It seems like everyone around our St. Augustine golf course community is always looking for ways to give back throughout the year, but especially during the holidays! There are many ways to get involved and help out in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, but we have an event happening right in our own neighborhood that we can all take part in. Davidson Realty and the Village Chiropractic Center of Florida are teaming up to bring you a very fun event that will be sure to get you in the mood for the holidays.

Come to Davidson Realty, Inc. on Thursday, December 1st at 7 pm to make your own one-of-a-kind holiday wreath and benefit the Ronald McDonald House at the same time!  Interiors Revitalized will be present to help you create a beautiful, unique wreath that will become part of your holiday tradition for years to come. For $30 per person (all to Ronald McDonald House) you can create your wreath, enjoy festive drinks/snacks, and listen to Christmas music. And, don’t forget to put a bid in on one of the amazing silent auction items.

From his arrival to World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida 12 years ago, Denny Kompare has invested countless hours in making our community the best it can be. In fact, Denny was the first President of the Turnberry Homeowners Association and has volunteered in our St. Augustine golf course community in a variety of ways over the years.

Denny was one of the first residents of Turnberry when he retired to the area with his wife Joanne in March 1999. Sadly, Joanne passed away from Ovarian Cancer in April of this year. Denny’s son Douglas, a Personal Chef, lives with him in Turnberry.  They share their home with a Yorkie, a Cockatiel and a Senegal Parrot.  “It’s an amusing menagerie” says Denny.  In addition Denny has two lovely daughters, Denise and Desiree, who live in New Jersey and Virginia respectively.

Perhaps it was the worldly appeal of the name “World Golf Village” that caught Denny’s attention.  “I retired as the Director of International Business for Union Carbide,” said Denny.  “We had offices in 42 countries and I can count at least 60 countries I’ve traveled to over the years. My favorite part of the travel was interacting with people of all nationalities, cultures and traditions and enjoying all  of the differing cuisines”

What if an apartment just isn’t for you? Well, at Glenmoor you have options! Choose between apartment, cottage, or patio home living with five unique apartment floor plans and six spacious home designs. You can choose the space you need with floor plans of one, two, or three bedrooms.  Even assisted living has private rooms and bath. This is your retirement dream and Glenmoor is happy to help make it a reality!

Combine those comfortable living options with an incredible location and you’ve got retirement made! Glenmoor is located on Florida’s First Coast in the heart of our St. Augustine golf course community (World Golf Village). Take advantage of the special pricing for Glenmoor residents on our two renowned golf courses or if golf isn’t for you how about a short trip to the city of St. Augustine?

To conclude our three part Energy Star series, we had Frank Cirillo from Providence Homes and Michael O’Donoughue with Jacksonville Building Science give us a behind the scenes look at the testing of Energy Star Homes. Frank explains that Providence Homes uses Michael to verify that their designs meet the Energy Star criteria before a homeowner moves in. The three tests they conduct are very interesting and important if you want to save money!

Michael tells us in the video above that these energy tests are required to insure that the homeowner has a tight house, their ducts don’t leak, and they have even distribution of air. He then demonstrates the blower door test, the duct blaster test, and the room by room load calculation with a flow hood. The blower door test detects how much air is being drawn out of the house and measures how tight the house is and the duct blaster test determines how much air is coming through the ducts in each room. The flow hood shows the air flow coming out of all the supply grills and back into the return grills, which is a unique test to Providence Homes. So, not only does Providence Homes take the time to teach us all about Energy Star they also go above and beyond with more testing for their customers!  

For the second part of our Energy Star video blog, we asked Frank Cirillo and Robert Goettlicher at Providence Homes to help us explain the importance of window efficiency. To be honest, I had no idea how important window quality is to your home, but I quickly learned that Frank hit the nail on the head when he said, “Not all windows are created equally!”

Frank describes how vinyl frame windows have three main components that make them more efficient in your home than the aluminum windows that were used in the past. First, less heat is transferred through vinyl frames, which also means less condensation. Vinyl has a higher tolerance than aluminum windows. They are smoother operating windows, so less air flow gets through it. And, lastly and most importantly, the glass is the highest quality of low e glass on the market. It doesn’t allow harmful UV rays into your home, so you don’t have to worry about fading carpets and furniture. Not to mention, with aluminum windows, your couch is holding all that heat that seeps in and then transferring it into your home.

You can’t go wrong with Cino’s! Just ask anyone in our St. Augustine golf course community or stop in there and see all the people at lunch or dinner any day of the week! Dine in, take out, or have them deliver right to your door. Treat yourself to some awesome Italian food!

My favorite thing about Cino’s is the lunch specials. They offer 18 different lunch options for only $4.95 between 11 am and 3 pm! Their chicken parmigiana is incredible and I plan on trying their Gnocchi Rosata next time. All of their lunch specials come with delicious garlic bread. It’s very filling and you can’t beat the price.

Not in the mood for Italian? Try their gyro platter, wings, or salads. Like I said…you can’t go wrong. Their fried mozzarella is incredible and so is their bruschetta! They also offer a kid’s menu and desserts. I have ordered a colossal pizza from them before. It fed about 10 adults and we had leftovers. It’s tasty and perfect for your kid’s sleepover or an adult get-together. 

We are very lucky to have Cino’s serving our community. If this blog is making you hungry put in your order now – (904) 940-4445. They are located at 425 West Town Place Suite 114 in St. Augustine, FL. To see the full menu visit them online at www.cinospizza.com.

Residents of our St. Augustine golf course community are lucky to live here for many reasons – nature, location, activities, friends, shopping, serenity, and of course our one-of-a-kind golf courses.  In April, we shared a behind-the-scenes look at the King & Bear golf course. This month, we want to show the beauty of the Slammer & Squire – the only resort golf course in the world designed by Bobby Weed with design consultants Sam “The Slammer” Snead & Gene “The Squire” Sarazen. So, we had Davidson agent and golf aficionado, Jock Ochiltree, highlight some very special things about the Slammer & Squire.

Jock gives us a sneak peek at the Pro Shop shopping, takes us on a golf cart ride through the course, stops to chat with a cart lady, interviews Head Golf Pro Anthony Vaughn, and shows us beautiful views of the Hall of Fame Tower. Both World Golf Village courses are owned and operated by Honours Golf and include complimentary range balls, cool towels, GPS in every cart, and fresh chilled apples on the 1st and 10th tees.

Enjoy the Slammer & Squire Video! For more information on memberships, Jacksonville and St. Augustine golf, or Jacksonville, FL real estate  please contact Jock Ochiltree at (904) 940-5000 or jock@davidsonrealtyinc.com.

Thor, the latest Marvel Comics film, is an experience like no other at the World Golf Village IMAX! From the picture clarity and definition to the 28,000 watts of sound, you will feel like you are taking part in Thor’s exile to Earth and triumphant return!

The action sequences in this movie are unmatched on our IMAX’s 60 ft by 80 ft wide screen! Imagine watching Chris Hemsworth take on the Frost Giants on a 6 story high screen! You will be so captivated you won’t even care what you look like in those silly 3D glasses.

Thor is only one of five movies playing at the World Golf IMAX right now, so if Thor isn’t for you, then be sure to check out Born to be Wild 3D, The Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D, Under the Sea 3D, or Hubble 3D! Also, you can buy your tickets in advance right now for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides an IMAX 3D Experience, which opens May 20th! See all the films coming up here: http://worldgolfimax.com/coming_soon.php

Have you heard of the IMAX Annual Pass Programs? There are two great options to get your fill of great movies, priority seating, awesome snacks, and fun on the 18 hole putting course – The Power Pass is $69 and the Discovery Pass is just $39! Read more here: http://worldgolfimax.com/movie_club.php

So, come watch Thor on the largest IMAX Digital 3D screen in the Southeastern United States! Experience the highest possible definition on a great film!

Did you know that our St. Augustine golf course community is about 60% built out as of October 2010? The reason that percentage is so low is because there are still 2,278 units in the south tract which was purchased by Landmar. 72% of the King  & Bear has been completed or is under construction and 58% of The Neighborhoods. I want to continue to roll with these fun little facts and give you key things to know about The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village!

Turnberry
• Close to 1-95
• World Golf Village living at an affordable price starting in the $200,000s
• 209 out of the 218 homes have been built

Royal Pines
• Unique single-family, custom homes by Rutenberg, North Florida Builders, Providence Homes, and The Vintage Group
• 83 of the 97 lots are built out
• One side of the community is engulfed by a 40 acre lake and the other is surrounded by natural, undisturbed wildlife

St. Andrews Place
• 64 patio homes with lawn maintenance, irrigation, and community pool maintenance included in the HOA fees
• Concrete block homes
• Surrounded by a beautiful lake