St. Johns Cultural Council names 2022 Dr. Gail Pflaster ROWITA Award winners, event on March 26

St. Augustine, Fla. – January 31, 2022 - Each year the St. Johns Cultural Council recognizes women who have profoundly influenced the artistic environment of St. Johns County with the Dr. Gail Pflaster ROWITA ("Recognizing Outstanding Women in the Arts") Awards. Nominations were received from the community about numerous women who have made significant contributions to the arts in St. Johns County through their work, leadership, and philanthropic support.

This year, three local women have been named as ROWITA recipients including Donna Guzzo, Executive Director and CEO of First Coast Cultural Council, arts philanthropist, women's professional empowerment leader and mentor; Teresa Radzinski, Trustee for the Lightner Museum, philanthropist and supporter of the arts and renowned museums, and Managing Director with Bank of America; and Jane Sims, Tale Tellers of St. Augustine founding member and professional storyteller, educator, and fine arts promoter.

According to Christina Parrish Stone, the Cultural Council's Executive Director, this year's nominees have all positively impacted the cultural community. "Our final selections are women in the visual, literary, and performance arts, and are educators, presenters, and philanthropic supporters as core leaders in our regional arts community. They were eligible for the award as were past nominees who have not been selected," said Parrish Stone.

Honorees were selected by a panel of community members in January and the annual ROWITA celebration will take place on Saturday, March 26 from 2 pm until 4 pm at the Lightner Museum, 75 King Street in historic, St. Augustine, Fla. The event is open to the public. For more information, email sjcc@historiccoastculturecom.  

Former honorees will also be recognized at the March event including St. Johns County arts professionals Roxanne Horvath, a preservation architect and artist, arts advocate, and current member of the City of St. Augustine City Commission; Dr. Leslee Keys, Assistant Professor of Humanities, Director of Historic Preservation at Flagler College, and a leader in the conservation of historical and architectural resources; Carole Prior, an award winning drama instructor, Teacher of the Year, artist, writer and director; Leslie Robison, a Kenan Distinguished Associated Professor of Liberal Education in Art at Flagler College, arts advocate, and artist,  and Karla Wagner, film aficionado, former proprietor of the Corazon Cinema and Café, and film and entertainment festival producer. Additionally, the March 26 event will feature Junior ROWITA scholarship recipients.

ROWITA Nominations may be submitted electronically between November 1 and December 31 of each year at https://stjohnsculture.com/grants-awards/rowita-awards. Junior ROWITA awards and scholarships applications are available at  https://stjohnsculture.com/grants-awards/jr-rowita.

The mission of the St. Johns Cultural Council is to support local artists and arts organizations and to promote St. Johns County as a premiere destination for cultural travelers, ensuring that the lives of residents and visitors are enriched through art, culture, history, and heritage. The nonprofit was established in 2000 and designated as the official local arts agency by the St. Johns County Board of Commissioners in 2007.

The St. Johns Cultural Council supports the development of arts institutions, community arts partners, cultural programs, and activities and audiences in St. Johns County. Professional development programs assist local artists and art organizations in obtaining grants and to grow their capabilities which help develop, market, and promote local programs and events. Visit the website at https://www.stjohnsculture.com.

The Cultural Council manages the Cultural Center at St. Augustine Beach, where partners including The Dance Company, The St. Augustine Beach Art Studio & Gallery and other community-based organizations offer daily artistic and movement classes to hundreds of individuals. Weekly arts, culture, and heritage e-newsletters and the website https://www.historiccoastculture.com provide online cultural resources for residents and visitors in St. Johns County.

Contact:    Christina Parrish Stone                                                                                                  christina@historiccoastculture.com                                                                                          904.434.0959          

St. Augustine Beach Civic Association Member Meeting Today at The Art Studio

Email to St. Augustine Beach Civic Association Members from President Bill Jones

https://www.sabca.org/

Dear Friends,

Hope the New Year is off to a great start! We are all getting older and some of you have parents that are getting older too. We are fortunate to have an incredible Council on Aging that serves our community. The COA, like other organizations has worked its way though Covid 19 and continues to help Seniors and their families. We thought this would be a good time to invite our friend and Executive Director of the COA Becky Yanni to come and speak to us. Becky will talk about programs and services available to all of us here at the beach and throughout St Johns County.

We meet THIS Thursday evening at the Art Studio, located in the old hotel at Pier Park. The doors open at 6:30 and the meeting will start promptly at 7 PM. Refreshments will be served. Members are encouraged to attend and guests are always welcome.

Thinking about taking a cruise? We just took three.

by Michael Trufant

My wife, Carole, and I were blessed to experience three cruises in the last two months, December and January. One each on Carnival Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Celebrity Cruises. I'll share my opinions and experiences from what actually happened versus all the chatter in media and social media.

We had three delightful experiences. Overall, here's our experience across all three ships:

•  Each ship's occupancy rate was anywhere from thirty-five to seventy-five percent capacity. That was a gift.
• All three permitted only fully-vaccinated passengers onboard and everyone provided a COVID test no more than two days before sailing.
• Passengers provided documentation for their vaccinations. 
• All of the cruise lines required masks in ALL indoor spaces except when eating or drinking. It was not a big inconvenience. Outdoors and out by the pool areas, no masks were required.
• Crew provided hand sanitizer before entering dining areas, theaters, and entering or exiting the ship.
•  The crew cleaned the surfaces almost right behind us. We felt very safe.
• Hand sanitizing stations were available in various locations on each ship. There was no lack of cleanliness.
• All ports were open, although a few ports restricted entry to passengers who only had a cruise-provided excursion or a government-approved excursion if not provided by the cruise line.
• The theater shows were often re-configured and scaled down for health and passenger safety.
• The dining was spaced out, so much of the time it was just Carole and me. 

We thought that being onboard was safer than going to the local grocery store. People who we met shared the same thoughts with us about the prevention measures we witnessed on the ship. The ships were hyper-focused on cleanliness and health to a much higher degree than any venue on land.

It was delight to be on a cruise. It was joyful, pleasant, fun, relaxing, safe, rejuvenating and a wonderful experience. Because the ships are sailing with lower capacities, the ships were not crowded, there was plenty of free space and no scrambling to find a deck chair or anything.  At times, we felt like we the only ones on board. What a gift that we will take advantage of as long as we can. It was the best cruise of our lives.

All this to say, we feel this is a great time to cruise and to not listen to all all the hysteria on social media and the mainstream media. Our cruises were delightful, clean and safe. Of course, you need to make your own decisions about your personal health matters, but from taking three cruises in two months, we thought we hit the jackpot for pleasurable experiences. 

Michael Trufant is a retired entrepreneur and he and his wife, Carole, are the publishers of the St. Augustine Beachside e-Magazine (this publication). They can be reached at sabeachside@gmail.com.