The Winter 2009 issue of VIE has hit the streets chock-full of exciting articles and special sections including VIE’s very first Holiday Gift Guide, A Legendary Wedding Giveaway and the debut Northwest Florida Golf Trail! Pick up your copy today!

Check out this extraordinary design for a temporary performance space for the Munich Opera Festival 2010. Vienna-based architecture firm COOP HIMMELBAU presented the design  to be installed in the city’s Marstallplatz called the “Pavillion 21 MINI Opera Space.”

According to Artinfo, the approximately 6,000-square-foot pavilion is anchored by a sloping, trapezoidal component, but characterized by an outcropping of pyramidal structures that have been “generated parametrically through the overlay of sound frequencies from Jimi Hendrix’s song ‘Purple Haze’ and Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni.”

Sister Schubert will be signing copies of her new cookbook, Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters, at Fonville Press at Alys Beach on Saturday, November 28, from noon until 2 p.m.

Alys Beach is actually pictured in the cookbook in photos from the Second Annual Change the World Fundraiser held in 2007 around the new Caliza Pool, which benefited The Barnes Family Foundation, created in 2001 by Sister and her husband George. The fundraiser, founded by Gina Shiflett, owner of Salon Twist, and organized that year by Lisa Burwell, president of Cornerstone Marketing & Advertising, raised funds specifically to establish Sasha’s Home, an orphanage in Gorlovka, Ukraine. Sasha’s Home is the primary beneficiary of net proceeds from Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters. An alternative to overcrowded state institutions, Sasha’s Home provides a warm and loving temporary home for 40 abandoned children while they await adoption by their “forever families.”

“The Alys Beach community is honored to be hosting Sister Schubert again,” said Kelli Arnold, Alys Beach’s Events Coordinator. “Not only do we get to experience culinary art through her delicious recipes, but we are also afforded the unique opportunity to continue our support for her efforts in the Ukraine.”

Although the proceeds from her book benefit the Barnes Family Foundation, Sister has also decided to contribute a portion of the proceeds from the book signing at Fonville Press to local charity, the Children’s Volunteer Health Network.

On Sunday, November 22, 2009 from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Mattie Kelley Arts Foundation (MKAF) will be hosting an Evening of Giving at Silver Sands Factory Stores featuring Gail Pittman’s dinnerware and pottery. The event opens at 3pm with entertainment leading up to the tree lighting at 5:00 p.m. Enjoy delicious appetizers compliments of Carrabba’s Italian Grill and wine provided by Beef O’Brady’s from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Guests will have the chance to enter a raffle to win beautiful Gail Pittman pottery and dinnerware items and kids will enjoy making fall arts and crafts projects.

Tickets can be purchased for $5 that will allow you to enjoy extra savings and values at over 70 participating stores. For more information, call the MKAF at 850.650.2226.  100% of the ticket proceeds collected by MKAF will benefit our educational programs and cultural events.

On Friday, November 13, Sister Schubert, the special guest of Grand Boulevard’s Restaurant Week, drew the winning name for the $1,000 shopping spree live on the radio! And the winner is…Susan Brindley! Sister also signed copies of her new cookbook Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters and met with fans as guests “dined for a  cause” as part of Grand Boulevard’s Restaurant Week benefiting the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center.

Tonight the Northwest Florida Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) will be collecting items for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast at their Holiday Toast On the Coast to help provide Christmas for needy children and teens.

You can help by bringing unwrapped items listed below to the event or to your local Boys & Girls Club.

Sports Equipment such as Footballs, Basketballs, Volleyballs and Soccer balls
Board games
Puzzles
Teen friendly DVDs
Earphones
Generic gift cards–– Walmart, etc.
Basic toiletries
Clothing Sizes Adult small to XL such as Jeans, Slacks, Shirts, Jackets, Socks and Tennis shoes

For the 16th Year, Hombre Golf Club Will Host the 2nd Stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying School.  The School will begin with practice rounds today, November 16th and Tuesday  November 17th. The tournament will start Wednesday, November 18th and conclude Saturday, November 21st with a rain date of Sunday, November 22nd. The PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament — otherwise known as q-school — is not a school in the traditional sense of the word, but the lessons learned while competing certainly can be life-changing. In reality, q-school is a survival test of as many as three tournaments that will eventually determine the players who earn their PGA TOUR cards for the 2010 season.

The first two stages consist of 72-hole tournaments. A predetermined number of players from each first-stage event advance to the second stage — and from the second to the all-important final stage at Bear Lakes in West Palm Beach, Fla. The final stage will be held Dec. 2-7.

That finale is contested over 108 mind-numbing and stomach-churning holes that determine where a player will work in 2010. Every player who reaches the finale has some degree of status on the Nationwide Tour — but only the low 25 and ties are exempt on the PGA TOUR for next year.

Hombre is honored to be recognized among the top courses in the nation which host this prestigious event and are excited about the field of 81 golfers which will attempt to tame “The Bad and The Ugly.”  The 2009 field consists of numerous local and regional players as well as many frequent guests to the Hombre over the years.  Some of those players include: Shaun Michael (2003 PGA Champion- Germantown, TN), Ben Bates (Pace, FL), Josh Broadway (Dothan, AL), Bart Bryant (Windermere, FL), Chris Devlin (Panama City, FL), Nolan Henke (Fort Myers, FL), Skip Kendall (Windermere, FL), David Morland IV (Canadian Pro- Winter Garden, FL), Garrett Osborn (Birmingham, AL), Rick Price (Jupiter, FL), Dicky Pride (Windermere, FL), Sonny Skinner (Sylvester, GA), Scott Sterling (Baton Rouge, LA), and Casey Wittenberg (Memphis, TN).