L - R: Deputy Director of the Office of Ag Water Policy at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Chris Pettit; Florida Farm Bureau President Jeb Smith, 2021 CARES recipient Scott Emerson, Executive Director of Suwannee River Water Management District Hugh Thomas, Dean for UF/IFAS Extension Dr. Andra Johnson.

BLAND ‒ Scott Emerson of Emerson’s Little Dam Farm, Bland, Florida, has been recognized as a 2021 CARES recipient. Florida Farm Bureau’s County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship (CARES) program publicly recognizes Florida farmers and ranchers who demonstrate exemplary efforts to protect Florida’s natural resources by implementing Best Management Practices. The program highlights the many ways farmers and ranchers use best management practices to leave the land and its resources in better shape for the next generation.

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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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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Every Wednesday a group of volunteers gathers at the High Springs Farmer's Market to distribute food to those in need. Known as the High Springs Mobile Pantry, the group of 20 volunteers pass out fresh meat, vegetables, fruit and bread to residents waiting in a long line of cars. Volunteers are a diverse group from various churches, residents who want to help, and even individuals who, themselves, have been in that line needing food at some point and then deciding to help others in the same situation.

“The volunteers that distribute the food are very dedicated to helping others and many of them know what it feels like to be in that situation because they have been in need at some time,” said Mobile Pantry director Anna James.

“Before the COVID pandemic, most of our clients were elderly, living on a small fixed income and would occasionally be in need.,” said James. “Volunteering with the Mobile Pantry is their way of giving back to the community.”

James started the program 11 years ago when she was working with Fellowship Baptist Church to offer food to those in need. At the time, James also worked with Bread Of The Mighty Food Bank, Inc., a non-profit organization that collects, stores and distributes donated or purchased fresh food. Over 35 years they have built a network of 170 non-profit agency partners with over 500 volunteers such as food pantries, churches, homeless shelters and other organizations that distribute the food to those in need.

James connected the church with Bread of the Mighty and continued the food distribution program. The church and other volunteers would contribute money to help purchase the food and cover expenses. Over the next few years, the program spread beyond the church and James had volunteers from multiple sources.” I couldn't have continued this program without the dedication of the volunteers,” James said.

James was also responsible for getting the City of High Springs involved, providing the Civic Center as a long-term location to have people come and pick up what food they needed.

“We would typically serve about 250 individuals and families each week with about 80 percent of the customers being elderly,” said James. “That was prior to the COVID Pandemic which radically changed everything.” James says that the need for food assistance increased as people lost income, and she saw a large increase in families in dire situations. “I had a number of people who came in reluctantly, claiming they never expected to be in this situation,” said James. “At the height of the Pandemic last year we were distributing food to 2,000 people each week.:

James says numbers are down now, but they are still are averaging 600 to 1,000 people a week and distributing over 35,000 pounds of fresh food.

COVID also changed the way they distributed the food and the location. For health safety they moved it outdoors to maintain social distancing and avoid crowded indoor spaces that could cause cases among volunteers and clients, who already had enough problems without endangering their health.

“Our mission is to help those in need, not jeopardize the,” said James. “The city offered us the Farmers Market where we could have cars drive by and put the food in their trunks to keep everyone safe.”

This method has been adopted by many charity food organizations and it works well, so James doesn’t see it reverting back to indoors with close contact.

James adds that despite the huge increase of people in need, they were able to keep up with the demand, thanks to the great efforts by Bread of the Mighty and the people who volunteer with the High Springs Mobile Food Bank. “Their continued dedication to helping others is amazing,” said James. “Even in the worst of the Pandemic they still came every week to distribute the food.”

James believes that everybody deserves to be able to have enough food to feed their families despite their income, and the need is greater than ever. “It's all about helping others,” James said.

The High Springs Mobile Pantry mainly serves High Springs but James says they also go to other communities in the surrounding counties if needed.

The Mobile Pantry is at the High Springs Farmer's Market at 23517 N.W. 185^th Road, High Springs, Florida, every Wednesday to distribute food from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or whenever all the food is gone. More information or to volunteer can be found by visiting their Facebook page — Anna High Springs.

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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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