Category Archives: People of Central Florida

People of Central Florida

Game Warden Bob Lee, interview with a True Florida Hero

Leave a comment

by Jennifer Odom

Bob Lee (kneeling) examines tire tracks with officer Eric Meade who is a character in both of Lee’s books.

Few of us would dare tread the swamps and rivers as Bob Lee did, or lie in wait among the rattler-infested palmettos where this (now retired) Florida Game Warden stalked his criminals. Whether he tracked them by foot, followed in his FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) vehicle, or chased them by boat−Bob caught his bad guys. For thirty years this land patrol lieutenant served the citizens of Putnam, St. Johns, and Flagler counties in northeast Florida.

By light of day or dark of night, Bob Lee has tracked and arrested some of this state’s most cunning criminals−grizzled felons, eager to shoot him dead−and brought them to justice.

Who are the bad guys?

A professional poacher covered these deer with dead palmetto fronds (Pellicer Creek, Flagler County, 1990s).

Usually armed, they are illegal wildlife hunters−self-serving poachers who take illegal game. Their breed ignores the law of fair chase and has no consideration for preserving nature and Florida’s resources. They are rogues who put themselves first and steal from the rest of us.

Bob Lee writes about these adventures, criminals, and apprehensions in his two books, Backcountry Lawman (2013), and Bad Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases (2017), both published by University Press of Florida.  His stories, told from a game warden’s perspective, are certainly unique.

When Bob Lee agreed to a recent interview I was thrilled.

In your first book Backcountry Lawman (2014) you mention an early encounter with Florida Game wardens who came to take care of a nuisance gator on your dad’s property. Besides their positive but latent impression on you, what other early childhood influences steered you in the direction of being an outdoorsman, including the very earliest? How did the influence of other people “bend” you in this direction? Were there any special teachers in school that influenced you?

I could tell you all the usual things, like how I grew up to love hunting and fishing, etc. But let’s go straight to the hog, an overfed feral hog named Snookie. My friend, Billy, had caught it in the wild when it was just a pig. Billy’s mother fed it leftover pasta (they were Italian) every night. After two years, she told Billy, “Get rid of Snookie, she’s destroying my flower beds.” By now Snookie had become a pet. She trotted happily alongside their Lab when playing frisbee in the backyard. She loved to have her back scratched. Billy couldn’t just kill her. So, we decided to take Snookie home, to a remote island on Lake Tsala Apopka, at three in the morning. This adventure meant putting a caged, 300-pound hog in an unstable fourteen-foot Jon boat with four gangly teenagers. That, as they say, “Is another story!” In case you’re wondering, yes, it did get sketchy, but also left me with a fun memory of Florida’s backcountry.

Lee rounds a bend in the Ocklawaha River in 1981.

There was a karate instructor at the University of South Florida who instilled a great deal of confidence in me, perhaps a little too much. I took some risks while on the job that could very well have ended my career and my life. What I’m talking about is operating patrol boats at night, without lights, and at times very high speeds.

Chalk it up to luck of the draw, maybe divine intervention, but if I had zigged instead of zagged, I wouldn’t be here.

As a Game Warden with full law-enforcement powers to arrest, you tracked the wildlife criminals through wilderness tracts, cattle ranches, and swamps. Always in danger, and frequently alone, you dodged moccasins, swam past gators, and at times with no radio contact−yet you faced down the villains. What event do you recall as the one that still brings a shudder−the one (or two) you don’t know how you survived?

There were several events. I’ll use two for illustration: One night I was sneaking around a house to get down to the owner’s dock where, according to a tipster, a man was illegally catching fish with an electrified dip net. I had just slipped through a ligustrum hedge and out onto the front lawn, when the soft glare cast by a table lamp in the living room window blinded me. The best way I can describe it is to imagine you’re creeping through a dark tunnel when a small light suddenly blinks on. I took one more step and pitched forward, into the abyss. I fell about six feet and landed face down, cracking my cheek open on a sharp rock. I flipped on my flashlight, and lo and behold, a two-foot long, half-inch steel rebar was poking out of the ground next to my face. If I had landed six inches to the right, the rod would have pierced my right eye socket and out the back of my skull. And that’s how they would have found me when the sun came up, like a butterfly pinned to a cardboard backing.

The second event happened when I was coming out of remote creek at night, with my headlamp on, doing about 40-50 miles per hour. The hull slid out of the narrow channel by just a few feet and when it did, a lot of things happened, and none of them were good. I hit the submerged root ball of a ninety-foot cypress tree. My patrol craft flipped on its starboard (driver’s) side and sank until it was half-submerged, including the outboard. The force of the water ripped the headlamp off my head. As I was sliding down the tree’s trunk in total blackness, I had time for one brief thought, “If this boat rolls all the way over, I’ll be shredded like a piece of cheese.” Anyway, fortune smiled on me again when my bow hit a forked limb, which righted the hull and caused it to ricochet onto the bank. Twenty minutes later, the bilge pumps had drained 250-300 gallons of water out of the boat. I was back in the St. Johns River by four in the morning. Fifteen minutes later, I encountered Roger Gunter, Putnam County’s most notorious poacher, and had the boat chase of a lifetime.

Notorious poacher Roger Gunter shows Bob Lee a homemade rheostat he fashioned for his monkey fishing machine, an electric shocking device (2007).

If you had not followed this career path in your life, what do you think you would have gravitated toward?

I would have retired from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department. I was going through their police academy when the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission hired me in 1977.

Your second book, Bad Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases (2017) is as captivating and as expertly written as your first. Being of similar age and reflecting on my own lack of creative writing instruction in Florida schools, how did your educational background prepare you for writing of this quality? Would you say your writing talent followed you through life, or was there a point in time where you said, “Well, I’d better get serious and develop some skills for this project (book) I’m planning?”

Bob Lee at his book signing at Fort McCoy Library in 2014.

I don’t think you can write well unless you like to read–a lot. My parents provided me with a steady stream of Superman comics and Hardy Boy novels, if that tells you anything about where I’m coming from. My time at the university did not help in any big way. I consider myself to be a self-taught writer. There are two methods I use: The first is through my writer’s critique group, where we meet monthly to review each other’s manuscript. The second is to break down how the best authors do what they do, be it nonfiction or fiction. Only study the best in your genre. I have hundreds, if not a thousand plus hours, dedicated to this type of study and the notes to prove it.

What is your deeper purpose for promoting the stories in your books?

“Deeper purpose” kind of scares me, like you’re expecting something profound, which I don’t do. My purpose in writing these books is to educate the public on a little-known facet of law enforcement that is often misunderstood and gets little attention in the press. Another reason is I have this little invisible man sitting on my shoulder. He leans into my ear and whispers, “Write, write.”

What is it that gives you the most joy?

Retirement.

Is there a place where the public can find out where your next speaking event/book-signing is?

 My website: http://bobhlee.com/

Do you have a regular series of teaching events where people can drop in?

The teaching events I’ve done to date are for law enforcement. The public would not be allowed.

What can one find on Bob Lee’s bucket list?

I take it one day at a time, follow my nose and see where it leads me.

If you had it to do over, what would you do differently?

Officer Lee checks on fishermen along the St. Johns River (1979).

As to the big things in life, nothing. I’d have married the same lady and taken the same job. I consider myself to be uncommonly lucky.

Now that you are of a grandfatherly age, what wise advice would you like to pass on to the adults of Florida? What advice would you like to pass on to the youth of Florida?

Keep our youth away from social media and video games, particularly violent video games. I firmly believe gaming addictions are the devil’s spawn! Nothing is for free, or at least it shouldn’t be, everyone should have to make his or her way in the world. At the same time, one should always remember there are those who truly do need our help.

What else would you like to say?

All great questions, Jennifer. I’m honored that you asked me to participate in your blog.

And thank you, Bob Lee, it’s great to know a real Florida hero.

Sunset on the St. Johns River (Welaka 1979).

Bob Lee has been published in Florida Sportsman, Flamingo, International Game Warden and other publications.

Besides Backcountry Lawman (2013), and Bad Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases (2017), Bob Lee has planned a work of fiction. I’ll be watching for it and look forward to reading it. Who knows? Maybe the protagonist will be like Bob,  another fearless Florida Game Warden.

People of Central Florida, Places in Central Florida, Plants of Central Florida

Carol Postley and her Florida Cracker Sheep

3 Comments


by Jennifer Odom

“We’re shearing sheep at the farm. You and your daughter come on out,”  Carol Postley told me. We’d struck up quite a chat while sitting back to back working our demonstration tables at the KidZone, part of a Master Gardener event in Ocala. I’d asked about her display of wool and sheep interests. It turned out she’s the founder of Meat Sheep Alliance of Florida.

Sheep in Florida?

Sheep in Florida? Wasn’t our state too hot? Aside from zoos, I thought sheep lived up north. So yes, we wanted  to visit. I couldn’t resist.

A week or so later Gabbie and I set out in search of her farm. We followed the old Knoblock Road, a shady lane of beautiful ancient oaks and green pastures to her turn-off at the sign that said Florida Cracker Native Sheep.

Farm workers directed us past the barn to a pavilion where we found Carol, natural-born teacher and sponsor of the event, busy about her business of educating and inspiring newbies and fellow farmers about sheep. Her program began with professional sheep shearers demonstrating sheep-holding techniques and proper use of the electric clippers.

Ready for this? Professional sheep shearers Jonathan Hearne and Charlotte Crittenden joke around before the shearing.

A shearing begins by turning a sheep upside down. I’d never seen the underbelly of a sheep before. It surprised me to learn the that the udder, unlike a cow’s, only has two teats, suitable for the twins a sheep usually bears. From there the shearing process moves up and around the legs and back, leaving the sheep very bare, and probably feeling a little chilly. It is customarily done at springtime.

The professionals begin. They start the sheep upside down.
Carefully maneuver around the tender areas. Pull the skin tight with the left hand.

Move around this way.
Take a little off here. The leg under the sheep’s haunches keeps her from slipping away.
Don’t do this in the winter, the sheep will be cold!
Amazing. It is all off in one large piece.

The fleece, or wool, comes off in one large piece, and can be rolled and laid out on tables to allow workers to pick out any undesirable elements or burrs, leaving the choicest part intact. 

This looks good.

Though it looks like something else, the very noticeable yucky stuff on the sheep’s wool is lanolin, a thick oil that helps him resist parasites. Don’t worry too much about that, it can be cleaned up. Weeds, seeds, and prickles would be a worse problem. It’s very difficult to clean that out of the wool.

Pick out the undesirable tidbits.

Did you know that hair among the sheep’s wool is an undesirable trait and breeders attempt to breed it out? Those sheep are sent out to be used for meat.

There’s a major difference between hair and wool. Hair, stiff and straight, has a distinct look from wool and after some practice is easy to spot. Its presence in a fleece makes it unsellable, and in a hat or wooly garment will render it itchy and un-wearable. Hair in rugs, though, is quite acceptable.

Who knew?

Decorating the pavilion were woven, knitted, crocheted, and other artistically produced garments and hats. Experts at demonstration tables showed us how to use fiber-straightening machines, carding machines, and how to do peg-weaving.

Skeins of yarn made from sheep’s wool.
You don’t want your fingers caught in the teeth inside this straightening machine.
It comes out the other end, not a matt anymore, but wooly fluff. Next it is carded.
Weaving with pegs.
Neolithic wool-cleaning in a jar. This can be done in a barrel. It gets stinky.

And if the mention of that yucky stuff still lingers in your sensitivities and bothers your mind,  rest easy. A primitive “neolithic wool-cleaning” method using fermentation to get rid of those undesirable impurities was explained by another expert. So rest easy, one doesn’t have to handle dirty wool.

Gabbie reminded me that King David of the Bible herded sheep and was probably familiar with simpler methods of all the skills mentioned above, and most especially this neolithic method of cleaning.

Carol circulated among the guests, and from our common interest in the Master Gardener event, our conversation turned naturally to plants. She was full of information.

No stranger to the use and benefits of scientific testing, Carol informed me of two special and very nutritious forage weeds on the farm. “See that Spanish needle over there?” She pointed toward the lamb pen.“Tests show it contains 25% protein.”

The Spanish needle weed, common all over our central Florida fields and roadways is 25% protein. Great fodder for sheep.

Evidently that’s a very good number.

“People hate that stuff,” I said, recalling how its needle-like burrs stick to everything. “They mow it down and plant pasture grass.”

“And why would they want to do that when it’s got all that protein?” she said. “There’s another nutritious plant like that, the day-flower. It looks a little bit like a wandering Jew.”

“Really?”  I couldn’t quite picture this one.

 “I’ll see if I can find you one.” Off she scampered to find a sample. In a few minutes she returned with a long stringy weed in her hand.

The common day-flower, a low crawling weed is also 25% protein.

“Oh, I’ve seen that,” I said. “I pull it out of my flower beds all the time and throw it in the burning pile.”

She grinned. “Again, twenty-five percent protein.”

To think, I’d been burning up good forage. Of course, I don’t have sheep, either.

Carol is not just busy collecting trivia about nutritious forage. She is actively trying to help other farmers in the pursuit of naturally healthy pastures.

CRABGRASS EXPERIMENT
Carol is currently busy lining up an experiment on pasture-improvement through the Marion County Extension office in Ocala. It’s especially targeted for farms with sugar-sand, and it’s not too late to volunteer. (To participate, see contact info at the end of this article).

And Ahem…Who in Florida doesn’t have sand and need pasture improvement?

Carol’s simple experiment requires no more than a plot of land about 50 x 50 feet. Carol will provide the already purchased crab-grass seeds, and Agent Mark Bailey (see below) will supply the details.

Nutritious crabgrass, hated by some, but loved by Carol.

The experiment will involve discing the land and planting crabgrass seeds. The owner will have little or no work to do. For those interested in participating and improving your pasture, see the contact information at the end of this article.

Carols’s Florida Cracker Sheep and Their Long History in Florida….

Fairmeadow Farm is all about heritage Florida Cracker Sheep

At Carol’s farm, Fairmeadow, she raises a specific breed of sheep I’d never even heard of before. They are called Florida Cracker Sheep.

“The Spanish brought them over,” she informed me, and rattled off a handful of  interesting facts about them. She made me want to know more.

After some research, I discovered an article by Ralph Wright, historian of Florida Cracker Sheep Association. It seems that on four or five different occasions Spanish explorers brought sheep over to this continent, and for a variety of reasons released them. These heritage sheep likely descended from the churra sheep of Spain’s estuarine marshes and date back to the 1200’s. The Cracker Sheep Association homepage states: “Florida Cracker Sheep are a heritage breed that developed naturally over the last 400 years and are uniquely adapted to the harsh Florida environment. With their parasite resistance and ability to handle the heat and humidity, they are great for organic farming.” (http://floridacrackersheep.com).

What didn’t kill the sheep in pioneer Florida, then, must have made them stronger. To me it’s amazing, with all the wild animals on the Florida frontier, how anything as mild and gentle as a sheep, who don’t even run fast, could survive at all.

To read Mr. Wright’s complete paper see  http://floridacrackersheep.com/history.html.

So sheep, it seems, are not an unusual phenomenon in Florida. And these cracker sheep are particularly suitable for Florida’s environment.

Carol Postley recognized this fact a long time ago. She is an amazing woman full of hard-earned knowledge,  and part of a smart group of farmers who steer away from artificial contrivance and diligently work at finding ways to use our God-given nature to best advantage.

I’m privileged to have visited Fairmeadow farm. Great job, Carol, and thank you for the delightful invitation!


If you think you might like to participate in Carol’s pasture grass improvement experiment contact Ag agent Mark Bailey at the Marion County Extension office in Ocala. His contact information is mark.bailey@marioncountyfl.org and phone: 352-617-8400. This experiment will cost approximately $55 to conduct the necessary soil tests before and after the summer forages have been planted.

http://floridacrackersheep.com/history.html

To contact Carol’s professional sheep shearers, see below:

Jonathan Hearne- hearne.jn@gmail.com

Charlotte Crittenden- ccritten@yahoo.com

For participation in the crab grass experiment:

mark.bailey@marioncountyfl.org 352-617-8400


People of Central Florida, Places in Central Florida

Captain Debbie cruises the silver river and ocklawaha

Leave a comment

                    by Jennifer Odom

This real-life river rat and Coast Guard-approved Captain is Miss Debbie Walters, a darling along the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers where she owns and operates Captain Tom’s Custom Charters.

Captain Debbie of Captain Tom’s Custom Charters offers educational pontoon-boat Eco-Tours along Florida’s Silver and Ocklawaha River near Ocala, Florida.

Her clients’ favorite tour is along the Silver River where crystal blue waters lead into the back door of Silver Springs and its world-famous headwaters.

Other tours take an easterly path along the darker Ocklawaha River. Both waterways abound in manatees, turtles, gators, monkeys, gators, anhingas, and all types of herons.

The riverbanks, festooned in native Florida plants, are rank with sabal palms, rare orchids, cypress, hollies, spatterdock and pickerel weed, scenery unique to the river and which Debbie and her fiancé Adam McQuaig delight to point out.

The tours glide past the hunting and fishing grounds of the great Seminole Indian Chief Osceola, the same waters that tourist and commercial riverboats plied from the St. Johns River in the 1800s and 1900s.

Captain Debbie offers fishing charters on almost any waterway in the area, including Lake Weir, Harris Chain, Lake Miona, and will soon add adventures on Lake George and the Gulf of Mexico.

For tours and details contact her athttps://captaintomscustomcharters.net/about-2/

Debbie purchased Captain Tom’s Custom Charters, from Captain Tom O’Lenick (1948-2018) some time before he passed away.

Captain Tom O’Lenick (1948-2018)

Captain Tom’s legacy, his native love of Florida, fun informational tours and folksy ways had garnered quite a following. Those who knew him now sorely miss him.

But how did Captain Tom recognize Captain Debbie, a school-teacher, as the right buyer for his beloved business? Before Captain Tom met Debbie, he sat down with his girlfriend and prayed that the right person would come along to buy his business.

Soon after, he met Debbie and learned of her life-long passion for water and boats. Debbie’s stream of life-time events flowed clear and straight from her land-locked childhood of Pennsylvania to her desire to run a boat-charter business. From her first exposure to the water at age 9, Debbie was hooked. “There is something soothing and calming,” she says, “about being on the water.”

Debbie has recently purchased her own houseboat and loves sleeping on or near the water. “It brings (me) closer to nature.”

What sparked her interest?

“My parents won a cruise on the radio and one of the stops was Puerto Rico. They fell in love with the idea of living an “island life” so my dad started inquiring about jobs.” Sure enough he landed a newspaper job in Puerto Rico, and the family packed up and moved. “That’s when I fell in love with the ocean. Every weekend we would go to the beach. My parents bought a sailboat and started racing Hobie Cats.


“My dad found an old sailboat hull, pieced together parts from other old boats, bought an old sail, and made my brother, sister, and me a sailboat.

“We didn’t know any better and would take the boat out in the open ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico like it was our own back yard.”


Eventually the family moved back to the states. “We moved to Florida, which, of course, kept us going back to the water. Even as adults we would charter a large sailboat and spend family vacations on the boat in the Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands.

“It never really mattered if it was salt or fresh water, I just needed to be near the water. “

When I got a little older I started fishing with my husband (now deceased) and we would go every weekend we had a chance on the large party boats with 30-40 people.

“I always thought being a deep sea charter captain would be the ultimate job. It was just one of those dreams you knew you would go for, but just dream about it.”

She did venture out once when she talked to a captain on a charter and asked him if he could use a female mate. “He just kind of laughed at me,” she said.

“So I bought a boat and started going fishing on my own. I never really thought of doing it as a career after that.”

Along the way Debbie studied elementary education and became a teacher in Marion County. “ I loved sharing my fishing stories with my students and they always thought it was pretty cool their teacher would go out in the ocean fishing.”

Yet deep in her heart the embers of her dream still glowed. The flames just needed a little “fanning.” One day a fellow teacher bought a small business. “I was stunned and asked her what in the world was she thinking?”

The embers incubated. Then, suddenly, “a light bulb (more like a firecracker) went off in my head and I thought, Why not look into an existing small business to buy?”

That’s when ran into Captain Tom’s business for sale. “There was a picture of this little white-bearded man in a captain’s hat on a pontoon boat with passengers.

“I read through the description and saved the ad. I didn’t do anything with it for a few days, but Adam, my fiance, kept bugging me to at least contact (Captain Tom).” With Adam’s and the entrepreneurial friend’s encouragement, Debbie gave in and sent Captain Tom a message.

That Saturday they set up a meeting. She told Captain Tom she was a teacher but really wanted to do something else. “I just need a break,” she explained. They chatted a while, and Debbie told him she thought he was a blessing in disguise. “He got all choked up and said it gave him goose bumps.” That’s when she learned what Captain Tom had prayed the night before.

The deal is sealed. Debbie is the right choice.

“He thought I would be perfect.”


And it turned out Captain Debbie is perfect for the job.

Following Captain Tom’s legacy, she said, “we want to keep the business low key, laid back, a family type business.” In the meantime they continue adding fishing charters that work best for them and their guests.

Looking back, does she have any words of advice for others? “I would tell anyone that has a dream, and they have the opportunity to realize it, go for it.”

Captain Debbie recognized the risks of giving up a steady paycheck with benefits and insurance. “I was scared and worried I might end up losing everything. I gave up a lot, I am learning to live within a very tight budget, but one thing I did learn was that all the material things we hold on to are all just that…things.

“I would have never known if this was the right thing if I had not taken the chance, but most of all, I would not have met Captain Tom and formed such a wonderful bond and friendship. For that, I will always be grateful. Captain Tom O’Lenick changed my life forever and I have never looked back or regretted a single moment.”

“My dream is to be on the water and I guess I can say I am living my dream.”

Visit https://captaintomscustomcharters.net for more cruising details.

People of Central Florida

Carl Kautz, a Good-Natured Inspiration

1 Comment

 

by Jennifer Odom

 

Carl intrigued me from the start. With his easy laugh and jolly demeanor, here he was, 60 years old, in a sign language class, at the Center For Independent Living (CIL). Why? Yes, he had a wheelchair and difficulty speaking, but certainly wasn’t deaf. So, why bother with the sign language?

 

One day I noticed Carl, some distance away, lifting his wheelchair into the back seat of his van.  A young lady stepped up and offered to help. He gave her a smile and seemed to dismiss her. With the chair in the van, he edged himself around and climbed into the front seat. The sliding door closed automatically and he drove away. An independent sort, he seemed to take his challenges in stride…

US Army emblem on the back of Carl’s wheelchair. He lifted this chair into his van, then scooched around to the drivers seat and pulled himself in, where he drives using manual devices.

Impressed and curious, I wanted to learn more about this inspiring character.

Carl graciously agreed to an interview. First off, he explained that he was always interested in sign language. “I’d see it on TV. It’s so expressive. I fell in love with it and have taken (classes) on and off (at CIL) for years.

When Carl was a child, his father was in the U. S. Air Force and traveled. Carl, born in England, moved with the family to the states at age 1 1/2. He has lived in California, Alaska, Massachusetts, and Florida.

In his teens, Carl was a bit of a rebel. When his father suggested he join the Air Force, Carl joined the Army  instead. He laughs, “I thought I’d get to go to Germany and see Oktoberfest.  So where’d I end up? Ft. Benning, Georgia. What an armpit!”

How long was he enlisted? He grins. “Two years, eleven months, and a couple of days. The Army was an eye-opening experience for a kid wet behind the ears. But it gave me a career I could build on . It exposed me to life in general.”

In the meantime, Carl returned home. His father retired from the military and moved the family  to Ocala, Florida.

Carl, a civilian now, wisely used his GI Bill to earn an AS degree at CFCC, and eventually worked as a surveyor/subdivision designer for a private enterprise while practicing long distance running, (60-70 miles a week) and taking continuing classes at night.

Then in 1985 came the near-fatal accident, and consequently,  the wheelchair.

While driving his 65 Mustang, Carl was broadsided by a drunk. “Mom got the phone call at 2:00 in the morning, ‘your son’s dying.’ They performed  emergency surgery at Munroe Memorial Hospital and  transferred him to Orlando.

“I spent two months comatose in a fetal position. I had physical therapy, but it wasn’t much help at that point.

Fortunately he was in good physical shape. “Doctors said the running is what saved me.”

He laughs. “You lose all your modesty. They say, ‘Come on, you’re taking a shower,’ and you have to go.”

He spent 1 year in the Orlando rehab. “That time was hard on my parents. They’d drive down from Ocala to Orlando every weekend, bring me home, then take me back to rehab.” Two trips a week.

Carl dropped from 145 lbs to 120. “They said, you’re too thin, so I ate and ate. The flap over my esophagus was paralyzed and food went down the wrong way. I ended up with pneumonia and a feeding tube.”

Now he has what he calls a “second bellybutton.”

He laughs about it. “The grandkids love it.”

A paper airplane attached to the back of Carl’swheelchair by a doting grandchild. Maybe it was put there the help him move a little faster.

Some time before his wreck Carl had  worked for the City of Ocala.

“After my year in rehab,” he says, “My mom was reading a newspaper. She saw where the city needed a draftsman.”

He chuckles, “I guess they were hard up. My motor skills and reflex capacity were diminished. But the city was just at that time getting into computer drafting. I got in on the ground floor.”

Single until 5 1/2 years ago, he married Tammie, a friend he’d known for last 18 years. She came with ready-made children and grandchildren. “His heart of gold,” she says, is what attracted her. And, she adds, it was “his warmness, his willingness to do anything for anybody. The grandkids love Carl. They love him. They think the sun sets and rises on him.”

“They like my scooter,” he jokes. “Free rides.”

“And he’ll do anything for the grandkids,” Tammie says. “When Madison (a grand-daughter) was in gymnastics, or school plays, there was Papa.  He’s a very frugal person. But not with the grandkids.”

After her recent knee surgery she was unable to pick up the grandkids at school. Carl pitched right in.

Carl retired after 25 years with the City of Ocala as  a computer draftsman

Carl landscapes at home now, and is proud of his many fruits and flowers. Above his head are clusters of green bananas.

where he took plans from the engineers and drew up sewer plans, road-works, water plans, and landscaping. He worked extensively on Easy Street near the college, as well as 17th Avenue to the Interstate and out to 60th.

His wheelchair may slow things down, but it doesn’t stop Carl from enjoying his hobbies. His yard contains roses and fruit:  bananas, raspberries, figs, pecans, and  blueberries.

Carl’s fruiting pineapple plant.

 

He even jokes about the experimental pee fertilizer he has applied to his roses, and claims that it has really helped the blooms.

Carl is proud of his roses and readily shares them with friends.

But he warns, “It almost killed the raspberries.”

Carl warns, “It almost killed the raspberries.”

Besides his continued physical therapy to improve his hamstrings that were damaged during his coma, he works out twice a week at Too Your Health Spa. He works his upper body, lifts weights, works on his quads, does leg presses, and stretches his hamstrings. He is making progress, he says with another wide grin, and “not going backwards.”

Carl’s determination, his independence, and his willingness to keep on learning and being involved in life, seems to be the secret to this happy demeanor. His self-effacing humor goes a long way too, and wins him many friends.

Thank you, Carl. You go. You’re an inspiration to us all.

 

 

 

 

People of Central Florida, Places in Central Florida

Brother and Sister Blacksmiths Follow Creative Paths

Leave a comment

by Jennifer Odom

Right away I was captivated  by this adorable brother and sister blacksmithing team.  Heinrich Hole (38) and Heather Fordham, (27),  Members of FABA, or Florida Artist Blacksmith Association, are the perfect representatives of the organization.

I first located Heinrich Hole,

Heinrich Hole, creative blacksmithing teacher at Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Arts, hammers iron on an anvil.

a teacher of blacksmithing with the Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Arts, while gathering research for a novel.

https://www.pioneersettlement.org/

Wow! I jumped at this opportunity to come down and experience via the five senses, just what a blacksmith actually does.  I quickly emailed and asked to visit. Mr. Hole very graciously agreed and offered several possible dates. (But he kindly enlightened me that his name was not Mr. Faba, which I’d assumed from his email).

Shaped iron is cooled in a cooling bucket.

(More about the FABA organization and the pioneer settlement below). Upon arrival I met several delightful people, but these two fascinating siblings had wonderfully entwined blacksmithing pasts .

Decorative leaf twist added to handle

For Heinrich, the seeds of blacksmithing were sown at a young age by his father when he took him to the FABA meetings in Barberville. The fulfillment of Heinrich’s keen interest, though, would be delayed.

Heather, a skilled blacksmith, says, “You don’t have to be a big muscular man to get the job done. “

Heather recalls an early fascination as well. “I used to go to the Pioneer Art Settlement as a kid for the Fall Jamboree. (See more on the Jamboree below). Every year as soon as we got there I would hound my parents to take me to the blacksmith shop and I convinced them to leave me there while they enjoyed the rest of the event. I was in awe and fascinated by the work. After several years of doing this, just parking my butt in front of the blacksmith, they finally acknowledged that I was getting old enough to actually get involved, and I was invited to meetings and shown the basics.”

Heinrich, an avid enthusiast of astronomy, physics, math, and a student of many “how to” subjects, says, “All my life I have been exposed  to handy man type of working skills. Even before I was able to really do the work (my father) was already bringing me along so that we could have some father-son time. He really put a lot of effort into my growth as a craftsman.” These skills linked naturally to working at the forge.

When six years ago, Heinrich’s sister invited him to a FABA conference, it rekindled his interest in working with hot iron.

“ I’ve never looked back,” he says. “The ability blacksmithing gives a person to enable themselves to do what they want is incomprehensible.

“I’ve always had to be making things to be happy in life, and what you get is a lot of output. I’ve been making items from wood, beads, stone, and anything else I can get my hands on for as long as I can remember. Now consider that I’m that guy that has to show each thing I’ve made to EVERYbody I know, and what you get is a super creative, production, demonstrator, blacksmith.”

And no surprise. His talents led to 3 years of teaching and assisting  at the FABA conferences and a chance to instruct at Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Arts.

Besides this, Heinrich is now the N. E. Regional coordinator for FABA, and says he considers it an “opportunity to take my quadrant into whatever direction I think will make it the best it can be.”

Implements created by Heinrich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heather, with her own multiple interests, enjoys the outdoors and most things hands-on. She’s spent the last two years playing roller derby with the Thunder City Derby Sirens, and reads a lot, mostly sci-fi and fantasy.

Her training in iron work started out 9 years ago, when she studied under Lewis Riggleman. “It was probably the best weekend I ever had. That’s when I learned I would always have a place in my heart for this craft.” She especially enjoys making slightly decorative “handy house items and fire place tools. Anything I make, though, I want to be useful, not just art.”

Her next goal is to work on forge-welding. “There have been too many times that I saw something I wanted to make and backed down because I’ve been too intimidated by the welding aspects.”

The brother and sister team started their iron-work together underneath the shade of an oak tree. “You can’t work hot metal if you are in the sun.” Henrich says, “because you can’t see its color. You don’t know how hot it is and that’s a really big deal.”

They soon moved the operation under their dad’s vacated shade structure, which now protected them from the rain as well. At first they shared one anvil and a brake-drum forge. Now, Heinrich says, “we each have our own tool for most of the things we do and can do most of what we want.”

The siblings plan to always be learning the next thing and growing together in their craft skills.

In fact, they’ve already selected a corporate name, and Heinrich and Heather hope to one day have a full shop of their own in a “proper manufacturing setting.”

Their advice to beginners?

“Don’t look at the shops you see in videos,” Heinrich says. “You don’t need that. In the beginning you will need to develop your skills in improvising, but you can get by with a hole in the ground and a sledge hammer head half-buried in the ground for an anvil. In blacksmithing your creativity will determine your limits more than what tools you have. If you don’t love problem-solving then just put the hammer down and back away slowly.”

“If you don’t love problem-solving then just put the hammer down and back away slowly.”

Heather advises, “Just go for it! Find a class, take it. Find out if it’s something you can be passionate about.”

Most importantly, she assures us, and as evidenced by the women attending the FABA meeting, “It’s not as hard as it looks. You don’t have to be a big muscular man to get the job done. Don’t let people discourage you from trying. It’s totally worth it!”

“If you do love problem solving,” Heinrich says, “and can’t find enough creative outlets to satisfy you, then come on over to the dirty side and see where you can take it. Blacksmithing has changed my life forever, and I’d love to share it with anyone that is willing to show an interest. Come see me on second Saturdays at the Barberville Pioneer Settlement and I’ll share my love of the craft with you.”

For visits or lessons you can contact Barberville Pioneer Settlement of the Arts at 386-749-2959 or visit the website at https://www.pioneersettlement.org/

 

What is FABA?

Florida Artist Blacksmith Association (FABA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to teaching and preserving the art and craft of the blacksmith.  First formed in 1984, FABA is an affiliate of the Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America (ABANA).

FABA is a group whose purpose is to “promote the art and craft of forging metal.” They are “a group of people from across Florida who meet to teach and learn about blacksmithing and related metalworking skills,” and declare that “all interested parties are welcome at all meetings.”

My daughter and I attended and were warmly welcomed. We found that FABA is not a group of stuffy, grumpy old men, but a vibrant gathering of interesting, clever individuals, both men and women, who are  interested and willing to teach and share their skills.

John Hare, one of the many friendly faces of FABA, holds a rounded hammer he crafted.

Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Arts, where this quadrant of FABA meets,  has several forges. During  the meetings the blacksmiths take turns demonstrating, practicing, and teaching.

For more details, see https://blacksmithing.org/

Their annual conference will be held in Ocala, Florida October 26, 27, 28, 2018 . For more details see https://fabaconference.org/

What is Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Arts?

Just the best kept secret ever….!

Barberville Pioneer Settlement for the Arts, a non-profit historical village museum, is a collection of buildings and artifacts on Hwy 40 between Ocala and Ormond Beach, Florida. Founded in 1976,  their mission is to educate and entrust the public and future generations with knowledge of the pioneer lifestyle of our forefathers, through hands on experience, folk life demonstrations, preservation and historical exhibits.

There you’ll find many activities: music workshops and lessons, blacksmithing and lessons, square dancing, weaving, candle making, chili cook-offs, ice cream churn-offs, raising of farm animals, and so much more.

Their big event coming up is the Fall Jamboree on November 3 and 4, 2018. See

https://www.pioneersettlement.org/fall-country-jamboree

for more details and a flyer.

But don’t miss the main webpage. There is so much more!

https://www.pioneersettlement.org/

See you there!

 

 

 

 

People of Central Florida, Places in Central Florida, Plants of Central Florida, Uncategorized

Golf Course Wildflowers in Out of Play Areas a Benefit

2 Comments

by Jennifer Odom

Coreopsis in out-of-play golf areas.                                                     Photo courtesy of Matthew Borden

Really? By planting certain flowers on our golf course’s out-of-play areas, the golf course can actually reduce the presence of harmful insects? Yes! The very ones that gobble up the golf course grass, and the ones we’ve been dumping all the pesticides on.

That is exactly what a study by Dr. Adam Dale (Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Turf and Ornamental Entomology at the University of Florida), and students Rebecca Perry and Grace Cope, set out to determine.

Grace and Rebecca at work. Photo courtesy of Dr. Adam Dale

Dr. Adam Dale inspects coreopsis on golf course. Photo courtesy of Dr. Adam Dale

The study’s three goals were to see how these plantings would affect the conservation of vital pollinators (bees, butterflies, and other needed species), how they would affect the pests’ natural enemies (predators ), and if that translated into reduced pests (like turf worms).

It absolutely did. Pollinators and pollinator diversity increased.

 

Bees are one of the essential pollinators attracted to these areas.                                                    Photo courtesy of Matthew Borden

Biological control of pests increased. ( In other words, pests decreased).

Pest on golf course turf grass. Photo courtesy of Dr. Adam Dale

Think of it. Reduced pesticides!

Did you know that 40-70% of golf course acreage is out-of-play? What a huge opportunity!

And there are other benefits.

According to Matthew Borden, MS Entomology and Doctor of Plant Medicine Student at the University of Florida, “…careful selection of plant choices, including native species, can translate to significant savings for the golf course.”

 

Besides the reduction in the need for pesticides, other likely economic benefits would include reduced mowing and irrigation areas. In Borden’s article Golf Courses as a Source of Habitat Conservation in the Urban Landscape, he cites several golf courses in arid regions of our country who have saved a million gallons a year each by optimizing their natural landscape.

Golf course and other wild flowers.                                                     Photo courtesy of Matthew Borden

 

Not only that, golfers would enjoy a beautiful flowerscape all year, thanks to the wise selection of flowers.

As Floridians, many of us are stunned, even frightened at the rapid building and urbanization of the Florida landscape.

Directly related to that, imagine the impact all this building has on our native wildlife. The natural Florida we once knew is disappearing into roads, concrete, and the cutting off the wildlife corridors (paths for native animals). This creates a desperate predicament by shoving the wildlife into a corner and endangering animal lives.

Imagine our 1,100 Florida golf courses and 525 golf communities. The proposed natural areas across this great span could alleviate part of this problem by allowing a  series of natural corridors to connect over a great many acres.

The simple measures above are an easy way to return a portion of what’s been taken away from all of us.

What can we do?

Fortunately, golf superintendents who collaborated with the UF/IFAS Dale Lab, demonstrated an eagerness in finding ways to reduce environmental impacts and to provide environmental benefits. Yours could, too.

First, learn more (see the links below).

Second, talk up the ideas with other golfers and golf superintendents. Remember, the educated public knows it  is NOT cool to waste natural resources like water, over-use pesticides, or obliterate animal habitats and corridors. Golf courses have long been scorned for doing just that,  and for hurting the environment. They can redeem themselves through cooperation.

Third, show your superintendent how to be part of the solution. Encourage him to become pro-active, to become a leader in conservation, and to keep track of changes and resulting savings. Encourage him to publicize his efforts and successes and to stand tall as a leader.

Dr. Adam Dale, a voice of reason and common sense.                    Photo courtesy of Dr. Adam Dale

Where will Dr. Dale’s research go from here? “We are currently working on publishing this research in a multitude of formats,” he says. His purpose is to “reach as many people and as diverse an audience as possible.”

He added that his team has started new projects…investigating monarch butterfly conservation habitat strategies and plant species that do well in wetland habitats that will also provide conservation and ecological benefits.”

How is Dr. Dale reaching the greater public with these creative ideas? “We are traveling around the state giving presentations about the research results and methods to golf course superintendents. We are also publishing this information…and working with IFAS Communications to publicize and market these practices.”

It’s a great idea and I hope it spreads like wildfire.

If you’d like to get on board to spread this information, contact him:

Dr. Adam Dale, agdale@ufl.edu. Or view his website, Landscape Entomology at UF, https://dalelab.org/

Golf Course Ecology https://dalelab.org/golf-course-ecology/

http://1000friendsofflorida.org/florida2070/

Photo courtesy of Matthew Borden

 

People of Central Florida, Uncategorized

Negative Words Rejected-Eva Marie Everson

4 Comments

by Jennifer Odom

The question was simple, straightforward. Like all children, Eva Marie had answered it many times before this fateful day in seventh grade. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Eva Marie waited her turn as Mrs. X went up and down the rows calling on each of her students to declare their future career: doctor, lawyer, secretary… She nodded at each student’s response and commented positively as if each would surely succeed.

Eva Marie had no doubt about what she wanted to be, something she had wanted to be as far back as she could remember.

From early on, her “Norman Rockwell childhood” had pointed her in that direction.

“I always loved to tell stories. I could often be found creating plays and entertainment for the mothers of the Sylvania, Georgia neighborhood. I “directed” my neighborhood playmates and I created the shows, even choreographing them.”

Eva Marie as a young child

Though not directly encouraged by her parents to take up the career she wanted, they recognized her talents and inclinations. Her father even tried to steer her into radio and television.

Surely this lithe, well-spoken, brown-eyed southern girl, active in swimming, biking, Girl Scouts, church groups, VBS, dance classes, and piano lessons, knew her heart and could not be confused about her direction!

At last Mrs. X called on Eva Marie. “And what about you?”

Eva Marie answered, “I want to be a novelist.”

Mrs. X gazed directly into Eva Marie’s eyes. “Well. You can’t do that.”

Can’t do it? But…

Mrs. X turned away and directed the class to open their textbooks.

What was wrong with being a novelist?

Eva Marie’s face burned. She quickly turned to escape the stares of her classmates and blinked back tears as she located the book in her desk. Disappointment cinched her heart like a band. Eva Marie could hardly wait for the bell to ring.

The teacher’s damaging words clung like a leech. “I believed her. I kept my dream to myself for the most part. I felt that no one would take me seriously as a writer.”

Eva Marie continued to write, though, even producing a “novel” in the 8th grade, which “most of my friends read,” she says. “They loved it, which should have told me something but it didn’t.”

Eva Marie in 1977

Oddly, when once Eva Marie turned in a less-than-her-best assignment to another teacher who said she “‘believed I could do better than that.’ It inadvertently encouraged me. The fact that (the teacher) believed in something I could do meant everything to me.”

Additional support came through another teacher who gave Eva Marie the lead in a school play.

But Mrs. X thoughtless remark  nearly caused irreparable damage.

As a result, “I became a nurse. I kept writing but I didn’t follow that (writing) career path.”

Eva Marie as a nurse

Though “nothing is ever wasted,” she says, “I wish I’d perhaps chosen a different path. Fortunately, no one ever died because of my choice. I quit working in the “outside world” when I became very ill in my late thirties. It took five years to get well, and in that time period I began to write. The rest was an amazing experience of watching one door swing open and then another and another.”

After a long series of events, Eva Marie sat with an editor at a large book sellers convention. This led to a discussion of a book Eva Marie had considered writing. “Nine days later, (the editor) called and said, ‘I’d like to offer you a contract’…and here we went.”

Eva Marie’s career was launched, and today, she has many, many books to her credit. She’s written and ghostwritten dozens of books, her latest being The Final Race and the upcoming The Ornament Keeper.

Her page on Goodreads states, “Eva Marie Everson is a best-selling, multiple award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction. She is the president of Word Weavers International and the director of Florida Christian Writers Conference. She enjoys teaching and speaking at writers conferences across the US as well as coaching new writers via her company, Pen In Hand, Inc.”

And that is only the tip of the iceberg, Mrs. X! Through Pen in Hand, Eva Marie encourages others to become writers in their chosen genre.

Romans 11:29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” They are irrevocable.

I’m so glad Eva Marie has re-discovered her gift and is working it obediently. In God’s economy the nursing detour was not a complete waste, though, for “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28b.

And to all of us who’ve accidentally walked in Mrs. X’s shoes while not intending to, let us now begin to encourage one other in our gifts and callings.

In the meantime, keep one eye open. It would not surprise me one day to hear that Eva Marie has written a screenplay or directed a movie. After all, she has already taken a screenplay (for the 2012 movie, Unconditional) and turned it into a novel!

You go, Eva Marie!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To find out more about Eva Marie, her books and organizations, click the links below:

https://www.evamarieeversonauthor.com/

http://www.word-weavers.com/

http://www.floridacwc.net/

 

 

 

People of Central Florida

Heroine of Hurricane Irma-Annette D’Amore

2 Comments

by Jennifer Odom

It was right after Hurricane Irma that I  first met Annette D’Amore. Her friend Linda had asked her to tag along for a workday to help a total stranger. Winds had knocked over two huge oaks and they’d landed across the stranger’s house,  pretty much destroying it.

Of course she’d go!

D’Amore, 57, and disabled from an old injury, knew she could still pile moss and sticks onto the wagons while others  carted them away. D’Amore was happy to do her part.

Helping others is in her nature. Her actions remind me of the old command, Love your neighbor.

Back in 2011, when the her doctor advised D’Amore to get moving or get in a wheelchair,

she adopted three bloodhounds, all rescue pets.

Glinda, one of three bloodhouns D’Amore adopted

 Search dogs first drew D’Amore’s attention when she worked in freight for the airlines. “Police dogs came into the freight office to train, smelling around for drugs and things,” she said.

Though the three dogs were initially just for her exercise, company, and security, D’Amore later recalled a story about bloodhounds that had sniffed out bombs in Philadelphia. “Why not me? I can train dogs,” she said.  Why couldn’t she take her exercise dogs and train them to do something along the same lines, like Search and Rescue (SAR)?

D’Amore’s character trait of responding to the needs of others was what led her to discover Search and Rescue of Central Florida, (SARCF) a group in Sanford, Florida.

http://www.sarcf.com/

And it is  a wonderful organization.

According to D’Amore, the group mainly searches for  missing loved ones. That could mean children, autistic people, citizens with Alzheimer’s who are lost in the woods–but not usually criminals. SARCF “deploys in search of human subjects only, unless at the request and coordination of an official law enforcement agency. ”

Lost hikers

SARCF states that its mission is to provide “high-quality, reliable search, and rescue assistance during emergencies utilizing the most appropriate resources available and to provide applicable training and education to the public.”

“Part of the group’s mission is personal training, “D’Amore said. Members must pass tests on “navigation, man-tracking, area searches, map skills, and geological area.”

D’Amore found herself traveling two hours each way to Sanford,  to obtain this level 3 training as a field tracker with SARCF.

And then she had to find ways to overcome her handicap as she trained.

Besides the human volunteers, search and rescue dogs , (which have to be friendly and not show aggression in any way whatsoever),  must also go through extensive training, testing, and certification. With that in mind, D’Amore then prepared for level 2, the training of her bloodhounds for dog handling.

Once the National Association of Search and Rescue, NASAR, sets up a new testing site, (the Sarasota certification date got cancelled because of Hurricane Irma), D’Amore is eager for her dogs to pass their tests and gain their certification.

Annette with Glinda preparing for search

Part of their exam consists of a “live find.” A subject must hide at least a 1/2 mile away with a path of 4-5 turns. The dogs smell a “scent article,” and must not only find, but indicate that the person is the subject they are looking for when they are located.

Glinda gets the scent

 

 

 

 

Glinda finds the lost hikers

The rigorous dog testing must be repeated every two years.

Besides field searchers, like D’Amore, there are many other roles for members of SAR teams. Among them are flankers, boat operators, base and field communicators (HAM radio), and metal detection, all voluntary.

A special kind of dedication, like D’Amore’s, is needed for this kind of training and the resulting searches. Members, once certified, are on call 24-7 to serve on the SAR team.

Field tracker/dog handler supplies

When  volunteers are called out, the work is heavy, and the equipment, paid for by the volunteers themselves, is not cheap. Searchers may find themselves hip deep in water, mud, or pressing through the woods. They must wear special protective clothing, bug spray, safety glasses, hat, safety vests, and special waterproof and snake proof boots.

Dogs wear their own special vests and harnesses.

Along with a searcher’s walking stick there is a backpack loaded with of specific essentials like a 24-hour ready-pack, a thermal sleeping bag, a rain poncho, plenty of food like MREs, crackers and snacks as well as food for the dogs, and especially water.

There were many heroes in the wake of Hurricane Irma. But it was my privilege to meet this one, Annette D’Amore, a friendly volunteer, bloodhound rescuer, and Search and Rescue champion.

Annette and Winston

The world is a better place, a friendlier place, because of people like Annette who will go out of their way, at their own expense, to share love with their fellow man, even despite her own problems. Thank you, Annette. It’s an honor to know you.

 

 

 

People of Central Florida

Christen Mejias, Up to Her Elbows in Soap

Leave a comment

 

by Jennifer Odom

Bubbles overflowed the toilet bowl. Four year old Christen Mejias and her older brother poured and mixed whatever liquid soaps and shampoos they could find.

Making beauty “potions” was a favorite pastime until her mom caught them and ran them out. “Stop flushing things down the toilet!”

The scientific experiences must have paid off, because Christen, at age 34, is now a bona-fide soap-maker.

Encouraged in that direction by her mom and dad, Robin and David Maddock, she said, “I loved doing … science experiments on my own when I was little.” When she was old enough she attended Brio Academy of Cosmetology in Connecticut, learning to do facials in a spa, work with dermatologists, handle chemicals, and prepare people for surgeries. She graduated as a Certified Esthetician and in 2008 moved to Ocala, Florida, which she loves, and where she hopes to stay.

But in the recession, unlike her IT-specialist husband, she struggled to find a job. Instead, she dedicated herself to being a stay at home mom.

Christen was shocked at the carcinogens found in her everyday cleaning products.

With her hands frequently immersed in cleaning products she was dismayed at the ingredients on their labels. “These weren’t environmentally friendly products. Surprisingly, I found that carcinogens (substances that are known to cause cancer) were in our lotions, soaps, makeup, baby shampoo, household cleaning products, and more!”

She began experimenting with safe kitchen-cleaner formulas and working with essential oils. Everything had to be environmentally friendly as it went down the drain.

She grew “passionate” about natural ingredients and skincare. “I set out on a mission to find a healthier option…to learn more.”

That’s when she stumbled across bar-soap making. She tested different formulas and ingredients and came across the cold-process of making soap where not a lot of heat is used. “The soap naturally makes heat on its own as you combine the oils and sodium hydroxide.”

“Science always fascinated me growing up.” She grins. “And this is all science. It’s chemistry.”

A few of Christen’s samples

“Making soap is not that simple. It’s taken me years of research and experimenting, testing, and studying to come up with this formula, and I ended up with a recipe and results, the kind of bar I liked.”

“My husband’s probably tried every girly-smelling soap. He loves that I love what I do, and I’m blessed he’s supportive.”

At her home-studio, each bar is made with 100% pure essential oils and/or high quality, phthalate-free fragrance oils.”(It) isn’t just dumped into the mold. Each loaf is designed and sketched before it’s handcrafted into small batches.”

Eventually she got the courage to start selling online. With her husband’s technical help she began selling through Etsy. In 2011 someone suggested she sell her soaps at the Ocala Farmer’s Market. So she brought her product, set up shop, and has been there almost every Saturday since.

Christen Mejias and her father tend store at the Ocala Farmer’s Market

Today she franchises out with several private labels--her soaps with their name wrapped around it.  She has a private label, a wholesale account, and also sells at Earth Fare Supermarket.

“One day when the kids (who absolutely do not play in the toilet) are bigger, I’m hoping to have a storefront.”

In the meantime, she continues refining her Naturally Pure products of lip butters, lotions, essential oils, soaps, and deodorant.

A variety of wonderful scents

As her mother once said, “I should have known all those years ago, when you were a little girl…that you would grow up to make something beautiful.”

Find Christen’s  products online at www.naturallypurebc.com