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  HIGH SPRINGS – High Springs Community School media specialist Judith Weaver is one of just twenty teachers nationwide to be honored for her work in environmental education.

  The U.S. Green Building Council named Weaver as a Trailblazing Teacher for 2013, an award reserved for teachers who have demonstrated their commitment to advance environmental awareness and who bring environmental sustainability into the classroom.

  In a congratulatory letter, Anisa Baldwin Metzger, manager of the Center for Green Schools Fellowship Program in Washington, D.C., praised Weaver.

  “Your application stood out as an incredible example of deep student engagement and innovative classroom instruction,” Metzger wrote.

  Weaver was recognized for coordinating a wide variety of learning activities focused on the importance of water conservation. As a starting point, she used a book called "Long Walk for Water," which tells the story of a Sudanese girl who must walk four hours every day for water.

  “We wanted kids to be aware of how lucky we are, that we have a resource we need to protect," Weaver said. "Otherwise, it may not always be there."

  One of the learning activities used by Weaver involved students carrying jugs of water around campus to raise both awareness and money to build wells in Cambodia, a project sponsored by the local Rotary Club. Students also designed and built water towers, visited a water exhibit at the University of Florida, listened to expert guest speakers, learned about springs and aquifers and heard about threats to the water supply.

  Students also learned about small things they could do to help protect that supply, like turning off water when they brushed their teeth.

  “Little things like that build up, small things matter,” Weaver said. “We can’t wait for government or corporations to fix things, it has to start with us.”

  She cited the collaboration between language arts, math, science and social studies teachers, who used materials and designed classroom activities that complemented the water conservation theme. As a result, students boosted their academic skills while expanding their awareness of an important environmental issue, Weaver said.

  The Environmental Protection Agency also recognized the High Springs Community School in 2013 for their reduction in water use at the school by 70 percent, as well as for the school’s environmental education activities.

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ALACHUA – In a peaceful wooded area just outside Alachua sits a neat-as-a-pin, well-designed studio that belongs to an internationally known potter and researcher on the use of crystalline glazes for pottery.

Tilton Pottery houses the studio and showroom of John Tilton, 69, creator of one-of-a-kind distinctive pottery. His porcelain pots feature mainly crystalline art glazes, zinc crystals and copper red.

“Crystalline glazes and crystals are symbols for growth,” Tilton said. “I want my pots to seem organic and timeless, and the crystalline glazes really complement those elements.”

Tilton accidentally stumbled upon pottery as a profession in 1968. His wife at the time asked him to check out a pottery course for her at Reitz Union at the University of Florida.

“At the time I was working on my Ph.D. in Mathematics, and was in my third year of graduate school at the University of Florida,” he said. After talking with the pottery instructor, he became interested himself. When his wife took the course, he decided to join her.

By the time he completed the course, the instructor suggested he take a ceramics class at UF.

“I just kind of kept taking ceramics classes, and at one point, it just seemed to overtake me,” he said. “I found that I was more interested in doing that than I was in doing mathematics.”

“Up until then, I had always thought I would continue with math, but it ended up not happening that way.” Ultimately, he obtained his M.F.A. Ceramics at the University of South Florida in 1972.

Ceramics was something tangible that he could hand to people and that they could actually understand, he said. “When I had to defend my Master’s Thesis, there were only eight people there. That was the number of people in Gainesville that could understand me. Yes, I was working on something that could be incredible, but it is not something people could understand,” he said.

He admits that pottery hasn’t been the kind of financial success he would have had as a mathematician, but he says he hasn’t regretted the choice at all.

His research into the best techniques, firing temperatures and development of specialized tools he uses to perfect his use of crystalline glazes led to a presentation on matte crystalline glazes at a conference in Kansas City, Mo., in 2005.

Despite having his work has been featured in 12 publications throughout his 38-year career, Tilton remains humble.

His work is displayed in the collections of the Walt Disney Corporation, the Sun Bank of Orlando and the Lowe Art Museum in Miami.

Tilton has decided to limit his exposure at outside shows and festivals this year.

“Traveling to shows is exhausting and time-consuming,” he said. “I would rather spend my time on my pottery.” He is planning to concentrate his marketing efforts on conducting a couple of shows each year at his studio at the Temple of the Universe in Alachua and hopes to get more exposure through the internet.

“I like to have events here at my studio. People who visit can feel the energy of the place and feel the spirit of where I’ve made the artwork,” he said.

Tilton attracts a substantial number of people to his studio, according to a collector of his art.

“When John holds a show at his studio, people come in droves, even from out of state,” said Sandra Matasick, Gainesville jewelry artist and collector of Tilton’s work. “They just don’t come to buy one pot,” she said. “They buy several of his pieces at one time.”

Tilton believes his type of pottery does not lend itself as well to art festivals, although he has done plenty of them in the past. Locally, his work has been shown for years at the Spring Arts Festival in Gainesville and was chosen to be the poster and T-shirt art for the festival in 2006. His work has also appeared locally at the Downtown Art Festival and the Gainesville Fine Arts Association’s Fall Show.

“At a show, you have to display something flashy that will catch the viewer’s eye quickly as they walk by,” he said. “I am not making pieces that jump out at you.”

Although his art is decorative, Tilton said some people need to sit with the piece quietly for a few minutes in order to begin to see the spirit of the work. After years of really strong commitment to a chosen art, he believes the artwork takes on the shape of the spirit.

“I think if I’m able to make it where it has spirit, and the spirit is flowing through me into it as I create it, then the link is available also to the right person that is looking at it,” he said. “The spirit of it will make them see it in a different way.”

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CAROL TATE/ Photo special to Alachua County Today

Officers of the High Springs Woman's Club. (L-R): Billie Jo Benedict, Sallie Milner, Windy Phillips, Barbara Miller, Katy Evens, Patti Lamneck, Vicky cox and Lillian Jenkins.

HIGH SPRINGS – At the beginning of each year, members of the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs (GFWC) present their best arts and crafts projects for judging on a local level. This year, entries competing in about 50 arts and crafts categories were delivered to the 86-year-old GFWC New Century Woman’s Club meeting house for judging on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

      Competitive categories include photography, water color painting, quilting and more.

      The results of this year’s judging are to be announced on Thursday, Jan. 9, at the GFWC Woman’s Club monthly luncheon. This is the first step in a larger district, state and, ultimately, a national competition to determine the best arts and crafts projects from woman’s clubs throughout the country.

      Brenda Hoffman, of Palm Bay, art chair of the State Convention Exhibit, talked about how much the artists contribute to their communities.

      “These women give so much to their community every year, much of which is not recognized,” she said. “This is our way of giving them recognition.”

      “The winners get ribbons and bragging rights for a whole year,” she said.

      The top local projects will be awarded blue ribbons and will be submitted for judging at the District Five GFWC Arts and Crafts competition in Gainesville on March 1. The first place winners of the Jan. 8 judging in High Springs’ will be judged again at that time, along with the 14 other woman’s and junior woman’s clubs from Alachua, Citrus, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy and Marion counties, for submittal into the state-level competition.

      Winning District Five entrants will travel to Orlando and compete against all other districts in the state GFWC Florida Spring Convention, scheduled for April 25 through April 27.

      Last year’s state-wide competition led to the awarding of a third-place ribbon to High Springs’ club member Carole Tate for her handmade crocheted doll, an item she donated to Relay for Life for their fundraising auction.

      Ultimately, state-wide blue ribbon winners are chosen to go on to compete nationally at the GFWC Woman’s Club national convention, scheduled this year to be held at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Chandler, Ariz., on June 21 through June 24.

      Judges at all levels are chosen for their artistic abilities, background and talent and cannot be chosen from the Woman’s Club roster. Each judge must be a non-club member in order to qualify.

      This year’s local judge is Cootie Coo Creations’ owner Sharon Kantor, whose shop has been a hub for scrapbooking, rubber-stamping and art-related classes in High Springs for the past five years.

      Kantor has a Masters in Industrial Arts from Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C., with specialization in drafting, crafts and graphic arts. She taught graphic arts, photography and drafting in Miami before traveling and finally settling in High Springs. Kantor also has been event chair for Relay for Life for the past two years and has created her own line of stamps, known as Kantorkards.

      “Every month, a different service program committee conducts a meeting,” said Joyce Hallman, chairman of the Arts Community Service Program this year.

      “This month is our turn.”

      Kantor will be the featured speaker at the Thursday, Jan. 9, Woman’s Club luncheon and will teach participants how to make their own greeting cards using stamps, buttons and other items for embellishment.

      The Arts Community Service Program is chaired by Joyce Hallman and co-chaired by Barbara Bluhm. Committee members are Marion Dolan, Ellie Hubler, Mary Sears, Carole Tate, Liz Taylor, Terry Walsh and Debbie Wolnewitz.

      The Woman’s Club’s commitment to the arts dates back to 1894, when a literature committee was established. The committee rapidly grew to encompass programs focusing on arts and music. Clubwomen became known for their support of the arts and are credited with helping to establish the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

      The club, which has served High Springs for more than 110 years, is located in the Historic District of High Springs, next door to High Springs City Hall, and currently encourages youth and elder art projects and art shows in the community.

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ALACHUA – A legal food fight is heating up between two area restaurants.

Newberry Backyard BBQ has filed a lawsuit against Bev’s Burgers in High Springs, alleging a consultant for both restaurants gave Bev’s private business information.

The complaint was electronically filed on Oct. 15 by Angela Salisbury and her Newberry Backyard BBQ against Bev’s Burgers, owner Beverly Miller and consultant Rocco T. Voglio.

Voglio was the original owner of Newberry Backyard BBQ, incorporating the restaurant in 1998. In 2007, he sold the business to Tri-County Restaurants, Inc.

In 2012, Tri-County sold Newberry Backyard BBQ to Salisbury.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Backyard BBQ, Salisbury entered into an agreement with Voglio in 2013, with Voglio agreeing he would not enter into, be a partner of, be employed by or consult in any barbecue restaurants or restaurants serving barbecue within a 35-mile radius of Newberry. He also agreed to be a consultant for the Backyard BBQ, in order to promote and grow the business.

As a consultant, he was in a position of trust, according to the complaint, having access to confidential business information such as recipes, vendor lists, marketing techniques and client information.

Voglio began providing consulting service to Bev’s Burgers, for the purpose of expanding the restaurants business model to include barbecue foods and to compete directly with Newberry Backyard BBQ, the complaint alleges.

The recipe for the “sloppy sandwich” sold by Newberry Backyard BBQ was one item Salisbury alleges was misused by Bev’s Burgers.

Bev’s Burgers is within the 35-mile radius covered by the agreement.

“Rather than spending their own time, money and effort to build their barbecue-related business,” the complaint reads, “Bev’s Burgers and Miller, in concert with Voglio, are seeking to replicate Backyard BBQ’s business model by using their confidential and proprietary information misappropriated by Voglio during his involvement with Backyard BBQ.”

Salisbury and Newberry Backyard BBQ sent a letter to Voglio on May 7, demanding he stop all activities violating the non-compete agreement. A letter was also sent to Miller and Bev’s Burgers requesting the same thing.

The letter also accuses Miller and Voglio of soliciting customers of Newberry Backyard BBQ while also defaming and slandering it.

The attorneys for Newberry Backyard BBQ asked for a trial by jury. The complaint also asked for a preliminary injunction to prevent Voglio from providing barbecue-related services to Bev’s Burgers.  

Salisbury is seeking damages in excess of $15,000, in addition to the return of the proprietary information and the dissolution of the relationship between Voglio and Bev’s Burgers.

On Oct. 18, Miller’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case.

The motion maintains the contract was invalid because it offered no new considerations to Voglio. According to contract law, the motion reads, a valid contract has to offer consideration to each party. Consideration is the exchange of something of value for something of value. It continues to point out that the complaint fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted on several legal theories, including a “legal impossibility” and “failure to properly allege the elements of the cause of action.”

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ALACHUA COUNTY – He puts history on display for all to see and uncovers forgotten tales of Alachua County.

Jim Powell is the ancient records coordinator at the Alachua County Clerk of Court. “The Wizard of AR (ancient records)” works his magic by taking the time to go through old documents, trying to decode them and ultimately transferring them onto an online database. Citizens are then easily able to access these old archives, some dating back to the early 19th century.

“We share what the Florida Supreme Court will allow online,” Powell said. “There are a lot of documents that are hard for regular people to find and understand.”

The man behind the monitor, as he calls himself, has transcribed a total of 18,070 pages worth of records. Originally, it started out as a family project. Eventually, once he became a part of the Board of Genealogy Society, he tried to get them involved as well. Powell is a part of the Alachua County Historical Commission, but after his mother died, he said he dropped almost everything and took a break from his volunteer work.

“After some time went by, the historical commission asked that I start again, and promised to help,” he said.

The Alachua Historical Society was initially founded to promote its history, both locally and its surrounding area. It was also created in the hopes of encouraging individuals to preserve its written history along with the landmarks that make the area so special.

Powell is currently working on a cemetery project where he hopes to photograph every grave marker in Alachua County.

“We have photographed 99 percent of them, from little to huge,” he said.

Powell and his colleagues are still in the process of working on 30 or so more cemeteries, with plans to add “Voices over Stones,” where a descendent or historian creates a short audio or video story about the person under the stone. Adding photographs of the deceased is also being considered.

Though the project is in its primary stage, it is definitely going on a fast track in reaching the public, Powell said.

They are sharing their photos with the UF library, and have an index that links back to their site on Ancestry.com, he said.

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ALACHUA – A local biotechnology company helped replace a nerve tissue for a Navy veteran, allowing him to become the first nerve tissue recipient in the Rose Parade.

For nearly a decade, the American Association of Tissue Banks has sponsored the Donate Life Rose Parade float, a memorial to organ and tissue donors. The theme of the 2014 float, “Light up the World,” represented the organization’s goal to save and improve lives through organ and tissue donation.

The 125th Rose Parade took place Jan. 1, 2014, starting at 8 a.m. in Pasadena, Calif.

Former Navy Corpsman Edward Bonfigio was serving in Afghanistan in August 2009 when his unit came under fire. Bonfigio was shot in the leg. After being transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he lost the use of his leg.

Due to the injury to his sciatic nerve, doctors told Bonfigio that they would have to amputate his leg. Bonfigio however pushed for an alternative. AxoGen, Inc., from Alachua, answered Bonfigio’s call and replaced his nerve tissue.

Thanks to the replacement tissue, Bonfigio was able to keep his leg. Without AxoGen’s Avance Nerve Graft technology, he would not be able to participate in the activities he does today.

The procedure removed a nerve from another part of his body and used it on the injury site. Since the tissue comes from the patient, the body doesn’t reject it.

“It is an honor to have provided the processed nerve allograft that contributed to saving his leg,” said AxoGen CEO Karen Zadarej in an earlier interview with Alachua County Today.

Since his surgery, Bonfigio was honored on the Donate Life Float in the Rose Parade and attends Pennsylvania State University, where he is a part of the Paralympics team.

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