Gorgeous Grandma Day
September 8, 2008
Some of the most beautiful women in North Escambia posed for “glamour shots” recently in Century.
The Century Care Center recently held Gorgeous Grandma Day. The ladies of CCC received the full treatment, from hair to makeup and wardrobe, before posing for their photographs.
To see more photos of the ladies that participated in the event, click here.
Remember What? Ray’s Chapel Youth Hold Back To School Bash
September 7, 2008
The youth at Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church held a Youth Back to School Fellowship Saturday night.
The church begins a new church year today, and grades six to college got together last night to kick off the new church year.
The youth played volleyball, raced tricycles and ate. Bro. Nathan Brown, pastor at Ray’s Chapel, gave a devotion with the theme “Remember”, and each youth received a tshirt with the word “Remember”. When someone asks them “Remember what?”, they learned to say “Remember Jesus loves you and has a special plan for your life”.
Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church is located in the Bogia community.
For a photo gallery from the event, click here.
Have an event at your church? Let us know about it by emailing news@northescambia.com
Pictured above: Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church youth held a back to school bash Saturday night. Pictured below: They also had a little three-wheel-action on tricycles. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com.
“B” Is For “Benny’s Bar-B-Q”; Chamber Honors Carver/Century School For Recent Gains
September 4, 2008
The letter “B” was for “Benny’s Bar-B-Q” Wednesday at Carver/Century K-8 School as the faculty and staff were honored for their part in improving the school’s state grade.
The Century Chamber of Commerce provided the lunch for the entire staff at Carver/Century to thank them for their hard work in taking the school from an “F” school to a “B” rated school in just one year.
“Principal Jeff Garthwaite, teachers and staff of Carver Century K-8 Elementary School in recognition of their hard work and dedication to bring our school from and “F” to a “B” in just one year. ‘Thank you’ from the entire community of Century,” a certificate presented to Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite said.
The faculty and staff enjoyed barbecue pork sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and cake, all served up by a smiling and grateful Benny Barnes, president of the Century Chamber of Commerce. Sporting a red “Benny’s Bar-B-Q” apron, he piled barbecue high on each sandwich while offering up words of praise to each faculty member for their part in the school’s improvement.
Several community leaders were also on hand for the event sponsored by the Century Chamber of Commerce. Two local businesses also helped out with the event…Whataburger in Century donated buns, and Century’s Piggly Wiggly provided the cake.
Pictured above: Century Chamber President Benny Barnes, in the red “Benny’s Bar-B-Q” apron, serves up smoked pork Wednesday to Carver/Century K-8 staff and faculty. Pictured below: Century Mayor Freddie McCall, Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite and Barnes with a certificate presented to Carver/Century honored them for their work in improving from a “F” to a “B” school. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Abandoned Boat Found On River
September 4, 2008
This boat was found abandoned at Fischer’s Landing on the Escambia River near Century Wednesday morning. Authorities were unable to locate the owner of the Bayliner boat. We though the boat made an interesting, almost artsy, black and white picture that we’d share with you. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Bratt Elementary Holds Open House, Shows Off New Media Center
August 29, 2008
Bratt Elementary showed off a new media center Thursday night.
The annual open house was held at Bratt Elementary School. Parents and guardians joined their children to meet teachers and tour the facilities.
The highlight of the tour for many was the new school’s new Media Center. The modern building includes a library, a computer center, a closed circuit television studio and more.
Carver/Century K-8 School will hold Open House Thursday, September 11 at 6:00 at the school.
Molino Park Elementary School will hold Open House Thursday, September 11 at 6:30 at the school. Molino Park will hold a PTA board meeting on September 4 at 5:00 in the afternoon at the school.
Byrneville Elementary will hold Open House on Thursday, September 4 at 6:00 following a 5:30 PTO meeting.
For a photo gallery from open house at Bratt Elementary School and the school’s new media center, click here.
Pictured above: Students and parents tour the new media center at Bratt Elementary School Thursday evening during the school’s open house. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Ray’s Chapel Member Deploys To Iraq
August 26, 2008
A member of Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church in Bogia left Sunday for training before being deployed to Kuwait or Iraq.
US Air Force Sgt. John Weaver departed Sunday for specialized training at Camp Bullis, Texas. He will be at Camp Bullis for six weeks before being deployed overseas for at least six months.
Sgt. Weaver is originally from Jay and currently lives in Pensacola with his wife Lisa and three girls, Krista 12, Randi, 10, and Starla, 7. He is stationed at Hurlbert Field.
He and his family are very active and faithful members of Ray’s Chapel, they make the drive several times a week to the church.
The church held a social in his honor to have extra fellowship with him before deployment. Church members made special items for John’s troop of nine members, such as inspirational bracelets and note pads. The church will continue in their support of Sgt. Weaver and his family with prayers and care boxes in the months to come.
Pictured top: Starla, Lisa, John, Randi and Krista Weaver. Pictured middle: Sgt. Weaver presents the flag during a service at Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church. Pictured below: A church social at Ray’s Chapel in honor of Sgt. Weaver. Submitted photos by Ramona Preston for NorthEscambia.com.
Ramona Preston contributed to this article.
New Northview Student Traveled 7,000 Miles This Weekend To Attend School This Morning
August 18, 2008
There is a new sophomore at Northview High School this morning, and she traveled about 7,000 miles this weekend to get there.
Her name is Seira Kosakai, 15, and she is an exchange student from Tokyo, Japan. She arrived in the United States Saturday night. She’ll be spending her tenth grade year at Northview while living with her host sister Mallory Bell, the daughter of Alan and and Gail Bell. Mallory is also in the tenth grade at Northview.
Seira is fluent in English. She enjoys music, especially guitar and piano; cheerleading; Disney movies; animals and studying the English language. And, like most 15 year olds, she likes shopping. She hopes to one day become a “music star”.
Alan said Mallory’s arrival at the Mobile airport Saturday night was preceding by an amazing sequence of events.
He said not only was daughter Mallory reading the newspaper just a few short weeks ago, an unusual event for her, she was reading the classifieds. It was there that she saw an ad looking for host families for exchange students.
“Gail and I were very apprehensive about this, and considered it to be a passing interest that Mallory wasn’t really committed to being a ‘host sister’,” Alan said. But Mallory did all of the research and registered the family only as a host family. The American Intercultural Student Exchange organization called the Bells on August 2 to begin the process of getting an exchange student to the Bells in the United States.
Seira will become part of the Bell family for the next 10 months, through June of next year. The exchange program expects host families to treat the exchange students as family, even so far as to call each other host mom, host dad, etc. In the AISE exchange program, the host family provides room and board for the student, while the student’s family provides money for clothing, souvenirs, health insurance, etc.
After the August 2 phone conversation, Mallory went to the AISE website at aise.com and found four girls with similar interests. At the website, the Bells could see each student’s school transcripts, pictures and personal interests. All that led the family to choose Seira.
While in the U.S. under the AISE program, Seira will visit area middle and elementary schools to share her culture with other students in the area. She will also attend the First Baptist Church of Bratt with Mallory and the rest of the Bell family.
During the school year, NorthEscambia.com will check in with Seira and the Bell family and keep you updated on Seira’s life in America and school in Bratt.
Pictured above: Mom Gail Bell, Seira Kosakai, Mallory Bell and Alan Bell at home. Pictured below: Mallory Bell, family friend Bailee Deese, Seira Kosakai, Alan Bell and Gail Bell at the Mobile Airport Saturday night. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cheat Sheet: Quick Back To School Facts You Need To Know To Survive
August 18, 2008
Here’s the last minute cheat sheet on things you need to know on this first day of school:
School Start Times Are Different
Most elementary schools in Escambia County have a morning start time of 7:30 and an afternoon dismissal time of 2:00. The earliest students can be dropped off at the elementary schools, including Bratt and Molino Park, is 7:05.
Carver/Century has an 8:55 a.m to 3:25 p.m. day for both elementary and middle school students, with an early drop time of 8:30. Byrneville Elementary has a start time of 7:45 a.m. with an early drop time of 7:15. Dismissal time at Byrneville is 2:00.
At Ernest Ward Middle School, the morning start time will be 8:30 and the afternoon dismissal will be 3:10. The earliest students can be dropped off will be 8:15. At Carver/Century, morning start time will be 8:55 and the afternoon dismissal will be 3:25. The early drop time for middle school students at Carver/Century will be 8:30. Most of the rest of the middle schools in the county will have a 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. school day.
At Northview High School, the school day will run 7:40 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. The earliest students will be allowed on campus will be 7:25. Most other high schools in the county will run 8:30 a.m. to 3:35 p.m.
Buses Run At Different Times Too
Since school starts at a different time this year, buses will run at different times too. Questions about your child’s bus? Call your child’s school
Breakfast and Lunch Cost More For Some
Unless your child qualifies for free and reduced meals, both breakfast and lunch will cost more this year.
Lunch for elementary students that pay regular, full price will jump 20 cents to $2.00. The price of breakfast for elementary students will remain $1.
Breakfast for middle and high school students will be up a nickel to $1.50. The middle and high school lunch price will jump 35 cents to $2.50.
Reduced price breakfast will remain at 30 cents and lunch will stay at 40 cents. The school district can’t raise those prices; they are set by the federal government.
School district officials say the rise in cost for students that don’t qualify for the free and reduced price program is simply due to the rising cost of food. Students that qualified for free and reduced price meals last year must complete an application again this year.
An extra milk at the elementary level will remain at 50 cents.
The price for adult meals, those meals for teachers and staff, will go to $1.80 for breakfast and $3.00 for lunch.
You Can Pay For Meals Online
You can prepay for your child’s breakfast and lunch at mealpayplus.com. You’ll need their student number. That will be sent home with your child, or you can call your school to get it. You can use any major credit card. It’s the cost of the number of meals you choose plus a small service charge per student. But there’s no sending money to school and hoping it arrives or is spent for lunch.
The Breakfast And Lunch Menu
Here is the breakfast and lunch menu for elementary students for the first two days of school:
The elementary menu for breakfast on the first day of school…August 18, will be Pop Tart, cheese wedge and mixed fruit. The lunch menu will be cheese pizza or corn dog, corn, mixed vegetables, peaches and a cookie. Day two, August 19, will have breakfast pizza and pears in the morning. For lunch on the second day, the menu includes BBQ chicken sandwich or grilled cheese sandwich, green beans, carrots, fresh fruit and strawberry Jello.
The Rules And The Dress Code
Each student will receive a copy of the Escambia County Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook during the first few days of school. Take a moment to look at; it can save one of those unwanted calls from the principal.
The biggest change this year? The school day dress code for students in grades 6-12 now applies to every activity after school too, even ball games. Leave the short shorts and baggy pants at home.
If you are just dying to read the handbook before it comes home with your child, click here.
Communications
Communications is a two way street. Make sure you have your child’s school phone number in your cell phone in case you need it one day.
Make sure your child’s school has correct phone numbers for you, both your landline and cell phones. There will be forms sent home the first few days of school asking for the information, and you can send a note to your child’s teacher anytime.
Speaking of the teacher, ask him or her for their extension number at school, and trade email addresses with them. That way you have easy access to your child’s teacher(s).
Checkout List
Make sure you have an updated list of people allowed to check your child out of school. You don’t want to send grandma to school to checkout the kids for her to be told no.
Fall Break
If you are planning ahead for Fall Break, don’t expect it to be a long one this year. The school district has taken the normal Thursday and Friday Thanksgiving break and tossed Wednesday in for a three day Fall Break. It will be November 26-28.
Last Day Of School
Ready for next summer again? The last day of school will be May 29, 2009.
Pictured above: A bulletin board greeting new kindergarten students today at Molino Park Elementary School. NorthEscambia.com photo
Molino Park Students Hold Prayer Walk Prior To New School Year
August 16, 2008
Over two dozen Molino Park Elementary School students took to the hallways of the school Friday morning to ask for the Lord’s blessing on their upcoming school year.
“Dear Lord, bless our teachers, bless our school, bless our students,” they were led in prayer. Following morning orientation for students and parents, the two dozen plus students went from hallway to hallway, holding a short prayer in each one.
Molino park teachers were given a candle with a little note that said “Thank you for being one more light on the path helping our children become all God wants them to be! We are praying for you.”
The event was led by Highland Baptist Church.
Click here for more photos from the Molino Park prayer walk.
What Happens When Your Power Goes Out? Here’s The Deal
August 13, 2008
A few scattered power outages were reported Tuesday night as a line of strong storms moved through North Escambia. Have you ever thought about what happens when your power goes out? NorthEscambia.com thought we would take a look at the behind the scenes things that take place to get your power back on.
Our scenario below involves Escambia River Electric Cooperative and a hypothetical power outage in Walnut Hill. The events could just as well happen in any community in North Escambia on EREC or Gulf Power.
Here’s our little story, “When the Lights Go Out”:
You were on your couch watching the Olympics early last night. The main storm has passed, and the rain outside has just about lulled you into a quick early evening nap.
Then it happens. Your power blinks one, two, three times and it’s off. You make your way in the dark to the kitchen where your glow-in-the-dark EREC magnet on the refrigerator is illuminated enough so that you can read the outage number. You call the number, 1-877-OUT-EREC, and follow the voice prompts to report your home’s outage. Your job is done.
What happens now? First of all, let’s set up the scenario for our hypothetical outage. Let’s say you live on Arthur Brown Road in Walnut Hill. This address receives power from the Oak Grove substation, just across the road from the Oak Grove Park on North Highway 99. You are assuming the evening’s thunderstorm is the culprit for your home being left in the dark. You know the proper action for you to take is to call the EREC outage number which you have done. Now, here’s the sequence of events which will take place to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible.
In our power outage scenario, your call comes in to the dispatch center and your name and address appear immediately on the computer screen. The dispatcher then contacts the on-call EREC crew to make repairs. Since the two-man crew is on-call for the evening, each crewman has driven home an EREC truck loaded with equipment and supplies necessary to repair any typical outage that might occur. So when the dispatch call is received, each crewman leaves his home and heads directly to the site of the outage. He does not need to take extra time to go by the EREC facility and get the vehicle, equipment and supplies needed to repair the outage.
Upon arrival to the outage location, the crew investigates the reason for the power failure. Meanwhile they have received additional calls from the dispatch center letting them know there are other nearby houses on Arthur Brown Road, Corley Road and Juniper Street that are experiencing outages as well. After assessment of the power system, the crew determines that the cause of the outage is an RE failure (an oil reclosure breaker) in the substation due to a lightning strike.
This can be handled quickly by the two-man crew so there is no need for additional personnel to be called in for assistance. The crew repairs the damage and calls the dispatch center to let them know all power has been restored. The dispatch center then calls back each member that has reported a power outage to be sure they do have power.
The purpose of this story is to create a picture of what is actually happening during a typical power restoration. This is only a possible scenario and, of course, there are many different reasons why your power can go out.
“Although we cannot imagine all the power outage scenarios that can happen, there is one thing we can be sure of. EREC will be there to restore your power as quickly as possible in the dead of night, in the middle of terrible storms or whatever the case may be – EREC crews will do what needs to be done to get the lights back on,” said Sabrina Owens, EREC’s marketing director.
She said that in the case of major outages such as those that occur with hurricanes or other severe weather, specific procedures are in place to restore power to the most people in the shortest amount of time. The following steps describe power restoration after a storm.
- Transmission towers and lines supply power to one or more transmission substations. These lines seldom fail, but they can be damaged by a hurricane or tornado. Tens of thousands of people could be served by one high-voltage transmission line, so if there is damage here it gets attention first.
- Escambia River EC has several local distribution substations, each serving thousands of members. When a major outage occurs, the local distribution substations are checked first. A problem here could be caused by failure in the transmission system supplying the substation. If the problem can be corrected at the substation level, power may be restored to a large number of people.
- Main distribution supply lines are checked next if the problem cannot be isolated at the substation. These supply lines carry electricity away from the substation to a group of members, such as a town or housing development. When power is restored at this stage, all members served by this supply line could see the lights come on, as long as there is no problem farther down the line.
- The final supply lines, called tap lines, carry power to the utility poles or underground transformers outside houses or other buildings. Line crews fix the remaining outages based on restoring service to the greatest number of members.
- Sometimes, damage will occur on the service line between your house and the transformer on the nearby pole. This can explain why you have no power when your neighbor does. EREC needs to know you have an outage in this type of situation so that a service crew can repair it.
Members themselves (not the cooperative) are responsible for damage to the service installation on the building. The member will need to have a licensed electrician make these repairs.
For more photos from inside the Oak Grove Power substation, click here.
Special thanks to Sabrina Owens at EREC for her assistance with our story, and to the linemen that assisted with the photographs. It’s worth noting that the photographs were taken on a nice sunny morning rather than during a real power outage after a storm due to the dangers of standing in a power substation after a storm has just passed.
Pictured above: EREC prepare to fix an oil reclosure breaker (RE) failure inside the Oak Grove power substation. Pictured below: That breaker is installed on a transmission line headed to the Arthur Brown Road area of Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
