West Florida High Students Collect Diapers, Wipes, Formula For Hurricane Ida Victims
September 22, 2021
The National Honor Society Chapter at West Florida High School collecting diapers, wipes and baby formula for the littlest victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.
The supplies were delivered to Pensacola law firm Lorium Law for transportation to Louisiana.
WFHS club sponsor Teressa Doman and her National Honor Society students collected over 1,500 diapers. numerous baby wipes, and baby formula.
“The kids have really come together and gotten behind this initiative,” said Doman. “We are just happy to be able to lend a little bit of relief to our neighbors in Louisiana.”
“It is our privilege to be able to gather and deliver tens of thousands of dollars worth of desperately needed donations and supplies directly to the people of Louisiana who were hardest hit by Ida,” said Garrett P. LaBorde, Pensacola managing attorney for the law firm.
Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
If 4th Graders Wrote Their Own Constitution, What Would It Say? (Hint: There’s Food And Naps)
September 20, 2021
If kids could write their own classroom constitution what would it say?
The Byrneville Elementary School fourth graders of Room 43 celebrated Constitution Day last Friday by writing their own “Classroom Constitution”.
It started with great virtues like being fair, being kind, and working hard to the very best of their abilities.
And then there were a few perfect world clauses…the right to eat whenever they want, naps everyday at 1:30 (well, except for music days), free time and free talk time (freedom of speech, you know).
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Arrr Matey! Century Library Celebrates Talk Like A Pirate Day
September 20, 2021
The Century Branch Library celebration National Talk Like a Pirate Day on Saturday.
Children were able to create their own pirate crafts and practice using their pirate vocabulary. (And no one had to walk the plank.)
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Lodge Adopts Ernest Ward Middle School Teacher
September 19, 2021
Cantonment Masonic Lodge #322 has adopted Ernest Ward Middle School English Language Arts (ELA) teacher Alexander Fitzgerald (pictured in brown jacket). The Lodge presented Fitzgerald with a $250 donation and a donation of supplies recently. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Sneak Peek: Planting Thanksgiving Dinner For 1,000 Needy Families
September 19, 2021
Every November, NorthEscambia.com takes you to Farm City Week, and this year we are giving you an early sneak peak.
During Farm City Week, a couple of hundred or so student volunteers from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties work for a day in the fields near Jay to harvest collards, bag sweet potatoes, and more that will feed needy families at Thanksgiving.
This week, the University of Florida’s West Florida Research and Education Center in Jay planted collards donated by Wendt Farm and Nursery. They collards be ready just in time to harvest for Thanksgiving meals for about 1,000 families in partnership with Feeding the Gulf Coast and Waterfront Rescue Mission.
At the bottom of the page, you can see the harvested collards in 2019.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Gas Station Customers Surprised With Free Food
September 18, 2021
People that stopped at a Century gas station got a little extra surprise Friday afternoon.
Northwest Florida Community Outreach held an impromptu mini-food distribution at the Marathon Station at Highway 29 and East Highway 4. The non-profit handed out meat, eggs, yogurt, juice, bread and pastries for free.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Angels Go Gold For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
September 17, 2021
The Blue Angels went gold this week to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
In a show of support, members of the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, The Blue Angels, visited patients and staff at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart Hospital. The team wore their 75th-anniversary gold flight suits to match and honor the colors of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Ransom Middle School Names Students Of The Month
September 17, 2021
Ransom Middle School has named their August students of the month. They are Garrett Groff and Jordyn Banks. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Bonus Photos: Tate And West Florida Cheerleaders, Bands And Student Sections
September 13, 2021
Here is a bonus photo gallery of the Tate and West Florida cheerleaders, bands, student sections and more from last Friday night.
For the photo gallery, click or tap here.
For a game action story and photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by William Reynolds, click to enlarge.
Where Were You That September Morning?
September 11, 2021
We publish this piece on an annual basis, and we encourage you to comment below, answering the question ‘Where Were You That September Morning?
September 11, 2001. It’s been 20 years.
Life, at least when that morning began, seemed good. I’ve always been a work at home dad, so I was home with my two girls. The youngest was almost four months old, and the oldest was approaching her fourth birthday. It was a normal morning. The little one was asleep, “fat and happy” as we used to say, after a morning bottle. The oldest was in the living room just a few feet from my office watching PBS Kids on the TV as I worked on a project for a client.
Then this arrived in my inbox:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 08:52am– World trade center damaged; unconfirmed reports say a plane has
crashed into tower. Details to come.
I got up, walked to the living room and flipped the TV to CNN. They were talking about how a pilot could make such an error, hitting such a large building. They were speculating that it was just a small plane. But then as the TV news helicopters zoomed their cameras in closer, the anchors were beginning to notice what I had already thought….those holes the tower were to big to have been a small plane.
(continues below photo)
I called my wife at work in Atmore. She had seen the breaking news email, and had tried to visit the CNN website to see the story. If you remember trying to use the internet that morning, it was near impossible to get a news website to load; they were all overloaded. She was unable to see the pictures. I was describing what I saw on the TV to her.
I managed to grab a picture from CNN via my web server and then download and email it to her. We were speculating about how it could happen when the second one hit.
I remember saying “wait, hold on, wait…”. I told her what I just watched on the TV. The second plane had hit the other tower. We quickly decided that we were at war as the anchors on TV speculated again that perhaps there was a problem with some navigational system, causing jetliners on a beautiful, clear morning in New York to fly into some of the tallest structures in the world.
Another breaking news email arrived:
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:21am– Second plane crashes into World Trade Center.
She and I began to speculate ourselves that we were at war. What would we do? What should we do? What about the kids? It was not panic, understand, but just that protective momma and daddy instinct, I suppose. Prayer. That was a good idea. Maybe go to the bank and get out a little cash. That seemed like a good idea. How would you prep for a war on American soil? We were not sure.
I continued to relay information about what I was seeing on TV to my wife at work, who, in turn, would relay the information to her coworkers. They had a TV, but no cable service or antenna. They ended up fashioning a homemade antenna to see a fuzzy picture.
Meanwhile, the breaking news emails kept arriving…
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:32am– Sources tell CNN one of two planes that crashed into World Trade
Center was an American Airlines 767.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:42am– President Bush calls plane crashes at World Trade Center a
terrorist act.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:45am– Significant fire at the Pentagon. Details to come.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:46am– White House evactuated. Details to come.
The Pentagon on fire? The White House evacuated? Notice that in CNN’s email they were in such a hurry that they misspelled “evacuated”. One sentence at a time, the situation became more grave.
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:55am– CNN confirms a plane hit the Pentagon
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:03am– One of World Trade Center towers collapses; fire forces
evacuation of State Department
Subject: CNN Breaking News
From: BreakingNews@CNN.COM
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:30am– Second World Trade Center tower collapses in Manhattan
Over and over, we watched those towers collapse on TV, and we watched our Pentagon burn.
Our almost four year old asked a lot of questions. “Were people hurt? Did they need a Band-aid?” The magnitude of the event was lost on a four year old. Looking back at those first few hours, I think the magnitude of the event was lost on all of us.
Like many Americans, I sat glued to the TV that day, continuing to watch the video of the towers falling. Our almost four year old asked if another building fell down or if it was the same one. It was time to change the channel on the TV.
You might remember that many of the entertainment TV stations ran network news feeds. Others just simply ran screens about the day’s events. There was no USA network, no ESPN, no MTV. But on PBS, we found children’s programming at a time it was not normally on. For a little while, sitting in the living room floor holding my kids, the world stopped turning that September day, as we watched Big Bird and the Cookie Monster.
Country artist Alan Jackson later wrote a song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”.
Some of those lyrics:
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cryDid you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don’t know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left belowBut I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Where where you when the world stopped turning that September day? Your comments are welcome below.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Bethany (Reynolds) Landis, click to enlarge.