Art Day Composite Photo Courtesy- Mountain Top (Tracy at top left)

     Tracy Pollard Schuknecht,  an ESE /VE teacher at Sun N' Lakes Elementary School, is concerned that "many students have had little or no contact with any form of the arts...recent cuts and legislation will continue to limit this ... (even though) research shows that the more exposure students have to the arts, the higher their achievement!"  Tracy's creative response to the dilemma this year was the 2nd Annual "Celebrate the Arts Day" held on May 27th and other activities celebrating the school's 25th anniversary.

     Tracy's efforts were backed by Ms. Diane Lethbridge, Principal, and Dr. Linda Laye, Assistant Principal.  Individuals, families, the school's PTO, and businesses were recruited as community sponsors.  Volunteer "art partners" were responsible for ½ hour "playshops " that had students painting, dancing, acting, singing, drumming, practicing Tai Chi, and experientially learning about each artist's craft. The majority of instructors were HCA members: artists Phyllis Jones Behrens, Loretta DeWitt, and Linda Kegley;  Krista Flores and Michelle Cathey of The Children's Academy of Arts and Theatre;  director Don Eckstein of the Tangelwood Fine Art League,  actors from Highlands Little Theater; photographer Rick Knoche; drummers from Primal Connection; clowns from Toby the Clown Foundation; and author Cynthia Schumacher and illustrator Nina Shuman.  Art students from SFCC, Lake Placid High School and Avon Park High School were also given opportunities to teach. The event was covered by Highlands Today and by HCA members Sherry Carlson, Christopher Williams (HCA Today) and photographer Bud Phagan of Mountain Top Productions: Digital Historians.

     Tracy's love of the arts was fostered by her parents as well as the schools she's attended.  Her talent as a singer has flourished in the group N-Light.  She has been the Director of Music for several children and adult productions at HLT, and at SFCC for the grant-funded student production of "Mulan."  Tracy has worked with elementary students for 10 years.  At the Unity Life Enrichment Center (HCA member) she and husband David work with youth ages 11-13 and 14-18. This year Tracy was named Sun N'Lakes Elementary School's Teacher of the Year and earned her MA from Southeastern University, Lakeland, with areas of concentration in Teaching and the Integration of Art in Interdisciplinary Studies.

     Tracy's ability to coordinate the business, art, and education communities to produce "Celebrate the Arts Day" illustrates her creative, proactive win-win approach to challenges. Driven to help this and future generations to appreciate, experience, and profit by the arts, she has joined the Board of Directors of the Heartland Cultural Alliance , thereby increasing her sphere of influence even further. Welcome Tracy!

Created by the Sun N' Lake Students

     What's a "Loop Tour"? It's a smart way to create cost-effective marketing for a broad spectrum of Highlands County activities, including in the arts and culture, museums and historic districts, shopping and restaurants, ecotourism and sports. The idea comes from a workshop at the Florida Trust Historic Preservation Conference this year, called "Collaborative Marketing in Eco-Tourism and Heritage Tourism." Shawn Beckwith and Roz Foster, the presenters, who've brought this concept to Volusia and Brevard Counties, would be happy to come and talk with us, too.

     They have a plan: Get all area groups together for a sit-down. (They called theirs a "symposium.") Emphasize working together. Define and describe all local assets. Develop special-interest "loop tours," featuring a variety of activities to give your tourism advertising more bang for the buck. These could include everything from kayaking, bicycling, and birding, to arts and cultural activities, to museums and heritage activities, to shopping, restaurants, and galleries.

     The key to the concept, according to Beckwith, is all of these diverse activities appeal to the same group of people.  His self-described "politically incorrect" way of putting it was this: "You've got two kinds of crowds, the PBS crowd and the Simpsons crowd. You want the PBS crowd, and they go to all of these things." Keep the focus on quality and authenticity. Give each "loop tour" a focal event: "Trails Day," or perhaps, for Sebring, "Train Day." Market the entire package on the Internet, giving prospective visitors a menu of opportunities to choose from.

     The TDC would be the logical organization to oversee a Highlands County "Loop Tour" website. But the good news is that most of the site architecture already exists, scattered across various local websites. A "Loop Tour" for Highlands County could be pulled together if groups agreed to link their websites to one another. So, we could develop high-concept marketing, starting from the grassroots. Shall we step up and give it a try?

     Know your target audience. Who are your most important customers, clients or prospects, and why? Know what is important to them and address their needs in your newsletter each month. Include a photo to make your newsletter even more appealing.

Images courtesy of Mountain Top

     A triple Milestone Celebration event was held last Saturday, June 11, at Kenilworth Lodge. It's been a year since the reorganization and revitalization of Heartland Cultural Alliance, 10 years since the formation of Primal Connection, and it was a celebration of Fred Leavitt's 70th birthday. Approximately 200 people attended.  A tasty selection of butler served hors du oeuvres donated by Chef Mac was brought around to guests.  The Cordon Bleu chef, who was in attendance, also provided a banquet table of fruit, cheeses, veggies and dips.  HCA provided a variety of wines and soft drinks.

     
     The evening began with the opening of the HCA gallery and classical guitar by Kenny Summers. It then proceeded to take us on a wild ride with the "percussion therapy" of Primal Connection. Larry McCandless emceed the event and started off with a brief history of HCA, Primal Connection, and Fred's career as a musician and artist. The percussionists then gave us a concert of rhythms ranging from South Africa to an original Sebring Florida composition.  A call for an encore from the audience resulted in the ensemble playing a Latin rhythm that stimulated dancers who formed a conga line circling the room. After the concert the celebration cake was cut, coffee served and drums were offered to the audience to participate in Primal Connection's signature drum circle. The Kenilworth pulsed with vibration that night!

     A raffle was held for a five course dinner for four with wine by Chef Mac, One round of golf for FOUR at the Championship Highlands Ridge North, one hour Swedish Massage at The Spa at Hammock Falls, One round of golf for FOUR at the 18 hole Golf Hammock Country Club, Two tickets for the classical production of "Little Women" at Highlands Little Theatre with Dinner for two at the Lakeview Restaurant. 

     There was alsoa silent auction of pieces from HCA member artists; including Linda Kegley, Jim Fitch, and Fred Leavitt. At every Kenilworth HCA event, tickets are available from the Cusworth Arms Pub, which donates $1 of every purchase to HCA.  Close to $1,500 was raised at the event

 
     The celebration was free to the public thanks to sponsorship from News Sun, Anderson Animal Clinic, Highlands Today, Palms Court Catering, Highlands Independent Bank, Alan Jay Automotive Network, Carmelita Lim MD, Highlands Community Church, Kenilworth Lodge, Couture's Art Gallery & Framing and Bob & Betty Choquette.

     Soon to celebrate a 2 year anniversary, the Heartlands Photography Group joined HCA and met with success at the last two Kenilworth Lodge HCA Art Gallery openings.  The group's founder is Laura Higgins, a successful realtor and self taught photographer.   The not-for-profit group has free membership with about 14 active members who meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.  Programs are designed to educate photographers in different techniques, equipment and software as well as enjoy the craft.  Last month's meeting covered precision matting and framing and was held at Michael's.  Optional field trips vary from afternoons to a weekend in length and have included Bok Tower, Gatorland, Ft. Desoto Park, Blowing Rocks Preserve in Hobe Sound and other nature-rich locales. The club members have also used their talents to promote community projects, such as Habitat for Humanity.

     Laura's interest in photography began as she hiked the nature trails and parks on the Jersey Shore with her dad, a professional photographer now living in Colorado Springs.  Her appreciation of Arthur Morris' and John Shaw' s photography has spurred her on to achieving her own excellence as evidenced by her winning first place over thousands of photographers in a www.photobucket.com contest for her heart-shaped swans print.

     Melissa Platt, a 1st and 2nd prize winner for photographs submitted to the Lake Placid Art Festival, is a member who has sold 4 photographs at the Kenilworth Lodge.  She too is self taught, and has been enjoying photography since her teens.  "The Dragon," one of the photographs displayed at the first show, caught everyone's eye.  She, without a tripod, crawled through the grass and snuck up on the dragonfly to capture its beauty.

     J. Harry Caufield  (the Club's treasurer as well as retired judge) and Chuck Oliver have been selling photographs at several venues.  Mr. Caufield's "The Fly Fisherman" has been exhibited in several states with sales now numbering over 60.   

     Club members are very willing to promote each other and together create an atmosphere of joy, excellence and humility. For further information about the club, contact Laura at laurawhiggins@yahoo.com .  The club has a facebook membership as well.

AIRPORT GALLERY 

      A reception for Loretta DeWitt was held at the HCA Gallery at Sebring Regional Airport on May 20th. Many HCA members and non-members attended. Loretta, also a cake designer, made a sheet cake in the style of some of her paintings.  The "cake top" was raffled off and the winner was Kenny Summers, who often provides classical guitar music for HCA gatherings. One of Loretta's paintings (pictured in the Heartland Sun Times, May 18-31 Issue) was sold that day. She also received two commissions. 

ART DAY

     The second annual Art Day was held at Sun & Lake Elementary School on May 27th. The event was arranged by Tracy Schucknecht, teacher and new HCA Board member. 18 classrooms held demonstrations ranging from cartooning to Tai Chi. Each group of kids had six 30 minute sessions with different artists for the 3 hour event. A new 25th Anniversary mural was designed by John Ritter on which each child in the school placed their palm print. Many HCA artists participated, as well as high school students from the Highlands County area.

SCRIBE'S NIGHT OUT

     On May 22, Gerald Pleau read from his book Space Odysseys, which is an educational book about NASA's space program from Mercury to Apollo. Gerald is relentlessly pursuing his goal of getting this book into the school system, because the space programs of the 60s and 70s are not being emphasized as historical events.

     On June 12, Yvette Scholl read selected poems and excerpts from her second fantasy/horror novel The Legacy. Yvette is a Lake Placid High School teacher who credits the Greater Houston Area Writing Project for the encouragement she needed to begin her writing career. An amazing 23 people attended that evening.

     Scheduled for June 26 is Barbara Beswick, of Sebring Scribblers & Scribes. On July 10, Larry Levey, freelance columnist and local historian, will be joined by his wife Elaine. They co-authored a book on local history.

Heartland Photography Group

Couture's Art Gallery, Custom Framing & Home Decor

Judy Nicewicz

Gerald Pleau

Shirley Stone

Scribblers and Scribes (Barbara Beswick)

LaQuandra Matthews

Sweet Adeline's

This new addition to the newsletter is to give our readers expression and share their thoughts about HCA, HCA Today and its contents.  Send letters to info@heartlandculturalalliance.org.  All letters for publication must be identified with the writer's name.

Recent Letters 

Fred,

The lead off piece in last month's newsletter (Paducah story www.heartlandculturalalliance.org/Newsletters.html) was right on target. We're not selling pie in the sky but rather what advocates for art and culture have known for a long time. Good job!

Jim Fitch

Dear Fred,

I really enjoyed reading the new HCA News and Events; especially the mention of Paducah. I was actually thinking of you and Paducah the other day, as I have information about them in my car that I've been holding onto for the next time we meet.

Peace,

Pastor George Miller

Fred,

Thank You Very Much for all the good news you send our way! I always try to get your info printed so please keep it coming!

Mary Meerman-Alaniz, Editor-in-Chief

Heartland Sun Times, Inc.

Dear Fred,

I just wanted you to know that I thoroughly enjoyed the Reception (Milestone Celebration) especially the Primal Connection performance. You have a very talented group and it is quite evident that all of you really enjoy playing together.

Fred, everyone was moved by your extraordinary ability to impart the feeling of comradeship and love for what you are doing. Your exuberance was electrifying.

The food was especially tasty, as was your birthday cake Fred! That was a nice touch.

At age 70 you have just arrived at what I call....mid-life! It's just a new beginning for all the aspirations you have imagined to materialize.

 Mary Bouteiller

Hi Fred:

Here in LP we are getting our organizations together to cooperate with each other. The clown foundation invited the mural society to a meeting to brain storm ideas... We now interact with each other. The LP Historic Society is having a Celebration of the early settlers.... This is a joint effort between the mural society and the historic society. I will talk at the celebration and correlate the murals with the lives of the settlers.

.

I have wanted to add all LP assets in one flyer and advertise everything in LP to promote tourism. I am not sure how to get this information out beyond our area.

I see you are thinking along those lines about all Highlands County's tourism assets. I am also very interested in this. We have so much to offer, but it is our lack of organization and advertising dollars that keep Highlands County one of Florida's best kept secrets.

Harriet Porter, President
Lake Placid Mural Society

Buy a Florida State of the Arts license plate. Enrich yourself and your community. $20 from the cost of the plate is donated by the state to HCA. Show you care and wear your new plates proudly.