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JANUARY 2025 941.312.0665 | 27TH STATE MEDIA, LLC
Living His Dream
SIZZLING SOCIAL SEASON PLANNED
Facilitating friendships & fun for young people with disabilities By Joan Lowery
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JANUARY MUSICAL COCKTAILS LANDINGS RESIDENT KAREN CICCONE
At the risk of sounding gushing (and it will), I must say that to get to know Landings resident Trevor Kelliher is to love him. This young man is a beacon of inspiration, courage, honesty and kindness. From the moment I was greeted by his sparkling blue eyes and warm smile, I was eager to learn how his Cerebral Palsy was the impetus for transforming his life and the lives of others with disabilities. At the age of 20 (he is now 24), Trevor, his father Greg, and his father’s friend Paul, created All Friends Network (AFN), a non-profit dedicated to connecting and enhancing the lives of those with disabilities through what Trevor calls “The Three F’s: Friendship, Fulfillment and Fun.” His stepmother Roxanne is also a devoted member of the AFN team that is working to grow their
membership exponentially. J: Tell me about your disability and your early life. T: My mother and I nearly died when I was born because her uterus ruptured. Thankfully we were in a major hospital and our lives were saved. Oxygen deprivation was the cause of my Cerebral Palsy (CP). J: Oh, my goodness. Thankfully you made it. Please describe CP. T: It’s a group of neurological disorders which affect movement, posture and speech. Most people with CP are completely normal cognitively. There is a lot of misunderstanding about us because of our impaired speech but our cognition is not affected at all. Story continues on page 18
Trevor (on right) at golf tournament. (Photo submitted)
Volunteers Who Work for You By Norm Olshansky
Agnes Schipper
later, Spanish. While in high school, she worked as a camp counselor and nurse’s aide. As a teen she played basketball, volleyball, softball, and was on her college swim team. She also played guitar, piano and was in a glee club and folk singing group.
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ART TAKES CENTER STAGE
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Many of you know Agnes from reading her book, “Sabine’s Odyssey: A Hidden Child and Her Dutch Rescuers.” She also made a presentation about her book at The Landings Learning College a few years ago. Did you know that she speaks several languages, is a world traveler, had a long and interesting career as a journalist and attorney, was a legal writing instructor and college athlete? Her final position, before her retirement and move to Sarasota was as Legal Counsel for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Early Years Agnes’s parents were German and Dutch, living in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation. Her father was part of the Dutch Resistance who helped save her mother from the Holocaust. After the war, they married and emigrated to the U.S. settling in Westchester County, NY. Her father started a Dutch flower bulb importing business that her brother continues today as Colorblends.com. As the oldest of five children, Agnes spoke Dutch at home as her “first” language. She went on to attend elementary school in Harrison, New York, and middle through high school in New Rochelle. She went to a boarding school for one year in the Netherlands and spent a summer with her German grandparents in Germany where she gained fluency in German. While back in school in the U.S., she also learned French and
College She went to Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. and then to NYU at its former Bronx campus where she majored in Political Science and International Relations. She minored in art history. One of the most influential experiences she had in college was her year abroad, where she studied at the London School of Economics. Following college, she worked for a year with the American Crafts Council, before continuing her education for a master’s degree in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. When asked why California and the San Francisco area, she said: “My father, who traveled a lot, sent me a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge when I was seven. I thought it was beautiful and was determined to see it one day. In grad school, I could view the bridge every day from my home in the Berkeley Hills. Career After getting her masters, she worked for seven years as a reporter and editor for several afternoon papers in Southern California. In 1973, she got married to a medical student and they later had four children. They moved to Minnesota for her husband’s fellowship training. As journalism jobs were scarce there, she decided to go to law school. She had enjoyed covering court cases as a reporter and initially hoped to specialize as a legal reporter. She completed her law degree at the University of Minnesota and ended up practicing law. She started as clerk with a State Supreme Court
Judge and went on to serve as legal counsel and staff attorney with several Minneapolis law firms. When her husband was offered a job at Duke University, they moved to Durham, N.C. and Agnes continued to practice law and became a law partner. They then moved back to Rochester, MN where Agnes began her 15-year career as in-house counsel at the Mayo Clinic. Retirement Agnes has 4 children who live in Maryland, North Carolina, Colorado and Alaska. She also has five grandchildren and another one on the way. After her divorce, she met John Carson who had been a human resources director at 3M in St. Paul, MN. They married and when Agnes retired, they moved to Sarasota. When Agnes was asked how they decided on Sarasota, she said they both did a lot of research. What attracted them to Sarasota was the breadth of cultural life and especially the presence of an opera company and symphony. The fact that Sarasota had reasonable housing and was picked nationally as a best place to retire, was icing on the cake. The Landings Their realtor showed them The Landings. They loved the location (being close to downtown) and the beautiful mature landscaping. The Landings felt like a very friendly and active “community.” Agnes got involved. She took up tennis and for a while was on the 3.0 team. Her first volunteer activity in The Landings was serving on the board of her condo association and later on the LMA board. She recently joined the LRC board. Her book opened lots of doors. In addition to speaking at The Landings Free College, she has made presentations for the Ossining Library in NY, the Venice Jewish Center, Congregation Shirat HaYam in Nantucket,
MA, multiple book clubs, the Jewish Federation Sarasota-Manatee (JFSM), JFCS, and several presentations in the Netherlands. When asked about what she likes the most about The Landings, she said: “I like the sense of community here. When I walk, I meet a lot of neighbors and friends who are so welcoming. I love the fact that I have a great view of sunrises and sunsets from my condo on Phillippi Creek and enjoy water aerobics, exercise classes and our lending library.” When asked what could be improved in The Landings, she mentioned that she wished The Landings had sidewalks and pickleball courts. Community Agnes has also been involved as a volunteer in the greater Sarasota community serving as a guide at the Ringling Museum and as guardian ad litem for the Sarasota Courts, working on behalf of children. She serves on the Land Protection Committee of Big Waters Land Trust (formerly Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast). She is also co-chair of the Jewish Federation’s Generations After Group of children of Holocaust survivors and co-chaired the community 2024 Kristallnacht Program. Leisure Another aspect of Agnes’s unique life and history is her love of dance. She has been taking ballroom dance lessons for several years at the Fred Astaire Studio. She also loves to travel and has been to Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Bali, and most of Europe. She is looking forward to several additional trips she has planned for next year to Egypt and South America. Be looking for Agnes When you see Agnes out and about, tell her you read this article and talk with her about what you learned or what else you would like to know about her interesting life.