PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
Publisher & Editor
GregoryEnns
772.940.9005
enns@indianrivermag.com
Associate Publisher
Allen Osteen
Assistant to the Publisher
Lisa Pagano
772.466.3346
lisa@indianrivermag.com
Associate Editor
Judith Collins
Design Editor
Michelle Moore-Burney
Writers
Susan Burgess, Donna Crary,
Rick Crary, Pattie Durham,
Greg Gardner, Ellen Gillette,
Janie Gould, Catherine Enns Grigas,
Debra Magrann, Angel McLellan,
Willi Miller, Alison O'Leary,
Julie Tarasovic, Christina Tascon,
Sandra Thurlow, Jean Wilson
Photographers
Ed Drondoski, Robert Adams,
Rob Downey, Lori Van Dien,
John Biondo, Anthony Inswasty
Photo Retouching
Herb Paynter
Copy Editors
Pattie Durham, Gaettane A. Paul
Advertising Representatives
Sunny Gates
772.204.5043
sunny@indianrivermag.com
Marsha Lange
772.237.1717
marsha@indianrivermag.com
Kelly Farish
772.359.3697
kelly@indianrivermag.com
Bill Frank
561.909.7538
bill@indianrivermag.com
Distribution
Kirk Jones, Larry Turner
Our Motto
‘We fly our own mission’
— Ed Drondoski, Founding Photographer
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A TREASURE TO READ
‘We fly our own mission’
A lot of eyebrows were raised last year
when we announced we were producing
the Treasure Coast History Festival
in downtown Fort Pierce to celebrate our 10th
anniversary as a magazine.
Comments from the dubious were that we
were a magazine and how could we expect to
put on a big community event? The conventional
wisdom went that we might know about
publishing, but we didn’t know anything about
putting on a party.
But sometimes conventional wisdom has
more to do with being conventional and less
with being wise. Last year’s festival was attended
by thousands and was successful beyond
our imagination. Many of our readers turned
out for the event and it gave us an opportunity
to meet many of you face-to-face.
It was so well received and such a great way to connect with our readers that we are producing the
Treasure Coast History Festival for 2018. Last year we had help from Main Street Fort Pierce and the
Sunrise Theatre. This year, we’ve added CenterState Bank, Southern Eagle Distributing and East Coast
Lumber & Supply as sponsors.
We’ve also added an extra day. Besides a full-day festival beginning at 9 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 13, in
downtown Fort Pierce, we will also have an evening session at 7, Thursday, Jan. 11, at The Emerson
Center in Vero Beach. This session will focus on visionary Waldo Sexton, creator of Vero Beach landmarks
such as the Ocean Grill, Driftwood Inn, McKee Botanical Garden and Szechuan Palace. You can
read more about the Jan. 11 and 13 programs on Page 60.
The free festival is our way of thanking our many readers and advertisers who support Indian River
Magazine and its sister publications, Port St. Lucie Magazine, Fort Pierce Magazine, St. Lucie Travel Guide,
the Sunrise Theatre playbill and the Emerson Center program.
And speaking of challenging the conventional wisdom, we had to do that when we started the
magazine nearly 12 years ago in an environment with well-entrenched competitors. What did we
have to bring to the table? We believed our local ownership, commitment
to editorial quality — we won Florida Magazine Association’s
overall best writing award in its most recent competition — and focus on
history, the environment, quality living and outstanding personalities of
the region would separate us from our competitors.
Luckily, we attracted a staff — many of whom are still with us today
— who believed in what we were doing. The first was our friend Ed
Drondoski, who initially sold advertising for us in Vero Beach and then
pivoted to become our chief photographer. As photographer, one of his
duties was shooting On the Scene parties for us. At the time, competition
was fierce and one of our competitors even tried to freeze us out of
photographing the same parties it was covering.
This did not bother Ed, who knew things would work themselves out.
He was incredibly courteous, had a winning personality and confidence
in our goals. A former helicopter and plane pilot, he’d calm us during
such times of distraction by telling us: “We fly our own mission.” Eventually,
he pretty much had carte blanche to cover any party he wanted.
“We fly our own mission”’ is a mantra that we’ve abided by in the
history of the magazine and has been especially poignant since Ed’s sudden death from an apparent
heart attack on Nov. 28. His death came exactly two months after the death of Bud Adams, whose
nature photography had been a fixture in our magazine since our beginning.
In a letter to our staff, Ed’s wife, Barbara, who often accompanied Ed to his assignments, told of his
focus and interest in always improving the magazine, which we refer to as IRMA, our acronym for
Indian River Magazine.
“He was so proud of all of you, and all IRMA has accomplished and will accomplish in the future,”
Barbara wrote. “He never stopped looking for ways to make things better, especially when it came to
his photos. You became another family to him.”
You can read the tributes to Ed from some of our staff members on Page 99. You will also see some
of the last photos he took in this issue.
Meanwhile, please rest assured that we will always continue to fly our own mission. Note that we
have placed this expression in our masthead to the left. Thank you, Ed, for your inspiration.
Indian River Magazine Inc. is a locally
owned company based at 308 Ave. A in Fort
Pierce, FL 34950. Indian River magazine
publishes five times a year: early October,
late November, mid-January, early March and
early May. All material contained herein is
copyrighted by Indian River Magazine Inc.
4
Photographer Ed Drondoski
and wife, Barbara, covering
a social event at Windsor.
Signatures:Signatures 2/25/13 4:25 PM Page 1
Publisher Associate Publisher
ED DRONDOSKI
Photographer Ed Drondoski shoots a historical tour during
last year’s Treasure Coast History Festival
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