Miss Century Sawmill Crowned
April 13, 2008
Jillian Hegyi (pictured above) was crowned the Overall 2008 Century Sawmill Queen in the 17th Annual Century Sawmill Pageant Saturday afternoon. The pageant was sponsored by the Century Lions Club.
For a complete photo gallery of all of the winners, click here.
Zinghoppers Delight Children At Century Branch Library
April 5, 2008
The Zinghoppers performed to the delight of children at the Century Branch Library Friday afternoon.
Click here for a complete photo gallery from the Zinghoppers at the Century Branch Library.
The Zinghoppers blend upbeat music, dynamic and playful lyrics, slapstick comedy and humor, along with important “edutainment” elements designed for the audience’s age group, the Zinghoppers are high energy fun!.
This upbeat show features a band of “animal friends”: Penelope The Possum (lead singer, bass), Coconuts The Kangaroo (drums) and Olo The Donkey (guitar). They are accompanied by their friend Conductor Jack (ukulele) who drives the Happy Train and joins the band on stage.
Entertaining children in an inspiring world where imagination will take them on amazing adventures, the Zinghoppers encourage kids to explore the world around them through music, movement and laughter – and they won’t even know they’re learning.
The characters in the Zinghoppers are like any group of young friends learning to develop positive relationships with each other. The show also reflects the importance of family and friends to preschoolers. While the animals in the band aren’t necessarily related, they act very much like siblings and they love and care for each other. Expressive movement is both vital to and loved by preschoolers whether it be through dancing or role-playing. The Zinghoppers include these elements. Also, children love to laugh at funny visual situations. Our characters reflect this: they too love to laugh and there is a significant amount of humor in the show.
Pictured above: Children and parents alike enjoy the Zinghoppers at the Century Branch Library Friday afternoon. Pictured below: The Zinghoppers. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos.
Century Celebrates 108 Years Of History
March 30, 2008
The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society celebrated the 108th birthday of Century Saturday with a day of activities.
The day began at 9:00 with the raising of the colors. There was a “War Between the States skirmish” reenacted, as well as an authentic Civil War canon firing. Visitors had the opportunity to visit a civil war campsite, enjoy food and live music, and visit the museums. A Mayberry sheriff’s car and Barney Fife look-a-like (pictured left, click to enlarge) were also on hand.
The events took place in the area of the Alger-Sullivan Historical District at Fourth and and Jefferson streets in Century.
For a complete photo gallery from Century’s 108th birthday celebration, click here.
Pictured above: A Civil War era cannon was fired for the 108th birthday of Century Saturday. Notice the fire shooting out of the front of the cannon at the exact moment it fired. Pictured below: A Civil War camp was setup in the Alger-Sullivan Historical District in Century. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Opera Visits Ernest Ward and Carver/Century With Paintball And ‘Chuck Norris’
March 29, 2008
It was like DIY, build it yourself, fill in the blank opera Friday at Ernest Ward Middle School and Carver/Century K-8 School when the Pensacola Opera presented “(Your) Opera in a Trunk”.
The traveling opera minstrels hit the stage with little more than a backdrop, a small wardrobe and a trunk full of assorted props. After a musical introduction to each voice style — the soprano, mezzo, tenor and bass — the Joker begins the one of a kind show. The Joker, who is a cross between a storyteller and a game show host, leads the audience in choosing the star of the show, the character names and the plot for the improvised opera.
“Incorporating audience suggestions, spontaneity and chance, improvisational performance truly explores the unknown. No two performances are the same as no two audiences are alike. Improvisation is cutting edge art where not even the performers know quite what is around the next corner or how the show will end,” said David Charles, creator, writer and director of the opera.
“It was real exciting; it was not like I thought it was going to be,” Ernest Ward seventh grader Kaitlyn Gunn (pictured left) said. “I really liked it. I thought it was going to be boring, but it wasn’t.”
Students at Ernest Ward first decided where their opera would be set. They had a choice of a paintball field, a busy New York street or a deserted island. They picked the paintball field… the Chuck Norris Paintball Field to be exact. Singers then chose the names of two students in the audience as their character’s names…Isaac and Rachel.
They chose for Rachel to be paintball ninja over being Chuck Norris’ number one fan or an itchy gymnast. Isaac was cast as the Paintball Ninja of Chuck Norris Paintball Field.
Then students were given the opportunity to name their “(Your) Opera in a Trunk”, and the winning name was “Splat!”. The mezzo singer was cast as Nancy the Ninja, which was picked by the students over Petunia the Paintball Referee and “Chuck Norris as a lady”. The soprano was cast as Rachel the paintball cheerleader, who later saw a pickpocketing monkey. “No one knows…the monkey is my secret,” she sang.
In the end, good of course triumphs over evil. Along the way, the action stops for the Joker to explain various opera terms to the audience, terms like aria, libretto and cadenza. They learn to say “brava” to applaud a female performer and “bravo” for a male performer.
Because the opera is improvised, this was “the very first and the very last time ever in the world this opera will be presented,” the Joker Timothy Kennedy said. The Ernest Ward performance was also the last time this group of performers will hit the stage together. All of the them except the maestro (the pianist) are from out of town, places like New York City and Chicago. They have been performing together since January at schools across the region.
“The Pensacola Opera holds auditions in Des Moines, Iowa, and New York City for these performances,” Kennedy said. “Most of them end up here from the New York auditions.”
In the production at both Ernest Ward and Carver, the performers were : Anna Steenerson, soprano; Dawn Pierce, mezzo; Todd von Felker, bass; Zechariah Baker, tenor; and Melissa Gilbert, the maestro.
Baker told the students he began singing opera just four years ago. He was serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq when someone sent him a Three Tenors CD, and he found that he was able to sing in a similar fashion. His commanding officers encouraged him to sing more, and “I decided then to become an opera singer,” he said.
One EWMS students asked if an opera star could break a glass. Kennedy explained that it was possible, but very few singers were able to product the pitch necessary to do so.
Friday’s performances were sponsored by a variety of private businesses and groups like the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Council of Northwest Florida and the University of West Florida.
Pictured above: The performers in “(Your) Opera in a Trunk”. Pictured below: Students at Carver/Century K-8 enjoy the Pensacola Opera. Ernest Ward photos are NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge. Carver/Century photos were submitted by the school.
Century Branch Library Celebrates Its First Year
March 26, 2008
The Century Branch Library celebrated a successful first year with an open house Tuesday afternoon.
Local dignitaries were on hand as Pensacola’s Impact 100 was honored for its $113,335 contribution that funded a children’s reading room and literacy center. The group, which is comprised of women that have donated at least $1,000 each, choose the Friends of the Pensacola Library as a grant recipient last year to fund the children’s programs at the new Century library.
A plaque to be placed at the library (pictured left, click to enlarge) honors Impact 100 for “outstanding vision and dedication in committing to the future of our community”.
“This is a wonderful thing,” Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Kevin White told those in attendance. “This is a good example of governments working together, with Escambia County and the Town of Century coming together on this.”
The library has issued about 900 new library cards since opening in Century, a town with a population of just 1,800, according to Bette Hooton, a board member for the West Florida Library. The Century library is a branch of the West Florida Library system and is located in the town’s former jail.
During the Century library’s first year, over 15,000 books and other materials have been checked out, and there have been over 5,000 adult uses of the public computers in the library. Hooton said 2008 kicked off with 2,008 people using the library in January of this year.
“This library I deem a success,” Hooton said.
Pictured top of page: West Florida Library Board Member Bette Hooton and Century Branch Library Director Patricia Rigel at Monday afternoon’s one year anniversary celebration at the library. Pictured below, top (scroll down to see all three pictures): Impact 100 Board Members Marny Needle (left) and Kathy Anthony (right) with the plaque honoring Impact 100 and Gene Fisher, director of the West Florida Library.
Pictured below, middle: (L-R) Gary Riley, Century council member; Sharon Scott, Century council member; Henry Hawkins, Century council member; Benny Barnes, director of the Century Chamber of Commerce; and (standing) Ann Brooks, Century council member, enjoy refreshments. Council member Nadine McCaw, who works at the library, was also present.
Pictured below, bottom: District 5 Commission Aide Susan Hendrix, Century Mayor Freddie McCall and District 5 Commissioner Kevin White at the library anniversary event. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Cofield Celebrates 100th Birthday
March 20, 2008
A reception to honor Maggie Elizabeth Brantley Cofield in celebration of her 100th birthday was held on March 15, 2008, at Heritage Nursing Home in Milton.
Mrs. Cofield was born in Conecuh County, Alabama, on March 15, 1908, to Joe and Lou Powell Brantley. She married Harvey Cofield on December 19, 1924. She is the mother of two children, Ernest Cofield of Monroeville, Alabama, and the late Charles Cofield of Century. She has eight grandchildren: Ann Cofield Brooks, Cathy Cofield Crawley, and Tom Cofield of Century; Gordon Cofield of Pensacola; Larry Cofield of Texas; Melvin Cofield and Maxine Casey of Repton, Alabama, and Donnie Cofield of Pascagoula, Mississippi. She also has 14 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great grandchildren.
Family Says Three-Year-Old Girl Is A Hero, “She Saved All Of Our Lives”
March 7, 2008
Three-year-old Elizabeth White is being called a hero by her family. Her mom credits Elizabeth for saving their lives.
Last Saturday afternoon was an ordinary one around the White household on Campbell Road in Century. Lunch was over. Mom Tiffany White had just loaded the dishwasher. She was home with her three kids, three year old Elizabeth, five year old Alicyn and two year old Landon. Dad Jason White had just left the house for a short trip.
“Then Elizabeth told me that she saw smoke,” Tiffany said. “I thought she had just seen the steam from the dishwasher. At first I didn’t think anything about what she was saying. Then I thought maybe I did see smoke cross outside the window. I went over and opened the back door. I saw fire everywhere.”
The utility room, located just outside the kitchen, was filled with a raging fire, Tiffany said. She grabbed the children and headed across the road to safety.
“If Elizabeth hadn’t seen the smoke when she did, we would have all got burned up in there,” Tiffany told NorthEscambia.com Thursday, standing outside the burned out shell of her home. “She saved all of our lives. She is our little hero. I’m proud of her.”
Elizabeth, who will celebrate her fourth birthday on Tuesday, was a bit shy about being interviewed by a stranger. But she did say she was not a hero. And she said she was not scared.
When NorthEscambia.com arrived Thursday, Jason and Tiffany were sifting through the burned out home, looking for anything they could salvage. Tiffany had just found a small photo album containing just handful of family photos. There’s a glimmer of hope in her eyes and she picks up the album and opens it for the first time. But her hope quickly turns to disappointment. The plastic on the album is melted to most of the photos. Others are a bit charred, or falling apart from becoming wet.
“These are about the only pictures I have left of my kids,” Tiffany said. “Most of my pictures were in frames on the walls. I’m going to miss my pictures of my babies.”
But she’s very thankful that she still has her babies and continues to praise Elizabeth has a hero.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, grows bored with the whole interview as one might expect from a three-year-old. She runs around the yard, which still contains several of the children’s outside play toys. She runs around excited and playful, hiding from our camera as much as she can. She’s turned avoid the NorthEscambia.com camera into a game of sorts.
Then she stops by the front corner of the house and points up toward the burned out window.
“I want to see my room,” she says. “Take me in there.”
Tiffany explains that she can’t take her inside because it is not safe.
“But I want to see,” she says. “Daddy, hold me up to the window so I can see my room. I want my toys.”
Jason tells her maybe later.
She does not seem to understand that her favorite toys — her Beanie Babies, her My Little Ponies and her stuffed animals — are not just inside that window anymore. They, like all the family’s possessions, are gone.
The family had no insurance, Jason said. They are currently crowded in the home of his parents, Kenneth and Ruby White in Flomaton, while they figure out what they will do next.
In the meantime, the community continues to pull together to help the Whites. Many have donated clothes and other items; some have donated money. If you would like help the family, email news@northescambia.com and we will put you in touch with family . Their primary need right now is for a house to rent in the area. Once they find that house, they will need household items, toys for the children and clothes.
Pictured top of page: Three year old Elizabeth White stands in front of her burned out home. Pictured below: Elizabeth points toward her room. Pictured bottom of page: Tiffany White looks at the only family photos that she could find. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos. Click to enlarge.
To read NorthEscambia.com’s story about the fire, click here.
To view a photo album from Saturday’s fire, click here.
Byrneville Soldier Currently Serving In Southeastern Iraq
March 4, 2008
Airman 1st Class William McCann of Byrneville is currently serving with the United States Air Force in Iraq.
Airman McCann is deployed with the 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, which conducts combat patrols to deter local insurgents from attacking Camp Bucca. The combat patrols include looking for improvised explosive devices and gathering intelligence by directly engaging Iraqis in the local communities. The squadron is the only U.S. defense force that provides continual patrols “outside the wire” (venturing outside the secure zone) in southeast Iraq. Camp Bucca is an Iraqi prison camp holding over 20,000 detainees.
“A lot of young boys look on their dads as their heroes,” McCann’s father Billy McCann told NorthEscambia.com. “I look on my son as my hero!! I couldn’t be prouder! But I do not want to appear to brag on my son because there are several boys from this area who have been to Iraq or who are there now.”
McCann is a 2005 graduate of Northview High School. He is married to the former Crystal Crocker of Pensacola. She resides at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
Pictured above: Airman 1st Class William McCann conducts communications checks as he prepares for an outside the wire mission in southeast Iraq. Pictured below: Airman 1st Class William McCann readies his gear before going outside the wire to conduct security operations in southeast Iraq. Click either photo to enlarge.
If you know someone from the North Escambia area currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan or another war zone, send us an email news@northescambia.com and let us know. We would love to feature them in a future story.
Valentine’s Day: They Are Still Sweethearts
February 14, 2008
It was a happy Valentine’s Day Thursday at the Century Care Center, with two couple celebrating Valentine’s Day together.
Jessie and Elma Lambeth (pictured above) have been married since 1990 and were crowned Valentine’s King and Queen. Mr. Lambeth says they are “still sweethearts”. They are both residents of Century Care Center.
One other pair of lovebirds attended today’s Valentine’s party. Vaudean and Henry Sheffield (pictured below) enjoyed the day’s events. Mr. Sheffield is a Century Care resident.
Chelsea Sims Crowned Miss Northview High School
January 20, 2008
Miss Chelsea Sims, a junior, was crowned Miss Northview High School Saturday night. First Runner Up was junior Amber Holland, and Second Runner Up was junior Summer Sanders. Other members of the top five were freshman Katie Mann and junior Shakeria White.
This year’s Miss Congeniality award went to Ashley Snow. Miss Hospitality was awarded to Tiffany Barrows. Amber Holland was named Miss Physical Fitness an, Ashely McGhee was named Miss Poise and Appearance.
To view a complete photo gallery with over 100 photos from Saturday night’s pageant, click here.
NorthEscambia.com followed the contestants in the Miss NHS pageant beginning back in December for a five part series “the road to the crown”. You can view that series by clicking here. Click play below for an exclusive NorthEscambia.com video from the pageant.
Chelsea is the seventeen year old daughter of Darryl and Ellen Sims. She has been an Atmore Rotary Club Academic All-Star for two years and a member of the Beta Club for one year. As a freshman and sophomore, she was a majorette for the Tribal Beat Marching band, and served as captain her sophomore year. Chelsea is currently on the Varsity Cheerleading team and was the recipient of the prestigious 2007-2008 Spirit Award. She was elected as treasurer of the Junior Class and was also selected by her classmates as the Homecoming Maid both her freshman and sophomore years.Chelsea has been a member of the Student Government Association for one year and currently serves as the Secretary. In the 2007 Miss NHS pageant, Chelsea was chosen by the other contestants as Miss Congeniality. She was also selected by the judges as one of the Top Ten Contestants. She has been a member of Heather Leonard’s Dance-works for 15 years. In that time, Chelsea transitioned from dancing to teaching, and has been an assistant dance teacher there for four years. She is also a member of Ray’s Chapel Baptist Church. Her Hobbies include dancing, cheering, playing the piano, twirling, and waterskiing. Her future plans are to attend a four year University and become a Pharmacist.Amber is the sixteen year old daughter of David Holland and Marcie Andrews. As a freshman, Amber was a Junior Varsity cheerleader and on the Junior Varsity Softball team. She also received an academic award in her reading class. She has been a Varsity cheerleader for two years and currently serves as the Co-Captain of the squad. She was also the recipient of the 2007-2008 Best All-Around Cheerleader Award.Amber has been a member of the Interact club for one year, the Future Business Leaders of America for one year, and a member of the Student Government Association for one year, where she serves as the Parliamentarian. She was also chosen as one of the top ten contestants in Miss NHS 2007. She has done volunteer work for Hospice, some of which included making cards for the patients. She has volunteered to help with Relay for Life and walked six miles for the cause. Her hobbies include dancing; especially hip hop, cheering, singing, and spending time with loved ones. Her future plans are to attend the University of Alabama, where she will obtain her degree and then go on to pursue a career in the medical field.Summer is the sixteen year old daughter of Johnny and Stephanie Victor. She has been a member of the Student Government Association for one year and a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for one year, where she currently serves as the drama leader. She was also elected Vice-President of the sophomore class. As a freshman, Summer was a Junior Varsity cheerleader. She has been a Varsity cheerleader for two years and is the Co-Captain of the squad this year.
Summer was a member of the track team for two years and has been a member of the weight-lifting and cross country team for one year. Summer is also a graduate of the Barbizon Modeling Agency. She is an active member at the McCullough Christian Center and participates on the drama team and the dance team. Her hobbies include sign language, running, cheering, dancing, and spending time with family and friends. Her future plans are to attend Jefferson Davis Community College, where she will obtain her degree and pursue a career as a Registered Nurse.
The Miss Northview High School Pageant was sponsored by the Northview Cheerleaders under the direction of Anna Barry.