I need more time! (And a few guest bloggers).

It's been several weeks since the last post. (Ooh! This sounds so much like my adolescent diary from the 70s!)

I have pages of names and phone numbers to contact for interviews, pictures I took at the picket painting party, and loads of ideas.

I just need more time!

For many of you who know Kiaralinda and Todd but don't know me, I volunteered to write this soon after I met them last fall. We were painting boxes to get the word out about the December Pepsi Refresh contest (which never happened for SHAMc). I was so excited about the idea of an art and music center in our town that I felt compelled to get involved. Many of you feel the same way, I know. The memories of coming together, helping do something for a dream is, for lack of a better description, smile-inducing.

I enjoy writing this blog and I love my friends--our shared friends--Kiaralinda and Todd. But I've written a book too. It's my dream to actually be able to make things up for a living and to have those stories SELL. But it turned out my literary agent was just as concerned as I was when my book made it through 12 publishers without a nibble. I hired a professional editor. She found all sorts of things I had done wrong (mostly pacing issues). So now I'm cutting, moving and rewriting the whole book. I love the process of seeing something I thought was good become something I am proud of. But like I said, I need more time...

How about you? Who are you? What do you see in this artful, musical world? How do you feel about it all? If you like to write, and it won't take too much time away from your busy schedule, send me an e-mail, or your blog post content, and I'll edit any punctuation or grammar thingies (should there be any). If you have a photo or two, or six, let me know. I'd rather you avoid religion or random political issues, but if you write about it for a pertinent reason that moves your story along, hey, I'm willing to read it. And, you probably guessed, I do this for fun and for free, so I can't pay you. Thanks for understanding.

And by the way ... go vote!

To contact Laura, e-mail LeksInk@gmail.com

One of our smallest, yet biggest, helpers

In December, when ten year old Devan heard about the possibility for an art and music center in her town, she knew she had to be a part of making it happen.

Todd Ramquist and Kiaralinda had every indication their idea to turn their small rental home at 706 2nd Street North would be competing for a Pepsi Refresh grant, and Devan added to the excitement with her own. She immediately involved herself by visiting Whimsey and finding Kiaralinda. "I just walked up to her and asked," Devan said. "I wanted to help."

And since then, Devan has helped. She handed out postcards at the Christmas parade. Her parents brought her to the aqua house that will someday be unrecognizable compared to its current condition, and she couldn't stop talking about the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center to her friends and family. In fact, Devan went a step further; she made it her personal goal to help make this dream come true. Plus, to make it even better, SHAMc fit the requirements for her fourth grade service project.

"I knew it would be a great project because it would serve the community," she said. "I like art and music."

Unfortunately, not only for Devan, but for the arts community as a whole, there was a computer glitch in that first attempt and Pepsi didn't include SHAMc in the competition. "We were so close!" Devan said, remembering her disappointment, but still smiling.

Maybe most kids would have dropped it--gone on to new, perhaps more exciting projects--but not her. Devan had already created a project binder and she separated the sections into categories: What I am doing; How I can Help; What is the Art and Music Center?

"It's a big purple binder with 'SHAMc' on the cover and the spine," she explained. "I have cards on how to vote and some newspaper articles too. When I heard that we got in, I wrote 'yeah!' in my May updates section." She laughed--her energy meeting every definition of a happy kid. "The binder is massive now," she said. "Cards stick out of the sides. I always keep cards in my backpack so I can hand them out and tell people how to vote."

If anyone understands the complexities of trying to win a $50,000 grant, it's Devan. She has been talking to classmates, to teachers, and to everyone she meets, but because she attends two different classes each day, she has to fit the time in to leave her class to present her project to other classes. Her teachers are supportive, and Devan is sure that by the end of May everyone in her school will know what the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center is and can be.

At Third Friday in May, Devan was at the SHAMc booth, showing people the model of the center's plans, passing out cards, and talking to community members.

Why would a ten year old dedicate herself so fully to an idea--to a service project like hers? Perhaps it's because Devan knows what she wants for her future. "I'm in chorus, plus, I have won a lot of art shows. One was a chalk butterfly with vines and I didn't think it was that good, but my teacher told me I won!," she said. "I want to do something with art. I like dancing. I might be a Cirque du Soleil dancer and performer. Dance is art. It's just a different kind of art."

Devan won the Tropicana Speech competition at her school and is going to District for Battle of the Books. She is also performing in Fairies Inc. in Dunedin.


Our sincere thanks and lots of high fives to Devan. Thank you for your help during this process. We appreciate all you've done and we appreciate your hard work!

Using Power Votes

It's not as difficult as you might think. Power Votes could be the ladder we must climb to win a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant. The fact remains that in the $50,000 category we must be in the top ten--of all the worthy causes--to get a grant. We have until May 31, 2011.

Here's a quick guide on using Power Votes, and also some ideas on how to accumulate those 'specially-marked boxes' and pretty yellow caps. Each cap or box has a code inside that might equal 5, 10, 15 or more votes...all the way to 100!

Sign in to refresheverything.com with the account you set up using your email address. Find our project by clicking here. The picture of SHAMc in its current condition is on the left side of the purple page. On the right you will see "Vote for this idea." Right above that is a place you can click and it says, "Power vote for this idea."

There's a white bar where you will type your code. It says "Enter your code here." If your lid has two rows of letters and numbers like K7XX9 and right under it has 4CPLX (just an example) you will type all those numbers and letters together, like this: K7XX94CPLX -- and capital letters matter.

Click "Activate." A few seconds later you will find out how many votes you activated. It will say "Power Voting activated! Your Power Vote is worth 10 (or other) votes. Now, go put ‘em to work."

This is important. Those votes must be used in order for them to count. You will see white and blue lettering under the notification of earned points. It will say "Check out some ideas or return to your last idea."

You'll be able to get right back to SHAMc by clicking "Return to your last idea." Now click "Power vote."

See how easy that is?

Now here's a fun story from Paula Moynihan who attended Relay for Life at Coachman Park on Friday night. She noticed that Pepsi bottles were everywhere. The refreshment booths had them, recycle bins and garbage cans had them...so she gathered a group of kids and promised them each a quarter for every yellow cap they could find. She said they came back with over 40 caps! She and another woman sat with Paula's iPad and input all the caps. It resulted in 860 votes for SHAMc! Thanks, Paula!

More ways to find caps:

Post a sticky-note on the Pepsi machine at work asking for co-workers to drop their yellow lids off at your desk.

Ask your child's teachers if there is a Pepsi machine in the staff lounge. If so, ask if you can put a box in the lounge for cap collection.

E-mail friends and ask for the codes or the boxes/caps.

Do you have any ideas on gathering lids? If you find them and don't have time to input, we will be collecting power votes at our booth on Third Friday in downtown Safety Harbor on May 20.

This is the Place...

We're days away from 2011 and Pepsi Refresh grant voting. I'm going to end the year showing you a bit of the old before we (all of us ready voters!) bring in the new. The future Safety Harbor Art and Music Center will, with your help, soon enrich and inspire many lives. (1/19/11 NOTE: WE ARE NOT IN THE VOTING. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ WHY)

Todd Ramquist and Kiaralinda own the existing structure at 706 2nd St. N. in Safety Harbor, which is the original Rigsby family home. “We will keep the house since it has Rigsby history, and build around it, creating garden spaces where the creative process can be nurtured.” —Kiaralinda

The house will be transformed with the help of architect Grant Genova, who was chosen because of his vision regarding recycling and repurposing, which has always been an important part of both Todd and Kiaralinda’s art and life together.

They hope to break ground in early 2011 and will complete the project within the year. The center will be a great asset, providing art and music to the community, learning through workshops, and inspiration for creative minds, young and old.

Are you ready?

A Message from Todd and Kiaralinda. . .

This is the website that will have our project about the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center on it in JANUARY and it is where you can help us win a $50,000 grant by voting online every day during the Month of January. Search "Safety Harbor" and you will find our entry to vote on.

We have a community page that has a lot of information about the project. If you are on Facebook you have to "like" the page to see all the fun stuff. Please send it to your friends so we build a strong community as the contest draws near.

Thanks so much for your help. Anybody with ideas or input on how to get a lot of votes, please contact us. Thanks, Todd and Kiaralinda 727-725-4018

Spreading the word and painting boxes

Whether or not you're a Safety Harbor resident, you might have heard of, driven by, or visited the Bowling Ball House. It's obvious that artists' hands and imaginations have been at work for some time. Passersby can't help but to pause and appreciate the beauty that Todd Ramquist and Kiaralinda have on display in the form of their home. I know, because when I moved to Safety Harbor two years ago, I drove by, discreetly snapping pictures with my cell phone, admiring not only the art, but also the type of people who would create it. Now I know these two amazing people, and their dream has become mine.

Kiaralinda and Todd own several homes in their neighborhood, and like their home, the surrounding houses and studios are decorated like works of art. Now, they want to turn an old building into a place where artists, musicians, and others will thrive in creativity. The future Safety Harbor Art and Music Center building is downtown, behind Cello’s Charhouse. Their plans are for a complete renovation and they've already contacted an architect.

But first, before anyone can start hanging drywall, painting walls, or scheduling events, we need to focus on winning the $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant! Yesterday, that meant painting boxes to prepare for Saturday’s Holiday Parade float.

I’m asking for your help, especially next month. Let’s spread the word any way we can. This project is going to have a lot of competition—people who know how to win this type of grant—they spread the word; they ask for help. I’m a local who believes in people, art, and dreams, and I know that this town is the perfect place for an art and music center. For updates, follow this Blog, look for the (soon to be created) Facebook page, and tell your friends, relatives, co-workers, and their grandmothers. As a community we can make this happen!