewelry charms that are traded with other artists and art lovers around the world. While the Feb. 10 exhibit reception and W.A.S. meeting are both free and open to the public, there is a $5.00 fee for non-Society members wishing to participate in the Redmond demo.
The cooperative agreement with the village comes at a busy time for the organization: in addition to continuing its administration of the village’s Student Art Program, now in its fourth year, the Society has also recently announced a 60’s-themed fundraiser, “Art. Dance. Rock and Roll.” coming Saturday, March 6 to the Community Center. The sock-hop-style event will feature an evening of classic oldies with “Chef” Mike Perry from KOOL 105.5 and a silent auction of original “pop art” by W.A.S. members.
Founded in 1981, The Wellington Art Society is open to artists of all mediums and patrons of the arts, providing both local and regional artists the platform to share their work, learn more about their craft and serve the community through their art.
A 501(c)(3) charitable organization, its mission is to educate and encourage originality and productivity among its members and area youth through programs designed to further the advancement of cultural endeavors in the western communities.
For more information, visit their website, www.wellingtonartsociety.org, or call W.A.S. President Adrianne Hetherington at 561-784-7561.
February, 2010 – Cardinal Newman does the “Clean Up the Newman Mile”
Cardinal Newman High School
512 Spencer Drive
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
561-471-0241
Press Release January 31, 2010
For Immediate Release For More Information
Contact Mary Martens
at 561-644-5489
Cardinal Newman High School Students join Sister Anne Richard “Clean Up” Newman Mile!
Cardinal Newman High School’s Sister Anne Richard along with Key Club Students and CN Parents hit the road for their annual “Clean Up Newman Mile”
Sister Anne Richard and the Alumni Association have been doing this for over 15 years. Cardinal Newman High School adopted the mile on Palm Beach Lakes Blvd, between Congress and I-95. We have been cleaning the road each year during Catholic School Week!
This year over 20 Key Club Members and Parents helped clean up our mile and collected over 3 bags of trash!
April, 2010 – Urban League Event…Save the Date
You are invited to the 36th Annual Equal Opportunity Day Awards Gala, a Mardi Gras Masquerade on Friday, April 23rd!
February, 2010 – Happy Valentine’s Day
Letter from the Editor
February, 2010
Dear Around Wellington Readers,
Happy February and Happy Valentine’s Day!
I hope that you are all having a good start to the New Year! I’m
writing this after a beautiful morning at the Komen Race for the Cure, just breezy and lovely along Flagler in West Palm Beach and so many spirited groups wearing their best shades of pink. We also had the fun of decorating a pink PortaPotty last night, celebrating our friend Tracie, a breast cancer survivor with a “Royal Flush” princess theme. Our team won the prestigious pink plunger for best decorating of a PortaPotty, thanks to overall potty art director Kim Knobbe. Silly, right?
It was a beautiful full moon last night, the brightest one of the year, and you could also see Mars quite clearly! And how, you might ask, did I remember to get outside around midnight and look up at the sky? THANKS to our monthly columnists Anna Sanclement, who writes “The Space Room” and always adds a little astronomy at the end of her sci-fi news under the heading of “Sky Events this month.” This month Anna writes about Battlestar Galactica’s “The Plan” and “Caprica.”
Speaking of the stars and the moon, writer Karola Crawford gives us a good summary of what’s going on in your astrological world each month. This month in “Astrology at Work in your Life,” she focuses on Pisces, but as usual, gives a little advice for each sign too.
Our terrific contests continue! Thanks again to My Gym in Royal Palm Beach for providing our most recent prize, a birthday party! If you have been trying and haven’t won yet, please keep trying! As I’ve said before, this is an attainable goal! Don’t forget to enter to win our beginning-of-the-month contest, a relaxing one-hour massage at Massage Envy. So please enter between February 1st – 10th. The winner will be announced on our website on February 11th. And here’s another great contest coming in the middle of the month! You could win a 90-minute European facial with microdermabrasian at the newly re-opened Sanda Gané European Day Spa in Wellington, valued at $275! Please don’t forget to enter this contest beginning February 15th! Look for their special Valentine’s offer in our AW Coupons! THANKS to our advertisers for making these contests possible!
In this month’s Teen Talk, columnist Evan Baumel seems to be exactly on the pulse of what’s going on and what’s going wrong in this country. He addresses political extremism and says, “As the future generation, we must make it our mission to cooperate with people who hold different views from ours.”
As we get ready for another Valentine’s Day, writer Marla Schwartz gives us a glimpse into the lives of several couples who work together. She asks, “How do couples who work together succeed at both love and business ventures?” Check out “Valentine’s Day Insights” in our AW Stories of the Month to see how these couples “make it work,” even after an-eight or ten hour day together.
Writer Marla Schwartz also brings to our attention the marvelous husband and wife team Adam and Carrie Simpson; they teach drama at Lynn University! Another great couple who “work together” and “play together.”
For a tasty change of scenery, see Terri Farris’ travel column about the annual, 75-year-old Strawberry Festival at Plant City.
There are so many other great articles and features this month!
THANKS, as always, to our readers and our advertisers! We appreciate you!!
And whatever you decide to do for Valentine’s Day, I hope it’s a special one. Whether you’re cutting out pink hearts with your preschooler or going out to a favorite restaurant with your sweetie pie…or consuming an entire box of chocolates single-handedly, I hope it’s a great day! Let’s hope it’s the first or the second option!!
Cheers,
Krista Martinelli
Editor
February, 2010 – Valentine’s Day Insights
Valentine’s Day Insights
From Married Couples who Work Together
By Marla E. Schwartz
“BE MINE!” “KISS ME!” Those little meanings emblazed on chalky hearts are a big business. According to the National Confectioners Association about 8 billion of them were made during last year’s Valentine’s Day, which is enough candy to stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Arizona and back again twenty-times. An additional one billion valentines are sent every year, making it the second largest card-sending holiday next to Christmas.
It’s the one day a year that’s set aside for lovers to share their feelings for one another. So how do couples who work together succeed at both love and business ventures?
“I’ve had several couples in therapy who work together and the difficulties usually come from lack of clear definitions of roles, space and communication,” according to Helen Banta PhD, who has over 35 years of bilingual clinical experience doing psychotherapy and psychoanalysis with individuals and couples in Broward and Palm Beach counties. In many ways, marriage is a work-in-progress under any circumstances, not unlike a business.”
The following couples discussed their relationships/co-entrepenurial ventures. They’ve all been asked the same questions.
When and how did you first meet?
When did you begin working together?
Favorite traditions as a couple?
Most romantic Valentine’s Day together?
If you could travel on a romantic vacation together– where would you go and why?
Do you believe in soul mates?
Relationship advice?
Advice for newlyweds?
Do you wear the same color clothes as the same time – if not, what do you think of couples who dress this way?
Three nouns best describe your relationship? Anything else?
SAM & FARA SAX
This beloved husband and wife design team founded VAN GALZ TM Jewelry.
VAN GALZ TM Jewelry, 12902 SW 133rd Court, Miami. Tel: 786.735.1187, Fax: 305.259.1956, info@vangalz.com.
When and how did you first meet?
FARA: We met when I was a temp at Sam’s office. He asked me out to lunch and the rest is history.
SAM: Yes, but it took a little persistence on my part to convince her to dump the sandwich and go to lunch with me.
When did you begin working together?
SAM: It’ll soon be eight years.
Favorite traditions as a couple?
FARA: Traditional Friday night dinners at home with our two daughters.
SAM: I knew intuitively that she meant much more to me than just a steady.
If you could travel on a romantic vacation together– where would you go and why?
FARA: Traveling to Alaska has been a long time dream of ours.
Do you believe in soul mates?
FARA: Sam and I always felt we were soul mates as our connection was intense.
Relationship advice?
FARA: Communicate!
SAM: It’s especially important to communicate when hurt and/or angry.
Advice for newlyweds?
FARA: Always remember to agree to disagree.
SAM: Empathy for your partner is more effective than sympathy.
Do you wear the same color clothes as the same time – if not, what do you think of couples who dress this way?
FARA: Sam and I have been married a long time and that sometimes happens naturally for us because we think alike but we haven’t intentionally dressed the same.
Three nouns best describe your relationship?
FARA: Intense. Fiery. Feisty!
SAM: If not managed carefully, boardroom issues can easily spill over to the bedroom. It’s real important to separate the two.
Anniversary: Oct. 13th, 1992.
MICHELLE BERNSTEIN & DAVID MARTINEZ
Chef Michelle Bernstein is a Miami native. Many recognize her from the Emmy-nominated PBS weekly television series, Check, Please! South Florida.
Michy’s, 6927 Biscayne Blvd, Miami. Tues–Thurs, 6:30-10:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat, 6-11 p.m.; Sun, 6-9:30 p.m. Tel: 305.759.2001; www.chefmichellebernstein.com.
SRA. Martinez, 4000 NE 2nd Ave, Miami. Mon–Fri, noon-3 p.m. & 6-11p.m.; Fri-Sat 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Tel: 305.573.5474.
MB, Cancun, Tel: 305.774.0040 or 888.774.0040.
Michelle Bernstein at the Omphoy, 2842 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach. Tel: 561.540.6444.
MICHELLE: We both worked at the Mandarin Oriental’s Azul. We became co-workers, then friends and eventually bliss!
DAVID: Since Azul.
MICHELLE: We lunch together at least three times a week.
DAVID: We do something nice together at least once a day…whether it’s sitting outside or walking the dogs.
MICHELLE: David surprised me with a candle lit dinner in our backyard with a beautiful table, flowers, and a delicious dinner from one of our favorite restaurants. Best of all I didn’t cook!
MICHELLE: Skiing. We’ve only gone a couple of times but loved it!
MICHELLE: I do now.
MICHELLE: He’s not much into PDA; we definitely don’t make out in front of people but we do a lot of cheek kissing and holding hands.
MICHELLE: Be patient.
DAVID: Friendship is the most important part.
MICHELLE: When it happens, one of us usually ends up changing. I think it’s kind of silly but it’s not my place to judge.
MICHELLE: Happiness. Lovingness. Spontaneity.
MICHELLE: My husband rocks! Thanks to him, I’m a better person
Anniversary: Oct. 8, 2005.
FRANK RANDAZZO & ANDREA CURTO-RANDAZZO
Anyone who believes the old adage that “too many chefs spoil the broth” hasn’t met Frank Randazzo and Andrea Curto-Randazzo.
Talula, 210 23rd St., South Beach. Tel: 305.672.0778; www.talulaonline.com.
Creative Tastes Catering, 12229 SW 131 Ave., Miami. Tel: 305.256.8399; inquiries@creativetastes.com; website: www.creativetastes.com.
ANDREA: We met at Tribeca Grill in NYC. I was on my internship from the Culinary Institute of America and he was a cook. We started dating and moved to Miami together.
FRANK: Christmas Eve. We have a large gathering and I cook. We also take the kids trick or treating every year.
FRANK: What’re you trying to get me in trouble? We really work our tails off on Valentine’s Day. It’s one of the biggest days of the year for us in our restaurant. That’s our Valentine’s Day treat to each other.
ANDREA: Italy. We were supposed to go on our honeymoon but when we got married it was a month after 9-11. We got talked out of going and in hindsight I wish we would’ve gone because now it’s so much harder.
FRANK: It would have to be somewhere secluded.
ANDREA: I do. Frank is mine.
FRANK: As I get older I believe there are soul mates out there.
ANDREA: There’s a limit. It’s nice to be affectionate but you don’t have to be making out in my restaurant.
FRANK: Subtle, but yah.
ANDREA: Communication is the key. You won’t catch us not speaking for days.
FRANK: A relationship that’s going to succeed involves lots of compromise.
ANDREA: There’s another person to consider.
FRANK: It all changes. It doesn’t change over night – but it changes.
ANDREA: I don’t like the whole dressing alike thing. I’m all about individuality and expressing yourself.
FRANK: I’m not one of those people who need to show my attachment to my significant other by dressing similar.
ANDREA: Crazy. Sincere. Forever.
FRANK: Competitive. Loving. Energetic!
Anniversary: Oct. 7, 2001.
TROY AND BARBARA ECKONEN
They co-own Tropical Gym & Fitness. Troy began the business as a personal trainer and body-builder when he first moved to Florida from a small town in Ohio. Soon his wife-to-be came into the pictures and for these two lovebirds with a seventeen-year age difference, the rest certainly is history.
TROPICAL GYM & FITNESS, 930 Sample Rd., Pompano Beach; Tel: 954.478.1380; troy@tropicalgym.net; www.tropicalgym.net; hours: M-F: 7–11 am & 4–9 pm, weekends: 8 am – 2 pm.
TROY: I was working in the gym and she was walking across the parking lot. I wanted to sell her a membership but she came to work for me instead. We got married a year-and-a-half later.
TROY: Twice a year we like to go to Joe’s Stone Crab; after having a nice long day on Miami Beach riding bicycles.
BARBARA: We work every Valentine’s Day together. But they’ve always been very special.
TROY: The bottom line is we spend it together, on the job and afterwards.
BARBARA: I’d go to the south of Brazil because it’s beautiful and very romantic.
TROY: I would go with her but I’m more the Alaska type.
TROY: I do. It’s more than a coincidence that I met her because there are so many instances in our lives where we compliment one another.
TROY: I think it’s nice to be warm. But be considerate.
BARABRA: I’m from Brazil and everybody kisses and hugs each other in public.
BARBARA: You should respect each other.
TROY: Do it! Get married.
TROY: Hilarious.
BARBARA: I don’t like it.
TROY: Dramatic, as in the dramatic changes we see in people’s lifestyles.
BARBARA: Happiness. We’re always very happy together.
Anniversary: June 18, 2009.
STEPHANE AND FLORENCE OLIVERO
The owners of several lingerie shops in Europe, Stephane and Florence Olivero opened their first U.S. venture in Hollywood, FL. “We have the most beautiful selection of the best brands of sexy French lingerie,” Stephane said.
Vita Venice, 2025 Hollywood Blvd., Mon-Thurs 10 a.m.-7 p.m. & Fri-Sat 10-10. Tel: 954.342.9284; www.vitovenice.us.
STEPHANE: A simple strike of lighting during an evening with friends.
FLORENCE: He had no doubt, me neither!
STEPHANE: We started our first company together a year after we met. The magic is finding the equilibrium within the passion, the private life and the professional life.
STEPHANE: Humor.
FLORENCE: Valentine’s Day 2005 without a doubt. He asked me to marry him.
FLORENCE: My dream destination is the Taj Mahal.
STEPHANE: Yes. Florence is my absolute and exclusive soul sister.
FLORENCE: We’re French – we’re very affectionate.
STEPHANE: Respect each other.
STEPHANE: The magic of the first time is compensated by the discovery of each other.
STEPHAN: We have very different styles to be dressing alike, but we respect others who do so.
STEPHANE: Love. Complicity. Trust.
FLORENCE: Love. Passion. Unity.
Anniversary: Oct. 12, 2005.
ANTONIO AND KATHERINE AMADEO
Antonio and Katherine (Katie) Amadeo operates The Naked Stage with John Manzelli at the Pelican Theatre, Barry University, Miami Shores.
Here’s a list of just a few regional acting credits they’ve been awarded:
Katherine – The Patient in 4.48 Psychosis (Carbonell nomination for Best Actress), Clarisse in Fahrenheit 451 (Gablestage).
Antonio – John Merrick in The Elephant Man (Carbonell nomination), Mosaic Theatre; The Pillowman (2007 Carbonell Award Winner), GableStage. His set design for 4.48 Psychosis earned him a Carbonell Award nod. He has a REMY Award for service from SouthFloridaTheatre.com.
Their most important fundraising activity is the 24-Hour Theatre project held every year in Miami. They recently produced MACON CITY, an original Comic Book play from the ground-breaking, local playwright Marco Ramirez.
The Naked Stage, (866).811.4111 nakedstage.org.
TOGETHER: We met at Actors’ Playhouse doing The Sound of Music.
ANTONIO: She was Liesel and I was the Nazi.
ANTONIO: We got married at Casa De La Paz in St. Augustine, so that’s a favorite destination of ours.
KATIE: One tradition that Antonio and I have is that we have breakfast together every morning. It’s nice to have the little morning time together. We usually put on a DVD for an hour or two.
KATIE: The Sound of Music just closed. Our relationship was about five-months old. We had dinner at the Melting Pot, he treated, brought Roses. We came back to his apartment – and there were all these different breeds and they were so beautiful. I’ve always loved stuffed animals and it was so thoughtful and tailored to who I am as a person. I was so touched.
KATIE: George Schiavone was randomly taking pictures at a Carbonell party and he happened to take a picture of our first kiss
ANTONIO: And she made me an art graphic of it. It’s one of my favorite things.
KATIE: London and Ireland. I’m Irish and I’ve never been.
KATIE: Yes. I felt an instant connection to him and the room lit up when he walked in.
ANTONIO: Soul mate isn’t a term I use a lot. I believe in true love.
ANTONIO: There are lines of decency and respect for other people that you have to be aware of.
ANTONIO: Every married couple has to be entirely open and communicative and come up with rules of marriage that fit them so when issues do come up at the very least you’re on the same playing field.
KATIE: Be honest and open.
ANTONIO: I think a lot of couples get really impatient and judgmental very quickly about the other person and marriage is hard.
KATIE: In relationships things are never completely equal and you have to roll with it.
KATIE: No we don’t. But it did happen the other day.
ANTONIO: If others love it why should I judge?
ANTONIO: Love. Patience. Respect.
KATIE: Friendship. Trust. Understanding.
Anniversary: Sept. 6, 2003.
Valentine’s Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600-1601):
To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn’d his clothes,
And dupp’d the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.
—William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5
HOW TO SAY “I LOVE YOU” IN A FEW DIFFERENT LANGUAGES:
|
French – |
Je t’aime, Je t’adore |
|
Gaelic – |
Ta gra agam ort |
|
Italian – |
Ti amo |
|
Portuguese – |
Amo-te |
|
Spanish – |
Te quiero / Te amo |
=================
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz has been a professional journalist since her teenage years and is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine, and a freelance writer for CRAVINGS South Florida in Aventura, as well as Around Wellington Magazine and Lighthouse Point Magazine. An avid photographer, her images have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was originally read at First Stage in Los Angeles and in the same city produced at the Lone Star Ensemble. It was then produced at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL and then taken to an Off-Broadway playhouse by its producers Adam and Carrie Simpson. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feel free to contact her at: meschwartz1@hotmail.com.
February, 2010 – Four Green-Friendly Valentine’s Gift Ideas
Living Green
Four Green-Friendly Valentine’s Gift Ideas
By Christine Smith
Valentine’s Day is a great time to begin your Eco-Friendly lifestyle. If you’ve ever said to yourself: “Sounds cool, but I don’t know where to begin,” then this article will make it simple for you. Here are four gift ideas to give to your “special someone” – while also protecting the environment and setting a good example for the ones you love.
1) Buy Local Flowers
Do you know that over one-half of the flowers sold in the United States are imported from countries where toxic chemicals and pesticides are not monitored at all, and are even legal to use? Not only is the importing of these flowers toxic to our environment, but you could be exposing your loved ones to those chemicals and pesticides. Buying flowers that were grown domestically and locally will lower the negative impact on our environment and you will also be supporting your local community.
2) Give an Experience
Get creative. Pack a picnic and take your partner to the beach, park, or simply have a picnic in front of your fireplace. Don’t have a fireplace? Do what my husband did before we had one… build one out of candles! You can also prepare a meal together or give each other massages. Or, consider things that your partner likes to do and then plan a day or evening around those things. Remember, the purpose of Valentine’s Day is to show our loved ones how much we adore them, not to show them how much we can buy them. Keep this in mind when planning your experience. Experiences make great and memorable gifts!
3) Bake Your Own Goodies
Did you know that cocoa farmers only receive 5 cents for every dollar they produce, while companies that are involved in the process of getting chocolates into our hands receive over 70 cents of each of those dollars? Instead of supporting the unfair trading conditions that exist by giving imported chocolates, give your loved one home-baked goods this year.
4) Homemade Cards & Gift Wrap
Make your own cards. Remember when we were younger and we used to receive those love notes with the boxes that told us to check “yes” or “no”? Rather than spending extra money and wasting paper, spend some time and write down what your partner means to you… then express it in a homemade card. If you decide to buy a gift or card, buy an Eco-Friendly gift, and when wrapping it – use creative options like grocery-store brown paper bags (free – and usually made from already recycled paper) wrapped with recycled bows or use recycled gift bags.
Christine Smith is a Principal, as well as the Director of Marketing for Fine Lions, Inc. Fine Lions specializes in a proprietary Eco-friendly wood graining process that is applied to non wood products to give them the appearance of natural wood. This earth conscious application may be done on exterior and interior doors, garage doors, kitchen and bath cabinets, as well as other surfaces. To learn more visit http://www.finelions.com.
February, 2010 – An Interview with Author Kathleen Kent
Cultural Corner
An Interview with Author Kathleen Kent
By Marla Schwartz
The thing is – history is malleable, whether we want to believe it or not. And the fact of the matter is – there’s a lot about America history that’s difficult to accept, let alone understand. But what if someone bore witness, in effect and then wrote about one of these particular events in time?
In essence, this is what author Kathleen Kent has done in her debut novel, The Heretic’s Daughter (Little, Brown). Kent was one of the many gifted authors to grace South Florida with her presence at the Miami Book Fair International 2009.
Kent is a tenth-generation descendent of Martha Carrier, one of the first women convicted in the Salem Witch Trials, which is the subject her novel. This beguiling tale will no doubt be gobbled up by readers of historical fiction, but people who truly treasure reading about parental love and self-sacrifice in the face an overwhelming sense of collective madness will most definitely relish this novel.
The novel explores the plight of the Carrier family who are first generation colonists in New England. They had hoped to escape the plague of smallpox in their homeland, but inadvertently brought it along with them to the new world.
Kent’s novel is narrated by Sarah, Martha’s spirited teenage daughter, who valiantly takes us through the horrors of this particular time in America’s early history.
Kathleen Kent was able to take time out of her busy schedule to answer a great deal of questions for AROUND WELLINGTON readers:
QUESTIONS FOR KATHLEEN KENT
AROUND WELLINGTON: I understand that while growing up you heard stories about your ancestors who were executed because they were found guilty of being witches during the Salem Witch Trials. At which particular point in time did you realize that the story of the Carrier family would make a great piece of historical fiction?
KATHLEEN KENT: Fortunately, I grew up with the stories of Martha Carrier, my grandmother back nine generations who was hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692, and the Carrier family’s involvement with the witch trials. From the time I was about eight-years-old, I remember my mother and grandmother telling me, not only stories of the witch trials, but anecdotal tales of 17th century life, passed down from generation to generation. By the time I was in college, I had wanted to put that history and those family legends into novel form. But it took many years before I had the time and resources to write a book-length retelling of Martha’s life. I spent 20 years living and working in New York in various commercial enterprises and was “on the runway” to fifty before I began the research and writing that became The Heretic’s Daughter.
AW: Obviously, the Carrier family was caught up in unfortunate times … but why did people in colonial times hang others as “witches?”
KK: It’s hard to imagine, as modern, rational thinkers, the time and place that was Puritan New England, where there was no separation of church and state, where you were guilty until proven innocent and where women were targeted as witches because of their mental instability, their position in society, and their combative dispositions, especially if they stood in opposition with the “Town Fathers.” In order to understand the Puritans’ actions and motives, it’s important to understand that these were transplanted Europeans, strangers in a strange land, who believed literally that the Devil was alive and well and living in New England. Death was always close at hand, through disease, childbirth, Indian raids, and these people lived in superstitious dread and had a firm belief in the Invisible World. The theologians conducting the trials, examinations and executions of the witches were using a source book from the Middle Ages, the Malleus Malleficarum, which could explain any wart or birthmark as proof of the Devil’s Mark.
AW: Do you see any common elements in your book that can be compared to modern times? Such as HIV/AIDS or the current swine flu pandemic?
KK: Unfortunately, there are parallels to the witch trials still relevant today. In every culture there are, for example, fundamentalist groups who refuse to engage in the civilized discourse, who do not adhere to due process of law, who suppress free speech and free expression, and who strive to oppress the weakest members of society; often women and children; persecuting those who fall outside of narrowly defined patterns of “the norm”. Arthur Miller of course wrote “The Crucible” to illuminate the McCarthy era witch trials, and there are groups of individuals still today, in this country, who are censored and excluded for having differing religious views, ethnic origins or sexual orientations. We’re still as a species trying to overcome millions of years of the self-protective, xenophobic response to “The Other.”
AW: Do you have a favorite historical novelist? If so, who is it and why?
KK: I have always loved Charles Dickens for his universal stories and for his timeless characters. His use of storytelling to illuminate great societal wrongs was always so inspiring. John Irving wrote that Dickens was “unafraid of sentimentality—of anger, of passion, of emotionally and psychologically revealing himself.” I really like that in an author.
AW: I understand you admire Annie Dillard’s work. When did you first discover her work and have you ever had a chance to meet her? How has her fiction influenced your own writing?
KK: I first discovered her when I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek over twenty years ago. I remember being in awe of her elegant, lean observations of nature and thinking, “if only I could write like that!” I keep her books, including The Writing Life, and For the Time Being, in the nightstand next to my bed and read them over and over again. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to meet her, but if I had the chance, I’d leap at it.
AW: In the novel, Martha punishes her five children with a spoon they’ve dubbed the Iron Bessie. Is this a fictionalized account of such punishment?
KK: Iron Bessie is a figment of my imagination. But I do have my grandmother’s cherry wood mixing spoon, given to me by my mother. Blessedly, the only thing my grandmother ever whipped with the spoon was heavy cream.
AW: Is there anything you wanted to include in your novel but couldn’t do it?
KK: Originally, the novel was written in two parts, the first part being The Heretic’s Daughter. Fortunately, the second part has been re-worked and will be published now as a prequel—about the life of Martha’s husband Thomas; a man who family legend and local Massachusetts’ lore said lived to 109, was over 7 feet tall and was one of the executioners of King Charles I of England.
AW: If someone today accused you of being a witch – what would you say?
KK: Thank you!
AW: Tell me about the accolades your book has received?
KK: The book is now being published in over a dozen countries and won the David Langum award for historical fiction last year. The reviews have been mostly wonderful, although I try pretty hard to not focus too much on the reviews, but rather on the positive reactions of the readers who love historical fiction
AW: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
KK: Only that my grandmother used to say, “Sweetie, there are no such things as witches. Merely ferocious women.”
A native of Toledo, OH and a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz has been a professional journalist since her teenage years and is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine, and a freelance writer for CRAVINGS South Florida in Aventura, as well as Around Wellington Magazine and Lighthouse Point Magazine. An avid photographer, her images have appeared in numerous Ohio publications, as well as in Miami Living, The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was originally read at First Stage in Los Angeles and in the same city produced at the Lone Star Ensemble. It was then produced at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL and then taken to an Off-Broadway playhouse by its producers Adam and Carrie Simpson. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Feel free to contact her at: meschwartz1@hotmail.com.
February, 2010 – Cardiovascular Fitness
Health & Fitness
Component II – Cardiovascular Fitness
by Cheryl Alker
In our November issue of Around Wellington, we discussed the five components of physical fitness and gave you some great advice on the benefits and how to achieve flexibility. This month we are dissecting the intricacies of cardiovascular fitness.
First of all, what is it? Well, the definition of cardiovascular or cardiorespiratory fitness is the efficiency of the heart, lungs and vascular system in delivering oxygen to the working muscle tissues so that prolonged physical work can be maintained. A person’s ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles is affected by many physiological parameters, including heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and maximal oxygen consumption.
Simply put, it means that when you start to walk, run, cycle or swim, how efficient are your lungs at taking in oxygen? Delivering it to the heart (via your blood)? And then pumping it around the body to the working muscles?
Efficient distribution of oxygen is vital to the length of time you can continue your cardio workout. Lack of oxygen leads to fatigue and muscle soreness.
How do you know if you are working at a level where you can maintain that vital supply of oxygen?
A simple calculation will give you your answer:
· Take your age.
· Subtract this amount from 220 (the approximate amount our heart beats in one minute at birth).
· Take 50% and 85% of this figure.
This is your training zone; and for efficient fat burning cardiovascular training, you should keep your heart rate between these two figures. Towards the lower (50% – 65%) if you are beginning your training and fairly new to exercise and moving towards the higher (70% – 85%) as you body starts to adapt to your training program.
For example, if you are 40 years of age:
220 – 40 = 180
50% of 180 = 90
85% of 180 = 153
Your training zone is, therefore, between 90 and 153 beats per minute.
If you are using a piece of gym equipment for your cardiovascular training, you can easily monitor your heart rate by placing your thumb on the pad provided. If not, investing in a heart rate monitor that you strap to your chest whilst exercising will keep you on track; of course, you can do it the old-fashioned way. Take your own pulse at the wrist, arm or neck over a six-second period and add a zero or over a ten-second period and multiply by six.
How often should you train? Guidelines indicate between three to five times per week. If possible, vary your cardiovascular training. Working continually on the same piece of equipment or only running, cycling or swimming can seriously increase your risk of an overuse injury.
How long should your session last? Individuals with lower fitness levels should aim to maintain their heart rate within their target heart rate zone for a minimum of 20-30 minutes. This can increase to as much as 45-60 minutes as fitness levels increase.
Beyond the 45-60 minute mark there are diminished returns. For all that extra effort, the associated benefits are minimal.
This also applies to many athletes. Beyond a certain point they run the risk of overtraining and injury. There are exceptions; however, typically the ultra-long-distance endurance athletes.
When will I see results? In terms of the duration of the program as a whole, research suggests a minimum of six weeks is required to see noticeable improvement and as much as a year or more before a peak in fitness is reached.
So there you have it, everything you need to know to ensure a safe and effective fat-burning cardiovascular program. Now all that’s left is for you to JUST DO IT!
Cheryl Alker specializes in flexibility training, core strength and postural alignment, working with a select clientele across Palm Beach County. Her company, Stretch Results International, certifies health professionals in her results-based stretching program, educates consumers through public speaking and offers private or class consultations to clients who wish to lose their muscular pain and gain flexibility to achieve full and active lifestyles. For more information, please call Cheryl at (561) 889-3738 or visit www.stretchresults.com.
February, 2010 – Florida’s Strawberry Festival
Travel with Terri
Celebrate a 75 year tradition – Florida’s Strawberry Festival
By Terri Farris
As the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, strawberries are part of the everyday fabric of Plant City, Florida – and the biggest event in this community each year is none other than the Florida Strawberry Festival! This celebration of the strawberry harvest began 75 years ago when the Plant City Lions Club decided to organize the first festival. Since that date, the Florida Strawberry Festival has grown from a community event to an annual destination for thousands.
Growing up in Plant City in the 1970’s I have wonderful memories of the Strawberry Festival Parade held on the Monday of each festival. I marched in this parade many times with my junior high and high school bands. All the schools close for this event as well as most businesses. Some other memories I have of the festival are lining up for a serving of the strawberry shortcake made by the local Catholic Church and sampling the delicious strawberry pies made by the Plant City High School Band students and boosters. In fact, we used to volunteer to “stem” strawberries in the days prior to the festival just to get out of class – of course we had red fingertips for the next week – but it was worth it!
Although the Florida Strawberry Festival was originally organized to celebrate the strawberry harvest, it has much more to offer than food. There are numerous competitions including a Baby Parade where little ones are dressed up and showcased on decorated “mini” floats. For young women, there is a beauty contest where local beauties compete for the coveted title of Florida Strawberry Queen. The queen and her court represent the community at festival events and throughout the year.
There are some unique competitions as well for the livestock such as the “Best in Show” for prized steers. And what festival would be complete without a Lamb Jumping Contest and Racing Pigs? You do not want to miss these little porkers snorting their way to the finish line!
The Neighborhood Village at the Strawberry Festival is the place to find award-winning cakes, pies, cake decorating demonstrations, beautiful quilts and other crafts including scrapbooking. There are numerous exhibits throughout the festival grounds to provide something for everyone to enjoy.
No festival would be complete without carnival rides and booths and the Florida Strawberry Festival provides plenty of those on the Midway. You can win your sweetheart a teddy bear and then take her on the Ferris wheel for a kiss. You can also “lose your strawberries” on a topsy turvy thrill ride or take the little ones on the Merry-Go-Round.
The Florida Strawberry Festival always draws an amazing line-up of entertainers for the nightly shows – no, I am not referring to the racing pigs! Performers for prior years have included country music greats Vince Gill, Tobi Keith and Lee Ann Womack. The line-up for 2010 is no exception offering headliner entertainment by Sarah Evans, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Roy Clark, Patty Loveless, REO Speedwagon and comedian Bill Engwall to name a few. Debbie Reynolds will be on hand on Tuesday evening to entertain for the designated “Red Hat Ladies” day.
In addition to the designated Red Hat Ladies day, the Florida Strawberry Festival has designated a special day honoring our country’s servicemen, firemen and police officers – “American Heroes Day”. Other special days include Kids’ Day, Senior Days and a Moonlight Madness special for late night carnival rides.
This year’s festival will be held March 4th through March 14th. Advance tickets are available online beginning February 4th. For more information on special events or to purchase advanced tickets visit their website: www.flstrawberryfestival.com
Sometimes when you return to events from your past they seem smaller – less significant. That was not the case for me when I revisited the Florida Strawberry Festival. This 75-year-old festival is more than a celebration of the harvest – it is a celebration of community – a strawberry pie sized slice of Americana!
Terri is a freelance writer with regular columns on travel, chocolate and bar reviews. She is busy each month visiting new places to bring unique travel destinations and events to you. Yes, it is a sacrifice – but she is willing to do that for her readers! You can see more of Terri’s writing at www.examiner.com where she is the National Chocolate Examiner and at www.barzz.net. You can contact Terri at tfarris60@hotmail.com.