Thousands Attend Flomaton Fall Festival; Clown Costumes Banned
October 28, 2016
The population of Flomaton roughly doubled Thursday night for the town’s Harvest Festival and Trick-or-Treat Around the Block.
An estimated 3,000 people attended the annual event, many in costumes. But there were no clown costumes to be found among the princesses, superheroes, ghosts, goblins and at least one “unreal” Donald Trump. The town banned clown costumes due to a September evil clown scare that had schools on lockdown and led to arrests.
A 22-year old Flomaton woman was charged with making a terrorist threat in connection with “Flomo Klown” Facebook pages that prompted the lockdown of multiple schools in Escambia County (AL) in September. Several juveniles were also implicated.
The clown costumes were banned “due to security purposes”, according to a public post by the Flomaton Police Department.
Flomaton Police said Thursday night’s event was successful with just a few minor incidents. Three children lost their parents in the excitement and crowds, and there was a medical call. All children were safely returned to their parents.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Bratt Elementary School Names Students Of The Month
October 27, 2016
The following students (pictured above) were named Students of the Month for September at Bratt Elementary School.
- Brylee Peters
- Bentley Lowery (not pictured)
- Abigail Brown
- Callie McCann
- Alexis Amerson
- Emmalee Grimes
- Ja’kari Evans
- Ashlynn Gregson
- Kamryn Thompson
- Wesley Lambeth
- Makayla Plato
- Christian Caraway
- Addison Classen
- Mary-Clayton Dawson
- Luke Chavers
- Daniel Johnson
- Aliyah Fountain
- Callie Davis
- Ja’mya Thomas
- Carsyn Dortch
- Maggie Godwin
- Olivia Boatwright
- Jaquez Moorer
The students pictured below, Bentley Lowery and Mary-Clayton Dawson, were chosen to represent Bratt Elementary School as Escambia County Students of the Month for September.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Student Council Haunted House Is Saturday Night
October 26, 2016
The Tate High School Student Council will hold a Haunted House Saturday night. From 5-6 p.m. it will be a “kid friendly” scare level, while from 7-9 p.m. it will be “very scary”. The Haunted House will be in the Tate Cafeteria. $5 for a wristband, $1 for readmission. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Elementary SGA Pumpkin Contest Nets $522 For Nemour’s Clinic
October 26, 2016
The fourth and fifth grade members of the Byrneville Elementary School Student Government Association (SGA) recently held a pumpkin decorating contest that raided $522 for the Nemour’s Clinic for Childhood Cancer Awareness. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward Names Students Of The Month
October 26, 2016
Ernest Ward Middle School has named Students of the Month for September. They are (L-R) Lane Wilson, eighth grade; John Bashore, seventh grade; and Kohle Harigel, sixth grade. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate Aggies Breast Cancer Walk Raises Over $2K
October 25, 2016
Over 100 people took part in the recent Aggies Support the Fight: A Walk to Help End Breast Cancer at Tate High School, hosted by Tate High School’s Community Caregivers and National Honor Society.
Organizers had hopes of 300 laps walked, representing 300,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, but participants walked just over 400 laps. The proceeds were combined with the Lady Aggies volleyball team’s Dig Pink proceeds and the Student Council’s “Fight Like an Aggie” shirt proceeds for a combined donation of just over $2,100 to the Pensacola Breast Cancer Association.
Plans are already underway for a second annual walk in 2017.
Additional Tate High School clubs — FAB, Art Club, Mu Alpha Theta, HOSA, and Spanish Club — also worked to make the walk successful.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Helping Others: Grand Opening Today For New Cantonment Thrift Store
October 25, 2016
A grand opening was held Tuesday at a new secondhand thrift store in Cantonment that aims to help others.
Saint Monica’s Episcopal Church officially opened Monica’s Attic Thrift Store in the old Winn Dixie shopping center at 470 Highway 29 South. Regular operating hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Patrons of Monica’s Attic Thrift Store can shop knowing their purchases will positively impact the community, and donors can recycle items they no longer use or need, with the benefit of a tax deduction. Carrying a variety of gently used home décor, furniture, housewares, and books, as well as clothing and accessories for men, women and children, store sales will fund the community food pantry and the beans and rice programs of Saint Monica’s Episcopal Church.
Leadership of the congregation, which includes approximately 135 members, saw a promising opportunity to enhance their service to the community with the development of a thrift store, says Rev. Anthony MacWhinnie, II.
“Our aim with the store is to offer quality items at reasonable prices for those who may be shopping on a limited budget, while also establishing a self-sustaining means by which we can further expand our outreach services to benefit more families and individuals in this community,” MacWhinnie explains. “Keeping in mind our fundamental purpose as a body of believers is to love and serve others, the thrift store was a natural avenue for our church to continue to positively impact our neighbors in very practical, but important ways.”
In addition to the thrift store, the congregation extends several ministries to the community at large. Their emergency food pantry allows the church to supply a bag of non-perishable foods and basic hygiene products on the spot, any time a sudden need arises, such as a personal tragedy or natural disaster.
To provide meals to those in need more frequently, the monthly beans and rice ministry packages and distributes gifts of food, including large bags of beans, rice and other items as available. Since the program was established in 2008, the church has served an average of 30 local families each month. But recently, the need has increased, with growing numbers of people gathering at the church on the last Saturday of the month to receive the generous helpings of food offered.
Donations may be dropped off at the store during operating hours. Special arrangements for large donations may be made by calling (850) 780-6888.
Pictured: Monica’s Attic Thrift Store in Cantonment. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Northview Senior Night
October 24, 2016
Northview High School held Senior Night Friday, honoring football players, band members, cheerleaders, a dance team member and NJROTC members that have been part of the 2016 football season.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Pope Appoints Tate Graduate As New Bishop Of Memphis
October 23, 2016
Bishop Martin Holley, a graduate of Tate High School, was appointed by Pope Francis and recently installed as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Memphis.
“With faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the love of God in my heart, I do accept the pastoral care of the people of God in the Diocese of Memphis,” declared Bishop Holley after the papal mandate appointing him to Memphis was read. “I resolve to faithfully serve the Church in this diocese.”. He was installed during a ceremony at the Cook Convention Center.
After making his pronouncement, Bishop Holley was presented with a crosier, his shepherd’s staff, and escorted to his cathedral, his bishop’s chair – the symbols of his authority.
The crowd of nearly 3,000 who attended the Mass burst into cheers and gave a standing ovation as the new bishop of Memphis assumed his post. He was then welcomed by representatives of his new diocese, and by members of other faiths in the city of Memphis.
In his first homily to his new flock, Bishop Holley urged them to “love others as Jesus has loved us.” “In God’s love, we find the fullness of grace, life, peace and joy,” he said.
During his installation Mass, Bishop Holley noted that his episcopal motto is “His mercy endures forever.”
He urged the faithful of Memphis “to love and to bring the mercy of Jesus Christ into the lives of those who need to know His love and mercy.”
One of Bishop Holley’s first acts after officially becoming the Bishop of Memphis was to join Catholic Charities volunteers in assembling bags of food and other items for the homeless.
Holley was born in Pensacola. While his mother was pregnant with the future bishop, she, along with her husband and their seven older children, converted to the Catholic faith. When Holley was born on Dec. 31, 1954, he was named after the pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Cantonment, the family’s new parish priest. Bishop Holley is the 8th of 14 children of Sylvester and Mary Holley, both of whom are deceased.
Bishop Holley attended Catholic elementary schools and was captain of the basketball team at Tate High School, where he is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame, and then attended Faulkner State Junior College in Bay Minette, AL. He played basketball and earned a degree in management at Alabama State University in Montgomery, where he was named the university’s outstanding collegian.
Having felt the call to the priesthood from a young age, Bishop Holley attended Theological College in Washington and completed his seminary studies at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton, Beach, Florida. He was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in 1987.
In Florida, then-Father Holley served as a parochial vicar and later administrator of St. Mary Parish in Fort Walton Beach. He also served at St. Paul and Little Flower parishes in Pensacola. He served as spiritual director of the Serra Club of West Florida, which promotes vocations to the priesthood, and since 1983, he has been a member of the Joint Conference of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.
Bishop Holley was ordained as a bishop of Washington in 2004 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Hundreds Attend Williams Station Day; Dancers Dazzle Crowd (With Gallery)
October 23, 2016
Hundreds attended the annual Williams Station Day in Atmore Saturday, including a large crowd for the day’s entertainment — including Twirl Time and the Northview High School Dance Team.
Williams Station Day takes its name from Atmore’s early history when in 1866 the community was a supply stop along the Mobile and Great Northern railroad. Festival-goers were entertained by a wide variety of musical acts, and a wide variety of arts and crafts were also available
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
