“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
Steve Jobs
Rich Hawkins is a lucky man. He found what he wanted to do early in life. Spending time at his grandpa’s home on the Caloosahatchee River in Alva and making his first “real money” by creating landscape gardens in the natural beauty on the property, taught him what he wanted to do. Forever.
He attended the University of Central Florida and Valencia College and graduated with a degree in ornamental horticulture, did an internship at Disney Epcot, and landed his first job at Lighthouse Bay in The Brooks (created by Bonita Bay Group, the initial developer of Verandah).
Driving past the Verandah job site on his way to work each day, Hawkins watched our community take shape. By 2004, he was really interested and made his move. Our first general manager, Steve Bill, hired him to manage all the property not set aside for golf courses and homes. Bob Cupp’s Old Orange course was in the making and Jack Nicklaus’s Whispering Oaks was just a spot on the map, leaving hundreds of acres of common property.
“Take the ball and run with it,” Bill said, giving the young man a “salvage job where the weeds were taller than most of the plants.” Some job description. Hawkins divided the land into manageable areas and tackled them one at a time. “It was like putting out a fire with a squirt gun,” he added with a grin. After Old Orange was opened, Jake Wentz, the new golf course manager, found him a crew of four.
In the past 22 years, his job has been to enhance members’ golf experience by placing trees and shrubs in and around the courses. “I’ll stand on the tees and figure out what will help or hinder the players.” And he changes up the landscape so members who have played here for many years can enjoy a fresh challenge.
Golfers aren’t his only audience. Today Hawkins creates mini-gardens along the trails and sidewalks that residents use year-round. The first was a small butterfly garden set between Blossoms and the Clubhouse. Graduating students at the Riverdale School for Exceptional Students helped build the garden setting and install the pollinator-friendly plants. The youngsters needed the job experience and the “atta-boys” from the community, and they were very proud of their garden.
He also creates larger outdoor spaces that offer residents a place for discovery, rest and reflection. Some come to relish a beautiful day, to watch wildlife, read, and rest along their daily walk. Some come to find solace amid life’s difficulties. No reservations needed.
Hawks’ Point is a highlight of his career at Verandah, and proof that a smile can make any day brighter.
It’s nothing short of a mix of Disney delight and Winnie the Pooh charm, with a bit of Alice in Wonderland giddiness tossed in. Visitors of all ages have come to visit, then returned with gifts of their own yard art “treasures.” Big and little girls have left their carefully painted rocks. Ceramic frogs, including a lady frog in a teensy-weensy yellow bikini sunning herself, are all over the place. There are rusty old owls, a piano keyboard painted on a brick, a blue head resting on two feet, a virtual jazz ensemble of critters and a weathered Polynesian creature sticking out its tongue. There’s a covered pavilion with an eccentric outdoor table and chairs, bongo drums and the obligatory pink flamingos. Repurposed holiday ornaments hang from the roof. Benches invite visitors hang out.
Hawks’ Point is named for the hawks, owls and kestrels that sit on the snags of dead pine trees above the garden. One might think it’s a secret garden, but golfers pass 20 feet away from it every time they approach the 8th tee on Old Orange. Walkers and bikers can find it on the nature trail that begins at the end of Hammock Creek Way. And both Shady Bend and Cypress Marsh have trail heads that access the garden. Check our trail map available at the Club or VCA.
Other projects: a sprawling oak on the Orange River trail has become an orchid sanctuary, with a table and chairs for walkers. And a lakeside park is being developed just off the power line road near its intersection with Brantley Oaks. Hawkins is adding to the tree cover with enough saplings to create a cove for picnic tables and long benches, big rocks for accent, and a “rock-in chair” where grandkids can perch for photographs.
There will be more to come in the years ahead. It’s all in the imagination of Rich Hawkins, and he is always open to suggestions.
