The Speech Not Given

I was honored to present our associate Jonathan Davidson with a scholarship this weekend.

The Taste of the Coast committee handed out its arts scholarships, for visual and performing as well as culinary arts at Sunset Coast Grill on Saturday and what follows is the speech I would have given.

Would have given, that is, if I was capable of standing in a room full of people and able to speak in something other than a dialect that sounded like a Martian who had just ingested helium.

As it was, I barely scratched the surface of what Jonathan has meant to this newspaper over the past 2 ½ years, an expanse of time he had to clarify for me.

I touched on his outstanding work in print and online and his customer service skills, which being but 18 - meaning he was 16 when he started here - in my mind puts him in line for teaching adults far older than he about how to treat customers.

So rewind to the beginning:

Jonathan first struck my eye when early in his days at the paper he was gracious enough to cover some Port St. Joe High School baseball games for the paper. He was a manager for the team and happy to be of service.

Having started in this business as a sports reporter and covered more than my share of games I can safely say that I can never remember seeing a batter described as "truculent" or the crowd noise a "cacophony."

I kid, but that is Jonathan, who I always found as something of a kindred spirit. Neither of us was all that comfortable standing up there in front of a room of people and we aren't great in the spotlight, being, I think, fundamentally shy sorts.

We have traded books to read and movies to watch, and sports and school was much discussed. Never replace shy with unfriendly, Jonathan has a bright and wry sense of humor and his range of ideas and subjects for thoughtful discourse made it seem like I started adulthood a tad late.
His choice of college, The New College of Florida, is a textbook example of the kind of school where Jonathan is certain to make a mark, a school where it is less about grades and more about achievement and pursuing wherever your mind and imagination can take you.

The frightening part has always been his age because Jonathan is well beyond his years in professionalism, dedication and passion.

We oft time think of someone who leaves big shoes behind as being older, a man or woman of some age and wealth of experience.

Not in Jonathan's case. Whoever takes over his part-time position as all-around standout will have very big shoes to fill, indeed.

And what struck me as the Taste of the Coast ceremonies continued to conclusion was that the wake of all these young men and women will be difficult and challenging to navigate for the generations that will come behind.

Nathan Grimes, Laura Seay, Katie Hoffman, Lee Pack and Jonathan have excelled beyond the scholarships they received, some in multiple years.

They will all be names that we'll hear about long after these scholarships are in the rearview mirror, hopefully they will make their mark right here in Gulf County.

Wherever they travel, though, these five will carve a path and one that those who come behind them, who earn Taste of the Coast scholarships, will be fortunate to follow.

At the bottom line, for both students and the community, Taste of the Coast has been a rousing success, even in difficult economic times.

The organization is a template for what well-meaning, passionate and focused folks can accomplish and I feel proud to have been there to first report on the effort and to see what it has become.

And the organization has accomplished a lot, in and of itself, by recognizing the talents of a Jonathan Davidson.

I apologize to he and those four other honorees that a poor public speaker failed to adequately convey those thoughts.