People of Florida
Meet Roger
For over thirty-two years, Roger has been living in St. Augustine where he occasionally comes to downtown to perform music on the accordion. As young boy, Roger’s mom made him take music lessons starting at nine years-old.
“My sister played the piano for our church and they put me on a piano first but I could never practice. They decided to put me on an accordion instead so that’s kind of the story of how I get started,” said Roger.
Although he has been performing ever since, these days Roger just performs for his own enjoyment and not necessarily for the money. “I don’t do this for the money or to make a living out of it. I just do it as a hobby,” said Roger. While performing on the streets of St. Augustine, Roger has met people from all over the world.
Meet Savannah
Before Moving to St. Augustine, Savannah was attending school in Denmark and working with plants across the globe. Although she was born in America, Savannah’s mother is Danish which is why she decided to live in Denmark. However, over a year ago, Savannah began working at Leonardi’s Plant Nursery here in St. Augustine, Florida.
“I love the atmosphere of working at Leonardi’s and the people here. Working with plants in Florida is a lot different than Denmark because of the climate, so one of my favorite parts about being in St. Augustine is the weather,” said Savannah.
Meet Gen
For the past twenty-years, Gen Anderson has worked as the General Curator for the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida. Since getting her degree in Wildlife Science at Virgina Tech, Anderson has worked at two other accredited facilities besides the Alligator Farm.
In the Alligator Farm's west holding area, Anderson uses long metal clamps to feed a rat to a Cuban Crocodile. "I still like to do zookeeper work because the park's small and partly because I like to be involved," said Anderson. Even though Anderson is the park's curator, she enjoys being very hands-on throughout her day at work.
Although the zoological park is known for their array of reptiles, they also have several exotic bird species, like the golden conure. As general curator, Gen Anderson also oversees the bird department.
