Taking A Bite Out Of Hunger: Peanut Butter Drive Underway
October 8, 2013
The Escambia County Extension office, the University of Florida Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), the EscaRosa Young Farmers and Ranchers and the Florida Peanut Producer Association are collecting peanut butter now through mid-November to help take a bite out of hunger.
The groups are accepting donations of unopened jars of peanut butter to be donated to local food pantries during Farm-City Week.
“Let’s keep children eating locally grown peanuts in healthy, nutritious, and yummy peanut butter,” is a slogan being promoted for the drive. The extension service said the average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before graduating high school.
Unopened jars of peanut butter of any brand can be dropped off until November 15 at any of the following locations:
- Escambia County Extension office, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
- Escambia Farm Bureau, 153 Highway 97, Molino
- Escambia County Public Safety, 6575 North W Street, Pensacola
- Escambia County Community & Environment Dept. 223 Palafox Place, 3rd Floor, Pensacola
- Gilmore Services, 31 East Fairfield Drive, Pensacola
For more information contact Escambia County Extension at (850) 475-5230.
Pictured top: Local peanut grower Rodney Helton and his granddaughters. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
It’s All About the Benjamins: New $100 Bill In Circulation Beginning Today
October 8, 2013
The new redesigned $100 note went into circulation Tuesday. This note, which incorporates new security features such as a blue, 3-D security ribbon, is designed to be easier for the public to authenticate but more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.
The new design for the $100 note was unveiled in 2010, but its introduction was postponed following an unexpected production delay. To ensure a smooth transition to the redesigned note when it begins circulating in October, the U.S. Currency Education Program is reaching out to businesses and consumers around the world to raise awareness about the new design and inform them about how to use its security features.
The U.S. Treasury offers the following information about the new $100 bill:
It Is Not Necessary to Trade in Old-Design $100 Notes for New Ones. All U.S. currency remains legal tender, regardless of when it was issued.
Know Its Features. Know It’s Real. The fight against counterfeiting depends on the public knowing how to use the security features in U.S. currency.
- Although less than 1/100th of one percent of the value of all U.S. currency in circulation is reported counterfeit, the $100 note is the most widely circulated and most often counterfeited denomination outside the U.S.
- Protect yourself by using the new and enhanced security features in the redesigned $100 note that thwart potential counterfeiters from producing high-quality fakes.
Two Security Features:
3-D Security Ribbon: A blue ribbon on the front of the $100 note with images of bells and 100s.
- Tilt the note back and forth while focusing on the blue ribbon. You will see the bells change to 100s as they move.
- When you tilt the note back and forth, the bells and 100s move side to side. If you tilt it side to side, they move up and down.
- The ribbon is woven into the paper, not printed on it.
Bell in the Inkwell: A color-shifting bell, inside a copper inkwell, on the front of the note. o
- The inkwell and bell are both copper until you move the $100 note.
- Tilt it to see the bell change from copper to green, an effect which makes the bell seem to appear and disappear within the inkwell.
Molino Fire Station Conducts Safety Program At The Molino Library
October 8, 2013
Members of the Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue conducted a children’s fire safety program Monday afternoon at the Molino Branch Library. Children of all ages had a chance to meet their local firefighters and climb aboard a fire engine. They learned about fire safety and what it takes to become a real firefighter. Pictured: Tucker tries on a fireman’s helmet during a fire safety program Monday afternoon at the Molino Branch Library. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Solari Named National Merit Commended Student
October 8, 2013
Courtney Solari of Northview High School has been named a Commended Student in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program.
A Letter of Commendation from the school and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which conducts the program, will be presented by Principal Gayle Weaver to Solari.
About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2014 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2014 competition by taking the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
“The young men and women being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”
Let The Music Play: Jay And Northview Bands (Photo Gallery)
October 7, 2013
There is plenty going on under the Friday night lights at a high school football. In addition to the gridiron action, there’s also band performances and cheerleaders leading the crowds.
For a gallery form both the Chief sand Royals cheerleaders, click here.
For a game summary and football action photos, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Thousands Flock To Jay Peanut Festival (With Photo Gallery)
October 6, 2013
The skies were sunny Saturday over Brenda Gabbert’s 56-acre farm near Jay, a far cry from the weather Tropical Storm Karen had threatened. The crowds, perhaps just a little bit smaller than most years, still made the trek to the Jay Peanut Festival.
“I describe it to people as being like an old-fashioned county fair, without the carnival rides,” said Gabbert, who has coordinated the festival with her husband, Gene, for 23 years.
“It’s all about farming and rural life. That’s what we try to show people,” she said. “It’s good for the whole family. There is something for everybody. We really cater to the kids.”
During an ordinary Jay Peanut Festival, with good weather and all, as many as 70,000 people will attend the two day event.
For a photo gallery, click here.
The festival site is a functioning farm, with 40 acres of peanuts – which is managed by a farmer who leases it from the Gabberts – and 16 acres that includes the couple’s home and a field of hay.
Their property also includes two museums – a farming museum and replica of a 1940s style John Deere dealership – as well as a fleet of restored classic tractors. All of that is incorporated into the festival.
“My husband has all of these tractors he’s restored himself,” Gabbert said. “We let other people bring their stuff if they want to show it.”
Of course, the highlight of the Peanut Festival is the versatile legume itself. The peanut plays a vital role in Santa Rosa County agriculture. In 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available, peanuts were the most valuable crop in the county, accounting for $22 million in gross value.
At the festival, the Jay Volunteer Fire Department has exclusive domain over the sale of boiled peanuts. The department uses the money raised to help supplement its modest public funding. Other vendors will offer green peanuts – the kind patrons take home to boil for themselves – roasted peanuts, fried peanuts, peanut brittle, baked goods with peanuts and many of the other forms the protein-packed snack can take.
In all, Gabbert had, before Tropical Storm Karen’s idle threats, expected as many as 250 vendors, including crafters, businesses, churches and other non-profit organizations.
“We gain more vendors every year and more people,” she said. “It’s getting crowded.”
Both days of the festival featred live entertainment with Christian music on Sunday that followed a church service.
The festival offered pony and horse rides, stage coach rides, hay rides, a rock climbing wall, a bungee jump, a mechanical bull, train rides and inflatable attractions.
Admission and parking at the festival were free, a point of pride for Gabbert. The festival is funded solely through vendor fees.
“We get letters from people who tell us this is the only thing they can afford to come to,” she said. “They have kids and they don’t have the money to go to things that have admission. They can come here and not spend a penny if they don’t want to.”
The Jay Peanut Festival dates to 1990 when the Gabberts started the event in memory of their daughter, Melissa, a 19-year-old who died earlier that year from cancer.
The Gabberts’ other child, Mandy Gabbert Simmons, helps with the festival. Her husband, Tony Simmons, helps get ready for the festival. However, since Simmons is the Jay fire chief, he is busy with the boiled peanuts while the festival is underway.
For a photo gallery, click here.
Pictured top: Crowds stroll through craft booths Saturday under sunny skies at the annual Jay Peanut Festival. Pictured top inset: One of the Gabbert farm museums. Pictured middle inset: The Jay Volunteer Fire Department is the sole vendor with boiled peanuts; it’s the department’s big fundraiser. Pictured bottom inset: Freshly cooked kettle corn. Pictured below: Numerous restored tractors and farm implements are on display. NorthEscambia.com photos by Michelle Gibbs, click to enlarge.
Jim Allen Students Learn About Fire Safety
October 6, 2013
Students at Jim Allen Elementary School learned all about fire safety last week.
Pictured: The Engine 4 “B Shift” from the Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue with a Jim Allen pre-school class. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Halteman, Driver Wed
October 6, 2013
Lyndon and Norma Halteman from Walnut Hill are pleased to announce the marriage of their son, Jeremy Halteman to Bethany Driver. Bethany is the daughter of Daryl and Kay Driver from Harrisonburg, VA.
The wedding was on August 10, 2013, at the Dayton Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, VA. A reception was also given in their honor on September 7, 2013, at Mennonite Christian Fellowship in Atmore.
Jeremy is a 2008 graduate of Northview High School and a 2013 graduate from St. Petersburg College. Bethany graduated from Clearwater Christian College in 2012 with a major in business administration. They are currently living in Baltimore, MD, where Jeremy is completing his two year residency program for orthotics and prosthetics.
Molino Park Elementary Students Learn Fire Safety (With Photo Gallery)
October 4, 2013
Molino Park Elementary School students learned about fire safety Thursday from members of the Molino Station of Escambia Fire Rescue. The students learned how to get out of their home in the event of a fire and also learned about some of the tools used by firefighters.
Pictured: Molino Park Elementary students learn all about fire safety Thursday morning. Pictured top and inset: The firemen’s helmets were a student favorite. Pictured below: Students use a camera to look for hot spots. Pictured bottom: Students had an opportunity to ask questions. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Carters Named Escambia County Outstanding Farm Family
October 3, 2013
The Matt Carter Family has been named the 2013 Escambia County Outstanding Farm Family.
Matt has been married for eight years to Dawn, and they have two girls — six-year old Emily and almost-two Jayden. They work together on their farm on Byrneville Road to being the freshest, highest quality vegetables direct to local consumers at their Matt’s Produce stand and weekly at the Palafox Market in Pensacola.
Matt grew up working alongside his father, Lance Carter at Crary Dairy. As a youth, he was a member of the Northview FFA chapter and was chapter president. He is still very active in supporting agriculture as a member of the EscaRosa Young Farmers and Ranchers.
For a number of years, he worked off the farm at the West Frazier Sawmill. But when it closed in 2008, he saw the opportunity to open his own farming operation. He saw the interest for local produce steadily increasing and knew that he wanted to be a part helping to supply homegrown vegetables to Escambia County resident. His business started small with tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and zucchini which he sold at the farmstand on Byrneville Road, but quickly joined the Palafox Market to sell his product.
Over the past five years, the Carters have expanded their operation both in acreage and product variety. Throughout the year, Matt and Dawn produce peppers, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, onions, zucchini, turnips, mustards, collards, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, and butter beans. Future plans included a certified kitchen at the product stand so they can sell value added items straight to the consumer.