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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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 ‒ Giving back to the community and supporting children are the forces behind the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe. And on May 14 under a sunny Saturday morning sky, the club held their second annual Kids & Family Mini Golf Tournament at the Pink Flamingo Diner in High Springs. The event is organized to help raise funds for projects the Kiwanis support for the children of High Springs and Alachua.

After the Pink Flamingo Diner opened last year with a nine-hole miniature golf course, the club saw it as an entertaining way to raise funds and involve the community. Last year’s event featured teams divided into two categories of adults and children, but this year the groups were combined with no age limits. Eight teams played for high scores, prizes and bragging rights. The teams signed up in groups for an $8 entry fee for each adult and $6 for kids under 13. The Pink Flamingo kicked in half the entry fee to the club, raising $2,750 for Kiwanis projects.

The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe is one local club out of the Kiwanis International, which was founded in 1915 by a group of businessmen in Detroit, Michigan. The name "Kiwanis" was coined from an American Indian expression, “Nunc Kee-wanis,” which means, “We trade.” In 1920, the motto of Kiwanis became “We Build.” It remained the motto until 2005, when members voted to change it to “Serving the children of the world.” In the early years, members focused on business networking, but in 1919 the organization changed its focus to service — specifically service to children. The organization now has more than 550,000 members in 80 countries. Worldwide the Kiwanis host nearly 150,000 service projects each year.

At Saturday's competition, the teams consisted of local residents, along with two teams from the fire and police departments in a friendly rivalry between city employees. The fire department won the competition and was awarded a trophy that is returned each year for the city employee team competitions. Local residents filled out the remaining teams, which they named.

The community effort had a number of local sponsors that provided services or funding. This year’s event sponsors included Pink Flamingo, Porta Serve, Campus USA, Waste Pro, Hampton Inn, Great Outdoors Restaurant, Winn Dixie, Capitol City Bank, and Thomas Weller, attorney. Prizes for first, second and third place were provided by Publix, Pink Flamingo Diner, Hitchcocks and Hardee’s.

The Gator Boys team took first place and a $100 gift card from Publix, a $50 Hitchcock gift card and Payday candy bars. Second place was won by the Dough Boys who received a $75 Pink Flamingo Diner gift card and a $25 Hardee’s gift card. The fire department took third place and received a $50 gift card from the Pink Flamingo Diner. A tie between the first and second place team forced a third-round playoff with the Gator Boys coming out on top with the last putt.

“This event has been a great success in helping raise funding for our projects” said Kiwanis President Tom Hewlett. “It's a fun event where the community can have a friendly competition and enjoy playing at this unique miniature golf field. We are grateful to all the volunteers, teams and sponsors, especially to the Pink Flamingo for providing the course to make this possible and we look forward to continuing the tradition yearly.”

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