- April 24, 2024
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I’ve spoken with grieving families, with people who just had their car burn up on the highway, with teary-eyed athletes who just lost a state championship. Each time, I feel nervous. I don’t like to intrude on people’s lives. But then I give myself a pep talk: “You’ve got an important job to do. Now get in there, soldier!”
You would think the nervousness would wear off over the years in this business, but it doesn’t — especially when you’re a man, and your next task is to enter the one place you are least welcome: Curves.
I entered the storefront (Suite D109 in City Marketplace) on Monday morning and was confronted with the raised eyebrows from several women who were working out on a ring of machines. Fortunately, Stefanie Funk ran from the back of the store to rescue me (and to stop me from going any further).
But after I convinced her that I wasn’t there to spy on anyone or to sell anything, I got the scoop about the unusual promotion that took place at Curves this week — and it’s all for a cause.
Funk is a take-charge redhead with a winning smile. She was living in Ohio when she learned that her grandmother Rita Flanigan became the owner of this Curves location. That was 2010, and, soon thereafter, Flanigan was diagnosed with cancer and died.
Funk moved here from Ohio and took over the store, to fulfill her grandmother’s goals with the facility.
“It goes back to strengthening women,” she said. “It boosts their confidence in so many ways. It's been a great adventure.”
And, in her new position, she is also able to promote cancer awareness. Last year, her Relay for Life team raised $3,500, and she’s at it again. On the mornings of Monday, Jan. 13, and Tuesday, Jan. 14, she's joining forces with Carol Mantesta and Terri Calarco, who own Hair We “R,” a salon that recently moved from City Marketplace to a spot inside Palm Coast Barbershop, next to Wells Fargo, at 1000 Palm Coast Parkway S.W., Suite 106 (call 437-0033).
The rear partition of the store was set up as a salon. And for every $10 haircut, $5 is donated to the American Cancer Society, Funk said. In fact, when she greeted me at the front door, she had a black cape around her shoulders because her own hair had just been trimmed.
“A lot of our Curves members are breast cancer survivors,” Funk said. “A lot have been caregivers — just all of the above. They’ve had relatives and friends who have died from cancer. Cancer touches everybody.”
To get involved with Funk’s Relay for Life team, Curvacious Cancer Kickers, email her at [email protected]. Thanks for all your hard work, Stefanie!
BOX: Pleasant surprise: The painting is worth more!
I received an interesting email this week from Deborah Susswein, a local writer and advocate. She is looking for someone, and I thought I’d pass her message along. She wrote:
“My mother died on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at 2:07 p.m. The day is seared into my brain’s memory center. Following her death, I hired an estate sale company to help move most of her belongings, the items that had no practical purpose or sentimental value for me. During this time, my memory for almost everything else but her was on strike. Papers that I had safely filed or tucked away I couldn’t find, including a certificate of authenticity for a painting that was being sold at the estate sale. We were not able to identify the artist since the signature was indecipherable and I couldn’t locate the papers.
“Riffling through some papers the other day, I found an envelope that I wish I’d had my hands on in 2010. It was from the gallery in Massachusetts where my parents bought the painting in 1968. When my mother died, my concerns were elsewhere and my memory had failed me. But now the painting has a new home; the painting was adopted by a new owner with no knowledge of the painting’s creator or value. I’m looking for that person so I may hand over the papers to him or her. I have no use for them and someone may be in for a very happy surprise.”
If you own this painting, it may be worth much more than you think. Call Deborah at 446-1416.
