ALACHUA ‒ Downtown Alachua and Criswell Park were the sites of beautification efforts this past Saturday. The beautification and cleanup event was part of the Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup Day.

Keep America Beautiful (KAB) was formed in 1953 to develop and promote a national cleanliness ethic. Its mission was to provide the expertise, programs and resources to help people end littering, improve recycling, and beautify America’s communities. Much of the focus was on educating the population and bringing more awareness of the growing problem littering and waste. Today, the organization has nearly 700 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals

The Great American Cleanup kicked off in 1998 with renewed focus on littering, recycling and community beautification. During the months of April and May an estimated 20,000 communities nationwide hold events where volunteers dedicate a day to cleaning up and beautifying their communities.

The most recent Great American Cleanup created 15,000 opportunities for millions of volunteers picking up millions of pounds of litter, cleaning over 100,000 acres of public spaces, and tens of thousands of miles of roadways and shorelines. The community greening and beautification efforts range from new tree plantings that provide shade and sequester carbon to planting flower gardens that create vibrant gateways to shopping and entertainment districts as well as creating community gardens that help feed the hungry and educate young gardeners.

The City of Alachua has been participating in the Great American Cleanup Day for over 15 years. Each year volunteers dedicate a day to helping clean up and beautify specific target areas. The program is a combination of volunteers, business sponsors and the City of Alachua, including a number of city staff joining in the effort. This year they focused on cleaning up around the Swick House and Criswell Park and planting shrubs and flowers along downtown Main Street.

Close to 70 volunteers met at the City Hall at 8:30 a.m. on May 14 to enjoy a breakfast provided by Mi Apa restaurant and Duncan Donuts. The crews rolled up their sleeves, gathered tools and headed for their assigned areas with the expectation of two to three hours to complete the job.

Downtown Main Street was lined with over 1,000 potted plants provided by Landscapes Unlimited. Owners Mike and Erin Gianikas provided the plants at a discount rate, which was paid for by 20 sponsors that provided services and funding. Landscapes Unlimited also provided staff to help direct proper location, planting and design.

After the work was done and Main Street was boasting new greenery and flowers, volunteers were treated to a lunch by Domino’s Pizza.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Area small businesses, artists and local organizations have teamed up to help raise funds for children’s art programs in High Springs. The “Paint the Night Benefit Gala” raised funds for the Good News Arts Gallery programs focused on children. The gallery, founded and owned by Jessica Caldas, provides space for local, regional, and national artists to show challenging and engaging work tied to relevant contemporary issues.

When Caldas opened the gallery in 2020, she also envisioned an open space for community members to present work via additional exhibitions, musical performances, spoken word, events, and whatever else served the community’s needs as well as teaching classes in different arts for both adults and children.

The non-profit gallery does not take a commission on artists’ sales but does pay teachers and buys supplies for all classes and camps. Good News Arts also offers after-school art classes for kids for $5 per student and a seven-week summer camp with only a $20 registration fee, which provides free snacks, lunch and art supplies for all students. Costs associated with the camps are supplemented by donors and volunteer staff. The gallery also works with several agencies that sponsor the summer camp including the City of High Springs Parks and Recreation Department, the Children’s Trust of Alachua County, and private donors.

The May 21gala was held at the High Springs Woman's Club to raise funds to support these programs through the $40 entry fee donation. The evening was a community effort, with numerous local and regional artists offering their works for auction. Various organizations donated food, drink and entertainment adding to the lively ambiance of the evening. Wine was supplied by Specialty Wines while local breweries First Magnitude Brewing Company, Swamphead Brewery and Cypress and Grove supplied craft beers.

Miami Chef Joe Richard supplied all the southern fare food and Gainesville Event DJ's supplied music for dancing. Local artisit Kimberly Bossons provided a live painting experience at a side table while guests wandered aroung the tables featuring art for auction and enjoyed the food, drink and dancing. Over 90 people attended the event to support the gallery and raise money for its programs.

“It was a wonderful night that helped us raise close to $5,000 to keep the programs going,” said Caldas. “The money we raised will go toward supporting our programming, especially our free and low-cost arts education for all ages and our youth programming, which includes a free Summer Arts Camp for youth. We are extremely grateful for the support of the community to keep these programs alive."

More information on the classes, after school program and summer camp can be found by emailing goodnewsarts@goodnewsarts.com, visiting https://www.goodnewsarts.com or visiting the gallery to see the current exhibit by Paul Shortt. Shortt, called “Farewell to Adulthood” at 18555 Main Street in High Springs.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Yard sales are an opportunity for people to buy goods at an affordable price and for other people to clear out space in their homes and garages. For the Deeper Purpose Community Church, a yard sale is also a way to help people in the community. This past Saturday on May 28, the church held its Annual Spring Charity MEGA Yard Sale from 9 a.m. to noon.

The sale brought out people to peruse through mountains of donated items that seemingly included just about anything one could need, including jewelry, girls and boys clothing and toys, baby items, furniture, office, household, and kitchen items. Many of the items were donated from Just Between Friends of Gainesville (JBF), but many items were donated by church members and local residents who filled truckloads of items.

“We partnered with JBF and received donations of items that consigners didn’t sell during the JBF Mega Sale. In the fall we had a free yard sale event, where we gave away countless items to families in the community, but this go round, we are selling the items donated to us at low prices to help fund the free programs we offer, as well as to help raise money for our building fund for our community complex,” said Church Pastor Adam Joy.

Monies from fundraisers and donations support a variety of church programs including the Deeper Purpose Kids Academy, which is a Christian Nursery and Preschool. Other programs support children including before and after care for school aged children and additional programs for families during the summer, Thanksgiving, spring and winter breaks.

The church has purchased 13 acres of land that will eventually house their church, school, youth, community and outreach centers in phases. Additional funding for the buildings was part of the Building Purpose Campaign 1,000. The campaign goal was for 100 people, families, businesses, churches, silent/ anonymous donors, individuals, or organizations to donate $1,000 within 100 days for the church’s Capital Fundraising Campaign. In just 16 days, they raised $31,000 in financial contributions for the building project and another $14,000 in pledges.

“We are a spirit-filled and purpose-driven, multicultural non-denominational Christian church,” said Joy. “We welcome anyone regardless of background, ethnicity or situation, to be a helping hand to those in need. Our mission is to serve the community, help those that need it and spread the word of God.”

Over the course of the year, the church holds food drives for the needy as well as special events such as the Easter Egg Hunt and Back the Blue event. A portion of the money raised by the yard sale this year will also go toward a Senior Citizen Outreach Drive on Wednesday, June 1. They hope to reach senior citizens who have come across difficult times and who are on a fixed income. “Most of them get very little income and by the time they pay what bills they do have, the truth is, they don’t have much left to spend on gas or food,” Joy said.

To help out, members of the church and High Springs community raised roughly $1,000 worth of groceries, ranging from canned goods to hygiene products. For the third year in a row, those goods will be taken to those who need them the most.

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NEWBERRY ‒ The Newberry Watermelon Festival was back for its 77th annual celebration on Saturday, May 21.  The annual festival brought out thousands who enjoyed sweet and juicy watermelon, games and activities for the young and not-so-young alike, and entertainment.

The nation’s longest-running watermelon festival was held at the CountryWay Town Square. The festival featured more than 100 vendors offering items for sale, food and drink, nonprofits sharing information, and politicians promoting their 2022 campaigns. There was also plenty of activities for kids including bounce houses, face painting and pony rides. As in previous years, the free slices of watermelon were popular with the crowd.

The event started at 10 a.m. with a parade in downtown Newberry featuring floats sponsored by local businesses and organizations that included a golf cart decoration contest. At the Country Way Town Center, some 100 vendors lined the streets and at the gazebo, K Country 93.7 FM announced events along with singer and DJ Brandon McFarlan.

The previous week the festival committee had held its annual pageant for naming the annual Newberry Watermelon Queen, teen queen and junior queens.  Kensley Catelynn Durrance was crowned the 2022 Newberry Watermelon Queen, Ashlee Thomas was crowned the 2022 Newberry Watermelon Ms. Teen Queen and Laney Grinstead was crowned the 2022 Newberry Watermelon Teen Queen. The Newberry City Commission also awarded Bethany Barfield with a key to the city. Barfield was the Newberry Watermelon Queen in 2019 and then went on to win the Florida Watermelon Queen for 2020-21 before claiming the National Watermelon Queen title.

Watermelon festival traditional events included the popular pet contest featuring four dogs. Link, Duchess, Callie and Ellie Mae won prizes for Best Dressed Boy, Best Dressed Girl, Best Behaved and Best Overall, respectively. There was a hog calling contest and the traditional watermelon seed spitting contest that has been held every year featuring local politicians competing for bragging rights for the longest spit.

Last year, Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr. took the crown from Congresswomen Kat Cammack with a 23-foot mark.  The winning marks this year were much farther than Watson's record last year. Daniel Fisher, running for Alachua County School Board, launched a watermelon seed 41 feet. He won the contest with that shot, leaving Newberry City Commissioner Mark Clark in second place with 37 feet.

Newberry’s Watermelon Festival started in 1946 after the end of World War II.  A group of local citizens decided to hold a festival celebrating the area’s watermelon production and the Newberry Watermelon Festival was born. The event has now been held yearly on the third Saturday in May.  

The festival is organized and produced by a committee of local residents with the support of the city and business sponsors. The actual event is produced with a large group of volunteers, including Police Explorers who help manage traffic and parking. Sponsors provide donations either as cash or in-kind products. The festival also receives additional funds through a $5 parking fee. Some of the money raised funds four $1,000 scholarships for Newberry High School seniors to cover tuition and books to attend Santa Fe College. Any additional money goes to the schools for supplies and to the Red Cross for any local need that arises.

While last year’s festival was smaller due to COVID-19 health concerns, the crowds were back in full this year. Just like its beginning in 1946 after World War II, the festival again brought a sense of community and return to normalcy.

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