We will see you next time to on WSRE PBS for the Gulf Coast.

the Community.

During this episode we'll take a walk down memory lane.

And I'm honored to have you join me.

Connecting the community premiered in February 2022, and since that time, we've highlighted some amazing people and organizations.

We've been blessed to foster unity, love, and create awareness while empowering our viewers to achieve their dreams.

The entire show will contain a potpourri of highlights from various programs, so we will kick things off with snippets from our premiere show dedicated to honoring our military veterans.

Chris Dozier, chair of the General Daniel Chappy James Jr Memorial Foundation, is opening the show with specifics about the new Memorial Plaza.

Now, there are three major facets that we will see.

Why don't you give us a breakdown of each of those items?

Sure.

we have three major elements to the plaza that we're looking to erect.

One is a statue with the pedestal.

The second and F-4 Phantom that we just recently have been assigned by the Air Force Museum.

And then a large flagpole.

We're looking at about 80ft with a flag about 20 by 25ft.

in in breath.

And the key here is that one we want to, it's a ten foot statue.

So we want a larger than life, depiction of our general.

there and in front of the F-4 Phantom and the Phantom.

The Phantom is going to be painted in in the, configuration.

aircraft paint that he was.

He flew in Vietnam.

So that's how we're looking at.

And the renderings are exceptional.

Now, Rob, I know that you and Chris are friends.

You've known each other for quite some time.

So when you jumped on board and you were asked to help, what was your first impression?

Well, hang on and dissuade them because Chris never, like, met him.

He's just like, wow.

I mean, so I want to be a part of this, and I appreciate him, spearheading this and allowing me to be a part of it.

But as far as you're concerned, you know a lot about the museum.

We we love General Daniel, chappy, James junior.

A lot of visuals with that museum.

How did you first find out about it and what impact has it had on you personally?

well, the first time I found out about it, I was taking a group of students to a trip to Tuskegee, and we went to the museum there.

And my question was, why isn't there a museum about Daniel Chappy James and his hometown?

Yes.

And some friends of mine told me there is one.

I was there for the groundbreaking of the museum once it did open, but it just seemed like we didn't get a lot of publicity about such a great American.

And and we still don't really know about much about him from, from a media standpoint.

And just so and so visually, if someone were to walk inside that museum, their eyes would be amazed.

Correct?

Absolutely.

But, not only about the museum, but the story about his mother was a very influential person in the community because she taught a lot of the people who are still around here.

But the other part about it is that the flight academy that's there, and that was the service they provided.

And then teaching younger the youth in the community.

September 11th, 2001 resonates in all of our minds.

I know, tell us where you were.

Well, at the time, I was in the old guard, which is stationed at Fort Myers, Virginia.

And the primary role of the old guard was, to perform ceremonies throughout the D.C. National Capital Region.

and also, perform full honor funerals in Arlington Cemetery ceremony or, cemetery.

At the time, we were down at the Pentagon, delivering flags for a ceremony that was going on inside the building, some office somewhere.

And then when we were walking out, we were in the south parking lot and heard a plane flying low.

Reagan National Airport is not far away, and we didn't really think much of it, but then it was really loud.

I looked up and just saw this plane coming in, and it banks and flies over and disappears behind the building into a fireball.

the explosion was, incredible.

we didn't know what was going on.

We were very confused.

didn't know if we should go try to run to help.

so we ran to our, the van that was parked there, and our NCO was, was in there and told us at the time to get in the van.

We're heading back up to Fort Myer that the World Trade Center had been hit.

We didn't know that it happened either.

And so we went back up to Fort Myer and awaited orders.

So in response to what occurred on 911, our military has responded in a swift fashion with force to root out tyranny and terror across this planet.

Over the last 20 years, we have lost over 7000 service members due to our conflicts around the world.

In response to 911.

And of note, over 53,000 wounded warriors continue today to struggle with the scars of those past wars.

So, Michelle, let's start with you.

What was the, I guess, big incentive, or was there someone who inspired you in relation to the monument and museum to women veterans?

Well, I had the opportunity several years ago to participate in a function that was being put on called the escorts.

Independence Weekend.

And that was where I had an opportunity to work with Dave Glassman, the city of Pensacola.

And we brought 100 wounded warriors here from Walter Reed Medical Center to our community to show them a community that loved them and was there to provide support with them.

And we did it with the VA and several organizations and provided in separate the caretakers from the actual veterans.

And in doing that, we saw a real need for a lack of services that were in our area at that time.

That was part of the IAF Operation Iraqi Freedom.

And I freedom, and in our local area.

We sent a lot of active duty to that.

We also sent, a lot of reservists actually went from our area.

So we immediate because of our veteran population, had a huge need in our area to really address the needs of returning veterans coming back.

And as we were putting that event on and Veterans Day came up, I thought, wonder what they're going to do for women in Washington, DC at the monument?

I pre Camden commission the last 9/11 ship USS Somerset, which for any sailors is a big feat because you get to bring a new ship into the Navy, something that you know, that will out live your lifetime.

you get to see the start and finish of something great.

And then the 9/11 ship.

That was one of the most humbling assignments in my 21 years.

I'm happy to welcome a legend, the one and only Rick Allison.

He's publisher and owner of Inn Weekly and also hosts Real News with Rick Allison on WCCO for Newstalk 104.9 FM and 1370 Am.

Over the years, he's impacted countless lives for the better, you grow up in Mississippi.

If, the story I like to tell is in the delta is, you know, imagine if you.

It's so flat.

If you stand up and really squint, you'll see the back of your head.

It's so flat.

So growing up there, I grew up in the civil rights era.

I grew up, where, dealing with injustice, where a newspaper, the daily, the Delta Democrat Times, was wrote editorials every day, and people debated and argued over that.

And papers meant something and words meant something, and, that that has always stayed with me.

Now, I understand you had actually an office at Ole Miss.

Student body president.

You must have been a very popular guy.

you owe your own bill.

I understand that, but talk about how it was it was going to miss.

Was was, for me, was life changing, you know, to go from a little bitty town, and go to a university and realize that, you know, your brains meant something and that you could you could the academic environment was very challenging.

And also to go to a place where, you know, just a little less than a little bit over a decade is where James Meredith was the first black man and first black student at Ole Miss.

And, to walk into that heritage and understand those those struggles and to try to, see Ole Miss, you know, try to change Ole Miss and then to go back in 2008.

And so President Barack Obama and John McCain did the first presidential debate on my campus.

And to cover that was life changing.

So from Ole Miss to Pensacola, Florida, there has to be a back story regarding that.

This is where my family vacation we're from, the Mississippi Delta.

We would go down to Biloxi.

My dad was in the insurance industry, and then they would pick out a cinderblock house on Pensacola Beach from 1962, island through up until the 80s when my dad passed away.

This is where we vacationed.

So we fell in love with Pensacola Beach in Pensacola.

We thought it was such a big city.

And so all the fancy restaurants were here.

And so this is, we kind of got to the sand, got into our shoes, and this is where we wanted to go, in a way, We're shifting our focus to a man who wears many hats such as litigator, husband, father and humanitarian.

And I'm happy to welcome attorney Aaron Watson with the Watson Firm plc.

Folks, there is no better way to reflect on his journey than to make it a family affair.

So he's joined by his brother, Larry Watson, junior pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church.

So attorney Watson, we definitely have a lot to talk about.

So let's get to it.

We're going to take the viewers all the way back to your childhood.

Preacher's kid.

Let's talk.

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

Well, yeah.

I always tell folks that, you know, we came from humble beginnings.

I grew up with a, a pastor who, always looked out for the community, always looked out for his parishioners, always, you know, had a big heart, you know, and so, you know, now, as an attorney, you know, you know, he used to preach in church.

I do my preaching in the courtroom, but we both help people.

And, no matter who comes in my office, you know, my experience as a preacher's kid, you know, where we would embrace everyone in church, is has helped me to connect with a lot of my clients.

And no matter their background, they are somebody, you know, and, they're loved.

And whether or not they know it or not, I pray for them.

Just like my dad.

dad's a preacher, right?

Yep.

Yeah.

Before we go to trial, we don't have to pray together, but just know I'm praying for you.

Silent prayer and the success with your case, you know?

And so, you know, I'm thankful for that experience as a, as a preacher's kid, because it helped me to, number one, to build my faith.

But number two, to have a heart, love and passion for the This is an opportunity of a lifetime having all of you on the show.

I'm so excited, giving me goosebumps.

Now, Robyn, let's get this conversation started.

You are such a multifaceted woman.

Take me back in the viewers as well and tell us about the Kokua Institute.

So thank you for having me.

And I am excited to to be in, in the presence of these women sisters who are doing amazing things.

and the Coco Institute was born out of a need to save, to preserve, historic house in, historic Belmont de Villa.

I appreciate that.

At the top, you have all of the amazing images about that beautiful community that represents so much for Pensacola in the African-American community.

And so we started it, in 2016 to preserve that house.

It's the, author and Carrie Dillon Bird House that was going to be, slated for demolition if it couldn't be moved to make way for new development.

And so we started the Kokua Institute because we had some great friends who wanted to help us preserve that house, but we needed help and moving that.

And so so we started the institute because of that.

and so our idea is to discover, share, celebrate and grow.

art, history, science and technology about African Americans, primarily in the Belmont de Villiers area.

But it it it, it spans all of Pensacola and northwest Florida.

Now, to all of our viewers out there, Robin Rashad is such an umble woman, but I have to let the cat out of the bag.

Once upon a time, she served as a host right here on Sri.

So when I said multifaceted, I really meant it.

whatever I need a voice.

People call me the voice Scout.

Anyway.

I will call on Robin for her voice.

She was actually a part of our voices for many.

I created the Grail course, a combination of a girl who's an African, a storyteller, and of course, the Greek chorus, the people who are on the sidelines commenting, Robin was one of those people involved in those segments of our voices are many.

And she mentioned something about her grandmother.

Robin gives voice to the voiceless I that's the way I like to think of her.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called The Tipping Point and he said that there are three kinds of people.

I remember one of them, one is a connector, and that's a robin, a person who connects the community, people in the community to each other.

She connects all the aspects of her components of her life to each other, and she connects them to other people.

And that's the kind of person she is.

And it's all done intentionally.

It is not about Robin, it is about no other people.

I love the way you just, bring people together and you lift them up.

You know, I think it was Toni Morrison who said we need to have a high regard for other women.

And Robin shows that high regard that she has for other women and other people.

Steve, what an honor it is to have you with us.

I'm so amazed.

And yes, you do have $1 million smile.

I had to interject that so we first met at Pensacola State College is 75th anniversary.

I know I'd seen you out and about town, but you're fascinating.

And I thought, this guy just has so much energy.

So we're talking about Scarlet and faces Pensacola.

What was the inspiration behind these two?

So why don't you expand on that?

Okay, so during Covid, lots of extra time okay.

I think a lot of us probably exactly, just started thinking about different things, but thought how much I wanted to see, magazines that were, all inclusive of everyone.

I thought there were other community magazines, but they weren't inclusive of everyone.

And I thought that would be a great way to go.

So I reached out.

At that time, the first person was my daughter, who, was interested in get back in the workforce.

And we started tossing ideas around and she was like, what it needs to be okay is we don't care.

You know who you are, what you look like.

Okay?

Everything less, just be less.

Include everyone.

Lots of people never, you know, get to be in magazines and things.

So let's do that.

So we decided all inclusive.

We wanted to include everyone though.

And, that's what we've done.

So the name Scarlet, you need gone With the wind inspiration behind that name.

Well, actually my granddaughter, who is seven now, her name is Scarlet, so we felt like we needed to come up with a magazine name where people felt like they could connect with a person.

And that's the name we came up with.

And then of course, we couldn't stop ourself.

No, you couldn't keep on going with a tagline.

So frankly, we know you give a damn because we were going to cover lots of issues and that's what we wanted to do was just, put a fun play on it.

And most of the writing and stuff in the magazine is women talking to women and just handling issues in a fun way, like they're talking to their, you know, girlfriends and stuff.

So.

So how did Faces Pensacola come around at the same time, whether it was two years later, two years later?

Yes.

And that was, also and with Scarlet, Jessica Greiner, who had worked with previously, is our creative director, and she's wonderful and she created a lot of the the look always of the magazine.

But Christina and I had worked together at another magazine.

Oh, I'm coming to her, I know it, but we had we had been apart for about two years, but we stayed in touch.

And one day we were just talking, checking in on each other.

And, you know, she was like, I love what you're doing in Scarlet.

I'd love to see more of that.

And I'm like, that's what we want to do because we want to be all inclusive.

Yeah.

With, with faces Pensacola too.

We want everybody to be much We're going to explore autism and what it is specifically in just a moment.

But viewers here at WSU, we held an event recently called Amazing Kids Day.

And it was fun.

It was exciting.

It's something that we hope to have for many years to come.

We had a few people there, and I want to share this specific sound bite with you all.

Kristin Coffey and her son Graham Graham has autism.

Take a listen.

So Graham is very recently diagnosed with autism, and we still feel sort of like we're not quite sure what we need to be doing, and how best to help.

And so it's really nice to come to an event and meet people who are there to help us and to guide us along the way.

So, Mary, I'm coming back to you because you were there.

Actually, I think you were at the green screen with Daniel Tiger.

I think that was your picture perfect moment.

But honestly, there were other organizations out there.

We have the Ark Gateway canine companions.

Escambia County Public Schools, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, and the list goes on and on and on.

Personally for you, how was the event in your eyes?

I honestly had no idea what to expect when they first approached us to kind of partner with them.

I have to say, I was absolutely blown away.

I mean, it was just it was an amazing event.

Amazing kids day.

Of course.

Yeah.

No pun intended.

Yeah, but it was just fantastic.

I couldn't believe the number of families who came.

It was a nice, steady flow.

And, And it really, I believe it's an event that should happen every year because it was extremely enjoyable.

And I love seeing all the kids.

And I think we're taking that hint, folks.

Dana, moving over into your worlds at Lake View.

Million dollar question.

Our viewers want to know.

Give us a definition of autism and let's just expand into maybe telltale signs, things that anyone can look for if they're a parent.

Yeah, happy to help.

And I want to say too, that if you know one child with autism, we know one child with autism because it can look different.

It is a spectrum.

So it's a broad range.

So symptoms can look from a mile to the higher level.

And depending on each one.

But things to look for is no conversation little babbling as their little no eye contact.

They're looking for that social interaction, which is they're really about interested in other people.

It's more and not making friends.

as they're younger, it could be, more interested in objects, but not objects that you can play.

Typical object play.

So it's lining things up.

Atypical behavior you would see as well.

We also look at that communication.

So that lack of and it could be starting out with communication.

And they lose communication as well.

So there's different ways and also repetitive behaviors.

So echolalia just repeating things back no conversation skills.

There's no back and forth.

It really is just wanting to be on their own, to be private and just to be in their own little world sometimes.

So is there a specific age in indicator?

I would say, where these signs would maybe start to reveal themselves.

It could be as young as being a year old.

You're looking at your pediatrician, you have those certain milestones, you know, as a pediatrician comes in, you know, you're walking or you're talking in a certain age or certain months.

So they really look in that time is at at they're typically developing with their typical peer age as well.

So you kind of look into that those as you're growing up indicators.

and daughter over here, Barbara, I will say your smile illuminates a room and your experience with autism Pensacola.

Please tell us more about that.

Yes.

we were connected with Autism Pensacola when as a, was diagnosed at four years old.

They called it a late diagnosis.

So her doctor at the time, quickly, gave us a lot of resources, but she said I wanted you to start with Autism Pensacola, because it was for me more more because she wanted me to meet more parents.

so I was able to get in touch with them.

I got me in a lot of things.

Speech therapy, occupational physical therapy.

They were able to help me find the places because I didn't know where to start.

And so they were able to help me and then they helped me meet some amazing parents that helped me through it, because I had some bad moments.

And so it was great to meet other parents that made it through those moments.

So well explained to us what Mia is doing now, because she has an interactive element right there and it has a lot of elements she has to have has a laptop and a phone.

Usually she's working them all at one time, electronics as her thing.

she can work.

She can multitask on electronics.

so she'll she'll use that to speak her speaking devices on there because she is, categorized as nonverbal.

So she does have a speaking device on that that will help her.

She also has that on her iPhone that she can use.

her earphones are for multiple things.

One, if she if she's in a lot of a place with a lot of people, she's able to put those earphones on and it helps to, keep the noise away from her so she doesn't feel so closed.

And it helps that and it helps her also to calm down.

So if she's really stressed, she can put those earphones on and their noise can still or she can't hear anything in there.

You.

and amazing Kids Day a Sri is always a treat.

Now during the first segment, we heard more about the General Daniel Chappy James Jr Memorial Plaza that is in the works.

Now during this segment, we're going to kick it off with general James is only surviving child James with a compelling story.

Plus, you will see a potpourri of information from some of our nonprofit organizations.

Now, viewers, Claude has an amazing story that he's going to share right now.

Let's take everybody back to 1969.

Mama Cathy Libya and your dad right.

Let's hear it.

Okay.

Hit it.

Here we go.

The deal is I was 15 years old.

there's a basin real estate invest in Tripoli, Libya, called Willis.

And at that time was a very important base because that's where we practice with our allies bombing and all those things that fighter pilots have to do really well.

Out in the Libyan desert.

We had a three year further lease on that base, when gadhafi rose to power to cut off.

He was a wild colonel.

But really, everybody knows he pretty much that he was pretty nutty.

And he, rose to power as a bully and, scared off the king.

The king was named King Edric.

The king left gadhafi, had his coup right.

As dad took over the base.

That happened.

My dad, knowing that something bad was going to happen, but that he could totally handle it.

And to this day, I've had people come up to me and say, we were scared, completely scared about the situation, being taken hostages until we heard your dad was taking over the base, and then we knew I was just going to be all right.

Sure enough, dad comes in, takes over the base.

Gadhafi has his tanks come up and surround the base.

Then Libyan army tanks around the base.

He didn't think we were taking him seriously.

So one day he decides to run his tanks in the front gate and out the back kid of the base, right through the housing section.

You don't do that to Chappie James.

The first of all, you got to understand that was very confident that he had achieved so much in spite of things that should have kept him from achieving.

He went on and on and on, and he got better and better and better, and people followed him.

And, what had happened was, at that point he told this the other people around him to, have that S.O.B.

meet me at the gate, and he went to the gate.

My dad.

This is why they call dad the black John Wayne, all right?

He didn't he didn't like that name because it was an actor.

But but they he put on a 45 pistol and walked out between two trucks.

We didn't have tanks or an Air force base, but we have those huge fire trucks, nose to nose, let the air out of the tires so the tanks can't come right through.

He puts on a pistol and walks out between these trucks confronting and a line of tanks with gadhafi, and he talks to gadhafi.

This.

Is that my version of it?

I've heard your version.

You like it so far because, you know some other details.

I know, but the thing is, I heard that dad confronted gadhafi.

And the thing is, dad was the biggest fighter.

On top of that, he was the largest fighter pilot in history.

He was 64 to 60.

These days, you wouldn't be able to be a fighter pilot that way.

You got to be about five, ten, you know.

But anyway.

He's talking like a daffy.

And gadhafi was very nutty.

He liked Patton and General Patton.

General Patton Patton had those pearl handle pistols that he wore.

He had those made for him.

He had a white, weird looking pistols.

And he kept making this little move as he's talking to dad.

And at one point I heard that dad said to him, if you put your hand any closer to that pistol, I'm going to drop you right where you stand.

And he didn't mean shoot him.

So he's a huge man.

And gadhafi blinked.

And at that point, it was clear that we weren't going to be taken hostages because up to now, you know, up to then, it was thought that we would be the first hostages of an Arab state, not the thing that happened later in Iran with Carter and President Carter.

It would have been us in Libya if dad hadn't backed him down.

From then on, gadhafi went through the embassy.

he gave us the six months we demanded six months to get everything out of there.

He wanted the Jets.

He wanted us to be prisoners.

When dad backed him down, he changed his tune completely, got us out of there.

Six months, planes gone, everything back to the States.

Then when we came back to the States, dad went to the Pentagon.

And that's when he got his first star of the four stars that he got.

Oh, my.

So that's my gadhafi story.

Now, what a fascinating story that was.

Colonel Lewis, I know you probably have a couple of details that you can add because that's what Claude said, am I right?

That's correct.

It's an amazing thing because, for the first time, that kind of confrontation, with an Arab leader who was just, excuse the expression I've heard before, hell bent on making an example of the weak Americans.

Chappie.

James was anything but weak.

Anything but.

And you have to understand that one of the things I've learned from him over the years was, the idea of, you absolutely, educate your folks, you inspire them, and you motivate them to follow you to get the things done that need to be done.

He was a great example of that.

And in fact, they are fighter pilots who were a classmate of mine who said, we would have followed Tappy through hell with the gasoline, short.

So on.

And that's the clean version.

But it's amazing the impact that he had on so many lives because he wore his patriotism on his sleeve.

On his sleeve.

He was an American.

He wanted folks to know that he was a proud American.

And I'm someone who's young enough to understand, our viewing audience really wants to know general overview.

What is Alzheimer's?

So Alzheimer's is not a, not a normal part of aging that's really important for everyone to know.

it is a progressive brain disease that starts to affect memory, thinking behavior.

And it is not a normal part of just the aging process.

And so it's a disease that we need to try to find treatment for and find a cure for.

So some might say what are the telltale signs right.

Yes.

And that's one of the questions that we get a lot.

And what people usually see is, disruptions in memory.

Right.

Someone not being able to remember things that, they, were remembering well before.

Or it may be, issues doing or problems doing familiar tasks that they didn't have a problem with before.

and so it begins there.

And many times families may notice it.

And then that prompts them to try to see what's going on, what's causing that person to have these types of symptoms.

So, Andre, when I visited your website, I was reviewing a few details.

It's interesting the impact on our viewing area or audience.

Elaborate on that a little bit, please.

It is.

And it's it's certainly an impact that can't be denied.

When we look at the numbers, we know that 1 in 8 Floridians who are age 65 or over are impacted and have Alzheimer's.

And we also know that is a disease of age.

And so around age 65 is when we normally start seeing it.

And after age 65 every five years, the risk doubles.

And so it's certainly something that's impactful not only to the person that is, getting are experiencing it, but to the family because they bear the, unpaid caregiving, load with 827,000 of them taking care of someone who has Alzheimer's.

All right, now, Cassidy, you have an amazing story.

The founder of axles for Alzheimer's.

And when I was looking at some of the images these old cars from back in the day.

So what piqued your interest in the Alzheimer's Association?

Well, we had a suspicion back around 15, 14, 15 of my mother in law having the disease.

And 16 I was part of an organization and we formed a team to with the walk and 17 we became caregivers in our home.

So it was a directly affecting us, and we got to see the horrific effects of the disease firsthand.

Smiles all around, right, Kathleen.

Absolutely.

So give us an overview of the Miracle League of Pensacola on.

The Miracle League is a group that's basically set out to ensure that every child gets the opportunity to play baseball.

I love that.

Yeah.

What would you say the mission is?

The mission is so that every child can play baseball regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

Right.

So you have the little ones out there, right?

And then you, as they progress to, to a larger role in the organization, or let's say they reach their teens, then they have another amazing experience on the horizon.

I notice in some of the imagery with the youngsters, I'm going to see the toddlers to an extent that have the plastic bats, right?

Yes, we have we have the littles group that's from age three to about 12 or 13, and we have four teams in the littles, and they use anything from they very large plastic bats to a couple of them can hit well.

And so we have a few aluminum that's for them.

Ball is not a base.

Ball is a soft ball.

So even if they hit really hard it's not still it's not gonna hurt that it won't hurt them.

Right.

It's not going to hurt us.

So Don, I know that it's not going to hurt.

Then talk about some of the social benefits.

the social benefits.

It's a really great opportunity for the special needs community to come out there at the Miracle League of Pensacola.

They're not the ones that are different.

they're all the same.

There's very there's physical disabilities or mental disabilities, intellectual.

And they're all the same out there.

No one's pointing fingers.

No one's saying, oh, what are you doing?

No one's whispering behind their back.

And it's it's it's like a social club out there.

And when you see them hanging out, well, they're building relationships.

They're on these teams and they're doing something that they've not been able to do in mainstream baseball or other mainstream teams.

Now, Sally health and Hope clinic, how long has it been in existence?

We've been around since 2003, so we are actually on our 2021 anniversary.

So it's very exciting to see the growth, with what our services offer and, just the, the tremendous outpour from the community supporting our initiatives.

Now, one thing I love is your mission providing health and hope for the hurting.

Who could say it better?

Sally.

So expand on that.

Sure.

We're providing whole patient care, so it's no longer just.

You come in from the E.R.

because you were referred to us, because you don't have insurance, and maybe you're in tooth pain.

We don't just treat that tooth pain.

We actually have them go get labs done, and we do a full workup on those patients.

Their very first visit is 45 minutes long, and we do a whole health care plan for them.

so we even have food banks next door.

We have shower ministry next door.

We do the whole gamut of patient care.

Mind, body and soul.

And I love that.

So next question.

Million dollar question.

How many people are seen or helped in a given year.

So we are actually our roster is pretty full.

we are at when I, when I joined the clinic five years ago, we were sitting at about 650 patients.

We now just hit the 1545 patient mark from 2023.

So that was for a full year.

those are called unique patients because we don't want to double count them.

and we did about 15,000 patient visits.

So it's a lot coming through our door every single doctor list now stepping into your world, because right here at Pensacola State College and you and I are colleagues, we help our students.

So first of all, tell our viewing audience a little bit about what you do in your role in Pensacola, say, college.

And and then explain to us what pirates care is.

Absolutely.

So we are really fortunate at Pensacola State College to have our Pirates Care Student Resource Center, which is essentially a one stop shop for assisting students with any basic needs support they may have.

So within the center we have our campus food pantries.

We partner with manna to provide us with bags of food for our students, as well as household and hygiene items.

We also have a campus career closet, so students who are trying to get jobs or internships, or who maybe just need some clothing, have access to free clothes that they can get in our center.

we also have assistance with transportation.

And so helping students with bus passes or gas card so that they can get to class.

And then we have space for student parents to bring their kids into our resource center.

And then there's computers that they can study and be in a safe place and environment for their families.

And then we also offer counseling and case management as well.

All right.

Let's talk about the mission.

Oh, well, really the mission is to is to give these young people a language so that they can begin to speak about what's going on in their world.

You know, oftentimes, and I have a, ten year old daughter.

they know things are happening, but they don't necessarily have the language.

And we found that theater is a way to give them that language, a language of collaboration, a language of virtues, a language of character.

Henry Box Brown was, an enslaved man that mailed himself from Virginia to Philadelphia to freedom.

And, he was also a musician.

community, well, an activist as well.

An abolitionist.

eventually, after he escaped and toured the world, talking about the horrors of the American chattel slavery system.

and so we were approached by our young people and, first of all, first off in New York.

And I said, well, where are the stories about us?

Yes.

mayor ran into a book called Henry's Freedom.

Bart.

Okay.

And, started calling friends that we knew in various churches across the city of New York.

And we said, okay, we're going to turn this thing into a story for our young people.

So it was really inspired, by a request from our kids.

And, and so he eventually, you know, mailed himself to freedom and, and, and, you know, when we when we started researching the, the story, these folk tales, these, slave narratives of different things, we just were so inspired by those things.

And now we're going to Broadway.

Laura, let's start with you.

From 1924 to 2020 for 100 years, what thought comes to mind?

That's amazing longevity for any organization, especially a nonprofit, when you consider how much how different our community is from 100 years ago.

Absolutely.

And I was looking at the mission statement online and fighting for health education, financial stability.

Why don't you elaborate a little bit more about the mission?

Sure.

So our mission is to unite the community and leverage resources to improve lives and we do that in a variety of ways.

We focus on health, education and financial stability.

we provide funding through grants to programs in our community in Escambia and Santa Rosa County.

And then we actually run programs.

So our goal is to create solutions to challenges that our community faces and do that through funding and programs.

I have to step over into the world of David Alexander the third good friend of mine, former Pensacola police chief.

And I must say, one of the nicest guys I have ever met.

You are so amazing.

And when I found out that you had transitioned to the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging, I was excited.

So talk about the mission of the organization and how you became involved that transitioned right from law enforcement to this.

Well, when, when I retired from law enforcement, I did, apply for several law enforcement jobs locally.

but at the core of what I wanted to do and, what drives me is just connecting people, with the resources and the help that they need.

that's what I did in law enforcement, no matter what level I was at.

so in 2023, I was asked to consider a position that the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging, in their information and referral department.

So, the mission there is to, connect people to the help that they need to live a better quality of life through information and referral.

And I actually supervise the call center.

that that's the first call for help when people are calling for, for the assistance.

So, it was a to me, it was an easy transition.

I had a lot of background in supervising dispatch, which is A911 center for law enforcement.

And, to me, it was an easy transition.

It's just, it, we went from emergency response to, it's a much more detailed process.

now, a lot of times when seniors call, they are stressed in a situation.

But what we do is, is, is pretty much, by referral, into an assessment process, or we actually provide them with the information they need.

on Social Security, after I pay all my living expenses and everything, I would hardly have any, you know, money left for food.

And then someone told me at the community center there, they served her lunches every day.

That's when I started, you know, being introduced to Meals on Wheels, food that is delivered to, you know, senior citizens now that have Meals on wheels for pets so she can get food here from the Council on Aging well has really touched my heart and meant a lot to me is when Council on Aging got with pain and rebuild my AC unit and put in a new thermostat.

It makes me feel good to know that there's an organization out there that cares about us seniors.

There's something about helping someone who thought they had been forgotten, who thought that they didn't matter anymore, who thought that their time was up.

That is just so special.

But then someone walks into your life with an air conditioner or a meal, or even just a smile, and offers to spend a couple hours with you talking about the good old days, suddenly you matter.

Suddenly your life has purpose again, and suddenly you have a reason to wake up in the morning.

And I think that's what I really love about Council on Aging.

And as you can see, Meals on Wheels has been impacting so many lives for the better, including our fur babies too.

Now this segment is going to take an interesting twist because it has not only been me hosting connecting the community, I've invited some co-hosts as well.

Some familiar faces, Jeff Weeks and Steve Nissim will be joining me, and we're going to have a lot of fun.

Take a look.

I'm honored to welcome my friend Steve Nissim.

Now he's the chief storyteller for Cedar Community Institute.

He is joining me as a guest cohost.

You may also remember his 28 years as an award winning sportscaster, and much of that time was spent at Dwyer TV.

Right?

Channel three, 21 years there.

But, always a pleasure to be here with you.

academics is always first.

got a lock down on the grades before I can focus on track.

Now, you told me in the green room that you have a desire to someday run track at Alabama.

Why is that?

That's because my dad were in there.

Oh, he did okay all in the family.

We love these things that we, Michael, talk about the, well, rootedness of it.

You know, you obviously are training the athletes, but, you know, your mission is bigger than that.

So really, what's the mission?

with what you try to focus on, the Golden, mission at Golden Lee is to build character and integrity and each and every athlete that comes through our program, we know that each and every athlete won't be a gold medal winner like these two guys.

they won't be elite athletes.

And being sought after for, you know, they make up the athleticism.

So we have kids that come through our program.

They, inverted pass.

I heard about our program to where I heard a child came here, and by the time they were finished, they were going to school every day.

They were taking out the trash at home.

So our program as well, building was on the inside out.

When we tell parents all the time, as coaches, we cannot do for your child something that's not already in them.

Our job as coaches is to bring out of them what's in them and character and integrity.

Those are two foundational things that we steal in each and every athlete.

Whether you win every race, whether you come in last in every race, whether you don't even make it to a race.

But being part of our program, you're going to learn about that.

That's a great message.

of course, you're also trying to to develop them as athletes.

So in that sense, in the performance sense, what's kind of your message, your focus, as you try to maximize what they can do out there on the track, trust the process.

Trust the process.

When babies come out, they're not all they're running.

They have to crawl.

Some of them have to learn to roll over first and certain things.

So when athletes come to us, we let the parents know we get them involved.

We get to pass the ball because this is a community effort will go to the elite has accomplished is because of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, big brothers, even little sisters and little brothers because we all work together for the benefit of that 1 or 2 athletes that's in that family.

We want to share some of the sights and sounds from the inaugural Justin Gatlin freshman and sophomore Invitational that was held at Booker T Washington High School.

We'll be back with more right after this.

This is definitely going to be an annual thing that we're having.

This be right here is for the freshmen and sophomores in high school.

Right.

And the reason why we're doing that is because we understand how it is to feel like a freshman or a sophomore.

When you're high school, you feel like you're unnoticed or you feel nervous.

This is the opportunity for them to compete against each other, take out those jitters, be able to come out here, compete for your best abilities and within your own age class, and then you feel more comfortable to be able to compete against higher classmen.

And you'll be able to show off in front of your friends and family.

So for track, it's just something that you can open up with.

You don't have to talk to anybody.

You can just, you know, get in that zone.

It just, you know, just hammer away with yourself, think about things, talk about the, you know, recite things.

every fundamental sport has to do with some type of running track is good for everyone.

Booker T for one.

I have roots here.

Booker T Washington, went here my freshman and sophomore, year in high school.

And it's a special place for me.

And also the fact of the facility, we have a rubberized track here.

It's a little easier for the athletes.

Have good competition here.

I put out good time.

So it gives them a good standing in the nation when they want to go out and run.

Other meets throughout the nation as you excelled on the field pretty quick.

I mean, you took a little bit to become a starter, but then I think that your last three years in Minnesota, you started every game.

so what was that like as you realize, hey, I'm definitely going to stick here.

I definitely can do this.

You know, it's kind of frustrating because, you know, you know, early on, you never really ever.

What I played always excelled.

I started it, you know what I mean?

And when you have to take the back seat and, and, the teams want you to learn a little bit more, you know?

But I had the chance to learn from one of the best, you know, John Randle, you know.

And so, you know, it's not every day you learn from a Hall of Famer.

and I'm like, I never forget, you know, the first time I'm like, man, I played with you on a video game, you know what I mean?

But, you know, he taught me a lot.

He taught me what it is kind of to be a professional.

How do you approach the game?

How was a lot different from college?

It's not about knowing what you can do, but you got to know what everybody else is doing around you and that'll make you a better player.

Don't be one dimensional.

Don't learn how to play one position.

Learn to play you have was just across the defensive line.

You will last a long, long NFL.

And so I really took, my studying to another level, really watching film study and take just hours and hours and hours, you know, just picking up anything.

I can learn how to be a better player.

He's a mover, a motivator and boxing legend.

It's a pleasure to welcome.

Now, folks, get ready for this Olympian track trainer, rapper, actor and commentator Roy Jones Jr. we know that there's been a lot of help in the community.

Many people that believe in boxing in you and what you've done over the years, what you stand for.

Right, Steve?

Yeah, absolutely.

And you already talked about your dad, you know, Roy Senior Big Roy, you know, he was your trainer in the early years.

You know I know he was a tough trainer.

so what how much did that help make you who you were?

And what were the challenges of having your dad trained you?

Have you helped a lot, helped me develop as a person, and made me the.

It gave me the inspiration that I needed and the the desire to succeed that I needed.

my father was one of the people who I feel like was most instrumental because he taught me a great foundation.

Without a foundation, you can't build anything solid.

So most things that are built, sadly have to have a strong foundation.

And that's what he gave me.

So with him giving me that strong foundation, I was able to take that and take the other things that got added to me and become something far more special that even I expect it to be.

Did you realize that at the time or at the time?

Was it was it kind of tough how tough he was on you?

It was very tough at the time.

I understood what was happening because I had learned and I developed a very close relationship with God of the early age.

So there were times when I had to make a choice do I believe in God or do I?

And I stuck with my belief in God because God would always put it on my heart that he would keep persevering.

You got to make it.

You just got to keep persevere.

So I kept persevering.

And that's what my faith is so strong.

Of course, we talked about the Levins already a little bit.

Fred Levin was your manager for a good part of your career?

you know, obviously a legendary guy in this area.

What was your relationship like with him and how influential was he with you?

I my relationship with Fred was very different.

may have started with more like friends, because then I would talk to me on a friendly level as well as a business level.

he would always know to me ins and outs, and they'll keep my head focused on the right things.

Fred.

Another hand was a guy who was so fun.

He was like, he was the older brother, but he was like the younger brother.

If I want to get in some trouble, let's go.

So.

Right.

It was actually wasn't bad trouble, but like, they put a toll free level.

Hey, we get to meet down to fight Castle.

Yes.

He won't beat to bring them all.

He didn't care he be anybody.

And for me, that was so.

It was crazy because he's many years older than I.

But he has so much faith in me, you know?

I mean, he even care who he bought it.

He bought the table and he come if you want to fight him.

Yes, you can tell him I got beat because he knew if I said it, I mean it.

And he believed in my world would not be even in a library sometimes, you know.

So, it just it was the funny thing to me because Stanley, the older brother, I mean, the younger brother was the more serious business brother where Fred, the older brother was more of the fun guy to be around for doing.

Crazy thing, you know what I'm saying?

So crazy fight came.

He want me to do it?

Let's go.

You may notice that I have a special guest with me, a familiar face to many of us here at TV.

None other than Jeff Weeks, the host of two shows, conversations and in studio.

But, Jeff, you and I worked together as comics recently for the inaugural Pensacola State College International Festival.

Didn't we have a lot of fun?

We had a wonderful time.

First of all, thanks for having me on your program.

It's a delight to be here.

And of course, we did have a blast at the international, festival that took place recently.

And, I was pretty amazed at all the people that came together.

And you know what else was exciting?

And it was also great to see so much of the great talent that we have right here in Northwest Florida, and so many of the established performers who have been around for a while, but also young kids that came out to perform.

are y'all ready to do this out there?

Yeah.

Are we going to start off with a little song by brother by the name of Bob Marley?

So we bout to get into the island flavor right now.

Here we go.

I'm here.

We got.

We are, we are the children of la la la la la la la.

Light to the world.

Wow.

So all power from afar is the height of unity.

But you can.

Come on, come on, everybody sing one.

La la la one.

Ha ha ha.

Let's get together, get together and I'll feel all right.

Sing it again.

One.

Oh, Hey, Jeff.

That was amazing.

And.

All right, all right, all right.

As Matthew McConaughey would say, it's time to take you outdoors.

Sights and sounds of what happened outside during this inaugural international festival.

And I must say, we would be remiss if we didn't mention the parade of flags.

All the nations represented, right?

Yeah, it was really cool.

And it was it was, what I really like about it was all the young people who were involved.

So you had a lot of students.

You had a lot of a handful of student athletes.

We sure did from from Pensacola State College who were involved.

And I was talking to some of the folks who were helping kind of set that up.

And they just talked about as as people found out about what that was going to be going on.

There's more and more volunteers start coming forward and want to be involved and engaged.

And it was really cool.

And and as well, people will be able to see there was an awful lot of engagement and an awful lot of, people who were proud of their heritage.

I, we had a great deejay with our friend Corey, the people's DJ, keeping things, you know, moving along throughout the day.

But the headliner, Larry Watson and, you know, oh my goodness, what can I say?

Yeah.

You know, Larry just, you know, has, you know, he's he's one of those guys clearly who has an awful lot of charisma when he goes on stage.

Stood right beside me.

But I won't forget I really love you.

Do you said no.

I want to make sure.

Right there.

Oh, boy.

I let go.

control of this button.

Hey, if it's important to my body, the squad maybe come back to this I to break to do I then.

Yeah, you dirty Diana.

You take a little break.

Oh say I Folks we had a great time reminiscing.

We will see you next time on WSRE PBS for the Gulf Coast.