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Radio personality Storm Roberts served up spirits pirate style at the Alachua/High Springs Relay for Life Pink & Purple Party.  Roberts was one of several celebrity servers pitching in to raise funds at the Great Outdors Cafe in High Springs.

HIGH SPRINGS – A couple from Dixie County, wearing purple shirts, sat side by side on the patio of the Great Outdoors Restaurant last Thursday evening.

The back of his shirt read “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step.”

David and Toni Warner, along with a multitude of other people, gathered on April 10 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the downtown restaurant in High Springs.

They came to raise money and awareness, as well as have fun for the Alachua and High Springs Relay for Life Committee’s second annual Pink & Purple Party.

“I’m here so that other people can be survivors,” Toni Warner said.

The shirt is dedicated to her. For 16 years she fought a personal battle with breast cancer.

Toni Warner explained that one of the reasons for her survival was because attitude is everything. “And, I have one of those,” she said laughing.

Warner also wants people to know that awareness and early detection was key to her survival. “Don’t wait until you feel something,” she said. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here. Early detection is curable,” she said, smiling as she holds her husband, David Warner’s hand.

Everyone attending was supporting a Relay for Life team, labeled with a sticker noting which team would benefit from the proceeds of their dinner.

Gib Coerper, mayor of Alachua, supported Mebane Middle School.

“I haven’t been in junior high in 50 years,” he said, laughing.

Mayor Coerper also hoped that Thursday’s event would exceed last year. “I hope that this year is a record year,” he said.

And, it proved to be. Last year, according to Sharon Yeago, Relay for Life event co-chair for High Springs and Alachua, the party raised $2,000. This year, the event made about $3,500.

“The Pink and Purple Party on the Patio was another great success this year. We are so grateful to the Great Outdoors staff for the outstanding job they did to make this such a great event,” Yeago said.

She was also pleased to add that the City of Alachua signed up for a Relay Team at the event. “This really capped off the night with the recruitment of our 22nd team for this year’s Relay,” she said.

In addition to the success, there were also raffles throughout the evening, as well as tickets sold for raffles to be given away on the day of relay, which will be May 9 and 10 at the High Springs’ Civic Center.

There was also a section in the corner of the patio for people to buy and decorate luminaria bags These bags will be lit up on the track at the civic center during Relay for Life to represent survivors and the memories of loved ones.

“It’s nice to do in memory of loved ones. They’re very pretty,” said Patti Lamneck, who was selling and decorating her own luminaria bags at the event.

A highlight of the evening was the staff of celebrity bartenders who came from Alachua, High Springs and Gainesville for the event. “We are also grateful to the celebrity bartenders and supporters who gave gifts and made donations at the event,” Yeago said.

The celebrity bartenders were also decked out in colorful pirate attire, and included radio personality Storm Roberts of KTK 98.5, the “morning drive guy.”

“I’m a cancer survivor, and this is real close to my heart,” Roberts said. “And, it’s always fun to dress like a pirate,” he added, smiling while sporting his three-cornered black pirate hat and shiny beads that complemented his pirate garb.

Roberts also added that the main goal of the event is to raise awareness. “I talk about it on my radio show, to let people know what is going on, and to bring it to life,” he said.

He is an advocate to stop childhood cancer, and also added that the more people do to fight cancer, the more people are doing to fight for a cure.

And, he said, “When you get everyone together at events like this, everybody wins.”

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ALACHUA – An independent review of the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) has revealed thousands of dollars wasted on computer equipment.

A list of computer equipment purchased by the High Springs Police Department was provided to commissioners during the April 10 commission meeting. Items listed as still in the box or out of the box but not in use totaled $11,622. Items characterized as unnecessary and greatly out of character with remaining equipment totaled $11,354.

After explaining why the money could have been better spent, the report was summarized, “...if the department had made more reasonable purchases for the laptops, and kept the existing, functional keyboards, hard drives, and operating system, the department could have easily saved $6,800. These savings, paired with the unused hardware/software...would have equated to total savings of over $18,000 to the department.”

The review of the status of the HSPD was recently conducted by the Florida Police Chief's Association. Retired Chief William A. Liquori interviewed officers and visited each department as part of his assessment process. A written report detailing his findings is expected to be received by the city this week.

In a related matter, City Manager Ed Booth delivered an interlocal agreement to Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell on April 14, which would allow county personnel to assist the city by conducting an independent audit of the city police department evidence room. The audit was originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 15, but was changed to April 16. The audit could take as long as one month to complete according to Art Forgey, Public Information Officer, Alachua County Sheriff's Office.

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City employees and community members gathered at the Boy Scout Troop 88 Scout Hut across from City Hall to lay 22 pallets of sod as part of this year’s “Keep Alachua County Beautiful” campaign.

ALACHUA – The City of Alachua launched its annual “Keep Alachua County Beautiful” initiative this past weekend, joining communities across the nation as volunteers came together to spruce up local areas. The city coordinated a voluntary trash pickup in parts of town, carried out special projects to clean up and beautify areas as well as a city-wide waste tire roundup.

City mayor Gib Coerper officially proclaimed April 12 as Alachua’s “Keep Alachua County Beautiful” day. “The City of Alachua is proud to be a sponsor and participant in the annual cleanup,” Coerper said. “It is a great opportunity for people to work together to keep their community clean and make a difference locally.”

The City of Alachua Public Services Department coordinated with Waste Pro, Inc. and local volunteers to undertake this year’s cleanup on Saturday. Volunteers gathered at 8 a.m. at the Swick House located behind City Hall on the Municipal Complex site. Volunteers were assigned various locations to carry out planned projects until noon. Armed with the necessary accessories such as gloves, trash bags, safety vests, and instructions, the volunteers headed to their worksites.

Headquarters for the waste tire roundup was the city’s Paul O’Dea Advanced Water Reclamation Facility located at the southern end of NW 126 Terrace. Other locations included Welch Park at 13801 NW 142nd Ave., and property at the Boy Scout Troop 88 Scout Hut across from City Hall.

After the cleanup ended at noon, lunch was provided back at the Swick House for the volunteers.

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HIGH SPRINGS – Veterans and others with physical limitations will have an easier time getting around in downtown High Springs in the future due in large part to a grant in the amount of $4,000 from The Home Depot® Foundation.

IRISHWATERDOGS WARRIORS (IWDW) Outreach Program, located at 45 NW 1st Ave., recently received the grant through Home Depot's Community Impact Grants Program. The money will be used to help provide two handicapped-accessible parking spots near the IWDW storefront location.

“We are excited to be able to undertake this project to ensure the safety of our wounded veterans,” said Karen McInerney, Community Outreach Director, IWDW. “We were delighted to receive the grant and our veterans are grateful to The Home Depot® Foundation for caring enough about them to help out in this way.”

The IWDW Outreach Program works with veterans suffering with physical and mental injuries. Their therapeutic kayaking program helps keep returning veterans physically active and engaged with their peers and encourages family participation as a way to strengthen family bonds.

“The Home Depot® Foundation is committed to ensuring that every veteran has a safe place to call home,” said Kelly Caffarelli, President, The Home Depot® Foundation. “We are proud to work with IRISHWATERDOGS in our efforts to give back to those men and women who have so bravely served our country.”

Through Team Depot, the company’s associate-led volunteer program, thousands of Home Depot associates volunteer their time and talents to positively transform neighborhoods and perform basic repairs and modifications to homes and facilities serving veterans with critical housing needs.

Since its formation in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation has granted more than $340 million to nonprofit organizations improving homes and lives in local communities.

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Center: Surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches, Matthew Bednarek signs his National Letter of Intent to play for the Jacksonville University Dolphins

ALACHUA – Santa Fe High School senior Matthew Bednarek has signed his National Letter of Intent to play football at Jacksonville University (JU).

Bednarek, who graduates from Santa Fe in June, will major in marine science and will move to Jacksonville in early August to start working out with the JU Dolphins. Bednarek was starting offensive lineman and left tackle, and assisted in earning a winning season for the Santa Fe Raiders.

Family members credit Santa Fe Head Football Coach Bill Wiles for being instrumental in molding Bednarak into a well-rounded student, player and teammate. He has been an honor and Advanced Placement student since starting his high school career, and his GPA currently stands at 4.3.

Matt expressed thanks to his parents, Nancy and Tom Bednarek of Alachua, his family, coaches, friends and school administrators for all of their support throughout his high school career. He attributes his faith and strong community support as having been and will continue to be key to his success.

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HIGH SPRINGS – On the heels of citizen complaints that some people were not aware of the “Boil Water Alert” when it was issued by the city a couple of weeks ago, staff has started using an alert service called Nixle. Approximately 100 citizens who already had Nixle activated on their cell phones received a text message when the city sent out notification of the temporary road closing on Main Street on April 8.

Although the city is using the free alert system at this time, it is limited to notification via text and email alerts only. The paid version, which will cost approximately $1 per citizen, according to High Springs Fire Chief Bruce Gillingham, would also enable the city to send recorded messages directly to home telephones as well.

While consideration is being given to switching to the paid system at some point, anyone with the ability to receive a text or email message may sign up for the free service right now. There are two ways to sign up.

If signing up on a cell phone, residents may type 888777 where the address of the person being texted would normally go. The body of the message should contain the zip code for the area in which the sender lives. Once the Send button is hit, a message will be returned from Nixle indicating a successful contact.

If signing up via computer, residents may either go directly to www.nixle.com or to the city's website at www.cityofhighsprings.us and follow the directions to complete the sign up process.

“Citizens need to be proactive and sign up for the service if they want to receive notifications in this manner,” said Gillingham. The sign up process takes five minutes and is easy to do.

The cost to the city for the initial set up of the paid system, should they decide to switch to it at some point, is $6,400 the first year and $4,900 thereafter, according to Gillingham, who has researched the Nixle service on behalf of the city.

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