Hundreds Attend Annual Flomaton Fall Festival
October 31, 2008
Hundreds of people packed downtown Flomaton Thursday night for the town’s annual Fall Festival.
Costumed children, adults and even pets took to the streets for a little trick-or-treating, a costume contest, games and lots of fun.
Click here for a complete NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from Flomaton’s Fall Festival.
Pictured above: Hundreds of people attended the annual Flomaton Fall Festival in downtown Flomaton Thursday night. Pictured left: A living Barbie in a box costume. Pictured below: Flomaton Pharmacy passes out goodies. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Hosts Goblins And Ghouls At Roadside Park
October 31, 2008
The Town of Century sponsored trick-or-treating at the town’s Roadside Park Thursday evening.
Boy and “ghouls” that stopped by in costume received a bag of sugary goodies from town officials.
Both Century and Flomaton officially observed Halloween Thursday night.
For more photos from Century’s Halloween event, click here.
Pictured above: Margie McCall (left), Edna Earle Barnes and Century Mayor Freddie McCall talk to a little witch that stopped by the town’s Roadside Park Thursday night. Pictured below: “Trick-or-treat!” NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Ernest Ward FFA Elects Officers, Wins At The Fair, Sells Sweet Potatoes
October 30, 2008
Students at Ernest Ward Middle School are only about a quarter of the way into the school year, and it has been a busy one so far for members of the school’s FFA chapter.
EWMS Reporter Courtney Solari contributed the following report for NorthEscambia.com:
This year has been off to a great start for the Ernest Ward Middle School FFA Chapter. So far, we have about 60 members and have just recently selected our 2008 – 2009 officers which include Harley Caraway – president, Devin Bell – vice president, Shelby Lewis – secretary, Chelsea Ward – treasurer, Courtney Solari – reporter, Anna Donald – sentinel, Cody Chapman – 1st parliamentarian, Tyler Roley – 2nd parliamentarian, Nathan Waters – chaplain, Sandy Rainwater – historian, and Marisa Penland and Katelyn Zisa – photographers .
The FFA members recently finished the Pensacola Interstate Fair booth and placed second. This is a major accomplishment because Ernest Ward was the only middle school competing against four high schools. The theme was “ Wearing Official FFA Dress is Priceless!!!!” We also had to include various agricultural products including a jar of honey donated by our own beekeeper, Aden Davis, a sixth grader at EWMS.
Also at the fair, EWMS students Marisa Penland and Devin Bell each showed various livestock.
Our annual sweet potato sale will be November 3rd through November 14th. We will be selling twenty pound bags for $7.00 each, and they will be available in white or red. Bags of potatoes can be ordered from any EWMS FFA member. Call the school for more information, 327-4283.
Pictured above: The Ernest Ward Middle School FFA booth at the Pensacola Interstate Fair. Pictured below: FFA members work on the fair booth. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Is Your Heating System Safe?
October 30, 2008
Most North Escambia residents turned on the heat for the first time this season during the past couple of days. For most, it was just flip the thermostat and enjoy as the warm air began to flow. But many of those people, even though they were warm and cozy, may have missed an important step…a heating system inspection.
“An inspection is important to make sure the system is clean and all of the safety features are working,” Durwin Unruh, owner of Casa Heating and Cooling in Walnut Hill, said. “You can rest assured at night after an inspection that your system is safe and running properly.”
It’s not just really old systems that can become unsafe. He said on Wednesday he inspected a system that was just seven years old that had a rust problem that could have been a serious safety problem for the owner.
An inspection, Unruh said, can be especially important on a gas system to make sure there are no carbon monoxide issues.
A system that is running properly can also save energy –and money — during the winter months.
“And if the system is over 10 years old, it’s time to start thinking about a new one,” Unruh said. “Systems today have a come along way in terms of safety and efficiency that can make replacing an old system worthwhile.”
Heating system inspections should be done by qualified companies that can be found in the local phone book. Unruh and Casa can be reached at 327-4684 or online at www.casaair.com.
Area Woman Featured On International TV, Watch Video Here
October 29, 2008
An area woman was featured on international television Tuesday night.
Olvena Smith, a 92 year old poll worker from Canoe, Alabama, (that’s just across the state line from North Escambia) was featured on BBC World News on BBC America. BBC is the British Broadcasting Company.
The BBC featured Smith’s 55 year tenure as a poll worker in Alabama.
Click here to watch the video on BBC America’s web site.
From Wheelchair To Saddle 24 Years After Car Accident; Molino Ranch Makes It Possible
October 28, 2008
Debbie Thompson Dawson spent hours riding horses around Barinneau Park. Up and down roads. In the woods. In the river. From sun-up to sundown, she would ride with her friend Patricia Rigel. It was the passion in Debbie’s life.
But in July 1984 that passion to ride her horse hour upon hour came to a crashing end in a major automobile accident. In the blink of an eye, Debbie went from saddle to wheelchair. She could could no longer walk, and she could no longer ride horses around the Barinneau Park countryside.
But recently, Debbie was back in the saddle again for the first time in 24 years, thanks for her friend Patricia and the caring volunteers of The Leaning Post Ranch in Molino.
“I enjoyed being back on the horse,” Debbie said, her speech slow and slurred from a brain injury she suffered in the wreck. But through the speech difficulty, there was a smile in her voice. “It had been a long time. I did not thing I would ever get back on a horse. But I did. It was the best thing that happened to me in a long time. I love being on the horse.”
Twenty-four years after the accident, Debbie now spend her time confined to a wheelchair at her home in Gonzalez, someone assisting her with everyday life. Patricia is now the librarian at the Century Branch Library and a volunteer at The Leaning Post. The Leaning Post brought the two childhood friends back together.
“It felt like we had gone back to being 16 year olds,” Patricia said. “She was back in the saddle, back holding the reigns. That was probably one of the happiest moments in her life.”
“Pat is a good friend,” Debbie said. “We loved to ride horses together.” I love the horse.”
The horse that Debbie rode for the first time after all those years? It was Patricia’s horse Minnie, a registered Appaloosa that she had donated to The Leaning Post.
Debbie’s ride almost two and half decades after her accident was made possible by The Leaning Post, directors Fran and Newman Gersin and a host of volunteers at the Molino’s Leaning Post Ranch, a state-licensed facility and prevention program for developmentally disabled and at-risk young people.
The facility was established in 1992 by Fran and Newman Gersin. They started with one horse, and a dream to use that horse to encourage kids and keep them off drugs.
Now The Leaning Post Ranch has 40 acres, a barn, a new open-air arena, a multipurpose facility, a house, 16 horses and a pony…thanks to generosity of several local organizations. And the Gersins are quick to thank God for what happens at The Leaning Post.
Above all to God by the glory,” Fran Gersin said at a dedication ceremony in May. “There is no way two people could do all of this. Only God could do this.”
Debbie is now scheduled for her third session and her doctor is thrilled and has told her to keep it up. It not only is good for healthy bones but the therapeutic riding helps move all of the muscles in the body, Patricia said.
The Leaning Post is in need of Certified NARHA Instructors (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) and volunteers who can work Monday through Friday.
The Leaning Post Ranch is located at 4150 Cedar Springs Road in Molino. For more information, visit http://www.theleaningpostranch.com.
Students Of The Month Named
October 28, 2008
Students of the month have been named by the Escambia Associations for Administrators in Education. The following were named from North Escambia schools:
- Bratt Elementary: Allison M. Rice, second grade; Austin T. Campbell, fifth grade.
- Carver/Century K-8 School: Janay S. Page, sixth grade ; Mildred T. Jackson, seventh grade.
- Molino Park Elementary: Brandon E. Korinchak, fourth grade; Kayleigh G. Linam, fourth grade.
- Ernest Ward Middle: Logan J. Lee, sixthgrade; Jennifer N. Spears, seventhgrade.
- Northview High: Hunter R. Black, ninthgrade; Michelle D. Bellamy, 12th grade.
Pictured above: Hunter R. Black (left) and Michelle D. Bellamy were named as Northview High School’s Students of the Month for October. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Thousands From Across Our Area Enjoy Williams Station Day
October 26, 2008
Thousands from across South Alabama and Northwest Florida enjoyed Williams Station Day in Atmore Saturday.
Residents and visitors alike turned back their clocks to 1866 when their community was named Williams Station – just a supply stop along the Mobile & Great Northern railroad.
It was a simpler time, when life revolved around the railroads and folks marked time by the sound of the steam engines chugging through town or the whistle of the local lumber mill. The regional festival featured a fun day of family entertainment. Williams Station Day was packed with great venues to fit every taste, with an old fashioned sampling of southern heritage seasoned with the blues, arts and crafts, cane milling and railroad memorabilia.
Historic Pensacola Avenue was the setting for two separate art shows, both fine arts and crafts. Ancestors and artisans demonstrated the art of making pottery, fine art, primitive art, painted gourds, soap making, bird houses, baskets, and photography. Many were shopping early for Christmas gifts.
Entertainment featured a “A Mission of Fun” with The Alabama Blues Brothers (a.k.a. Jamey and Justin Crisler from Town Creek, AL). Dressed in signature black suits and night-black Ray-Bans, these outstanding Blues impersonators accompanied by talented musicians, performed show stoppers that include “Soul Man”, “Rawhide”, and many other great R & B Blues Brothers tunes.
Engine running, a working locomotive was available for tours from the AL & Gulfcoast Railroad. On a much smaller scale, a model train show took place inside the YMCA.
For a complete NorthEscambia.com photo gallery from Williams Station Day, click here.
Williams Station, which would later become Atmore, was named for a Walnut Hill man. Click here to read that story from NorthEscambia.com.
Pictured above: Thousands attended the annual Williams Station Day in Atmore Saturday. Pictured below: The excitement was just a little too much for this guy to handle. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Leading The Cheer
October 25, 2008
Both the varsity and junior varsity Northview cheerleaders led the crowd at Friday night’s Homecoming game against Vernon.
The Northview Cheerleaders are coached by Anna Berry and Megan Carroll.
For a photo gallery of the Northview Cheerleaders at Friday night’s Homecoming game, click here.
Pictured above: The Northview High School cheerleaders at Friday night’s Homecoming game. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Atmore Remembers Founding By Walnut Hill Man
October 24, 2008
A Walnut Hill man’s founding of the railroad supply stop that would later become Atmore will be celebrated this weekend with the annual Williams Station Day.
This weekend’s Williams Station Day remembers Atmore’s past, a past that started with William “Uncle Bud” Larkin Williams of Walnut Hill.
In 1816, John Gaylor settled in the Walnut Hill area on land from a Spanish Land Grant. A great deal of that land was later sold to Williams who began a logging and cattle operation in the Walnut Hill area sometime prior to the Civil War.
Just after the Civil War, in 1866, Williams opened a supply stop along the Mobile and Great Northern Railroad in the area that would later become Atmore. The area around the supply stop thrived, later becoming known as Williams Station. The name of the settlement was changed to Atmore in 1897.
As for Walnut Hill’s Williams, he served as a spy for the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was captured by the Union Army but was later released after he convinced the Union soldiers that he was just an innocent man traveling to Pensacola.
Williams allowed the Florida 13th Calvary to camp at his Walnut Hill home, which was near the current Ernest Ward Middle School. A number of those soldiers died during their stay and were buried in a small cemetery. That cemetery was located between the current Walnut Hill Community Center and Bradberry Park. It is no longer recognizable.
Walnut Hill’s first log school and a Methodist Church were built on land owned by Williams near the present-day intersection of Highway 97 and Arthur Brown Road. The log church was later rebult and named the Annie Jones Methodist Church.
Sources: “Walnut Hill, A Historical Overview” compiled by Billy R. Ward from Escambia County Land Records researched by Robert Glenn Thrower, Sr. and “History of Ernest Ward School” by William Arthur Brown; and from northwestfloridacomm.com, compiled by students at Northview High School.
Pictured: William “Uncle Bud” Williams, the Walnut Hill man that founded Alabama settlement that would later become Williams Station and then Atmore. This photo is believed to have been taken at his 88th birthday celebration in McDavid on February 18, 1895. Click to enlarge.