HIGH SPRINGS ‒ For 13 years in late December the High Springs Police and Fire Departments have been making wishes come true for local children. This year, on Dec. 22, a convoy of police cars, city vehicles and a firetruck with lights flashing and sirens wailing, traveled through High Springs neighborhoods delivering “Operation Holiday Cheer” to excited children.

Each year, beginning in the fall, the High Springs Police Department (HSPD) and Fire Department (HSFD) ask for donations of new toys, clothes and books from the community, as well as gift cards and cash, to give to families in need. Working in conjunction with the City CRA, Parks and Recreation Department and Public Works, they set up collection points within local businesses and city sites to gather donations from individuals in the community, civic groups and businesses, both local and national chains.

Through collaboration between the HSPD and the High Springs Community School, families are identified to take part in the holiday tradition. With parental approval, a home visit is planned so that officers can discover what the children want and to find out if there are other children in the house to add to the list so that no youngster is left out. This year’s Operation Holiday Cheer brought smiles to 19 families with a combined total of 45 kids.

The past two years throughout the pandemic have been harder than usual for many families, especially economically, making fulfilling Christmas wishes tough. Due to these hard financial times, this year the HSPD made sure parents and children received gift cards donated by both local and corporate merchants so they could buy any needed items, including food.

“We raised over $10,000 in funds to buy gifts that matched the children's needs and wishes,” said HSPD Chief Antione Sheppard. “Individuals, businesses and civic groups contributed over $8,000 in purchased gifts, gift cards, money and merchandise vouchers.”

“Each family also received a food gift card of $400-$500 from contributing stores,” said Sheppard. “The pandemic didn't slow down charity, it seems to have made people even more aware of the hardships others faced and the need to contribute.”

After all the donations were collected, the police set Dec. 22 for delivery of Operation Holiday Cheer. Since they couldn't go to every house, they offered parents the choice to come to the station to pick up the gift bags to put under their own tree. With six locations remaining for delivery, police officers, firefighters and city employees gathered at the station at 9:30 a.m. to lead the caravan. Led by a High Springs Public Works pickup with a trailer full of presents, the convoy began its mission.

The first stop was a rural house where three children were anxiously awaiting their arrival and the children were stunned by the number of gifts they were receiving, matched to the list the parents had provided, and much more. Two police officers wore inflatable costumes as Santa and a Christmas tree. The other officers decorated their uniforms or wore Christmas hats to brighten the festive holiday.

At the second location a mother waited with her pre-teen son and two-year-old daughter. Although the little girl was confused and apprehensive at first, her uneasiness quickly turned to smiles of joy as the bags were opened. At the next stop, the costumed Santa was greeted with hugs from the youngest two of the four children. As the officers left, the mother hugged one of the police staff, thanking them for this special day.

The next stop had three teens and a baby. One of their wishes had been bikes, and they looked on in awe as two bikes were pulled off the trailer. As the caravan was about to move on to its final destination, the three teens asked to take a picture with Santa.

At the final stop, two neighboring families received gifts. One family included two young teen boys and a much younger baby brother. When the officers gave them their bags of presents, the youngest brother was confused and not sure what to do. One of his older brothers sat with him and helped the little one open all his presents before looking in his own bag.

On the other side of the street were a brother and a sister who seemed surprised at what was happening. As the officers were preparing to leave with the now empty trailer, the brother and sister asked if they could take a photo with all the officers to remember this special day. The officers were happy to oblige.

For the High Springs first responders, the event is a tradition—an opportunity to help others in need and spread the joy of Christmas and community. For the youngsters who were visited, it is a Christmas they will never forget.

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ALACHUA ‒ The Gainesville based professional ballet company Dance Alive National Ballet (DANB) has been performing the Nutcracker for 55 years with over 200 touring performances and 30 school programs in the Continental United States. Over the past four years it has also become a traditional show in Alachua as well.

The Nutcracker is an important part of the company’s history, and even in 2020 when many entertainment performances were canceled, the Nutcracker performance went on in the new Legacy Park Outdoor Amphitheater where social distancing could be observed.

This year, there was a change of venues due to concerns about possible rain and the performance was moved indoors to the Legacy Park Multipurpose center. Neither the threat of bad weather nor the change of venue deterred an enthusiastic audience. All interior bleachers were filled with additional viewers either bringing lawn chairs or standing on either side of the bleachers watching more than 30 dancers perform in the almost two-hour show.

Dance Alive is a dance academy and professional dance troupe that has always been the heart and soul of the Pofahl family. In 1966 Mary Ellen Pofahl, a professional dancer and teacher, founded the DANB company and it has continued through the talents and efforts of her daughters, Judy Skinner and Kim Tuttle serves as Artistic Director and Skinner is Choreographer-In-Residence.

Pofahl Studios is the official school of DANB, and the faculty have been selected for their professional knowledge of a particular dance discipline as well as the ability to teach a particular age or ability level. The instructors also take part in performances by the DANB. Many of the school's students have gone on to professional dance careers throughout the world.

Both Skinner and Tuttle actively teach at the school as well as run the DANB. The Nutcracker performance is one of their best known and attended shows. During December, the company will perform the Nutcracker at a variety of venues, combining music and dance with one of the best-known Christmas stories, while keeping alive a half century tradition.

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ALACHUA ‒ For the past 16 years at Christmas, cars and people in lawn chairs have lined both sides of the road in front of Bill Holmes’ house on 170^th Street in Alachua. They all come to see and hear the two-and-a-half-hour Christmas light show complete with 45 songs transmitted by radio at 97.7 FM frequency. The show features 55,000 incandescent lights as well as another 6,000 LED lights — all synced to holiday music and a nativity scene with lights spreading over two acres. For local families and visitors as far away as Jacksonville, it has become an annual tradition.

For Holmes, the past 16 years has been a labor of love to celebrate the holidays and share it with the community. As wonderful as it has been, the tradition will end this year.

“Much as I have enjoyed doing this and watching it expand every year, there are several factors that are making it time to end it,” said Holmes. Two years ago, Holmes’ wife passed and the 75-year-old is finding it more difficult to hang lights in trees and along rooftops.

Although Holmes has had help the last few years, he has continued to do the majority of the work himself. It takes three months to put the holiday extravaganza together as well as troubleshoot during the month it is up.

This coming year, Holmes will be selling his Alachua home and relocating to the Dade City, Florida, area to be near family. “At this stage in my life, as I start to recognize and accept my limitations, this is a good move for me,” Holmes said.

The amazing light show started small back in 2005 as a work in progress. Watching television, Holmes saw a guest on “Good Morning America” who had built a smaller version that integrated a computer-based system of synced lights and sound to create a show. “I was interested in the concept and began looking into the technical aspects,” Holmes said. It didn’t hurt that his former career was with Phillips Corporation and much of it in the IT division.

Holmes began to build his Christmas show system using a specially designed computer system to run the controller, which sends “scripts” to sections of lights, coordinating music and lights.

“When I started the show in December of 2005, I had 30,000 lights I had picked up cheap at an after Christmas sale, five controllers and five songs,” Holmes said. “The show lasted 15 minutes. I started with extension cords coming out of various house windows so we didn't overload the electrical circuits, but the lights in the house would dim as the Christmas lights changed.”

Each year the show continued to expand and refine. “I had Clay Electric double the amount of power here from 200 amps to 400 amps with the additional amps being divided into 24-amp circuits around the property to distribute out the draw,” said Holmes. Despite that, there is still 10,000 feet of extension cord to connect it all. “The system now is run by a custom-built computer that sends programs to 60 controllers that have 10,000 channels controlling various lights,” said Holmes. “They also control the music program for what has become a two-and-a-half-hour show,” Holmes said.

But while Holmes is giving up the show, it will not end. Over the past few years, he has had help from the Lopez family, who have helped maintain the property and put up lights. They have offered to take over and will be given all the supplies after this year’s show.

The Lopez family, consisting of two parents and four grown children, will also work with their church to find a new home for the show. “This year they did over 85 percent of the work including programming to get hands-on experience on the whole operation,” Holmes said. “I feel confident giving this over to them that they will carry on the tradition.”

For those who haven’t had the opportunity to experience Holmes’ Christmas show, take heart. Shows will be running nightly until Jan.2 from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. at 7904 N.W. 170^th Street, Alachua.

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NEWBERRY ‒ It’s that time of year again as Christmas is a time of celebration, with festivities, reunions, gift giving and decorations on houses and along streets. While Christmas honors the birth of Christ, the December holiday season encompasses other activities, traditions and beliefs with the common thread of goodwill, compassion and love toward others.

Besides the popular traditional Christmas tree with colorful ornaments and twinkling lights, many people and businesses decorate their homes and buildings with lights, with some expending much time, effort and expense each year. The City of Newberry has joined in the holiday lights decorating tradition with a citywide contest for businesses and residences.

Light has been significant in Christmas celebrations for centuries and candles were lit to “signify the light of Jesus.” The tradition of electrical lights on trees and houses was first introduced to the holiday world in 1882 by Edward Johnson, a friend and partner of light-bulb inventor Thomas Edison. Lit fires presented a hazard, and Johnson’s idea was to replace the candles with a string of colored electric lights, which he did with eight bulky, pear-shaped bulbs on a single wire. The idea didn't really catch on in America until the 1920s when General Electric’s pre-assembled lights became more accessible and cheaper.

Over the years as electric and lighting technology advanced, so did the idea of creating a festive atmosphere in communities with a variety of lights to create a magical wonderland. People often spend weeks decorating the exterior of their houses and yards for others to enjoy. Towns decorate their Main Street areas for the month and businesses decorate their shops in the holiday spirit.

Alachua, High Springs and Newberry all decorated their towns in their unique style and each held a tree lighting and Christmas parade with visits from Santa Claus. Last year in 2020, Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe kicked off “Light Up Newberry,” a contest for best building decoration for both businesses and residences. With the Covid restrictions in place, Jordan knew the contest was a community activity for the season that still maintained the safety precautions of social distancing. This year, “Light Up Newberry” entries were viewed by voters and a committee with the top three winners in each of three categories announced Dec. 19.

In the Business Front category, third place went to Glanzer Realty, second place went to Newberry Ace Hardware and first place went to Bosshardt Realty Service. In the Business Window category: third place went to Sugar, Refined, second place went to Rebecca's Hair Studio, and first place went to Beauty & Pain Solutions Massage. Finally, in the Residential category: third place went to Jason and Haley Ryan, second place went to Logan Euler, and first place went to Shawn and Angie Walker.

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