The Power Of Purple: Relay For Life At Tate High (With Gallery)
May 5, 2012
The annual Relay for Life of Greater Escambia got underway Friday evening at Tate High School.
Dozens of teams and hundreds of people took part in the annual event which has raised over $500,000 for cancer research in about 10 years.
Teams in the event were from Cantonment, Molino, Gonzalez, Cottage Hill, Ensley and surrounding areas. The even was fformerly called the North Pensacola Relay for Life.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: The 2012 Relay for Life of Greater Escambia got underway Friday event at Tate High School. Pictured inset: Celebrating during the Survivor’s Lap. Pictured below: The moon rises early Friday evening over “HOPE” luminarias at Tate High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photos: NHS Presents ‘The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux’
May 5, 2012
The Northview Spring Musical “The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux”, was presented Friday night.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Annie Wiedel, click to enlarge.
Photos: The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux Dress Rehearsal
May 4, 2012
The Northview Spring Musical “The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux”, will be presented Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The play follows the dastardly Dr. Dogsbreath Devereaux and his equally evil nurse, Hilda Hatchet, as they plot to wrestle away the Hanover D. Cash Clinic from Hanover’s sweet and very wealthy widow, Lotta Cash.
Dr. Phil Good, the good hero, and the heroine, Wendy March, try foil the evil Dr. Devereaux and nurse Hatchet.
Throw in a little love, marriage, flirting, burlesque dancers, murder, zany patients and more….and the audience won’t know what’s happening next at the Hanover D. Cash Clinic.
Tickets will be on sale Friday at the NHS office. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door for reserved seating.
For over 100 photos from a Thursday afternoon dress rehearsal, click here.
Pictured inset: Scenes from a dress rehearsal Thursday afternoon of “The Dastardly Dr. Devereaux” at Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Jim Allen Sock Hops Raises Money For Relay For Life
May 4, 2012
Jim Allen Elementary School students recently held a Relay for Life Sock Hop to raise money for the Relay of Life of Greater Escambia at Tate High School. The Jim Allen students were able to enjoy wearing crazy socks and dancing to raise $426 for the American Cancer Society. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
For The Love Of Baby Blaze
May 3, 2012
Baby Blaze Johnson will be eight weeks old Friday — just days before he faces his third open heart surgery. It’s a surgery that is not without tremendous risk, but without it, he will likely die.
His story began early March, born six weeks early to Katherine Johnson, an RN at Sacred Heart Hospital, a Chris “Squeaky” Johnson, a videographer for WEAR TV 3.
“He was the cutest little thing,” Chris said, his voice rising into the squeaky tone that earned his nickname. “He had big fingers and toes.”
The couple knew their first child, due to his premature birth, would spend a few weeks at Sacred Heart Hospital’s NICU, receiving oxygen as his lungs matured. It was mountain that knew they could climb.
But by the time Blaze was five days old, the nurses at Sacred Heart knew that something just wasn’t right. And his oxygen levels began to plummet; his heart fell into a dangerous rhythm.
“They were about to shock him; they were about to shock our baby,” Chris said. He understood the gravity of the situation, and Katherine, an RN in Sacred Heart’s emergency room, was more than aware where they stood at that moment.
Doctors ordered an ultrasound. The results were frightening.
“My heart fell into my chest,” Chris said. “Everything was suppose to be fine. All the ultrasounds before he was born said he was healthy. This wasn’t suppose to be happening. We were OK with the breathing problems, and then were suppose to take him home and we would be fine. There are no words to describe it.”
The couple was forced to choose which of a handful of major children’s hospitals in the south would see Blaze. They choose Emory in Atlanta because Katherine had relatives that lived not to far away. Blaze and Katherine were quickly flown to Atlanta; Chris drove behind them.
Heart abnormalities had thrown a major curve ball into the lives of the young family, as their youngest was in real jeopardy.
Surgeries were performed; there were some successes, some failures. And this week the couple was faced with the decision on a risky surgery that could certainly mean life or death for their baby.
“We were given three choices: do nothing and he would die; stents that he would outgrow; or another surgery,” Chris said. Doctors will, on Friday, perform the surgery if all goes as planned.
Essentially, Blaze is without one of his heart chambers. Doctors will work to create a “well” in tissue that will replace the chamber. It’s a rarely done procedure, not something from a medical textbook.
“Please keep praying that God keeps this little boy in his hands, heal him and be with the doctors as they make their decision and assist God in this very difficult surgery,” Katherine wrote on the Baby Blaze Fan Club page on Facebook.
As he describes Blaze’s condition, Chris speaks with little emotion, sounding almost distant from the past seven weeks have been something of nonstop blur.
“I’m the father. I have to stay strong for Blaze and for Katherine. It’s my duty. You do what you have to do for your children.”
“But it does bother me,” he said, “I’ve shed many tears, but I must remain strong for my family.”
The Johnsons are not in their battle alone. Communities across the area have rallied behind them; over 1,100 people have joined the Facebook fan club for Blaze.
“The words of others on the Facebook page, the calls, the text messages, the prayers from people that don’t even know us that tell us how his story has touched them — it’s all given us strength,” he said. “But it’s also brought us closer to God and His strength.”
Chris’ father — Henry Franklin Johnson, a former chief of the Flomaton Fire Department — died of cancer in 2000. The name “Blaze” is a tribute to him, and a tribute to Katherine’s father Henry Page, who was also a volunteer fireman. Shortly after the death of Chris’ father, his brother died.
“God was preparing me for this with Blaze,” Chris said, emotion returning to his voice. “You can’t tell me there’s no God. I could not see it then when my father and brother died. But you can’t tell me God does not have a purpose. He was preparing me, making me strong for Blaze.”
For now, it’s about the little milestones in Blaze’s life. The tiniest baby steps of sorts. The couple realized a major milestone Wednesday as they were able to hold their baby Blaze for the first time in about seven weeks.
“Oh how I wish I could just make him whole,” Chris said. “I just want to hold him and know that he’s OK. It’s in God’s hands and God’s time.”
A benefit yard sale and bake sale will be held this Saturday at Flomaton First Baptist Church from 8 a.m. until for the Johnson’s expenses for baby Blaze. For information or to donate yard sale items, contact Renee Merchant at (850) 791-4106. There is also a benefit account under the name “Baby Blaze Fan Club” at Region’s Bank.
To join the Baby Blaze Fanclub on Facebook, click here.
Pictured top: Mom Katherine Johnson holds her son Blaze Wednesday for the first time in seven weeks. Pictured additional photos: Baby Blaze Johnson. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photos: Jim Allen Presents ‘To Bee Or Not To Bee’
May 3, 2012
Jim Allen Elementary School was “abuzz” recently as second graders presented the musical “To Bee or Not to Bee”.
In the musical, the Wanna Bees were helped by the Queen Bee to decide which kind of bees they wanted to be — Spelling Bees, Quilting Bees, Drones, Busy Bees or Honey Bees.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Special Feature: Along The North Escambia Trail With A Wagon Train
May 2, 2012
The scene Tuesday very well could have been a postcard snapshot of the dawning of Walnut Hill in the 1800’s. Freshly plowed fields stretch across the flat land, blue skies with a few puffy white clouds floating along in a gentle breeze, piney woods in the distance. Nearby, railroad tracks sat empty, awaiting the next freighter’s horn to break the melody of birds singing.
In the distance, the outline of a wagon train could be seen approaching, a baker’s dozen strong with outriders for protection. Moving nearer, the sound grew louder of horseshoes — clump, clump, clump — and of chains rattling used to connect horses, mules and tack to handcrafted wagons.
For a photo gallery, click here.
But this was May 1, 2012. And in our modern zip-zip fast paced world, wagon trains tend to draw a bit of attention. And that was the point on the annual wagon train ride to the Tate High School FFA Rodeo. The ride started Saturday morning in Barnett Crossroads, just north of I-65 in Escambia County, Ala. It ends Friday night at the Escambia County Equestrian Center in Pensacola for Tate FFA Rodeo’s grand parade.
It’s a 20 year old tradition started by the late Selmer Thompson with a ride from Barrineau Park to Pensacola. This year is the first annual week long event.
At one to four horsepower, or mule-power each, it’s slow ride with a top speed of about 3.5 mph that provides the opportunity to take in the surroundings. And to be neighborly, speaking and waving to the bystanders that gather along the highways or in their yards to watch the unique picture of Americana pass by.
“It’s just an amazing thing,” participant Tina Martin said. “There’s nothing like it.”
“When you ride in a car, you can see what man has made,” wagon owner James Smith said. “But when you ride in a wagon or on a horse, you stop and have time to see what God made.”
Catching up with the ride Tuesday afternoon on Corley Road for the photos on the page, our photographer discovered that the only way back to his car from a ride along with the wagon would be a horse. There were no escort vehicles, no trucks full of supplies. This was a real deal, old-timey wagon train through the countryside.
But it’s not a total step back into time — some of the wagons have battery powered lights, fans and radios — country music, of course. And a few wagons were equipped with BBQ grills mounted at the rear. No need for a drive-thru when the ride is a self-contained, on the move BBQ house.
The actual ride Tuesday was our second encounter with the die hard wagoneers. Modern life, roughing it style, was more evident at the group’s camp Monday night on Highway 164 at Velor Road.
They had just finished a 13 mile trek from Canoe, Alabama. The horses and mules were grazing and resting.
“They eat before we do,” Smith said, gesturing toward the animals.
The wind rustled through the campsite beneath tall pecan trees. A welcomed cool breeze following a hot last day of April with a high in the 90’s — made worse by the open air ride over asphalt.
In the old days of the Tate FFA ride, trail riders would sleep on the ground, or air mattress popped up in the back of a pickup. But this is 2012, after all. The generators hummed outside dual purpose trailers — part horse trailer part in the front and part comfy RV in the back. It’s chance to rest in the A/C or watch a little TV while getting ready to hit the highways again in the morning.
“I just love it,” Martin said. “It’s an experience you’ll never forget.”
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
Family Appeals To Community To Donate Platelets For Robert Stewart
May 1, 2012
The family of a Bratt man is appealing to the North Escambia community to donate the blood platelets he needs at a critical stage in his battle against cancer.
Robert Stewart, the former chief of the Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department, is in the ICU at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. According to his daughter, Kelly Stewart Kennedy, Robert is in need of A-positive platelets.
Potential platelet donors are asked to call Northwest Florida Blood Services at (850) 473-3853 to schedule an appointment time. According to Betty Roberts, spokesperson for Northwest Florida Blood Services, an appointment is necessary to make a platelet donation because the process takes about an hour and 45 minutes.
Donors should mention that their donations are for Robert Stewart. If the platelets are unneeded by Robert or are of the wrong blood type, they will still be used to help in the community, Roberts said. Platelets, with a shelf life of just five days, are often used for cancer patients and premature babies.
Donors must be 18 or older (16 or 17 with parental permission), at least 110 pounds and generally in good health.
Pictured top: Robert Stewart teaches fire safety to students at Bratt Elementary School in October, 2011. Pictured inset: Robert Stewart speaks at a 2009 Walnut Hill Volunteer Fire Department event. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Fence Artwork Shows Ernest Ward Eagles Spirit
April 30, 2012
The National Junior Honor Society at Ernest Ward Middle School surprised Principal Nancy Gindl-Perry Friday with a piece of fence art.
The group purchased and installed artwork depicting the school’s eagle mascot on the chain link fence in front of the school using specially manufactured plastic cups that snap into the fence.
The eagle artwork was installed by honor society officers Savanna Roux, Bethany Reynolds, Ben Preston, Bradley Van Pelt, Trevor Levins, Thomas Moore and Hunter Connell.
Pictured top: Fence art shows Ernest Ward Middle School Eagle spirit. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Elementary Releases Third Nine Weeks Honor Roll
April 30, 2012
The following students were named to the third nine weeks honor roll at Byrneville Elementary School:
Kindergarten: Mrs. Barberree
All Satisfactory:
Adrianna Atallah
Wyatt Everly
Nolin Godwin
Hank Grant
Sylvia Jarrell
Josh Johnson
Jalona Mundo
Jakyia Newton
Tyler Riggs
Reygan Steadham
Dalton Wolfe
Kindergarten: Mrs. Rogers
All Satisfactory:
Alexa Castro
Riley Dawson
Madalyn Grimes
Camron Howell
Bobbie-Sue Jarrell
Meredith Johnston
Takayla Lewis
Tyson McBride
Aydan Smith
First Grade: Mrs. Dawson
All A’s:
Leah Anderson
Kayla Johnson
Emily Levins
Kaden Odom
Aubrey Stuckey
A/B’s:
Aloysia Dortch
Audrey Goetter
Chase Hampton
Johnnie Howell
Aleigh Thornton
First Grade: Mrs. Thornton
All A’s:
Drake Allen Driskell
A’s and B’s:
Briana Dunsford
Jessica Loftis
Second Grade: Mrs. Weaver
All A’s:
Hunter Borelli
Shelby Cotita
Torka Mills
Dillon Spears
A’s and B’s:
Grace Blackmon
Bama Coburn
Josh Dunsford
Tessa Flowers
Kaitlin Gafford
Taylor Levins
James Loftis
Harley Walker
Third Grade: Mrs. Dunsford
All A’s:
Sophia Cotita
Maille Kilcrease
A’s and B’s:
Travon Brown
Logan Bryan
Brianna Colter
Alyssa Goldenpenny
Abigail Levins
Tyler Merchant
Ty Rolin
Fourth Grade: Mrs. Gilmore/Mrs. Sellers
All A’s:
Ian Gifford
Nicky Trump
A’s and B’s:
Skyler Busbee
Alex Glidewell
Alexis Lee
Cloe Smith
Savannah Steadham
Dadrien Washington
Olivia Watson
Fifth Grade: Mrs. Johnston
All A’s:
Jacob Borelli
Rebecca Diamond
Paige Killam
Seth Killam
Tanner Levins
Alex McMinn
Courtney Payne
Destiny Payne
A’s and B’s:
Austin Adams
Kris Baxter
Matthew Caine
Patton Goetter
Colby Graham
Keyana Macks
Hunter Moseley
Sarah Nelson
Faith Watters