story-of
Whether he’s transforming a movie set or a theme park ride, Charles Richardson uses paint and power tools to create scenes and props that bring make-believe to life.
“I’m living my 6-year-old dream,” says George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World. “Hardly anybody ever gets to do that.”
For the past 15 years, Patty Pekins has dedicated her time to caring for the swans at Lake Eola.
Love guru Michelle Valentine holds the secret formula to marriages that go the distance.
Cassie Odahowski finds her scientific field exciting “because there’s always something going on in the world that is applicable.”
Soprano Anna Eschbach loves “the intense emotion” of opera, often viewed as “the highest art form because it incorporates everything.”
After experiencing her own transfor-mation through hypnosis, Rebecca Zayas now helps people “transform their pain into something beautiful.”
Once a homeless addict living under I-4, Brian Smith works the red kettle drive because “it saved my life.”
The co-owner of the Milk District brewery says, “There’s nothing a beer can’t solve.”
For Debbie Helsel, Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge in Lake Nona is home.
NASA retiree Rick Rapson has gone from tending space shuttles to caring for the weakest among us: preemies.