Barrineau Park’s Musical Fourth
July 9, 2008
The Aubie Fillingim Auditorium was rocking to the music of Chapel Strings and Rolling Tide Friday night. After a day of celebrating our independence, folks came out to the Barrineau Park Community Center for an evening of entertainment.
They were not disappointed as Chapel strings kicked off the show with “The Star Spangled Banner”, followed up with Emily Frank singing “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, “Uncle Bill” Fillingim playing “Last Date” on the keyboard, and Al Frank with his rendition of “Five Pound Possum”.
Then, Rolling Tide came on stage with George Brewer playing “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Down Yonder” on the electric guitar. The audience responded with whoops, whistles and clapping to show their appreciation.
Music Night in Barrineau Park is held on the first Friday night of each month at the Barrineau Park Community Center. It is a family atmosphere with free admission.
Submitted story and photos by Steve Jogan.
Pictured above (L-R): Chapel Strings with Bob Commings, Lynn Fillingim, Clint Fillingim, Tommy Fillingim, Al Frank, Emily Frank, Kathy Commings (hidden), Uncle Bill. Pictured below: Rolling Tide with (L-R standing): Beth Ryals, Jack Helms, Billy Burleson, John Decker, George Brewer; and (kneeling) Larry Ryals, Jim Butler. Pictured bottom: The audience at the Barrineau Park Community Center. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com.
VBS Going On This Week At Ray’s Chapel
July 9, 2008
Vacation Bible School is continuing each evening this week at Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church in Bogia.
This year’s theme is Veggie Tales “Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything–Calling All Heroes”.
All kids 5-12 are still welcome to join in with crafts, science lab, snacks, games, fun and learning from the Bible.
The VBS continues each evening from 6:30 until 8:30. There will be a special program for parents on Friday, July 11 at 7:00.
Click here for more photos from Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church’s Vacation Bible School.
Submitted photos by Ramona Preston.
Giant Hummingbirds?
July 8, 2008
We’ve had some larger than normal visitors to our hummingbird feeders here at NorthEscambia.com, and we thought we would share the photos.
The bird pictured and several of his friends have been visiting our hummingbird feeders on a regular basis. A little online research told us that there are over dozen other species of bird in Florida that will drink from a hummingbird feeder.
Our nectar is a sugar water mix…one part sugar to three parts water. It is not a commercial nectar.
If you know what type bird this is, fill in the comment form at the bottom of the page or email news@northescambia.com and let us know.
Pictured above and below: Our hummingbird feeder visitor. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Backwoods Water Problems Continue To Plague Century
July 8, 2008
Water problems on Backwoods Road continued to plague the Century Town Council Monday night as the council debated the future of a nearly $1.5 million project.
Many of the 27 households on Backwoods Road have complained to the town for nearly a decade about poor water pressure, muddy water and sometimes the lack of water. The homes are served by 1.7 miles of pipe just two inches in diameter.
Back on May 22, the town received a symbolic $1,755,000 check for a USDA Rural Development Loan to improve water service in the area of Backwoods Road, but the council never voted to finalize the loan.
Since that time, about $300,000 was shaved from the project by decreasing the size of a new elevated storage tank near the intersection of Henry Street and Academy Street. The project was to also include generators for water wells and a new six inch water main from Shady Lane and State Line Road, west along State Line Road to Highway 4A, and then south on Highway 4A past Backwoods Road.
“We are not solving the Backwoods problem with this project. We are making a step toward it,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said, adding that the increased water pressure along Highway 4A would serve to increase the water pressure in the Backwoods Road two inch pipe. “But it is not going to be the solution to the Backwoods problem.”
Some resident expressed concern that increasing the pressure in the aging pipe under Backwoods Road will lead to more problems in pipe that already leaks.
“There is some concern about adding more pressure,” Dale Long of Fabre Engineering said of the pipe on Backwoods Road. “You have crappy pipe.”
The council planned to “buy down the loan” by about $300,000, mostly from funds to be received from the state from back billing for gas service at the Century Correctional Institute. With that $300,000, the monthly loan payment would be about $64,000…with that money coming from increased payments of around $90,000 a month from the prison.
Council member Henry Hawkins questioned whether the town could not do the project under the USDA loan and just use the $300,000 to increase the size of the water pipe under Backwoods Road.
After lengthy discussion, the council voted to authorize Long to find out if the USDA project loan could be updated to include improvements on Backwoods road. He will report back to the council on his findings.
District 5 Town Hall Meeting Tonight In Cantonment
July 8, 2008
If you want to have your voice heard in county government, or just want to hear first hand what is going on in North Escambia’s District 5, there is a meeting for you tonight.Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Kevin White will hold a town hall meeting tonight at 6:30 at at St. Monica’s Episcopal Church, 699 S. Highway 95A in Cantonment. He will update residents on projects in North Escambia and take your questions concerning county issues.
Many county department representatives are also expected to be at the meeting.
Carver/Century Improves From an F to a B School
July 8, 2008
It’s official…Carver/Century K-8 School’s Florida School Score has improved dramatically, from an “F” to a “B” as NorthEscambia first reported Monday afternoon.
The Florida Department of Educations’ School Accountability Scores were not officially released until Tuesday morning. But Principal Jeff Garthwaite said he received a call Monday afternoon from the department.
“I am proud to say Carver-Century has gone from an ‘F’ to a ‘B’,” he said. “This school has been doing something right, and now we have proved it.”
“I’ve called key people on the staff, and I have called you,” Garthwaite told NorthEscambia.com Monday afternoon. “The reaction has been from ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ to out and out screams.”
“What we have been saying all along is that this school offers among the highest educational opportunities in the Escambia school system,” he said. “It was just a matter of putting the right practices into place, and we have just proved it.”
“I’m excited, and I am just tickled to death,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. “That shows that we have an administrator there now and teachers that can do the job. They busted their rumps to get that score up.”
Escambia School Superintendent Jim Paul has been expected to recommend closure of the school to save an estimated $680,000 per year and because of the school’s “F” rating. He was to have made that official recommendation on June 26, but the meeting was advertised as a workshop rather than an official meeting.
Paul had announced that we would not seek to close the school for the 2008-2009 school year, but a district spokesman indicated a few weeks ago that Paul would seek closure of the school for the 2009-2010 school year.
“The implications that this adds to closing the school, well, it just adds some excitement to that,” Garthwaite said.
During the course of the year, the school held an FCAT cash grab to motivate students, burned a symbolic wood “F” in a bonfire, held community meetings and even held a prayer service to turn the school’s future over to God.
For a complete story on all the area school scores released Tuesday morning, click here.
You can add your comments to this story at the bottom of this page.
Pictured above: During the past school year, Carver/Century even held a prayer service for the school where they turned the school’s future over to God. The school’s state grade has now soared from an “F” to a “B”. Pictured below: Principal Jeff Garthwaite with a symbolic “F” that the school faculty burned back in February. Pictured bottom: One of the sticky notes on the wood “F”. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Helicopter Technologies Building Might Be Sold; Town Considers Filing Emergency Foreclosure
July 8, 2008
The owner of Helicopter Technologies tells the mayor of Century the company’s building will be sold by Friday, and the town council has voted to file emergency foreclosure against the company in the event the sale does not take place.
“Helicopter Technologies is, from all indications, gone (from Century),” Mayor Freddie McCall told the town council Monday night. He said he received a call from an attorney in Pensacola indicating that a Pensacola company was buying the building and that the sale should be finalized by Friday.
The council approved the mayor’s request to file “emergency foreclosure if anything goes wrong with this deal”. The $420,000 mortgage on the building that Helicopter Technologies is selling in the Century Industrial Park is financed by the Town of Century.
McCall identified the potential buyer as “Shellco of Pensacola”. The Florida Department of State Division of Corporations does list a Shellco of Pensacola, Inc. on Fowler Avenue. That company was incorporated in 1997. The nature of the company’s business was not immediately known Monday night.
The mayor described the company as an investment company that is working on a deal with an electric car manufacturing company.
“Why are we allowing somebody else to buy the property,” Council member Henry Hawkins asked. “If we lease it, we have more control over what goes in and out.”
The building was sold to Georges Van Nevel and Helicopter Technologies in 2001. The mayor told Hawkins that if the town should foreclose on the property, the town would still not be getting the building back.
“If we foreclose we would not get the building back,” McCall responded. “We would be forcing an auction.”
It appears that many of the contents of the Helicopter Technologies building are also for sale. Listings on pensacola.craiglist.com that were posted Monday morning indicate that the company is having a “Office Equipment and Furniture Sale” and a “Huge Tool and Equipment Sale” this week. (Click the blue links to see the Craigslist listings.)
NorthEscambia.com was unable to reach Van Nevel Monday night for comment. The mayor said that Van Nevel was currently in France.
Pictured above: Georges Van Nevel inside the Helicopter Technologies building in Century’s Industrial Park. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Council Settles With Allied Waste To Stay Out Of Court; Agrees To Take Flomaton Sewage
July 8, 2008
The Town of Century will settle an overpayment issue with Allied Waste out of court, collecting half the amount the town says Allied owes.
Mayor Freddie McCall told the town council Monday night that Allied had been billing the town for 753 residential customers when the actual number of customers was 694.
The difference led to Allied billing $88,000 the town said it did not owe. McCall said he and the town’s attorney, Matt Dannheisser, sat down recently with Allied in an attempt to settle the issue out of court.
“They did not want to take responsibility for that (incorrect) house count,” McCall said. The two sides eventually agreed to split the difference, with Allied paying half the amount the town said they owed.
The council voted 5-0 to accept the $44,000 settlement from Allied.
“It’s better to accept that than lost everything,” Council member Nadine McCaw said.
In other business, the council voted 4-1 to enter into an agreement with the Town of Flomaton to provide sewer service to the state line for a new trailer park in Flomaton.
Mathis Trailer Park is planned for the north side of the street known as Alley 5, just feet north of the Alabama state line in Flomaton. Flomaton does not have sewer service available south of the railroad tracks near the state line. Under a proposal from Flomaton, that town would provide individual sewer connections for the five planned trailers on the lot, and they would run a line to the state line. At the state line, Flomaton’s sewer line would connect to a line from Century.
The sewage flow from Flomaton would be paid for by the Town of Flomaton, with Flomaton billing the trailer park owner. If the trailer park owner did not pay Flomaton, Flomaton would still pay Century for the sewage, Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. In addition, the Town of Century would receive a $1,000 connection fee for each of the five trailers, and $1,000 each for additional trailers added to the park in the future.
The proposal has already been approved by the Flomaton Town Council.
“I am against going across the state line,” Council member Anne Brooks said.
Brooks questioned why the mayor had spent $1,400 without the council’s approval to have the legal agreement prepared by Dannheisser.
“We spent $1,400 for this agreement,” Brooks said. “What if we voted against it? That would $1,400 thrown away.”
“I thought it was an administrative decision,” the mayor said. “And I stand to be corrected if I need to be.”
The council also discussed damage to Industrial Boulevard that was caused by a contractor cleaning up debris after Hurricane Ivan. The contractor had agreed, according to the mayor, to repair the road before leaving town. They did not, and now McCall’s calls and emails to the company are not being returned, he said.
The council voted 5-0 to turn the matter over to the town’s attorney.
Out Of Africa: The Story Of The Walnut Hill Zebra And His Missing Giraffe Friend
July 7, 2008
A zebra and black bear in the back of a pickup truck created a stir in Walnut Hill on Friday afternoon, with some people nearly running off the road and others snapping pictures on their cell phones.
The zebra and the black bear were simply moving from one home to their new one in the Walnut Hill community. A far cry from their first move…about 9,000 miles from South Africa to Walnut Hill.
The attention-getting duo were being moved on the Fourth of July (pictured left on South Highway 99) to the new home of Richard and Vickie Beck on Tungoil Road in Walnut Hill. The Becks recently built their new home after selling their farm in South Africa.
The home features a wide variety of mounted animals from South Africa…from the zebra, to wild hogs, to monkeys, to big cats, even to a map of Africa painted on a preserved elephant ear.
But the largest mounted trophy is yet to come…it is a 19 foot tall full body mount giraffe that Vickie shot. There have been some paperwork delays in getting the giraffe out of Africa.
“This entire house was built to hold the giraffe,” Richard told NorthEscambia.com.
Six years ago, the Becks bought a 3,500 acre farm near of Alexandria, South Africa, near the Indian Ocean coast. They lived there April to August for each of the past six years, offering hunting and photo safaris during the South African winter. (Remember, the seasons are opposite south of the equator, so April to August is their winter.)
They have owned a sod business in Walnut Hill for the past 19 years. They had originally purchased the property in South Africa with the intent of opening an orphanage, but they ran into problems with local officials that just “wanted to pad their pockets instead of helping the children”. So they quickly turned their interest to hunting.
“I was fortunate enough to have a wife that would follow me 9,000 miles around the world to hunt,” Richard said.
Their hunting safaris did end up helping children in South Africa after all, he said. The meat from the animals often went to feed needy children in the area. The meat of most of the 27 different species hunted on the farm was customarily consumed by the South Africans, including the zebra meet. “It tastes like prime rib,” Richard added.
After owning the farm for six years, the Becks decided to sell. And the time could not have been better.
With the sluggish U.S. economy, the sod business has reached a historic low because of less new construction. If the Becks had not sold the farm in South Africa, Richard said they would have been in danger of losing the entire sod farm.
“The Lord has blessed us. We’ve been very blessed,” he said. “I definitely want to give Him the glory for all of this.”
The profits from selling the farm in South Africa allowed the Becks to build their new Tungoil Road home, and has provided money to make the payments on the sod farm. They have also been able to furnish the home with a complete African theme. The home features African hand carved cabinet doors, and an elaborate hand carved dining room set (pictured left).
The only thing missing from their new home is the giraffe, and Richard said he hopes it will soon be in a 40 foot shipping container on its way to the United States. Once in the states, the giraffe will join the zebra at home in Walnut Hill.
And Richard promised that he will invite NorthEscambia.com back once the giraffe arrives, so our readers can see the rare site of a full body mount giraffe.
For a complete photo gallery from the Beck home, click here.
Pictured top: The Walnut Hill giraffe was moved into his new home on the Fourth of July. Pictured below: An African scene painted on an elephant’s ear cut in the shape of the continent. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
NorthEscambia.com Selected For Inclusion In Google News
July 7, 2008
Google has selected NorthEscambia.com for inclusion in its Google News service.
“Google News is a computer-generated news site that aggregates headlines from more than 4,500 English-language news sources worldwide, groups similar stories together and displays them according to each reader’s personalized interests,” according to Google.
In the North Escambia area, only the Pensacola News Journal, WKRG TV 5, the Mobile-Press Register and the Northwest Florida Daily News are included in Google News. The other area papers and television stations are not in the service. In order to be included in the news.google.com service, a site such as NorthEscambia.com must be selected by a human at Google as a quality news service.
While news.google.com has indexed only about 65 NorthEscambia.com stories so far, the site is expected to add a more complete index of our stories in the coming weeks. Once NorthEscambia.com adds a new story, it is available for users worldwide searching Google news within minutes. Our stories are also available to users of the regular google.com service, with about 1,000 NorthEscambia.com stories currently indexed by Google.