Features

As a youngster growing up in Canada, Susan Coffin was well aware of the Inuit custom of carving animals. It was something she learned about at the age of nine, when she received a carved stone duck.

If you Google the history of the zentangle, you really won't find anything that specific on the subject because it is something that defies a tidy definition. When you look at an example, at first glance, it may just appear to be a bunch of doodles.

But, it is more than that. Some practitioners believe that it serves as a form of meditation. There is some deliberate thought involved initially but they easily fall into a rhythmic, relaxed state as they draw the different designs.

The Cedar Keyhole Gallery Artist of the Month for August is Joanne Pirzer. She uses the skills of woodworker, painter and sculptor in combining various types of wood into an overall wall hanging. It may be a tropical or wildlife scene but the sense of realistic presentation is immediately striking. 

    There is secret garden at the corner of 6th and E Streets and you are welcome to drop in any time. Tonya Sprong has reestablished her business, “Beauty By The Yard” at her home, after a short stint on 2nd Street.
    She is not a fan of four walls and loves the opportunity and inspiration for creativity that her back yard provides under the sheltering branches of a giant oak tree.

Some tales are hard to believe, but this one is absolutely true as relayed by Miss Grace Cowart and her mom, Molly.

Next time you flush your toilet, give a silent thank-you to the men who work at the Cedar Key Sewage Treatment Plant and be glad it is them, and not you, who work there.

Then, thank them again when you see them around town.

A tour of the plant on Tuesday by the proud manager, Jack Hotalling, revealed more than any resident would ever want to know, see or smell about the facility.

Chunky Pond, Levyville, Bronson–no matter what it was called, it was always the center-piece of Levy County. That was but one of the hundreds of historical snippets shared Saturday as Levy County celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Atlantic to the Gulf Railroad that connected Fernadina Beach to Cedar Key.

The brainchild of David Levy Yulee, Florida senator and the first Jewish member of Congress, the railroad began in 1856 and after several starts-stops, at last reached Cedar Key in 1861. 

You may have walked or driven by a house on Fourth Street numerous times and barely noticed it was there - half hidden behind low limerock walls that terrace the sloping yard and overgrown cabbage palms.  Or, perhaps, you stopped to take a photo of the pair of adirondack chairs, swaths of ferns and pile of bleached out shells on each side of the stairs.

It is one of those houses that could go either way - photo op or you might pass right by and not look up. 750 Fourth Street - home of Luz Beckham Kraujalis and her husband, Walter. 

Cedar Key’s Police Department has a well known leader, Chief Virgil Sandlin. But, the men who make up his force may be less known. I sat down with Cpl. David Perry this week to find out more.

The Basics: He is 33 years old and in April will have been on the force for six years — his first job out of the police academy. He has been married for “around” eight years and has a four year-old son, also known as “My World”.