At the close of another year, we pause to wish you and your family a season of joy. All of us at Capital Automotive join in saying thank you and Happy Holidays.

Everyone knows the better way to buy a car is at Capital. But there has never been a better time to buy one than right now, during Capital’s Better Way Year End Big Event.

Right now 5 Capital dealerships have combined to offer you 600 new, used and Certified Pre-Owned cars, trucks, vans, SUVs at the absolute best prices of the year. Visit any Capital dealership in Tallahassee and you’re guaranteed to find the vehicle you’ve been dreaming of.

Plus, during the Better Way Year End Big Event, our auto loan finance specialist team is standing by to help you apply for a fast and easy auto loan regardless of good credit, bad credit or no credit.

Everyone knows The Better Way to Buy is at Capital… and the better time to buy is right now, during the Capital Eurocars Better Way Year End Big Event going on now at all 5 Capital dealerships.

Don’t miss your last chance to get a newer vehicle for less than ever before during the Year End Better Way Big Event. It’s back and better than ever in Tallahassee, but you’ll have to hurry; these deals will only be available through January 3^rd at Capital Eurocars.

There is nothing more frustrating than driving down the highway and feeling like you are fighting to keep your vehicle in your lane. There are several possible culprits that can cause your steering to pull to one side or the other. If your vehicle is having trouble staying on a straight line, there are a few things you can check yourself to correct this problem.

Check your tire pressure. Often times an under inflated front tire can cause your vehicle to pull in one direction. Always check your tire pressure and be sure to keep your tires inflated according to manufacturer specifications. Keeping your tires properly inflated can also help improve your fuel efficiency.

Check your tire size. When buying tires always match tire sizes and tread patterns as close as possible. Different size, aspect ratio or even tread pattern can create enough of a difference to pull your vehicle to one side. If you are unable to purchase 4 tires at once, be sure to match your front two tires and back two tires to each other, to eliminate uneven wear and pulling.

Balance your car load. If you are carrying heavy items, like golf clubs or excessive weight, be sure to balance the weight evenly across your vehicle. If you can’t do anything about the weight, it is possible to have the wheels realigned to compensate for the pulling. This is not recommended, as when the weight is removed your vehicle will pull in the opposite direction.

Check your springs. This is actually easier than it may sound. Park your vehicle on a level plane and measure the distance between the ground and your fender openings on both the front and rear of your vehicle. If one side is more than an inch higher or lower than the other, there is a high chance that you need to replace a spring.

If you have checked these possible causes and everything looks fine, there are other causes that a mechanic can detect.

Misaligned wheels – when your vehicles wheels are not pointing directly straight ahead. There are many causes, the most common being rear wheel toe or axle misalignment, front wheel camber misalignment, too much cross camber or caster alignment. Sometimes the culprit can be caused from the steering wheel. Make sure your steering wheel has been aligned after your vehicles wheels have been aligned to ensure proper alignment.

Dragging break – caused by a frozen or sticking disc brake caliper. When the caliper freezes or sticks, it doesn’t allow the brake pad to kick back out from the motor, sometimes a weak or broken return spring in the drum brake doesn’t pull the shoe back from the drum. When this happens it causes the vehicle to pull one direction or another. Replacing the caliper will resolve the problem.

Excessive road crown – to allow for proper drainage, roads are built sloped (crowned) so that rain and other fluids will drain to the side of the roadway. For those who spend a large amount of time driving on crowned roads, you can realign the wheels on your vehicle to compensate for the excessive crown.

If you are tired of fighting with your vehicle to stay in a straight line, the factory trained technicians at Capital Eurocars can diagnose and correct any problems your vehicle may have to get you back on the road worry free.

If you missed out on the government Cash for Clunkers rebate program a few months ago, you can still receive a tax deduction, by buying a new vehicle, before the end of the year. While this tax deduction won’t exceed the rebates offered during the Cash for Clunkers program, you’ll still have a chance to receive a large sum of your purchase back.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, passed this February, allows all new car buyers to deduct the sales tax and other fees charged from the purchase of their vehicle after February 17th and before January 1st. The tax deduction can be added to the standard deduction, making it available even if you itemize your return. Plus, there is no limit to the number of vehicles you can claim under this deduction, as long as you purchase each vehicle before this deduction expires. There are some restrictions to this special tax deduction, so be sure to consult with a tax professional if you have any questions.

If you’re considering buying a new car this year, don’t miss this opportunity to increase your tax refund this year. Combined with low interest rates, high factory incentives and record trade-in prices, now is the perfect time to trade up to a new vehicle today.

The BMW bites into the track at the Monticello Motor Club, hurtling down the straights and exploding out of every tricky rain-dampened corner.

The scene is the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge, where a handful of journalists and private car owners have been invited to compete against Robert A. Lutz, the irrepressible 77-year-old General Motors vice chairman, and his mighty 556-horsepower CTS-V sport sedan.

But the Bimmer I’m driving in the rehearsal laps is a rather unlikely competitor for the CTS-V. It is neither the M3 high-performance coupe nor the M5 über-sedan, but the X6 M, a 5,300-pound battering ram that looks like what Batman would drive, if Batman drove a crossover S.U.V.

Verily, the X6 M is the world’s fastest crossover, an awards category you won’t find at a Sierra Club fund-raiser. From the Infiniti FX50 to the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, the BMW tops them all, whether the criteria are pure speed or handling control.

As it turned out, the night before the challenge, BMW got cold feet about entering the X6 M, so I had to drive the CTS-V instead. But BMW need not have worried: the X6 M wouldn’t have beaten the quickest CTS-V drivers, but its effortless below-three-minute lap times proved it would have blown people’s minds and made Bavaria proud.

Spectators asked to peer under the hood; the co-owner of the track, Ari Straus (who drives in the Grand-Am road racing series), was intrigued enough to request wheel time. He instantly ripped off elegant laps that spotlighted the BMW’s torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system.

To some, the X6 M may seem a design achievement on par with Alexander McQueen’s 10-inch stiletto heels: Shocking, titillating – but still a cruel male fantasy of dubious utility.

The difference? You can dance in this BMW.

Figuring that some owners would be unfulfilled by the 400 horses in the standard X6 xDrive 50i, BMW has girded that car’s 4.4-liter V-8 with a pair of expensive twin-scroll turbochargers – cleverly nestled in the valley between the engine’s two banks of cylinders – along with new pistons and cylinder heads and a host of other improvements. The result is 555 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque, with peak torque on tap from a low 1,500 r.p.m. up to 5,650.

Set the computerized launch control, which shows a starting flag in the gauges, step off the brake and the X6 M wrenches to 60 miles per hour in just over 4 seconds. That is acceleration on par with a standard Corvette that weighs a ton less.

The technology involved in making a 2.5-ton crossover drive like a sport sedan could fill a NASA logbook. This all-wheel-drive system, which combines planetary gearsets and electronic multiplate clutches, monitors g-forces and sends extra torque to the outside rear wheel to help rotate the BMW through turns. With enormous 20-inch tires and computerized suspension trickery, the tall-riding BMW really does handle like a belly-scraping performance car. Only in fast left-right slaloms does the X6 M give much clue to how much mass it’s shifting around.

The groupthink of automotive media has declared the X6 M (not to mention the regular X6) a pointless, impractical car. That stony judgment proffered, said writers quickly resumed their fawning over those “practical” $250,000 supercars with two seats and no luggage space.

To paraphrase H. L. Mencken’s line about Puritans, such critics apparently lie awake at night, worried that somewhere some S.U.V. owner might be having fun.

Fun is the X6 M’s raison d’être. The BMW makes no pretensions of carrying soccer teams. Yet it does seat four adults comfortably despite somewhat limited rear headroom. With the rear seats in use, there’s 25.6 cubic feet of storage; fold the back seats and there’s 59.7 cubic feet.

Judged by its styling, the BMW is certainly an oddball. But while some colleagues have volunteered to help me get Lasik surgery, I think the X6 M looks thrillingly bold. For years, designers have been trying, and mostly failing, to create a crossover that looks authentically fast.

The X6 M appears streamlined yet brutally muscular and without the military connotations of a Hummer. In the process, the BMW makes rivals like the Cayenne look like grocery-getters. As with the cars of Chris Bangle, the former BMW chief of design who was assailed by critics even as rivals copied his pencil strokes, the X6 M’s coupelike design (credited to Pierre Leclercq) is already being busily reinterpreted by Acura and others.

For people who demand more practicality, the X5 M model offers identical performance with rear seating for three. It also has additional headroom and 25 percent more cargo space.

Yet I greatly prefer the X6 M, though it starts at $89,725 versus $86,225 for the squarer X5 M. If you’re buying a decadent high-performance crossover in this economy, make it the one that doesn’t pretend it’s a level-headed babysitter. Its price does undercut the Cayenne Turbo S by $37,000.

Like other BMWs, the X6 M is born to handle curvy roads and open highways. Before the Monticello event, I drove to Vermont, where it was quiet and surprisingly smooth-riding – but also a guzzler at an observed 16 m.p.g. on the highway. Its federal rating is 12 m.p.g. city, 17 highway.

The seats are excellent, and the X6 M adopts BMW’s smartly redesigned iDrive system and its huge central display screen. As with the M5 and M6, I’m not thrilled by having to toggle through screens to change the “M Drive” performance settings. But the M button on the steering wheel can be programmed to instantly adjust the suspension, throttle and transmission for maximum fun.

The BMW’s main annoyance is its weird console shifter, which can be balky in calling up Drive or Reverse on first attempt. And the driver’s rearward view is rigidly proscribed by the slanting roof and scanty back glass. Fortunately, parking is aided by a camera system that displays a 360-degree view around the car.

For all its physics-flouting performance, the X6 M isn’t the car I’d spend this much money on, or even the M model from BMW’s performance division that I most covet. The nimbler M3 coupe has my vote. Yet the X6 M has more chutzpah and personality than almost any car I’ve driven this year. If that personality is mildly sociopathic, BMW seems to say, it’s best to just stay out of its way.

Source: [New York Times]

Gorden Wagener is one of the youngest (if not the youngest) chiefs of design in the automotive world. He became the head honcho of Mercedes-Benz’s design division in the beginning of 2008, when he was just 39 years old, therefore replacing the venerable Professor Peter Pfeiffer.

To get you guys better acquainted with his work you should probably learn that he is the responsible designer for the CLS, SL (R230 facelift), second generation SLK, SLR McLaren and the latest “Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow”, the SLS AMG. Quite a motley array of designs we should say, but all of them are inter-connected in a pretty obvious manner under the Mercedes-Benz umbrella.

Gorden Wagener was born on 3 September 1968 in Essen, Germany. After getting a degree in Industrial Design at the University of Essen he attended the epitome of designer-schools: the Royal College of Art in London. There he specialized in Transportation Design, which helped him enter the automotive realm.

After a short stint as exterior designer at Volkswagen AG, Gorden jumped ships to Mercedes-Benz in 1997, where he has worked up the ladder ever since, finishing up with one of the most desired positions in the automotive designer’s world: chief designer for the Mercedes-Benz brand. We managed to catch him for this short exclusive interview:

Alex Oagana: You are now about to enter your thirteenth year as a designer at Mercedes-Benz, but I believe you have already beat bad luck. During these years, you were directly responsible (among other cars) for two of the most beautiful Mercedes models in history, the CLS four-door coupe and the SLR McLaren, along with its derivatives. For many designers, creating such out of the norm and stunning designs can become a burden for creating new ones. This happens mostly because there’s the risk people might not like the new ones as much as the older ones. Did you encounter a similar hardship time when designing the new E-Class range (Sedan, Coupe and T-Model)? Were you afraid of failure more than before?

Gorden Wagener: Mercedes invented the car and it is also the most valuable automotive brand to be found worldwide. And that in itself is enough to make my work fascinating. Our brand stands for superiority, stylishness, sophisticated sportsmanship, elegance and innovation, but at the same time also for safety, reliability and quality.

As a Mercedes-Benz can be expected to enjoy a long life, every Mercedes designer is fully aware that a car we design today will still be seen on the streets 30 years from now. This is both a commitment and an enormous challenge. We have vehicles where we venture to take great leaps forward, as for instance with our prestigious CLS design. With other vehicles, however, we carry on the development more cautiously to ensure their continuity. We have also succeeded in making a significant design leap forward with the new generation of the E-Class.

… Just take the design of the sedan model as an example – it is extremely modern and very dynamic, does without fashionable gimmicks and gives us instead a new interpretation of traditional Mercedes values.

Alex Oagana: The new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is the second truly-retro model coming this year, after the SLR Sterling Moss. Each of them has design-cues from the 300 SL, and the 300 SLR, respectively. How much freedom for adding new/modern lines on an already existent base of design did you have? Were there certain guidelines to be followed, except the basic proportions of the original cars?

Gorden Wagener: Retro designs are always successful if we don’t merely copy the stylistic elements, but succeed in giving them a modern interpretation from today’s perspective. However, the vehicle as a whole has to be an independent product in its own right and not stand simply as copy of the original design. The original models used for retro designs already played an outstanding role in their own time with their cult status and reputation for a long service life.

They generally convey a certain spirit of the times and attitude towards life surrounded by an aura emanating from tales of legendary racing victories or roles played in film classics. When all of these elements come together, you have the perfect recipe for a successful retro design. It is important that the original models are not only rooted in people’s minds, but, more importantly, have a place in their hearts. And I think that here with our new SLS AMG we have succeeded very well indeed!

Alex Oagana: I believe the W164 M-Class is the first Mercedes-Benz to encompass a new philosophy of design, creating a bridge between the rounder lines seen on the Stuttgart-based manufacturer’s cars between 1997 and 2005 and newer, rougher lines. In other words, newer Mercedes-Benz models appear to be less polished from the “roundness” point of view, kind of returning to the tri-star designs of the 1980s. Did you have the idea for the new line of design yourself or was this a direct order from above (Prof. Peter Pfeiffer)?

Gorden Wagener: Personally, I prefer well-defined surfaces, sculptured cars. Here at Mercedes, it depends to a great extent on the individual character of the car. If you have17 different product ranges as we do, then it is necessary to differentiate between them, to give each of them an automotive character of its own. The GLK is our most “angular” car, inspired by the G model. The lines of the GLK are particularly straight, whereas coupes tend to be rather more extravagant as they are in a completely different category.

Alex Oagana: Since we’re talking about directives, who is the person(s) to give the go-ahead to the final design of an all-new model? For example, if we would absurdly assume that you design a very ugly replacement for the current S-Class, but you stick by it and always say that’s it’s a gorgeous car, do you have the final word on it?

Gorden Wagener: Designing is team work. We Mercedes designers work in teams together with our colleagues in the research and production sectors, collectively planning the steps needing to be taken to make new stylistic ideas technically feasible.

The design procedure is something like this: We select roughly 15 1:4 models, and from these we make three to five 1:1 models, and in the end only one is left over. The designer always focuses on his own car. He knows his baby best – and a great deal of emotion is involved.

Based on these models, our board of directors and I then select the designs that will be produced as initial full-size1:1 models – and of these the best will finally go into production.

Alex Oagana: The last, but not the least question. You once specified to the press that at Mercedes-Benz, every second generation of the vehicle takes a more abrupt step in design. Does this mean we should see quite a few different-looking Mercedes models in the next few years? Is there a revolution starting soon at Stuttgart, similar to the one BMW had in 2001?

Gorden Wagener: Our guiding principle is clearly defined – a Mercedes always has to look just like a Mercedes – even in three decades from now. We are committed to this – but at the same time we are confronted with an enormous challenge.

If you stroll around a car show these days, one of the first things you’ll notice is that there is an incredibly wide range on offer. The car world is no longer quite so clearly subdivided into sports cars, sedans and station wagons. Instead there are all kinds of combinations, making the world more colorful – but not simpler for the designer. Brands and models need to stand out from the competition as it is getting increasingly difficult for customers to differentiate between them. The challenge here is to develop a clear brand style – and this is easy for Mercedes because of its exceptional heritage.

Source: [AutoEvolution.com]

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has long been a hotbed for automotive innovation, and the large German sedan will continue that tradition at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. Following its world debut last December, Mercedes-Benz’ Splitview technology will make its U.S. debut this month.

Co-developed between Mercedes-Benz and Bosch, the Splitview technology allows for dual-use of the S-Class’ center-mounted LCD screen. The system allows the driver to have access to the vehicle’s navigation system while the front seat passenger can watch a DVD on the very same screen.

Mercedes-Benz’ Splitview technology was originally slated to hit the market a few months ago, but was ultimately delayed. Mercedes failed to give a reason for the delay, but it was likely tied to legality concerns over the system. In August, Jaguar design head Ian Callum stated the system was “technically illegal”. Apparently, the NHTSA has given the technology a pass.

The Jaguar XJ is available with a similar dual-view technology in other parts of the world, but the British automaker has yet to announce if its version of the technology will be following the S-Class’ to the United States.

Source: [Left Lane News]

Bet you didn’t know the origin of the word “cabriolet.” In the horse-and-buggy era, the word was applied to lightweight open carriages pulled by two horses and used primarily for pleasure rides in fair weather. The word was pinched from the French verb “cabrioler,” meaning “to cavort” — move about carelessly, playfully or boisterously — or “to cut a caper.” The next installment in Mercedes-Benz’s long line of “cavorters” isn’t exactly lightweight, but it promises to extend pleasure driving well beyond the traditional fair-weather season, thanks to a new innovation dubbed Aircap.

Aircap is engineered to work with the headrest-mounted neck-warming Airscarf to make top-down driving comfortable in the chillier weather that prevails in the U.K., Germany, and other northern climes where convertible sales are strongest. The challenge presented to engineers was to provide a largely draft-free top-down driving experience for all four passengers, ruling out those mesh screen gizmos that render the rear seat unusable. They started work in the 1990s and developed several solutions that were functional but aesthetically unpalatable.

The decade-plus spent developing this concept will finally pay off on the 2011 E-Class. The solution consists of a discreet piano-black panel that normally lies flush along the top of the windshield header. When deployed, it rises 2.4 inches, erecting a nylon screen fence similar to those used by some sunroof wind deflectors. Another screen bridging between the rear head restraints simultaneously moves up into place at the touch of a button. About 50 percent of the air hitting the front screen flows through it, slowing down by about 30 percent. This helps create a laminar (smooth) airflow that nearly traces the profile of the convertible top, with calm air below, and turbulent air above. This calm air zone can be heated in winter or cooled in summer.

To demonstrate the system, Mercedes parked a new E-Cab in its historic full-size wind tunnel (dating to 1939, it was the first in the world) and invited me to sit in the front and back seats and assess the cockpit turbulence with and without Aircap at speeds ranging from 48 to 87 mph. At all speeds the difference with and without the system is remarkable. From the front seat, at any speed the system feels every bit like those rear-seat-killing mesh wind blockers, rendering the front seat calm, quiet and comfy. Hair will be mussed in the rear seat with or without the system, but Aircap makes 86 mph feel like 48 mph without it, and it makes 72 mph top-down driving tolerable (it’s really unpleasant without it). Sadly there is no Airscarf for rear passengers, owing to tight packaging between the seatback and the rollover protection system.

Aircap is integrated into the Pre-Safe crash protection program, which lowers the header panel instantly if an impending accident is sensed. Aircap will be standard in the U.S., but because it’s optional in Europe, provisions are in place for a traditional mesh screen backstop, which will be offered by dealers here as well (it’s a waste of money).

Some conditions demand top-up driving, and when those prevail the lid can be raised at the touch of a button at speeds below 25 mph. When in place, the new seven-layer “aero-acoustic” top provides near steel-top coupe levels of quiet with no possibility of “ballooning” (the outer layer is tethered to each cross-bow. The fabric top looks classy as well, and registers a 0.28 drag coefficient, down slightly from the coupe’s record-setting 0.24 Cd. Incidentally, top down and windows up, the drag increases to 0.33, and with the Aircap in place, that figure climbs to 0.38.

Seating comfort in front and back feels essentially identical to that of the coupe, meaning the sport contoured buckets may strike broad-beamed riders as a bit confining. Rear-seat occupants sit considerably inboard of their front-seat compatriots, placing shoulders rather close, but it’s completely comfortable for sub-six-footers.

Sales start in May 2010, and there’s no official word on U.S. pricing, but expect a slight bump up from CLK Cabrio pricing, meaning that, as usual, only well-heeled cavorters need apply.

Source: [Motor Trend]

After nearly 50 years in production, the Porsche 911 seems to have as many racing variants as production models. The newest one announced is the 911 GT3 R, which, as the name implies, is targeted at GT3 class racing worldwide. The GT3 R is the follow-up to the GT3 Cup S model and Porsche has put effort into making the new racer both faster and easier to drive.

The GT3 R is based on the same platform as the most recent Cup car that was launched in September. It uses a larger naturally aspirated 4.0-litre version of the classic flat-six that cranks out 480 horsepower. Like other road racing 911s, this one is rear-wheel drive only and makes use of a six-speed gearbox. The GT3 will be unveiled publicly in January at the Birmingham Motor Show in the UK before deliveries to teams start a few months later.

Source: [Car and SUV]

Europe’s auto major Volkswagen is set to become the world’s number one, pushing Japan’s Toyota to the second place, by taking over sports car manufacturer Porsche.

The boards of directors of Volkswagen and Porsche endorsed the acquisition on Friday last week, ending years of takeover struggle between the two German automobile giants, partly owned by two estranged family clans.

Porsche, which made an unsuccessful bid to take over Volkswagen earlier this year, would now become the 10th brand of the VW family.

Until recently, Porsche was controlled by Porsche Holding AG, a listed company owned by the family of VW chairman Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of the Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, and by the Porsche family.

Porsche’s attempt to take over the much bigger Volkswagen backfired and its CEO Wendeln Wiedekind had to leave in July. It suffered heavy losses largely due to its unsuccessful bid.

Porsche racked up huge debts to get 51% stake in Volkswagen, but fell short of the 75% stake needed to take over the company when it could not raise the money needed due to the global financial crisis and drop in car sales.

In August, the two families buried their differences and agreed to a fusion in order to protect their stakes in the company.

In terms of the number of cars sold, Volkswagen and Porsche are already the world’s number one, according to a market study. The two companies sold over 4.4 million cars world wide during the first nine months of this year compared to 4 million cars sold by Toyota.

Ford-Mazda had combined sales of 3.7 million cars. Financially troubled former world number one General Motors of the United States sold 3.6 million cars.

The fusion between the two companies is being planned in two Phases. Volkswagen will take-over 49.9% of Porsche till the end of 2009 and it will be completed by 2011. Porsche will continue to operate as an independent company within the VW family.

Besides taking over Porsche, Volkswagen also acquired on Friday the insolvent manufacturer of auto components and convertibles Karmann.

The VW plans to build small cars from 2014 at Karmann’s production plant in Osnabrueck, in northern Germany.

Volkswagen plans to invest 25.8 million euros in the next two years with focus on Germany to build up Porsche and Karmann and to strengthen the company’s position in world markets, VW management announced after the board meeting at its headquarters in Wolfsburg.

It intends to produce a new small new car under the brand name Karmann.

A part of the new investments planned will be spent on developing new environment friendly cars, innovative technologies and new production plants, especially abroad.

Market analysts say that both companies will benefit from the deal. With the support of Volkswagen, Porsche will be able to repay its debts amounting to more than 10 billion euros.

Volkswagen would have become susceptible to hostile takeover bids if Porsche had sold its stake.

Porsche is also an asset for Volkswagen because of is good image and experience in marketing, which are important above all in the US market.

The two companies together will have the broadest range of brands and new models among all leading auto makers, the analysts say.

Source: [Live Mint]

The Twilight Saga: New Moon comes alive for Beth Gleason, 18, of Palantine, Ill., and Jeanette Underwood, 19, of Newnan, Ga., when they drive off in shiny new Volvo XC60s, just like what Edward drives in the movie, courtesy of Volvo Cars of North America. Gleason and Underwood are the winners of Volvo’s What Drives Edward online contest, as the first eligible entrants to complete all the puzzles at www.WhatDrivesEdward.com.

Close to 300,000 people from across the U.S. participated in the online contest. Given the overwhelming response, Volvo decided to give away XC60s to the first and second person to complete the game.

The XC60 giveaway was just one of Volvo’s promotions surrounding Summit’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Laura Beringer, 29, of Chicago, won a sweepstakes and received two tickets to the world premiere in Los Angeles.   Beringer and her sister, Victoria, walked the red carpet and met members of the cast at the premiere event.

Players who did not win and want their own new Volvo XC60 can visit a local Volvo retailer or go to www.volvocars.com/us to build their own. Edward’s XC60 features a Saville Grey metallic exterior, a sandstone beige/espresso interior, a cream leather steering wheel, 19-inch Achilles diamond cut wheels and exterior accessories such as side scuff plates, front bumper bar and rear skid plates.

In addition to the United States, Volvo ran online promotions in Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the second film in the series, opened to record-breaking grosses around the world. In the film directed by Chris Weitz and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of – only to find herself in greater peril than ever before. Following Edward Cullen’s (Pattinson) departure from Forks, Wash., Bella discovers his image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy. In time, Bella’s frozen heart is gradually thawed by her budding relationship with Jacob Black (Lautner) who has a supernatural secret of his own.

The third film in the franchise, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, is due in theaters on June 30, 2010.

Source: [Volvo]

For Three Decades, The Christmas Connection Has Helped Spread Holiday Cheer to Those Who Need It Most

Traditionalists say diamonds are the gift to give for a 30th anniversary; those of us who are a bit more modern might give pearls. But the Christmas Connection, in its 30th year, isn’t asking for gifts, at least not for itself. Instead, once again this year it will ask people to open their hearts to those in our area who are less fortunate or in need for any reason, to help them have happier holidays.

Starting in 1979 with a plan to help just 25 families, in the 30 years since, the Christmas Connection has embraced thousands of Tallahassee’s neediest families with open arms, helping hands and a heart too big to measure. Beginning with a pastor’s request, this outreach of Catholic Charities’ Tallahassee office is truly an ecumenical labor of love. It all started with the late Monsignor William Kerr who, as rector of the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More, saw a need and sought a solution.

“Father Kerr came to me and asked me to locate 25 of our neediest families,” said Wendy Blair, then-director of Catholic Social Services (the forerunner of Catholic Charities). “He wanted a program for the parish and for the community that would encourage participation from everyone. It started as the 25 Most Needy cases program.

“Our referrals came primarily from HRS (the state’s Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services),” Blair said. “We wanted to collect enough so that we could provide for the 25 families that we had identified with the help of case workers and other social service agencies. The community was so enthusiastic and generous that we were able to help 55 families that first year.”

Thanks to the community, the Most Needy Cases campaign grew in other ways as well. Nearly 10 years later, in 1988, Meg Guyton of VolunteerLeon sat with Blair and discussed ways the two groups could help each other. Blair needed volunteers to help fill Christmas wishes, and Guyton sought opportunities for those who wanted to help the community. While working out a plan, they also shifted strategy a bit – the Most Needy Cases campaign got a bright new name and a positive new outlook when it was rechristened the Christmas Connection.

With the help of pastors, social workers, teachers and others, the program has grown steadily over the years until 2008, when the Christmas Connection provided food, clothing, toys and other gifts for 3,000-plus families in and around Tallahassee. To be included in the Christmas Connection, each client must be referred. That process has evolved as well, from the handwritten requests of 1979 to today’s online registration and applications.

Debra Herman, current director of Catholic Charities’ Tallahassee regional office, said the Christmas Connection is “an extension of our emergency assistance function at Christmas, and it helps support our work throughout the year. People pour out their hearts and open their purses at Christmas. They want people to feel love, joy and hope. Through their generosity, the Christmas Connection has become a major source of funding, since their gifts often are for use at Christmas or throughout the year.”

Even though Catholic Charities is Catholic, many people don’t realize the Christmas Connection’s ties to the faith, Herman noted. The initiative “has its own branding; it is very ecumenical,” with widespread community support both in churches of all denominations and elsewhere.

Such a major undertaking requires a major commitment on the part of the Catholic Charities board, Herman said. In fact, all of the 2009 fundraising has focused on helping make the holidays a little brighter for others. Starting with an online auction and a tennis tournament, the board will round out the year with a 5K run and the annual Christmas Connection golf tournament; members have put in countless hours of hard work, all aimed at making the 2009 Christmas Connection the best ever. And not all the fundraisers are geared to athletics – a social hour held at a Tallahassee club helped launch a successful Friends of Catholic Charities campaign, which to date has netted more than $4,500 for the Christmas Connection and other Catholic Charities efforts.

A.J. Smith, retired chief of enforcement for what is now the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, is perhaps one of the busiest Christmas Connection workers. He starts out the season seeking out a site for the year’s campaign. Previous headquarters have included an old automobile dealership, and for the past two years, Tallahassee Community College President Bill Law has donated a college building located on West Pensacola Street for the campaign. Smith has spent countless hours seeking a site for the 2009 Christmas Connection, and at the time this article was being prepared, there is no set collection center for this year’s drive.

And Smith’s involvement doesn’t end once the site is secured. Visit the Christmas Connection and he’ll likely be there – coordinating volunteers, moving donations through the door and onto the sorting floor, answering questions and keeping things moving – all the while never skipping a beat.

A law enforcement veteran, Smith also coordinates Cops for Kids, a charity that supports efforts to provide bicycles for children who otherwise wouldn’t have one. Much like the Catholic Charities, the group focuses its efforts on raising money for the Christmas Connection. A motorcycle ride and a golf tournament go a long way to helping Cops for Kids meet its goals, and Smith is proud to say that only 1 percent of funds raised goes to administration of the program.

The Tallahassee community makes the effort a lot easier, Smith said.

“One thing you have to realize is that Tallahassee is a very giving community,” he said. “People here have very big hearts. That’s one reason Cops for Kids is so successful; in the past 10 years, we’ve given away more than 5,000 bikes.

“Lots of charities do a lot of good things,” Smith continued. “People need help all year long, but especially at Christmas. That’s when the child who has the least really looks for something. Cops for Kids tries to make sure things get taken care of; it’s what differentiates us from other charities.

“I don’t like to have anything left over when Christmas rolls around,” Smith said. “Last year, on Christmas Eve, we had four bikes left, so I started driving around with them to see if I could find someone who might need one. I was riding down Orange Avenue and saw a woman walking on Meridian with her 6- or 7-year-old son. I asked her if he had a bike, and she said no. When I gave her one, she started to cry. Turns out she had just gotten out of jail and had nothing for her kids. And she said she had another son, so he got a bike, too. That’s the kind of thing that makes you want to come back over and over.”

Cops for Kids is just one of many agencies and groups that come out each year to support the Christmas Connection. Of course, none of this could happen without a whole lot of help, and it seems that virtually every nook and cranny of the community steps up in some form or other. Take, for instance, the Tallahassee Police Department. Each year, as the holidays approach, officers take bicycles, tricycles and other “vehicles” donated either to the department or to the Christmas Connection. Under the direction of Dave Ferrell and Mark Wheeler and other members of the community policing unit, they take their turns as Santa’s elves.

“We take the bikes that people bring us and repair them if we can,” Ferrell said. “If we can’t repair a bike, we might piecemeal it or ‘cannibalize’ it for parts (to repair others). We get the bikes to the Christmas Connection and if they need us to, we help deliver them. They provide a wonderful service, and we enjoy partnering with them.”

Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell echoed Ferrell’s sentiments. His deputies also assist in making deliveries, and Campbell sends inmate crews to help prepare the selected site for the annual campaign, sweeping, scrubbing, setting up shelves – whatever needs to be done. Then, as the campaign winds down, deputies load up their four-wheeled “sleighs” to deliver gifts, food and cleaning supplies provided by the Christmas Connection to families in the areas they patrol.

“If we can show a child that someone cares, it might help prevent problems later on,” Campbell said. “Most of the time at Christmas we see people at home, enjoying the holiday and all the trimmings that go with it. Our deputies out riding around see kids who had no Christmas, who got nothing, and that kind of thing gives you a real feel for the underprivileged. If we can do anything to make a difference, we will. It’s a win-win situation for all of us.”

In addition to law enforcement, the Christmas Connection has friends in the media. The Tallahassee Democrat dedicates daily news coverage to Christmas Connection cases, and the Democrat opinion page staff conducts an annual blanket campaign, delivering lots of cozy warmth to the Christmas Connection site in early December.

Bill Edmonds, communications director for the State University System Board of Governors, initiated “Blanket Day” when he was an associate editor (editorial page staff member) at the Democrat. The previous year had been bitter, and the weather at the time wasn’t much better, he recalled. First Presbyterian Church in downtown Tallahassee had opened its basement so that people without shelter could come in from the cold, and it made Edmonds wonder what contribution the newspaper might be able to make.

“It was a real simple idea,” he said, “especially in that first year. We really didn’t know what we would get. After all, Tallahassee is not exactly a blanket town,” Edmonds pointed out, referring to the Capital City’s warm climate. By the end of a week, his entire office was “flooded with blankets. It was very satisfying, and blankets almost became symbolic” of the Christmas Connection’s warmth and kindness.

WCTV-TV, Tallahassee’s CBS affiliate, comes to the table with coverage as well. Julie Montanaro, co-anchor of the 6 o’clock evening news, will air five to 10 cases each year to help provide momentum for the program.

“The Christmas Connection cases themselves are media-friendly,” Montanaro said. “We also will cover the site opening day, perhaps focusing on a family then. We also adopt a family at the station.”

Montanaro also is a regular volunteer, starting in 1991 when she was new to the area. Working weekends with one weekday off, she didn’t know many people outside work and wanted something to do. She started volunteering for the Christmas Connection and helped develop the station’s coverage of the program. In 2008, she brought her infant daughter, Natalie, with her when she came to volunteer.

“I want her to grow up knowing that even if you have no money to share, you can always share your time and the things that you have,” Montanaro said.

Cases can be filled in one of two ways. Community groups, agencies or individuals can “adopt” a case. They purchase the requested items and whatever else they might want to add; they can either bring them to the Christmas Connection site or deliver them to the recipients if they prefer. If a case is not adopted, volunteers will fill the wish list from among the thousands of donations received that year. In addition to the requested items, recipients get toiletries, cleaning supplies and fixings for a ready-to-cook holiday meal. As the campaign picks up steam, troops of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, service clubs from area high schools and others all join in, sorting, organizing, packing and preparing gifts of all sorts and sizes.

Mary Coburn, Florida State University’s vice president for student affairs, is a longtime Christmas Connection volunteer.

“I can’t really remember how long I’ve been doing this,” Coburn said. “It probably has been about 20 years or so. When I started, I was just one of those people who showed up at the door, sorting, doing whatever needed to be done. Then, when I joined the (Catholic Charities) board, I developed a little more steady relationship. The only thing I haven’t done is deliver. Some people really like to deliver, and I’m fine with doing what other people don’t want to do.”

Just like Montanaro, Coburn brought her daughters with her; both girls, now grown, worked many Christmas Connections at their mother’s side.

“They started working with me when they were fairly young and got instantly hooked,” she said. “Just like I did, they kept at it, moving up through the ranks into positions of greater responsibility.

“Every year, you see special stories,” Coburn said. “There are always those moments when you see God’s hand. I really believe that coincidence is just a moment when God wants to remain anonymous.

“One year, I filled a case for a mother and daughter,” she continued. “The daughter wanted a violin; I called Dee Beggerly in the dean’s office at the (FSU) School of Music thinking they might have a used instrument they could donate.” Instead, Coburn said, Beggerly and her boss, Music Dean Jon Piersol, purchased a violin out of their own pockets and put the child in touch with a music-school faculty member for some initial training on the instrument.

“The Christmas Connection is one of my favorites,” Coburn said. “It is truly community-wide and ecumenical. All of Tallahassee comes together to help give others a special Christmas. It is the perfect example of how the giver receives as much as the recipient does.”

Source: [Tallahassee Magazine]

Homegrown Charity Makes Sure Teens Aren’t Forgotten Amid the Holiday Hoopla

Gail Stansberry-Ziffer believes she, along with everybody else in this world, has a special gift.

“My gift is persuading people to give money,” says the local public relations professional. “I don’t mind asking for help for those who can’t ask for themselves.”

For 14 years now, Stansberry-Ziffer has used that talent to give a special present to those often left out of the holiday hullabaloo – impoverished teenagers – through her homegrown charity, Treats for Teens.

“Think about high school, about how awkward everything is,” she says. “And now think about, you’re poor, maybe you have a family member in prison, your mom and dad are working three jobs, or you live in public housing and you don’t have transportation. And then think about the world we live in where everything’s driven by brand names – and you can’t have any of that.”

Treats for Teens started in 1995 when Stansberry-Ziffer asked members of her Leadership Tallahassee Class 13 to, rather than exchanging gifts at a Christmas party, bring a present appropriate for a teenager. She ended up with 32 – basketballs, makeup kits, gift cards and the like – and dropped them off at the Christmas Connection. (See story, page 80.) It grew over the next few years, but really took off when Tallahassee Democrat reporter Karen Olson heard about Stansberry-Ziffer’s grassroots effort and wrote a story.

Today, Treats for Teens gives gift cards to about 300 needy teens in four area counties. All participate in not-for-profit programs such as Boys & Girls Clubs and Capital City Youth Services.

The effort has been refined over the years. Stansberry-Ziffer found it best to pool cash donations and now buys identical gift cards from Governor’s Square mall for each teen. The result, she says, is actually a triple treat: The recipients get spending money, they are taken to the mall for a shopping trip (”A lot of these kids have never been to a mall because they don’t have transportation,” she says), and they are able to use some of the money to buy gifts for their loved ones.

When the groups come for their shopping trips, Stansberry-Ziffer is usually there to shake hands and have a word with the recipients. For starters, she shares her own story.

“I understand poverty,” she says. “I grew up in a single-parent household and slept with my grandmother in the same bed until I was 8. I know what it was like to not have what other people had.”

And then she gives them some advice: “I worked really hard, and some people believed in me and they encouraged me to get an education,” she tells the teens. “You can do it. It’s about making responsible choices like you’re doing right now – but you have to keep doing it.”

Treats for Teens has affiliated with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Raising A Healthy Child, making contributions tax-deductible. And through the efforts of several friends who donated their services, Treats for Teens has a Web site (treatsforteens.org) and the ability to take donations online. All of the administrative work is donated, she says; all money given is used to buy gift cards.

This year, Stansberry-Ziffer hopes to raise $30,000 – enough to give each teen a $100 gift card. To donate, visit treatsforteens.org before Dec. 15.

“It’s but for the grace of God I’m even here,” she says. “You never know how you change a kid’s life.”

Source: [Tallahassee Magazine]

Looking at – and Looking After – Tallahassee’s Feathered Snowbirds

Florida’s mild winter season attracts droves of visitors seeking a break from shoveling snow-packed driveways. Tallahassee and the rest of the Big Bend region also get their share of winter visitors, but instead of showing up in Winnebagos, they arrive in hosts, descents and even … murders.*

From all over the Northeast, these weary, feather-clad travelers come to enjoy North Florida’s moderate temperatures and to forage on dogwood, black gum and tupelo berries. Bird watching enthusiasts call this “over-wintering.” Chris Bittle, a naturalist for Birdsong Nature Center, located on Meridian Road four miles north of the Florida/Georgia border, says fall is when to begin watching for migratory birds.

“In early to mid-September through mid-October we start recording our migrants,” Bittle said.

She said the early migratory bird species include blue-headed vireos, American redstarts, and the striking and unmistakable scarlet tanager.

Winter is the perfect season to help out our feathered friends, who may find it more difficult to find food than they would in the spring and summer. Bill Thompson III, editor for Bird Watchers’ Digest and author of “Bird Watching For Dummies,” offers some suggestions on attracting winter birds to your backyard.

According to Thompson, cold weather creates the need for wild birds to seek fattier foods to produce energy. Suet, the solid fat from beef, is often sold in blocks next to the wild birdseed in supermarkets. Suet is a particularly popular food source for many woodpeckers. Place the blocks inside specially made hanging suet cages – or use mesh onion bags as a substitute. Wild Birds Unlimited, located at 1505-2 Governors Square Blvd., offers an easy-spread suet called Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter. This peanut butter-like substance can be smeared on the bark of a tree for easy feeding access.

Many backyard birds, such as the gray catbird, Northern mockingbird and red-bellied woodpecker, enjoy offerings of halved oranges, raisins and grapes.

Thompson also recommends investing in well-mixed birdseed that does not contain fillers such as red milo and wheat. Look for seed mixes that include a balance of sunflower seed and cracked corn.

Want to get festive with your bird feeding? Birdhobbyist.com offers holiday-themed recipes to create your own “tweet treats.” Mix up a batch of bird-friendly cookies or stuffed pine cones, all with safe and edible ingredients. These all-natural “cookies” can be shaped into holiday ornaments and hung from tree branches.

Those who live in areas with a small bird population still can enjoy North Florida’s seasonal visitors. Winter weather means thinner foliage, which makes bird spotting easier, so pack a pair of binoculars, wrap around a cozy scarf and hop on the Great Florida Birding Trail. A program developed through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it’s not a walkable trail, but a collection of 489 exceptional bird-watching sites statewide.

New to birding? The program offers plenty of information, including regional checklists of year-round and migratory birds throughout the state. According to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, bird watching and other Florida wildlife viewing activities produced $3 million for the state’s economy in 2006.

Tallahassee is part of the 16-county Panhandle region, and a comprehensive brochure of birding sites can be downloaded by visiting floridabirdingtrail.com. Nineteen suggested birding locations can be found in and around Tallahassee, and the Web site offers links to specific information about each one.

For more information on North Florida’s winter birds, call Birdsong Nature Center at (800) 953-2473 or visit its Web site at birdsongnaturecenter.org. Interested in Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter? Visit Wild Birds Unlimited in Tallahassee, call (850) 576-0002 or visit wbu.com.

Source: [Tallahasee Magazine]

For years they have battled for lower airfares, to improve service and, sometimes, each other.

Strung out across the 16-county landscape of Northwest Florida, the region’s four major airports served close to 2 million passengers in 2008 and contributed more than $1.1 billion to the local economy. And they are considered a vital link in the area’s future economic development.

Customers who utilize their services range from active military and college students to business travelers and those seeking a quiet beach vacation along the Gulf Coast. This year, in the midst of a troubled economy, passenger numbers dropped. But area airport officials have turned to billboard advertising, television commercials and Web site promotions to attract more fliers to their counters.

While those who run the airports have put a mostly good-natured public face on their relationship with each other, there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes sniping, especially in the battle to get Southwest Airlines to put its wheels down in this region.

“There is some competition, as you’d imagine,” concedes Melinda Crawford, interim director of Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport, the region’s busiest airport and the only one already serviced by one low-cost airline, Air-Tran. “But we are all focusing a great deal on making sure our facilities and customer service are top-notch.”

Adds Kenneth Austin, director of Tallahassee Regional Airport: “We respect each other. (But) communities have to do what they have to do to be competitive.”

In the last few years, the region’s four major airports have spent tens of millions of dollars to improve passenger amenities, including new rental car facilities, luggage handling systems and parking lots. In Panama City they are building a new $330 million state-of-the-art airport, to be called the Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport, and the others have millions in new capital improvements planned. All are working to lure low-cost airlines to the Gulf Coast and pique the interest of international travelers – all of which they hope will combine to help their business rebound along with the state and national economies.

Their primary objective is to serve customers in their own market, although they’re not averse to winning over fliers from outside their immediate area. In the meantime, administrators at all four airports are hoping to win back the customers who have found it more cost- and time-effective to drive instead of fly to some destinations within Florida.

“We’re underserved and overpriced. Right now, we have a high number of passengers being bumped,” admits Randy Curtis, director of Panama City-Bay County International Airport. But he hopes to see that change when the new international airport, under construction at West Bay, opens in May 2010. With a 10,000-foot runway, it is expected to bring in charters, possibly from Europe.

“Depending on how successful we are at attracting a low-cost carrier (to the new airport), we will see lower airfares and estimates of passenger traffic range from a conservative growth rate of 3 percent to doubling or tripling our passengers,” Curtis says.

Enthusiastic supporters of the new airport have caused some friction with Northwest Florida Regional Airport, about 60 miles to the west, which leases 130 acres and runway space at Eglin Air Force Base through an unusual joint use agreement with the U.S. Air Force.

“There was an overzealousness on the part of some who tried to interfere with our relationship with the Air Force,” says Greg Donovan, director of Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Fort Walton Beach, adding that his airport’s major cause “is to get noticed.”

In recent weeks, particularly, the courting of Southwest has generated a frenzy of activity, as Pensacola, Panama City and Northwest Florida hustled to put together multi-million-dollar packages to lure the low-cost airline in what some characterize as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will have long-lasting economic ramifications.

But Donovan is adamant that his airport is not going to close, no matter what happens, adding, “What our communities need to focus on is the strengths and benefits each airport offers.”

850 Magazine asked each of the airport directors to tell us, in their own words, more about their operations. On the following pages you will get a rare glimpse into the challenges they face and the changes they see on the horizon.

Source: [850 Business Magazine]

Around Town Spotlight: The Kinsey Collection

This world-renowned exhibit features African-American art and artifacts compiled by Florida A&M University alumni Shirley and Bernard Kinsey. Complete with more than 100 paintings, documents, photographs and rare books, the exhibit is a priceless window into the African-American experience. Visitors to the Kinsey exhibit will have the privilege of viewing letters written by Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King, the original Emancipation Proclamation and a flag flown by the Buffalo Soldiers in 1889, as well as numerous sculptures and paintings by African-American artists. A guided cell phone tour details the significance of each piece. According to Bernard Kinsey, every item and individual reflected makes up an essential part of black history’s “connective tissue.” “A lot of African-American history has been forgotten and never told, so the idea is to get those stories out,” Bernard Kinsey says. Beginning in 1632, the exhibit traces four centuries of critical moments in history and the arts. The result is a reflection of diverse experiences ranging from slavery and oppression to accomplishment and freedom of expression. “I like showing the juxtaposition there and how things have evolved,” Shirley Kinsey says. In keeping with this theme, the background walls of the display gradually lighten from a deep red to a golden yellow, reflecting humanity’s ongoing progression toward racial equality. This must-see exhibition will be on display at the Brogan until March 21. The collection’s next stop will be at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. – Jennifer Ewing and Corbin Robinson.

December – January Events

Through Dec. 27

‘21st Annual Art in Gadsden’

This annual juried signature exhibition of fine art represents more than 100 artists living within 200 miles of Quincy. Gadsden Arts Center, 13 N. Madison St., Quincy. Call (850) 875-4866 for exhibit times. www.gadsdenarts.org.

Through Jan. 1, 2010

‘Dinosaurs!’

Explore the prehistoric times of the T. Rex with the kids. The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, 350 S. Duval St. Museum hours: Mon through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Admission: $10 for adults; $5 for students, senior citizens and members of the military. (850) 513-0700, thebrogan.org.

Dec. 18

Elf Night

Come out and marvel at 250,000 lights adorning Dorothy B. Oven Park. Cider, cocoa and cookies will be served. Dorothy B. Oven Park, 3205 Thomasville Road. Event times: 5:30-9:30 p.m. Admission is free. (850) 891-3915 or (850) 891-8533, www.talgov.com

Dec. 19

Winter Festival

Celebrate the spirit of the holiday season with lights, music and art. Participate in the Jingle Bell Run or view exhibitions and the annual Nighttime Holiday Parade. Downtown Tallahassee. Call (850) 891-3866 for event times and details. www.talgov.com/parks/winter.

Dec. 20

‘The Snow Queen’

Watch the Irish dance students of Killearn Performing Arts perform this classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. This production is perfect for the entire family to enjoy. Lawton Chiles High School Auditorium, 7200 Lawton Chiles Lane. Performance time: 3-5 p.m. Tickets: $10 for adults, $5 for children. (850) 443-7512, www.killearnpa.com.

Jan. 10

January Jazz

A concert featuring standard and contemporary jazz featuring the Thomas University Jazz Ensemble and guests. Thomasville Cultural Center call (229) 226-0588 for details, or http://www.tccarts.com.

Jan. 15

FAMU Faculty Exhibition

Current and retired faculty of the FAMU School of Architecture and the Visual Arts Department exhibit work in all mediums, including printmaking, photography, quilting, ceramics and oil painting. Exhibiting artists include Kenneth Falana, Valerie S. Goodwin, Deborah LaGrasse, Edward (Tim) White, Harris R. Wiltsher, and Ron Yradebra. Join us at the opening January 15, 6-9 p.m., with a gallery talk at 6:30. (850) 875-4866

Jan. 15

Figure Drawing Exhibition

Artists Bill Thompson, Ron Yrabedra, John H. Woodworth, B. Harper Frost, and Barbara Harrison focus this exhibition on the artistic tradition of the visual exploration of the human form. Mostly drawings and watercolor on paper, these images reveal the age-old practice of honoring the human body by expressing emotions like confidence, insecurity, and love. Join us at the opening January 15, 6-9 p.m., with a gallery talk at 6:30. (850) 875-4866

Source: [Tallahassee Magazine, Tallahassee Democrat]