The Chief Rides Again: Mascot Returns To Northview High
September 4, 2009
The crowd roared as sophomore Raylin Spence and her horse Sammy thundered into the Northview High School football stadium Thursday night during the annual Meet the Chiefs night.
A giant Northview flag was blowing in the wind as they raced around the football field as Chiefs fans marked the return of a mascot to high school football at Northview.
“I’ve very excited,” Raylin said. “This will get some more school spirit going on at Northview for sure.”
Friday night’s Northview season opener will be the first time the NHS Chiefs have had a mascot at a football game in several years.
Pictured above: Northview’s new mascot races across the Northview football field Thursday night. Pictured below: Raylin Spence and her horse Sammy. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Labor Of Love: Friends Helping Molino Woman Fight Cancer
September 3, 2009
Recently, doctors told Sonja Luker of Molino to prepare for the end because, once again, chemotherapy and radiation were unable to destroy all of the cancer cells attacking her body. As Sonja tried to come to terms with the devastating news, she began to wonder how she will tell her children that she will not live long enough to see them marry, how she would tell her parents that she would probably die before them.
But then there was a glimmer of hope that has turned into a real promise. A doctor at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas is convinced that he can trick her body genetically, preventing tumors from forming.
Now Sonja’s friends are working together to help her and her husband Chris afford the treatment she needs. The couple has insurance, but it will not cover all of the expenses for the Texas treatments. They couple has also exhausted their life savings.
Her friends have organized a 75-mile Labor Day motorcycle ride to benefit Sonja. The ride (detailed at the bottom of this story) will start Monday at the Alabama Wing House in Atmore. For the friends, it’s a labor of love.
That’s because Sonja has given so much to the community over the past several years. She’s the person behind the annual Molino Christmas Parade. She has served tirelessly for years on the board of directors for the Molino Recreation Association. Relay for Life, Special Olympics…the list just goes on and on. Helping the communities of North Escambia has been her calling.
“I’m a little overwhelmed by all of the people that want to help me,” Sonja said. “I would rather give than receive. I have the most amazing friends in the world.”
Sonja was first diagnosed with cancer about five years ago when her son was senior in high school. Her son Timothy is now 22 and daughter Samantha is 21.
“All I did was pray for God to let me see my children graduate,” she said. “I got my miracle.”
For Sonja, there’s always someone that needs help more than she does.
“I do what I do because I like to help,” she said. “There is always somebody worse that I am.”
And that’s one of her goals. She plans, and fully intends, for her Texas treatment to work. She, of course, wants the treatment to work so she can be with her family and friends. But she also wants to get fully back into helping others.
“I am going to be around to work on my causes,” she said. “I’m ready to get out there and help raise money for causes that need it.”
She’s already making plans for this year’s Molino Christmas Parade, and she is looking forward to helping with next year’s ball season. “Any I want to make sure that everybody gets involved with Relay for Life,” she said. “It if were not for the cancer research money provided by Relay for Life, I would have not a chance right now in my fight. I would have no hope if it were not for Relay for Life.”
The Labor Day 75-mile motorcycle ride for Sonja Luker will take place Monday. Registration will be at 9 a.m. at the Alabama Wing House at 124 Lindberg Avenue in Atmore. The ride will begin at 11 a.m. The ride is $20 per bike, $25 for two riders. There is a $5 entry fee for a bike competition, and a $20 entry fee to a car show. The event will also feature life music, food and fun activities for the whole family. For more information, contact Jessica at (850) 418-4848 or Pam at (850) 712-6267.
Pictured top and bottom: Sonja Luker with her husband Chris. Pictured middle: Sonja (far right) at this year’s Relay for Life at Tate High School. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Photo Galleries: Hundreds Of North Escambia Weekend Photos
August 31, 2009
If you missed NorthEscambia.com this weekend, you missed hundreds of photos from across the area. From mini-cheerleaders to exciting football action, we had the area covered in pictures.
Click gallery name below to view the photos:
- Northwest Escambia Mites vs. Pace.
- Northwest Escambia Midgets vs. Pace.
- Northwest Escambia Cheerleaders.
- Flomaton High School versus Calhoun.
- Northview High Mini-Cheerleaders.
- Molino Residents watch the Pelicans win.
- Meet the NHS Tribal Beat Band.
- Byrneville Elementary emergency drills.
Molino Residents Check Out The Pels’ Big Win
August 30, 2009
A caravan of fans from a Molino church were at Pelicans Park Friday night as the Pels won the 2009 Second Half South Division Championship with an 8-3 win over the Shreveport Captains. The fans from Aldersgate United Methodist Church were among nearly 2,300 fans to see the Pensacola Pelicans clinch a playoff spot, the first for the Pels since 2005.
Pictured top: Pensacola Pelicans fans from Molino at a Friday night Pels game. Pictured bottom: Aldersgate United Methodist Church youth Zach Glenn and Julian Satterwhite got many signatures from the champs. Submitted photos by Sandra Greenwell for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Meet The Beat: Northview’s Tribal Beat Band Previews New Halftime Show
August 29, 2009
The Northview High School band previewed their new halftime show and other new songs during a special Meet The Tribal Beat program Friday night.
From Ghostbusters to September by Earth, Wind and Fire, the Tribal Beat’s musical repertoire has expanded this year under new Band Director Scott Slay. Other new songs planned for this season include “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry, “Go With The Flow” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”.
“Students will be able to identify with music and enjoy it, but it probably won’t be music that they would have bought for themselves,” Slay told NorthEscambia.com recently.
Slay has added a “pit crew” to support the band, including an electric guitar and xylophone to support the woodwind instruments.
During the next year, the Tribal Beat will take on more of a local focus, the new band director said, marching and participating in local events and parades. For now, distant competitions and events are out while Slay works to improve and build the program. “It will be more of a focus of serving our communities,” he said.
The public will have another chance to hear the Tribal Beat Thursday night at 7:30 during the annual “Meet the Chiefs” program.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured above and below: The Northview High School Tribal Beat band performs Friday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Go Chiefs: Girls Of All Ages Learn At NHS Mini-Cheerleading Clinic
August 29, 2009
The annual Northview Mini-Cheerleading Clinic was held Friday evening, giving girls three-years old through the eighth grade the chance to learn cheers from the NHS varsity and junior varsity cheerleaders.
The girls will have the opportunity to cheer at halftime of next Friday night’s Northview Chiefs football game.
Click here for a photo gallery.
Pictured above and below: The Northview Mini-Cheerleading Clinic Friday night at Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Photo Gallery: Byrneville Elementary Ready For Emergencies
August 29, 2009
Byrneville Elementary School held several practice emergency drills Friday morning to prepare for a variety of situations.
Students participated in fire drills, tornado drills, campus evacuations and other drills to get ready for emergencies. Students, teachers and even the principal practiced exiting classroom windows with emergency ladders. Students were even evacuated from the school to the nearby Byrneville Community Center.
Units from Escambia Fire Rescue’s Century Station were at the school to assist in the drills.
“This is a practice and that the activity is being carried out to assure that our students know what to do if a real emergency situation takes place,” Bryneville Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan said.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured left: Practicing a classroom evacuation with an emergency ladder. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge. Pictured below: Students evacuated campus to the Byrneville Community Center.
North Escambia’s Very Own Road Man: Rigby Retires After 25 Years
August 28, 2009
Sometimes a man can move a mountain.
In the case of Ron Rigby, he has probably moved the equivalent of several mountains during his career. Rigby is retiring from the Escambia County Road Department after 25 years –all but just a few months of those years operating a Gradall excavator, moving tons and tons of dirt across North Escambia.
When Rigby climbed into the operator’s seat of a Gradall Thursday at the road department’s Camp Five near Byrneville, he said it was a part of him he was going to miss. Like a surgeon, turned excavator arm around effortlessly. There was a smile on his face –sometimes a man just enjoys his work. And his coworkers.
“I’ve been with these guys so long,” Rigby said of the others that work out of Camp Five, the county road department’s headquarters for all projects in North Escambia’s District 5. “They are all like family. I’ve really enjoyed working with them. I’m going to miss them all.”
Rigby was hired by the county road department 25 years ago. Within six months, he was assigned to work on a Gradall, digging ditches and moving dirt all over North Escambia.
Over the years, he watched many men hired to haul dirt or bush hog road shoulders as they worked their way up through the ranks to various supervisory positions. But Rigby was always at home behind the controls of his excavator. Many of his coworkers described that excavator as an extension on his arms.
He said that he will always remember being part of constructing various roads around North Escambia. “I ride down Rockaway Creek Road,” he said, mentioning it as just one example, “and I remember when we paved it. It makes you feel good.”
He said he’ll never forget the 12 hour days for weeks at a time after hurricanes Erin, Opal, Ivan and Dennis. “They were a lot of work for everybody,” he said.
Thursday, Rigby’s coworkers gathered at Camp Five for a congratulatory luch — fried fish with all the fixin’s and a retirement cake complete with the Road Runner Looney Tunes character.
They laughed, shared stories of being stuck in muddy ditches and remembered Rigby’s quarter century serving the citizens of North Escambia.
“I’m really go to miss them,” he said.
Rigby said he is looking forward to his retirement and spending more time with is wife Suzanne. He’s also looking forward to some good fishing and hunting time, and perhaps even a little travel.
“You know,” he said, “I am really looking forward to enjoying Susie and the time we can together.”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Playground Equipment Being Installed At New Bratt Park
August 27, 2009
Installation of the playground is underway at the new Bratt Community Park on West Highway 4. The playground and swings are not yet open to the public.
County employees are currently working to install the 8-foot wide, eight-tenths of a mile walking track around the perimeter of the 13-acre park, according to Joy Jones, director of Escambia County’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“We are just getting started, but we are going to keep it going,” Jones said recently of work on the park. The county is still waiting on one permit to be issued, she said, and then the work on other park features like the picnic pavilion will begin.
The park will also include two softball fields, a full basketball court and exercise and rest stations positioned along the track. The softball fields will not be lit for night play; in fact, the park’s hours will follow that of other county parks — sunrise to sunset.
The park is being funded with $200,000 in LOST (local option sales tax) monies set aside for the park’s construction.
Jones expects that park will be completed within six months.
Pictured above and below: Work is underway to install the playground at the Bratt Community Park. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Flomaton Fire Names Poster Contest Winners
August 26, 2009
Flomaton Fire and Rescue recently held their second annual poster contest at Flomaton Elementary School, naming a brother and sisters as co-winners.
The halls at Flomaton Elementary were filled with posters reflecting all of the students’ hard work. Members of Flomaton Fire and Rescue were hand and had the hard job of judging and picking the winner. When they were done, there was a two-way tie for the winner. And the winners turned out to be siblings.
Madison Wright, a second grader in Mrs. Luttrell’s class and her brother Jake Wright, a fourth grader in Mitzi Smith’s class, had the winning posters. The two posters will be combined and turned into artwork for t-shirts.
When told about being double winner’s of the poster contest and that they actually had tied for first place, the two siblings, almost in unison, asked the question, “Well who gets to ride in the fire truck?”. Much to both of their delights, they were told they would both be allowed to ride on a Flomaton fire truck during this year’s Flomaton High School Homecoming Parade.
The poster contest was held in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Forestry. The Flomaton fire department was awarded a $4,500 grant to educate the community about preventing wildfires. Flomaton Fire and Rescue was the only volunteer fire department in Escambia County to receive the grant.
The grant will be used to purchase t-shirts to be passed out in Flomaton featuring the winning poster contest artwork from the Wright siblings. Each of the Wrights will also receive a certificate and plaque from the fire department, and a t-shirt for themselves and their entire family. Jake and Madison’s entire classes will also receive a t-shirt, and a t-shirt will be given to each student that entered the poster contest.
The t-shirts are being printed, and when completed, Fire Chief Steve Stanton will make the presentation to the winners and all the recipients of the t-shirts at the school. Madison and Jake will also receive their certificates and plaques at that time.
Pictured above: Flomaton Fire and Rescue poster contest winners Madison and Jake Wright with their winning posters. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.