The Quest for Love: A Hometown Story

“Those that go searching for love, only manifest their own lovelessness. And the loveless never find love, only the loving find love. And they never have to seek for it.  - D. H. Lawrence

Many of us have heard the old English adage, "Good things come to those who wait," and several times that phrase is advised to those who are in the hunt for The One.  But sometimes true love is the result of happenstance; one stumbles upon love when it is least expected.  These are the tales and mystery of circumstances and coincidence that make up the best of love stories.

We begin this story in the late 1940's at Lake Shore Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida where Gene Harvey and Trudy Ralston (nee Foyt) were both attending when he gave her a ride on his bicycle handlebars one afternoon.  They were both in the Glee Club; Gene served as the President and Trudy an Officer.  The two classmates continued to know each other as teenagers and graduated from Lee High in the class of 1953. Life then carried them on in different paths and they went on to marry their spouses to start their own family's.  Both went on to have children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. After many years and decades of married life, Trudy and Gene experienced loss in the passing of their spouses along the way.

It was in 2010 when the sliding doors shifted and opened a conversation between Trudy and Pam Howard, owner of The Village Ladybug, in the Historic Ortega Village.  Pam was having a sidewalk sale on Corinthian Avenue when she met Trudy.  It was with the realization that Pam was Gene Harvey's daughter, that Trudy kindly asked Pam to tell her father and old classmate hello, for it had been many years since she had seen him.   Within a short timeframe, Gene returned to Jacksonville from a vacation in NC and heard about the exchange and called Trudy up to ask her out on a date.

Friendship developed into a romantic relationship, where Gene proposed to Trudy after a two-year courtship while dining at The Florida Yacht Club.  Family and close friends joined the couple on October 6, including Gene's children along with their spouses, Pam Howard and Mark Harvey, with Trudy's two sons, Bert and Foyt Ralston with their wives and children.  

The Rehearsal Dinner was hosted by Pam and Paul Howard at their home in Confederate Point. Floral arrangements were provided by Gardner's Florist of Ortega.  Frazier's Jewelers custom designed both wedding rings from a combination of inherited pieces and family heirlooms.  The wedding ceremony took place at Faith Lutheran Church.  Reception followed with family and friends at The Florida Yacht Club.  The couple honeymooned at The Greystone Inn in NC and will reside at their home in Ortega.

As we hear stories such as the one between Trudy and Gene, both now 76, we are reminded by the apostle Paul's words in Corinthians that love is patient, after all.  One can continuously search for love, but never find it.  One can find love over and over again throughout one lifetime.  But what Mr. Lawrence observed is that if we keep our hearts open by the act of selflessly loving others, we may discover the possibility that love will find its way to us through an old hello.

Blog article featured in the November 2012 issue of The Resident News.

Trudy Foyt and Gene Harvey (1950)

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Gene Harvey

 Bert and Foyt Ralston with their Mother, Trudy and her new Groom.

Color Trends: End of Summer Falls into Blue

"......Blue poured into summer blue,

A hawk broke from his cloudless tower,

The roof of the silo blazed, and I knew

That part of my life was over....."

End of Summer by Stanley Kunitz

As Summer approaches its end, South of MaDi knows once the Labor Day weekend fades into the warm horizon, it is time to put the white shoes and seersucker away until next Spring.  In the South, since we get no real relief from the heat until around Thanksgiving,  September is a time for lingering summer breezes and the "not so quite ready to get those pumpkins out just yet" feeling.  So as the school buses begin to roll by and you hear the children's voices echoing off the playground, allow the endless Summer/Early Fall shades to linger.

One Fall 2012 color trend to look for by our friends at Pantone is Olympian Blue.  Just as the torches blew out in London, consider the hue in textiles and fashion that are inspired by the colors in nature and martime such as fresh blueberries off the farm and washed up bouys off the coastline.....

Fall Color Trend 2012

Soleil Bleu by JAB

Blueberry Buckle Dress by Modcloth

End of Summer blueberry pickin'......

Blue + White Bouys....

Necklaces by Buki Designs

John Robshaw Blue + White Block-print pillows at Horchow

A Tale of the Outdoors, Land and Sea: Captain Brett Cannon

“We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.” 
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods



Turkey season in the South is taken very seriously for its limited annual hunting span within just a few short weeks of the calendar year.  A man's exploration of the wild in the early morning hours in his hot pursuit of the game has long been a respectful endeavor that is understood among relationships; both business and personal.  Women who grew up with their grandfathers, fathers, uncles and cousins prioritizing the hunt above all calls of duties, learn the significance and the virtue of patience in the men around them during these seasons.

This is the premise to a story about a man who feels the outdoor life calling him albeit land or sea.  South of MaDi made an appointment earlier this Spring to meet the owner of Atlantic Coast Marine in Jacksonville and was beginning to worry that we had either been forgotten about or perhaps something else came up.  As we sat in the showroom lobby of the boat dealership; just several hundred yards from the Intracoastal Waterway near Atlantic Beach, we took in the environment of the interiors of teal green and blue shades on walls and hanging stuffed marlins while sifting through boat catalogs and brochures; surrounded by the wood columns and beams of the waiting area and the intercom system calls between the parts department and administration.  Forty-five minutes later, Captain Brett Cannon, whips into his establishment like a wild hurricane, similar to the harsh windy gusts that were stirring off the coast simultaneously brewing up just outside the aluminum and glass storefront. Fully dressed from head to toe in camouflage, Cannon immediately apologizes for his tardiness and excuses himself to dress more appropriately for this casual meeting.  He returns with a polo with his company logo and a baseball cap, but keeps the camo pants and hunting boots on.  This is where the two worlds collide, a man who loves the hunt of the land just about as much as he loves the hunt of the sea.

Entering into his office, we are greeted by the hardwood floors and pine furniture and the combination of taxidermy and sketch work of birds, fish and a charcoal drawing of a Labrador that Capt. Cannon drew himself.  With a deep breath and an ease into his leather executive desk chair, Cannon slowly shifts from his adventurous early morning tales into interview mode with South of MaDi's inquisitions.

Cannon's journey from a boy who loved to fish into ownership of a boat dealership began a few decades ago as a child growing up in Texas and Georgia.  "I always loved being on the water, fishing every day and I have always been a good fisherman.  That passion followed me."  His earliest memory of fishing and boating was in salt water at Shellman's Bluff as a 9-year old, as well as, fishing near his childhood home in Augusta and travels to Hilton Head.  He prefers the salt water fishing over freshwater because of the diversity of species...and you never know what you are going to fish out.

His call to become a captain came about in the mid 1990's resulting from graduating sea school in St. Augustine, after his family relocated to Jacksonville.  Cannon began fishing in local tournaments and becoming successful in doing so.  He also attended ABAC in Tifton, Georgia earning a degree in Forestry and working as a timber consultant for the St. Joe Company. In 1998, he started CBC Fishing Adventures in Jacksonville which eventually led to him owning Cannon Bait & Tackle and later co-founding Cannon Marine Partners, along with his father, Carl. In 2006, both men took over ownership of a 70-year old building, once known as Lovett's Bait & Tackle, which in its present day is called Atlantic Coast Marine.

Northeast Florida offers such a plethora of boating opportunities for boaters and fisherman, which is why Captain Brett Cannon calls Jacksonville his home.  "I like the amount of water here and being surrounded by water.  It still has a small time feel here and I'm 30 minutes away from hunting turkey."  South of MaDi wanted to ask Capt. Cannon how he has seen this industry change over the course of the years since he was a young man, specifically as the economy has taken such a hit.  Cannon states, "After the purchase of the dealership in 2006, which was the highest point in the boating market, 2008 and 2009 took its toll on the boating industry with revenue cut in half and a dozen local boat dealerships going out of business.  Everything is up against gas money and fishing regulations trying to kill a generation of fisherman."  Cannon is trying to push the next generation of boating and fishing lovers, regardless of strict government regulations.

"I really enjoy people who are new to boating. I love the service side of the business, for we have a great service department.  I like to see a smile on the faces of purchasers when they leave here after they have bought a boat," Cannon replies with enthusiasm.  He doesn't often charter boats like he once did, but he will offer to take a customer out on the water to test out the boating equipment and getting accustomed to their new boating vehicle.  "Every boat I sell is a customer for life" he adds.

When he isn't selling boats, Cannon is hunting, fishing or doing anything outdoors.  He also enjoys black and white pencil art and spending time with his wife, Brooks and daughter, Grier.  His goals are to fish three days a week and work three days a week and continue the business and to build revenue.

As one who truly savors the business of boating, he hopes to carry the legacy on to his family while passing on the continued service to the local community, to Northeast Florida visitors and to a new generation of young, eager fisherman and boaters alike who share his love of the water.  Whether he is in the wild on the hunt for the perfect game or assisting a customer in the hunt for that perfect boat; where land and sea merge in the great outdoors is where you will always find the delightful Captain Brett Cannon.

Please visit Atlantic Coast Marine at www.atlanticcoastmarine.com and on Facebook.

Luck Be A Ladybug

In many cultures, the sight of a ladybug (the good luck bug) is either a call to make a wish or a sign that a wish will soon be granted; and so to fully understand the ladybug and all of its adornment, one should take the journey to a small village nestled among the oak trees and discover the little yellow house.  

Pam Howard, owner of The Village Ladybug - Gifts & Design, welcomes patrons to her home away from home in her store on Corinthian Avenue in Ortega.  Once a small modest residence was later transformed into a gift shop more than twenty years ago.  In 2007, Pam being entranced by the delightful charm of the house turned shop, burrowed in the heart of the business district of Old Ortega, began the pursuit of carrying on the retail store as the new proprietor and giving it its new name.

As the only gift shop in the Ortega Village, the Ladybug is a stop-and-shop hidden gem in the heart of an historic area in one of Jacksonville’s oldest neighborhoods.  Offering specialty wedding registry items, Trapp candles, handmade jewelry, pacific wood plates, and hostess/party gifts; customers utilize the shop’s array of goods while chit-chatting, catching up and filling Pam in with the going-on’s in their lives.

With experience in interior decorating and a passion for beautiful things, Pam has grown the business into a store offering special occasion gifts, but also added a design service component, as well as, a room dedicated to antiques and rare finds from estate sales brought in from all over the Southeast.

Just as a chrysalis must grow and morph into a butterfly, the Ladybug has gone through a metamorphosis of change throughout the past few years since opening.  While adding custom orders and services for residential interiors and a design studio with fabrics, lighting, wallcovering and home decor; Pam’s vision for her store brand evolved.  

“I’m surprised when I hear that people do not think that we are still a gift shop. I want people to know that the Ladybug is still a gift store and will always be a gift store; that is what I love about the Ladybug and what my customers love about this place.”  The Ladybug offers a plethora of new arrival items with free gift wrapping and special home deliveries as a service to her patrons.  

Pam’s concept of her store is simply defined as “living graciously”.  Each customer is welcomed with Southern hospitality, greeted with a warm benevolence as refreshing as a glass of cold iced tea on a hot Florida day.  The Sugarbakers of Designing Women have nothing on Pam Howard, for this Ladybug leaves you walking off of her front porch with your wishes granted of kind pleasantries wanting you to come back for more!

The Village Ladybug - Gifts & Designs is located in the Historic Ortega Village at 2930 Corinthian Avenue.  904.387.2900.  Visit the website at www.villageladybug.com and Facebook.

(This article can also be read in the April 2012 Issue of The Resident Community and News)

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The Real Lowdown: Real Estate and Small Talk with Fred Miller

"It is not too soon to provide by every possible means that as few as possible shall be without a little portion of land.  The small landholders are the most precious part of a state."  A letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison; October 28, 1785.


In such a time as this, when not only local markets but also the overall conglomerate real estate industry is at an unforeseen and questionable state, shouldn't we as current or potential local landholders turn to both our forefathers words of advice as well as our residing real estate visionaries for its understanding in the simplest of terms?  How does ownership of property and land shape our communities in America?  As a quest to find select individuals who help define our little pocket environments in the South, an opportunity presented itself to pick the brain of a local gentleman and his notions of land ownership and taking a stake in a small piece of America.

In January, South of MaDi sat down with real estate broker, Mr. Fred Miller, CEO and founder of Fred Miller Group.  In order to understand a man such as Mr. Miller, one must take a look back and catch a glimpse of his history and journey to where he achieved his place in life as it is today.  Take into account the Miller family history and their ties to Northeast Florida.  The Miller's arrived in Jacksonville in 1910, with Fred's grandfather relocating to Florida where he began a commercial printing company appropriately named, "Miller Press".  As a continuation of the company, Fred's father began working for Miller Press in 1937.  As a teenager, Fred left Jacksonville to attend college in Tennessee at Sewanee, The University of the South, to soon return by joining Miller Press in 1964.   But Fred eventually had other ideas in mind as the years carried on.

Fred resigned from Miller Press in 1978 and started his own marketing and advertising firm, Alfred Miller & Associates.  Since sales and marketing seemed to drive his passion in the work industry, Fred took his experience to get his real estate license and then to establish Fred Miller Group with his wife, Carol, in 1990.  He decided to open his new business in the westside of Jacksonville where he grew up and knew the community well.  After searching for recognizable locations along the the US-17 corridor and thoroughfare from Timuquana Road to Riverside, he couldn't quite find what he was looking for.  As a real estate firm, Fred knew if he did a good job at running an agency, he could risk being off the beaten path and succeed.  So Fred returned to the heart of his roots in Old Ortega, nestled in the village area of the neighborhood on Corinthian Avenue.

"Ortega is like Mayberry, with a bank, a pharmacy and a number of services to make it a pleasant place to live.  This is one of the areas oldest neighborhoods, pretty well built out with large oaks and lots of moss. It is never going to be the vanguard of growth. The saying goes that Ortega rolls up about 7 o'clock at night.  I grew up here, it is lovely." states Miller.

As the legacy continues, Fred's son, Ted Miller joined the firm in 1997 and is now President of Fred Miller Group.  Fred has two other sons who are in the real estate industry as well.  From 2000 through 2006, FMG became the fastest growing realtor firm in town, growing to 60 associates at its peak. Fred Miller Group started out in one small office in the building and grew into occupying the entire first floor.  In 2002, Fred and son Ted bought the building where he leases the second floor to other businesses that compliment his agency.  FMG serves Northeast Florida with listing and sales in 5 neighboring counties.   Fred reports that, "Our mission is to emphasize service and professionalism with the highest ethics and the deepest research.  We have comprehensive marketing plans for each home and employ a high caliber of sales executives."

FMG markets itself with several advertisements within the area, and has received numerous awards, but most importantly, assists sellers and buyers with the largest financial transaction of their lives.  When the economy took a major hit in 2008, FMG along with every realty agency suffered.  "The industry got hot and needed to cool off, we just didn't need the deep freeze," Fred replies.

South of MaDi happened to sit down with Miller on Florida's primary election day.  Being that it is an election year, one wonders how the real estate market sees the future in our leaders in this economic tumultuous state, so we asked Mr. Miller to give his insight.  "Purchasing a home is vital to America and all Americans.  It is important to get control of our federal government, to reduce the deficit and spending.  We need to bring order to Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac.  These things are happening slowly but very important to election day."

What is it about real estate that Fred Miller continues to find an inspiration, even now with the trials and challenges of a tough economy and flippant market? "I find it very rewarding to assist a seller and buyer accomplish each of their respective goals."  Miller believes that buying real estate, a home, a piece of land is one of the most important decisions in one's life.  "We have assisted one family in 14 transactions on three generations levels. With some family's, they earn "frequent buyer miles" and get a small discount with each transaction."

Nevertheless, Fred Miller Group, remains to stay for the long haul.  Fred believes that Northeast Florida and Jacksonville is the most vibrant city in America to live, work and play.  Because Jacksonville and Duval County consolidated and became one unit in 1971, given it great size in square miles, there is room for tremendous growth.  With a large professional marketplace; including manufacturing, insurance, banking and professional organizations, and a vast infrastructure of interstate and highway systems, it is a great place in which to prosper. The addition of our professional football team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, in 1995, was perhaps "Jacksonville's single largest stimulus package," as Miller puts it.  Fred believes that the beautiful waterways between the Atlantic Ocean and the St. John's River and the mild climate being, "not so hot, and not so cold", presents a great quality of life here.

In this city with such a fine quality of life,  Fred enjoys his spare time by reading and spending time outdoors while walking, riding his bike in the neighborhood and he loves to fly fish the salt flats along the intracoastal waterway.  Time spent with children and grandchildren and friends add to his enjoyment as well as "modest travel". "I've made some of my best friends in the real estate industry," he adds.  "My family has lived in Jacksonville for 100 years after leaving central Tennessee in 1910, while living there for 100 years."  In fact, Northeast Florida's Association of Realtors approaches its 100 anniversary in 2012, coincidentally.

Perhaps it is time for the Miller family to move on to another region in the South to stake their claim in shaping a different community, one might wonder?  South of MaDi doesn't believe it to be true for a minute.  One of Jacksonville's best assets is the new blood that comes to town and blending in with the old blood that laid the foundation of its history.

Just as a family grows through nomadic changes, our lands and communities grow.  What is new becomes old, and the evolution is inevitable and continuous.  As the land morphs and ebbs, just as the tide continues to redesign the shoreline, one thing should remain the same; the right and freedom for land ownership, to buy and to sell our stake in the most precious part of our state is owning a little piece of its treasure.

Please visit Fred Miller Group at www.fredmillergroup.com

The Beautiful Realities : C. Lyons Art

Plato once famously said that, "beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities...."

For an artsist, an interpretation of an object, place or thing which inspires them to bring forth a piece of art is to pause, observe,  to analyze and take in an image of reality. For an observer, one has a brief, momentary relationship with not only the artist, but an exchange of dialogue with their perception of reality.  South of MaDi would like to introduce Christine Lyons of C Lyons Art, a native Floridian and self-taught artist who graciously gave up some time recently to talk with us about her artistic style of oil and acrylic painting.

C. Lyons has been showing her art for few years now, selling her bold and colorful artwork in the northeast Florida area at local art markets and private home shows.  South of MaDi was first introduced to her artwork in 2010 at a trunk show in Ortega and has been a fan ever since.  Using an combination of  both light and dark colors, her work portrays natural and aquatic wildlife, floral arrangements, landscapes and coastal palms with bright and vivid imagery.

After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in interior design, Christine moved back to Florida where she began to hone in on her painting skills in her indoor studio at her home in Palm Coast.    Although her art professors may not have necessarily found the student's work befitting for a future in professional art, Christine followed her passion and her love of color and knew she had a talent to paint objects that appealed to her and somehow she would find an audience.  As a young mother of two, she continues to paint often even with two toddlers in the house, she merely hands the children their own paint brushes to join in on working on a canvas.  Do not be surprised if you see Christine at the grocery store with her and her children covered in paint for, "that is just our life," she comments.

South of MaDi asked C Lyons what inspires her artistry?  "Color!  Also seeing something that I like to look at that I know instantly I can paint.  Flowers, fish, trees and lately I've started to push myself out of the box in landscapes."  Her work caters to those who aren't afraid to use color within their own interior environments.  Her work is on the edge of eccentric with statement pieces and a pulling draw of attention that is contagious and has the potential to add "pop" to a room or office.  Her use of various textures and layering of highlights and shadow keep your eye focusing, adjusting and shifting with each piece.

Her goals for the future is to perhaps someday display her work in a gallery where they can be viewed by a broader audience; but she also loves the personal relationships that transpire out of small private shows.  Her reputation has grown, nevertheless, with one corporate law firm requesting 7 paintings for their offices overlooking the St. John's River in downtown Jacksonville; resulting in their office displaying a form of gallery with her art.   C. Lyon's Art is continuing to grow as her craft evolves and she explores the study of natural light and various landscapes that challenge her to draw  attention through her mediums.

Just as Plato encouraged us to view images of reality as being beautiful in the eye of the mind, South of MaDi encourages you to not only appreciate the artist for who they are, but what they are offering to you in their exploration of work.  May we to stop, observe and reflect on these realities that are presented for us to enjoy.

South of MaDi invites you to stop by one of the local NE Florida art shows for a closer viewing of C Lyons Art and to visit her website at clyonsart.weebly.com.  Custom work is available upon request.