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ALACHUA – The city of Alachua is gearing up for a full week of softball frenzy. From Aug. 1 to Aug. 6, the Santa Fe Babe Ruth Softball organization will host the Babe Ruth Softball 12U World Series in Alachua. Hundreds of girls from around the country will be at the city’s Hal Brady Recreation Complex to compete for the title.

Regional winners, 12 years-old and under, are also coming from towns and cities in New England, the Middle Atlantic, Ohio Valley, Southeast, Southwest, Midwest Plains, Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest to join the host team, the host team’s state champions and about 10 World Series qualifiers.

Tournament players are from New Jersey, California, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Florida.

“This year we are projected to host 24 teams,” said Damon Messina, assistant recreation director for the City of Alachua.

The Babe Ruth World Series 2013 will kick off with an evening opening ceremony. The event will feature the parade of teams followed by an introduction of the teams and fireworks, said Doug Robinson, Florida softball commissioner for Babe Ruth.

All games will be played on the World Series field and three softball fields.

The championship game will be played Aug. 6.

Robinson said the World Series website lists the weeklong itinerary, the list of teams and game schedule.

“We are expecting about 1,000 to 2,000 people each day,” said Messina.

The funds needed for the tournament were donated by the City of Alachua, Gainesville Sports Commission and others, Robinson said.

Ticket prices for adults are $8 for one day and $32 for the tournament. Children 12-years-old and under tickets are $12 for one day and $24 for the tournament.

Parking is free.

General ballpark concession stands will open along with other vendors offering ice cream and snow cones.

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High Springs Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Gloria James said it was a surprise and an honor to receive the award.

HIGH SPRINGS – The High Springs Chamber of Commerce honored Gloria James as Citizen of the Year for her work in several different clubs, area groups and organizations. She is a long-time resident of the city with a long family history in the community.

James is Chair of the High Springs Planning Board, President of AARP, Assistant Election Clerk, High Springs Senior Citizen Gathering Secretary, and member of the High Springs Chamber, the Community Development Board and the Mebane Alumni Association. She is also Missionary Vice President of Allen Chapel Church and a substitute teacher for the Alachua County School Board. Her uncle, a member of the Davis family, was the first African American conductor for the railroad in High Springs and her family shared their family history as the 2012 Pioneer Family during Pioneer Days.

Other nominees were Suzie Ann Clark, Barbara Martin and Donna and Henry Mogler, all of whom have significantly contributed to the city as well, said Chamber President Sandra Webb. “It is difficult to choose just one person to be Citizen of the Year when so many people do so much for this community,” said Webb.

The award was presented during the High Springs Chamber of Commerce Banquet held Friday, July 19, 2013, at the Family Life Center, St. Madeleine Catholic Church on U.S. Hwy. 441 in High Springs.

Newly elected chamber board members were also introduced during the banquet. Members include Sandra Webb, president; Scott Thomason, vice president; Barbara Martin, treasurer; Vondla Sullivan, secretary; Eyvonne Andrews, economics; Dot Harvey, communication; Betsy Thomason, events manager; Carol Doherty, membership; Donna Mogler, past president; and Tom Weller, past-past president.

With the theme of the “Wild, Wild West,” more than 130 chamber members and their families were treated to a banquet of pulled pork, fried fish, barbecued chicken, potato salad and beans prepared on site by Scott Thomason of the Santa Fe Elks Club. Chamber member Dot Harvey prepared an amazing array of desserts including cobblers of all kinds and three different types of brownies, along with delectable cowboy beans.

The Great Outdoors Restaurant donated beverages, salad and rolls and brought along one of their professional bartenders and Head Chef Carol Doherty to make sure everyone had their perfect drink of choice and excellent food and service.

Tim and Robin True received an award for the best wild west-themed costumes of the night and Natalie Nicole Green and The Little Bit More Band entertained during the evening with perfect harmonies and great music.

Webb said she was pleased with the turnout and presented dozens of door prizes during the night with the help of Barbara Martin. “We had a great team to put on this event,” said Webb. “All our board members and volunteers helped tremendously,” she said. “I especially want to thank Barbara Martin and Jim Bryant for going above and beyond for signs, decorations, etc. and St. Madeleine’s Catholic Church for letting the chamber use their facilities for our event.”

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HIGH SPRINGS – High Springs City Manager Ed Booth’s revised budget for the current 2012/2013 fiscal year was unanimously approved July 18 by the city commission. Ordinance 2013-04 amended the 2012/2013 budget, which was set during a tough financial year that saw a 9.6 percent decrease in employee and commission salaries. The matter received no comment from the public or commissioners before receiving unanimous commission approval.

The 2012/2013 budget was originally was set at $3,213,660. The revised budget at $3,409,915 represents an increase of $196,255 over the original budget.

Booth credits the upturn in the city’s financial situation to additional revenues from uncollected business license fees, which so far have amounted to $24,000, Clay Electric franchise fees estimated at $35,000 for the current year plus an additional $25,000 for the past year, and additional building construction and permitting application fees of $40,000.

Budget adjustments were also necessary due to the additional cost of refunding 6.9 percent of salaries for employees and commissioners, which had been taken from last year’s budget due to a deficit. Additional expenses also came from the increased hours of one employee to accommodate the extra work in the city’s building department.

Booth said the budget adjustment “brings the city back to where it was,” and referring to the upcoming fiscal year budget said, “The next budget is expected to move the city forward a little bit more.”

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Wes Skiles is remembered by many for his pioneering work in underwater photography and filmmaking as well as environmenetal concerns.

HIGH SPRINGS – Underwater caves and passages were his second home.

Born in 1958, Florida native Wesley C. Skiles, better known as Wes, would be described by his friends and family as an explorer, an educator and a skilled storyteller whose passion was cave diving and learning about Florida's waterways. Sunday marks the third anniversary of his death while cave diving, but the legacy of the former High Springs resident is maintained by the people who knew him.

Wes was well known for his cave diving adventures and exploring Florida’s springs.

“It was like his church," said his wife, Terri Skiles.

Terri met Wes around 1980, when she was working a part-time job at a store and sold him a camera. They were married in 1981, and had two children, Nathan, 26, and Tessa, 20.

Wes was a pioneer in his photography techniques, said friend and water conservationist, Mark Long,

"He was the first photographer to get really good pictures in underwater caves," he said.

Wes' lighting techniques in particular brought vibrancy to his photographs of submerged caverns, Long said. "The cave pictures of old were kind of dull. He brought them to life."

He got into photography to show the world the size and clarity of what he saw regularly, Terri said.

"People didn't believe them when he told them how big these underground cave systems were," she said. "He loved to show what he had learned by picture taking or filmmaking,"

Wes also used his photos as proof that there were issues with the water.

"He was one of the first people to recognize problems with the springs. To prove what he was talking about, he started taking pictures," Terri said. Wes started taking water samples and talking to state officials about pollution in the 1980s. He used his skills as a diver to advance aquatic research.

By the end of his life, Wes Skiles had received awards and accolades for his photography. National Geographic featured him several times, in addition to naming him "Explorer of the Year" in 2011, the year after his death. Wes participated in a National Geographic expedition to Antarctica, where he was the first human to set foot on Iceberg B-15, the largest recorded iceberg in the world.

In 2004, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded him the Regional Emmy award for his work directing the documentary “Water's Journey,” which tracked the path of water through Florida's aquifer, rivers and springs.

By the age of 16, Wes had drawn maps of the Florida aquifer, the network of underground waterways running beneath the state.

"I have those maps to this day," said Terri Skiles.

With only a high school diploma, he taught himself everything he could about the watershed systems in North Florida.

"He was always learning," Terri said. “He loved to share what he knew from experience.”

Wes was passionate about the environment, but he wouldn't call himself an environmentalist, she said. "He would call himself a conservationist."

Ross Ambrose, from High Springs, worked with Wes on the "Water's Journey" documentary as a producer.

"I think he was one of Florida's most passionate advocates for protecting and understanding our springs," he said. "Wes' education efforts were very encompassing."

Wes' friend, Mark Long, was involved with the documentary as well, acting as a model in front of the camera.  

"It was a way to make people care about their water, how valuable it is, and how to protect it," Long said. "He had incredible knowledge on what's going underground with our water. By the end of his life, he was lecturing people with Ph.D.s on this stuff."

Wes recognized how everyone contributes to a problem without making them feel guilty, Ambrose said. "Very few people aren't part of the problem, you can't look at things in black and white and good and bad," he said. Ambrose remembered several people talking to Wes about concrete plants polluting the Suwannee River.

"He looked back at the people and said 'didn't you just build a house?'"

Wes encouraged people to find solutions, rather than to focus on the blame, he said.

Through his cave diving experience, Wes noticed pollution, algae blooms and problems with water levels. He started giving presentations at schools in the late 1980s, and by the accounts of people who knew him, he could talk to children, professors and government officials alike.

"He was a great communicator; he could talk to anybody," said Long.  

"He was a crusader," said friend Jim Woods, owner of the Santa Fe Canoe Outpost in High Springs. "Early on, he saw the problems that we are now experiencing."

Although he had an impact in raising awareness for aquatic issues, his friends and family also remember him for his personality.

"He always wanted to be a kid," Terri said.

"He could have a business meeting planned, but if the surfing conditions were good in Jacksonville, he would go surfing," Ambrose said. "He very much believed in taking advantage of opportunities. You could have a business meeting anytime. You couldn't always go surfing."

"I've never once seen the guy in a bad mood," Woods said. "He always had a smile on his face."

Wes Skiles died June 21, 2010, while diving off the coast of Boynton Beach. His friends found his body at the bottom of a reef.

Despite being a scientist, adventurer, photographer and environmental advocate, his wife considers his family to be his biggest achievement. The couple went diving together many times over the course of their marriage that lasted nearly 30 years.

"He just gave me the best life I could have," she said. 

"He made it an adventure for me."

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Hawthorne – The City of Hawthorne lost not only a former mayor and city commissioner, but also one of the most influential members of the community when Eleanor “Kit” Randall passed away last Wednesday.

Randall’s tenure with the city started in 2004 when she was first elected as a Hawthorne city commissioner. She later served as the mayor of Hawthorne from 2009-2011 and she remained on the city commission until the time of her death. Through her work with the commission and involvement in various other groups Randall had a far-reaching impact on her community.

“Commissioner Eleanor ‘Kit’ Randall was a genuinely kind and caring person dedicated to family, church and city,” said Ellen Vause, Hawthorne’s city manager.

Randall was sometimes a quiet leader, but no one questioned that selective silence for weakness. She garnered the utmost respect from those she worked with and demonstrated to her colleagues the poise a leader should possess.

“She was very special in that she always had a positive approach and was committed to improving the quality of life for her community,” said Scott Koons, executive director of the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council. “She was engaged with the community and the council and she was a true pleasure to work with.”

Hawthorne Mayor Matthew Surrency looks back on his time serving with Randall as an honor and an incredible opportunity as he initially learned from her how to lead.

“When I first became a commissioner she was the mayor, and to learn from her directly was remarkable,” Surrency said.

Eleanor Randall was a second-generation commissioner in Hawthorne, following her father, Joe Williams, who sat on the commission from 1984-1997. Randall was deeply rooted in Hawthorne; she also served as the city’s representative to the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council since 2007, where she looked for ways to make a difference for her home community.

“I was privileged enough to work with both ‘Kit’ and her father and it was just a great family,” said John Martin, former Hawthorne mayor and commissioner and a long-time friend. “I was impressed by her confidence, as well as her passion and commitment, but also that she still stayed humble and sought counsel often, which is truly rare.”

Vause said that Randall was also a huge influence on her as the presiding mayor when Vause first took the position as interim city manager.

“She cared deeply about the city and was a great help and mentor while we worked to improve the City of Hawthorne,” Vause said.

As mandated by the city charter, the city is required to fill her seat for the period of time until the next election, which is scheduled for June 2014. However, they are in no hurry to make that decision.

“The discussions will begin soon I’m sure, but there’s no rush,” said Surrnecy. “With the way the council is voting so similarly right now and working together very well we shouldn’t have any trouble.”

Randall’s legacy will surely remain through the impact she had on her community and the city she was so proud to call home.

“She was a joy to work with, and her spirit for community and making people feel genuinely good about being from Hawthorne are what will be missed the most,” Martin said.

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The Waldo to GRU wastewater pipeline is under construction along Waldo Road.

WALDO – For 25 years Waldo has depended on the same municipal wastewater treatment plant for waste collection and treatment. However to avoid fines upwards of $10,000 per day, the city will now go through Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) for wastewater treatment and disposal.

The city’s wastewater treatment plant was unable to meet updated standards that were set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FDEP, and has since received several violation notices.

“Waldo City Council held public meetings seeking a way to correct this problem in the most cost effective, environmentally sound and long-term manner,” said Kim Worley, Waldo’s city manager.

The final solution was to connect Waldo’s wastewater collection system to the GRU system for treatment using an 11-mile force main pipeline and to decommission the old wastewater plant. The project is being funded using a combination of a grant and to the City of Waldo from USDA Rural Development, totaling $5,364,300.

The city will have 40 years to pay off the loan portion. Since it is mandated by law that the loan must be repaid using revenues obtained through utility charges, residents will see an increase in monthly utility bills.

“For basic water services, the increase will be approximately $19,” said Worley. “The city has not had a rate increase since 2008, but it can’t be avoided for the new system.”

Residents attending last week’s city council meeting were not the only ones opposed to an increase in the utility rates.

“Listen, I know no one wanted to see an increase, but at the end of the day we had to raise rates for the future,” said Vice Chair Irvin Jackson.

When the new system is up and running, the city will not only be able to provide wastewater services at the current usage levels, but will have the capacity to double usage levels, which will accommodate population growth, before having to make any required additional expansion of the system with GRU.

“At the end of the day we had no choice but to make a change,” said Rick Pisano, city councilman. “A $10,000 a day fine? We’d have been broke in a week.”

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