Donna Green-Townsend
Multimedia Productions
The Father of Florida Folk, the late Will McLean, loved to entertain and share songs, poems and stories of the lore and legends of Florida. Unfortunately, most of those performances were not captured on video or audio tape. When those performances were recorded, it was special indeed. Here are five such videos. The first is the … Continue reading Archival videos of the Father of Florida Folk Will McLean
Florida lost an environmental giant on March 3rd when John Henry Hankinson, Jr. died. On March 7, 2017 hundreds gathered at the Fort King Presbyterian Church in Ocala, FL for a celebration of his life. The service included not only friends and family, but environmental leaders from across the state and Southeast region of the United … Continue reading Celebrating the Life of John Henry Hankinson, Jr.
The winner of the 2017 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest is Mary James, better known as “Mean Mary,” in the music world. Though she resides now in Tennessee, her roots are in Florida and Alabama (Her family lived in the North Florida area when Mary was born, but the nearest hospital was in … Continue reading Winner and finisher of the 2017 Will McLean Best New Florida Song Contest Named
This site continues to follow various updates on water permit requests from the former Adena Springs Ranch (now Sleepy Creek Lands in Marion County), a cattle operation owned by Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach. Scroll down for various stories, pictures, audio and video from the past several years) UPDATE: Protest planned over Sleepy Creek water permit … Continue reading Archive of Sleepy Creek/ Adena Spring Ranch stories
Update November, 2016: Florida’s East coast experienced serious beach erosion from Hurricane Matthew and many businesses and homes suffered severe damage from the huge tidal wave associated with the hurricane. In particular, Florida Highway A1A in Flagler County was washed out and many homes along North A1A from Vilano Beach northward have been declared uninhabitable because … Continue reading Florida cleans up after Hurricane Matthew and experts say remember past history
Janet Reno, the first female U.S. Attorney General, has died at the age of 78. Reno suffered from Parkinson’s Disease which had been diagnosed in November 1995. Reno died at her home in Miami, Florida. Reno, a native of the Sunshine State, spent eight years as the attorney general of the United States during the … Continue reading Remembering Janet Reno
September 11th, 2001 changed the life of Jody Blanchard forever. After escaping from the World Trade Center complex after the first plane hit, Jody packed her belongings and escaped NYC and moved for a short period of time to Gainesville, FL. She was hoping to put the horrific images she saw behind her. That … Continue reading Jody’s Story—- Surviving 9/11
(My personal reflection follows this story) September 11th, 2016 marks 15 years since the terrorist attacks which took the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania. On May 21st, 2014 the 9/11 Memorial Museum opened to the public for the first time. Those in charge of its design have had … Continue reading The 9/11 Museum and September 11th, 2001—A Personal Reflection
The 1988 Pines and Palms television program hosted by the late Don Grooms featured several singer songwriters who have since passed on. They may have left this earthly life, but their music lives on. Their songs can still be heard on the stages of many music festivals around the state. In 1988, Grooms who was … Continue reading Archival television program features many of Florida’s greatest folk songwriters
Update: Disney contracted workers have been roping off areas and placing new warning signs along the beach in front of the man-made lake by the resort hotel where a 2-year-old died after being snatched by an alligator on Tuesday. The body of Lane Graves, the toddler who was dragged into a lagoon Tuesday evening at … Continue reading Disney adds new alligator warning signs and barriers following death of two year old