Walnut Hill Heritage Festival Celebrates The Community’s History (With Photo Gallery)
October 13, 2024
Under beautiful blue skies with an 1880’s log schoolhouse as a backdrop, the Walnut Hill Heritage Festival on Saturday celebrated the community’s history Saturday.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The day, sponsored by the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club, featured dozens of vendors, daylong live music and entertainment, food vendors, hayride, bouncy houses, arts and crafts, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Posse, and much more.
The one-room log schoolhouse was built around 1880 at a cost of $40. It was flattened by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and rebuilt at its current home by the Walnut Hill Community Center on Highway 97.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Peanut Butter Challenge To Help The Hungry Going On Now
October 13, 2024
The Peanut Butter Challenge, an annual jar collection for local food pantries hosted by UF/IFAS Extension and Florida A&M University Cooperative Extension, is going on through the end of the month. Launched in the Florida Panhandle counties in 2012, the challenge is again spreading statewide this year.
Unopened jars of peanut butter can be donated to the following locations throughout Escambia County now until Oct. 31:
- Escambia County Extension, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
- Escambia County Farm Bureau, 153 Hwy. 97, Molino
- Escambia County Public Safety, 6575 N. “W” Street, Pensacola
- Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 10650 Gulf Beach Hwy., Pensacola
- Gilmore Services, 31 E. Fairfield Dr., Pensacola
- Escambia County Administration, 221 Palafox Place, 4th Floor, Pensacola
Coordinated by UF/IFAS Extension and FAMU faculty, staff and volunteers, the competition among counties – for bragging rights only – was conceived as a way to feed hungry families ahead of the holidays in addition to promoting a Florida-grown crop. The peanut, which is produced mainly throughout the northern regions of the state, contributed $137 million to the state economy in 2023, according to the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service.
Peanut butter is an ever-popular item in food pantries because of its nutrient density and shelf stability. The project took on new meaning in 2020 as it spread statewide for the first time as demand for food bank assistance had increased as an economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest numbers from the United States Department of Agriculture shows food insecurity affected roughly 12 percent of Floridians in 2023.
In addition to the community donations, the Florida Peanut Producers Association and Florida Peanut Federation have partnered with the project for years. These organizations are based in the northwest and northeast peanut-producing regions of the state and will again contribute to the totals distributed to food pantries in those regions.
Last year’s Peanut Butter Challenge collected a total of 27,769 pounds of peanut butter from 44 Florida counties.
Tate High School FCA Hosts Fields Of Faith (With Gallery)
October 13, 2024
Tate High School’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes hosted Fields of Faith recently on Carl Madison Field in Pete Gindl Stadium.
The community came together to worship with a student-led band consisting of members from the Aggie Mountain Bike Team and the Hillcrest Baptist Church Student Band. Tate students Blakely Campbell, Faith Etheridge, and Taylor Dyer provided the welcome, shared scripture and opened the evening with prayer.
Guest speaker Mike Valarezo spoke about repentance, salvation and boldly sharing our testimony with others. Karl King mathematically demonstrated how reading the Bible for 14 minutes a day is 1% of 24 hours. Attendees were challenged to give the Lord a minimum of 1% of each day.
Fields of Faith is an interdenominational national event where thousands gather on over 500 athletic fields across the country to share their faith. It is a national student-led initiative where students meet and organizing the event. Students invite their peers, teammates, families and the local community to meet on the school’s athletic field to worship, pray, be challenged to read the Bible, and follow Jesus Christ.
Tate High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes is sponsored by Christy King, Karl King and Heather Maxwell.
The Northview High School FCA will host a similar Fields of Faith event at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Tommy Weaver Memorial Stadium.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
FHP Seeks Hit And Run Driver That Hit Scooter On Highway 29 In McDavid
October 12, 2024
A scooter rider was injured in a hit and run on Highway 29 in McDavid late Friday afternoon.
Witnesses told authorities that a white sedan changed lanes and collided with the Yamaha Vino scooter on Highway 29 southbound just south of Mystic Spring Road. The adult male ride was transported to an area hospital by Escambia County EMS with injuries that were not considered serious.
The witness was unable to provide a better description of the hit and run vehicle. White plastic from the vehicle was left behind at the crash site.
Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at *FHP.
The McDavid Station of Escambia County Fire Rescue responded to the crash.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Early Morning Fire Destroys House, Injures Two Near Davisville
October 11, 2024
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed a home and injured two people near Davisville early Friday morning.
The fire was reported about 3:52 a.m. in the 7600 block of Hodges Road, north of Greenland Road and a few hundred feed south of Florida-Alabama state line.
The home was fully involved when firefighters arrived on scene.
Escambia County Fire Rescue said two people were transported to the hospital by Escambia County EMS. An update on their condition was not available.
The fire was reported out by 5:15 a.m.
Responding units included the Walnut Hill, McDavid, Century, and Molino stations of ECFR, Atmore Fire Department, Flomaton Fire Department and the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department, along with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Layoffs As Ascend Performance Materials Cantonment Facility Cuts Workforce
October 11, 2024
Ascend Performance Materials has cut their workforce at their Cantonment plant, but the plant will continue to play a vital role as the company moves forward.
“Our nylon manufacturing facility in Cantonment is the largest integrated nylon manufacturing site in the world and is a critical source of durable, high-quality materials that make modern life possible,” Osama Khalifa, Ascend director of corporate communications and government affairs, told NorthEscambia.com in an email Thursday afternoon. “Unfortunately, we have faced a challenging market due to lower demand for vehicles, housing and consumer goods globally over the past two years. This market has forced us to make some difficult decisions, including an adjustment in our workforce in Cantonment over the past few months.”
Khalifa said the Ascend plant in Cantonment has operated for 70 years, and “it is a critical part of the global supply of nylon and will continue to play an important role in that market for generations to come.”
The company did not disclose the number of layoffs at the plant over the past few months, or address if there would be additional layoffs. According to data from economic development authority FloridaWest, Ascend was the sixth largest employer in Escambia County with 1,288 employees.
In 2022, Ascend invested over $80 million at the Cantonment plant to improve safety and reliability.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Amazing Sight: Northern Lights Over North Escambia Area
October 11, 2024
North Escambia area residents were treated to a rare sight Thursday night — for the second time this year. The dazzling display of the aurora borealis was visible across the area, especially in more rural locations away from city lights.
The experience, commonly called the northern lights, was caused by an extreme solar storm. The geomagnetic storm is the most severe since the one that led to auroras in North Escambia in May. and that was the first here in about three decades.
NorthEscambia.com photos from Cantonment by Kristi Barbour and from Molino by Kevin Enfinger, click to enlarge.
