Keaton Brown, Kendall Barrow Named EREC Scholarship Winners
April 25, 2020
Escambia River Electric Cooperative has named the winners of the 2020 Herman D. Johnson Scholarship Awards. They are Keaton Brown from Northview High School in Escambia County and Kendall Barrow from Jay High School in Santa Rosa County.
Each will receive $1,000 each for four years providing they continue to meet the scholarship criteria.
Keaton Brown is the son of Chris and Sandy Brown. He is currently ranked at the top of his class. He plans to major in aerospace engineering and was nominated by Congressman Matt Gaetz to the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Brown is an active member of the NJROTC and has served in several positions including orienting team captain, color guard commander, drill team commander and administration officer. Brown is team captain for the cross country team and vice president of the math club. He is also a member of the Beta Club and school advisory council and has volunteered with the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Walnut Hill Club. Brown served as an EREC delegate for the Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., youth tours.
Kendall Barrow is the daughter of Frederick and Jeanna Barrow. She is planning to attend the University of West Florida and major in elementary education. Barrow is an honor student at Jay High School and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Pensacola State College. She plays basketball for the Royals and is a member of the student government association, Beta Club and National Honor Society. Barrow is a K-4 assistant at Faith Christian Academy. Barrow also volunteers at the Jay Pro Rodeo, My Father’s Arrows and Kings Harvest.
Photos: Blue Angels And Thunderbirds Fly Over Escambia County
April 22, 2020
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flew over Pensacola Beach and downtown Pensacola Tuesday afternoon. Pictured above and below: The U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Tuesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos by Perry Doggrell and Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Grant Gets His Wish – A Really Big Rolling Birthday Parade (With Photo Gallery)
April 21, 2020
Almost every little boys loves cars and trucks.
Especially Grant, who was born with a congenital heart defect. He’s proudly celebrating his seventh birthday in Cantonment, and scores of people came together Monday evening to help him celebrate.
The procession included the public safety vehicles you might expect to see in any parade — Escambia County Sheriff’s Office vehicles and motorcycles, Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County Mounted Posse, Florida Highway Patrol.
And there were race cars, lines of motorcycles, several car clubs, sports cars, antique cars, cement trucks, an old military vehicle, a fleet of wreckers and more. Even Pensacola’s boat car (it’s a car and a boat). Everything a seven-year old boy could wish for.
Grant was scheduled for a Make-A-Wish Foundation trip this year, but that was canceled for now due to the pandemic.
Instead, the community came together to give Grant, who was wearing his own personalized “Happy Quarantined Birthday” shirt, a rolling birthday parade to remember.
And he received his own set of wheels — a kid-sized four wheeler.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Photos by Meagan Kennedy and Alisa Sanders for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Here Are The New Honor Society Members At Ernest Ward Middle School
April 17, 2020
New members were scheduled to inducted into the National Junior Honor Society during a candlelight ceremony Friday at Ernest Ward Middle School, but that was canceled due to the pandemic.
The NJHS is the nation’s premier organization established to recognize outstanding middle school students. More than just an honor roll, NJHS serves to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship and character.
New 2020 National Junior Honor Society members at Ernest Ward are:
Rabekah Abbott
Emma Benson
Olivia Boatwright
Ava Brock
Blakely Campbell
Ashton Covan
Chloe Criswell
Colton Criswell
Beau Daw
Payton Daw
Carsyn Dortch
Maddie Driskell
Tyteanna Dubose
Mayson Edwards
Alysia Enfinger
Noah Faulkner
Aliyah Fountain
Raleigh Gibson
Jamison Gilman
Braden Glick
Noah Goslee
Madalyn Grimes
Ava Gurganus
Jade Howell
Mary C. Hughes
Markavia Johnson
Aubree Jordan
Laura Laborde
Kamryn Langham
Madison Levins
Jared Long
Brooke Lytton
Logan Madden
Evin Matlock
Mattie McLaney
Addison Miller
Chloe Morris
Colby Pugh
Ally Richardson
Naoki Rogers
Maggie Scott
Lilly Smallwood
Brit Smith
Mallory Smith
Zakyla Smith
Jayden White
Brian Yoder
Brandon Odom
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
You Are Loved! Check Out Pine Forest High School’s Shoutout To Students
April 7, 2020
Pine Forest High School posted a shoutout to students Monday night on social media.
With handmade signs for each word and individual photos, the shoutout said “Dear Eagles. We miss you so very much and want you to know you are loved!”
Click the photo to enlarge.
Escambia County Company Begins 3-D Printing Face Mask Shields Inspired By Facebook Post
April 7, 2020
As COVID-19 spread across the United States in March, Caroline Shaw knew the pandemic would alter many parts of her job as a sourcing manager at GE Renewable Energy’s wind turbine factory in Pensacola.
What Shaw hadn’t expected was for the virus to present her with a problem that seemed to have no simple solution.
A team of her coworkers had been assigned to screen employees for fevers or other signs of infection, and her job was to keep the team supplied with proper personal protective equipment, especially N95 face masks that limit the spread of the disease. Yet Shaw knew that adding to the small supply she had on hand would mean diverting masks from doctors and nurses who were in even more dire need of protection. “There’s a supply out there for the medical community,” Shaw says, “but we didn’t want to tap into that.”
Shaw hit upon a possible way out while browsing Facebook on Sunday, March 22. A message posted by a friend from her church described a couple in Virginia who were using a simple 3D printer to build plastic shields for protecting disposable N95 masks.
3D-printed mask shields are meant to extend the life of the N95 masks. The concept is simple — by placing the protective mask shield over the N95 masks, it helps to limit exposure of the mask to contaminants. In turn, this offers an opportunity to extend the life of an N95 mask beyond its typical one-time use while supply remains constrained. “These masks are intended to be disposable, but the CDC has guidelines on what to do in crisis situations,” Shaw explains.
As it happened, Shaw knew a lot about additive manufacturing, as 3D-printing is more formally known. Her plant uses an industrial-grade 3D printer to make tooling and custom-made gauges and prototype wind turbine components.
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So Shaw got moving. One of the central advantages of additive manufacturing is the speed it can move from idea to prototype to finished product. Shaw hit upon the idea on Sunday, the same day as her Facebook eureka moment, printed a plastic prototype of the N95 protective shield on a simple 3D printer on Monday and gave it to the on-site nurse to try out that afternoon.
Word spread fast. That same Tuesday, Tiffany Craft, a senior repair engineer, had caught wind of Shaw’s efforts and immediately began printing the mask shields. Craft gave the shields to her emergency response team and dropped a couple off at the local hospital. Craft has also been testing multiple materials and prototyping full mask designs to provide protection. Today, she’s helping build a design library where GE teams from around the world planning to 3D-print personal protection equipment can go for insights.
Soon, 20 of Shaw and Craft’s colleagues from around GE joined in the effort, coordinating their contributions to crowdsourcing improvements in the design. They included U.S. and Hungary-based teams from GE Aviation, GE Research and GE Power.
While the initial version worked well enough, the testers reported back several flaws. The tabs that kept the shield in place had a tendency to break off, so the team thickened the tabs and narrowed the slots they fit into on the chin piece. They also eliminated the elastic strap and created a plastic nub where the band of the N95 mask could fit, making the shields easier for workers in gloves to get on and off.
Shaw, Craft and their colleagues aren’t done. While additive manufacturing excels at rapid prototyping, it takes about 40 minutes to make each shield. The next and faster iteration of the manufacturing process could involve water jetting, which uses streams of water laced with tiny pieces of garnet to carve the masks out of sheets of plastic. This method has the additional advantage of being able to form the shield from plastics that are less porous than the ones 3D-printed. This could make them easier to clean by lowering the chance of a virus being able to cling to the shields.
That advance should allow shields to be produced every 5 minutes. After that, the team is looking to move to laser or die cutting, with the goal of being able to produce a shield in just 5 seconds.
McDavid Special Needs Girl Gets Special Surprise Drive-By Birthday Parade From Escambia First Responders
April 5, 2020
In the days of COVID-19 and social distancing, traditional birthday parties for kids are out.
A 15-year old special needs girl in McDavid was unable to have a party Saturday, but the party came to Ella Kizer thanks to Escambia County first responders.
Led by Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chip Simmons, the parade included other deputies, the ESCO Mounted Posse, Escambia County EMS and the McDavid and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue along with decorated vehicles with friends and family.
For a photo gallery, click here.
As the parade passed by, Ella shrieked with joy and waved. She received presents, birthday cupcakes and balloons.
“This is for me? Wow,” she exclaimed with a huge smile. “This is the best birthday ever!”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century’s Mayor, Good Samaritans Donated Medical Supplies To Local Practice
April 4, 2020
Century Mayor Henry Hawkins and several good Samaritans recently donated medical supplies to Community Health Northwest Florida’s Century adult practice. They delivered bandages, gowns, gauze sponges, glucose testers, and more supplies are on the way.
Century’s Clinical Office Manager Jennifer Johnson said she is “grateful and humbled”.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
These Aren’t Just Your Grandma’s Old Quilts. Check Out This Local Quilt Show In Photos.
March 15, 2020
The Pensacola Quilters’ Guild held their biannual show and sale Friday and Saturday at the Pensacola Fairgrounds.
Over 150 quilters took part in the 2020 Quilt Show “Portal to the Future” with over 200 quilts made by members over the last two years on display.
The show included traditional handcrafted quilts, art and modern quilts with intricate computerized designs. Organizers said the show covered the spectrum of quilting today and showed just how far quilting has advanced into a textile art form.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
It’s Getting Warmer, But It’s Not Time To Fertilize The Lawn Yet
March 14, 2020
Days may be getting warmer, but that does not mean your lawn is ready for nitrogen fertilizer, according to the Escambia County Extension.
Roots are not growing well enough to absorb the fertilizer until much later in the spring. Research found that nitrogen fertilizer applied to turf before mid April was lost though the soil, eventually making its way into local bodies of water.
“Work on other parts of your landscape but wait to apply fertilizer until at least mid April or early May. You are not getting a jump on a healthy lawn by fertilizing now,” the Extension Service said.