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HIGH SPRINGS – More than 400 families with upwards of 500 children in the High Springs area could go without food this holiday season without the help of the area residents. That is the concern of the director and volunteers at the Community Outreach Program, organized by St. Madeleine’s Church.

“The economic downturn has forced adult children, now with their own families to feed, to move back home,” said program director Bella Diefenderfer. “Due to economic need, combined family units might have as many as 15 people living together.” she said.

There has also been less charitable giving than in previous years, she said. Although the organization formally opened its doors on July 1 of this year, Diefenderfer worked for charities for more than eight years and said she knows how much the families need.

More than 150 families have asked for help to provide Thanksgiving dinners. Around 75 families have requested help with Christmas dinners.

“The need is great and our supplies are limited,” Diefenderfer said. She is worried the organization may not be able to feed everybody during the holidays.

Many of the people the organization serves do not have transportation to go to Gainesville or Lake City to shop, she said. Some volunteers have said even small gift cards to grocery stores could make a difference

“Whatever people wish to give in whatever way they give it is always very much appreciated,” she said.

In addition, the organization is attempting to provide Christmas gifts for upwards of 200 younger children.

“They need food and gifts,” Diefenderfer said.

A new or barely used outfit, a pair of shoes and a toy for a child, could make all the difference for a child, she said. The deadline to submit unwrapped children’s Christmas gifts is Friday, Dec. 13. Anyone wishing to adopt a family for the holidays can contact Diefenderfer directly to make arrangements.

“Without the community’s involvement, outreach will not be able to accomplish its mission, which is to help people less fortunate,” Diefenderfer said.

The fledgling organization feeds more than 400 families located in High Springs, Ft. White, Alachua, Hague and Newberry, plus some families who come in from Gilchrist and Union counties. Many of the families come every 30 days for food and clothing for themselves and their children.

Although the organization does not provide all the food each family needs, they do supplement whatever food supply the families may have to help stretch the food throughout the month, Diefenderfer said.

The Community Outreach Program is open every work-day to help less fortunate families, she said.

“But we can’t do it all without the support of area residents and business owners,” Diefenderfer said.

“These families are in desperate need of help from their communities.”

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ALACHUA – With the scent of popcorn and funnel cake lingering in the air, Santa Fe High School had a show to put on.

Crowds of mothers, fathers, distant relatives and even bus drivers for the bands cheered on the 17 marching bands competing for the top spot from 10 a.m. Saturday morning until 10 p.m. that night on Oct. 12 for the 18th Annual Southern Showcase.

Some parents volunteered to run ticket booths, shirt stands and the concessions office, but others preferred to support their band from the stands.

Antoinette Hunt and her husband, Randy Hunt, have sold hotdogs, hamburgers and barbecue at the showcase for the last two years.

“Each year it’s better and better,” Antoinette Hunt said.

The couple has supported Santa Fe High School since 1988 when their own children started school, Randy Hunt said.

Sitting in concrete seats sporting shirts that matched school colors, parents screamed and clapped as the event went on.

Between sets, the crowd would rush quickly to the nearest concession stands to get a drink or popcorn, and then dart back to their seats so they wouldn’t miss the next performance.

While most of the band students’ parents are volunteers, the showcase was so large it needed more people to help.

Two hundred Alachua residents helped in the showcase.

Local volunteers joined to keep the event running smoothly by packing and driving equipment to the field. Even some of the alumni come back to help set up equipment.

The showcase pulls in about 3,500 people every year, and this year it even had band members from the 1960s that live across the country come back to see their band compete, said Michelle Kays, a parent and volunteer at the event.

Parent Tracy Short, who was volunteering at a ticket stand, said the event was something that many locals look forward to every year. With five high school marching bands participating in the competition every year, the turnout continues to keep Santa Fe High School’s showcase as one of the top in the region, Short said.

Even the bus drivers for the bands look forward to seeing the bands every year.

Cindy Hall, a bus driver for Clay County, watched the band she delivered to the event. She has been driving Fleming Island High’s band to Santa Fe High School’s marching showcase for 15 years. The show always proved to be fun, she said.

The showcase hit its last note around 10 p.m. While some of the crowd dwindled, the rest of parents and volunteers helped clean up and pack the remainder of this year’s showcase.

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ALACHUA - The Alachua Learning Center, located at 11100 State Road 235, kicked off its annual Literacy Night on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Parents and students from kindergarten to eighth grade were invited to join the Alachua Learning Center in games and stories.

Every year, the school hosts Literacy Night to encourage children to develop strong reading habits. The event also sells books for a discounted price so that children can afford to read more. The funds from the books sold are used to help teachers grow their in-class libraries.

Literacy Night was deemed to be a success, selling out several series of books. One of the most popular books was the novel “Spirit Animals,” a series about children that are guided to make morally right decisions by their spirit animals.

Alachua Learning Center teacher Goura Perey was the host of the event. It was her first year hosting, and she said that she loved seeing how excited the students were about getting new books and reading them.

“They want to experience the books,” she said. “They’re flipping through pages and also making recommendations to each other.”

In addition to Perey, parents and students volunteered to help the event run smoothly. Theresa Vaicys was one of two parents that helped out. Vaicys was in charge of handling money earned from the books sold.

Vaicys said she went to the event once and really enjoyed it. Since then, Vaicys has volunteered for Literacy Night three more times.

“I really appreciate all the planning that goes into it,” she said. “We rely so much on parent support and student volunteers as well. We had an outstanding group of students this year.”

Vaicys’ two children go to school at the Alachua Learning Center. Her oldest, a middle-school student, also volunteered this year.

“He volunteered to set up during the school preview, so he was there all day with me on that Monday,” she said. “He helped the kindergarten through second-graders. They need somebody to write down the books that they liked.”

After 14 years of hosting Literacy Night, the event has become a staple for the Alachua Learning Center students. And while the students are the biggest buyers for the event, it’s also open to the public.

“I look forward to being a part of this project again next year, and I think I’ll be looking for ways to get more community involvement,” Vaicys said.

While Literacy Night is finished for this year, students and parents can still go to the Scholastic website and purchase books that will help Alachua Learning Center teachers pay for more books and supplies in their classroom.

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NEWBERRY – As the sun gleamed through the sky and a breeze swept through, residents descended on downtown Newberry for food, shopping, arts and games.

Saturday, Oct. 12 marked the 7th Annual Fall Market Festival and Bar-B-Q- Cook-off, which hosted a variety of activities, from vendors selling crafted wares, to homemade snacks for sale to the namesake barbecue competition.  

This year’s barbecue cook-off was originally meant for five teams, but two teams dropped out at the last minute. Lucy’s BBQ, Dirty Mother Truckers and Fat Mac’s Café were left to engage in culinary battle.

Conney Scott, owner of Lucy’s BBQ, said she was excited to be at the festival for the fifth year. Scott, who last year won the Best Amateur Award, recruited her sons, Samuel Whitehead and Terrance Dexter, to help bring in this year’s award. Scott used her family’s secret recipe, given to her by her grandmother. Winning the cook-off was another way for her to keep her grandmother’s recipe and legacy alive, she said.

As judges were handing out the barbecue awards, some guests at the festival were enjoying other parts of the event.

Paul Buzbee said he was glad his family chose to come. Buzbee, who was on a military tour last year, said he enjoyed seeing his daughter have fun and liked being able to spend time with her. Living just down the street from the festival, he thought it would be small, but fun. It was worth the short walk over, he said.

While Buzbee only had to walk down the street, some people travelled a little farther.

Shannon Lowder, a University of Florida finance major, came out to support some of the small-town vendors.

“It is nice to help local hometown businesses instead of big companies,” Lowder said. “It is your local people you have got to support.”

Meanwhile, Demi Hunt, a UF freshman, came to buy gifts for his mother.

Fifty-four vendors participated in the event, most of them selling arts and crafts.   Some of them were returning from previous years, but a few were new.

Nada Meeks, who ran a face-painting booth, said this was her first time at the festival, but she wants to return.

The Fall Market Festival and Bar-B-Q Cook-off is organized by the Newberry Main Street Organization, whose goal is to promote economic development in downtown Newberry, while preserving the history and culture of the area.

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ALACHUA – When the group of people was walking along the sidewalk by U.S. Highway 441 in Alachua, the noise of traffic could be noticed more easily by some than others. Without vision, the other senses they rely on had sharpened.

Saturday, Oct. 12 was the 14th annual White Cane Walk in Alachua, organized by the Alachua Lions Club. Members of the community gathered near the fire station and walked to the Alachua Boy Scout Hut to raise awareness for Florida’s White Cane laws and to educate people on the challenges the blind have to overcome in daily life.

Florida’s White Cane law requires drivers to come to a full stop when approaching an intersection where a person with a red-tipped white cane is walking.

Some of the participants wore blindfolds on the walk and had a guide help them reach the destination, simulating blindness.

At 9 a.m., the walk began.

“There’s a curb right here, angel,” said one father to his blindfolded daughter, navigating the path.

When the walk ended, activities were set up for children to learn more about how the visually impaired handle ordinary tasks.

Maxine Stallings, from the Alachua County Council of the Blind, said she hoped the White Cane Walk helped everybody realize the blind and visually impaired can be accomplished individuals like anybody else.

“We just do our daily routine a little differently,” she said.

Stallings showed the children how she pours water in a glass by putting her fingertip inside the edge and waiting until she can feel the water reach it.

Joan Miles printed out children’s names for them in braille. She has been going to the White Cane Walk in Alachua since it was started by Alachua Assistant City Manager Adam Boukari for his Eagle Scout project.

The walk shows people how much the blind have to rely on their other senses to get by, Miles said.

“They have to really tune in,” she said. “It shows them how scary it can be.”

Reginald Howard showed off an app for his iPhone that can quickly scan a dollar bill and let the visually impaired person know how much cash they are holding.

“Can you imagine someone handing you money and you didn’t know what it was?” he asked the children around him.

He put a Bluetooth headset in one of the blindfolded children’s ears, then handed him the iPhone. Howard instructed him on how to scan the money so the value could be told to him through the headset.

“It gives them an idea what it’s like,” Howard said, “but it doesn’t let them fully understand.”

Nico Marrone, 18, said the walk taught him to not take his eyesight for granted.

“We can take our blindfolds off, but they can’t,” he said.

For his work with the White Cane Walk, Adam Boukari was given the Millennium Award from the Council of the Blind.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “This has been close to my heart for the last 14 years.”

As the event ended, a young Cub Scout could be seen escorting Reginald Howard across the street to the post office. Crossing the street, he signaled for the incoming cars to stop, and they did.

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NEWBERRY - Some members of the audience had to hold back tears at a Newberry city commission meeting.

Richard Blalock, recreation director for the City of Newberry, resigned at the Monday, Oct. 14 meeting, prompting members of the community to give speeches about his impact in the town.

“We can never replace you,” said Joy Glanzer to Blalock. “Your legacy goes generations.”

Blalock chose to leave his position with the city to take a job with GoodSports Global Enterprises, a development, construction and management company specializing in hotels, water parks and sports recreation facilities, according to its website.

“This company has put an opportunity in front of me that I just can’t turn down,” Blalock said.

Commissioner Alena Lawson said she wasn’t surprised that he had options.

“I knew you were in great demand,” she said, though she was disappointed to see him go.

“You are the reason why a city of 5,000 is on the map nationally,” she said. If the recreation department helps children be constructive, grow as individuals and keeps them away from crime, it’s worth all the funding it gets, she added.

Debbie Boyd, a former Newberry city commissioner and a former state representative, said the city has two options. It can either build sports and recreation complexes, or it can build prisons, she said. If it doesn’t build the first, the children will end up in the second, she added.  

When Blalock took his job as the recreation director a little over 10 years ago, there were only two parks in Newberry, he said.

Since he’s been there, the city has developed the Easton Newberry Sports Complex, Nations Park, Triangle Park and the MLK Community Center.

The Easton Newberry Sports Complex is what Blalock is most proud of, he said.

“It reaches so many different people, from adults and seniors, all the way down to the kids.”

Commissioner Joe Hoffman had to wipe tears from his face when addressing Blalock.

Some people have negative views about the recreation program in Newberry, Hoffman said, mentioning Mayor Bill Conrad. However, the recreation department has been an important part of developing the city’s economy, he added.

“It’s not about money for Richard,” he said. “It’s about doing what’s right for the city.”

The recreation programs have vitalized the economy of the city, Hoffman said in a trembling voice.

When the City of Newberry first developed its vision to be a destination for sports tourism, Blalock helped to make it a reality, said City Manager Keith Ashby. Under Blalock, the Easton Newberry Sports Complex was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee as a Community Olympic Development Program, one of only 10 cities in the entire country to have the designation, due to its archery program.

During Blalock’s time as the recreation director, the City of Newberry received $13.8 million in grants for its sports programs.

Ashby said he will look into options on how to find a new director, and will present a plan to the city in the future.

“We locked into this vision,” Ashby said. “It’s going to be tough for us to go forward, but we’ll go forward.”

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