For the Star-Banner

CANDLER — Lula Mae Keaton, hailed as a caring mother, charitable neighbor and tireless worker, celebrated her 105th birthday along with family and friends at a gathering here on June 25.

"I'm fine," said Keaton as she chatted with well-wishers.

Local guests were joined by guests from locations including Albany, Georgia and Tampa.

Learn more:A look at Lula Mae Keaton

Who's hungry?:How do you thank the Ocala cardiac team that saved your life? Mac n' cheese and brisket

Growth and development:25-acre warehouse complex planned for southwest Ocala gets annexation, rezoning OK from P&Z

Keaton said her faith is important to her and she feels God has blessed her with a long life.

Keaton smiled, fielded questions and spoke to guests throughout the celebration.

Guests included Keaton’s children Robert Taylor, Annie Harts, Diane Welcome and Judie Taylor. Keaton’s son Hardges Taylor Jr. died in 2018.

Lula Mae Keaton was born in 1917

Lula Mae Keaton was born June 15, 1917, near Monticello, Florida, and spent a number of years as a field worker, according to her son Robert Taylor, 76.

Keaton moved to Marion County in the late 1940s and then, after a brief return to the Monticello area, returned to Ocklawaha, where she worked for years in local orange groves.

Keaton and Diane Welcome currently live in Ocklawaha.

Keaton's husband, Hardges Taylor Sr., died in 2021.

Family members said Lula Mae Keaton has 15 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

"She's in good health," said Welcome.

The aging of America

According to "3 Ways that the U. S. population will change over the next decade," at PBS.org, U.S. Census demographers state the number of people aged 100 "grew from over 53,000 in 2010 to 90,000 in 2020."

By 2030, the number of 100-year-olds is expected to increase to "over 130,000."

Trasz Clayton, 35, one of Keaton's grandsons, called her "a blessing" who could outwork anyone and a person with "wisdom."

Aaron Keaton of Tampa, a nephew of Keaton's, attended the celebration and recalled Lula Mae Keaton as a hard worker.

Guests Roberta Welcome and Sandra Tribble helped serve ribs, baked chicken and more.

Roberta Welcome said Lula Mae Keaton is a “good cook” and "giving person," while Sandra Tribble described her as someone who "loves community.”

The 'hardest working woman in Ocklawaha'

Jon Howard, a great-nephew, came from Albany, Georgia to attend the celebration, while Cynthia Keeton, Juanita Keeton Cannon, Shirley Keeton Parker, Ollie Keeton Burgin and Betty Sue Coleman traveled from Tampa to wish Lula Mae Keaton a happy birthday.

Several guests described Lula Mae Keaton as “amazing.”

Robert Taylor Jr. said at the celebration that his grandmother ”gets around” and she “knows everybody."

Freddie Welcome said at the celebration Lula Mae Keaton is the “hardest working woman in Ocklawaha.”

Judie Taylor said her mother helped needy neighbors and called Lula Mae Keaton a "loving mother." Taylor said she is "so thankful to be her daughter.”

Annie Harts was accompanied by her daughter, Kayla Hart.

During the celebration, the group sang “Happy Birthday" to Lula Mae Keaton and she cut the first piece of birthday cake.

Valerie Wilson, Lula Mae Keaton's granddaughter, said at the celebration her grandmother raised children with manners and required them “to be mindful and respectful to others, especially adults” and say "yes, Sir and "yes, Ma'am.

“(Lula Mae Keaton) never held a “9 to 5” job but she was able to build a home from the ground up to raise her five children… My grandmother believes in having her own without depending on no one to do things for her,” Wilson wrote in a later text.

Wilson described Lula Mae Keaton as “independent.”

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Once complete, the site will integrate a St. Joseph’s/Candler campus into a brand new housing community in Richmond Hill off of Belfast Keller Road just a half mile from I-95.

Their new facilities will stand four times larger than the St. Joseph’s/Candler current campus in Pooler.

That’s big news for those in Bryan County and surrounding counties who currently have to travel to Savannah or Pooler for the nearest health care.

“You’ve got residential housing, one leg of the stool, health care, the second leg of the stool,” explained Paul Hinchey, President & CEO of St. Joseph’s/Candler. “The third leg of the stool is education, and we have looked all over this country and this is probably the first model we’ve seen where they’re all integrated in 7,000 acres.”

According Hinchey, their new campus will work hand-in-hand with the Bryan County School System to offer clinical opportunities for local high schoolers similar to what you’d see on some college campuses.

“It’s a major vocational opportunity for health care and I can just speak to myself, when I was in high school I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do, but if I could’ve done a clinical rotation in High School it may have lit a light bulb up in me,” Hinchey said.

Those who attended the announcement say, having local health care will not only help bring families to southern Richmond Hill, Midway and the surrounding communities, it’ll also help the area’s economic growth as well.

“The opportunity here with St. Joseph’s Candler is to have you know, world class health care facility right in the community from day one so at the very least you say ‘okay, hey I want to live here but I want to make sure I don’t have to drive a long way for medical care,’ well you don’t have to it’s right here right from the very beginning,” said Chris Corr, President of Radiant properties.

Construction for St. Joseph’s/Candler’s newest health facility is set to begin in January 2023, with an end date for phase one set for 2024.

TALLAHASSEE — State Sen. Ray Rodrigues is on track to become leader of Florida’s university system, after a search committee recommended him as its pick to become the system’s chancellor.

Rodrigues was one of eight candidates who applied to succeed Chancellor Marshall Criser, who announced in June that he would step down at the end of the year.

A search committee, made up of five members of the system’s Board of Governors, interviewed Rodrigues and one other finalist, Lori Cromwell, chief business officer for Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, on Friday. The committee decided to recommend Rodrigues to the full board.

Committee member Eric Silagy said Rodrigues would bring “a whole different level of experience” to the chancellor role over Cromwell, citing Rodrigues’ legislative experience and the senator’s employment at Florida Gulf Coast University. Rodrigues, R-Estero, also served eight years in the Florida House.

“Specifically, 16 years within the university system in Florida with budget authority. Interaction with the Board of Governors staff previously. Interaction with, obviously, the Legislature as a member … clearly demonstrates a deep knowledge of both the education system as well as the appropriation system,” said Silagy, who is chairman, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light.

Other committee members said Rodrigues’ previous work with General Electric made him an attractive candidate.

Rodrigues easily was the most politically connected applicant. As an example of his prominence in the Senate, he led redistricting efforts this year. Rodrigues announced in June he would not seek reelection to the Senate, with speculation quickly focused on him becoming chancellor.

The 17-member Board of Governors will meet Sept. 14 to consider approving Rodrigues for the job.

Cromwell and Rodrigues were interviewed Friday about topics such as free speech on campuses. Cromwell said free speech has become a “critical issue” in higher education.

“I think free speech should be protected unless there is significant harm to students or a specific population,” Cromwell said. “As (the) Board of Governors, as university administrators, it is our job to create a space in which intellectual development can occur. And I don’t necessarily think that can occur if people feel threatened in a sense that they are not comfortable.”

Rodrigues praised the university system’s past actions, which he described as reinforcing a commitment to freedom of speech. He cited a 2019 decision by the Board of Governors to sign onto what’s known as the Chicago Statement — a document published by the University of Chicago’s Committee on Free Expression.

Political editor Emily L. Mahoney will send you a rundown on local, state and national politics coverage every Thursday.

“I believe what we’ve done is correct. That speech, if it’s constitutionally protected, should be allowed on campus, anywhere on campus, and should be free,” Rodrigues said.

Rodrigues was the Senate sponsor of a controversial 2021 law (HB 233) that requires colleges and universities to annually survey students and employees about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” on campus.

Meeting before the search committee, the Board of Governors on Friday reviewed the results of the first set of surveys, which were conducted in April. Separate surveys were administered to students and employees and were optional to fill out.

Of 368,120 students who were invited to take the surveys, only 8,835 — or 2.4% — submitted responses.

“My college or university classes provide an environment for free expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs,” one of the survey’s prompts said, with 2,676 students responding with “strongly agree,” 2,534 with “agree,” 1,585 with “neither agree nor disagree,” 1,223 with “disagree” and 740 with “strongly” disagree.

A similar ratio of responses was given to a question about whether the students’ campuses foster free expression.

University employees had a higher response rate to the surveys, with 9,238 or 9.4% of the 98,704 employees, responding.

“My institution is equally tolerant and welcoming of both liberal and conservative ideas and beliefs,” said one prompt on the employee survey. In response, 2,243 employees strongly agreed, 2,060 agreed, 1,703 neither agreed or disagreed, 1,621 disagreed and 1,499 strongly disagreed.

Employees who disagreed or strongly disagreed with the question were asked to indicate the ideas and beliefs that were more prevalent. The vast majority of respondents said liberal ideology is most prevalent.

The state is embroiled in a lawsuit that challenges the survey law.

With Rodrigues set to go before the board next month, search committee member Charlie Lydecker attempted to head off criticism about Rodrigues being a politically connected choice.

“We’re just trying to be really thoughtful about not allowing folks that want to be critical, or naysayer, or somebody with hyper-partisan views, whatever that all is, our ability to not fall into a trap of appearing to be making political decision I think is really important,” Lydecker said. “I don’t think that has occurred, but I’m aware of the noise around us on any given day.”

By Ryan Dailey, News Service of Florida

A long-defunct psychiatric hospital in suburban Atlanta that Stranger Things viewers will instantly recognize as the covert governmental facility that plays host to the Mothergate of the Upside Down will be demolished.

Standing in as the fictional Hawkins National Laboratory, the old Georgia Mental Health Institute (GMHI) was established in 1965 by Emory University and the state of Georgia on the grounds of the Briarcliff estate, the former home of Asa G. Candler Jr., an Emory grad and the rather colorful son of Coca-Cola founder Asa Griggs Candler known for his love of magic and inappropriate pets. Following its closure in 1997, Emory University purchased the hospital and surrounding 42-acre campus in affluent Druid Hills from the state with plans to transform it into a biotech hub. Lucky for the Stranger Things production team, those plans didn’t pan out and years after its closure, the GMHI is now Netflix-famous as Hawkins National Laboratory.

(Stranger Things creators/showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer originally envisioned setting and filming the hit streaming television series, first known as Montauk, on Long Island but ultimately opted to film at various locations in Georgia—primarily in and and around Atlanta—with the town of Jackson serving as the backdrop of Hawkins, Indiana.)

Although Emory’s redevelopment of Briarcliff into a biotech campus never came to fruition, the Emory Wheel recently reported on new plans for the site—plans that include razing the five-story GMHI, which is contemporarily known simply as Building A. Per the Emory Wheel, much of the Briarcliff Campus will become Corso Druid Hills, a 500-unit senior living community developed and operated by Atlanta-based Galerie Living as part of a 99-year lease agreement with the university.

According to the Emory Wheel, roughly 10 acres of the sprawling campus are not included in the lease agreement and will be maintained by the university for future use. Completed in 1922, the estate’s main residence, a crumbling pile that has seen better days, will undergo a major restoration effort as part of the lease agreement but will not be converted into senior housing.

Like Building A, Briarcliff’s dilapidated 22-room Candler Mansion has also been used as a frequent filming location for the CW’s The Vampires Diaries and for Stranger Things, among other shows. While the long-term lease deal between Emory and Galerie Living was first announced by the university earlier this summer, local news coverage was largely on the fate of the Candler Mansion and its planned revitalization, and not on Briarcliff’s Building A, which, although not an architectural treasure, is arguably more famous (outside of Atlanta at least).

“The mansion now, at least part of the mystique and appeal is that some of it is still very grand and exquisite, but lots of it is in disrepair,” Denise Chandler, head of the university’s notably robust film management department, told the Emory Wheel. “Once we renovate and refurbish it, it’ll become a destination location where we envision weddings, receptions, community events, corporate events.”

For those looking to venture inside Hawkins National Laboratory, the immersive Stranger Things: The Experience is heading to Atlanta following a successful run in New York City. (It closes September 4 and is completely sold-out.) In addition to immersive adventures, Stranger Things, a Spielbergian sci-fi/horror series set in the 1980s, has spawned tie-in books and comics, video games, toys, a potential stage production, and a much-welcomed Kate Bush revival. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is slated to begin filming sometime next year.

A demolition date for Building A (a.k.a. Hawkins National Laboratory) has not been announced.

CANDLER, N.C. (WLOS) — A nursery in Candler has been hit twice in two weeks by a plant thief, according to the owner.

Surveillance cameras at Smokey Park Nursery captured the suspect attempting to steal a potted plant and a Japanese maple tree around midnight on June 28. Owner Derek Engelhardt said the suspect was after his Japanese maple trees, but she got spooked and fled, leaving the loot behind.

“This is a $275 tree, and for us to be only in business two years, that’s a hard hit to take right there,” Engelhardt said.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene, and Engelhardt was able to recover the tree.

“The root ball was out of the bucket; it was kind of smashed into pieces,” Engelhardt said. “We’ve repotted it. You can actually see some of the damage just from being root ball exposed so heavily.”

According to lot manager Amber Cabe, it wasn’t this suspect's first visit to the Candler business on Smokey Park Highway. Five Japanese maple trees were stolen on June 23. Totaling upward of $1,500, it’s a tough blow for the small business, she said.

“We work really, really hard here,” Cabe said. “We put our blood, sweat and tears into having a locally owned business, but when we have people coming in and taking things that don’t belong to them – very expensive things – it really feels like a punch in the gut.”

Just last month, 17 miles away another nursery was hit by thieves. Surveillance cameras at B.B. Barns also captured a suspect who has yet to be identified. Several thousand dollars’ worth of plants were stolen there, too – including Japanese maple trees.

Engelhardt believes the culprit is someone in the industry, as they seem to know which plants, shrubs and trees are most valuable. The new business owner said he can’t afford for justice not to be served.

“This is my livelihood. I’ve put everything into this place,” Engelhardt said.

Over the last year and a half, according to Engelhardt, they’ve been targeted by thieves six times. Stolen equipment, tools and plants totaling upward of $15,000. Engelhardt said they’ve already installed additional cameras and lights and plan to build a fence around the 2.5-acre property in the future. He hopes sales from his Independence Day 20% off event will help finance the project.

If you recognize the suspect in the surveillance videos or know anything about the incident, contact the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office at 828-250-6670 or submit a tip via the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office app, which can be downloaded in the Apple or Google Play stores.