Check out my business profile article about Fluid Metal Works, Inc. on page 25 in the May 2011 edition of the Downtown Crowd...

http://www.ballingerpublishing.com/files/DTC_lowResMay2011.pdf

Check out my article about the 27th Annual Pensacola Crawfish Festival in the April/May 2011 edition of Pensacola Magazine on pages 10-11...  http://www.ballingerpublishing.com/files/PM_bc_AprilMayLow.pdf

 

Check out my articles in the March/April 2011 Home and Garden edition of Pensacola Magazine on pages 24-27... http://www.ballingerpublishing.com/files/PM_BC_MarchApril.pdf

 

Check out my business profile article in the April 2011 edition of Downtown Crowd (dtc) on page29... http://www.ballingerpublishing.com/files/DTC_April_2011_lr.pdf

Sausage festival links fun and food

By Shelley Austin

Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Updated: Thursday, March 18, 2010 14:03

                                        Special to the Voyager

T. Tomlinson will perform

 With several fun rides, crafts, food and live entertainment by performers such as singer and songwriter Trent Tomlinson, families are sure to enjoy their time at the 24th annual Beulah Sausage Festival, March 19-21.     

 Beau Rodrique, the Beulahfest chairman, said the event started with an appreciation spaghetti dinner that the Beulah Volunteer Fire Department had for the community using left over money from a door-to-door collection  drive in 1985.  

 
The boot drive was how the fire department raised money to purchase fire fighting equipment before there were taxes to fund fire departments.

"After they got all they needed that year, they decided to give back the best way they could," Rodrique said.    

                                 Special to the Voyager

The event was formerly known as the Beulah Sausage Festival, and sausage is still the main food item that is served. Rodrique said that they cook about 6,400 pounds of Thompson's Cajun and Italian sausage over the entire weekend.     

"This is the first year that we changed the name just so we could kind of open ourselves up to possibly another avenue, entertainment-wise," he said. 

"For the last several years, we've had quite a few Nashville country artists – Taylor Swift, Darryl Worley, Craig Morgan and Tracy Byrd.  

"This year we have Charlie Daniels, Joe Diffie, Trent Tomlinson, and then we have several local acts, as far as our main headlines go," Rodrique said.

The festival will also include a 5K charity run, a motorcycle ride to benefit Sacred Heart's Miracle Camp and a firematics competition, in which area fire departments will compete for trophies.  

Aside from the many food vendors and live entertainment, rides furnished by James Gang Amusements will include a mechanical bull, as well as a rollercoaster ride. French fries, ice cream sundaes, elephant ears and other carnival foods will also be included, Rodrique said.

Rodrique said that all money raised from Beulahfest goes to local charities, organizations and towards the following year's festival. He said that no one is paid to help put the festival together.   

"Me, being the chairman, I'm not paid at all," he said. "This is 100 percent volunteer for me and for everybody else that's on our team."  

Funds raised from the event go toward organizations such as Sacred Heart Miracle Camp, WEAR's First Book of Pensacola, several local churches, ball fields and the Beulah Academy of Science.  

Beulahfest will be held at the Escambia County Equestrian Center located at 7750 Mobile Highway. Tickets are $5 Friday and $10 Saturday and Sunday. Prepaid weekender passes are $18, and the family fun pack is $60.

About 40,000 visitors are expected at the event, Rodrique said.      

   
"Every year we grow and grow and add more things and really try to put on a bigger and better festival," he said. "You certainly can't see the names that we bring in from Nashville for $5 and $10 by any means anywhere else."   

For more information about Beulahfest, visit www.beulahfest.com.   

http://www.thevoyager.net/entertainment/sausage-festival-links-fun-and-food-1.2194108

Festival blooms soon

By Shelley Austin

Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 12:03

• 
  

The 10th annual Festival on the Green will be held March 26-27 at the University of West Florida's main campus. The hours will be noon to 5 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

It will be free and open to the public.

"The overall festival itself kicks off with the Honors Convocation, which is one of the venues for the festival," said Jeff Comeau, festival chairman and assistant director for the Office of Human Resources.

The convocation will be held in front of the John C. Pace Library entrance on Friday at 11 a.m. to recognize students, faculty and staff for academic excellence, leadership, teaching and service.

The festival will feature 20 venues, including outdoor food vendors, arts and crafts produced and sold by regional vendors and a juried show featuring paintings, jewelry and pottery.

There will also be a time portal to the past, which will show re-enactments from different periods in Pensacola's past. The portal to the past will include presentations and appearances by the UWF Archaeology Institute and West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc.

Comeau said that the festival started as a project of a UWF leadership development program. The campus LEAD class of 2000 put together a concept and presented it to the University president's cabinet, which accepted it enthusiastically, and the first festival was held in 2001, he said.

"We looked at some concepts that were put in place in the early ‘80s," Comeau said. "That was a very small version of the festival in which they had a little bit of music from one of the University bands and a small outdoor event."

Comeau said that the festival was not on the same scale of what it is now. "It didn't feature most of the things that we do now, with the exception of the art," he said.

This year, a new event featuring a time portal to the future will include tours of the new UWF School of Science and Engineering. A flight simulator will feature tactical wars and battles for a $5 fee.

In addition, Festival on the Green will include a tennis tournament featuring matches between men's and women's teams from UWF and Valdosta State, Delta State and other colleges. Also included will be a library book sale, dog agility show and a motorcycle show.

Various groups of motorcyclists will be coming in and giving some safety demonstrations, and then basically a motorcycle show to show people some of the latest and the greatest and older ones as well," Comeau said.
A children's festival, another venue, will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"It's got tons of events, and some of the things featured there are previews of summer programs that UWF offers young people in our region," Comeau said.

The children's festival will include games, activities, face paintings and appearances by Ronald McDonald and Uncle Sandy's MaCaws, a bird show that features exotic birds.

Comeau said that the festival will be spread out all over campus. "We'll have trolleys going around helping people get from one spot to the next," he said.

The festival will also feature off-the-green events such as the alumni award celebration at the Commons Conference Center, a jazz fest at the downtown Pensacola historic Seville Square, and a student art show at the UWF Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

"I'm thinking this is the best entertainment lineup that we've ever had," he said. For more information about the event, visit uwf.edu/festival or call 850-474-3000.
http://www.thevoyager.net/entertainment/festival-blooms-soon-1.2199928

JazzFest cues up soon

By Shelley Austin

Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 14:04

This year, Pensacola's JazzFest, which attracts about 16,000 people annually, will include nationally known artists (such as Frank Sinatra's pianist of many years Russ Kassoff), and a performance by the Phillips Piano Jazz Competition winner.

The 27th annual JazzFest will be held April 10-11 at Seville Square. The hours will be Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Produced by the Jazz Society of Pensacola, JazzFest is an all-jazz event that is free and open to the public.

The funding for the festival also comes from corporate sponsorships and in-kind donations.

"We have some really top quality out-of- towners who are coming in," said Kathy Lyon, administrator for the Jazz Society of Pensacola, which sponsors the event.

The lineup will include Aaron Weinstein who was named a "rising star violinist" by "Downbeat Magazine,"
Loren Pickford, a Grammy-nominated saxophonist, flutist, pianist, vocalist, composer and recording artist, and Dennis Mackrel, a drummer who has performed with iconic musicians such as Quincy Jones.

Kathy Lyon will also perform a couple of jazz-blues blends from her CD on Saturday at 5 p.m. She said, "I'll be singing for an hour, so I'll be delivering the best songs I can do."

Local middle school, high school and college jazz bands will also perform on both days from 10 a.m. to about 1 p.m. They include the Ransom Middle School Jazz Band, Pine Forest High School Jazz Band, University of West Florida Jazz Band and Pensacola Junior College Jazz Band.

"It's just such a neat opportunity for these kids from middle school all the way to college to rub elbows and be able to connect and chat with these really famous guys who are top professionals," Lyon said. "It's a great mix, because there's all this inspiration and communication between all these different levels of people."
Lyon said that the musicians will be mingling with the crowd.

"At a lot of the jazz festivals, you never get close to the artists," she said. "Ours is kind of intimate, casual and relaxed."

Aside from jazz performances, JazzFest will also include food vendors and crafts exhibits featuring jewelry, paintings and photographs. At a jazz jam session for children starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday, kids will receive complimentary harmonicas and kazoos, and will be given basic music lessons.

In addition, the sixth-annual Phillips Jazz Piano Competition will coincide with JazzFest, and will be held April 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Saenger Theatre. This event will also be free and open to the public.

Made possible by the generosity of Kathleen T. and Dr. Philip B. Phillips, the event is a nationally recognized jazz competition that gives jazz pianists the opportunity to showcase their skills. Contestants must be between the ages of 18 and 35 and enrolled in a jazz program in the United States.

"This year we received applications from 18 universities throughout the country from contestants who are then cut down through a preliminary judging process to five," said Kyle Marrero, interim vice president for university advancement.

The five finalists, who were chosen by a panel of UWF music professors were announced on March 25. They're from the University of Miami, William Patterson University, Columbia University, the University of Texas and the University of North Texas.

After the finalists perform their 20-minute sets, the judges deliberate, and the audience gets to choose an audience favorite. The judges will include Russ Kassoff and the 2008 Phillips Jazz Piano Competition winner, Donald Vega.

The first place winner will receive $5,000 and perform at JazzFest on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. The second place winner will receive $3,000, the third place winner will receive $1,500, and the fourth and fifth place winners will receive $250.

"Each year, the level of the competitors, and reach of the competition in terms of its national exposure, becomes greater and greater," Marrero said.

Lyon said that JazzFest audience survey results over the last couple of years showed that people from Mexico, Germany, and Japan attended.

She said, "There are a lot of great cultural events here, and we are glad to be one of the events that help to make Pensacola such a great vacation destination."
http://www.thevoyager.net/entertainment/jazzfest-cues-up-soon-1.2212822

UWF takes lead in Fla. in RecycleMania

By Shelley Austin Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 14:04

With only one day left before submitting the final percentages, the University of West Florida is in the lead with a 35 percent recycle rate over five other Florida schools competing in the Waste Minimization category of RecycleMania's international competition.

Currently, UWF has a larger recycle rate than the University of Miami, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University.

RecycleMania is an international competition between colleges and universities that promotes waste-reduction activities in campus communities.

Over a 10-week period, about 600 schools reported weekly recycling and trash data. It was ranked by who collected the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, or the highest recycling rate.

 

The first two weeks were a trial period and didn't count.

The competition was run by the Office of Environmental Sustainability from Jan. 17 to March 27, and all UWF campuses and centers participated.

UWF's single-stream recycling rate rose from 13 percent in the first week to an average of 34 percent during the entire eight-week period.

"For the weeks of Feb. 1 to March 17, we recycled 75 percent more cardboard, paper, plastics and cans than we did in the previous year," said Larry McGrady, coordinator for the Office of Environmental Sustainability.

"The Office of Environmental Sustainability, UWF Housing and Residence Life, Student Activities and the Student Government Association all contributed to RecycleMania," McGrady said.

RecycleMania is separated into two separate divisions. In the competition division, schools are shown in weekly results and eligible to win a given category.

 

In the benchmark division, schools are unregulated in how they choose to participate. This division does not include placement in the official rankings or eligibility to win any categories.

"We all came together as a team and decided to do the competition division," McGrady said. "We competed against the whole country."

Of all schools participating in the Waste Minimization category, so far, UWF is ranked 76 out of 200. "That's pretty good for our first time competing," McGrady said. "Some of these schools have done this for four years in a row."

The Waste Minimization category determines who produces the least amount of municipal solid waste, including both recyclables and trash.

According to RecycleMania's Web site, North Lake College is currently ranked No. 1 in Waste Minimization, and Union College is ranked last at 200.

UWF is currently ranked 117 out of 346 in the Per Capita Classic category, which collects the largest amount of acceptable recyclables, and 138 out of 346 in the Gorilla Prize category, which collects the highest gross tonnage of recyclables.

McGrady kept weekly records of garbage and recyclable amounts on a spreadsheet. Allied Waste Services provided the amounts for recyclables such as cans, cardboard, paper and plastics that were taken off campus.

 

The Office of Environmental Sustainability made estimates for 8-cubic yard, 4-cubic yard and 2-cubic yard garbage dumpsters, by using weight and conversion factors provided by RecycleMania.

 

The total garbage is divided by the total number of people on campus.
Read more of this article online at thevoyager.net


During the competition, Allied Waste Services provided 15 extra recycle dumpsters free of charge. "It would've cost about $1,400 a month," said Mike Brumfield, territory sales representative for Allied Waste Services.

Allied Waste Services also provided a free cookout on campus during the event to help promote it. Flyers were handed out during the cookout, and a banner provided by Recyclemania was displayed around campus during the competition.

 

Flyers were also placed in "The Voyager" and on tables in the Commons. "It was a good way to gain awareness," Brumfield said.

McGrady said that his office and Allied Waste Services are in the process of negotiating whether UWF can keep about half of the recycle dumpsters provided during the competition.

 

"I think they're going to let us do it," McGrady said. "I talked to the contractor, and he said it shouldn't be a problem, but that he was going to check with the district manager."

 

Brumfield said that the dumpsters will be free of charge if approved.

Recycle dumpster locations include Village East and Village West Apartments, John C. Pace Library, the new School of Science and Engineering, the softball field and the trolley gate near Building 54.

McGrady said that his office is working with Common Area Solutions, a facility maintenance company, to improve the on-ground recycling on campus.

 

He said, "We're looking at sorting and separating the materials instead of single-streaming it."  

Winners of the competition will receive an award with their school's name and competition category inscribed on it. They will also be acknowledged in a public awards ceremony.

 

Winners and final amounts will be revealed April 16 on RecycleMania's Web site.

McGrady said that although UWF will most likely not win any of the categories this year, he is proud of what it accomplished, and looks forward to participating in the competition again next year.

 

"We went from sending 22 tons of garbage per week to the landfill," he said. "We reduced that to 14 tons per week."

http://www.thevoyager.net/news/uwf-takes-lead-in-fla-in-recyclemania-1.2221275

Tech fee funds soon will be put to use

By Shelley Austin Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 14:03

With approximately $960,000 generated from the $4.42 per-credit-hour technology fee that was implemented in fall of 2009, University of West Florida students may be wondering how the money will be spent.    

Now that proposals by academic departments have been made and proposal requests for individual faculty members have been submitted, the funds from the fee will soon be used to improve labs, and enhance teaching through the use of technology.

Pam Northrup, the chair of the proposal committee and interim dean of the College of Professional Studies, said that a committee was formed a year ago to write guiding principles that expressed that the funds would go directly to teaching and learning.

"At this time, there are two ways that the funds can be used," she said. "There is a systemic project proposal process that has just been closed."

Northrup said that academic departments on campus submitted proposals for consideration.

"The systemic proposals will address such things as labs, and new uses of technology for teaching and learning," she said. "Awards will be made by the Technology Fee Committee within the next two weeks."

The Technology Fee Committee is comprised of faculty, students and administrators.

"The second way funding can be received is through individual faculty projects," Northrup said. "Project proposal requests are out right now for individual faculty and departments to propose ways that they may be able to use technology, specifically for teaching and learning."

Northrup said that once projects are awarded, they will be posted on the provost's Web site.

"We will begin to see the benefits of this, once funds are awarded." Stephen Loveless, president of the UWF Gay-Straight Alliance, said that he openly advocated for the fee with other students around the state, because he felt that there was a need for higher levels of technology on the UWF campus.

     
"I was very much a small component of a much larger system that was taking place at that time," he said.

Loveless said that although he supports the technology fee, he thinks that the administration should do a better job informing students about where the money is going.

"If that money has been raised, I think that there is a small lack of communication between the administration and between the student body," he said.

If the money is being taken from the students for technology purposes, why didn't we consider using that money when they closed the SAIL lab, or when they took away the excess hours of the SAIL lab?   

"I am more than happy to pay my fees and support that, but when you never tell me where that money goes, that's a problem."

However, Michelle Woolwine, the former finance chair for the Student Government Association, was the student representative on the Technology Fee Committee.  

"The fee money can't be used to keep the SAIL lab open, because of the structure and laws regarding the actual spending of the fee," she said. "The fee is supposed to go towards technology initiatives, such as actual computers and actual tangible technology efforts."

"Trying to keep the lab open – the staffing, the building, the lighting – is a completely different area of money." Woolwine said that she thinks the administration has taken into consideration a lot of different opinions and aspects of the university as a whole.

"They talk and work through SGA mostly," she said. "It's hard to take the students' perspective, I guess, because there were a lot of times when students were thinking about the fee, they were thinking about the SAIL lab's hours, because that's been a really big issue.

"There's always going to be room for improvement, but as far as the initial starting, they're doing a very good job looking at all the obstacles."

http://www.thevoyager.net/news/tech-fee-funds-soon-will-be-put-to-use-1.2177793

Hot summer, cool plans

By Shelley Austin

Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Updated: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 12:04

Staying in town for summer break but looking for a good time?

 

With unbeatable drink specials, live entertainment, beautiful outdoor views and tasty food, these places will definitely have you coming back for more.

 

Flounders Chowder House on Pensacola Beach

Visit this place for its popular Diesel Fuel drinks, and its Thursday-Sunday night concerts. Flounder's serves lunch and dinner seven days a week. Lunch is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and dinner is from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. The menu includes po' boy sandwiches and baked oysters.

 

Drink specials include $2 margaritas and Coronas on Mondays and the signature Diesel Fuels for $4 every Thursday. Flounders turns into a nightclub after 10 p.m. and features live entertainment. You must be 21 or older after 10 p.m. With an exit to the beach and an outdoor volleyball net, there's plenty to do at Flounders. For more information, call 850-932-2003.

 

Seville Quarter

With seven rooms of fun, including Phineas Phogg's, Rosie O'Grady's, Lili Marlene's, Apple Annie's, End o' the Alley, Fast Eddie's and Palace Café, Seville will definitely keep you entertained during summer break.

 

Thursday's college night will feature DJ Nick B from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the two-story Phineas Phogg's room. Drink specials include $3 pitchers of beer until 11 p.m. and $5 pitchers of beer from 11 p.m. to close. Admission costs are $5 for ages 21 and older and $10 for ages 18-20. For more information, call 850-434-6211.

 

Bamboo Willie's Beachside Bar

Bamboo Willie's will have live music seven days a week. Live bands will include Buzzcutt and Knucklehead. Open Mic Night will be every Wednesday from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. Aspiring performing songwriters of all levels are judged in five different areas, including songwriting and stage presence.

 

Happy Hour is from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and includes $3 well drinks. For more information, call 850-916-9888.

 

Blazzues

This jazz and blues bar is great for those wanting to enjoy live music Thursday-Saturday. Every Monday is salsa night. At Tuesdays mug night, enjoy $1 draft and $3 mixed drinks all night.

 

Enjoy swing dancing every Wednesday and live bands Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 850-696-2290.

 

The Fish House Deck Bar

Ladies will enjoy Girl's Night Out and $2 drinks every Wednesday at this location. Happy hour is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week and includes $2 domestic draft beer and half-price well drinks.

 

Enjoy live music nightly from artists such as Lucas Crutchfield and The Gills. The menu includes Italian calamari, fried pickles and seafood pizza. For more information, call 850-470-0003.

http://www.thevoyager.net/entertainment/hot-summer-cool-plans-1.2232690