Florida Culture for the ‘Holidaze – 2017’ By Josh Garrick 

Florida Culture for the Month of December 2017 By Josh Garrick 

Bethune-Cookman University Concert Chorale: A Holiday Concert
Dec 5 at 7 pm 
Join this University Chorale for an evening of traditional holiday music, including jazz, gospel, sacred classics, and selections from Handel’s Messiah. The Bethune-Cookman University Chorale was recently nominated for Best Choir by HBCU Digest. At the Dr. Phillips Center, call 844.513.2014 or visit drphillipscenter.org 

Are you flying for the first time? Well, whether it is a domestic or international destination, the feeling for the first-time flyer is a heady mix of excitement and nerves. Worrying about all the preparation, starting from packing to getting to the airport, everything appears a little edgy yet exciting. Dozens of questions may arise along the lines of ‘How to pack for a flight?’, ‘What should I pack and what to avoid?’, ‘How to approach the airport authorities?’, or ‘What documents should I keep on my person?’, and so on.

What happens when you wake up one day in your comfortable, climate-controlled, corporate career in middle management and say, “Enough! Money isn’t everything. I want to make a difference in our world”?

This week marks an important holiday—and it has nothing to do with turkey!

I have spent a lifetime in, and around, the ocean. When I am not in or at the ocean, I am thinking about the ocean! After 30 years of diving, I have seen the damage that global warming, trash, and especially plastic have wrought. Realizing that our oceans and coral reefs are in trouble, I am not alone in wondering how we can reach people and make the change that is needed so desperately. How can we make them care? So far, we have not been able to excite people to make change.

In a rural Mayan village, set on the edge of Lake Atitlan, a vibrant, yet disenfranchised community of indigenous Guatemalans struggle to overcome an epidemic of poverty and malnutrition. But with the help of a small community center, Konojel, their futures are looking brighter.