An Interview with Billy Manes at Watermark.

Posted on by Thor

On June 30th Pam Schwartz, Dan Bradfield and I entered the Watermark offices to conduct an oral history with editor-in-chief Billy Manes about the events following the Pulse Nightclub massacre. Billy grew up in Florida and was a bit of a club kid.  He suffered much adversity and sexual abuse in his childhood. At the time, he felt that Florida is a place without history, so you have to make your own history.  In 2005 he ran for mayor, being the first openly gay candidate to do so. He felt he was the best choice to replace the then suspended Mayor
Buddy Dyer specifically because he’s not a politician.

He met Alan Jordan who was very different than himself and they had a long relationship. “We were very Burt and Taylor in our relationship.” said Billy. On Easter Sunday of 2012 Alan shot himself in front of Billy. Alan had HIV but didn’t want to admit he was positive. Billy watched his love die in front of him. Alan’s family took everything a redneck could need, despite the long relationship, even threatening to take the ring off of Billy’s finger. Billy fought them in court and won back some of his possessions. He decided to become more purposeful about these issues. “Trying to save someone else saved me.” said Billy. There is a documentary that was filmed entitled ” Billy and Alan“.

As a senior writer at the Orlando Weekly, Billy found his voice as he made jokes about Tallahassee government policy which is often, “so fucking boring”. Billy Manes was hired by the Watermark in 2015. As I sketched, I found the black blinds strangely ominous. He coughed once, and Pam commiserated since she had a cough for 6 months after cleaning up dead flowers and collecting items at the Pulse Memorial sites for the One Orlando Collection.

“I only remember 5AM on June 12th.” Billy said. He used to work there, when it was Dante’s. He was friends with the owners and staff. It wasn’t “divey” at all. It was a good place to come together. At 5 AM his husband Anthony Mauss woke up. He told Billy not to look at his phone. Billy of course looked at his phone and was immediately pulled on for an MSNBC interview. Unshaven and uncombed he spoke with Tamron Hall. As he spoke, he realized that he didn’t know if his friends were alive who worked at Pulse.

This was a hate crime and Billy was annoyed at any news organization that would white-wash this fact by playing up the terrorist theories. On that first morning, a mother drove by and she asked if her son was alive. Billy said he would try and find out.

After Pulse, the whole tone, everything changed. Billy suddenly found
himself in a whirlwind of interviews by over 7 networks in the days
following. Watermark approached the following weeks with a three step
program. They did a glossy cover, a story about the psychology behind
the attack and stories about the need for gun control. In the barrage of
activity, he stopped caring about himself. Watermark was at every
event. Billy reflected, “It is still amazing to me. You can say 49, but
imagine the moms and families having to deal with probate, the law.”

Our oral history interview was just an hour long. We wanted to get together for a second interview to grapple with the intricacies of the weeks following Pulse in more depth. Shortly after this interview Billy Manes said he was “let go” from Watermark on Friday, July 14th. In a Facebook post on the following Sunday Billy shared, “I was effectively let go on Friday and it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t psychologically easy. I wanted to give Watermark the chance to break the news. Not sure why, but it was fair enough. Best to the future editor and please keep up…the work. I’ll figure something new. I always do.”

Billy died just after 4 p.m. on Friday, July 21, at the age of 45,
surrounded by his husband Anthony Mauss, friends and family at Orlando
Regional Medical Center.

The loss is a shock to me. Billy and I were both born on May 22 and he playfully reminded me of this each year via Facebook.  Having lived through so much tragedy, Billy always injected humor into every exchange. He will be deeply missed. He helped to write Orlando’s history while joking about the political forces that stifle Orlando’s future.

Blue Spring State Park.

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For my birthday, Pam Schwartz got me two fountain pens to draw with.We also decided to take the day off, and go to Blue Spring (2100 W. French Avenue Orange City, FL 32763). She has a kayak and there are also rentals, so we explored the spring and the Saint Johns River. Pam had a waterproof bag to hold any art supplies and phones. We seem to have amazing luck seeing wildlife anytime we explore around Orlando. We kayaked down a tiny tributary that is not very accessible to normal sized boats. The prows of our kayaks split the river grass until the stream once again opened up. Beautiful white flowers were just opening up on Lilly pads.

On a more open stretch, we spotted a river otter swimming back and forth across the stream. He must have been on the hunt for fish and he didn’t seem to mind our presence. He swam towards us for a closer look. Large birds were building nests in the brush and I could hear the chicks as we floated by. When we paddled into Blue Spring itself, we came across a manatee that was slowly making her way out towards the open river water. The spring water is much clearer than the river water making the manatee easy to see. She approached Pam’s kayak and boop-snooted her boat to say hello. Pam got some amazing photos before the manatee decided to gently swim out to the murky river.

I had brought along my snorkel and mask and we decided to hike upstream to the source of the spring. The water is a constant 73 degrees year round. The stream is surprisingly strong. It is hard to imagine that much water gushing up from a single hole in the ground. 102 million US gallons (390,000 m3) of water flow out of Blue Spring into the St. Johns River every day. At the large watering hole at Blue Springs source, we found a large rock to sit on and I got out my new fountain pen to try out. Unknown to me, the ink was not waterproof, so when I added watercolor to the sketch, the ink bleed into each color I applied. Flesh tones quickly turned black. Rather than fight the new media, I just let it be and applied very light washes. Back at the studio later, I replaced the ink with Noodler’s ink, which is waterproof, and now the pen is in constant use every day.

Swimming over the Blue Spring itself is amazing. You have to kick hard to go against the stream. I dove down to a tree trunk which had fallen over the stream below the water’s surface. Water pressure in my ears kept me from going down any further, but I could see scuba divers down below me exploring the depths. I much prefer exploring above the water where pen lines and washes can capture any scene in some form or another.

Guinness Presented True Sound Live at Rogue Pub.

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An impromptu road trip to South Carolina ended at Rogue Pub
(3076 Curry Ford Rd, Orlando, Florida 32806). True Sound is a music project based in the greater Orlando area. Drawing
upon various musical influences, they have developed a unique, polished
sound. The lighting in the pub was set up on the dart boards rather than the band, so the performers were dark silhouettes against the bright wall. I did what I could with the low light setting. Hayley Rose, and Ben Wozniak performed covers and several of Ben’s original songs. One original was about experiencing a German park and the song was fun and lively. Another song was about settling into routines rather than seizing each day.


Ben had just been on a whirlwind road trip with his uncle John Naughton, Pam Schwartz and myself. We went as far north as Charleston on the 4 day trip, seeking out historical sites and coffee shops all along the way. In Savannah we went to the fabulous Mrs. Wilkes restaurant which serves the food Thanksgiving style in bowls that are passed around large tables that seat multiple guests family style. There were over 20 different dishes served along with fried chicken, meat loaf, collared greens, macaroni and cheese and a wide variety of vegetables. It was definitely the highlight of the trip, but we also found other restaurants that were true gems.


The final day of the road trip was a marathon sprint to be sure Ben made it to his gig at Rogue Pub. I ordered a Hefferweissen, Pam had some sour passion fruit Schnoodlepip and John had a chocolate stout that was delicious. After the band’s first set, Guinness offered beers on the house, so I nursed Guinness as I completed the sketch. We had vacationed hard and I was exhausted by the end of the evening. The beers further relaxed me. Ben’s brother, Josh Wozniak, joined the group for the last set, doing percussion by banging a wooden box (a cajón) he sat on. This was a fun evening and a fun way to cap off an amazing trip.

Wedding Wire Mixer.

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Pam Schwartz and I went to Highland Manor, (604 East Main Street, Apopka, FL) for a Wedding Wire Mix and Mingle. The Manor is a gorgeous little spot right at the intersection of Semoran and 441.  Huge old live oaks line the drive to the property and the Victorian mansion overlooks a quiet lake. I have been doing wedding sketches the last year, and the ad on Wedding Wire has received interest from prospective brides and grooms.

Cara Goldsborough, on the events team at wire, travels the  country to do these networking events. The Wedding Wire education guru, Allen Berg who was the main speaker, gave a sales pitch speaking about reaching the client, engaging and converting them to the sale, etc.
Wedding Wire has
1.5 million social media followers,
87 million visits in 2015 and a
585% increase in mobile app downloads last year alone. The main point of wedding wire is connecting vendors with the people looking for them. There are 36,987 searches in Orlando on Wedding Wire in a month. Most couples plan to spend $14,000 and end up spending $22,000 in Orlando on their special day. Most people don’t know what to ask when contacting vendors so they ask about cost, which is the least productive way to begin a new business transaction from either side.

Alan advised on a pricing structure for work and told a story of a photographer who created a pricing structure that included high end package and within a week a couple had ordered that high end package. No one had ever paid that much for his services before. That got me thinking.

The food at the mixer was average with tiny sandwiches on a stick, chicken strips on a stick and plenty of butterfly shaped crackers with cheese. If this was a wedding reception caterer, I would be less than impressed. The room I sketched filled up, got loud and boisterous for about half an hour and then we were all called away to the main power point presentation. Honestly some of the tips were quite helpful as I learn how to grow my events sketch business. What I offer is unique, and I just need to connect with the right clients.

Artists sketch at the Orlando Skeleton Museum.

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Artists gathered at the Museum Of Osteology

(near the Orlando Eye, 8441 International Drive

Suite 250

Orlando, FL 32819)

from 5:30 to 10:30 pm to sketch skeletons.

Using the skeletons collection of over 500 REAL skeletons as inspiration, they spent time exploring new skills or perfecting figure drawing in the museum. Event sponsor, Sam Flax of Orlando, provided sketching materials that artists could experiment with, but all artists were encouraged to bring your own pens, pencils, and sketchpads.

For this, the second installment of Sketching with Skeletons, the museum extended the event by two hours to allow for more sketching time! Tickets were offered at a discounted price of $12.00. If you brought a valid student or teacher/educator ID, there was an extra discounted price of $10.00.

My plan was to work digitally on my iPad but when Pam Schwartz and I arrived at the Orlando Eye parking lot, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t brought my art supply bag! That has never happened to me. Well, the event said that there were some supplies on hand, so, I decided to go regardless and make do with the materials provided. Sure enough, each artist was given a clip board along with several sheets of 11 by 17 inch paper and bulldog clips. I did have pencils in my pocket and around the venue there were some boxes full of colored pencils.


After walking quickly around the museum, I settled on this view of two artists sketching the big cat skeletons. I quickly penciled in the composition and then Pam found me a ball point pen to finish the line work. I actually liked the ball point pen and might work it into my everyday supplies. Coral Dixon, the museum marketing associate introduced herself to me.  She is heading off to college soon to study to be a museum curator.


I was very pleased and surprised with how many artists were on hand to sketch. Coral is clearly doing a great job marketing the event. She contacted all the local tattoo shops, which quite frankly is a stroke of genius. Once the sketch was done, I walked around the exhibit with Pam to catch the highlights. A skeletal dog still had his collar on, and a raccoon skeleton was rummaging through a box of Milk Duds. The sea otter was lounging with his paws neatly tucked behind his head. Former Disney animation artist Woody Woodman was there with his wife, and we got to catch up briefly. Museum founder and owner, Jay Villemarette and Samantha Tutor introduced themselves and Jay gave Pam and I a personal tour. Since Pam is a curator, she had an amazing conversation about the care of the museum which is just 2 years old. Jay was proud to introduce us to the two glass cases of flesh eating beetles. The spongy cotton bottom of the case was swarming with beetles covering several small animal skulls. Jay went back stage and added some water to the tanks which sent the beetles into a real frenzy. They become most active when moisture is added. I started to itch.

I was highly impressed with the event and the museum in general. Orlando is lucky to have the world’s top collector and distributor of skeletons right here in town. Jay pointed out that no animal was ever killed for the collection but that each animal died of natural causes. Sea World handlers sometimes return to the museum to pay their respects to the animals once in their care. Humans also donate their skeletons to the collection. Jay is often asked during interviews if he would want his skeleton donated someday. He gives the answer that the interviewer wants, but honestly he doesn’t care what becomes of his skeleton. I am hoping that these sketching events continue.  The first one was highly attended with over 75 artists, but the attendance dropped for this second edition to maybe 25 to 30 artists. I hope to introduce the Orlando Urban Sketchers to the venue when I host the Orlando 10 x 10 workshops starting in August.

Hang gliding at Wallaby Ranch.

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The last week of May was a birthday week celebration. I went to Wallaby Ranch with Pam Schwartz the curator at the Orange County Regional History Center. The ranch, (1805 Deen Still Rd, Davenport, FL 33897) is located a short drive from Orlando. As soon as we exited Deen Road into the drive, a sign overhead announced that we had arrived. The plan was to stay in one of the tiny cabins, called hooches) for the night and then fly at the crack of dawn the next morning.

Oliver van Dam Merrett greeted us and drove us around the property in a golf cart. There is a huge hanger full of hang gliders and a dozen or so hooches, a pool, volleyball court and a central barn gathering area where pilots congregate before and after the flights. Nikki Meir had helped me make arrangements for the day and she introduced us to her new puppy named Larry. Since it was late in the day with little wind, folks were grounded. We decided to watch the sunset from the pool.

The next day we got up before the sun to the sound of a plane engine firing up. We were rushed out to the field which acts as the take-off area and several guests were strapped in and went up before “Tom!” was called. I kept sketching since I’m used to answering to “Thor”. People kept gesturing my way and it finally dawned on me that I should get up. I tripped over a puppy (Larry) on my way to my hang glider. Within seconds, I was signing my life away and then, Malcolm Jones, the ranch owner strapped in beside me. Malcom is said to have had more safe flights that anyone else in the world. Central Florida is a great place for hang gliding because the coastal winds meet in the center of the state and rise. People come from around the world to fly here. You strap in by stepping into what looks like a sleeping bag and then you lie down suspended from support straps. A small yellow plane was latched by rope to the front of the hang glider and before I had time to get nervous, we were quickly accelerating across the field. The wheels left the bumpy ground and we were up.

The ground gradually slipped farther away. The plane kept circling the property gradually gaining altitude. I saw another hang glider take off below me and assumed it must be Pam getting the same experience. Then the strap to the plane was released and we were on our own. We glided in silence and Malcolm said to me, “Welcome to my office.” The experience wasn’t what I expected. The was no gut wrenching thrill, but instead a simple peace as we glided over the gorgeous landscape.  A reservoir was in the distance and the properties were neatly divided into a grid. Light wisps of clouds floated below us and our hang glider cast a shadow onto them. That shadow was surrounded by an amazing circular rainbow. I have never seen anything like it before. The, we circled and went right into one of the clouds.

I was told to let go of the steering bar in front of me for a moment and the hang glider stayed steady. “See, it flies itself” I was told. Pulling back would slow us down, edging the nose up, and pushing forward accelerated us as we glided down. Pulling left and right of course circled us in those directions. The ground was slowly getting closer. I spotted Pam on the field, and she waved to me. I was told later that we hung in the air motionless for some time above the field. Malcolm took control of the glider and guided us, landing belly down on the field.

Pam had not gotten to fly yet and we were told that with the winds picking up, the flight would need to be canceled for the day. They don’t take chances at Wallaby, they know good flying conditions and do not push the limits for safety’s sake. We decided to stay one more day in the hooch and Pam was the first person in the air the next morning. Evenings feel like a relaxed camp outing with friends as we sat in the barn and played games while several guests got out a guitar and sang. The pool saw plenty of use in the heat of the day and some pilots hung out under the large live oak trees to exchange flying stories. I can see how this could become an addictive lifestyle. You need to go up on 20 tandem flights before you can fly solo and Wallaby offers lessons from some very experienced hang gliding pilots. This was truly an experience of a lifetime.

Orlando Love: Remembering Our Angels at Lake Eola.

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Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan and other community leaders and elected officials will hold a one-year remembrance ceremony at Lake Eola Park. The ceremony, Orlando Love: Remembering Our Angels, will include remarks by community leaders, musical performances by Olga Tañón and Sisaundra Lewis along with a memorial reading of the 49 names of those who were taken during the June 12 tragedy.

Actress Peg O’Keef recited the opening monologue from O-Town: Voices from Orlando. This was likely the largest audience to see this performance. The audience was silent as she described our quiet little town that would be so much different the day after the Pulse Massacre. Orlando stood up to the challenge, rising up, and refusing to let hate or divisiveness be a part of the recovery. People lined u to give blood, a homeless man would relight the thousands of candles at memorial sites. Crosses would be driven across the country to be left at Orlando Regional Medical Center, each to honor one of the 49 victims.

Pam Schwartz and I found a spot on the lake within sight of the rainbow colored Disney band shell. Walking past the standing room only seating area we saw the glitzy projected graphics above the stage. Buses parked in the street blocked any opportunity to view the stage from a distance. They might have been parked there to block potential hate groups. Two women cuddled in front of us as we listened to the city officials. Back stage 49 angels could be seen struggling to get on their PVC and white fabric wings,

Buddy Dyer spoke in his soothing southern accent and the crowd responded with applause. To our left were two men and one was disgruntled. When Mayor Teresa Jacobs spoke, he started flipping the bird and cursing her name. We were far enough away so that his anger didn’t reach the stage. His friend said,”Come on, lets get out of here, you don’t need to be listening to this.”  Eventually they did leave.

Patty Sheehan spoke in Spanish, so I am not sure what condolences she might have offered. My general impression of the evening was that it was too polished a production. Turn out was less than a year before but it had been raining all afternoon, so only lie-hards were here. It felt a bit like it was Disneyfied, with too much sugar and not enough substance. It was reassuring however to be in a crowd of so many beautiful people who all stood for the cause of love over hate.

The One Orlando De-install

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On June 12th The Orange County Regional History Center mounted an exhibit that showcased items left behind one year ago at the various memorial sites that appeared in the aftermath of the horrific Pulse Nightclub shooting that took 49 lives and left Orlando with open scars that could take a lifetime to heal. Museum curator Pam Schwartz asked me to share some of the sketches I have done in the last year that document Orlando’s attempts to recover. I sketched at as many vigils and fundraisers as possible so that I could come to terms with reality utilizing the only tool I had which was sketching.

The exhibition was assembled from the items collected by the History Center in the weeks and months after the tragedy. For 37 days, museum staff sweated in the hot Florida sun collecting for the museum and scraping up melted wax so that people wouldn’t slip and fall at memorial site. Items left at memorial sites had to be conserved and documented for posterity’s sake. When you go to a memorial, you don’t read every condolence card, but that was their job. It is an emotionally taxing responsibility to record history in the face of tragedy.  One hundred years from now these relics will be a hint at how we as a community came together to heal.

Instead of one set of rosary beads, there was a whole case full. One case was layered full of rubber bracelets. Instead of exhibiting one t-shirt design, a whole wall was covered. Instead of exhibiting one sketch by an illustrative journalist, an entire wall was covered. 49 wooden crosses were crowded into the far corner of the exhibition space. A sign warned that some items might be emotionally challenging to view.

Shortly after the shooting, Pam, the chief curator, realized that an exhibit space needed to be booked for an exhibit one year after the tragedy. She reserved the room but it was only available for one week because a wedding was also slated to go in the same room on the following week. This was the largest exhibit ever created in house by the museum staff using items from the museum’s own collection. The staff rose to the challenge. The amount of work needed to create the exhibit was staggering but it got done. On the opening night victim’s families and survivors were given a private preview. On that night over 450 people showed up. More than 3,000 people viewed the collection in the one week it was open.

I stopped in on the final day as the staff took everything off the walls. In one day the walls were once again bare to be spackled and painted for the wedding reception. The 49 portraits created by local artists were mounted behind Plexiglas, so they came down in three large sections and would later be stored away in a portfolio in the archives. Display cases were left for the next week when the items would be stored away in acid free museum boxes in the archives. Within two days the room would once again be barren. This was without a doubt the most well attended exhibit in years, but it
was only available to be seen for one week. The history was swept aside
because catering was considered a priority. This gorgeous old courthouse can’t decide if it is an accredited history museum or an events hall.

The Inspiration Mural.

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In July of 2016, shortly after the horrific Pulse Nightclub shooting, Michael Pilato began his work to create the inspiration mural. Yuri Karabash his assistant joined him shortly after. Chimene Pindar Hurst, a Thornton Park resident was instrumental in bringing this creative team to Orlando. Chimene’s husband John was a college friend of Michael’s so it was a creative reunion. A second floor studio was donated above Anthony’s Pizza on the corner of Mills and Colonial. Local residents rallied to repair and furnish the place which needed lots of work. Michael recalled waking up one night to find a rat breathing in his face. He punched the rat and wet back to bed.

Michael attended my 49 portraits night in which local artists painted and sketched portraits of the Pulse victims in one evening. That night inspired Michael to want to use local talent to paint portraits on the mural he was creating. Some of the artists from my project painted portraits onto Michael’s mural. Those portraits float above the surface in rainbow colored hearts. I painted 4 faces, several of which had to be moved and thus repainted. The mural was in a constant state of flux and is still a work in progress.

On June 12, the mural which is made from a series of marine grade boards was assembled for the first time and exhibited at the Pulse nightclub at the 2AM and 10AM events. The boards were mounted on large sheets of plywood and supported by 2 by 4s that were nailed into triangular braces. “Raising the mural into place was like a barn raising.” said Chimene. After the Pulse event was over, the entire mural had to be moved again to go to Lake Eola where it would go on display during the evening’s candlelight vigil. I was asked to sit at the Albin Polasek Museum table to help promote “Summer of Love: Reflections on Pulse at the Albin Polasek Museum (633 Osceloa Avenue Winter Park Fl 32789). That show which opened in May is running for five months.

There were concerns that the mural supports might become a hazard if people tripped on them. If the huge wall fell it could cause damage. It rained all afternoon and when I got to Lake Eola Vigil, I was pleased to see that despite the concerns, the mural stood tall on the walkway to the right of the Disney band shell.  Crowds of people walked past and took cell phone photos. The crowds got thicker despite the rain. I worked under my umbrella, trying to keep my tablet dry. Pam Schwartz, the History Center curator and some of her staff stopped to say hello and she was kind enough to hold the umbrella as I finished the sketch. We joked about how I had to leave out so many details from the mural because I had to work fast.

Beside me the Kimball sisters, Casadie 14, Delanie 11, Emmalie 10, and Fynnlie 7, were handing out paper hearts colored with crayons to resemble rainbows. These young girls had lost their father before the Pulse attack and thus they know what loss feels like. They were “Spreading love, because there’s too much hate in the world.” They had 2000 hand made hearts to pass out and when done they will have handed out over 20,000 hearts. Passers by accepted the hearts with thanks. There was visible love in the crowd. People hugged and couples caressed hands. The crowd wasn’t as thick as the vigil a year ago, rain likely chased some away. But the memories are still fresh. There is a storm on the horizon. That will not keep Orlando down. we answer hate with love. Pulse themed buses were parked around the vigil possibly to block potential hate mongers. Connections in the community grow stronger and we all hope for a better world. It isn’t a 1960’s ideal, but something we need to work hard for.

49 crosses.

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After the horrific massacre at Pulse Nightclub, 49 crosses were placed at Lake Beauty of the Orlando Regional Medical Center where victims were taken in the moments after the shooting. The medical center is just a few blocks north of Pulse on Orange Avenue. Never has an emergency room been so close to the scene of a mass murder. Despite the best efforts of the ER doctors working under triage conditions, 49 lives were lost. The rifle used had only one purpose which is to take human life with brutal force. These 49 crosses became a place of pilgrimage for a community trying to find reason behind an insane and pointless act of hate and violence. Other countries look at America’s love affair with gun violence with shock and amazement.

An Illinois man,  Greg Zanis, 65, traveled more than 1,000 miles from his home in Illinois to Orlando, Florida, in the wake of the massacre.  His pickup drove to Orlando with the 49 handmade crosses, one for each of the victims that died. Zanis also brought markers so that people could write messages on the crosses. Every surface is covered in writing.

The crosses are now stored at the Orlando Regional History Center off site facility. The warehouse is home to the museum’s vast historical collection which are not currently on exhibit in the downtown museum. I was sworn to secrecy about the off site location and the route was purposefully convoluted with a myriad of pretzel turns and back road circles.  Upon entering the facility, Frank Weber, the County Photographer, shouted out, “No food or drink!” as he pointed to a sign with the same message. Museum staff gathered in the break room to finish their Starbucks coffees. My coffee had a taste of caramel. I’m beginning to understand the allure of living off of coffee alone. Frank had an admirably inappropriate sense of humor that helped lighten the atmosphere. To enter the warehouse we had to walk across a sticky mat which removed any dirt or insect eggs from the soles of our feet.

The conserved crosses were each stored in grey archival boxes, specially made for them with clear fronts so the crosses can be seen. The memorial items left at each cross are stored in separate boxes right above the corresponding crosses, which were stacked several shelves high. Colorful items collected from memorials and vigils were stacked everywhere. Over five thousand items are still being preserved, and catalogued. It is a Herculean and thankless task being executed with love by the History Center staff.  The crosses will be on display in June as part of the one year vigil to honor victims, their families, survivors, and first responders. It seems like only yesterday when this horrific event shocked and saddened Orlando. The wounds are still very visible if you look.

Staff removed crosses from their boxes and stood them clustered near Frank, who shot a three quarter view of each cross, front and back. Large industrial flashes created clean shots which will be used for an online database of the collection. After each cross was photographed, it was moved near the loading dock, so they will be ready to go on public display in June. These wooden crosses are heavy and lifting 49 of them tests muscles. I found it odd that a historic rifle storage cabinet was right beside Frank as he shot the photos. Staff and Frank wore blue conservator’s gloves to be sure not to get body oils onto the painted surfaces of the crosses. These gloves ripped at times and had to be replaced. The warehouse was reminiscent of the final scene in Indiana Jones when the arc of the covenant was stored away. However, in Orlando the memories of those lost to senseless violence is being kept alive. The hope is that we as a community can grow stronger.