HIGH SPRINGS – In a hurricane or other serious emergency, the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) is now able to reach stranded travelers, ride over flooded streets, remove or run over fallen trees and reach people in difficult to access locations, with the help of a donation from the United States Department of Defense (DOD).

The police department spent about $2,000 to pick up a nearly 22-ton, $600,000 armored vehicle from Camp Shelby, Miss.

The DOD has about 20,000 armored vehicles coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Their only use in this country would be for police departments and emergency situations, said High Springs Police Chief Steve Holley.

The vehicle, known as the BAE Caiman, is semi-aquatic and can travel in water almost four feet deep. It was built in 2008 for military use and has only 7,000 miles on it, Holley said. With a diesel engine and transmission similar to an RV, he expects it to last many years into the future.

Previously, the city has not had a four-wheel drive vehicle.

The BAE Caiman is equipped with an infrared headlight system, a Halon fire suppression system to stop the spread of flames, self-inflating tires, a 75-gallon gas tank and has ballistic protection.

The purpose of this vehicle is to provide emergency services in emergency situations. In a rescue situation, the BAE Caiman will hold 12 to 15 people, which is important when several people may be stranded during a storm, Holley said.

Though the vehicle was built for war, its purpose in High Springs is peaceful, he said.

“It will not be used during routine patrol and has no weapons," he said.

In the coming months, HSPD will be coordinating with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, which also received one of the vehicles, and the Gainesville Police Department, which is expecting to receive one soon, to obtain appropriate training at Camp Blanding.

“Although it is not difficult to drive, we want to be well-versed in all of the capabilities of the vehicle so it can be fully utilized during major emergencies,” Holley said.

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alachuatoday.com

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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alachuatoday.com

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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alachuatoday.com

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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