Flagler Beach’s parade packed A1A and ran for 75 minutes, while Washington Oaks Gardens’ Holiday in the Gardens drew more than 1,000 people who donated food and toys for the needy.
Leisure & Tourism
Magnificent Minis Tangle with FPC Student Artists’ Work in New Flagler Art League Show
The exhibit of miniature art known as the Magnificent Minis is an anual event at the Flagler County Art League, as is the showcasing of Flagler Palm Coast High School’s rich trove of student art and design.
Alone Among NFL Franchises, Miami Dolphins Suffer Huge Fan Drop in Last 10 Years
As the Dolphins muddle through another season, the South Florida organization was the only professional team from Florida — and the only NFL entry on the whole list of North American sports franchises — to record a plummet in fans over the past decade.
Robert Gill’s Mark Twain Takes Palm Coast at City Repertory Theatre
Robert Gill has taken Mark Twain all over Florida, performing in Jacksonville, Orlando, Avon Park, and St. Augustine, but this will be the Palm Coast debut, and it flows with whiskey and irreverence.
Strings on Speed: Bowfire Brings Its Holiday Blaze to the Flagler Auditorium
Thursday, Bowfire returns to the Flagler Auditorium, this time with its new Holiday Heart Strings show, giving Christmas favorites the Celtic, Blue Grass, Rock, Texas Swing, Gypsy and Klezmer treatment.
The Language of Class Warfare from Shaw’s “Pygmalion” to Sbordone’s Repertory Theatre
Language as class still has its cliques, as do all prejudices. It’s also a central theme of Pygmalion, the newest production of an old classic opening tonight (and running through Sunday) at John Sbordone’s City Repertory Theatre, at Hollingsworth Gallery.
Taking on Challenges and Skeptics, Palm Coast Arts Foundation Plants Grand Design
The Palm Coast Arts Foundation, lease finally in hand, plans to raise up to $7 million and build an events venue in Town Center, the first phase of a much bigger plan that would culminate in a $30 million, 2,300-seat performing arts center. It faces a tide of difficulties in a fractured arts community.
Awarding Just $20,000 in Arts Grants Again, Palm Coast Agrees to Rethink Its Stinginess
Palm Coast is willing to subsidize its money-losing tennis center to the tune of $240,000 in the last two years, but is awarding just $20,000 to support just nine arts and culture organizations. Some council members (calling the small amount “a joke”) want to change that.
At Hollingsworth Gallery:
Richard Schreiner, Artist of the Year
Richard Schreiner, the Louis CK of painting, influenced many artists in Palm Coast through Hollingsworth gallery, where he worked until his death in July. Naming him the 2012 Artist iof the Year was an easy choice for the Gargiulo Art Foundation. A new exhibit, “Richard and Friends,” celebrates his work and those he influenced, at Hollingsworth through November.
Hurricane Sandy: Flagler May Get Lashed By Winds and Rip Currents But Little More
Hurricane Sandy became the 10th hurricane of the season Wednesday as it approached Jamaica and Cuba, but Flagler will only feel side effects from its tropical-storm winds, at most 25 to 35 mph, this weekend.
Live, “Loud” Music Again Riles Flagler Beach Residents, Who Demand a Rule Rewrite
Two years ago it was Hurricane Patty’s. This time it’s Johnny D’s whose live music is that’s drawing the ire of residents. One Johnny D’s neighbor is asking the Flagler Beach City Commission to more strictly rewrite its noise ordinance. A workshop is scheduled for November to consider the request.
The Russians Are Coming to Hollingsworth Gallery as Animals Stomp Over the Art League
The Flagler County Art League’s popular annual Animal Kingdowm show opens Saturday, while Hollingsworth Gallery takes a turn for the east, with works by Russian artists. Both galleries at City Market Place host free opening receptions Saturday at 6 p.m.
Using Straw Man, Palm Coast Ridicules County’s Opposition to Red-Light Cameras
Rather than address questions raised by County Commission Chairman Barbara Revels, the Palm Coast Council invented a claim that the county wanted to enable law-breaking, unsafe drivers, and dismissed Revels’s request to reconsider installing spy cameras on State Road 100.
County Sends Protest Letter to Palm Coast Over Red-Light Spy Cameras on SR100
The Flagler County Commission is asking the Palm Coast City Council to reconsider installing some of its 52 spy-and-snap traffic cameras on SR100 because the county claims it will inhibit shopping and tourism, and leave a bad taste in visitors’ mouths just as the county is advertising itself as a welcoming beachside destination.
Don’t Talk to an Empty Chair: Flagler Beach Museum Goes Boots and Bling for Bunnell
The Flagler Beach Historical Museum’s annual costume gala fund-raiser Saturday at the Black Cloud Saloon in Bunnell will be paired up with a 99th birthday bash for Bunnell, in preparation for that city’s centennial.
The Downside of Tourism Jobs, and What North Carolina Can Teach Florida
Florida is adding jobs, but mostly in tourism and service industry, low-skilled work that has involuntarily forced people into part-time employment. North Carolina has seen more employment grow in the information technology and research sectors. These jobs tend to offer higher pay and more stability.
Split Flagler Commission Approves $900,000 Tourism Budget With Glaring Increases
The $100,000 budget increase over the current year led one commissioner to raise objections over a doubling in rent costs and a tripling in furniture costs, while another commissioner objected to the rebranding of tourism efforts to include Palm Coast on par with Flagler’s beaches.
Florida Tourism Lull Predicted, Slowing Local Growth, as Euro Zone Economies Suffer
Economic woes in Europe will trickle across the Atlantic over the next few years as potential international guests stay home or see their native currency buy less once they arrive, a panel of economists estimates.
Bikes, Poetry, Action: Gargiulo Foundation’s Tour de Force in Art at Hollingsworth Gallery
The Gargiulo Art Foundation’s first annual Bicycle Art and Poetry Show at Hollingsworth Gallery capitalizes on Palm Coast’s growing appreciation for its bike paths and its arts community.
Richard Schreiner, 1945-2012
Richard Schreiner, Palm Coast’s most provocative artist, died today (July 12) at his home. Schreiner, 67, had been battling a debilitating disease in the last few months. He was the subject of the largest-ever retrospective at Hollingsworth Gallery just last month.
A Lifeguard’s Soul,
Outsourced to the Bottom line
Thomas Lopez was fired by Jeff Ellis and Associates, the private company to whom Hallandale Beach outsourced its lifeguard services, when Lopez tried to save a drowning man beyond his jurisdiction. It’s an example of privatization’s immoral priorities.
Memories of July 4 From Lake Sebasticook to Flagler Beach
July 4 festivities have turned into a 24-hour rolling event in Flagler County, beginning with fireworks at Town Center on Tuesday evening and finishing with fireworks at the Flagler Beach Pier tonight. What takes place in between is a parade of memories.
Discover Your Treasures: Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is the dean of Flagler County parks: a 476-acre spread on both sides of State Road A1A, rich in history and intimate paths for solitary walks or preludes to more than a kiss. A renewed look, with an image gallery, at a particular Flagler treasure.
Miss Flagler County Pageant 2012 Contestants, Ages 16-23
A complete, click-through chart and photo gallery of the 2012 Miss Flagler County Scholarship Pageant contestants, Ages 16-23.
Miss Junior 2012 Flagler County Contestants, Ages 12-15
Another complete click-through chart and photo gallery of the 15 Miss Junior Flagler County 2012 Contestants, Ages 12-15.
Little Miss Flagler County 2012 Contestants, Ages 8-11
Another complete click-through chart and photo gallery of the 18 Little Miss Flagler County 2012 Contestants, Ages 8-11.
Little Miss Flagler County 2012 Contestants, Ages 5-7
A complete, click-through chart and photo gallery of the 15 Little Miss Flagler County 2012 Contestants, Ages 5-7.
Best of the Best Reclimbs a Year of Sightly Heights at the Flagler County Art League
Whatever is your definition of art, Best of the Best likely satisfies it, from the symbolic or abstract to the cathartic, the socially engaging, the decorative or aesthetically pleasing. The show runs through July 11.
Passports in Hand, Palm Coast Discovers Its Festive Internationalism
Palm Coast may well have discovered how to host a festival with down home charm even as it went global to do it: the International Food and Wine Festival taking place Saturday and again Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. mixes the intimate and the urbane for an affordable $3 admission.
Horseshoe Pitching at Flagler’s Old Dixie Park: An Out of the Way Sport Hooks In
The 18 Horseshoe-pitching courts at Flagler County’s Old Dixie Park are part of the Flagler Palm Coast Horseshoe Club’s hopes of drawing some of Florida’s 70 horseshoe tournaments and tourism dollars to the Flagler-Palm Coast area.
Composer Don McCullough Is the New
Director of the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus
Donald McCullough is the celebrated choral director and composer of the Holocaust Cantata, and for over a decade the director of the the Master Chorale of Washington at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Florida Audubon Asks for Beachgoers’ Help This Memorial Day Weekend
This Memorial Day Weekend, Audubon is reminding Floridians to take care with Florida’s original “beach babies,” rare and declining species of waterbirds that nest on Florida’s beaches and mangrove islands.
An Odd, Alluring Coupling of Photography And Colored Pencil Gems at the Art League
The Flagler County Art League’s third annual photography show, through June 6, features 20 photographers and the first stand-alone exhibit by the local chapter of the Colored Pencil Society of America.
Focused on Referendum, Flagler Beach Mayor Provencher Drops Veto Threat Over Bonfires
Linda Provencher, the Flagler Beach mayor, retreated from her threat of a veton on the bonfire ban because she wants the focus to be on a referendum, which she believes will show popular opposition to the ban.
Mayor Weighs Veto as Flagler Beach, on 3-2 Vote, Bans Night Bonfires During Turtle Season
The rare veto, which Flagler Beach Mayor Linda Provencher might exercise should the bonfire ban ordinance survive a second reading in two weeks, would nullify the ban, heightening the focus on a proposed popular referendum on the issue.
Bonfire Embers Still Crackling in Flagler Beach As 2 Commissioners Plan Clashing Initiatives
Saying she doesn’t want to abdicate her role, Commissioner Kim Carney wants to force an up-or-down vote on bonfires on the beach regardless of a proposed referendum, while Commission Chairman Jane Mealy seeks approval for a bonfire permitting structure that Carney strongly opposes.
For Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, A Nuclear Drama to End a Radiant First Season
“The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” is a terrible title but wonderful play, a wrenching, angry drama with comedic elements that caps the City Repertory Theatre’s first season at Hollingsworth Gallery, with six performances this weekend and the next.
In a Reversal, Flagler Beach Will Consider New Regulations for Roving Street Vendors
Commissioners agreed unanimously Thursday evening to draft a new ordinance or licensing rules that would define where, how and how often roving vendors would be allowed to in the city.
A $300 Million Cut for Florida’s Higher Ed, a $350,000 State Grant for Flagler College
The Legislature cut $300 million from the state’s higher education budget this year, but found a $350,000 gift to help renovate a historic property at Flagler College, whose chancellor is retiring Republican legislator Bill proctor, who also represents Flagler County.
Flagler Playhouse Goes Shtetl With Trilling Production of “Fiddler on the Roof”
“Fiddler on the Roof,” a timeless classic rendered quite effectively by Stephen Pigman’s third production at the Flagler Playhouse, is the theater company’s final play of the 2012 season. A review.
Seriously Sit-Com: A Play in High “Art” at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre
Three friends. A white painting. And the mayhem it causes. The latest play at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, opening Friday (at Hollingsworth gallery) is a provocative comedy that’s been translated in 35 languages since its premier in Paris in 1994.
Jumping for His Late Brother and Wounded Warriors, George Hanns Flies Air Show’s Flag
George Hanns, a Flagler county commissioner for the past 16 years, deployed the flag from thousands of feet up to open this year’s Wings Over Flagler as he jumped for his brother, who died at Christmas, and other veterans.
The Monster Has Landed: C-130 Lumbers In For Weekend’s Wings Over Flagler Show
The Hercules C-130 will be a main attraction at Wings Over Flagler, the annual air show at the Flagler County Airport on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25, this year commemorating the life of William Wild Bill Walker, who crashed and died while performing at the show last year.
Bait, Tackle and BBQ at Bings Landing as Flagler Cooks Up Park’s Latest Shop Lease
Captain’s BBQ at Bings Landing will operate the concession shop and kayak,canoe and bike rentals for $500 a month’s rent in Flagler County’s latest attempt to give life to a handsome but commercially problematic location.
We Have A Sighting: Lewis Colam, Epic Rower, Rides Tide Into Palm Coast
Lewis Colam, the British rower making the 1,400 solo trip from MIami to New York, entered Palm Coast this afternoon for a welcome at the Yacht Club, where he’s due at 4:40 p.m.
What It’s Like to Be The Whale Guy: The True Story of Getting A Life
In his debut column for FlaglerLive, Frank Gromling relates his long association with the Marineland Right Whale Project and the Atlantic right whales’ 1,400-mile annual migrations along Flagler and Florida shores.
Public Mostly Rejects State Proposal for 2.7 Miles of Manatee Speed Zones in Flagler Waters
Three-quarters of the people who addressed a Florida Fish and Wildlife delegation on the proposed speed zones on the Intracoastal Waterway rejected the argument that manatees are endangered, or that further regulation is needed.
Florida Senate Says No to No Fast-Tracking Oil and Gas Drilling on State Lands
A bill making it easier to drill for oil and gas on state lands hit the skids Tuesday as it failed to advance from a key Senate Committee that does not intend to meet again.
Drill, Baby, Drill: How Mica and Other Florida Republicans Rejected Everglades Protection
As the House of Representatives voted to open public lands and off-shore waters to drilling and experimenting with oil shale and tar sands, Kathy Castor, D-Fla., proposed a 5-mile protective buffer for the Everglades and the Great Lakes. The measure was rejected, 241-176, with 17 of Florida’s House Republicans voting to kill the proposal.
Look Out, Pixar: Painter and Future Animator Kelly Kryspin, 18, Opens at Ocean Publishing
“Ocean Pop,” opening Friday at 6 p.m., featuring two dozen nature and pop culture paintings by Kelly Kryspin, is the young artist’s first solo show, and another one in a series of art shows at Ocean Publishing in Flagler Beach.