As a community health food grocer, Ever’man Natural Foods, in Pensacola, strives to help members of the community achieve their personal goals of improved nutrition and health. In addition to a variety of retail offerings, Ever’man also supports community education and healthy activities. From organic wine tasting to holistic health events, members and guests from Pensacola and surrounding areas enjoy an assortment of engaging classes held in their community room.

Expected to open in April, a new space will be available for classes and events in the recently constructed Ever’man Education Center. While the original building offered a meeting space for 25 people in the community room, the new center boasts 1,200 square feet of meeting space for 45 people, almost doubling the community space. The expansion came about after a comprehensive 2012 survey of members on a wide variety of subjects revealed a desire for a bigger space that is better designed for the diverse programs they requested. “Our members were the driving force to plan and build an awesome community space that would be both practical and inviting,” says Kate Scanlan, marketing manager for Ever’man.

While cooking classes have been popular in the community room, the layout did not allow larger groups to have a clear view of cooking demonstrations. The new space will allow for surrounding individual tables and media streaming of the chef’s activities to a large screen that can be seen throughout the room. Scanlan explains, “If the chef wanted to offer a more intimate class with a small number of people, the chef could do so by having them seated at the island near the cooktop. But if the chef wanted to do a larger demonstration, then the camera above the chef will allow the audience a close look at the chef’s cooking artistry.”

When the kitchen space is not in use, the cooktop can be converted to a standard island, providing more space for food preparation or a workspace for small group meetings. The center will also be equipped with new audiovisual equipment for conferences, workshops and other presenter needs. “We had been using a projector, but the new equipment will allow presenters to quickly hook up their laptop or other devices and present a larger image to their audience,” explains Scanlan.

Furniture in the new center will include several mobile pieces that permit quick transitions from classroom seating to movement classes such as yoga and t’ai chi. “The room plan and the furniture choices have been designed to allow for transitioning to a variety of activities with simple changes,” states Scanlan. “We will be able to accommodate most program requirements.”

Scanlan looks forward to offering a continued diverse schedule of classes and events. She is collaborating with Daralyn Chase, publisher of Natural Awakenings of Northwest Florida, to offer many of the magazine’s readers the opportunity to use the new education center to present events on topics of natural health and sustainable living. “We are thrilled to be supporting the Ever’man outreach program, and we look forward to bringing dynamic, qualified educators from the Natural Awakenings community,” says Chase.

The Pensacola-based Ever'man Natural Food Store serves the Northwest Florida community that includes Gulf Breeze, Milton, Navarre, Mary Esther, Ft. Walton Beach, Destin and Perdido Key.

Location: 315 W. Garden St. For inquiries about renting the room or teaching classes, call the education coordinator at 850-433-5353 ext. 10 or email [email protected]. For information on class offerings, call 850-438-0402 ext. 0 or visit Everman.org/events.

Jude Forsyth is a frequent contributor to Natural Awakenings.