HIGH SPRINGS ‒ On Tuesday, Oct. 27 the ribbon was cut announcing the grand opening of the High Springs Farmers Market Pavilion located at 23517 N.W. 185^th Road, High Springs. It has been an eight-year process to reach completion. It all started in 2012 when the City applied for a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant to build a permanent covered structure to house the farmers market. The proposed 100 ft x 30 ft building would provide cover and electrical power for the market to be open regardless of weather and offer a space for outdoor events including night activities.

In 2014, the USDA awarded the City a grant for $199,441 to help fund the project with the City providing an additional $45,800. Delays due to a number of factors included unanticipated USDA requirements, CSX railroad issues, environmental concerns and construction design revisions kept the dream from being a reality until last year. By then, the cost had gone up and the City's portion of the project had risen to $109,132 including $46,575 from Alachua County’s Wild Spaces Funding. During all this time, the market continued as a outdoor event with the vendors under tents at the mercy of the weather. For Market Director Carol Rowan it has been a struggle to keep enough variety of vendors at the weekly market, especially when competing against several larger, well established markets in Gainesville.

City and state dignitaries attended the ribbon cutting to celebrate the new building. Attending the opening were various city officials and candidates for the commission, as well as incoming Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr. and State Representative Chuck Clemons. Rowan, High Springs Mayor Brian Williams and Assistant Agriculture Secretary Debra Tannenbaum each spoke as over 20 vendors waited for the ribbon to be cut and the audience to enter.

After the ribbon was cut, the audience went from booth to both buying a variety of fresh produce, meat, shrimp, homemade bake goods, local honey and vegetarian meals. Interspersed with the farm vendors were crafters and artists selling their art.

For customers that don't have cash, the market will also offer credit alternatives. The FAB/Manager Booth can run debit or credit cards and the customer will receive blue tokens to spend at the market the same as cash. There are no processing fee and the tokens do not expire, so customers can use them on return visits. The market also participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP/EBT recipients can run their card and receive yellow tokens, which can be used only at this market for a large variety of SNAP eligible items, which includes most of the food items.

The Farmer's Market also participates in the Fresh Access Bucks/Feeding Florida program (FAB). It allows the market to double SNAP/EBT participates transactions, up to an extra $40 free each market day. Since 2017 the market has distributed over $20,000 in free incentive tokens to feed families in the community. In the last six months, over $5,000 in incentive/free tokens have been distributed from the farmers market. The green tokens can only be used on fresh produce, herbs, or any fruit or vegetable producing plant.

Anyone who is interested in being a vendor can apply at the FAB/Manager Booth for information on how to become a vendor. Produce vendors need a grower’s permit and plant vendors need a nursery license. Crafts are permitted, as long as they are homemade by the vendor. If interested in becoming a vendor contact High Springs Farmers Market Manager Carol Rowan at 352-275-6346 or crowan@highsprings.us. The High Springs Farmers Market will be open Fridays, 3 -7 p.m.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ City of High Springs voters will be choosing between six candidates to fill two open seats on the High Springs City Commission in the upcoming election. On Oct. 20, these voters had an opportunity to hear from each of the candidates running for spots on the commission.

All six candidates gathered at the new Farmers Market Pavilion for a meet and greet event to share their views with residents. The first half hour was spent with the candidates talking individually to the public before taking seats at a long table decorated with patriotic colors.

The event was sponsored by the GFWC High Springs Woman's Club to help inform citizens of candidate options and the difference between them. Once the candidates were seated at the forum, each one was presented with three question supplied by the moderator and each had two minutes to respond to each question.

Questions ranged from the three most pressing issues facing the city to deteriorating buildings to city services and economic development.

Candidates for seat one are Ross Ambrose, Sharon Decker and Janet Evans. Ambrose believes it is important to manage growth while also maintaining the small-town identity and balance the environmental needs of the river system with growth and increased tourism. He also said it is necessary to pay city employees and first responders enough to retain them to keep consistency in government. Sharon Decker echoed those concerns and believes that public safety is an important issue, especially in making sure first responders have the staffing and equipment they need to properly do their job. Janet Evans believes in small government that can focus on the specific issues facing citizens, with priority on managing growth and infrastructure.

Seat two has three candidates as well. Gloria James is presently a commissioner and is running for reelection. She is currently Vice Mayor and believes that her experience as part of city government gives her a better understanding of the issues facing the town and its expanding growth. Zachary Walters is the youngest candidate and believes that bringing more employment and jobs to High Springs is important. While he favors more jobs, especially in higher tech industries, he also wants to make sure growth is well managed to maintain the small-town feel while also offering incentives to keep youth from leaving. Engineer and scientist Kathrine Weitz expressed concern over aging water and wastewater system infrastructure. With the expanding population growth in the area she believes the City needs to address improving a system that is already overburdened and outdated. She also spoke about the cost and getting back to long-term budget planning for future growth.

In a time when political debate is heated, this forum stood out for its civility and mutual respect among the candidates..

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ALACHUA COUNTY - After leading Alachua County Public Schools since the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, Superintendent Karen Clarke has announced that she plans to step down from her position effective June 30 of 2021. In a letter to the Board members, Clarke expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to serve the district’s students, families and staff, particularly during such challenges as Hurricane Irma and the COVID pandemic. She also highlighted a number of accomplishments during her tenure. Those include: the district raising its state grade to an ‘A’ for the first time in four years; an overall graduation rate increase from 83% to 88% and an increase from 68% to 79.9% for African American students, both of which were all-time highs; passage of the Half Cent for Schools initiative, which is already funding massive facilities improvement projects; the recent renewal by voters of the One Mill, which currently helps pay the salaries of more than 300 local teachers, is the primary source of technology funding and guarantees a nurse in every school; an increase in the district’s average teacher salary from 55th in the state to 21st; new career-tech programs at Eastside High and Hawthorne Middle/High School; a record number of students earning national career certification, and; a number of equity initiatives, including the AVID and AP Capstone programs, universal gifted screening and a magnet lottery. Clarke said the decision to step down was not an easy one, but she believes the new school board, which will be in place on November 17, should have the opportunity to select a new Superintendent. She also wanted to give the School Board time to plan for a Superintendent search. This is especially critical during a time in which the district is addressing major issues such as COVID-19 and rezoning for the new Elementary School I. “I am honored to have spent nearly 29 years as an educator with Alachua County Public Schools and am very proud to have led this wonderful district for the past 3 ½ years,” wrote Clarke in her letter to board members. “I am sure that with the support of the Board, the staff and the entire community, this district will continue to achieve great things.”

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NEWBERRY ‒ The pandemic changed the concept of live music entertainment and put many musicians in dire financial situations. To make any income, performers have come up with other ways to reach their audiences and generate revenue. Unable to perform in bars and concerts due to the pandemic, many musicians went to online performances. But part of the magic of music is the energy and sense of unity between an audience and the performers.

The band Sister Hazel is taking today’s reality of COVID-19 limitations and blending it with the public’s historic love affair with drive-in movie theaters. The band, founded by Ken Block, Drew Copeland and Jett Beres in 1993 is no stranger to the area and Newberry seemed to be an ideal location for a novel idea.

Much of the band's income comes from touring, performing live in front of large crowds, but that came to a screeching halt in April 2020 as the pandemic raged across America. All music concerts were canceled and most bands were forced onto an unexpected hiatus. The world of music was changed in a matter of weeks.

“Touring was a way of life for us,” singer/guitarist Copland said. “Not only did the pandemic affect our income, but we had a crew of about 15 that was suddenly out of work. We tried to continue to pay them, but the loss meant that most of them had to supplement their income with other jobs to provide for their families. This meant they weren't always available to go on the road even if we had gigs,” Copeland said.

“We saw other groups use stream live and online video to try and survive, but it is just not the same energy as playing to a live audience. We wanted to try and find a safe way to get concerts going again, creating a model that could also help other musicians survive monetarily and bring normalcy back to the music world for both performers and audiences” Copeland stated. “Some musicians were doing live outdoor performances but on a much smaller scale, so we decided to try the concept of a drive-in concert. The band felt that safety was the main concern and CDC rules had to be maintained to keep from spreading the virus.”

“We took a big risk setting this model up and did the first show in Tampa. There were a lot of expenses involved that we had to cover up front and hoped the event was successful enough to compensate and provide some income for the band and support staff. We learned a lot of lessons from that show,” Copeland said.

For the second show they had support from the City of Newberry, and the band set up a show at the Post Farm at 28957 W. Newberry Road. The initial date was postponed due to the resurgence of the pandemic in late summer and it was rescheduled for Oct. 23. The venue offered a large field where cars could be parked at a staggered zig zag formation that included a second spot for each car's occupants to tailgate, which allowed for social distancing in the audience.

Tickets were sold per four-person vehicle for $149, but fans could purchase limited VIP for $169 utilizing the first several rows and $25 for any additional people per car with a maximum of six people. Cars were placed by parking attendant staff with cars and trucks placed based on size with lower cars in front, bigger cars in back so everyone could have an unobstructed view of the stage. Masks were required if anyone left their assigned area. Bathrooms were available and food was provided by Woodyard Grill in Newberry. More than a hundred cars packed full of people filled the lot as the band gave a flawless and energetic performance.

“This show showed we can do this safely and get back to some normalcy with live music,” Copeland said. “We are going to do several more shows in Orlando, Atlanta and Charlotte to refine the logistics and see about creating concerts with other musicians to help provide a source of income despite the current situation. It felt great to play live again.”

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