Today we FINALLY got our permit to erect the Wall in Main Street Park. How’s that for last minute? The latest was the paperwork for my insurance, a slight misunderstanding. After almost reaching a point of breakdown, things were clarified and the permit was signed. Yay!
Would we have gone ahead with the installation on Monday w/o a permit? Of course!
Betty Ann and her daughter brought more bottles to us from Bayview Elementary on the Westside. Betty Ann is a sponsor of the Girl Scout troop who visited the studio a few weeks ago. They are all anxiously awaiting the completion of the wall and seeing their contributions. I think this may be the last batch of bottles to finalize. We are heavily into wall-building mode now.
Dorian made her last scheduled rounds of bottle pickups from our Messengers, one from Girl Scout Troop 1244 (Leslie and daughter Hailey) and the other from Ms. McBride, the recycling director and teacher at Ponte Vedra HS. Her sons helped process the bottles and we know what a big effort that can be. Now we are officially out of collection mode and focusing on entering all the messages and building the wall. A BIG thanks to all of you who took the time to organize and collect bottles, we know it was a big effort. We hope that the end result of what you contributed to is deserving of your effort!
Greg and Kayla brought several bags of completed bottles to the studio from their church group. Greg mentioned that there were several veteran’s in the group and they all embraced the project. It’s great to see all the enthusiastic participation around town and the willingness of people to jump into a project that seems to be right. Sometimes you have to trust your instincts. Greg showed me a sample wall he built using the bottles that were being collected…looked pretty good! We appreciate all the hard work to clean and dry out the bottles…and to craft a meaningful message. It’s all part of the process, and those who have participated hopefully have been rewarded. Thank you Greg and Kayla and your team at Coral Ridge.
Greg’s mom and dad, Arland and Gerri, dropped by on Wednesday to check out the completed panels in order to make a report back to the team. We’re happy to have visitors!
I can remember struggling to get some adults to participate in this project. And I know many who just didn’t, for whatever reason. Then we experience an outpouring of care and attention that makes you want to shed a tear. These are the messages we received from Durbin Creek Elementary and Fruit Cove Middle, two schools attended by the grandchildren of Pam Zambetti, my friend and gallery manager at Southlight Gallery. Pam reached out and got the teachers in the schools involved. They made it a very special project. The messages were delivered by police officer A. Smith. At first I thought we were in some kind of trouble. It’s not often that a police officer comes by the studio.
Special thanks to Ms Greening, Art Teacher at Fruit Cove Middle School, and Ms. Sallas, Third Grade Teacher at Durbin Creek Elementary. It goes to show that teachers make all the difference in the world. Well done!
Dorian was happy to pick up around 100 bottles from the American Heritage Girls (AHG Troop 2345) of Yulee, FL. Sharon and daughter Courtney were proud to present their contribution and we were happy to receive it. Over 40 girls are part of this troop and they all pitched in to create messages and bottles. Thanks!
“Super Messenger” Award of the Week goes to Ms. Tinsley and her Wolfson students who collected over 2000 bottles with messages PLUS another 5000 empty bottles. They are currently working with Dupont Middle School to get another 1000 messages for those empties. Unbelievable effort! I think we’re going to need more caulk!
Tony Wood, fellow artist, studio neighbor, and Englewood art teacher brought in 4 large bags from his students. Tony got the students involved a few months ago and encouraged them to participate in a community based project. It’s great to see students embrace something that is important to them, not for a grade or credit or service hours, just because they want to. Thanks Tony and the Englewood Rams!
Dorian made the rounds at the branch libraries today. Lots of bottles to pick up. Our libraries are great places with wonderful people staffing them. We really appreciate having receptacles in the neighborhoods. Thanks JPL!
Here’s Kerrianne who collected from the St. Augustine Kiwanis Key Club for Ketterlinus Elementary and Crookshank Elementary. Her daughter Caitlin was our Messenger at Rawlings Elementary. Thanks for everything!
