Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
Jason Santini of Happy Healthy Human • Tobin Bennison • It’s hard to imagine now, but three short years ago Jason Santini was one unhappy, unhealthy human. Once he adopted a raw vegan diet he began to feel worlds better, both physically and mentally. So dramatic were the changes he experienced that Santini decided to spread his newfound love of raw food’s benefits to the community through Happy Healthy Human, the co-op he now owns and operates. Located in Indian Harbour Beach, HHH... [Read more...]
Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
Don Ryan of Surfers for Autism • Tobin Bennison • Last September, we interviewed Surfers For Autism President Don Ryan on the eve of what proved to be a huge event for area children and families touched by autism. Autism, or ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the nation and affects 1 in 150 American children. While the exact cause is unknown, autistic children face tremendous challenges in communicating and are often socially withdrawn. But Surfers... [Read more...]
Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
Chris Maslow of SLOW Gallery x Fashion • Tobin Bennison • If you’re searching for the local nexus of cutting-edge, underground art, you’d not be far off the mark by going to downtown Melbourne’s SLOW Gallery. SLOW owner and curator Chris Maslow, a Melbourne Beach native, prides himself on showcasing some of the area’s most renowned artists, people like Derek Gores, Beth Garren, and Bruce Reynolds. Since he opened SLOW last year, Maslow has also earned a reputation for... [Read more...]
Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
Todd Kennedy, Program Director for WFIT 89.5 FM Melbourne • When asked to describe WFIT’s strongest asset, the ingredient that sets it apart from other noncommercial radio stations, Program Director Todd Kennedy’s answer is simple: “Localism.” “In surfing it’s a bad thing,” he says. “But in radio broadcasting it’s crucial.” A cornerstone of the Space Coast community since its first broadcast from Roberts Hall on the Florida Tech campus... [Read more...]
Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
Steve Cayer of the Dinosaur Store • It’s safe to say that Dinosaur Store owner Steve Cayer is one of the most fascinating people we’ve ever interviewed for “Skilled Labor.” A delightful mixture of Indiana Jones and Willy Wonka, the affable Cayer has braved blinding sandstorms with Berber guides at Saharan excavation sites and has created a visionary, interactive wonderland devoted to his passion for rare fossils right here in Cocoa Beach. For 14 years, the Dinosaur Store,... [Read more...]
Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
TWENTY QUESTIONS with BEN MALIK On Saturday, April 10, Cocoa Beach celebrates the 85th Community Fest, a family-friendly street party in the heart of the downtown area in honor of the City’s 85th anniversary. Centered at the intersection of Brevard Avenue and Minutemen Causeway, the event promises loads of activities, arts and crafts, live music, and food and drink, with all proceeds raised going to the Cocoa Beach Kiwanis, Elks, Rotary, and Lions Clubs. In turn, all of these organizations... [Read more...]
By: Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
TWENTY QUESTIONS with Lamothe Lormier, President of The Global Family, Inc. Any current discussion of Haiti is bound to include mention of the recent earthquake and its impact on the nation’s long-beleaguered history. But in interviewing Haitian-born Satellite Beach resident Lamothe Lormier, president of the Global Family, Inc., a non-profit whose aim is to construct an eye clinic in the Haitian countryside, we feared talk of the tragedy would overshadow his organization’s goals. What... [Read more...]
By: Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
TWENTY QUESTIONS with Aaron Collins, Conductor of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra Within the profound realm of classical music, conductors are some of the most caricatured personages of the lot. The mere mention of them conjures images of gloweringly imperious white-maned figures gesticulating wildly from their symbolically heightened perches. But along with a clutch of up-and-coming younger maestros throughout the country — and the world — conductors like 27-year-old Cocoa Beach native... [Read more...]
By: Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
To say that life is good for Bert Jacobs is not only a hackneyed journalistic cliché, it also happens to be a very misleading statement. It implies is that everything’s hunky dory for the Life Is Good co-founder simply because he’s fabulously wealthy and successful. What it fails to recognize is that life is good for Bert because he’s chosen to make it so through a refreshingly optimistic life philosophy, one that gauges wealth and success not in monetary units, but in smiles. By now, everyone... [Read more...]
By: Tobin Bennison
Article Category: 20 Questions
Since December 2008, our good friend Frank Duffy — or Petty Officer Duffy, an E-6 Electrician’s Mate in the U.S. Coast Guard — has been stationed on the remote, treeless island of Attu, the last link on the Aleutian chain of islands and the westernmost point of Alaska. Originally from Cocoa Beach, Frank joined the Coast Guard at 23, and his first unit was stationed with the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley from 2001-2004 in Kodiak, AK. From 2004-2005, Frank served with an Aid to Navigation... [Read more...]
