With this the third edition of The Ocalan, our readers no doubt see a change in this publication, one that I prefer to consider an “evolution” as opposed to a redesign. This magazine graced the local marketplace in April of 2025 and immediately showed Ocalans that locally-produced media could be more than just advertorials, party pictures, government PSAs, and event calendars – genuine narratives crafted solely with the readers’ interests in mind could quench a thirst long suffered in this community.

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Along the way, The Ocalan has shined a light on people who are steering the local cultural milieu as well as brought some humor and interesting insight to issues and curiosities of this unique place. We are proud of our content and how it has raised the bar for what Ocalans expect of their local publications. And now, The Ocalan looks the part.

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In a short time, we have discovered our readers are not of the short attention span variety. No, they actually take time to engage with the content, dive into its narratives and appreciate the written language that is on display as the hallmark of this publication. 

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When The Ocalan was first conceived, it was of a desire to give the “literati” of this community material that would exercise the mind and engage the senses, all the while introducing them to the people who help shape the local culture. With its content, The Ocalan achieved this mission, but presented in a manner more befitting the “less easily engaged” reader.

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And now a new era of The Ocalan begins with a refined presentation, one that we hope brings an elegant subtlety and quiet beauty heretofore absent in local media.

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Our goal is to bring poignant imagery next to well-crafted essays and narratives and have a little fun in the process.   The endeavor to achieve the proper facelift fell into the hands of a woman readers of The Ocalan may already be familar: Heather Dawn Batchelor.

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You may remember Mrs. Batchelor from our inaugural edition’s cover and the story inside regarding her abstract expressionist art and its impact on what had normally been a closed, conservative mindset in setting the tight boundaries of acceptable art. What was always the vision of The Ocalan was brought to fruition from the mind of Batchelor.

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“Your readers are smart; they don’t need to be hit over the head with superfluous display elements,” Batchelor would say. “This magazine is an adult, and should be wearing a coat and tie, not jean shorts with a baseball cap on backward.”

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As an old newspaper man, those “display elements” were seen as vital to keeping a reader engaged in an article. But, keep in mind, in journalism school we were also taught to keep the writing on an eighth-grade level in order make things understandable for everyone. “Make it easy on the eyes... and the brain,” one might say.

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What we have discovered is that the bells and whistles, those extra visual elements we deemed as expensive filagree, are actually just cheap knock-offs that serve less to enhance than to insult.

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One task Batchelor undertook was to create an image that typified the mission of The Ocalan, and so she created “The Ocalan” caricature on display page opposite. This person is engaged in a book, professorially dressed and with that Floridian icon, the alligator, close by, symbolizing his southern roots and eternal attachment to this state we call home. This person is also a reminder that we should never take ourselves too seriously, either, lest we fall into that gaping maw of cynicism and humorlessness.

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You will see “The Ocalan” from time to time in these pages, often as a “tombstone” to stories noting their conclusions. 

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In a way, we will miss the old look of The Ocalan, with its grand collages, cutouts, watermarks and breakouts. That look represents an Ocala in a more adolescent stage, and who does not look fondly back on childhood?

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But, it’s time to mature, to not only be an adult, but to dress like one. Such changes have been made by The Ocalan to reflect its own content and the educated level of its readers.

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Ocala is growing up before our eyes, perhaps too fast for many of us, but it is maturing in so many ways, especially culturally. Mirroring this maturation process is The Ocalan, and we hope you enjoy and appreciate what is now before you.