Avondale home has national curb appeal
Secret was kept for more than a year Terry and Walter Woodliefs’ “15 minutes of fame” was planned, but still arrived unexpectedly. It all started in April 2014 when the Woodliefs were invited to participate in a hush-hush project. Although Terry Woodlief first thought the invitation was at best a ploy to sign up for […]
Taking the road past the unthinkable
This is a love story. After a life of being single, Pamela Telis found the love of her life in her mid-50s. It is also a story about living, not dying. Married five years, Telis received news two days before Christmas 2014 no one ever wants to hear: her husband, Harold McKeon, was diagnosed with […]
Backyard beekeeper keeps neighborhood healthy
In the backyard of Ruth Murrey Thompson’s house on Osceola Street, a six-foot privacy fence separates six colorful bee hives from her Riverside neighbors. They often spy her dressed in a white long-sleeved jacket, gloves and a veiled hat over her head, as Thompson, an advocate of urban beekeeping, cares for her honey bees or […]
Mosaic mural project draws observers, helpers
Art in Public Places truly a public work of art Had the “call for artists” for the Southbank Riverwalk Main Street Bridge mural project gone another way, the process may have been a whole lot different and the outcome, perhaps, viewed in another light. Fortuitously, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s project description to create […]
From neighborhood street to 14,000 feet
Avondale couple’s bucket list adventure For several months, neighborhood residents have been remarking on the unusual sightings of a man and woman in mountaineering kit, apparently hiking the sidewalks of Avondale, Riverside and downtown Jacksonville. In a relatively urban environment, trekking poles and technical packs are enough to raise a few eyebrows and more than […]
Bubbles of hope, prayers for Pierce
Artistic expression comes in all forms and, apparently, so do prayers. With each swoop of his arm and twist of his wrist, when Lakeside resident Bill Watson releases massive soap bubbles into the air, each iridescent globule represents a prayer for his grandson, Pierce Watson. His “bubbles of hope” began earlier this year when the […]
Volunteers Brave Cold to Support Park
First Time a Charm for Cleanup Effort Despite starting temperatures in the 30s, over 60 volunteers turned out to give Boone Park South (the portion between Herschel Street and St. John’s Avenue) its first good cleaning and clearing in many years on Love Boone Park Day, Feb. 14. “We really had a successful day,” said […]
From the heart of Riverside, a water spirit emerges
For more than two decades, artist and Florida Master Naturalist Sarah Crooks Flaire’s work has orbited the themes of the natural world. Exploring themes of the river, its surrounding ecology, and our interactions with nature, Crooks Flaire’s current project strives to draw the viewer in to become part of the creative process, introducing people to […]
