Operation Christmas Child Collection Week At First Baptist Bratt
November 15, 2017
Volunteers have been busy this week at the First Baptist Church of Bratt during “National Collection Week” for Operation Christmas Child. For the 24th year, the simple, gift-filled shoe boxes will bring Christmas joy and evangelistic materials to children in over 130 countries across the world.
National Collection Week for OCC is November 13-20. The First Baptist Church of Bratt is the official drop-off location/OCC Relay Center for the north end of Escambia County, FL.
Pastor Tim Hawsey, Relay Center coordinator, said the shoe boxes are distributed by trained local pastors and volunteers around the world…right where the children live. The children that receive the box are invited to participate in a twelve step bible study called The Greatest Journey translated into their native language and taught by local people the children know.
Collection hours at the First Baptist Church of Bratt will be:
- Thursday, Nov. 16: 9 a.m. -noon, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 17: 9 a.m. -noon, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov . 18: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 19: 9 a.m. -noon, 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 20: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
“This is about being a blessing and bringing God’s love and hope to children in poverty around the world that would not receive it otherwise. We have gone through the intense process of been approved as a church to be a Relay Center to collect the boxes from individuals, families, and churches of our area, document and pack them into special cartons and take them to the next level for Samaritan’s Purse, and we have been blessed to do it for eight years now,” Hawsey said.
Operation Christmas Child boxes should be packed in a specific manner. For more information, call Hawsey at the First Baptist Church of Bratt at (850) 327-6529, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ, or call (800) 353-5949. Resources are available for churches that wish to participate.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deadline Near For FFA Smoked Meat Orders, Citrus Sale Continues
November 15, 2017
The order deadline is today for the annual Northview High School FFA Alumni Smoked Turkey and Boston Butt Sale. And, the Northview FFA’s Fruit Sale is also underway with delivery before Christmas.
Turkeys And Boston Butts
In the annual fund raiser, you can choose either a seven to nine pound smoked Boston butt or a 10-12 pound smoked turkey for $30 each.
Boston butts will be available for pickup on Monday, November 20, and the the smoked turkeys will be available for pickup on Tuesday, November 21 at either Highland Baptist Church in Molino or the Northview Ag Department (complete pickup details are on the order form).
Proceeds from the sale will go to benefit the Northview High School FFA Scholarship Fund. The sale is sponsored by Archie’s Catering Smokehouse in Molino. For a printable order form, click here. Orders must be placed by Thursday, November 16 .
Fruit Sale
The NHS FFA is selling citrus and other fruits, including naval oranges, grapefruit, oranges tangerines, pears, pineapples and sweet potatoes.
Orders must be made by Tuesday, November 28. Delivery is expected during the week of December 11 with pickup at the Northview Ag Department. Direct delivery to anywhere in the Continental U.S. is also available.
To order, visit https://fundraising-market.com/northview-ffa/#SHOP.
For more information, call (850) 327-6681, ext. 248.
International Group Visits Northview High’s Ag Program, FFA
November 14, 2017
The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council and the U.S. Department of State hosted an international delegation Monday at Northview High School. The group met with Northview High FFA students and agriscience instructors to learn about the benefits of experiential learning for students and how students are able to translate skills from agricultural education to entrepreneurship activities.
The group is visiting programs such as the Northview FFA to learn leadership strategies and communication skills used to manage political and social challenges.
While on the Northview campus, the international group also had a chance to get up close with the beef cattle raised on site by FFA and agricultural program students.
Participants were from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
SpongeBob: Downtown Pensacola Crowd Yells ‘Chocolate’ Thanks To North Escambia Residents
November 14, 2017
“Chocolate!”
A sizeable crowd gathered at the Palafox Pier in downtown Pensacola Monday evening with a single purpose — to yell “Chocolate!” repeatedly. As strange as it may sound, it was a social media experiment of sorts and a tribute to a SpongeBob Squarepants episode. And the brainchild of two North Escambia residents — Morgan Payne and Steven Gregory of Bratt.
Many say “Chocolate” is one the greatest SpongeBob episodes ever, as Patrick and SpongeBob go out selling chocolates door to door. One one house, the man just starts screaming “Chocolate” over and over.
“Well one day I was thinking it would be hilarious to just have a bunch of people meet in this public place and scream “‘Chocolates’ like in the SpongeBob episode, so I told my friend Steven Gregory about it and and he was all for it,” Payne said. “So we both planned it together. Honestly we thought it would be a joke and no one would ever show up but me and him and maybe a few of our friends.”
But they were surprised as their Facebook event page had over 500 people interested and 200 committed to attending. By Monday, the day of the event, over 1,300 people were following and almost 400 people had shared.
“When we got there, we were surprised that there were actually quite a bunch of people we had never even seen before there,” Payne said. “Everyone yelled so loud for about 15 minutes, then the rest of the time we sang songs from SpongeBob.”
Payne and Gregory are already planning to do a “flash mob” again — the exact details are still in the works.
“There were a lot of people who wanted to come but couldn’t because of work or sickness so we are definitely going to do something like this again,” she said.
A video and scenes from the event are below. Video and photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photo: Yellow Gold And White
November 12, 2017
Pictured: The yellow gold sky and white cotton crop seen during Saturday afternoon’s sunset on Gobbler Road in Oak Grove. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Century Honors Veterans (With Photo Gallery)
November 10, 2017
The Town of Century held a program to honor veterans Thursday afternoon at the Century Community Center. The program featured patriotic music from the Byrneville Elementary School choir, the presentation of the colors and an American flag folding demonstration by the Northview High School Naval JROTC. Guest speaker was Century resident Sgt. Major Hal Carnley who retired with 31-years military service.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Let’s Sing America: Bratt Elementary Veterans Day Program (With Gallery)
November 10, 2017
Bratt Elementary School presented “Let’s Sing America”, a special Veterans Day program, Thursday.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Northview Holds Veterans Program (With Photo Gallery)
November 10, 2017
Northview High School honored veterans Thursday with their annual Veterans Day program.
The guest speaker was Captain Chuck Kicker USN (ret) who served for 30 years as a Navy Surface Warfare Officer. He has continued his service to our country as a federal civil service employee and is currently the Executive Director of the Center of Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT), training future Sailors and Marines.
The event also included essay readings, a flag folding detail by the Northview NJROTC and special recognition of veterans.
For more more photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Bratt’s Doughnut Boy Featured On CBS Evening News
November 10, 2017
Bratt’s very own “Donut Boy” Tyler Carach was featured in a report Thursday night on the national “CBS Evening News”.
Tyler, 10, and his mother Sheena, who is a former police officer, created the “I DONUT need a reason to THANK a cop” program. Since buying doughnuts for four Escambia County deputies at a Bratt convenience store last August, Tyler has taken his mission on the road, providing doughnuts for law enforcement agencies across the country.
He recently completed a 10-day, 6,000 mile journey using doughnuts to thank law enforcement officers in several states, including officers in Las Vegas shortly after the mass shooting massacre. So far, he’s passed out about 34,000 doughnuts.
CBS News report Mark Strassmann caught up with Tyler, who is a student at Byrneville Elementary School, in Houston during his 10 day trip.
To view the CBS Evening News report, click here.
Images courtesy CBS News.
Ernest Ward Middle Honors Veterans (With Photo Gallery)
November 8, 2017
Ernest Ward Middle School paused to honor veterans from the across the area Thursday morning.
The school’s chorus performed patriotic music and a special dramatic presentation centered around the men of Iwo Jima was performed by the drama class. Guest speaker was Master at Arms First Class Wartley-Banks from Pensacola.
The annual Veterans Day program at Ernest Ward is a longstanding community tradition, held annually for about the last 25 years.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pictured top: An Ernest Ward Middle School drama presentation centered around the men of Iwo Jima. Pictured inset: EWMS Assistant Principal Virkeisha Palmer performs “God Bless the USA”. Pictured below: Numerous local veterans were recognized, including World War II veteran Raymond Norris. Pictured bottom: Another scene from the Iwo Jima presentation. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
