Individual photos of the 2010 ROAR of the Jacksonville Jaguars haven’t been posted on the Jaguars site yet, but they are on facebook. Click here to go there now!

The ladies of the ROAR of Jacksonville just completed the photo shoot for their 2011 swimsuit calendar.

There are plenty of photos at Jaguars.com and Facebook.

First look at the new squad who were unveiled to the public at the Jags Draft Day Party last week.

The final auditions for the 2010 ROAR of the Jaguars took place on Saturday, March 20th. The talented group of finalists participated in two rounds of final dance auditions. They performed their turns, kicks, splits and a dance routine they learned earlier in the week in the morning session. In the afternoon session, they showcased their own dance routine with a song and costume of their choosing. Check out pictures from the day and make sure you plan on attending the official 2010 ROAR Introduction at the 16th Annual Bud Light Draft Party presented by PRI Productions at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 22, at The Sea Walk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach.

[The ROAR of Jacksonville on Facebook]

Videos of this year’s NFL cheerleader auditions are surfacing all around the internet.

Click here to watch the Buffalo Jills tryouts

Click here to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders tryouts

Click here to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars tryouts

A Social Affair Dance Studios, Inc. is partnering with Tony and Angi Boselli and The Boselli Foundation for our next Jacksonville’s Dancing with the Stars event on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at Boleros Grand Ballroom in Jacksonville.

Two of the competitors are former NFL Cheerleaders:

Creativity comes through many mediums for designer Liza Chung. Liza’s complete devotion to the ever-changing world of event décor has positioned her as an innovator among her peers. Not limiting her talents to a specific industry, Liza’s specialties include floral couture weddings, special event creation, interior and landscape design, editorial styling and holiday décor.

Professionally recognized as a design expert for more than 15 years, Liza founded her own firm in 2000 to answer the calling of clients ranging from brides, elite venues, professional athletes, celebrities and key media outlets. She is sought after for exceptional weddings at venues such as, TPC Sawgrass, Ritz Carlton Amelia Island, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, The Plantation, Epping Forest, PV Lodge & Club, Casa Monica and many more.

Her décor savvy philosophy has been featured on television and her event work has been published in magazines throughout Florida. She has designed countless events for V.I.P.’s and has been given gracious praises from the likes of Vijay Singh, Elin Woods and Preston Bailey to name a few. Liza maintains a longstanding commitment to provide her professional and private clientele with limitless creativity, pure refinement and incomparable excellence.
Most recently, Liza has been spotlighted as a wedding expert by Style Me Pretty.com, a mainstay in the wedding industry, and consequently chosen by them alongside photographer, Agnes Lopez, for a bridal inspiration photo shoot that was featured on its coveted website.

Originally from New England, where she began her design career after studying physical therapy and cheering in the NFL for 5 years, Liza has made North Florida her home since 2000. She resides in Ponte Vedra Beach with her husband, former NFL Player, Eugene Chung, and her two sons, Kyle and Brandon.

Liza is passionate about giving back to her community and is a proud supporter and sponsor for many charity organizations which include The MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation, The Boselli Foundation, Franco Harris - Grid Iron Greats, Wolfson Art & Antiques Show, The Cummer Ball, Tom Coughlin’s Jay Fund, The Donna Foundation, Pink Ribbon Golf Classic and many other worthy causes.

Joshlyn Davenport began her love for competition as a gymnast at the age of seven. She progressed from levels 2-9 and throughout her journey she was awarded various all-around titles. Joshlyn transitioned into competitive cheerleading and dancing at the age of fourteen. She also competed in the individual cheer division where she won two national championship titles. Joshlyn decided to further her cheerleading career and went on to be a member of the All-Girl Cheerleading squad at Florida State University. She was a member of votethe Jacksonville Jaguars Roar from 2007 to 2010. Joshlyn is currently a third semester nursing student at the University of North Florida where she is pursuing her dreams of becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner. She is also a newly added member of the Jacksonville Sharks Attack Dance Team.

[Jacksonville's Dancing with the Stars]

Auditions for the 2010 ROAR of the Jacksonville Jaguars are underway. Last weekend, a field of 100+ dancers was narrowed down to 70. The 70 were then narrowed down to 50 who will enter the final phase of auditions this week.

Every year JacksonvilleOnline.com posts tons of photos from the auditions for the ROAR of the Jaguars. This year is no exception. Click here to check them out!

The business was started by four black women who won’t discriminate in helping clients.

By Kevin Turner
Jacksonville.com

The partners in the new Jacksonville law firm Dorrell, Gale, Middleton & Wright say they want prospective clients to know that in addition to being African-American women who are parents of young children, they’re also qualified to handle virtually any case.

In an age when some attorneys specialize in narrow areas such as divorce or foreclosure, the partners of the new firm, which opened in January, say they want to be seen as a one-stop legal shop for anyone in Jacksonville - regardless of their race, sex, age or income.

“We are a full-service law firm. Between the four of us, we run the gamut,” said Dana Dorrell, a former Jacksonville Jaguars Roar cheerleader.

Dana Dorrell (from left), Angela Mathews Gale, LaFonda Gipson-Middleton and Regina Wright have formed a law firm they hope will help clients in search of more personalized service. But they’re parents of young children as well, and plan to lean on each other for support. They tried to seek similarly focused law firms for advice, but there weren’t any. “We’re the first of this size in the region,” Mathews Gale says.

LaFonda Gipson-Middleton, Angela Mathews Gale, Regina Wright and Dorrell come from different private practices and can handle civil cases ranging from personal injury to family law.

“We don’t want to restrict ourselves,” Mathews Gale said.

Duval County Judge Pauline Drake recommended they give the partnership a try to help further the visibility of successful African-American women in Jacksonville.

“It was my desire to put together a full-service firm of African-American women from all areas of law,” Drake said. “They put a lot of thought into it - in terms of their work to set it up. They really had the ambition and desire to do this.”

With Drake’s encouragement, the four discussed the idea in March 2009, they said. The idea took and they opened their new firm in The St. Joe Co. building.

“We met for lunch and found we still liked each other after a year,” Gipson-Middleton said.

All four say they’re aware that starting up a new law firm is a leap of faith. Gone is the pay security and services that come with working for a larger firm, they say. But they’ve brought clients with them, and they hope referrals and marketing bring in new clients.

Drake said the four are models for others.

“This sends a message to other African-American women that this is an achievable goal,” Drake said. “I think young women today need to see positive role models to give them something to aspire to. This is good news.”

In putting the new firm together, the foursome said they tried to seek out advice from other law firms partnered and run entirely by African-American women in the region, so they could anticipate pitfalls.

But they soon realized there weren’t any others.

“We’re the first of this size in the region,” Mathews Gale said.

Service comes first

Besides their experience, the four said they aim to give their clients a level of personal service and contact that larger firms aren’t able to match due to their high workloads. For example, Dorrell said she often got clients in her former practice who said they had come from large firms and were frustrated they couldn’t ever reach their attorney on the phone. Some said they didn’t even know who their attorney was.

All four partners are members of the Daniel Webster Perkins Bar Association, a Jacksonville attorney group dedicated to the African-American community; the Florida Bar; and the Jacksonville Bar. Wright, the first African-American woman to practice law in Columbia County, comes from Jacksonville’s Fourth Judicial Court as a division chief dealing with juvenile and repeat cases. Dorrell has taught business law at the University of Phoenix; Gipson-Middleton was given an award in 1999 for trying the most cases while she worked for the public defender’s office; and Mathews Gale, a former staff attorney with Jacksonville Legal Aid, is an expert in pro bono guardianship cases.

Parenthood in play

And all four women understand the demands of parenting. Gipson-Middleton has a 19-month-old boy; Mathews Gale has twin 3-year-olds; Dorrell has a 3-year-old boy; and Wright has a 5-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy. Working with others who understand the demands children can make on work time help keep the firm flexible because they can provide coverage for each other, they said.

But as far as the public’s perception is concerned, all four say they want the public to look beyond their commonalities and view them as attorneys.

“We want to ensure that is not the focus,” Mathews Gale said. “We don’t want to give that impression.”

The foursome will have an open house March 25 in their office in Suite 130 of the St. Joe building to introduce themselves to the community, said their publicist, Teresa Durand. It will also mark about a year since their fateful meeting, she said.

Dana is graduate of Alabama State University and Thomas M. Cooley Law School.