Around Town
News Release - May 2, 2011
IN ADVANCE OF HAVANA DAY: MAY 7, 2011
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2011
Contact: Lisa Garcia
(850) 222-1996
UNEMPLOYED WORKERS IN HAVANA UNITE AND TRAIN FOR AN UNEXPECTED, NEW TRADE
~ Wanderings and Havana Learning Center launch ‘Team Unity’ jewelry venture~
HAVANA, Fla. – Wanderings and Havana Learning Center
have launched Team Unity, a venture that selects unemployed workers
that live in the community to make jewelry that will be sold in retail
and wholesale markets. The new skills gained by these individuals will
supplement their incomes and enhance their standard of living.
“The training isn’t a gift,” said Tony Lombardo, owner of the
Wanderings. “The trainees will pay back the cost of their training
through hours worked on community projects.”
Team Unity recently completed a 35-hour project painting park equipment in one of Havana’s community parks.
“Each of the trainees brings unique life experience to the craft,”
said Terri Paul, co-owner of the Wanderings. “Some of our trainees would
be more at home on a basketball court than doing the work of a jewelry
artist.”
At 6’3”, trainee John Anderson is an imposing figure with the body of
an athlete. His hands are large and can easily palm a basketball.
Using those same hands to do the meticulous detail work required of
jewelry artists is a real test. Yet, his desire and positive outlook on
life allows him to cope with the intricate physical demands of jewelry
making.
“I’m one of eight siblings and I’ve had my share of legal trouble,”
said John Anderson. “But the support and wisdom given to me by my
grandmother has allowed me to take this positive turn in my life.”
Tony Lombardo and Terri Paul, father and daughter owners of
Wanderings, selected jewelry-making as a training skill because it is a
trade that can be learned in phases. Each training phase develops a
higher degree of craftsmanship. Jewelry can begin to be sold as a
quality product following a worker’s first twelve weeks of training. The
jewelry made by Team Unity will be debuted at Wanderings on May 7, 2011
at the Havana Day Festival.
“As the trainees become more accomplished and the complexity of their
jewelry becomes more elaborate, the value of their pieces increase,”
said Lombardo. “Jewelry is a huge business in the U.S., but much of the
work is now being exported. I felt Havana had the perfect mix of
factors that would enable us to compete in this market.
It also brings income and pride to a team of young people who are
trying hard to better themselves and become contributing members of
society.”
November 14 - Tree Lighting Ceremony
News Release - Nov 9, 2010
Murals in Downtown Havana - November 9, 2010/Havana, Florida………Havana,
Florida now features eight life-sized murals depicting whimsical
scenes of life in the rural South. The independent murals, not painted on
buildings but individual figurines that are attached to Havana's brick
buildings downtown, were installed Monday, November 8th, and depict scenes
such as hotdog vendors serving hungry patrons, a girl being carried upward
by balloons, a bear wearing a police uniform, a biplane, a little girl who has
dropped ice cream on her shoe, a man reading a newspaper, a waving
farmer, and a woman holding a flowerpot. Other similar scenes may show
up on commercial building walls within the next year.
Installation of the murals began early Monday morning as Downtown
Improvements Committee (DI Committee) members and staff met with muralist Ralph
Waldrop and his wife Debbie McDaniel of South Carolina.
Havana's Downtown Improvements Committee was formed by Havana Town Manager
Howard McKinnon and the Havana Town Council to recommend beautification projects
for a roughly three-block square area in the historic downtown
commercial district. Other completed projects include picnic benches with
umbrellas in two small downtown parks, and placement of state and national flags
at a small welcome area at the south end of town, where a fountain will also be
installed in several years through a grant..
For more information on these murals, contact Havana Town
Manager Howard McKinnon or Havana Town Clerk Shelia Evans at 850.539.2820.
Where to Find Us
Havana's Historic Downtown Shopping District is located minutes from Tallahassee in beautiful Gadsden County, Florida. Drive north approximately 14 miles from I-10 on North Monroe/US 27.
