Man, Mules And A Message: On A Cross Country Covered Wagon Journey
March 30, 2009
A trip ends. But a journey goes on forever.
Randy Boehmer is on a four mph, four-mule powered covered wagon journey across the country — a journey to spread the Gospel one person at a time.
Sunday afternoon found Boehmer camped out alongside Highway 31 east of Atmore, about two miles to the north of North Escambia.
“I’m traveling the country to tell people about Jesus,” Boehmer told NorthEscambia.com. Wednesday marks one year since he pulled out of Bedford, Indiana, with his four Belgium draft mules — Frank, Jesse, Dick and Jack — and his dogs Shep and Proverb.
A man, four mules and two wagons covered with large signs draw a bit of attention as they cross the country. And that’s the point.
“Jesus Saves Ask Him” and “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31″ are painted in large letters on the wagons.
“I intend on doing this the rest of my life; I would not doing anything else,” he said, looking out across the ditch he would call home for the night. “I will go and spread the Word and testify about Jesus.”
It was several painful events that led Boehmer on his year long trip from Indiana to that ditch in Escambia County, Alabama.
The seeds for his spiritual journey were planted in 1990. He met an evangelist that was traveling the country in a covered wagon. He bought the man lunch so he could talk to him awhile. He found the idea of a simple life with few possessions to be intriguing.
When his mother died in 1991, Boehmer and his siblings were cleaning out the garage, going through the belongings of his deceased father. A relative told them to keep what they wanted and take the rest to the dump.
“The fishing rods. The tools. Everything he had, all of the worldly things, meant nothing anymore,” he said.
The defining time in his life came nearly a decade later when his wife Lois died from cancer in 1998.
Her last words as she died…
“Life here on earth is short compared to eternity.”
He knew that his wife had accepted Jesus and was in heaven.
Boehmer was not saved at the time. He said he knew about God from his upbringing, but he wanted to know more about the God that had his wife’s soul. “I wanted to know how to spend eternity with her.”
He turned to his Bible.
“It said I had to turn away from my sins and accept Jesus. And that is what I did.”
He spent two years in school studying the Bible formally. That, combined with the chance meeting with the traveling evangelist and the garage revelation that worldly possessions mean nothing compared to treasures in heaven, led him to his mission. He was going to spend his life traveling the country in a covered wagon telling the story of salvation.
Gone were his 15 hour days at his 40 year career as a taxidermist. He found his first two mules — Frank and Jesse — in a two-year old issue of Mules and More magazine. They were still for sale in Bedford, Indiana. He drove his Geo Metro from his home in Arizona to Indiana. The car carried his remaining possessions in life, including his two dogs Shep and Proverb.
He spent time working and learning to shoe mules and horses, earning little money along the way. But he learned a wealth of experience and respect for the huge animals that can weigh 1,500 pounds each.
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He pulled out of Indiana on April 1, 2008, on his journey south to Alabama, spreading the Gospel to anyone that would listen along the way.
“I am just a simple man with a simple message,” Boehmer said. “There is no other name than Jesus by which a person can be saved.”
His simple wagon has a gas stove, a small wood burning heater, and solar panels on top, charging batteries in the wagon. He uses the solar power for a few modern conveniences — to charge his cell phone, a light, a TV and a radio. He’s quick to admit, however, that he has not watched the TV in some time.
“I do know that Obama is the president now,” he said. Other than that, the news of the world has pretty much passed him by during the last year.
As people pass Boehmer on America’s highways, he knows that his hand painted Bible verses on the wagons reach people. But, people often stop and talk, giving him more of a chance to witness.
Sunday afternoon, several people stopped during NorthEscambia.com’s visit with Boehmer. Three teens from Brewton were the first.
He chatted with them about the wagon and the mules. Then, like a good preacher, he slipped in the question.
“Do you know about Jesus?” he asked.
The teens replied that they did. He pulled neatly folded copies of a newspaper article about a trip from his pocket for each teen.
“That will tell you more about me and my trip.” he said. “And search for my name on the Internet. You will find lots of stories about me.”
He paused for a moment before digging around in a compartment on the wagon.
“Here you go. It’s a genuine worn-out horse shoe. It’s got a lot miles on it, and isn’t worth anything. But I want you to keep it to remember me and remember the message about Jesus.”
He passes out the newspaper clipping copies to everyone that he meets. Often, he hands out coins with Bible messages on them. And he’s always spreading the Gospel.
His presentation of the Message is low-key. It’s not a high pressure sell, but a laid back approach from a friendly man in cowboy hat. There’s no loudspeaker, no large group, no speaking engagements in front of church congregations.
It’s just Randy Boehmer in a ditch alongside a road somewhere in America spreading the story of Jesus Christ.
And people respond.
“I’ve had a grown man come to me crying, telling me that he wants to learn more about Jesus. People always ask me questions about the wagons, the mules. That makes it easier for them to ask that question about Jesus.”
He moves just a few miles each day, about three to four miles per hour. Boehmer never knows where he will spend the night. He just prays, and he says the Lord always provides.
He does receive a small amount of support from his church back in Arizona. Otherwise, he has found that the people in his path provide.
Bags of oats. A load of hay. Bags of food. They were all donated to Boehmer along Highway 31 Sunday afternoon.
“God provides,” he said. “Everyday I thank God for the day before, and pray without ceasing for the day to come.”
Boehmer plans to remain camped through Tuesday alongside Highway 31. If you want to visit him, you should find him in ditch near Dugout Lane, that’s just east of the bridge over the railroad tracks between Canoe and Flomaton.
Wednesday morning, he plans to hitch up the mules and head through Atmore and on toward Jackson, Mississippi. It won’t be a continuation of his trip, but a continuation of his journey.
“A trip ends. But a journey goes on forever,” Boehmer said. “It’s all about an eternity with Jesus. I will continue this journey until I die, telling other people about Jesus.”
“I’ll make a lot of friends along the way. That’s the hard part about all of this, having to leave those friends behind when I pull out. But we will all be one big happy family in heaven one day.”
That’s Randy Boehmer’s message. Jesus Saves. Ask Him.
For a NorthEscambia.com photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: Randy Boehmer is crossing the country on a lifelong journey to spread the Gospel. Pictured middle: Boehmer and his wagon. Pictured lower inset: Boehmer shares the story of Jesus Christ with a couple that stopped along Highway 31 Sunday afternoon. Pictured below: Boehmer and his mules Frank and Jessie. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
March Students Of The Month Named
March 30, 2009
March Students of the Month have been named at North Escambia schools.
The monthly recognition is presented to two students from each participating school by the Escambia Association for Administrators in Education
The following students of the month were named from North Escambia schools:
- Bratt Elementary: Kirsten N. White, third grade; Andrianna C. Cooper, kindergarten.
- Jim Allen: Jordan S. Hamilton, fifth grade; Brianna R. Holmquist, fifth grade.
- Molino Park: Arianna N. Rudd, first grade.
- Northview High: Tyler L. Randolph, ninth grade; Emily F. Vickrey, 10th grade.
Pictured above: Northview High School Students of the Month Emily Vickrey and Tyler Randolph. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com.
Bratt Elementary School Librarian’s Home Hit By Possible Tornado
March 28, 2009
For years, Bratt Elementary School librarian Martha Jeter worried that one day a tornado would hit the school, but she never considered that her home might be destroyed by a storm.
In the pre-dawn hours Friday, her home was heavily damaged by a tornado or powerful straight line winds.
Martha, her husband Gerald and a step-nephew Joe Brown were in the Jeter’s home on Bell Creek Road near Chumuckla in Santa Rosa County when the possible tornado hit just before 5:00 Friday morning.
Gerald was already awake after hearing heavy rains on the small wood frame house’s tin roof, and because of frequent thunder and lightning. Martha was asleep in the back the house. She was oblivious to the weather outside because she was not wearing her hearing aids.
“He got us up and told us to go the hallway,” she said. “I headed toward the kitchen window to look out. Then there was what sounded like an explosion.” That sound was a tree limb crashing through the window of the home.
“The whole house shook,” Gerald said. The family gathered in the hallway, and in seconds it was over.
“We did not really know what had happened,” Martha said. “It was so dark. We knew there was water raining in the house, but it was daylight before we could get a good look at how bad it was.”
The family was uninjured. And what they found was not good.
The carport was gone. The roof on the utility room off the carport was gone. Much of the metal roof on their house was torn away, some hundreds of yards away in the trees. The roof that remained on the home had boards from the carport driven through it.
A large wooden board was pushed through the wall of their travel trailer, which had been spun around 90 degrees by the winds as it sat just outside their home. The roof on the travel trailer was rolled back.
The damage was so severe that Santa Rosa County condemned their house, declaring it unsafe to live in.
“They tell us that we can’t sleep here tonight,” Martha told NorthEscambia.com late Friday afternoon. The family had gathered at the house trying to salvage clothes and other items before darkness fell. “It’s hard to believe that it is all gone.”
“For years I would pray ‘Lord don’t ever let a tornado hit the school’,” Jeter said. She would say that prayer each time the children at Bratt Elementary huddled in the hallways for tornado drill. “I just never thought one would hit our house, take our house away.”
The Jeters had big plans for their little home next weekend. Their children were to be in town to help Martha and Gerald celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
“But we won’t be having them here at this house now,” she said. “But we will still celebrate our anniversary. Forty years.”
The Jeters have lived on Bell Creek Road for almost 22 years. They are not sure if they will rebuild at this point. The family had insurance, but they also had other plans. Martha is just a year away from retirement, and they had thought about moving south to be closer to their kids.
For now, they will be staying with nearby relatives.
“I’m not sure what we will do next,” Martha said. “I am just thankful that we were not hurt, and that no one else was hurt. We were blessed.”
Click here for more NorthEscambia.com photos from the Jeter home in Chumuckla.
Pictured top: Martha and Gerald Jeter outside the remains of their Chumuckla home Friday afternoon. Pictured middle inset: A large piece of wood was driven into the side of a travel trailer just outside the home. Pictured below: The house was heavily damaged by a possible tornado. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Ballet In Byrneville
March 28, 2009
Ballet Pensacola presented their outreach program “Discover Dance” Friday morning at Byrneville Elementary School. From “choreography” to “point shoes”, students learned words and phrases while getting a taste of modern and traditional ballet. Friday’s Ballet Pensacola presentation at Byrneville Elementary was made possible through the support of Escambia County Bank, Jay Hospital and Century Pharmacy. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Click here for more photos from Ballet Pensacola at Byrneville Elementary School.
Northview, Tate Students Receive Mira Creative Arts Awards
March 27, 2009
Many North Escamba students received Mira Creative Arts Awards Thursday night.
The award honors the 10 brightest creative art stars from each high school in Escambia County.
Northview’s Mira Creative Arts Award winners were:
- Olivia Bryan, theater.
- Patrick Carlson, instrumental music.
- Brandon Coburn, drama.
- Lanie Eubanks, instrumental music.
- Briana Halteman, instrumental music.
- Josh Holder, visual arts.
- Luke Killam, wood working.
- Jackie Lowen, visual arts.
- Jace E. Stone, music.
- Jessica Taylor, visual arts.
Winner from Tate High School were:
- Casen Barnard, Visual Arts.
- Tyler Baxter, Drama.
- Samantha Bruce, Instrumental Music.
- Benjamin Carmichael, Instrumental Music.
- Madeline Chivington, Journalism.
- Stephanie Evans, Visual Arts.
- Candace Hubble, TV Production.
- Alexandria Jarman, Journalism.
- Valorie Lysek, Vocal Music.
- Brittany Nunnelee, Debate.
Pictured above: Olivia Bryan (center) in last November’s Northview High Schoolproduction of “Don’t Say No To The USO”. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
What’s Hot: Ernest Ward Middle School’s Newspaper
March 24, 2009
From what’s hot, to what’s not; to the latest news around campus, students at Ernest Ward Middle School turn to the school’s newspaper Through the Eagles Eye.
“It gives us a chance to express our opinions,” Co-editor Anna Donald said. She likes to write stories about FFA and the Ernest Ward Drama Club, because “they are totally me”.
Over the years, the paper had evolved into a publication primarily by teachers with little input from students. Ernest Ward Middle School newspaper sponsor Sara McGinnis has worked to change that.
“We have returned over the past couple of years to student input. We have good group,” McGinnis said. “Every article is totally done by them, and they sell the paper during lunch.”
“It is more focused, not as random now,” staff member Dezarae Turner said.
Articles are, like at most schools, proofed by school staff to make sure they are appropriate. But McGinnis’ staff said that they work hard to play by the rules.
“We know that when she gives us ‘the look’, it is time to be good,” Donald said.
Turner said she enjoys writing articles about student life. “I like to hear what the student body has to say,” she said.
The students have also learned that in the newspaper business, the right story sells.
“We sell at least 20 extra copies with anything in it that is Twilight related,” Donald said.
(In case you don’t know: Twilight is the movie of 2008 that would be on the “hot” side of the what’s hot, and what’s not list at Ernest Ward or any middle school.)
Click here for a pdf of the January Ernest Ward Middle School newspaper. (This is 591Kb file that may be too large for readers on a dialup internet connection.)
Members of the newspaper staff at Ernest Ward Middle School are: Jazzlyn Franklin, Cheyenne Godwin, Dezarae Turner, Indigo Rodriguez, Jessica Warner, Isaac Dukes, Hannah Fiellin, Jeremy Stacey, Anna Donald and Angel Mitchell.
Pictured top: Ernest Ward Middle School students (L-R) Dezarae Turner, Jeremy Stacy and Anna Donald proofread the latest issue of the school’s newspaper. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Panhandle Fresh: Group Markets Local Produce
March 23, 2009
The watermelon and the sweet corn you buy at Wal-Mart late this spring or during the summer may just be from North Escambia. Or the peanuts, or the peppers, or one of the many crops that the marketing cooperative Panhandle Fresh helps local farmers market to the world’s largest retailer.
“I never thought I would be selling my sweet corn in Wal-Mart,” Walnut Hill farmer Steve Hiebert told NorthEscambia.com.
Panhandle Fresh handles the marketing, the insurance and logistics of getting produce like Steve’s Sweet Corn from Walnut Hill to Wal-Mart. Panhandle Fresh secures the orders from Wal-Mart and works with local farmers to get coordinate the produce delivery.
“We really just work between the farmers and Wal-Mart to sell what is on the land,” said Andrea Sutrick, marketing coordinator from Panhandle Fresh. Sutrick recently joined Panhandle Fresh after working for Kraft Foods for 10 years to secure shelf space for Kraft products.
“This year we hope to ramp it up a little bit and experiment with more production,” Sutrick said.
No matter the scale, Panhandle Fresh Executive Director Cindy Anderson said selling to a giant retailer is very different for most farmers than selling on their farms or at curbside markets.
“This isn’t for everbody,” Anderson said. “We encourage farmers to commit just 20 percent of their crops to the Panhandle Fresh program. This gives us and the producers a chance to figure out how to best make the program work. I’d rather walk before we run.”
Panhandle Fresh sits between the farmer and Wal-Mart, providing the $3 million in liability insurance that Wal-Mart requires. The group also provides the marketing, works to secure shelf space for the products, takes care of most paperwork and bills Wal-Mart for the produce. The farmer delivers his goods, bills Panhandle Fresh and receives a check for the fresh goods.
Most farmers are happy with the price that they receive, Anderson said, making it a win-win situation for everyone. Wal-Mart gets the freshest product possible from local farms, and the local farmers that participate get a much needed financial boost.
In addition to Steve’s Sweet Corn from Walnut Hill, Walnut Hill farmer Jerry Davis’ watermelons and Holland Farms peanuts from Jay are among the top Panhandle Fresh products sold in area Wal-Marts in the Florida Panhandle.
Coming up Tuesday, we’ll take a look at one of the big challenges faced by the farmers that participate in Panhandle Fresh, and how the solution may just mean more jobs in North Escambia.
Pictured top and top middle: Steve’s Sweet Corn from Walnut Hill is just one of the products that Panhandle Fresh works to get from area fields in into retail giant Wal-Mart. Pictured bottom middle: Panhandle Fresh greens being sold in an area Wal-Mart. Submitted and NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Local Church Member Continues To Serve In Iraq
March 23, 2009
A member of a local church that is serving in Iraq is expected to return home in the next two months.
US Air Force Sgt. John Weaver is currently serving in Iraq. Sgt. Weaver is originally from Jay and currently lives in Pensacola with his wife Lisa and three girls, Krista, Randi, and Starla.
He and his family are very active and faithful members of Ray’s Chapel, and the family makes the drive several times a week to the church. Over the past several months, the church has continued to support Sgt. Weaver in prayer and with care packages from home.
Pictured top: Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church member Sgt. John Weaver poses in a chair in a former Saddam Hussein palace in Iraq. Pictured middle: Weaver is big Alabama Crimson Tide fan. Pictured below: Weaver (middle) poses with his troop. Submitted photos from Iraq for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Birth: Savannah Leigh Gilmore
March 22, 2009
Benjamin and Rachel Gilmore are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Savannah Leigh Gilmore. Savannah was born on February 8, 2009 at 12:56 pm and weighed 8 lbs and 10 oz. She is the granddaughter of Glen and Jean Wiggins and Elton and Missy Gilmore and the great granddaughter of Pattie Stone and the late George Stone, Ouida Wiggins and the late Billy Wiggins, and Mattie Lou Sheffield.
NorthEscambia.com is now proud to offer free birth and wedding announcements. For more information, email news@northescambia.com. Announcements will ordinarily appear on our Features page.
Camp Fire Kids Sing In Spring At Century Care Center
March 21, 2009
The first day of spring had some “precious flowers” from Camp Fire USA Day Camp singing for the residents of the Century Care Center. The residents received a handmade piece of artwork and lots of hugs. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
