June 13, 2025 • 21 mins
Ever wondered about the real Florida beyond theme parks and beaches? Pull up a chair and pour yourself something smooth as Ray, owner of Indian River Distillery, takes us on a captivating journey through Vero Beach's colorful past.
Ray's Florida roots run deep. His pioneering family settled on John's Island in 1903, well before Indian River County even existed. This connection to local history infuses everything about his distillery. As Indian River County celebrates its centennial, Ray created a special limited edition whiskey with just 100 bottles. When plans to place the final bottle in a time capsule fell through, he pivoted to something extraordinary, a county-wide historical scavenger hunt leading participants through forgotten landmarks while they search for the prized bottle #100.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn as Ray reveals the inspiration behind his signature spirits. The notorious Ashley Gang, Florida's answer to Robin Hood, terrorized and charmed the state in the 1920s. These outlaws, who once mounted the last pirate raid against the British Crown, met their end in a controversial shootout at Sebastian River Bridge. Their legacy lives on in Ray's meticulously crafted Ray Lynn's Reserve Bourbon and JHA Rye, each bottle telling a piece of Florida's untamed history.
What truly sets Ray apart is his dedication to preserving stories. His "Stories by the Still" events gather local elders around the distillery to share tales and wisdom, keeping oral traditions alive in our digital age. "Talk to old people," Ray advises, noting that the clarity that comes with age helps you understand what truly matters.
Stop by Indian River Distillery at 3308 Aviation Boulevard to taste exceptional spirits and connect with authentic Vero Beach history. As Ray says with a smile, you can visit their social media or website, or just "knock on the door and ask me." Now that's Florida hospitality worth raising a glass to. 🥃
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian (00:00):
All right, well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast,
and we're excited to really diveinto some of the history behind
Vero Beach.
Like you know, usually we'reasking people, ray, like what do
you love most about Vero Beach?
You have a lot of knowledgeabout the history of it and I'm
really excited to dive into that.
I mean, we already touched alittle bit about the treasures
that's hidden.
Do you know where any of thetreasures are that are hidden?
Ray (00:21):
I mean, I know where all of it's at.
You know where it's all at.
Shawna (00:23):
It's all somewhere out there in the water.
He's just not allowed to go outthere.
Ray (00:29):
That's the problem.
That happened 300 years ago,you know.
So it's covered up by some sandnow.
Brian (00:35):
Yeah Well, you know I do have to say, before we get into
the history of stuff, Iabsolutely love your.
You guys are right now in themiddle of doing a scavenger hunt
.
I saw your post on on instagramand absolutely loved it.
I thought it was so well done.
Who does your?
Who does your social media?
Ray (00:52):
uh huff does our posts, okay, mandy does.
Uh.
Alex huff, uh, from alex huff.
Social media okay, uh, she doesour post, our regular posts.
Mand Mandy does the event postsand I do all the creative real
content.
Oh, that's all me.
Shawna (01:09):
Wow, it's a team effort.
Brian (01:10):
I like that that's very cool.
Well, it's very well done.
Thank you, I got my attentionall the way through.
I've actually watched it acouple times, shown it off to
some people, but it's reallycool.
Tell us a little bit about that, like what you're giving away
and how that works.
Ray (01:31):
That's really cool so right now and you can see my ball cap
and I'm sure you've seen thislogo all over the place this is
indian river county's 100 yearcentennial Wow.
So we've been a county for 100years.
There's going to be acentennial parade in a couple of
weeks, a centennial celebration, a pioneer ceremony for the
(01:54):
pioneering families of IndianRiver County, which my
pioneering family name would beKersey, k-e-r-s-e-y.
The Kerseys came into IndianRiver County in like 1903, and
they bought a piece of propertyon a little island called John's
Island, over on the beach side,you know, on our barrier island
(02:17):
.
I've seen deeds for up to 30acres, but my impression was it
was 10 acres.
So they had a homestead, littlefarm house, things like that.
So that's what qualifies us tobe a pioneering family, because
we were here before Indian RiverCounty was even a name.
We're also a pioneering familyin Florida because we were in
(02:42):
Florida before Florida was votedon to be a state Wow.
So we've got Florida, we've gotthe Florida bug and we've got
it bad.
So when the centennial started,michelle Wagner, the historian
librarian at the library, askedme if I wanted to be on the
(03:03):
committee.
I told her yeah, along with allof the other things I got to do
, but I'd like to do that, soI've helped out where I can.
And so they asked us to createa centennial whiskey.
Okay, we can do that.
So we created a blend of ourwhiskey and we offered a hundred
(03:28):
bottles to the public in ahundred years.
Wow, it was in a nice you knowoak box or wood box that mandy
and I, uh, we stained on ourporch and I had a local guy
laser all of the logos in it.
Oh, that's cool, it's a reallycool thing.
So we did a hundred bottles andthe goal was to put bottle
(03:49):
number 100 and to the timecapsule that's going into the
ground at the Countyadministration building at the
complex this year and it will beburied for 50 years.
And then the idea was you openit up 50 years later.
By that time Chandler will bein his mid sixties, you know,
and, uh, the bottle will bethere and he can open it and
(04:12):
everybody can taste what him anddad did 50 years ago.
Um, somebody poo pooed on thatidea.
It's, it's just not happeningnow.
Um, so we decided what's a coolway that we could get that
bottle out there, becauseeverybody has been hunting
bottle number 100 of the 100year centennial.
(04:35):
You know it's a, it's a thing.
So I said, all right, well,we'll just do it in a scavenger
hunt and we'll use thatscavenger hunt to run these
people all over this county toplaces that they don't know or
hear I love that so you willvery much learn about the
history of indian river countyas you go on this little
(04:56):
scavenger hunt.
It's a clue a day for 10 days,okay so, Okay.
So everyone has to go to eachone of the sites, take a picture
and tag us on Facebook thatthey posted the picture.
And then on the last day,there's a bottle hidden
somewhere at the last clue andyou pull the voucher out of the
(05:20):
box, the bottle in the box, andbring it in here and I can check
.
If you hit all 10 places andbring me the voucher, the first
one of you guys that does thatgets bottle number 100.
June 14th.
Brian (05:33):
That's the end.
Shawna (05:33):
That's the end.
The beginning is the 5th.
Ray (05:35):
June 5th correct.
Shawna (05:37):
Clear the schedule.
Brian (05:39):
Clear the schedule.
If this drops later, I'm sorry.
And hopefully you're talking tothe winners.
Yeah, hopefully you'relistening to the winners.
Hopefully you're listening tothe winners.
Yes, as you know, as anentrepreneur, you're going to
have to pivot.
I love how you pivoted, butalso, at the same time, you're
doing the scavenger and alsoyou're doing the scavenger hunt
to get the community involvedand at the same time, you're
(05:59):
helping to educate them.
Again, it aligns right withyour purpose.
Shawna (06:02):
Absolutely I love that.
Brian (06:03):
I'm all about purpose Like.
When we're doing whateveryou're doing on digital, it's
like what is your purpose Like?
Don't lose track of that,because that's what sets you
apart.
Ray (06:09):
I do a lot of goofing off on there too.
If you scroll through my reels,you saw that.
Shawna (06:14):
Goofing off can be 100%.
Believe that.
Brian (06:19):
Now, and what you poured us a sample of here, that is the
whiskey right there.
That is the whiskey, yep,correct, and I tell you what
it's good.
So if the scavenger hunt is notover yet and this has been
published, you better get outthere and try to win this thing
because it's good.
Ray (06:34):
It's a really nice whiskey.
Shawna (06:35):
It really is, yeah because if someone came to the
party a little late, let's say,could they catch up on the clues
and still you know, AbsolutelyOkay If you did all the clues in
two days.
Ray (06:46):
I'm fine with that.
Okay, great, just as long asyou post all of them and tag our
page and you know, find thevoucher and bring it here.
But but every game face on,there's a couple of people that
are really hot, I bet there areoh babe, I yeah Babe I don't
know, hey, don't lose.
Brian (07:01):
Listen, if we don't win, what we'll do is we'll need to
schedule an interview with thepeople that did win so they
could share some of the whiskeywith us.
Shawna (07:08):
Or we steal it.
You know what?
Ray (07:11):
When you do it and you participate, I guarantee you the
things you learn and the placesI send you will make it
worthwhile.
That's cool, yeah.
Shawna (07:20):
That's cool.
Oh, that's a good point.
Brian (07:23):
I send you will make it worthwhile.
That's cool, yeah, oh that's agood point.
I love that.
I love that.
Okay, challenge accepted.
So so, ray, what has running adistillery taught you about the
community People?
Ray (07:30):
are good people.
You know, I, I, I knew that, um, an example would be, uh, these
, these fancy Glen carryingglasses.
I think I've had one stolen,it's, you know, that's, that's
pretty good, and I know, knowwho did it.
I'll point them out to you.
One time I had it on video, youknow.
So it's, it's, uh, it's for themost part.
(07:51):
People are really good.
Occasionally you get some turdsand you gotta flush the toilet,
but it's, uh, it's for the mostpart.
People.
People are good.
They don't remember anything.
So you have to constantlyanything, so you have to
constantly remind, you know, youhave to constantly remind your
market and you have toconstantly be in that face.
Brian (08:06):
So you you talked about earlier I think it was episode
one you talked a little bitabout one of the bottles that
was named after it was somepeople that was from a part of a
old gang, is that right?
Ray (08:15):
Okay, yeah, so we got to talk about the notorious Ashley
gang.
Yes, because if you don't knowthem, you you really don't know.
You know about the rebelliousnature of Florida.
So during the twenties therewas a gentleman, his name was
John Hopkins, ashley HopkinsAshley, not no S on there.
Uh, he was uh hooking up with alady named Laura up the Grove.
(08:39):
Up the Grove is a Floridafamily name.
There's an Up the Grove beachon an Okeechobee.
If you look at Google Maps,you'll see Up the Grove beach.
On this front corner of the lakethere was Clarence Middleton,
hanford Mobley and Ray Lynn.
Ray is his first name, lynn ishis last name and that was the
notorious Ashley gang gang andif you read the the early
(09:03):
stories, they were fearedgangsters that ran a path of
destruction all through thestate of florida and really,
when you really start findingout what was going on, these
were some bad dudes, for sure,but there was a lot of bad dudes
back then.
These are the bad dudes thatdidn't really put up anybody's
crap, but they helped a lot ofpeople.
He, he had a few going on withthe sheriff of then Palm Beach
(09:25):
County, because it was St LucieCounty and then it was Palm
Beach County so he had a fewgoing on back and forth with
them, like one time they foundone of John Ashley's hideouts
and the sheriff sent a couple ofdeputies out there to take care
of him and John and the boysfound them sneaking up to the
cabin and stripped them downnaked and dropped them off in
(09:47):
front of the sheriff'sdepartment.
John had been in jail multipletimes and broke out of jail he
got his eye shot out in a bankrobbery in Palm Beach County.
They actually were the last timepirates robbed the British
crown.
They got tired of rum coming infrom the Bahamas and people not
(10:09):
using their stuff, so theymounted up in a boat and went to
the Bahamas and robbed theBrits.
So they had a back and forththing going.
They tend to have a knack forescaping law enforcement and
evading them, turns out inmodern times.
We figured it out because theyhad sympathetic members of the
(10:29):
black community and at that timea lot of law enforcement was
involved in oppressing the blackcommunity.
So you know, they help peopleout and people help them and
there's lots of stories of ofyou know families that had a
hard time and all of a suddenwhat they needed showed up on
their front door, so it's verymuch a robin hood I was just
gonna say the florida version offlorida version of robin hood.
(10:52):
so sheriff baker was caught.
Word that the ashley gang washeading up us1 or dixie highway.
They called it, okay, before.
Us1 here was here, old dixiewas here, okay, called it before
us.
One here was here, old Dixiewas here, okay.
And they said, all right, well,we're going to catch these boys
coming through here and we'regoing to get them for good.
They knew that the choke pointwas the Sebastian river bridge,
going over the Sebastian riverinto Brevard County Not in the
(11:14):
same place it was now it is, nowis in a little bit different
spot.
And they hung a chain acrossthe road and hung a red lantern
on the chain which meant stop,the bridge isn't safe.
So when the ashley gang stoppedand got out, the sheriff
deputies jumped out and ambushed.
Well, they got him in handcuffsand apparently john ashley
(11:35):
tried to shoot the sheriff whilehe was handcuffed.
So they gunned the entire gangdown there on the bridge, killed
everyone.
Wow, they took their bodiesdown to I think it was PP Cobb
store, um and Fort Pierce, whichwas at that time the post
office, and they laid them outfor everybody to take pictures
up.
Well, one of the sheriffdeputies that was there that
(11:56):
night on his deathbed releasedhis biography explaining what
happened.
The sheriff said we're notgoing to put these boys back in
jail because they always breakout.
We're ending this right now.
And they executed them rightthere on the bridge.
That was Florida justice.
That's how stuff worked backthen.
And uh, so we wanted to letpeople know about the Ashley
(12:19):
gang, because people don't thinkabout that.
Florida is all Disney world andit's all, uh, all Miami, south
beach, you know, and uh, sothat's why we came up with Ray
Lynn's reserve bourbon whiskeyand that's why we came up with
JHA rye, which is John Hopkins,ashley rye.
Um, we got uh, others that'llrelease that are, you know, gang
(12:43):
members later on as ourproducts start to develop a
little bit.
But it's all a good way toteach the the history of Florida
.
You know the little stories onthe back of the bottle and it
just gets people to who is thisguy?
Yeah, and they can Google themand it'll all pop up.
You guys should take a ride tothe Elliott museum and Stuart.
If you haven't been there theElliott museum has a uh, an
(13:06):
Ashley gang exhibit, so they'vegot John Ashley's glass eye no
way In the museum, wow, oh.
Yeah, is Glass Eye no way Inthe museum?
Shawna (13:14):
Wow, oh yeah, we will go , oh yeah We'll definitely have
to check that out.
Ray (13:16):
I think they've got his gun in there.
They've got a model of one ofhis camps in there.
It's pretty cool and there's alot of things in that museum you
guys are going to want to seefor sure.
Brian (13:24):
We'll definitely have to check that out.
Well, I was getting concernedthere for a Hopkins but had an S
at the end, so this is not thesame John Hopkins, this is John
Hopkins.
So that makes Hopkins Ashley,hopkins, ashley, yeah that's
right.
Shawna (13:37):
That one was stuck in Ohio so he wasn't cool enough to
be in Florida.
Brian (13:40):
I didn't know that my state farm agent went way back
on that.
Ray (13:45):
Hopkins was the middle name .
There you go.
Brian (13:47):
Hopkins was the middle name.
I'm excited to learn more aboutthe Vero Beach community.
I'm so glad that we get a callat home and getting to connect
with people like yourself, ray.
What would you say you lovemost about Vero?
You've been here your wholelife.
What's your favorite thingabout Vero?
The community sense ofcommunity.
Ray (14:03):
You know, mandy and I had lunch a little bit earlier at
the barbecue place in town and Isaw four people.
I know that's awesome.
This is a larger town.
It's definitely not a littlebitty town at all, but it has
very much small town vibes.
Brian (14:18):
We're definitely learning that.
What's the barbecue place?
14.
Ray (14:21):
Bones.
Shawna (14:22):
Oh yeah, we haven't been there yet, but we passed by it
the other day.
Brian (14:25):
That's a good lunch spot if you want to go in there and
sit down.
Looking back, Ray, at your pastand where you've come to today,
is there anything that youwould tell the younger version
of you?
Ray (14:38):
Yeah, relax and slow down a little, don't take things so
serious.
Brian (14:42):
Yeah, oh man, it's so good.
Ray (14:44):
I've always been pretty laid back, but just more so now
that I'm a little bit older.
Brian (14:47):
I think it really starts sinking in when you get in your
forties, I think.
I think I've noticed that formyself as well.
Shawna (14:53):
So and maybe a little bit like when you see your
children getting to that youngman stage.
You see them striving so hardand from this side of it you're
like just enjoy your life.
You're only in your teens andyour 20s one time.
Yeah, but they're so hard onthemselves.
Ray (15:12):
Absolutely.
And you know what?
Talk to old people.
Talk to old people.
They are so valuable.
I love that it's so many thingsthat I've been pretty good about
it in my life of learning andshut my mouth up and learn it
from people.
But sitting down and justlearning where they come from,
(15:34):
what's their point of view, whydo they think that way?
Why do they do things that way?
Just talking to some of theseold crackers and that's somebody
that's from Florida the waythat they had to survive, it
would blow your mind.
I was talking to, I called herGranny Fink one time and that's
(15:55):
when these sandhill cranes weremaking their comeback.
Brian (15:58):
You know the big birds with the red head that looks
like a velociraptor, like adinosaur, yeah.
Ray (16:04):
And I said something to her one time Granny, you ever eat
one of them?
She says, man, I ate a bunch ofthem.
She says, when you're as hungryas we, were, a bird that'll
stand there that big and let yougrab it.
It's going in the pot.
I was like, yep, I guess you'reright.
And then she started telling usabout you know that everybody
(16:25):
had these houses, these crackerhouses that were built up off
the ground.
Well, they would put chickenwire around the bottom of it and
whenever they would catchgopher turtles, they would put
them under their house and justthrow brush under there for them
to eat.
So when they got really hungrythey could climb under there and
have one of the boys go intothere and get one of the gopher
(16:45):
turtles.
Shawna (16:46):
Wow, soup pot that really makes so much sense yeah
it does easy food, yeah, yeah,wow I heard someone say once
that sandhill cranes are thefilet mignon of the sky.
Ray (16:57):
Rib eye of the sky.
Shawna (16:58):
Rib eye, rib eye.
Ray (16:59):
They taste amazing.
Their breast is the most tenderred meat you have ever seen,
not a Florida one.
They're protected here.
Brian (17:09):
You can't do that.
Ray (17:11):
But certain states have a bag limit and you can take three
a day or something along thoselines.
They're actually a migratorybird.
They hunt them like they dogeese Right, right, and I had a
buddy of mine bring me a coupleof Sandhill crane breast and it
looks like a ribeye steak.
It's beautiful.
Shawna (17:29):
I don't know if this is similar.
I have eaten ostrich before andit was amazing.
Well, the ostrich before and itwas amazing, so maybe they're
just taller.
Ray (17:40):
It was like a steak.
Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be readytoo.
Brian (17:42):
Yeah, that's good.
I'm glad he clarified that.
I think that was that's reallygood wisdom to is speak to talk
to the older people, because Iknow that's one thing that we've
talked about many times, shauna, that you and me we thought my
grandpa told me he passed awayat 83 or 82.
I forgot when he passed away,but before, before that, he told
(18:03):
us OK, I will tell you exactlywhat he said to me, because I
will never forget it.
Shawna (18:07):
He said when you're in your 40s, you're in your prime,
and of course I think I mighthave been in my thirties.
I was like what?
But it's helped me so muchbecause when you get to your
forties, and maybe especially asa woman, you're like oh, it's
all over now, but it it is.
Brian (18:23):
There's so much, there's more settledness, wisdom clarity
, clarity, yeah, a lot ofdifferent things.
You decide what is reallyimportant for you in your life,
like what really makes you happy.
You stopped chasing a lot ofthe things.
Ray (18:35):
Yeah, 45 year old Ray could take 25 year old Ray.
We had, uh we wanted to do uhan event.
You know, in our theme for thecentennial we called it stories
by the still.
So I know some good old boysthat are all pretty good
storytellers and whenever youget some older good old boys and
(18:55):
you feed them whiskey and letthem talk, it's going to be good
no matter what, especially thepersonalities that we brought in
, and we sat around the stillover there in the tasting room
and I set up a PA system andjust let these boys talk and it
was amazing to the point thatI'm going to do stories around
the still on a pretty regularbasis.
I really feel that storytellingis a skill that's being lost,
(19:20):
especially with our young people, and there is an art and
there's a skill to storytelling.
I'm just learning it.
I'm not, I don't have itperfected.
These good old boys got it.
Charlie Simbler when he walkedup he was talking about the
rough ways that Sebastian boyswere raised because Sebastian
was a fishing community backthen.
They banned fishing nets when Iwas about 12 or 15 years old
(19:41):
but up until then Sebastian wasa fishing village and it was
fishermen went out every daywith gill nets and they came in
and the fish houses and he saidyou ever tell somebody they need
to stop running their mouth andthey don't listen to you.
I guess a couple of times hegoes here's how I do it.
He holds out his hand and he'sgot a bunch of teeth in his hand
and he says I think you talktoo much and I was like that's
(20:05):
pretty good, that is pretty good.
Brian (20:06):
I like that.
Yeah, That'll leave an impactWow now that's a good
storyteller right there.
That's a good storyteller rightthere.
Shawna (20:12):
Oh yeah, for sure If he asks his dentist like can I just
have those?
Ray (20:14):
I ask my buddy that's a dentist, and he says what do you
want those for?
Ray, I'm not that kind ofdentist.
Brian (20:20):
Well, ray.
I want to thank you, ann, fortaking the time to sit down with
us and sharing your story andhelping us get to know you, the
owner behind the Indian RiverDistillery, and your purpose and
why the community means so much.
It has really helped educate usand I love that because that
aligns with your purpose tooAbsolutely.
Educating.
Thank you so much.
What's the best way?
Okay, you guys have anInstagram account.
(20:41):
What's your Instagram account?
Ray (20:42):
Instagramcom slash IR distillery.
Facebookcom slash IR distillery, or you can visit our website
at wwwindianriverdistillerycom,or just stop by and knock on the
door and ask me.
Shawna (20:55):
I like that option.
Ray (20:57):
Yeah, I love that we're at 3308 Aviation Boulevard.
Brian (21:00):
With that, everybody, thank you for tuning in to the
Vero Beach Podcast.
If you've enjoyed this episode,make sure you click review and
if you have any questions orthoughts, make sure you click
that link in the description inthe show notes that said Texas.
Make sure you also stop inright down here at the Indian
River Distillery.
Shawna (21:16):
Thanks for listening, neighbor.
All right, well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast,
and we're excited to really diveinto some of the history behind
Vero Beach.
Like you know, usually we'reasking people, ray, like what do
you love most about Vero Beach?
You have a lot of knowledgeabout the history of it and I'm
really excited to dive into that.
I mean, we already touched alittle bit about the treasures
that's hidden.
Do you know where any of thetreasures are that are hidden?
Ray (00:21):
I mean, I know where all of it's at.
You know where it's all at.
Shawna (00:23):
It's all somewhere out there in the water.
He's just not allowed to go outthere.
Ray (00:29):
That's the problem.
That happened 300 years ago,you know.
So it's covered up by some sandnow.
Brian (00:35):
Yeah Well, you know I do have to say, before we get into
the history of stuff, Iabsolutely love your.
You guys are right now in themiddle of doing a scavenger hunt
.
I saw your post on on instagramand absolutely loved it.
I thought it was so well done.
Who does your?
Who does your social media?
Ray (00:52):
uh huff does our posts, okay, mandy does.
Uh.
Alex huff, uh, from alex huff.
Social media okay, uh, she doesour post, our regular posts.
Mand Mandy does the event postsand I do all the creative real
content.
Oh, that's all me.
Shawna (01:09):
Wow, it's a team effort.
Brian (01:10):
I like that that's very cool.
Well, it's very well done.
Thank you, I got my attentionall the way through.
I've actually watched it acouple times, shown it off to
some people, but it's reallycool.
Tell us a little bit about that, like what you're giving away
and how that works.
Ray (01:31):
That's really cool so right now and you can see my ball cap
and I'm sure you've seen thislogo all over the place this is
indian river county's 100 yearcentennial Wow.
So we've been a county for 100years.
There's going to be acentennial parade in a couple of
weeks, a centennial celebration, a pioneer ceremony for the
(01:54):
pioneering families of IndianRiver County, which my
pioneering family name would beKersey, k-e-r-s-e-y.
The Kerseys came into IndianRiver County in like 1903, and
they bought a piece of propertyon a little island called John's
Island, over on the beach side,you know, on our barrier island
(02:17):
.
I've seen deeds for up to 30acres, but my impression was it
was 10 acres.
So they had a homestead, littlefarm house, things like that.
So that's what qualifies us tobe a pioneering family, because
we were here before Indian RiverCounty was even a name.
We're also a pioneering familyin Florida because we were in
(02:42):
Florida before Florida was votedon to be a state Wow.
So we've got Florida, we've gotthe Florida bug and we've got
it bad.
So when the centennial started,michelle Wagner, the historian
librarian at the library, askedme if I wanted to be on the
(03:03):
committee.
I told her yeah, along with allof the other things I got to do
, but I'd like to do that, soI've helped out where I can.
And so they asked us to createa centennial whiskey.
Okay, we can do that.
So we created a blend of ourwhiskey and we offered a hundred
(03:28):
bottles to the public in ahundred years.
Wow, it was in a nice you knowoak box or wood box that mandy
and I, uh, we stained on ourporch and I had a local guy
laser all of the logos in it.
Oh, that's cool, it's a reallycool thing.
So we did a hundred bottles andthe goal was to put bottle
(03:49):
number 100 and to the timecapsule that's going into the
ground at the Countyadministration building at the
complex this year and it will beburied for 50 years.
And then the idea was you openit up 50 years later.
By that time Chandler will bein his mid sixties, you know,
and, uh, the bottle will bethere and he can open it and
(04:12):
everybody can taste what him anddad did 50 years ago.
Um, somebody poo pooed on thatidea.
It's, it's just not happeningnow.
Um, so we decided what's a coolway that we could get that
bottle out there, becauseeverybody has been hunting
bottle number 100 of the 100year centennial.
(04:35):
You know it's a, it's a thing.
So I said, all right, well,we'll just do it in a scavenger
hunt and we'll use thatscavenger hunt to run these
people all over this county toplaces that they don't know or
hear I love that so you willvery much learn about the
history of indian river countyas you go on this little
(04:56):
scavenger hunt.
It's a clue a day for 10 days,okay so, Okay.
So everyone has to go to eachone of the sites, take a picture
and tag us on Facebook thatthey posted the picture.
And then on the last day,there's a bottle hidden
somewhere at the last clue andyou pull the voucher out of the
(05:20):
box, the bottle in the box, andbring it in here and I can check
.
If you hit all 10 places andbring me the voucher, the first
one of you guys that does thatgets bottle number 100.
June 14th.
Brian (05:33):
That's the end.
Shawna (05:33):
That's the end.
The beginning is the 5th.
Ray (05:35):
June 5th correct.
Shawna (05:37):
Clear the schedule.
Brian (05:39):
Clear the schedule.
If this drops later, I'm sorry.
And hopefully you're talking tothe winners.
Yeah, hopefully you'relistening to the winners.
Hopefully you're listening tothe winners.
Yes, as you know, as anentrepreneur, you're going to
have to pivot.
I love how you pivoted, butalso, at the same time, you're
doing the scavenger and alsoyou're doing the scavenger hunt
to get the community involvedand at the same time, you're
(05:59):
helping to educate them.
Again, it aligns right withyour purpose.
Shawna (06:02):
Absolutely I love that.
Brian (06:03):
I'm all about purpose Like.
When we're doing whateveryou're doing on digital, it's
like what is your purpose Like?
Don't lose track of that,because that's what sets you
apart.
Ray (06:09):
I do a lot of goofing off on there too.
If you scroll through my reels,you saw that.
Shawna (06:14):
Goofing off can be 100%.
Believe that.
Brian (06:19):
Now, and what you poured us a sample of here, that is the
whiskey right there.
That is the whiskey, yep,correct, and I tell you what
it's good.
So if the scavenger hunt is notover yet and this has been
published, you better get outthere and try to win this thing
because it's good.
Ray (06:34):
It's a really nice whiskey.
Shawna (06:35):
It really is, yeah because if someone came to the
party a little late, let's say,could they catch up on the clues
and still you know, AbsolutelyOkay If you did all the clues in
two days.
Ray (06:46):
I'm fine with that.
Okay, great, just as long asyou post all of them and tag our
page and you know, find thevoucher and bring it here.
But but every game face on,there's a couple of people that
are really hot, I bet there areoh babe, I yeah Babe I don't
know, hey, don't lose.
Brian (07:01):
Listen, if we don't win, what we'll do is we'll need to
schedule an interview with thepeople that did win so they
could share some of the whiskeywith us.
Shawna (07:08):
Or we steal it.
You know what?
Ray (07:11):
When you do it and you participate, I guarantee you the
things you learn and the placesI send you will make it
worthwhile.
That's cool, yeah.
Shawna (07:20):
That's cool.
Oh, that's a good point.
Brian (07:23):
I send you will make it worthwhile.
That's cool, yeah, oh that's agood point.
I love that.
I love that.
Okay, challenge accepted.
So so, ray, what has running adistillery taught you about the
community People?
Ray (07:30):
are good people.
You know, I, I, I knew that, um, an example would be, uh, these
, these fancy Glen carryingglasses.
I think I've had one stolen,it's, you know, that's, that's
pretty good, and I know, knowwho did it.
I'll point them out to you.
One time I had it on video, youknow.
So it's, it's, uh, it's for themost part.
(07:51):
People are really good.
Occasionally you get some turdsand you gotta flush the toilet,
but it's, uh, it's for the mostpart.
People.
People are good.
They don't remember anything.
So you have to constantlyanything, so you have to
constantly remind, you know, youhave to constantly remind your
market and you have toconstantly be in that face.
Brian (08:06):
So you you talked about earlier I think it was episode
one you talked a little bitabout one of the bottles that
was named after it was somepeople that was from a part of a
old gang, is that right?
Ray (08:15):
Okay, yeah, so we got to talk about the notorious Ashley
gang.
Yes, because if you don't knowthem, you you really don't know.
You know about the rebelliousnature of Florida.
So during the twenties therewas a gentleman, his name was
John Hopkins, ashley HopkinsAshley, not no S on there.
Uh, he was uh hooking up with alady named Laura up the Grove.
(08:39):
Up the Grove is a Floridafamily name.
There's an Up the Grove beachon an Okeechobee.
If you look at Google Maps,you'll see Up the Grove beach.
On this front corner of the lakethere was Clarence Middleton,
hanford Mobley and Ray Lynn.
Ray is his first name, lynn ishis last name and that was the
notorious Ashley gang gang andif you read the the early
(09:03):
stories, they were fearedgangsters that ran a path of
destruction all through thestate of florida and really,
when you really start findingout what was going on, these
were some bad dudes, for sure,but there was a lot of bad dudes
back then.
These are the bad dudes thatdidn't really put up anybody's
crap, but they helped a lot ofpeople.
He, he had a few going on withthe sheriff of then Palm Beach
(09:25):
County, because it was St LucieCounty and then it was Palm
Beach County so he had a fewgoing on back and forth with
them, like one time they foundone of John Ashley's hideouts
and the sheriff sent a couple ofdeputies out there to take care
of him and John and the boysfound them sneaking up to the
cabin and stripped them downnaked and dropped them off in
(09:47):
front of the sheriff'sdepartment.
John had been in jail multipletimes and broke out of jail he
got his eye shot out in a bankrobbery in Palm Beach County.
They actually were the last timepirates robbed the British
crown.
They got tired of rum coming infrom the Bahamas and people not
(10:09):
using their stuff, so theymounted up in a boat and went to
the Bahamas and robbed theBrits.
So they had a back and forththing going.
They tend to have a knack forescaping law enforcement and
evading them, turns out inmodern times.
We figured it out because theyhad sympathetic members of the
(10:29):
black community and at that timea lot of law enforcement was
involved in oppressing the blackcommunity.
So you know, they help peopleout and people help them and
there's lots of stories of ofyou know families that had a
hard time and all of a suddenwhat they needed showed up on
their front door, so it's verymuch a robin hood I was just
gonna say the florida version offlorida version of robin hood.
(10:52):
so sheriff baker was caught.
Word that the ashley gang washeading up us1 or dixie highway.
They called it, okay, before.
Us1 here was here, old dixiewas here, okay, called it before
us.
One here was here, old Dixiewas here, okay.
And they said, all right, well,we're going to catch these boys
coming through here and we'regoing to get them for good.
They knew that the choke pointwas the Sebastian river bridge,
going over the Sebastian riverinto Brevard County Not in the
(11:14):
same place it was now it is, nowis in a little bit different
spot.
And they hung a chain acrossthe road and hung a red lantern
on the chain which meant stop,the bridge isn't safe.
So when the ashley gang stoppedand got out, the sheriff
deputies jumped out and ambushed.
Well, they got him in handcuffsand apparently john ashley
(11:35):
tried to shoot the sheriff whilehe was handcuffed.
So they gunned the entire gangdown there on the bridge, killed
everyone.
Wow, they took their bodiesdown to I think it was PP Cobb
store, um and Fort Pierce, whichwas at that time the post
office, and they laid them outfor everybody to take pictures
up.
Well, one of the sheriffdeputies that was there that
(11:56):
night on his deathbed releasedhis biography explaining what
happened.
The sheriff said we're notgoing to put these boys back in
jail because they always breakout.
We're ending this right now.
And they executed them rightthere on the bridge.
That was Florida justice.
That's how stuff worked backthen.
And uh, so we wanted to letpeople know about the Ashley
(12:19):
gang, because people don't thinkabout that.
Florida is all Disney world andit's all, uh, all Miami, south
beach, you know, and uh, sothat's why we came up with Ray
Lynn's reserve bourbon whiskeyand that's why we came up with
JHA rye, which is John Hopkins,ashley rye.
Um, we got uh, others that'llrelease that are, you know, gang
(12:43):
members later on as ourproducts start to develop a
little bit.
But it's all a good way toteach the the history of Florida
.
You know the little stories onthe back of the bottle and it
just gets people to who is thisguy?
Yeah, and they can Google themand it'll all pop up.
You guys should take a ride tothe Elliott museum and Stuart.
If you haven't been there theElliott museum has a uh, an
(13:06):
Ashley gang exhibit, so they'vegot John Ashley's glass eye no
way In the museum, wow, oh.
Yeah, is Glass Eye no way Inthe museum?
Shawna (13:14):
Wow, oh yeah, we will go , oh yeah We'll definitely have
to check that out.
Ray (13:16):
I think they've got his gun in there.
They've got a model of one ofhis camps in there.
It's pretty cool and there's alot of things in that museum you
guys are going to want to seefor sure.
Brian (13:24):
We'll definitely have to check that out.
Well, I was getting concernedthere for a Hopkins but had an S
at the end, so this is not thesame John Hopkins, this is John
Hopkins.
So that makes Hopkins Ashley,hopkins, ashley, yeah that's
right.
Shawna (13:37):
That one was stuck in Ohio so he wasn't cool enough to
be in Florida.
Brian (13:40):
I didn't know that my state farm agent went way back
on that.
Ray (13:45):
Hopkins was the middle name .
There you go.
Brian (13:47):
Hopkins was the middle name.
I'm excited to learn more aboutthe Vero Beach community.
I'm so glad that we get a callat home and getting to connect
with people like yourself, ray.
What would you say you lovemost about Vero?
You've been here your wholelife.
What's your favorite thingabout Vero?
The community sense ofcommunity.
Ray (14:03):
You know, mandy and I had lunch a little bit earlier at
the barbecue place in town and Isaw four people.
I know that's awesome.
This is a larger town.
It's definitely not a littlebitty town at all, but it has
very much small town vibes.
Brian (14:18):
We're definitely learning that.
What's the barbecue place?
14.
Ray (14:21):
Bones.
Shawna (14:22):
Oh yeah, we haven't been there yet, but we passed by it
the other day.
Brian (14:25):
That's a good lunch spot if you want to go in there and
sit down.
Looking back, Ray, at your pastand where you've come to today,
is there anything that youwould tell the younger version
of you?
Ray (14:38):
Yeah, relax and slow down a little, don't take things so
serious.
Brian (14:42):
Yeah, oh man, it's so good.
Ray (14:44):
I've always been pretty laid back, but just more so now
that I'm a little bit older.
Brian (14:47):
I think it really starts sinking in when you get in your
forties, I think.
I think I've noticed that formyself as well.
Shawna (14:53):
So and maybe a little bit like when you see your
children getting to that youngman stage.
You see them striving so hardand from this side of it you're
like just enjoy your life.
You're only in your teens andyour 20s one time.
Yeah, but they're so hard onthemselves.
Ray (15:12):
Absolutely.
And you know what?
Talk to old people.
Talk to old people.
They are so valuable.
I love that it's so many thingsthat I've been pretty good about
it in my life of learning andshut my mouth up and learn it
from people.
But sitting down and justlearning where they come from,
(15:34):
what's their point of view, whydo they think that way?
Why do they do things that way?
Just talking to some of theseold crackers and that's somebody
that's from Florida the waythat they had to survive, it
would blow your mind.
I was talking to, I called herGranny Fink one time and that's
(15:55):
when these sandhill cranes weremaking their comeback.
Brian (15:58):
You know the big birds with the red head that looks
like a velociraptor, like adinosaur, yeah.
Ray (16:04):
And I said something to her one time Granny, you ever eat
one of them?
She says, man, I ate a bunch ofthem.
She says, when you're as hungryas we, were, a bird that'll
stand there that big and let yougrab it.
It's going in the pot.
I was like, yep, I guess you'reright.
And then she started telling usabout you know that everybody
(16:25):
had these houses, these crackerhouses that were built up off
the ground.
Well, they would put chickenwire around the bottom of it and
whenever they would catchgopher turtles, they would put
them under their house and justthrow brush under there for them
to eat.
So when they got really hungrythey could climb under there and
have one of the boys go intothere and get one of the gopher
(16:45):
turtles.
Shawna (16:46):
Wow, soup pot that really makes so much sense yeah
it does easy food, yeah, yeah,wow I heard someone say once
that sandhill cranes are thefilet mignon of the sky.
Ray (16:57):
Rib eye of the sky.
Shawna (16:58):
Rib eye, rib eye.
Ray (16:59):
They taste amazing.
Their breast is the most tenderred meat you have ever seen,
not a Florida one.
They're protected here.
Brian (17:09):
You can't do that.
Ray (17:11):
But certain states have a bag limit and you can take three
a day or something along thoselines.
They're actually a migratorybird.
They hunt them like they dogeese Right, right, and I had a
buddy of mine bring me a coupleof Sandhill crane breast and it
looks like a ribeye steak.
It's beautiful.
Shawna (17:29):
I don't know if this is similar.
I have eaten ostrich before andit was amazing.
Well, the ostrich before and itwas amazing, so maybe they're
just taller.
Ray (17:40):
It was like a steak.
Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be readytoo.
Brian (17:42):
Yeah, that's good.
I'm glad he clarified that.
I think that was that's reallygood wisdom to is speak to talk
to the older people, because Iknow that's one thing that we've
talked about many times, shauna, that you and me we thought my
grandpa told me he passed awayat 83 or 82.
I forgot when he passed away,but before, before that, he told
(18:03):
us OK, I will tell you exactlywhat he said to me, because I
will never forget it.
Shawna (18:07):
He said when you're in your 40s, you're in your prime,
and of course I think I mighthave been in my thirties.
I was like what?
But it's helped me so muchbecause when you get to your
forties, and maybe especially asa woman, you're like oh, it's
all over now, but it it is.
Brian (18:23):
There's so much, there's more settledness, wisdom clarity
, clarity, yeah, a lot ofdifferent things.
You decide what is reallyimportant for you in your life,
like what really makes you happy.
You stopped chasing a lot ofthe things.
Ray (18:35):
Yeah, 45 year old Ray could take 25 year old Ray.
We had, uh we wanted to do uhan event.
You know, in our theme for thecentennial we called it stories
by the still.
So I know some good old boysthat are all pretty good
storytellers and whenever youget some older good old boys and
(18:55):
you feed them whiskey and letthem talk, it's going to be good
no matter what, especially thepersonalities that we brought in
, and we sat around the stillover there in the tasting room
and I set up a PA system andjust let these boys talk and it
was amazing to the point thatI'm going to do stories around
the still on a pretty regularbasis.
I really feel that storytellingis a skill that's being lost,
(19:20):
especially with our young people, and there is an art and
there's a skill to storytelling.
I'm just learning it.
I'm not, I don't have itperfected.
These good old boys got it.
Charlie Simbler when he walkedup he was talking about the
rough ways that Sebastian boyswere raised because Sebastian
was a fishing community backthen.
They banned fishing nets when Iwas about 12 or 15 years old
(19:41):
but up until then Sebastian wasa fishing village and it was
fishermen went out every daywith gill nets and they came in
and the fish houses and he saidyou ever tell somebody they need
to stop running their mouth andthey don't listen to you.
I guess a couple of times hegoes here's how I do it.
He holds out his hand and he'sgot a bunch of teeth in his hand
and he says I think you talktoo much and I was like that's
(20:05):
pretty good, that is pretty good.
Brian (20:06):
I like that.
Yeah, That'll leave an impactWow now that's a good
storyteller right there.
That's a good storyteller rightthere.
Shawna (20:12):
Oh yeah, for sure If he asks his dentist like can I just
have those?
Ray (20:14):
I ask my buddy that's a dentist, and he says what do you
want those for?
Ray, I'm not that kind ofdentist.
Brian (20:20):
Well, ray.
I want to thank you, ann, fortaking the time to sit down with
us and sharing your story andhelping us get to know you, the
owner behind the Indian RiverDistillery, and your purpose and
why the community means so much.
It has really helped educate usand I love that because that
aligns with your purpose tooAbsolutely.
Educating.
Thank you so much.
What's the best way?
Okay, you guys have anInstagram account.
(20:41):
What's your Instagram account?
Ray (20:42):
Instagramcom slash IR distillery.
Facebookcom slash IR distillery, or you can visit our website
at wwwindianriverdistillerycom,or just stop by and knock on the
door and ask me.
Shawna (20:55):
I like that option.
Ray (20:57):
Yeah, I love that we're at 3308 Aviation Boulevard.
Brian (21:00):
With that, everybody, thank you for tuning in to the
Vero Beach Podcast.
If you've enjoyed this episode,make sure you click review and
if you have any questions orthoughts, make sure you click
that link in the description inthe show notes that said Texas.
Make sure you also stop inright down here at the Indian
River Distillery.
Shawna (21:16):
Thanks for listening, neighbor.
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