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DIFFERENCE MAKERS -- Nancy Christiansen

Many West St. Augustine kids have a cold snap to thank for their opportunities to learn about art. Bloomington, Minn., native Nancy Christiansen spent the better part of six years living on a boat and sailing up and down the East Coast. One day in 2000 while moored in St. Augustine’s Oyster Creek, reports of projected lows of 26 degrees in St. Augustine forced Christiansen and her husband to seek power at the docks so they could turn on their heater. The couple has been here since. Christiansen, an artist who has travelled the world painting portraits, also brings art and culture to children through an after school program at Webster Elementary called ACE. She has also taken her talents into the county’s juvenile detention facilities in an effort to connect troubled teens with their inner creativity.

DIFFERENCE MAKER -- JB "Jellybean" Dick

As he sits behind his keyboard, one can easily see why JB “Jellybean” Dick made the decision to become an entertainer — after his first retirement. Now, just shy of his 80th birthday, he continues to delight the crowds, sometimes as a magician, sometimes as a clown, and on Wednesday as the one tickling the keys and the funny bone of his audience at the Council on Aging center in St. Augustine.