Florist remembered for compassion, creativity - The Augusta Chronicle

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Florist remembered for compassion, creativity - The Augusta Chronicle

Florist remembered for compassion, creativity - The Augusta Chronicle

Posted: 20 Jun 2019 12:55 PM PDT

A longtime Barnwell florist died on June 11 of natural causes while vacationing in the Florida Keys.

Carol Morris Carroll, 54, was a lifelong resident of Barnwell. She and her husband James have owned Carol's Florist & Gifts in downtown Barnwell for 30 years.

"She has been instrumental in helping to bring celebratory joy to residents of Barnwell and the surrounding area by sending beautiful bouquets of flowers and balloons for birthdays, anniversaries, and to welcome precious newborns into the world. Her works also helped to soothe the pain of losing a loved one in times of sorrow," said Willie Dell Fields, who works in the shop.

Kathy Witherspoon wrote on the shop's Facebook page that there was never a time that she went into the shop that Carol didn't offer to help her find just the perfect arrangement or gift.

"Like so many others, we have many memories of sweet Carol helping us with not only flowers, but kind words and encouragement," said Valenda Black on Facebook.

"She had a big heart for all people and much love to share with all," said Judy McClary on Facebook.

Carol was a self-taught floral designer whose one-of-a-kind designs provided beauty and a festive atmosphere to the City of Barnwell, especially during the Christmas holidays with the decorations in her store's show window on the corner of Burr and Main streets. Her works could also be seen on the steps of the Barnwell County Courthouse and on the Circle.

As a graduate of Barnwell High School, she was an avid supporter of her alma mater, said Fields. Carol often provided floral bouquets for homecoming and beauty pageants, in addition to donating to various fundraisers.

"Mrs. Carroll will be sorely missed by the residents of Barnwell, her family and friends, and all who loved her," said Fields.

Carol was the daughter of Bobby Morris and the late Pat Morris of Snelling. She leaves to cherish fond memories: her husband, James; son, Shane, and his wife Chelsey; granddaughter, Blakely; her father, Bobby Morris; her sister, Janet Creighton; brother and sister-in-law, Neal and Rita Morris; her little dogs, Bella and Max; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends, including her co-workers in the flower shop, Miss Louise, Willie Dell, Marilyn, Janice and Debra.

Funeral services were held on Monday, June 17 at 5 p.m. at Hagood Avenue Baptist Church.

Longtime Baldwinsville flower shop closing as owner retires - syracuse.com

Posted: 21 Jun 2019 07:34 AM PDT

Baldwinsville, N.Y. — A flower shop with 50 years of history behind it is closing later this month.

Noble's Flower Gallery at 93 Syracuse St. in Baldwinsville will close for good June 29. Owner Jan Schaperjahn is retiring.

Schaperjahn has owned the business since 2003. She bought from its original owner, Nancy Noble.

Schaperjahn has been in the floral business for 41 years and worked at several other shops around Central New York before buying Noble's. She says she'll miss her customers most.

"They're not just my customers," she said. "They've become my friends. I have some really great memories. Plus, I love what I do every day."

The shop is selling what remains of its merchandise ahead of its closing.

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598

Loading up a food truck and finding a market for traditional sweets in Malta - The Irish Times

Posted: 20 Jun 2019 10:01 PM PDT

It can often be a road less travelled, the decision to bring your product to the people rather than the other way around. But for one Irish entrepreneur, it was something she feels only sweetened her success, although the journey did come with a few bumps along the way.

"Keeping chocolate from melting in 40-degree heat was one of the first challenges of working with a food truck and not one I had fully thought through when I decided to set up my company," laughs Sarah McGourty, co-owner of Miss Ellen's Sweet Shop and Sweet Truck in Malta.

McGourty moved to Malta from Boho, Fermanagh four years ago but not with the intention of setting up her own business.

"I had been studying hotel management in GMIT and working in Neven Maguire's restaurant, but I needed to get some work experience. I first came to Malta in 2009 to work in the Phoenicia Hotel in Valletta, which at that time was owned by Irish developer Paddy Kelly, hotelier Ray Byrne and four others. I worked here for a while and then went home to finish my degree.

While I was figuring out whether to stay in the hotel industry or not, my mother happened to read an article in a Sunday newspaper which said old-style sweet shops were making a comeback in Ireland. She thought it would be a good idea to try it out in Malta as the Maltese have a very sweet tooth. I wasn't so sure at the time, but now here I am."

McGourty and her businesses partner, Sandro Grech, have been up and running since January 2014 and have expanded Miss Ellen's to include party events and decor. They also sell their sweets online.

The original idea was just to have a van, which they bought and named Henri. But it took months of negotiating with Maltese authorities to get it registered and on the road, so they ended up parking Henri in a garage and operating from there. And that was how their shop was born.

"Ironically, when we couldn't have the van on the road, it led to us having a sweet shop and the van part came later."

Both the shop and Henri operate six days a week, although, in Henri's case, logistics can sometimes get in the way. "Being mobile is great as it's a free-roaming advertisement, but there are also a lot of challenges, which include parking, parking and parking!" says McGourty.

"We always have to plan ahead. Finding the ideal spot to base ourselves for a full day is not easy. You also have to consider running costs like fuel and electricity and you need to have your own [power] source with you at all times."

And then there's the maintenance of Henri himself – a 1954 Citroen H van.

"The fact that he is mobile means you can bring him to clients, so we can use him for weddings, baby showers, corporate events or birthdays and, compared to the shop, the running costs are lower. But from a negative point of view, he's more than 60 years old so it can cost a lot to keep him in working order. Sometimes if he breaks down, we must wait weeks to get him fixed again, which means we are losing money while he's off the road."

Having a novelty addition to the business gives McGourty plenty of fodder for social media.

"We mainly use Instagram to let people know where Henri will be every day, but it also helps show off what we have available in the shop as well as give people an idea of the types of events we can cater for."

Instagram also allows her to advertise her large range of products to the Maltese and the growing expat community. Customer favourites include Vegemite, Swedish Fish and Reese's Pieces.

Looking back at that conversation she had with her mother, does McGourty believe setting up a business in Malta is easier than it might have been if she had decided to stay in Ireland?

"Probably not," she says. "Certain aspects are harder here, simply because there is no communication between departments or local councils. For example, when it came to the address of my shop, it borders two places called Santa Venera and Hamrun. So, when I was trying to get information or documentation, both offices were sending me back and forth between each other.

"The banks are also very frustrating. I had huge problems with the state-run Bank of Valletta simply trying to open an account to put money in. I was told it was illegal to hold two different bank accounts in two different countries. As someone from Northern Ireland who holds three different accounts, I know this was not true.

"Registering the van was also a headache and it ended up with me having to send solicitors' letters to get things moving. I feel that, in Ireland, you would have more information and more help if you were setting up a small business. There are greater initiatives by the government and more of an emphasis on getting women into business."

But of course, there are some positives. "Competition isn't very high in Malta with what I do. In Ireland, I would never be able to compete with the larger department stores, but here I can.

"There also isn't the same drive in Malta when it comes to healthy eating, so they still spend a lot of money on sweets, which is a good thing for me!"

And how has McGourty evolved her model to deal with that melting chocolate in summer? "We usually put it in cool boxes until around May and then have to bring it inside for the hotter months I'm afraid."

How Little Fires Everywhere Director Lynn Shelton Learned to Love TV - Vanity Fair

Posted: 21 Jun 2019 08:35 AM PDT

Over the last decade Lynn Shelton has directed six movies. The films, all but one of which she has also written, have generally fallen somewhere on the mumblecore spectrum and have featured talent as disparate as Keira Knightley and Jay Duplass. Their subjects have ranged from fear of adulting to the lasting effects of incarceration, and their settings vary from Alabama in the summertime to the Pacific Northwest in the winter. Her latest feature, Sword of Trust, stars Marc Maron as a small-town pawn shop owner who meets-strange with a lesbian couple (Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins) interested in selling a family artifact believed by its former owner to be proof that the South actually won the Civil War. Like much of Shelton's work, the movie is quietly funny, finding most of its humor in odd characters and their atypical story arcs.

The film, which debuted at the SXSW Film Festival and will open on July 12, might be Shelton's last—at least for a while. For years Shelton has directed television episodes as a way to support her feature-film career. The strategy has coincided with the streaming wars and put her squarely in the center of the current TV boom. She's helmed episodes of GLOW, Master of None, and Casual, among others. And lately her work in the field has paid off in ways that her film directing hasn't exactly. In April it was announced that she had been hired to direct and executive produce the highly anticipated Hulu adaptation of Celeste Ng's best-selling novel Little Fires Everywhere, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

In an interview this week ahead of Sword of Trust's release, Shelton said the TV project is unlike anything she's done before, and it came at a moment when she was absolutely ready to take it on.

"It's probably the biggest opportunity I've had ever," said Shelton about the new series. "It's unbelievable."

Shelton and I spoke at a coffee shop in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles while she was on a very brief respite before heading to set to finish directing the first of the four episodes on her docket while also overseeing the entire eight-episode production alongside Witherspoon, Washington, and others.

"I'm good at this," said Shelton, a speed talker who exudes enthusiasm and possesses an infectious laugh. "That was why I wanted to pitch to do this and why I wanted to take on a job like this. I feel like I was born to do this. I related to every single character on some level and I felt deeply, personally connected to the themes of the story: race, class, culture, white privilege, all of this stuff that I don't feel like I've had an opportunity to really address but that is definitely something I've been wanting to do."

The series comes at a time when serialized, streaming programming is on the rise and small, indie films—Shelton's previously preferred milieu—are struggling to find a foothold with audiences. That shift has weighed greatly on her.

"Because of the massive, massive quantity of content [out there], just an ocean of content, unless you have a machine behind you to wave flags in the air that nobody can ignore, you can make the best work you've ever made in your life and the vast majority of the people in the world will not see it," she said with a deep sigh. "That's a little heartbreaking. And it's a little exhausting to put so much effort into something and then it just isn't going to land in a place."

Why 'Toy Story 4' Should Be the Last Movie in the Franchise - Thrillist

Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:09 AM PDT

This article contains spoilers for Toy Story 4. 

There's a moving finality to Toy Story 3, the 2010 Pixar movie that left audiences with tear-streaked faces as their childhoods came to an end. After Woody, Buzz, and the gang are saved from imminent death, they experience a poetic transition. With their owner Andy off to college, the toys get handed off to a new child, Bonnie. A cycle has been completed, and playtime has been passed on to a new generation. It's a perfect conclusion. So why make another movie?

Money, for one thing, but it turns out that Toy Story 4 isn't as cynical an enterprise as you might think, despite a controversial and fraught production cycle that seemed almost doomed. Director Josh Cooley's film -- with a story conceived of by eight credited writers -- operates as a coda of sorts to the first trilogy, with its own concerns about love and what it means to belong to someone. It also offers even further closure. In other words: There's absolutely no need for a Toy Story 5.

When we check back in on our old pals, they're happily serving Bonnie, and she adores them. Well, almost all of them. Woody (Tom Hanks), always Andy's favorite, is not as beloved by Bonnie, who prefers to make cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack) sheriff of her imaginary town. But that hasn't stopped Woody from his dogged devotion to making his kid happy. He's so dedicated that he stows away in her book bag even after she's told she's not allowed to bring a toy to her kindergarten orientation. Said intro to the world of schooling is traumatic for poor Bonnie, but Woody comes to her aid by supplying her various items that she uses to create Forky (Tony Hale), a makeshift plaything with haunted googly eyes who becomes her constant companion and her source of solace.

ducky and bunny
Ducky and Bunny, showing off. | Walt Disney Pictures

Of course, what's comfort for some is trauma for others. By turning a once disposed spork into a toy, Bonnie forced Forky to reckon with his own existence. His initial moments on Earth are full of terror, and he longs to return to the trash. I've already written an entire piece about Forky, but suffice it to say he's one of the oddest, most affecting animated characters to grace the screen in recent memory. More of an heir to Inside Out's Bing Bong than any existing character in the Toy Story universe, his strange persona guides the tone of the film, which is more melancholy than downright sob-inducing.

Ultimately, Forky jumps out the window of a moving vehicle in an effort to escape Bonnie's smothering affection during a road trip. Woody, assuming his self-appointed duties, goes after the wayward utensil to convince him that it's worth abandoning the promise of trash for Bonnie. But Toy Story 4 is as much about Forky's journey to a new sense of purpose as it is about Woody's, and his allegiances are tested when they come across an antiques store that seemingly is home to his one-time love Bo Peep (Annie Potts), a doll-slash-nightlight previously belonging to Andy's younger sister. But Bo, now refashioned into a crafty explorer, has abandoned the shop for life as "lost toy," leaving just the lamp behind. This allows her to provide happiness intermittently to children on her own terms, which she does while zooming around in a fake skunk with a sidekick Giggles McDimples (Ally Maki).

As in all the Toy Story movies, the ultimate goal for these semi-inanimate objects is to get back to their home base, in this case Bonnie's family's RV. While Bo's new ethos is an intriguing counter to Woody's, where the happiness of his kid is tantamount, the the real obstacle in the way is a toy named Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), a Chatty Cathy analog who lords over the antique shop with a creepy sweetness and an army of terrifying ventriloquist dummies. She takes Forky hostage in an effort to steal Woody's voice box, since hers is broken and she assumes that, if fixed, she'll finally win the love of the store-owner's granddaughter.

If this all sounds like heady, almost tragic, stuff about how to survive a meaningless existence, well, it is. But Toy Story 4 also mixes all that longing with some of the funniest moments ever to grace this series courtesy of Keanu Reeves as Duke Caboom, an abandoned Canadian action figure, and Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as Ducky and Bunny, two carnival prizes sewn together. It's gag-a-minute filmmaking with zany, Looney Tunes energy, that covers a lot of plot at a brisk pace.

duke caboom
My man, Duke Caboom. | Walt Disney Pictures

It all leads up to a choice for Woody. Should he return with Forky to Bonnie? Or should he stay with Bo? Finally coming to terms with the fact that Bonnie wouldn't miss him if he's gone, he chooses the latter, leaving Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of his friends behind. The movie's various mid-credits sequences give us happy endings: Bo, Woody, Ducky, Bunny, et al helping youngsters win toys -- and toys win youngsters -- at a carnival; Bonnie's toys meeting her latest creation, Knifey, also in a state of panic. But by separating Woody from the core group, it puts a pin in this saga as we know it.

There's always been a cyclical quality to the Toy Story movies because, at their core, they're about the process of growing up. But the previous installments were about static beings -- the toys -- wrestling with the humans around them changing but solidifying their own bonds in the process. Toy Story 4 breaks the cycle by allowing Woody, for once, to make a decision that's less about adaptation than it is about his own individual identity. While it's possible to debate for hours the metaphysical implications of that, for now, it serves as a satisfying evolution of a hero whose steadfastness was his defining trait. 

I would never underestimate Disney's capabilities to keep a franchise alive, and given the undeniable moneymaking power of successful franchises it would be strange for the Mouse to leave cash on the table by foregoing a Toy Story 5. But it would make sense that this is the end of Toy Story as we know it. Unless, of course, Duke Caboom gets his own spinoff. That, I'd be into.

Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, get Streamail for more entertainment, and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

Esther Zuckerman is a senior entertainment writer at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @ezwrites.

MetroWest Daily News announces Best of MetroWest Awards - Milford Daily News

Posted: 21 Jun 2019 07:38 AM PDT

The MetroWest Daily News Best of the Best awards are based on nearly 90,000 reader votes and honor 160 local businesses that were named Best in MetroWest.. Two finalists and the winner were announced during a gala event at the Sheraton Framingham Thursday evening.

FRAMINGHAM –  Winners of the Best of MetroWest Awards were announced Thursday evening during a glitzy inaugural awards gala at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center.

Nearly 90,000 votes were cast by readers for the community choice awards during the month of April. Readers were asked to vote for their favorite businesses to honor them with the recognition of being the Best of the Best in MetroWest. The top three vote-getters in each category – including the winner – were announced

"Being in the top three businesses within your category is a great honor, and we want you to leverage (this recognition) to help your business grow," said Jennifer Mann, director of sales for GateHouse New England, before introducing Master of Ceremonies Gabriela Taveras, 24, who last year became the first black woman to be crowned Miss Massachusetts. Taveras, wearing her glittering tiara atop her brown curls and a white satin sash with "Massachusetts" sown across, announced all 160 winners for this year.  

Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury was the top prize winner, taking home four awards, one each for Best Fine Dining, Best Romantic Restaurant, Best Local Tourist Attraction, Wedding Venue.

"I definitely didn't think we would win tonight – no way," said Dr. Sandra Cove of Ashland-based Dr. Cove, Kehoe & Khanani of Family Dentistry Inc., as the dentist of 25 years clutched the plaque for "Best Dentist" disproving her prediction.

Smiling under the fluorescent purple-lit ballroom at the Sheraton, Cove descends from a lineage of dentists – 18 of her relatives over four generations having worn the scrubs and wielding dental drills.

"It means so much to us that patients care that much for us – it's truly amazing," said Cove, accompanied by practice manager and comptroller Susan Griffin, who opened the Ashland dentist office with Cove back in 1999.

Both were shocked to learn that the business entered the second round of voting, from which three finalists were chosen for the MetroWest Daily News' Best of MetroWest Awards this year. But they were even more shocked to learn they won their category against Park Street Dental in Westborough and Alex Moheban DMD in Northborough.

Along with the Ashland dentistry, 99 other local businesses in the MetroWest area received an array of awards in 160 categories – from Best Brewery to Best Divorce Attorney - in six main areas – Entertainment & Leisure; Food & Drink; Local Places; Local Services; Local Shops and Vehicles Dealers and Services.

Of the 160 categories, the top three locations to win the most categories included Framingham with 37 percent, Marlborough with 15 percent and Natick with 11 percent.

Double award winners include Dante's (Best Place to Go Dancing, Best Place to See Live Music), Firefly's BBQ (Best BBQ, Best Buffet), Jack's Abby Craft Lagers (Best Brewery, Best Happy Hour), Trombetta's Farm (Best Mini Golf, Best Ice Cream), The Plum Tomato (Best Caterer, Best Take Out), Whitney Place Assisted Living and Memory Care (Best Assisted Living Facility, Best Memory Assisted Living), Vin Bin (Best Sandwich Shop, Best Gourmet Shop), Absolute Car Care (Best Auto Repair, Best Oil Change) and SKM Collection (Best Jewelry Store, Best Clothing Boutique).

Business that won three awards include Apex Entertainment (Family Amusement, Best Place to Have a Birthday Party, Best Place for First Date), J&M Diner (Best Breakfast, Best Brunch, Best Diner) and Westboro Toyota (Best Auto Dealer Service Department, Best Auto Salesperson, Best New Car Dealer).

Lauren Young writes about politics and social issues. Reach her at 315-766-6912 or lyoung@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on twitter at laurenatmilford.

St. Pete Pride parade and festival, Warrior Games: 10 things to do this weekend in Tampa Bay - WTSP.com

Posted: 21 Jun 2019 12:24 PM PDT

St. Pete Pride

One of the largest Pride events in the country runs through Sunday in St. Petersburg. The party kicks off at 2 p.m. Saturday with the parade stepping off around 7:15 p.m. Thousands of people will be dressed in rainbow colors, beads, glitter and costumes to celebrate LGBTQ Pride. The parade starts at North Straub Park and heads south almost to Albert Whitted Park. 

St. Pete Pride 2019: Where to see the parade, festival, TransPride March

St. Pete Pride Festival

Tens of thousands will flock to St. Petersburg's Grand Central District for live entertainment, community booths, art and local food. Outside beverages and alcohol will not be allowed, but water and other drinks will be sold in the festival. The festival is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at 2227 Central Ave., St. Petersburg.

More: St. Pete Pride leads the way to inclusivity with TransPride marching out front

Related: St. Pete Pride expected to be better than ever

Warrior Games

Hundreds of wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans will compete this week during the 2019 Department of Defense Warrior Games in Tampa. Athletes representing the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations Command will compete in 11 sports. Events include archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, wheelchair basketball, powerlifting, indoor rowing and time trial cycling. Events take place at various locations around Tampa Bay. All volunteer positions are filled, but the Warrior Games encourages everyone to fill the stands and support the athletes.

Former "Daily Show" host and comedian Jon Stewart will emcee Saturday's ceremonies, and country star Hunter Hayes will perform. 

You may see Stewart cheering at many of the competitions this weekend. Earlier this month, Stewart scolded Congress for skipping a hearing on the 9/11 victims fund. 

The 2019 Warrior Games runs through June 30. Find more information here.

St. Pete Street Food & Craft Beer Fest

Head to Albert Whitted Park in downtown St. Petersburg for dozens of food trucks, dessert trucks and a lengthy list of local craft beer. There will also be craft vendors, live music and special appearances by the Tampa Bay Lightning girls and Rolling Thunder. Bring your appetite and thirst from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday. 

More information here.

Zephyrhills SummerFest

Zephyrhills kicks off summer with a full day of fun, food and fireworks. The day begins with a morning market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., then SummerFest gets underway at 4 p.m. with a dance competition, a watermelon eating contest, food vendors and bounce houses. The day ends with a 30-minute fireworks show at 9 p.m. The event is dog-friendly. Admission is free.

Zephyr Park, 38116 Fifth Ave.

More information here.

USF Summer Plant Festival

Love plants? The USF Botanical Gardens has tons. Learn from pro growers on how to create a tropical garden, shop for native and tropical plants and learn about orchids, butterflies and beekeeping. Admission is $5. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

12210 USF Pine Drive, Tampa.

More information here.

Family Field Day

This free family event at the Pioneer Museum & Village includes sack races, relay races, water games, bounce houses, giveaways, face painting and more. The organization is also collecting donations of unused socks, non-perishable food and toiletries for Bright Hopes and Friends of Joshua's House. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

15602 Pioneer Museum Rd., Dade City.

More information here.

Summer Circus Spectacular

Miss the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus? You can still see the Summer Circus Spectacular in Sarasota. The event, put on by the Circus Arts Conservatory, expands to eight weeks this year. There are 10 shows a week in the Historic Asolo Theatre at the Ringling Museum. $16 for adults, $12 for kids 12 and younger. Shows at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; shows at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturdays. 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota.

More information here.

Summer Nights at Busch Gardens

Extended hours and specialty food and drinks have returned to Busch Gardens for the summer. During Summer Nights through Aug. 11, the Tampa theme park is open until 10 p.m. every night. Special menu items this year include gourmet popcorn, churro sundaes, fireworks, ice cream slushies, mac and cheese melts, colorful cocktails and frozen alcoholic drinks. And yes, free beer is still available during Summer Nights. Fireworks shows are at 9:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Summer Nights is included with park admission.

More information here.

'Before Dali -- Goya: Visions and Inventions'

The latest exhibit at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg pays tribute to Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, one of the most important Spanish artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Goya was a major influence on Dali. The exhibit features first edition prints and three paintings representing Goya's unique themes. The museum is located at 1 Dali Blvd. Adult admission is $24, seniors $22, teens $17, and youths $10. Children under 5 are free.

More information here.

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A Eulogy for Alan Peppard, the Arbiter of Dallas Society - Texas Monthly

Posted: 21 Jun 2019 10:12 AM PDT

What follows is a eulogy delivered by Texas Monthly Executive Editor Skip Hollandsworth upon the death of his longtime friend, Alan Peppard.

When Alan Peppard was a kid growing up on Stefani Drive in Preston Hollow, he had this idea that he was going to be a rock star. He took some guitar lessons at the Melody Shop—and he and a few classmates from his school, Greenhill, formed a band that they named Five Card Stud, a curious nomenclature considering that they were the least studly group of teenage boys ever assembled. Alan did much of the lead singing. When the band performed at parties, kids would stand around the stage and stare at Alan in disbelief as he leaned into the microphone to sing Elvis Presley's "Blue Suede Shoes."

"You know, Alan," one of his friends said. "You're pretty good at talking. Have you ever thought about sticking with that?"

Alan did love to talk. Even as a teenager, he was a world-class storyteller. He would sit in the cafeteria at lunch and hold court on everything from the Kennedy assassination to the plot twists in the latest James Bond movie to the latest inside scoop on who was making out with whom behind the Greenhill water tower.

He was full of confidence, incredibly at ease around adults. When he talked to his high school teachers, he called them by their first names.

He was accepted into Southern Methodist University, where he decided to major in political science, but on a lark he took one journalism course from the famous professor David McHam. Alan, in all honesty, was not a deeply devoted student. He nearly flunked the class. But like so many people who met Alan, McHam was enchanted by him. He saw a talent in him. And of all McHam's students, he recommended Alan to be an intern at D Magazine.

That's where I was working in 1984 when Alan arrived at the D Magazine parking lot in a red Jaguar given to him by his father Vernon, a swashbuckling geologist and pilot who owned a successful oilfield mapping company.

Alan was wearing an Izod shirt—back then, Alan was simply crazed about Izod; he considered it the Texas man's Chanel—and he was wearing khaki pants and topsiders without socks.

"Hello, I'm Alan Peppard," he said, as cheerful as Bertie Wooster from the P.G. Wodehouse novels.

We all stared at him, utterly confused. We thought his last name was pronounced Pe-PARD.

Laura Jacobus, D's feisty managing editor, cut him no slack. She had him start out fact-checking restaurant listings. Incredibly, he didn't utter one word of complaint. He seemed to enjoy talking to the restaurant owners, asking them all sorts of questions—not about their food but about their clientele. Were any of them well known? If so, what were they like? What did they talk about when they were eating? Well, listen, maybe I can drop by sometime and have you fix me a drink and show me around.

Soon, he began writing stories—about such subjects as the kinds of cars Dallas celebrities drive. We kept staring at him in bewilderment. Why, we asked, would a young man from such a privileged life want to live the life of a hack writer? Why didn't he go work for his father?

As it turned out, we weren't the only ones intrigued by Alan. In 1987, when he was just 24 years old, the Dallas Morning News hired him "to cover social events in the Dallas area."

Apparently, the man who hired Alan, editor Burl Osborn, assumed Alan would follow the tradition of past society columnists and trail after our city's socialites, pleasantly chronicling their charity balls and best-dressed luncheons.

Well, not quite.

Let me take you back to September 30, 1987, Alan's debut column:

"Today" section, page 3C.

Headline: PERENNIAL BACHELOR HAS A CHANGE OF HEART

Dallas oilman and perennial bachelor Bill Brosseau, the man who swore he'd never marry again, took the plunge Saturday night in San Antonio. Brosseau met 24-year-old Teresa Lucas (last year's Miss Oklahoma) a year ago but hadn't seen her again until three weeks ago when he and pal Matt Fleeger stopped for a drink at On The Border on Knox. And there she was. "We've been together every day since then," says Brosseau. The couple went to San Antonio last weekend so Bill could check on an oil well he was drilling. "The well was successful," he adds. On Friday night, Bill asked Teresa what she wanted to do on Saturday. "Well, honey, I wanna get married," she replied.  And so they did.

Let's do a brief literary textual analysis of this item. None of us had any idea who Bill Brosseau was. He wasn't from any of Dallas' old-money families. He had never before appeared in a column written by Nancy Smith or Julia Sweeney.

But for Alan, none of that mattered. What he wanted to do was celebrate a cast of Dallas characters whom we had no idea existed.

Yes, Alan wrote about the money raised at the Crystal Charity Ball. But he also wrote about the raucous Dallas Margarita Ball held at a DFW airport hotel.

Yes, he wrote about the great established families of Dallas—the Hunts and the Hills and the Hamons and the Dedmons.

But he also loved the new money that had come to town—the Joneses and the Schlegels and a Midland oilman named Bob Franklin, who had bought a townhouse and turned the third floor into a disco.

Alan wrote about everything from the mansion that Tony Romo had purchased in the suburbs, to the comings and goings of Jessica Simpson, to the antics of Bobby Goldstein, creator of the Dallas-based Cheaters TV show.

He wrote about Dallas' young beauties, like Amber Campisi and residential real estate queens like Twinkle Bayoud. And he wrote about all the actors that came here to put on television shows—from the martial arts actor Chuck Norris of Walker, Texas Ranger fame to all the people from the CBS show Dallas—Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, and of course Larry Hagman, who for years mistakenly called Alan "Alan Pepper."

Occasionally, there were complaints about Alan's writing. One husband called Alan and asked him to stop describing his wife as "a social mover and shaker." "She has advanced academic degrees," he snapped. "Yes sir," said Alan, and he promptly began calling the wife "Dallas' Renaissance woman."

And then there was Harriet Rose, whom Alan constantly referred to in his columns as the pint-size socialite because she was only 4 feet 10 inches tall. She got mad at him and told him to come up with a new nickname.  Yes, ma'am, said Alan, and he graciously started calling Harriet "Dallas' most petite partygoer."

Alan was breezy, fresh, and funny—and he himself was so good-natured, so likable, and so darned non-judgmental that it was hard for anyone to stay mad at him for very long.

Soon, wannabe socialites and wannabe Dallas celebrities began hiring public relations people to get their names in Alan's column. Usually reclusive members of the Dallas monied set were more than happy to return Alan's calls.

Even T. Boone Pickens, of all people, loved reading Alan's columns. He dropped what he was doing whenever Alan showed up at the office just to say hello. Despite their age differences, the two acted like fraternity brothers.

Boone even let Alan break the news in his column that he was getting married for the fifth time.

Some people think society columnists are, at best, masters of fluff. But Alan strangely had real influence in Dallas.

A lot of restaurateurs and nightclub owners, for instance, openly acknowledge that they wouldn't have had the business they did without Alan writing about them. Indeed, Alan spent so much time at Al Biernat's, taking notes about the comings and goings of the trendy steakhouse crowd, that Al named one of his dishes for Alan—'Alan's Traditional Eggs Benedict."

And do you remember Alan's columns about the restaurant war between Shannon Wynne and Gene Street—where they played pranks on one another?  To this day, I'm convinced Gene and Shannon staged the whole thing just to make Alan's column. At one point, when Gene was on a honeymoon in France, he made reservations to eat at a five-star restaurant. Shannon called the restaurant beforehand and bribed the chef to serve them chicken fried steak. Shannon immediately then called Alan to tell him what he had done. Gene, in return, had a horse's head delivered in a box to Shannon's office. And then he, too, called Alan.

You might think this is a stretch, but I always found Alan far more fascinating than any of the characters he wrote about.

He was an intense reader—his bookshelves filled with huge biographies on everyone from Edward VII to Howard Hughes to John Huston to all the presidents.

He collected contemporary abstract art—Roy Lichtenstein, Elsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, and Jasper Johns.

And he found time to watch seemingly every movie and television show ever produced. Alan had a prodigious memory. He could quote lines from Apocalypse Now, Citizen Kane, Batman, and, of course, Dumb and Dumber.

And his form of exercise? How did he stay in shape? He played polo on weekends. He even kept polo mallets in the trunk of his Jaguar.

Oh, and then there was his diet—Chick-fil-A on Hillcrest for breakfast, Burger House or Hillstone or Al Biernat's for lunch, and dinner at Campisi's. Although the man could have eaten at every new chic high-dollar restaurant that opened in this city, he stuck with the basic food groups.

By the way, it was his love of a hamburger at Shannon Wynne's old 8.0 restaurant that led him to the love of his life. In 1992, Jennifer Coles was working as a waitress at 8.0. A recent graduate of Texas A&M, she was taking a year off before returning to A&M to get a master's degree in psychology. Alan came in to order his 8.0 hamburger and French fries, extra crisp. He took one look at Jennifer and asked her out on a date. Absolutely no way, she said. He kept asking her out, and finally, she allowed him to take her to an Ella Fitzgerald concert. He knew every word to every song Ella sang. Jennifer stared at him, bewildered, and it wasn't long before she too began to feel what has been known as the Alan Peppard gravitational pull.

Alan Peppard and his family in May 2019.

Courtesy of Jennifer Peppard

By 1995 they were married. Soon, they had the twins—Isabel and Amanda. Later came Charlotte. The Peppards lived in a nice home in University Park. Alan put Lichtenstein and Stella on his walls. And he also purchased a $20,000 see-through Lucite piano so he could play Billy Joel and Don Henley songs—and "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley.

Alan worked at the Dallas Morning News for thirty years. Toward the end of his reign, he drifted away from his column and wrote highly acclaimed stories, each several thousand words long, on the Kennedy assassination, Clint Murchison's and Sid Richardson's private island off the coast of South Texas, and Vice President George H.W. Bush in the days following the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. He wrote a piece for Vanity Fair on a feud in the Hunt family.

I was working for Texas Monthly then, and when he told me he was going to retire from the News and help run his father's geological mapping company, I did my best to get him to write one more long story—a valediction, in a way—of his days as Dallas' society columnist. I told him that society columnists were a fading breed. Newspapers didn't invest in them like they once did. The Morning News, as a matter of fact, had decided not to replace Alan.

I said, Alan, just think of all the untold stories you could tell. We could call it "True Confessions of Dallas' Most Famous Society Columnist." You could finally tell that story of the man in Highland Park who had three homes for all of his girlfriends.

But he just shook his head and said no. He was ready to move on. He said he didn't want to write a story where he rattled skeletons in people's closets or revealed secrets that he had held for years. That was just not who he was.

And so, at the News, on September 2017, he threw himself a fantastic going-away party, having the food catered by—who else?—Al Biernat, all on Alan's dime.

Everyone at the newspaper—even the cynical reporters who covered hard news at City Hall—dropped by to toast Alan.

The other day, I called Robert Wilonsky, who today is the lead metro columnist for the News.  Robert started reading Alan in college, and even back then, he said, he realized that what Alan was doing was spectacularly difficult. Robert said, "Alan wrote about people I didn't know, who lived in certain parts of Dallas I didn't inhabit, and who went to certain places to spend money that I couldn't afford. He gave me a chance to see, if only briefly, a world I would never be a part of. I always wanted to read about Alan's world because it was, well, so much fun. And it was a world that was way more interesting than mine."

And now that world is suddenly gone. Alan is not here to watch the twins head off to Vanderbilt later this summer. He's not here to take Charlotte on one of their daddy-daughter dinner dates to Campisi's. He's not here to regale Jennifer with one of his hour-long stories about another historical biography he has just read.

And he's not here to entertain us with his cast of characters.

It's just hard to believe.

Whenever someone I know dies at too young of an age, I sometimes recall an old Episcopal saying that I first heard years ago:

Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who make this journey with us….

So be swift to love and make haste to be kind….

And, I'm sure Alan would add, make sure to laugh. Always laugh. Laugh like it's your last day.

We will miss you, Alan.

Daughter and brother praise King's Lynn grocer who lost battle with cancer - Lynn News

Posted: 19 Jun 2019 08:26 AM PDT

The daughter of a popular King's Lynn grocer who died this month, has described her father as "the most wonderful and selfless man".

Nigel Woods, 66, died on Thursday, June 6 having been diagnosed with cancer last year.

He was a well-known figure in the town having worked in his family grocer's shop, Woods, on Windsor Road after it was opened in 1960.

Mr Woods' daughter Leonie paid tribute to her father who took over the running of the business in 1986.

She said: "It is almost hard finding the words to describe Dad as he was everything to us. I would say he was such a character, he was quite a quiet man but was always making jokes, and he loved to make people laugh.

"He was very well known and popular man, and was always so friendly. He would have a chat with people in the shop and always put his hand up to people in the street to say hello. I think he really brightened everyone's day."

Nigel Woods. Picture: SUPPLIED
Nigel Woods. Picture: SUPPLIED

His funeral will be held on Thursday, June 27 at Mintlyn Crematorium on Lynn Road.

Miss Woods added: "Dad was very family orientated, and we have so many lovely memories with him which we will hold on to for a lifetime.

"He loved music and would always be found with a radio at his side listening to it. Dad was a very green fingered and loved gardening. He would make the most beautiful hanging baskets and always kept the gardens looking nice."

She spoke of her father's love of Norwich City Football Club and how he would regularly listen to match commentaries.

"We did actually take him to a game a couple of months before he passed away as he had never been which was so lovely."

He also enjoyed attending car boot sales and auctions.

A notice has been pinned up on the Woods store's window informing customers of the sad news. Latterly, the store no longer operated as a grocer's, selling books and homeware.

The Woods store on Windsor Road, King's Lynn
The Woods store on Windsor Road, King's Lynn

"Being diagnosed with cancer last year, Dad always remained so strong and positive through all of his treatment and to the end," Miss Woods said.

"I couldn't be more proud of him being so brave with everything he went through. He just carried on and never complained, it was just the type of person he was.

"It would make him so happy to know how much he was thought of and appreciated in the community, he certainly will be missed by many."

Nigel worked alongside his brother Alec, sister Pamela and parents at Woods grocer's.

Alec, 68, said Nigel intended to keep the shop open until next year to mark 60 years of the store.

He also remembered the brothers returning from school to help out in the shop where they would write down customer orders then put the paper on a spike.

"All of that area was surrounded by family houses so he [Nigel] became a very popular man," Alec said.

"It was a hard-working life looking back but it was quite enjoyable. The shop was really busy at Christmas time."

The shop would remain open until 10pm at night as the family would be able to sit in the living room just behind the shop while watching out for customers.

When the bigger retailers first arrived in the town in the mid-1960s, it did not affect customer sales.

"Our father had a great network of people trading supplies so for freshness you just could not beat us," he added.

"Nigel did struggle with the grocers throughout the 1990s but it was just not viable by that point."

Like Leonie, Alec also remembered Nigel as a "quiet man" who was also "very popular" with a dry sense of humour.

"He would come out with some great one-liners and was one of those people who was very popular without trying to be popular.

"People naturally liked him. There was a self-effacing way about him as he would not boast."

You are now reading the article Florist remembered for compassion, creativity - The Augusta Chronicle with the link address https://hargadanspesifikasiparfum.blogspot.com/2019/06/florist-remembered-for-compassion.html

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