Clermont

I never really thought there was anything good about a good bye; that is until I googled quotes about good-byes and it made me think otherwise.

“Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.” –Washington Iriving

If Clermont existed when Irving was alive, the people, community and area might have inspired him. I envision Irving scribbling down this quote as he sits underneath a palm tree watching the warm rays of the sun slowly tuck itself away in the darkening sky while chatting away with a friend he just meet at the local coffee shop (or in these days at Starbucks).

Irving’s words can’t better explain the growing sadness I feel building inside as I try to repack my suitcase and equipment to make it all fit the way it did when we first arrived in Clermont, which was almost two weeks ago.

It was within that short time when a strange and new place became home. But it wasn’t because we started to know where we were going or because we knew where to get our favorite meals.

Instead, it was the people who made us feel welcomed everywhere we went.

From the stories we heard to the memorable conversations with new friends, our time here was probably one of the most fulfilling experiences ever.

It’s taught me that technology is a privileged and not a right. Secondly, sometimes it is hard to prevent or stop something you don’t understand. And finally, you are only as old as you make yourself feel and as young as the company that surrounds you.

These are the sweet memories of soon-to-be distant friends, who like the mellow rays of the departing sun fall tenderly, yet sadly on the heart of this out-of-towner.

-Racquel

It’s not easy being on the other side of the table, especially when you’re used to being the journalist and asking all the questions and doing the legwork.

Now, the ball was in the court of someone else.

David Donald with the Daily Commercial put me in a position that I’m not that used to being in: the interviewee.

Donald put us on the front page of the South Lake Press paper today and talked about what our goal and mission is here in Clermont. It turned out to be a fruitful article since we’ve already received several phone calls from people interested to talk with us.

So, perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing that the tables were turned because it put us in a place where there are so many more people to meet and so many more stories to hear.

Read our article.

-Racquel

When it comes to putting your best foot forward — or in this case your best hoof – maybe the best way to do that is by combing the old with the new.

Today we drove 10 miles out of Clermont and spent the evening with Matthew Gonzales; a 17 year old from Groveland who has been showing cows for the past six years.

When you walk into Matthew’s bedroom, you immediately find out that he is good at what he does. Blue ribbons and pictures with his prize-winning animals hang from the four walls of his room; right above the desk filled with trophies.

Living on the farm and in the country, Matthew says he has the best of both worlds. He knows what it’s like to be connected with his phone and Internet while still preserving the same techniques used decades ago when cowboys raised cattle.

Matthew’s mom, Terri, tries to keep both worlds separate by not allowing any use of cell phones or Internet until all the farm chores are done.

Terri sees technology as a privileged while Matthew sees it as a tool to help him multi-task and gain more knowledge about showing cows. Matthew says by learning new techniques, it allows him to try new things and keep up with changing styles in showmanship.

While Terri and Matthew have different views on how to use technology, they both agree that it isn’t a substitute for getting to know your animal. Terri says there are certain things you sense and notice while raising a cow that no article or YouTube video can teach you.

So in the end, perhaps technology isn’t the ultimate solution for everything. Maybe for Matthew, it takes the best of all worlds, both past and present, to get his cows ready for show.

-Racquel

Today was quite possibly the hottest day since our arrival in Clermont.   Between the humidity, hot weather and buzzing gnats, it was the PERFECT day to stand in the scorching sun and ask fifty random people the same question; “How would use technology to rebuild the world?”.  We posed that question to people at Lakeridge Winery, where the 18^th annual Harvest Festival was taking place.

 It was my first trip to a winery and I was in awe of the picturesque rows of green vines that stretched for miles before me.   My quiet moment amidst the vines was shattered, however, by some hollering, cheering and loud foot stomping.  The source of all the hoopla?  Grape stomping.   Men, women and children stood in large wooden barrels, squishing grapes beneath their feet.   Racquel and I watched for several minutes before we began interviewing for the afternoon.   We heard a variety of interesting responses, but most of you agreed that technology should be used to make the world greener.

 It wasn’t long, however, before the heat started to get to us.  Almost everyone we’ve met in Florida has reminded us to stay well-hydrated.  And after listening to Racquel’s whining today, I was all for the purchase of the 12-pack of bottled water that is currently sitting in our fridge.  (We do realize that things could be far worse than being dehydrated, like getting hurt on the job. We learned today that a fellow News21 journalist was hurt while videotaping a soap box derby in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  Phil, take it easy tomorrow.  We want to see you back in Syracuse!)

-Courtnee

We all have our muses. For some it comes in the form of song, for others it comes in the form of another person. We quickly learned it was the latter for the groups of people we met today.

Our day started out at with an afternoon dance party at Summerville at Oak Park Assisted Living, where an eager audience of elderly people was waiting for their deejay to set-up.

Once the music started, the walkers were pushed the sides of the room, feet started to tap and everyone was dancing to the songs so familiar to their time.

But it was more than just the rhythm taking the residents out of their seats. Their inspiration to get up and dance came from two young girls who volunteered at the home earlier this week. These were the same two girls who were enthralled by stories of the past from some residents who lived during the Great Depression.

It was an eye opener to see all these elderly women and men moving briskly to the Macarena and Electric Slide.

Maybe you’re only old as you make yourself feel. And today the feeling of youth was transferred from one person to the other as the volunteers clasped the hands of residents who swayed to the beat.

Later in the day, we met a father who also was inspired by his 17-year-old son. The duo runs Trio Martial Arts Academy in Minneola, which is only a couple miles outside of Clermont.

In talking with Randy Gordon, he admitted to us that 99-percent of their family business’ success is attributed to his son Bret. Bret is not only a sensei at the academy, but he is also in charge of the business’ website, marketing and advertising design.

Bret says his technologically wired brain combined with his dad’s years of managerial experience make for the perfect combination. He says there are things he can do that his dad can’t do and vice versa.

Technology in their father-son relationship has actually brought them closer together instead of further apart. This combination is becoming more common as technology increasingly changes. The inspiration and mindset of the younger generation is becoming more and more relied upon by the older generation.

But whether it’s technology or just the sensation of feeling twenty times younger than your really are, a muse is a muse in any shape or form.

-Racquel

There are so many challenges when you live in a city for two weeks. You feel like a stranger to a place who so many call home.

Here in Clermont, FL nearly 24,000 people call it home.

The continuous line of cars that drive up and down state routes 50 and 27 are all too familiar to the natives, which makes me and my talking GPS the odd man out (or in this case woman) in a sea of cars that zoom past me as we slow down traffic on the city’s main arteries.

But today, we bumped into Luck and that little bit of luck made us feel welcomed in a city so foreign to us.

The luck came when we walked in to the South Lake Chamber of Commerce, which is situated in the city’s historic downtown district and tucked in the shadow of city hall.

When we walked in, the breeze from an empty air-conditioned room greeted us and cooled us off from the summer Florida sun. In the chamber, the walls were cluttered with business cards hanging from plastic holders from every shop in the area and the tables were filled with pamphlets of discount coupons to local restaurants.

It was a treasure trove of information for any new person, such as us, who wanted to know where to go. You would think that with all this under one roof, the chamber would be a revolving door but there was no rush. It was quiet.

The silence was quickly broken by Ray San Frantello, Ray Villegas and Juli D’Agostino. The three greeted us shortly after we walked in the door and we told them about our mission as student journalist for News21.

They were quickly interested in our initiative since the Chamber itself was looking to reach out to the younger generation by using social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. In fact, the Chamber is now trying to launch a more web-based way to reach out to the public since the demographic of Clermont is changing and shifting away from an empty nest community. We asked them who we should talk to and they invited us to an after hours Chamber business party where there would be lots of people we could talk to.

That’s where we bumped into Luck, not once or twice, but five times.

From person to person, we heard so many stories from parents about what it’s like to have their children grow up in such an age where technology is shaping their lives and relationships.

From a parent who’s child was bullied on MySpace to a 17 year old who practically runs his family’s business and online website from design to content. It was all there.

It was what any stranger to a new place dreams of.

It was the moment when Luck said, “Relax. Welcome to Clermont!”

-Racquel

Hello Clermont!

Racquel and I spent the day driving around the town in the hopes of getting to know the area and the people better. Clermont is definitely a beautiful place -streets are lined with palm trees and orange groves are scattered throughout the city.

One of our stops was at the First United Methodist Church where we met Misty Leistikow. I really connected with Mrs. Leistikow once we discovered that Texas was home to the both of us.

During our chat, we also learned that she has two sons who text constantly with their friends, even while they’re sitting right next to each other. We also talked about how great technology can be, but how she thinks it has sometimes severed personal and deeper conversations between people.

-Courtnee

When you’re all coming from different parts of time whether past or present, sometimes finding a common ground is the best way to relate.

Today, Courtnee and I witnessed it first hand at the Summerville at Oak Park. There we saw what it was like to have the past together with the present.

Here’s what we mean.

We were in a room full of ladies–ages 99 to 18. And when you’re in a room with that many women, chatter and laughter is about the only thing you will hear so much so that the echoes of our good conversation spilled into the hallway.

The topic of conversation: What it was like then and what it is like now.

The dominators of the conversation were three women all over the age of 85. They reminisced about the first pieces of technology they had so long ago and what it was like to grow up during the Great Depression.

The eager ears listening were two young teenagers from a local high school, both of whom chuckled and gasped at the stories of cranking up a car to go to school and paying 10-cents to see a movie.

While the conversation itself was captivating, the real story was the one not being told or being spoken about.

The young girls hardly ever, if not ever, picked up their cell phones or iPods to drown out these stories of the past. They were “unplugged” from the world and didn’t care—just enthralled by the mere concept of face-to-face communication with someone who was alive during a time they had only read about in their history books.

And that was the common ground: face-to-face communication. There was no need to understand the differences in technology that each grew up with. No need to understand the differences between a Victrola or an iPod.

Even though our mission and objective with this project is to focus on youth and technology and how it is changing their lives, perhaps sometimes, it’s not always like that. Maybe just maybe, the art of face-to-face communication isn’t dying, it’s just being preserved in little pockets of the world.

We found one of those pockets today, and it was an experience that I will always look back to, especially when I start to feel that it is slowly slipping away.

-Racquel