Birth: Carter Ray Wells
August 18, 2013
Carter Ray Wells was born July 16, 2013, at 1:18 to parents Brandy and Jeffrey Wells of McDavid. He weighed seven-pounds, 11-ounces and was 20 inches long.
He maternal grandparents are Anthony (Georgia) Watts of Seminole and Carrie ( Rufus) Evans of Brewton. Paternal grandparents are Jerry and Brenda Wells of McDavid. Carter was welcomed home by big brother Ashton and big sister Justina.
Chloe Channell Done On ‘America’s Got Talent’; She’s Singing Again Friday At Olive
August 15, 2013
She wowed America and the judges for weeks on American’s Got Talent, but when it came down to the wire Wednesday night, everyone’s favorite 11-year old super-enthusiastic country girl was headed back to Pace.
“Chloe was electric last night on America’s Got Talent,” The Band Perry tweeted about her Tuesday night cover of their hit “Done” live at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.
The Band Perry and America had to wait literally until the final seconds of Wednesday night’s results show to find out if Chloe was done. Chloe and Taylor Williamson, as the fourth and fifth place acts from Tuesday night, faced the judges’ vote to see who would continue on to the America’s Got Talent semifinals.
Shock Jock Howard Stern and comedian Howie Mandel voted for Williamson, while supermodel Heidi Klum and singer Melanie Brown voted for Chloe. With a judge’s tie, the decision went to the yet unknown America’s vote as the closing credits rolled. After a stage hand ran out with the results envelope, host Nick Cannon read the verdict — Williamson was moving on and Chloe was headed home.
“I want to thank you all for everything,” Chloe said Wednesday night via Facebook. “This is only the beginning. The out pour of support has been amazing.”
Chloe Channell will be back on a local stage Friday night at 6:30 at her church as Olive Baptist presents the “Opry at Olive”, an event scheduled before Chloe’s moment in the national spotlight. The benefit concert for the Olive Ministry Village will feature a mixture of bluegrass and folk music from the Sawmill Band and the voice talents of Chloe Channell. Admission is free, but a love offering will be taken.
Pictured: Chloe Channell during a going away party in Pace before her trip to Radio City Music Hall in New York City. NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
Prayer Walk Held At Molino Park Elementary School
August 15, 2013
The annual back to school Prayer Walk was held Wednesday evening at Molino Park Elementary School. Dozens of students and adults prayed for the Lord’s blessings on their upcoming school year.
This year’s prayer walk, led by Highland Baptist Church, took on extra meaning as the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office continues their search for suspects that sometime last Saturday night vandalized the school and stole many thousands of dollars worth of computers and other electronics used in the school’s educational programs.
Pictured: A student prayer walk Wednesday evening at Molino Park Elementary School. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Correctional And Partners Donate School Supplies, Bicycles
August 15, 2013
Century Correctional Institution partnered with Quantum Resources, S&S Construction and the Ensley Walmart to provide school supplies and bicycles for area children. CCI delivered $3,000 in school supplies and 64 bicycles for Bratt Elementary, Byrneville Elementary, Jay Elementary, Ernest Ward Middle, Northview High and the Camp Fire USA program in Century. The bicycles are typically used by the schools as education prizes or incentives.
Pictured: Century Correctional Institution and partners delivered bicycles and school supplies Wednesday to (top) Byrneville Elementary, (inset) Bratt Elementary, and (below) Camp Fire USA in Century and Jay Elementary. Pictured bottom: School supplies loaded up in a CCI van ready for delivery. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Frequent Rains Have Little Impact On Local Crops
August 14, 2013
Most area crops overall are doing fine despite our frequent rains, said Escambia County Extension Agent Libbie Johnson.
She said some farmers are off their peanut spray schedule, opening up the crop for potential damage from pests. The rain also slowed some farmers from applying fertilizer at key times. Cotton that was planted earlier in the year looks better than cotton than was planted later due to the lack of full sun, Johnson said.
Johnson said cooler temperatures during the spring and summer, due to the rain and cloud cover, slowed down the area’s corn crop.
A few farmers were late in harvesting spring wheat and they were unable to get back into those fields to plant a second crop for the year due to soggy ground.
Pictured above and below: A pesticide is aerially applied to a corn field in Walnut Hill. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
It’s Going To Be A Sweet Year – Teachers Return To School
August 12, 2013
Monday was back to school for thousands of Escambia County School District teachers and staff as they prepare for the return of students on August 19. At Molino Park Elementary School, second grade teachers Jennifer Solchenberger (pictured left) and Gena Daniels (right) prepared a bulletin board Monday morning to let students know “It’s Going To Be A Sweet Year” at the school. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Angels At The End Of The Rainbow
August 12, 2013
In Pensacola, it’s not gold at the end of the rainbow; it’s blue and gold jets. This photo, taken Saturday at NAS Pensacola, shows the Blue Angels jets the end of rainbow. Courtesy photo by Blue Angel Maintenance Chief Bruce Kunke for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Alger-Sullivan Society’s Old 100 Train Restoration Crew Honored
August 11, 2013
The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society held Collector’s Day and an awards lunch to recognize the crew that reassembled the group’s historic Old 100 train.
No. 100 was built in September 1919 for the Britton Saw Mill Co. in Florala, Ala. Four years later, it was sold to The Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company in Century for use on its subsidiary common carrier, the Escambia Railway, abandoned in 1947. The Escambia Railway once operated a total of nearly 200 miles of logging railroad in Florida and Alabama with an all-time roster of at least 29 locomotives. No. 100 was used as a general-purpose logging engine until 1935 when it was rebuilt for use as the sawmill’s switch engine.
As the sawmill switch engine, No. 100 would occasionally operate over Louisville & Nashville tracks from Century to Flomaton, Ala. This practice continued up until its retirement in 1954, making it the last wood burning steam engine to run on “Old Reliable” tracks.
By late 1974, the No. 100 was in such poor condition from vandalism and weather deterioration that Jim Walter Doors, new owners of the sawmill, decided to sell the eyesore for junk.
After the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, Old 100 was sold to the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, Indiana, a not-for-profit Railroad Museum, where until the early 1990s it faithfully hauled tourists on a daily roundtrip run.
When the engine developed boiler problems, it was removed from service until a new boiler might be fabricated. However, there were problems with the new boiler upon delivery and because of financial concerns and tightening of federal regulations, the engine was not placed back in service at all, but rather sat in a sad condition for over 14 years.
With the assistance of grants from the State of Florida and a tremendous outpouring of support and donations from local people, the engine made its way from Indiana to Century in May of 2007.
Pictured top: The crew responsible for the restoration of the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society’s Old 100 train (L-R) Jewel Warren, Margaret Collier, Jerry Fischer, Harold Warren, Bobby Warren and Jed Warren. Not pictured: T.C. Jordan. Picture below: Old 100 sits restored in Century. Pictured inset: The train is moved into place in Century in 2008. Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
School Supply Lists
August 11, 2013
School starts Monday, August 19 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Here are the school supply lists from each elementary school and middle school in Escambia County, plus the North Escambia area schools in Santa Rosa County.
(High schools typically do not have a general supply list. Students are advised of their supply needs in each class.)
North Escambia Area Schools:
- Bratt Elementary
- Byrneville (not provided)
- Central School
- Chumuckla Elementary
- Ernest Ward Middle
- Jay Elementary
- Jim Allen Elementary
- Lipscomb Elementary
- McArthur Elementary
- Molino Park Elementary
- Pine Meadow Elementary
- Ransom Middle
Complete Escambia County Lists:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
- Bellview Elementary
- Beulah Elementary
- Blue Angels Elementary
- Bratt Elementary
- Brentwood Elementary
- Byrneville (not provided)
- Cook Elementary
- Cordova Park Elementary
- Ensley Elementary
- Ferry Pass Elementary
- Global Learning Academy
- Hellen Caro Elementary
- Holm Elementary
- Jim Allen Elementary
- Lincoln Park Elementary
- Lipscomb Elementary
- Longleaf Elementary
- McArthur Elementary
- McMillan Pre-K
- Molino Park Elementary
- Montclair Elementary
- Myrtle Grove Elementary
- Navy Point Elementary
- Oakcrest Elementary
- Pine Meadow Elementary
- Pleasant Grove Elementary
- Scenic Heights Elementary
- Semmes Elementary
- Sherwood Elementary
- Suter Elementary
- Warrington Elementary
- Weis Elementary
- West Pensacola Elementary
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
- Bailey Middle
- Bellview Middle
- Brown Barge Middle
- Ernest Ward Middle
- Ferry Pass Middle
- Ransom Middle
- Warrington Middle
- Woodham Middle
- Workman Middle
Morning Y’all: Marty White Marks 40 Years On The Radio
August 8, 2013
“Morning y’all!”
Marty White has been waking up Pensacola area residents on “Your Hometown Morning Show” on 102.7 WXBM for over 20 years now…a phenomenally long time in the world of today’s radio business, big corporations and a tendency to change morning hosts on a whim. And this month, he’s marking another major milestone — 40 years behind a microphone, over 30 of those on the radio in Pensacola.
“Somebody that I knew, knew somebody with a radio station. I went in, read a few PSA’s (public service announcements), and the next thing I know, I was on the air making $1.65 an hour,” Marty said Wednesday morning from behind the mic in the control room of WXBM.
“Boy radio has come a long way since then. We used to have a couple of turntables on one side for the records and carts (large, 8-track like cassettes) for the commercials,” he said.
“Then we got all this,” he said, pointing to a computer system that lines up songs and commercials that automatically play with the click of the mouse. “I told ‘em I was never going to learn this computer stuff, or it was going to take me two years to figure out how to do anything.”
But he’s adapted. And that’s a big part of the reason he’s still around in the every-changing world of corporate radio.
WXBM”s studios are no longer out in the country “at the end of the road” in Chumuckla. Now, the WXBM studio is tucked away at “the end of the hallway” in an office park building off W Street in Pensacola. Just down the hallway are the studios for WXBM’s “sister” stations — WCOA 1370 AM, News Talk 100.7 FM, Magic 106.1, and Today’s Soft Rock 94.1 — all owned by media giant Cumulus.
Despite all the changes, Marty is still a self-described country boy who “barely graduated from Tate High School” that went from high school in Cantonment to the U.S. Air Force as a spy before his first radio gig.
“Man, she makes the best potato salad around,” Marty remarked on the air about the wife of a man celebrating a birthday. It’s those little down home touches that make Marty part of the family each morning in thousands of area homes.
In his spare time, you’ll often find him on the golf course, hunting somewhere in the North Escambia woods or out on a buddy’s boat.
The country artists on the air have changed a lot over 20 years at WXBM, but for Marty his favorites are still George….George Strait or George Jones. His all time favorites are “The Chair” by George Strait, “Bed of Roses” by George Jones, “That Was Us” byRandy Travis, and one almost guaranteed not to be on a teenager’s iPod — “16 Little Red Roses and a Horse That Sweats” by Jim Stafford.
Getting up early for a 6 a.m. start on the radio is just a way of life for Marty White. His show is not powered by coffee. There’s usually just a little water in his “sippy cup”, or just a little extra power from a Mountain Dew.
“I guess I’ll always be here behind a mic,” Marty said Wednesday morning. “Unless I win that Powerball tonight. Got $4 in that thing. Then this chair going to be empty in the morning.”
Pictured top and bottom: Longtime radio host Marty White on 102.7 WXBM Wednesday morning. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge. Pictured inset: Marty White records a commercial in August of 1985.
