Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins; 601s; Chef Giuliano Hazan, Woodworker Merle Lilly, Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary, Aquarian Quest

This special presentation was produced in high definition by W. edu Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota. A great. Son of a great cook a man who turns food into art. The place where wild animals go when there's nowhere else for them. In a classroom alone. In this problem of a Gold Coast Journal. This w edu production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice building strong communities through a leadership partnership and endowed philanthropy. Hey. You join me. Dear Journal I've been thinking about how television used to have the writing

programs you know. And Sullivan Steve Allen Smothers Brothers offering a variety of back singing and dancing and maybe some internet magic and animal act. You just don't have that much on television anymore. Except right here a Gulf Coast Journal has variety in this edition for example we have you know singing and dancing but man does magic with wood. We have a wild animal act and. We have some very good food. Making us with this. And then I'm going to make a sauce of tomatoes and cheese. It may look like a meal in the making but it's actually work authored Giuliano has gone is testing recipes for his latest cookbook. Some of his toughest critics his family.

And do you like cheese. I'd. Take everyone's opinion into consideration. Opinions matter because Giuliano knows that much of what he creates is Grace from farm to taste from his own childhood. I always like to sit in the kitchen and watch my mother cook and we always enjoyed eating together and talking about what we were eating and experiencing our meals together. It was always a very important part of my life an important part that guided him on a successful career as an author and teacher for more than two decades. I'd always been exposed to teaching cooking because my mother opened her school in the long ago when I was 17 and I was helping her from the beginning and the end started teaching as well. Your daughter was born in the U.S. but spent much of his childhood in Italy. That was my schooling I was learning from from my mother from my parents from

being at the cooking school. My mother ran and teaching and learning by doing this by all the exposure to good food Giuliano didn't initially choose cooking as a career. You chose you. I originally wanted to be in theater and after college I went to professional theatre school. In the early 90s Giuliano performed cooking classes at Peter comes New York cooking school now the Institute of culinary education. And so I decided I wanted to focus on teaching and I was asked to write my first book at that time. My pasta book and so with the book in hand. Yeah I went around to cooking schools and. They all said sure come and teach and that's how I started teaching full time. That first book The classic pasta cookbook became an international bestseller with 500000 copies in print and translated into 12 languages. The hardest thing to teach is flavor. It's a

painter when they paint you know. They need to try and picture what how the colors are going to look together how it's going to look. When you cook you really need to try and imagine what what the flavor is going to be. The night we're going to make a result though with shrimp and asparagus combining vegetables and seafood is very Italian thing to do. Sharing culture and good company are why Giuliano enjoys teaching over serving in a restaurant. His message more about spontaneity than in following your recipe. My mother used to say that the most important ingredient in the kitchen was common sense. And it's about trying to get a feeling for what the dish is going to taste like and what you need to do because of what's happening in Japan right now. Warmth and passion for his craft are what make Giuliana personality as electable as his food.

Well food has a mazing ability to give pleasure. That's one of the things that can give you wonderful pleasure and memories and taste memories. It can define a whole era of time in your memories. It can define a culture a way of living. This one is for a sold out classic chart a sort of CASA Italia the yearly consumes Giuliano goes to money every creed. I think people are starting to want to cook at home more. But it is true that they don't want to spend all day doing it because we have very busy lives. But it doesn't have to take a tremendous amount of time. Even something that takes less than an hour to make can be you know give pleasure and can bring people together who are home cooks who want the ultimate learning experience. You're gonna offer a one week course in the crew taste of Italy. Italy just outside Verona.

We do field trips during the day taking people to different astronomic destinations to see help me John and John is made or why rice for result is process in a particular way to see how all of oil is made. At night there are hams round cooking classes so very intense immersion course and Italian food wine and culture. They get to taste the flavors of the food at its source because once you start developing those taste memories that's really one of the most important things you can bring back and use while you're while you're cooking. All right. Family togetherness flavor togetherness mixing old memories and making new ones. That's your recipe for success. OK. We promised you a magic act. Well we keep our promises here is a man

who does magic with wood. Merle Lilly have Sarasota has them a little bit of everything shipyard helper taxi driver machinist city worker house builder boat builder. But in the variety of this 82 year old's life. There's a distinctive grain that runs strong and true. Merle lilies blow would have a hundred different kind of. Thing is that. This poll is being turned from a prized piece of Brazilian rosewood. I work with it all my life and. I don't want to give it up. So wherever his travels take him it's impossible for Merle to pass up a good piece of wood. I've got some driftwood here I just brought back from Oregon. Some weird looking pieces and.

Then I got sick oil Berl. Which is one of the largest and oldest trees in the United States. In fact. Please hear I got out there it's a piece of. That piece was cut and 1850. And it was about 2000 years old. Surrounded by more maple in my Pogany than he will probably ever get around to Merle Lilly is a chip off the old block. I first started working wood back. I was probably around 6 years old and I helped my dad in the woodworking shop. His special interest in wood was carved out as a teenager. Well. So moonshiner all I had was a pocket knife which. Is not like current with a chisel. The about 1945 roughly I care about.

What really got me going my my aunt gave me a carving book which I still have had a picture of us with. That's and that's what started me. Lately in the backyard workshop there has been a moose sighting reminder of a trip to Canada. I've always enjoyed working with it. Fascinating when you're through with it you get something look back at me proud Lily beamed with pride when he carved an elaborate full sized horse patterned after a classic 1916 C.W. Parker carousel. I went to Alaska and I saw you know was up and I came back there. I guess an ass would started Carmin a loveable pooch a giraffe ferocious tiger all hiding inside a Gulf Coast woodpile.

Some what is better for furniture some for turning bowls and some for Bill an aircraft it's light and strong. Lily builds his fabric covered airplane from Sitka spruce and birch plywood took him 10 years. Wife Knight of fuel of the United States wedded 20 to the 14 foot canoe crafted from Red Cedar and Cherry is still close by. I took it to Alaska when facing. A lot of trout out of it. I build it more or less to use in the rivers here in Florida. More recently Mar Lily's lifelong passion for making things out of wood has taken him into uncharted waters. His first man believe him. I believe that I can work wood better than. I can play this instrument however I want to head in a short time. No lessons.

But I do have my name up there and mother of pearl. Think it may be a lot of wood on the bill. You've heard the saying in life there are no second acts. Well for some wild animals there are at a place called the octagon. I think on my life sanctuary was started in 1078 by Mark around in peak around. Father and Son. He was my husband. Yeah. And we were married for three years and. It was unexpected that he passed away. It's a struggle every single day.

For 30 years now we have been helping animals all over the community. I always say that octagon like a nursing retirement home for animals. They're here and I just fell in love with the place. I was a young man in a lot of people thing of a sanctuary as a roadside do all the animals you see here. We don't buy We don't sell. They're brought to us a lot of our animals have been confiscated from circus. People calling this and saying listen my facility is going to close down or this animal I have to euthanize it if I don't find a home for it or again they were abandoned at a place at a business or at a home. All the animals that you see here again have a I have a story behind them. Harley was in a doctor's office and what was happening is a lot of the patients

were teaching him how to swear so he had a mouth on him like a sailor. So I got to the point where he couldn't be trusted in the waiting room any longer without saying some words that offended quite a few of his patients. Oh. I know this is Caylee. Caylee is a black bear. Her sister over there Sierra is another black bear that had been in a side show business traveling for nine years and the back of a truck that containment that they were in was barely enough for them to stand up and turn around and their diet consisted of dog food and popcorn. On by a couple that decided because he was living in their house if they wanted to try to domesticate him even more self by having him neutered castrated and also to have a half full of bottoming out. This is

Bobby. He's an African Serval. Bobby came to us right after the Evan Almighty movie. So we have a celebrity on our grounds. All the animals here are brought in to be taken care of. They cost anywhere from about five to eight thousand dollars a month to run this place. We go through five hundred pounds of meat raw meat chicken beef and pork a night for our guys. And that's every single night they get fed this along with vitamins and medication. And again all that's out of pocket when you come through the gates here to visit that money gets put toward helping these animals and their quality of life. That. We do not have anybody on payroll. Everybody is a volunteer out here I have 30 plus volunteers that come out here throughout the week and weekends you know. I just feel that the work that Lori is doing here is phenomenal. And if I can help in any way with these animals that have been abused it's

it's just a privilege and an honor to be able to make their lives a lot better than how they started out. Can we do a lot of landscaping trying to keep Laurie's banana trees chamfer she plants one every day and I rather like train her cleaner. OK I'm going to coming up with the funds. And even like a grant writer would be huge for us would be a relief. It's very hard to come by. Usually animals are at last on people's lists. This is a huge huge blessing for me I love it. I can't see myself doing anything else now. There's so much. That you are getting back from the animals when you know you've helped them. We keep it going.

There's an angel all over this place. To Pete Seeger the great songwriter and singer. Was also of course a great environmentalist and he used his musical talents to encourage others to be as well. Well. Today here on the Gulf Coast one of his shall we call him disciples carries on. Will. Take a thirty six foot sailboat. A group of curious peons from salt water. And you've got the Aquarian requests. I'm going to teach an old sea shanty that they used to sing on tall ships to raise the sails or pull the anchor up. To me out ready.

Oh oh they all shout me out raging sails charting courses singing singing shanty just a few of the things most students learn to do aboard this little classroom hall was and was. A primary purpose is to bring children and adults out and try to get people to understand that each. One of the earth is the only planet that we know as human beings we can live on. And so as we put that into practice we understand that we all have a responsibility as stewards of the earth to try to keep the natural systems that are in play. Working to their best and to our greatest advantage. The accordion crash was founded by three longtime sailors one of the more environmental educator Robert helium.

If we can educate children to being responsible and recognizing their place in the natural flow of of of all that there is of the environment of the ecology when they grow up they're going to be more responsible individuals ready hawg. Paul don't walk backwards was all well roll. They all will destroy it. Some lessons are repeated. Others are not as a part of the reason why we use the sail boat because we want them to have the experience of being in the moment on the water. On the water in the moment. Hands on the camera. We've found that if you take a student and you engage that student physically in the learning process then they will retain that education and information much much longer than if they're just sitting getting lectured or being

passive. Up. Down up. A little. I no no no no. The idea isn't new. In the early 70s folk singer Seeger spearheaded an environmental education Movement aboard his sloop Clearwater and it was just the beginnings of the consciousness. Of the need to pay attention to the natural systems and what human activity how it was impacting those natural systems on the GM if you're part of the band. Yeah I got out of it the sanity seeker didn't like how polluted the Hudson River had become so hissing swoop and song he raised your logical awareness and Robert worked with Seeger aboard the Clearwater for 20 years.

Simply the idea is that the quality of the environment has an effect on the quality of the life that it's for the better. The quality of the environment and that of the holiday of our lives all the way up to that experience inspired Robert to help start the Aquarian question program in his 2001. UK said his union. Since then more than ten thousand children have taken part in the ship sailing adventure decide if that works where not learning stations trying to board to teach kids water quality of the food chain and historic maritime navigation when they get to take a point of direction on the land and how to take that and put it on to the charge like you find out right where we are going to. Be breaking. The bank in some crazy here and then we have magnifiers and petri dishes and charts so the kids can study the plankton to try to identify them. And. Then from the plankton station they go to the

fish and invertebrates station where we have an aquarium set up with the creatures that eat the plankton. So there's there's the link in the chain. Letter what they're copies of south. From there and they go to a water testing station where they actually do a field test as an indication of whether the water is healthy or not. And students of those gosh we show couple issue of what is a body of water called you know. The Mexican. Economy behind. The plank. Why. Because we've got to suck up. Little Pieces of plankton. Look. At it under a microscope. Her part that's probably the real hardest question. It was everything cuz I got to go here go to their lair. The guys wanted me to do women a pollution. Well I think for my students just being on a boat being out in the fresh air connecting with an environment that is local to them that

they are near every day but maybe not always having the opportunity to to engage in the way that they you gauge to. Gauge in life and eager to share what they hammer. It was really interesting and. I did a lot of experiments and I got seasick. It would inspire me to buy a boat and maybe swim around the ocean and try to help other animals by picking up garbage and help a little bit. Thanks for coming. By. Three hours later the journey ends and the new awareness has begun. I want the kids to go away. With an understanding somewhat of an understanding that every thing on this planet is interconnected and interdependent and that basically. We're stewards of the earth. So how do you teach children a lesson about the importance of our amazing marine environment a lesson they'll never forget

in easy. Just add water. A wonderful place to live. Well that's our variety show. We're glad you watched. Hope you'll watch next time we open a volume of the Gulf Coast Journal. And we leave you then with. Some more variety the variety of life and sights along the Gulf Coast. A. The old boat. Me the sea. Ice.

You see it in me. Bus train sings it. You. Say to the C C Sing is it to. This boat. That capsized me. Sold Most sell by. Gold. More sell. A big ole to. Me. And. You. See. You can order this or any other volume of a Gulf Coast journal with Jack Perkins on a high

quality DVD format called once each of the 3 5 4 9 3 3 with. This w edu production is exclusively brought to you through a generous grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. Building strong communities through a leadership partnership and endowed philanthropy.