CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

Students check out the booths from around 30 area businesses. Teachers signed up around 450 pupils to go to the career fair.

ALACHUA - For the students of Santa Fe High School on Thursday, Dec. 5, the gymnasium was filled with possibilities.

For the first time in several years, the school played host to a career fair for its pupils.

Attendees walked around the gymnasium, talking to local employers and exploring potential paths for the future.

“The event is intended to raise awareness for all the options that are out there,” said school counselor Pamela Gonzales, who organized the fair. “This is going to be broadening that knowledge base for them.”

Around 450 students participated in the fair, which started at noon and lasted around two hours. Employers such as Publix, the University of Florida and Alachua's own RTI Surgical had booths set up to let the students know what kind of jobs are available for what education levels, as well as what kind of training they might need.

Ivelisse Munoz of RTI Surgical was handing out pamphlets about some of the entry-level jobs available with the company, some of which do not need a college degree. Around 30 people visited her booth to learn about available positions, such as a tissue processing technician, which only requires a high school diploma or GED.

The ideal employee, Munoz said, is someone who can handle responsibility, is dependable and hardworking and communicates and works well with others.

Several military recruiters from the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy and National Guard were there, showing off careers in engineering, medicine and vehicle repairs, among others.

As students tested out their upper-body strength with the pull-up bars next to the recruiters’ table, senior student Cody Cole walked by. He was interested in learning more about joining the U.S. Marines as an infantryman.

“It’s just what I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. Cole talked to the recruiters and learned about what physical criteria and specialized training he would have to go through for each role.

There were 30 tables in total, including Clay Electric, the VA Medical Center and even a local beekeeper.

Chad Osborne, senior class president, said the career fair was probably the biggest event he’s gone to at the school since he’s been there.

Osborne plans on majoring in political science at the University of Florida. He was surprised at the amount of employment opportunities the university has for students while they are going to school, such as working as a clerk in the labs.

“I didn’t know they offered jobs to you while you were at school,” he said.

While most employers were just at the event to educate prospective employees, some were ready to start hiring.

“Some of these kids might get jobs today,” Gonzales said.

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CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

Wanda Boyd, "Ms. Green and Gold," smiles as she rides down Main Street. She was crowned the night before the parade at Paradise Methodist Church.

ALACHUA – There was a buzz on the streets of downtown Alachua on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 30.

The Hornet alumni of A.L. Mebane High School came together to celebrate their school in unity at the A.L. Mebane High School Reunion parade, which started at noon and lasted about an hour.

“This is something that we look forward to each and every year,” said Hilda Mulberry, an onlooker at the parade.

The alumni of Mebane High School, their families and members of the black community lined the sidewalks of Bob Hitchcock’s Main Street in Alachua to celebrate the rich history of the former all-black institution, which was desegregated in 1971.

“They’re trying to make it better every year,” said Orian Lumpkin, a 1961 Mebane High School graduate.

The event began at noon, but the crowd had arrived well before the start of the parade. Former classmates, current students and their teachers gathered together to share stories and reminisce.

Some of those in attendance leaned against the walls of local businesses or simply sat on the street’s curb, while others leisurely relaxed in the lawn chairs they had brought from their homes to enjoy the show.

Byran Williams, the newly chosen mayor of High Springs, believes that this year’s reunion turnout, although still abundant with attendees, was slightly down from previous years. The reason might have been the annual football game held between the University of Florida Gators and their rivals, the Florida State Seminoles, which was played in Gainesville during the parade.

“A lot of people stayed at home to watch the game,” said Mayor Williams, who said he was still happy with the turnout.

The Mebane Hornets football team, a former football powerhouse itself, according to Lumpkin and Williams, went undefeated in 1964 while the school was still segregated. Many of those that attended schools in the area during that time proudly recalled their memories of that perfect season.

“Mebane High School has a rich history,” Mayor Williams said. “Mebane had one of the best football teams in the state of Florida.”

The parade, which lasted about an hour, seemed to be enjoyed by those young and old alike. Several Mebane graduates, riding on their class floats, threw candy to eager children who rushed to the streets to claim their sugary rewards.

The crowd came to life as the Ms. Alumni and Little Miss Alumni Pageant winners, Barbara White and Trinity Johnson, waived to the crowd. Both were crowned the previous evening at the Paradise United Methodist Church in Alachua.

Katie Jones became nostalgic as the floats carrying her former peers passed by.

It had been years since she attended the school, but being in the presence of so many familiar faces brought the past back to life.

“It’s been so long,” Jones said. “It brings back so many memories.”

Mayor Williams came close to having some memories to share with the crowd, but his life went in another direction. He expected to become a Mebane Hornet but was sent to Santa Fe High School instead, due to the desegregation of Florida schools, prior to his freshman year in 1972.

It took time for him to adjust to the new environment.

“There was a lot of tension,” Williams said. “It was quite a change.”

Williams was in eighth grade when Florida desegregated their public schools in 1971. Following the parade, he recalled how sudden that change was.

“To make that transition, it was a bit of a challenge,” Williams said. “They didn’t prepare us. We were never introduced to our new teachers or principals. We did not have counseling. No one let us know why this happened, why we had to integrate.”

Eventually the tensions eased and friendships formed when the students got to know one another.

“There was still racism, but the majority of us got along real well,” he said.

The A.L. Mebane High School Reunion provided a forum for members of the African-American community of Alachua to come together to remember their struggle for equality in the past and to celebrate their present and future.

“The parade shows the unity of our culture,” said Ulysses Woods, an onlooker who supported that message.

“It’s about remembering that we went to an all-black school,” Orian Lumpkin said. “It was an excellent school. We were well taken care of. The teachers put more time into the kids back in the day.”

The parade concluded with former Mebane High School students, donning Western clothing and cowboy hats, riding through the crowd on horseback. As they rode off around high noon, families, friends and classmates continued to share memories, made plans to meet after the event and said their goodbyes.

Mayor Williams reflected on the solidarity of his community in the area.

“We were all part of one group.”

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Artwork special to Alachua County Today

This piece was inspired by a view from CR 235A in Alachua. Pebbles draws her insiration from scenery.

ALACHUA – It has been a long road for Alachua resident Leslie Pebbles, who started out being a misfit in a New Jersey suburban school and has since become an award-winning artist at the age of 54.

“I just didn’t fit in when I was in elementary school,” she said. “My mother got into an accident when I was in the fifth grade and my grades plummeted.” Eventually, her mother recovered and Peebles was moved to a private school where she was exposed to art instruction for the first time.

“Suddenly, I went from the worst student in school to one of the best,” she said. “In the areas of music, theatre, creative writing and visual arts, I was in my element.”

That success gave Peebles back her confidence and self-esteem and her grades improved dramatically. When she was in the seventh grade, her father gave up his corporate job in New York City and moved the family to a chicken farm in nearby Suwannee County, where she graduated from Suwannee High School.

Living in the country sensitized Peebles to nature, animals and the land.

“That’s where my whole esthetic came from,” she said. “I hated the suburbs and moving to the farm was like waking up in heaven to me.”

Eventually she earned her B.A. in fine arts and found herself teaching art at an area school. That’s where she eventually discovered the perfect artistic medium for her.

“I knew how to produce different types of art, but I just couldn’t wrap my mind around how I wanted to translate what I saw and enjoyed in nature into actual art for others to enjoy,” she said.

As it turned out, one art teacher’s frustration in teaching block-carving turned into a golden opportunity for Peebles and her students. The frustrated art teacher turned over all of her materials to Peebles.

“I couldn’t have afforded to buy all of those items myself at that time,” she said. “So it was a great gift to me and my classes.”

After teaching and working with block-carving and block printing with her students for a few years, she realized she had done a tremendous amount of work and was enjoying it more and more.

“I decided it was the perfect medium for me,” she said, “and have now been doing it seriously for 15 years.”

Block-carving or linoleum-carving, as it is also called, allows her to produce her art in such a way as to make it affordable to the average person, Peebles said.

“As a middle-class girl myself, I wanted my art to be affordable for the average person,” she said. “I can put 20 or 30 hours into a piece and still keep my prices reasonable,” she said.

In addition, Peebles finds block carving to be a portable medium. “I can work on it at home or go into nature with it,” she said.

Living on five acres of land in Alachua, she finds inspiration close to home.

“We have foxes living next door in the woods, we have a neighborhood gopher tortoise and various other animals that travel through from time-to-time,” she said.

She also finds inspiration at the local springs, on Rum Island and at the Santa Fe River, but does not limit herself to local areas. Although her Swallowtail Kites composition was drawn from a view of a field off of County Road 235A, her Alligator composition was inspired partly by Paynes Prairie and partly by a trip to the Everglades.

As part of her process, Peebles draws or photographs items on the spot when she finds something interesting. Once the block has been carved, Peebles prints her carvings at Sweetwater Print Cooperative in Gainesville, using an oil-based ink. She is then able to hand paint using water colors onto each one of her prints.

Peebles taught art for 17 years, but has been a fulltime artist for only the past four years. She was 50 before she started going to art shows and festivals.

“I applied to the prestigious Coconut Grove Show my first year, which is a very difficult show to get into,” she said.

Not only did she get in, but she won first place in printmaking in her first year.

“That was a complete surprise,” she said. Since then, she has won awards each year at Coconut Grove and several others.

Peebles will be demonstrating her linoleum block-carving and art-printing processes on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, at the Third Annual Gathering of the Artists holiday show in Gainesville, her second year being invited to the event.

“It’s a wonderful show and I enjoy doing my demonstrations and answering visitors’ questions,” she said.

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CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

Mike Peterson, former footbal player for the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaquars and the Atlanta Falcons hands a Thanksgiving meal to Keesha Tigers. Every year, the Mike Peterson Foundation gives meals to needy families for Thanksgiving. This year, around 100 meals were given out on the Tuesday before the holiday at Hitchcock's in Alachua.