Talk of the Town
Navy league to host Thomas Hall

The Pensacola Council Navy League of the United States will be hosting its annual Military Appreciation Luncheon and Award Ceremony and recently held their annual installation of officers and board members

The league will host the luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 12 p.m., at New World Landing in Pensacola. The guest speaker will be the Honorable Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs. Secretary Hall is a retired two-star rear admiral having served almost 34 years of continuous active duty in the United States Navy. He is a distinguished and decorated naval aviator, who served a combat tour in Vietnam. Hall, a native of Barnsdall, Okla., was sworn in as the fourth assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs in 2002. A presidential appointee confirmed by the senate, he serves as the principal staff assistant to the secretary of defense on all matters involving the 1.2 million members of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces.

The league recently held its annual installation of officers and board members during their dinner dance, held at The Mustin Beach Officers Club. The following officers and board members were elected for the year 2008: President Dean-O Fournier, First Vice President Bobby Riggs, Second Vice President Bob Anderson, Third Vice President Mark Harden, Judge Advocate Tom Gonzalez, Treasurer John MacPherson, Secretary Betty Williams, Chaplain John Gray and Bullhorn Editor Butch Wallace. The Board Members for 2008 are: Jeri Blankenbeck, Lloyd Callis, Frank Fabre, Jaquie Gray, Charles Mitchell, Peter Moore, Roger Murray, Rock Penfold, Margaret Pilcher, John Pruitt, Kenneth Ruber, Frederick Sitten, Gary Skaar, VADM Jerry Unruh, Michele Wilson and Ron Yeakle.

For more information, call 850-436-8552.

Gulf Breeze Area Historical Society

The Gulf Breeze Area Historical Society will have former Congressman Earl Hutto as guest speaker at the Feb. 19 evening meeting at the Gulf Breeze Library. Hutto will speak on "Time in Congress and the Benson Family." The is free. For more information, contact rbroxton@ pjc.edu or call 850-484- 1099

Gulf Breeze Rotary Club President Paul Stanley (far left) welcomes T.K. Wetherell, President, Florida State University to the club's meeting last week. To Wetherell's right are "Mr. Sunshine" Jim Reeves, Wetherell's wife, Virginia and Gulf Breeze Mayor Lane Gilchrist. Wetherell discussed the challenges facing Florida's colleges and universities.

Pensacola Quilters' Guild

Pensacola Quilters' Guild is a non-profit group of approximately 250 women that enjoy quilting and are always looking for new members to share the love of quilting, the excitement of new techniques and projects, and the joy of fellowship with other artisans. The guild has a day meeting on Monday, Feb. 25 at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 9888 Pensacola Blvd. and a night meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008 at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 519 N. Palafox Street, in Pensacola.

The day meeting will begin at 9 a.m. The program will feature Carol Hicks on "Traveling Blocks." This educational program is the adult version of the history of quilting, complete with examples of many different styles and techniques of quilting. The Pensacola Guild has had a goal of community education, and this program in various forms has been presented to many schools, women's groups, and other community organizations.

Photo courtesy of Pat Landfair Mona Brown and Dot Morgan hosted the Driftwood Garden Club Meeting

The evening meeting will begin 6 p.m. The program, "Going BACK to School" will begin at 6:30 pm. Aphysical therapist will present information and hints for taking care of your body, especially while spending long periods of time quilting, sewing, or working on other art projects.

Anyone interested in the art of quilting is invited to attend and share. For more information, contact Betsy at 850-916-9828.

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, a local women's philanthropy group, is continuing its 2008 membership drive. They had an informational meeting on Jan. 22. With an annual membership of $1,000 per woman, IMPACT raised $233,000 in its first year, $250,000 in 2005, 340,000 in 2006 and $472,000 in 2007. $1,295,000 has been raised for distribution in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in the past four years.

Grants are awarded to non profit organizations in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, with a minimum grant of $100,000. There are five focus groups for philanthropy: arts and culture, education, environment, family, and health and wellness.

IMPACT 100 hopes to increase its membership in 2008 so it can ultimately achieve its goal of funding $100,000 each to one non-profit in each of the five focus areas.

IMPACT 100 invites all women in the Pensacola Bay area to join and help the group reach its goal for 2008. Membership dues must be received on or before March 1, 2008 for the 2008 year. For membership information or to learn more about IMPACT 100, contact membership@impact100pensacola. com. You may also call Marny Needle at 850-932-3004 or email her at mardonee@aol.com.

Santa Rosa Shores Women's Club

The Santa Rosa Shores Women's Club held the February valentine meeting at the lovely home of Mona Michael on Hillside Road. Hostesses Helen Devitt and Barb Beauford, created a delightful valentine setting of food and drink. A short business meeting was held and then an "imakeover" program called a "World of Color" by RJ Salon and Spa was presented. Ramon Walker is an international hair artist and Jonathan Sullivan is a facial specialist. They demonstrated hairstyles, facial techniques and product lines. RJ Salon is located on College Parkway in Gulf Breeze. Next month's meeting will be held at Shelia Little's house and the program will be about local history. Santa Rosa Shores Women's Club is open to any woman in the Santa Rosa Shores area and meets on the first Tuesday night of the month. For more information, call Fran Fletcher at 850- 934-3837.
Valentine's Day
By Betty Archer Allen
How did Saint Valentine's Day come to be?
It's a mystery that's hard to explain, you see.
It seems there were three men called Valentine;
All ill fated, as you will see in this rhyme.
One was described as a Priest at Rome,
Another as Bishop of Terni, close to Christianity's home,
Of the third, who suffered in Africa, not much is known.
But that all were martyred that same day has been shown;
Therefore, February 14 became Saint Valentine's Day;
Very appropriate, too, we may say.
However, this still does not explain just who,
Designated this time as the day to coo.
How could a day that refers to a Saint,
Come to be the day that to lovers acquaint?
It is explained in a different literary section,
Why it's an occasion to send tokens of affection.
It seems St. Valentine's Day became the time of romance,
Because of the belief both in England and in France,
That half-way through the second month of the year,
The birds began to seek their mates, so dear.
Since that time of so many long years ago,
Rather than just relate to an ill-fated martyr or so
Poems have been written that are designed to show,
How much we care about that special person we know.
So we owe it all to the birds, not the bees,
And to the Supreme Being for all that he sees.
He made a day so tragic and blue,
Into something lovely for me and for you.
Driftwood Garden Club hosts master gardener

The Driftwood Garden Club met on Jan. 24 for their monthly meeting at New World Landing in Pensacola with President Millie Dehn presiding. The meeting began at 10:15 a.m. with the "Pledge of Allegiance."

Hostesses Mona Brown and Dot Morgan, were responsible for the decorations. Beautiful Cyclamen plants surrounded with New Year whistles, horns and stars decorated the center of each table. Mona told the club that a cyclamen plant kept from the first of the year is supposed to bring happiness and prosperity and that the mashed flower was once used as a love potion. The hostesses placed a scroll beside each plate with an inspirational poem inside, along with a happy New Year message about resolutions.

Millie Dehn thanked Ann Hunt, Pat Trachy and Pat Tunison for their work on the Arbor Day presentation at Shoreline Park on Jan. 17 where a park bench was given to the city in memory of Betty Jason, a long time member and the tree planted in honor of the Gulf Breeze High School ROTC program. Dehn also thanked Marti Vickery, Margaret James, Emogene Presley, and Shari Fulford for making the arrangements for the beautiful Christmas party. Joan Daniel of the horticulture committee reminded the club about rules for pruning crepe myrtles.

Following the brief business meeting, Vice President Kathy Cannon introduced the speaker, Marge Hiller, a master gardener. The program was entitled "New and Unusual Annuals and Perennials."

Hiller stated that "Every year the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association put out a selection of Florida plants."

The three plants that she spoke about are: The Aloysius Virgata or almond bush, a vigorous drought tolerant plant, three to four feet tall in our the area's zone; the Dichorisandra Thrysiflora or "blue ginger." It is not in the ginger family but rather related to the wandering jew; and the Mimosa Strigillosa or the sunshine or powder puff mimosa.

Hiller said, "It is important to use latin names over common to avoid confusion."

Hiller then began her discussion of plants she called weird. First, the Rafflesia Arnoldi is the world's largest flower and can grow over three feet wide and weigh up to 15 pounds; second the worlds smallest flower, the Woffia Globosa, is a duckweed. A bouquet of a dozen plants in full bloom will fit on the head of a pin. It develops a one seed fruit so it is also the world's smallest fruit. Third, the Welwitschia Mirabillis plant has only two leaves, a short thick stem, and a long taproot and is sometimes referred to as a living fossil. Fourth, the Wollemia Nobilis is a tree that can grow to 125 feet tall. Fewer than 100 exist in the wild. Fifth, the vegetable ivory palm whose seeds can be used in the same way that ivory is used.

A single palm can produce up to 50 pounds of nuts a year which is equivalent to one ivory tusk. The palm produces year after year while the elephant yields its ivory only once. This was a very interesting and informative program for the Driftwood gardeners.