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Volume 1 No. 3 The New Groveland Graphic serving Groveland, Mascotte/Green Swamp Area

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Culture Corner...
The Boys from Liberty
By Frei Mimms
episode 2- Hitting the Trail

Richard (also called Red) grabbed the handle on the back of the wagon and swung himself up. As soon as he landed in his spot, he sat down to watch his brother. He watched his brother as long as he could. The sun was high up in the sky, and the sweat beads on his forehead slowly rolled down, and he still watched his brother: Little Man with the tear-stained face. His mind could focus on Little Man and nothing else. The dust was kicking up as the wagon train moved out, and it was getting harder for him to hold back his own tears. Soon Little Man’s dark figure faded, and Red’s ears picked up on the quiet murmurs of the others slaves. His eyes slowly canvassed those strange slaves, and their strange surroundings.
He suddenly felt alone.
He hung his head and found a nice spot to lie down. He just wanted to close his eyes and escape back to the comforts of his mother’s cooking. Surely getting rest is what he should do. He did not know what else to do,
since he did not know what his job would be. He snuggled his head down on the knapsack of clothes his mother had packed for him. The smell of clean fresh linens soon filled his mind, and made him miss his family even more. He drifted off. More....

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LIGHTS!!!!

Growin' at Groveland Elementary
by Linda Charlton
Graphic reporter
Dateline: Groveland

Enthusiastic and well-focused ... perhaps not a typical description of a group of 30-plus eight-year olds, but when it comes to the Dual Language 3rd Graders of Groveland Elementary and their Florida Garden, the description applies.
And they know their garden.
Tucked in the back of the school, by the bus depot, the garden has blackberries and blueberries and carrots and collard greens and six kinds of herbs and four kinds of squash. It had broccoli as well, but something ate it.

Transplanting at the Groveland Elementary School 3rd grade Dual Language garden, December, 8, 2011. Photo by Linda Charlton

The students work the garden twice a week, under the direction of teachers Tiffany Forsyth and Noris Aguayo. This past Thursday (Dec. 8), some were tilling the ground so others could mix in potting soil. Some were planting. Some were transplanting. Some were watering the new plantings. Some were trimming excess leaves off the truly robust-looking squash plants. Everybody had a job to do, and they appeared to be doing it. They may or may not grow up to be farmers, but there seems a good chance they will have a life-long interest in gardening. Two-thirds of them already have gardens at their houses.
They said so.
There is one empty row in the garden. The students may plant potatoes there, according to Forsyth. The working plan for the spring garden includes corn, watermelon, beans and tomatoes. More....

Whip Man
by Linda Charlton
Graphic reporter
Dateline: Winter Garden

Cracker frayed? Popper pooped? Want to start over with a brand new whip?
Well, whips are not what you'd typically find on a Christmas wish list, but if you were to look, at least you wouldn't have to look far, for there is a professional whip maker a relatively short drive away, in Winter Garden.
WHIP CRACK PIC - Steve Koliski cracks a whip in downtown Winter Garden, November 2011. photo by Linda Charlton.

Steve Kolisky is quick to tell you he's been making whips for 10 years, and cracking them for 30.
In a reference to his career change (from carpentry to whips), he says "I enjoy what I do. I enjoy the people I sell whips to. I pick up honest work. I don't feel guilty about the price."
As for how he got interested in whips in the first place, he has one word: "Mingo."
As a boy, Koliski was a fan of the old television series "Daniel Boone." Fess Parker played Daniel Boone, and Ed Ames played Mingo: Boone's hatchet-throwing, whip-cracking, Native American sidekick.
"He could be intimidating," Koliski says.
"There's something about the power and beauty of the whip," he adds. More....

Treasures in Small Packages

By Susan Pines

Dateline: Groveland

The distant bray of donkeys gives no hint to their size. As you drive closer you see a nice spread of small shelter, surrounded by wooden fence, together with a nice barn and main ranchette house. But it is not until you look down into a pasture that you see Groveland's little wonders—the miniature donkeys of Myer's Meadows. Just a few years ago, Bodie Myer and family had no donkeys, miniature or otherwise. As of the first week of December (2011), they have 57.
Morgan Myer is driving with trainer Marcy Muscolo at Myers Meadows in Groveland. December 2, 2011. Photo by Rebecca P. Morrissette.
As the story goes Bodie Myer's wife, Kerri Myer, had always wanted a donkey. So they bought a six-year old named Lilly. They soon realized you can't have just one (not fair to the donkey), so they decided to get a miniature donkey.
“We went out to buy one and ended up buying three” Myer chuckles.

In January 2010 Myer started a small breeding program. Myer traveled, buying minis, and having fun doing it.
These miniature donkeys, also known as miniature Mediterranean donkeys, are naturally small. They are not bred-down like the micro-minis, which can have or produce the dwarf gene.“We only have one micro-mini," Myer says. "He's named Moose ...and he has to pass (a check of his conformation) in order to be bred. NMDA is against breeding down. But either way he is mostly a PR donkey we are hoping to use to do therapy with - like visiting nursing homes and children's homes.”
NMDA is the National Miniature Donkey Association, and it is based in Texas.
The colors that run naturally in the mini-donkeys are black, sorrel and gray, with gray as the dominating gene.

More....