No matter how many individuals appear in the pages of each edition of Keys Weekly, there are always so many more of our community members who deserve to be recognized. In an effort to shine a spotlight on more of the incredible individuals who live and work in these islands, Keys Weekly is proud to present our Neighbor of the Week feature, dedicated to celebrating a community member with each issue.
This week’s neighbor is Victoria Fairbrother-Smith, who is a middle school ELA teacher at Sugarloaf School and an accomplished singer and songwriter who has been teaching for 21 years. She continues to serve as the Girls State chairperson for the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 154 in Marathon, where she is also the unit secretary and membership chair. She loves volunteering with this organization which has been in existence for over 100 years and is the largest volunteer organization in the United States supporting veterans, their families and the Marathon community.
VICTORIA FAIRBROTHER-SMITH
English language arts teacher, Sugarloaf School
How long have you been in the Keys and what brought you here? I have been in the Keys since 1976, when my parents moved south to spend their retirement years fishing for lobster and crab.
What do you do for fun in the Keys and why do you love living here? My favorite things to do in the Keys are sing and walk. I have performed with an a capella group called Island Harmony for over 30 years now. When I am not singing, you can find me walking around Marathon for my physical and mental health. I also love to country line dance and write parodies to familiar tunes.
If you could choose one song to play every time you walk in and out of a room, what would you choose? “Lida Rose,” an old barbershop tune in the musical “Music Man.” I remember my dad singing it when I was little, and I have performed it myself with my group as an adult.
If you could have any superhero power, what would it be? It would have to be the ability to detect lies. I have a pretty good sense of when someone is lying to me, but having the power to know for sure would be pretty cool.
If you were an ice cream flavor, what flavor would you be? I don’t know of an exact flavor that would represent me, but it would have to have chocolate and nuts in it – maybe even some coffee.
Describe the color red without using its name: A sunset sky over the Seven Mile Bridge.
If you had a time machine, would you travel to the future or to the past and why? The time machine would have to go to the past to be able to thank my ancestors for their military service. There are so many that I have never met and I would love to hear their stories.
What’s the most embarrassing moment of your life? I tell my students that it is pretty hard to embarrass me, since I am so used to doing goofy things. But I guess this year’s goofiest moment was backing into the school while hauling a bunch of supplies in my rolling wagon and tripping over my own feet in the front office. I landed right on my bottom – what a way to come to school on the first teacher day!
What’s one reasonable change that you’d like to see happen in the Keys? I would love to see the housing market find a way to become truly affordable for the folks who choose to live and work here.
What’s one thing people don’t know about you? They may not know that I close out every school year with cartwheels. My colleagues and students all know, since I have been doing them for 17 years now at Sugarloaf School.
Know someone who would be a good “neighbor of the week”? Email: keysweeklyjen@gmail.com
