By Randy Moore, Publisher – Congratulations to our three newest award recipients. The Island Bookshop is receiving our Venice Spirit Award, Cocoa Yoga Café is receiving our North Port Spirit Award and the Englewood Art Center is receiving our Englewood Spirit Award.
The Island Bookshop, owned by Aimee Odette and Michael Rank (see photo), celebrates the love of books, art and photography. Whitney Zora Stetler, the heart-centered owner of Cocoa Yoga Café has blended the love of yoga, healthy food and live music to enhance North Port and our entire region. And finally, the popular Englewood Art Center has been part of the Ringling College of Art and Design since 2008.
Acknowledging other people is an honor as the publisher and editor of South County Healthy Living and Englewood Healthy Living. You can see a complete list of our prior award winners on the home page of both of our websites. We’ll announce additional awards in our Spring 2023 editions coming in April. It’s challenging to select award recipients from so many deserving individuals and organizations.
We announced two new annual awards in our prior edition. Mary Lundeberg, a photographer and author, received our inaugural Wildlife Champion Award, and Clare Harvey and Barry Thorne, received our inaugural Inspiring Artist Award. Clare and Harvey played a key role in developing the children’s art program at the North Port Art Center.
Grateful to see our region bouncing back from the infamous storm. Hoping voters start expecting more from politicians regarding insurance reforms and resiliency strategies in response to the rising sea levels and larger storms fueled by warmer water. Pretending climate change is a hoax isn’t funny anymore.
I continue benefiting from my decision to quit watching television news and sports other than scanning the major news and scores on my phone. I replaced these time-consuming habits with casual reading and YouTube videos of bright individuals discussing interesting topics. I’ve read 50 novels since early August written by great authors including E.L. Doctorow, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus, Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Salman Rushdie.
Positive longevity is more than eating healthier and exercising regularly. It also entails cognitive health and reducing consternation and drama as much as possible. For me that means spending less time paying attention to narcissistic politicians, musky media moguls and celebrities. Your sweet dog and annoyingly cute cat are more interesting. Wishing you the best for a meaningful year of good health, wisdom and laughter.
