Direct Impact Brings Out the Best in Local Cafe

Gallery Cafe (Taken from Google Images)

 Although all of the tests came back normal, Carolee Weller, owner of The Gallery Café of St. Augustine, was shocked to find out that her first grandchild had inherited a form of Down syndrome. Birth defects are common in the United States, one of the most common being down syndrome which effects one in every 800 to 1,000 births each year, but because something is common doesn’t mean it’s expected.

“She had extra folds on her eyes and webbing on her neck,” said Carolee, as well as a heart murmur that prompted doctors to run test on Kaelynn Grace Lewis. They discovered that Kaelynn had inherited a form of Down syndrome called Translocation from her mother, where her extra 21^st chromosome which causes Down syndrome, attached itself to her 15^th chromosome.

While the discovery may have disrupted the lives of both Lori and Mel Lewis, forcing them to quit their jobs and move to Florida from their home in Long Island, they also discovered how supportive their family’s restaurant could be.

In October of 2011, The Gallery Café of St. Augustine participated in the Buddy Walk for Downs Syndrome where they were able to raise $2,000 in donations. “Since coming here she’s been like a celebrity baby. All of our customers have taken an interest in Kaelynn and were more than happy to help,” said Carolee who also offered free homemade cookies with each donation.

In September, the small café asked locals to bring in lunch donations that would go to The Arc Jacksonville and Hope Haven, two nonprofit organizations that serves children, young adults and families with a variety of educational, developmental and mental health needs. With the help of 1240 WFOY ESPN Radio, The Gallery Café had one of its busiest days.

“Pete [radio announcer for ESPN Radio] fell in love with Kaelynn,” said Russell Kuecker, co-owner of The Gallery Cafe and husband of Carolee. “Down syndrome awareness is important to us and we wanted to get as many donations as possible. I had Pete’s card, so I gave him a call and it helped get the ball rolling.”

Still, the café doesn’t want to stop there. Carolee and Russell have been “inspired to do more good for a community we feel accepted by” and plan to host an event once a month to try to support all the local organizations that cater to special needs starting at the beginning of next year. Until then, The Gallery Café proudly sells calendars featuring their granddaughter, Kaelynn on the cover with all of the proceeds going to Hope Haven in Jacksonville.

Every year 5,000 babies are born with Down syndrome and although Carolee and Russell never expected they’d be directly affected by this common birth defect, it’s allowed them to use their dream café to do something good not only for their first grandchild but also for others in the community.

Flagler College Gives Back to the Community

Taken from Flagler College PRSSA's Facebook

Giving back to the community is an important issue no matter what the cause. The importance seems to almost take a giant leap forward for the students in PRSSA at Flagler College when the cause is about fundraising for Flagler Hospital’s Cancer Care Center.

The sixth annual event, “STAND,” will be held on Nov. 9 on the West Lawn at Flagler College from 6 p.m. to around 8 p.m. The students of Flagler’s PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) have been planning this event since the beginning of the semester and are really looking forward to the outcome.

“STAND” is a competition in which teams go head to head in a series of interesting and goofy relay races and events. This year, there are 11 teams registered for the event, which more than doubles the five teams that were registered last year. Each team pays $25 to participate in the event and all the proceeds go directly to Flagler Hospital. “We’re really excited about the level of participation this year,” said Vice President Autumn Roth, “it’s such a good cause and we’re more than happy to support it every year.”

The students of PRSSA break up into 3 major committees for the event; publicity, donations, and events. The students are in charge of going to local businesses and try to get them to donate to the event, whether it is food or merchandise. Besides the fact that this is real world public relations experience for the students, it’s also beneficial for the businesses to get their name behind such a good cause, as there is a banner displayed the week prior to “STAND” with logos from all the donors on it as well.

The events themselves are very creative and interesting this year. “We came up with a lot of unique and funny events for the teams to compete in this year,” said Events Chair Kayla Ward, “you’ll have to come that night to see just what those events are.”

If you haven’t signed up for a team, there are still ways for you to donate. There is always an array of donated food sold at the event as well as raffles for different items, including gift certificates to restaurants and other merchandise. You get to watch your friends and classmates make complete fools out of themselves in the events, what else do you have to do on a Wednesday night?

The Flagler Hospital Care Center relies solely on donations and help from the community and they are extremely grateful to the support Flagler’s PRSSA chapter has lent them the past 6 years and will hopefully continue to lend them in years to come.

 

Flagler College Surf Team

The waves may have been less than desirable and the sky may have been over casted, but the outcome for the president of the Flagler College surf team, Tom Casse, was more than he expected. The contest was held this past Sunday, Oct 16 at New Smyrna Inlet and lasted until 2 p.m. Although it was an early morning for these surfers, no one showed signs of fatigue, only determination and drive.

            The Flagler College surf team is sponsored by the local venue, The Surf Station. This business has been at the heart of St. Augustine culture since 1984 when it first opened. It’s a natural fit with the history that Flagler College also brings to St. Augustine that these two would pair up in the surfing world.

Taken from orangecounty.com

            The contest at New Smyrna was put on by the NSSA or the National Scholastic Surf Association. They are a non-profit organization that strives to encourage and assist its members to develop their necessary and fundamental skills of competitive surfing while competing in structured events. Being an outside looking in on this event, one would think that Flagler College is almost immediately at a disadvantage simply because how small the college is compared to others they’re going against. The Flagler surfers, however, proved to be a forced to be reckoned with and made sure that no one will write them off so quickly ever again.

            Although F.I.T. won the competition, the Flagler College surf team did have some notable achievements as well. The most important of these being perhaps that junior, Tom Casse, took second place at the competition. This was so important to him because it marks the farthest he has ever been in one of these competitions.

            Everyone loves a classic underdog story and this day proved to be nothing but. Tom was struggling a little bit throughout the day and it really didn’t look like he would advance to the next round. With a little luck, and even more skill, he saved himself in one of the final heats of the competition and advanced to the finals. There his streak continued when he took second place overall for the day.

Flagler College Post-Grad Success

Taken from Google images

Flagler College has had much success with its post graduates, especially within the Communications Department. This can be largely credited to the professors, the classes themselves, and the extracurricular hands-on activities that Flagler offers its students. From having the opportunity to host your own radio show or coordinate events through PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) Flagler offers a wide variety of programs to ensure your success post grad.

            Perhaps one of the most widely known names to come out of Flagler College would be Shane Tallant. Tallant spoke at a seminar for Communications Week last April at the College and, being a part of PRSSA, I got to know him a little better on the drive back the airport. Tallant is probably best known for being the host of the HGTV show, “Designed to Sell.” His professional career hardly starts nor stops there however; Tallant got his start in television right after graduating Flagler, at the age of 21.

            Tallant first became an Entertainment Reporter for FOX 30 News in Jacksonville, Florida and worked his way up from there by being, as he put it, “the likeable guy.”  From there he made the journey back home to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to become the entertainment reporter for KDKA-TV. Here, he was even recognized as one of “Pittsburgh’s 50 finest.”  So, what was the next stop in Tallant’s wildly successful career? Where else, but California? Here he became the main host for “THE MIXX” and “The Daily MIXX,” a role which helped contribute to his two EMMYS in hosting and journalism. It was here that here that he interviewed Hollywood’s “A-listers,” and became a respected member of the NATAS (National Academy of Television Arts and Science) and BFCA (Broadcasts Film Critics association of America).

            Shane went on to host a string of other talk shows and morning shows until this past February, when he went off on his own to launch “Music City 411,” a country music entertainment magazine based out of Nashville Tennessee.

            So, how did Flagler College help shape his career?  “Flagler was a great environment for me to begin my career path of hosting and producing television programs.  I think the small classrooms and hands on instruction was a key factor in learning a lot and learning the skills quickly.  Additionally, the late Dr. Caroline Dow was vital in my motivation being high upon graduation.  She made it very easy to get excited about going out into the ‘real world’,” Shane told me in our interview.

            Don’t worry future grads, Shane wasn’t about to end the interview without some advice for you. His first words; “DO SOMETHING! Don’t just wait for opportunities to come to you. You have to get off your rear ends and make it happen for yourselves.” With Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all of the other social media outlets, the choice is yours to create content and be relevant.”

            On the other scale of things, I also talked to a Flagler alumnus that graduated this past April on her life post-graduation. Dana Lewis acquired a marketing management position at a Spa in downtown Orlando right after graduation. “They were very impressed with my collegiate career and all the things I was able to accomplish before I even graduated, “said Lewis, “they were very interested in the fresh ideas I would bring to the table and chose to hire me at the young age of 22 verses someone who has been around this type of stuff for much longer.”

            One big piece of advice that both Shane and Dana gave to me was to utilize social media. “If you have something to say, say it.  It counts,” said Shane, “Your boyfriend will re-tweet it and you never know who else may find it interesting.  Don’t saturate yourself, though.  Be mindful of what you say and when you say it. Also, remember that employers do read Facebook walls and Tweets.  So…keep it clean and don’t say anything you wouldn’t say to your Mom and Dad.”