Northview QB Club Hosting Community Pancake Supper Tonight
November 12, 2015
The Northview High School Quarterback Club will host a community wide pancake supper fundraiser for the Northview Chiefs football team tonight at 6:00 at the First Baptist Church of Bratt. $5 per plate and donations will be accepted.
The Quarterback Club is asking the community to come out and support the hometown team as they head to the first round of the playoffs.
The Chiefs will travel to Vernon High School Friday night.
Veterans Day Closures
November 11, 2015
The following will be closed Wednesday for the Veterans Day holiday:
- Escambia (Fla. & Ala.) and Santa Rosa county schools
- Escambia (Fla. & Ala.) and Santa Rosa county offices
- Century, Jay, Milton, Pensacola, Atmore, Flomaton city offices
- U.S. Post Office — retail windows closed, no mail delivery or collection, except for Express Mail
- Florida state offices
- Federal offices
- No bus service from ECAT
- West Florida Public Libraries, including Century Branch
- Santa Rosa County libraries
- Pensacola State College
- University of West Florida
The Perdido Landfill, excluding the administrative offices, will be open regular hours. There will be no change in the ECUA trash pickup
Veteran’s Final Wish Granted
November 11, 2015
Donald Vaughan, was a high school aged boy when he made the decision to join the Navy. The Vietnam War had just started and the United States needed men to serve. He bravely approached his parents and shared with them his desire to go fight for our country, and although the thought of their son going off to war terrified them, they gave him their blessing.
At just 17 years old, Vaughan joined the United States Navy and was soon deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin, the waters off the coast of northern Vietnam. He was in combat there for a few months when one day, a Skipper approached him to inform him of a significant problem. Because of his age, Vaughan’s parents had to officially give permission for him to be there fighting in the war. In the day and age before high speed internet and the ability to scan documents, the best they could do was use the ship to shore radio to try to contact his parents. Upon finally reaching Vaughn’s father, the Skipper explained that Vaughan needed a verbal okay to remain on the ship and in the war. Vaughn spoke to his father for several minutes, reassuring his dad that being in the Navy was what he wanted to do and that he did in fact sincerely want to stay. After a meaningful dialogue between father and son, Vaughan’s father addressed the Skipper and gave his permission for his son to remain on the ship.
Fast forward to January 1969. Vaughan once again found himself out on the sea on another mission. This time he was on the aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise, which was heading back to Vietnam on its fourth deployment to the region. On the way, the ship stopped in Pearl Harbor to conduct a final battle drill and operational readiness inspection.
The morning of January 14, 1969, as the ship’s crew was preparing for the drills to take place later in the day, the ship was suddenly rocked by a huge explosion as a warhead attached to one of the aircrafts detonated. The massive explosion caused a fire, which then rapidly spread and set off more bombs. Fifteen planes were destroyed, and as shrapnel violently flew about, jet fuel spilled over the deck and caused the fire to grow. Injured sailors crawled out of the flames, many of them helping to carry their wounded shipmates. One of those heroic sailors was young Donald Vaughan. With severe burns covering parts of his body, Vaughan continued running back into the fire to rescue his comrades.
“I didn’t even pay attention to my own burns,” says Vaughan. “I don’t know how many times I went back and forth to pull other men out of the wreckage. I just knew I had to help them.”
When called a hero, Vaughan humbly responds, “I don’t see myself as a hero. That day I was just a person helping my crew members.”
In total, 28 sailors were killed and 314 injured that day aboard the USS Enterprise. Many more would have died had it not been for honorable men like Donald Vaughan.
More than 46 years later, he has traded his uniform for a comfortable gray t-shirt, but Vaughn still proudly wears his nation’s broad stripes and bright stars, which are screen printed across the chest of the shirt he wears. In his bed at home, breathing with the help of oxygen, Vaughan talks about his memories of the Navy and shows his family and the Covenant Hospice team members who are caring for him a book written about the incident aboard the ship. He points out a small figure in a grainy black and white photo – it is him, coming out of the blazing fire, clouds of smoke billowing far overhead.
Vaughan is now spending his last months with his family under the care of Covenant’s hospice program. More than just the traditional medical services most people think of when hospice is mentioned, the philosophy of care treats the patient and family as a unit, and seeks to holistically address all of their needs – mind, body and spirit – as they face a terminal diagnosis.
When asked about his final wishes, as all of Covenant’s patients are, Vaughan told his Covenant team of his love of fishing and of the ocean, a place that for many veterans like Vaughan, has been filled with both terror and triumph. But it was a place he wanted to see one last time.
Covenant made that dream come true for Donald Vaughan and recently took him out on a deep sea fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico. Accompanied by his grandsons, as well as a nurse and social worker from his hospice team, Vaughan felt at peace.
“To smell the fresh air and feel the salt water on my face and see the ocean all around me for as far as I could see reminded me of my time in the Navy,” he says, reflecting on his recent adventure. “To be able to get back out on the ocean and to be able to share that with my grandsons was priceless to me.”
The fishing trip was funded through one of Covenant’s special programs: “A Hero’s Wish,” The Dale O. Knee Veterans Support Fund. Named after and established in honor of Covenant’s former president and CEO, who also is a Navy veteran, the fund allows Covenant to fulfill dreams and last wishes of patients who valiantly served in our armed forces. Generous contributions from community donors sustain the fund and ensure veterans like Donald Vaughan receive the respect, dignity and compassionate care that they deserve at the end of life.
Pictured top: Covenant Hospice caregivers, including social worker Tamara Hudson (left), coordinated a fishing trip for patient Donald Vaughan (center) and his family with funds from the organization’s “A Hero’s Wish” Veterans Support Fund. Pictured top: Vaughan with his nurse, Tommy Wood, RN. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Veterans Day: High 76; Colder Weather Coming
November 11, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Areas of fog after midnight. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 58. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers after 8am. Areas of fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 76. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. North wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 68. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 62. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 40. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. East wind around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. East wind around 5 mph.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 72.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72.
Tuesday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 60. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70.
Free Entry On Veterans Day At Florida State Parks
November 11, 2015
In honor of Veterans Day, all visitors will enjoy free entry at Florida State Parks* on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Florida Park Service encourages residents and visitors to celebrate the contributions of veterans and active military personnel at one of Florida’s 174 state parks, trails and historic sites.
“Veterans Day is a day of reflection and a time when we can thank our veterans for their service in the armed forces,” said Donald Forgione, director of the Florida Park Service. “I am honored to provide free entry to Florida State Parks for everyone to recognize our veterans.”
All other use fees, such as overnight accommodations and tours, will be charged as usual.
Pictured: Big Lagoon State Park.
Upper 40’s Tonight
November 10, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Patchy fog after 1am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 48. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph.
Veterans Day: Areas of fog before 8am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 76. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. North wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 66. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 43. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 61. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 67.
Monday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70.
Veterans Day Programs Planned Tuesday In Century, Northview
November 9, 2015
Veteran’s Day programs will be held Tuesday morning at Northview High School and in Century.
Northview High School – Tuesday, November 10
Northview High School will have its annual Veteran’s Day program on Tuesday, November 10 in the school’s theater. There will be two programs with the first program starting at 9:35 am. The second program will start shortly after the completion of the first program at approximately 10:30 am.
The guest speaker will be Captain Carl Mock, United States Navy, retired. Captain Mock served 38 years before retiring in June 2005. During his 38 years of service he rose through the ranks from E-1 to O-6. His final active duty tour was as Commanding Officer, Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training, NAS Pensacola . All veterans, their families and community members are invited to attend.
Town of Century, Tuesday, November 10
Century will celebrate veterans on Tuesday, November 10 at 10 a.m with guests Rep. Mike Hill, the Byrneville Elementary School Chorus and the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. The event has been moved indoors to the Century Community Center on West Highway 4 due to wet conditions at the park.
Pictured: The Byrneville Elementary School Chorus perform during last year’s Veteran’s Day program in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Kora Music Tonight At Molino Branch Library
November 9, 2015
The Molino Branch Library will present a concert tonight featuring a unique instrument — the kora.
The kora, a 21 string instrument used extensively in West Africa, resembles the sound of a harp and can even be played to resemble a delta blues guitar.
Tonight’s concert will be y Sean Gaskell of Asheville, N.C, who has performed in the United States, Gambia and Senegal.
Gaskell will perform at three library locations in November.
–Monday, November 9, 6 p.m. – Molino Branch Library, 6450-A Highway 95A
–Thursday, November 12, 10:30 a.m. – Tryon Branch Library, 1200 Langley Avenue
–Thursday, November 12, 6 p.m. – Pensacola Library, 239 North Spring Street
The event is free.
Weather Becoming More Like Fall
November 9, 2015
Here is your official North Escambia area forecast:
Tonight: Patchy drizzle. Patchy fog after 10pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. North wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday: Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 73. North wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 50. Northeast wind around 5 mph.
Veterans Day: Sunny, with a high near 76. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers after 3am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before 9am. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming north in the afternoon.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49. North wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North wind 5 to 15 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 64.
Northview QB Club Hosting Community Pancake Supper Thursday
November 9, 2015
The Northview High School Quarterback Club will host a community wide pancake supper fundraiser for the Northview Chiefs football team this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Bratt. $5 per plate and donations will be accepted.
The Quarterback Club is asking the community to come out and support the hometown team as they head to the first round of the playoffs.
The Chiefs will travel to Vernon High School Friday night.