HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Poe Springs Park is open again. And tubing, kayaking and barbecuing were just a few ways people spent their Memorial Day weekend at the park’s reopening. The park has endured a series of openings and closings over the past several years to accommodate various improvements and repairs to the facilities.

Poe is the largest spring in Alachua County and pumps 45 million gallons of water daily, offering swimming in the spring area, hiking along the trails, kayak and canoe launches and buildings for events.

A popular weekend recreation area, the property includes a playground, volleyball courts, sports fields and nature trails and includes pavilions and picnic shelters with bar-b-que grills. There is also a lodge building for event rentals, such as parties, family gatherings and small weddings.

Poe Springs has been a popular recreation area for almost 70 years. Poe was privately owned until 1985 when the initial 75 acres was purchased with a federal grant from the land and water conservation fund. Additional acreage was provided by Suwanee River Water Management District (SRWMD) and additional grant funds in the 1980s and in 1991, Alachua County opened the park to the public.

Alachua County shut the park in December 2011 for a construction project that included a new retaining wall and steps in the spring-fed swimming area, new landscaping and new roofs and air-conditioning units on the buildings and pavilions.

It reopened again on July 4, 2013 for four days a week with no admission charge under a barebones arrangement between the County and the City of High Springs. It closed again in 2017 due to damage from Hurricane Irma and opened again in May 2018 after repairs were made but on a shorter weekend only schedule of Friday to Sunday.

Then came the COVID 19 pandemic and the park closed again under state quarantine in March 2020 only to open again three months later. The springs portion of the park closed yet again three months later in September 2020 for renovations, but the boat ramp remained open. Although renovations were anticipated to be finished by January 2021, delays kept the park closed until this Memorial Day weekend.

Alachua County Open Spaces Manager Jason Maurer said he is glad to see the park reopened, especially as a recreation area for children. “We did a lot of inhouse projects, some concrete work, cleaning the building, and upgrading some of the facilities.”

Maurer also said improvements include fresh sand in the volleyball courts, new ADA compliant sidewalks and a heightened eight-foot-wide pathway leading to Poe Springs.

“We still have more improvements to make including a new boat ramp and improved nature paths,” said Maurer, “but the park is now improved to provide a better time for every one with more facilities available.”

According to Maurer, the new boardwalk at Poe Springs Park has been raised to avoid flood damage and he is expecting more finishing touches to be added including the completion of a second alternate boardwalk to the spring head. “We'll be adding educational signs and a historical marker of Hurricane Irma levels," Maurer said.

The park will now be open seven days a week 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. While the park had been free in the past, to help cover the cost of maintenance and increased staffing due to the seven-day schedule, now there is an entry fee of $6 per vehicle and $1 for visitors walking or biking.

The county has also added the services of Anderson's Outdoor Adventures (AOA), which not only rents kayaks, canoes and tubes, but will drop off and pick up boaters at various locations. AOA is the outfitter and food concessions contractor with other local springs including Manatee, Hart, Blue and Fanning Springs as well as the Santa Fe River Park. The company also has plans to bring in more food and concessions in the near future.

Pick-up and drop-off services for tube and watercraft will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily to and from the Highway 27 bridge. The trip itself is two to three hours floating from the drop off to the boat ramp at Poe Springs. There is a $9 rental fee for tubes that visitors can use to float in the springs or float down the river to the boat ramp and repeat that trip as many times as desired. Rental services for tubes and watercraft is open from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Maurer said the park is still under Covid distancing regulations and is limited to 120 parking spaces at any time. “We had full capacity of 300 to 400 people all three days of the Memorial Day weekend. It was great to see everyone, especially the children, enjoying this unique park.”

Money for the boardwalk and other repairs was split, with $280,665 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as hurricane compensation and $284,152 from the county’s Wild Spaces and Public Places tax.

The park is located at 28800 N.W. 182^nd Avenue, High Springs on State Highway 236, which is also known as Poe Springs Road. For more information, contact the Alachua County Parks and Conservation Land Office at 352-264-6868 or parks@alachuacounty.us.

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ALACHUA ‒ City of Alachua commissioners voted on Monday to approve an agreement with Kamal Latham to become the new city manager. This comes after current City Manager Adam Boukari tendered his resignation effective Aug. 5, 2021 to work in the private sector.

Lathan currently serves as assistant city manager, and Boukari recommended Latham for the position of city manager. Lathan will take over the new position on Aug. 5, 2021 with a salary of $144,000.

Over 20 people lined up at the commission meeting to speak and praise the experience and abilities of Latham. Many spoke about his intelligence, past achievements and his ability to listen to the opinions and input from the general public and his staff.

Latham has a strong political background and was appointed by both Presidents Clinton and Bush as a career diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. He has won numerous awards for advancing U.S. economic interests overseas, which has included work in China and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In 2013 he relocated to Gainesville to accept a position as Vice President of Public Policy with the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce. He left that position in 2017 to accept a job as chief executive officer of the Economic Development Authority in the Virgin Islands. Latham resigned from that position in 2020 to return to the area and accept a position as Assistant City Manager for the City of Alachua.

Latham has won numerous awards for advancing U.S. economic interests overseas and holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the employment contract with Latham.

In other business, the City of Alachua Youth Advisory Council (YAC) received an award from the Florida League of Cities (FLC). YAC participated in the FLC 2021 Youth Council Community Service Contest and was one of five state youth councils to win.

The YAC gathered donated sports equipment for foster children within the surrounding communities. Working with the Guardian Ad Litem Program and the University of Florida baseball and softball teams, YAC members set up donation boxes at various businesses to collect the equipment and also arranged an event for the children to meet the University of Florida baseball and softball teams. The YAC was able to supply over 206 pieces of sports equipment for the event.

FLC Membership Relations Programs Coordinator Eryn Russell presented the YAC with a trophy and a check for $250. The City also honored the group’s efforts with certificates of appreciation.

The Commission approved to increase the City’s portion of a cost share agreement for protection of the Mill Creek Sink and Mill Creek Cave System. On April 7, 2017, the City of Alachua and the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) signed a Memorandum of Agreement for Cost Share Assistance to improve water quality recharging of the Upper Florida Aquifer at the Mill Creek Swallet. The agreement was amended to increase the amount from $1,400,000 to $2,045,899 in order to complete the construction phase of the project.

A program that was put on hold in summer 2020 due to COVID has been reauthorized. The City of Alachua will be conducting a summer camp for youth ages 5 – 13 and an arts and sciences summer camp for high school students to be held at Santa Fe High School. The $100,060 grant to fund the program comes from the Children’s Trust of Alachua County.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Like many small towns, High Springs has a monument honoring local citizens who gave their lives in wartime. Located just west of City Hall on U.S. Highway 27, the monument lists the name of the ones who never returned from World Wars I and II as well as one reserved for as Vietnam vets. World War II hit High Springs hard as 14 young men did not come home out of a town population of 2,000.

For many Americans, Memorial Day is a three-day weekend to travel, enjoy the outdoors or party. The original meaning of the holiday may be acknowledged, but oftentimes little is done to honor it during their weekend plans. For others, the true meaning of Memorial Day carries a more somber quality as a time to remember those who served and did not return, as well as those who came back but have since passed.

Over the years, those monuments in High Springs became part of the town's landscape, seen by many, with few paying heed to meaning or purpose. Four years ago, vandals destroyed one of the benches that flanked the stone memorial. The U.S. Military Vets motorcycle club stepped forward to fix the bench and clean up the site. The group is part of a national organization with over 100 chapters throughout the country.

The clubs are entirely comprised of honorably discharged veterans from one of the five military branches and who also are motorcycle riders. They are a nonprofit group that also offers support and funding to veteran related groups and charities. Their goal is to honor and keep the memory alive for all who served, especially those that paid the supreme price of their lives.

This year, on Memorial Day the bikers showed up at the memorial, joined by the High Springs Lions Club for their annual tribute to those who did not return by laying wreaths and planting small flags in tribute for each of the 17 names on the monument. While this has been an annual event, it was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, but the supporters were anxious to get back to the ceremony and honor the fallen.

They were joined by a few citizens including Ervin Hiney, 88, and his wife Shirley of Alachua. “I enlisted at age 18 and served in the United States Air Force for 20 years. Most of my career I flew fighter planes as well as the B-52 bomber in Vietnam,” said Hinley. “I flew fighters in during the Korean War. We just wanted to come honor fellow servicemen that gave their lives for their country.”

At 9 a.m., veteran and vice president of the U.S. Military Vets Spike Mueller rang a bell and announced the Unknown Soldier. A club member solemnly placed a flag in the ground on the monument's edge. One by one, Mueller spoke the names on the monument and a member of the vet’s club or Lions Club placed a flag in their honor. After all names had been read, a final salute and moment of silence was given.

“We are all veterans who served, and in many cases lost friends and comrades in war,” said Mueller. “We never forget them and want to make sure they are honored and remembered.”

The monument is inscribed with the message "In honor of those who served in time of war, A mighty mother turns in tears, the pages of her battle years, lamenting all her fallen sons."

For Lion's Club member Leslie Flage, the ceremony held a personal importance. Her Great Uncle Robert McDonnell was one of the names on the stone. Flage never met her great uncle, but grew up hearing stories and saw the sadness in his family's eyes.

McDonnell was a local high school valedictorian who split his free time between his girlfriend and camping on the rivers and was popular in town. When World War II came, he and three brothers all joined up. All lived through the war except Robert.

Just a month before the end of the war in Europe, Robert’s P-51 fighter was shot down over Holland. Originally buried in Holland, his family had him returned to his hometown to be buried in the High Springs cemetery.

And at that cemetery on Memorial Day, John Marshall was cleaning his son, John Isbell's, gravesite, which has a Marine flag flying above the grave. Marshall served in the Navy and both his sons were Marines in Desert Storm. Although Isbell died after his tour, his father routinely maintains the grave and felt that Memorial Day was an important day to come. “I like to keep the site tidy to honor John and his service to the country,” said Marshall.

At Alachua’s City Hall is a military memorial surrounded by a pathway of bricks, each inscribed with a veteran's name and time of service. Some are names of veterans still living and some are veterans who passed later in life, but 48 are of Alachua County residents killed in Vietnam and nine are from Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of those who died in Afghanistan is Staff Sargent John Rieners. On the day before Valentine’s Day 2010, Rieners and three other soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle.

When a soldier deploys to a combat zone, his mother becomes a member of the Blue Star Club signifying they have a son or daughter in harm’s way. John’s mother, Ronna Jackson, was a proud member of that club, but at his death she joined the club no mother wants, becoming a gold star mother, signifying she lost a family member in action.

While the loss of her son was devastating, Jackson found a cause and a way to keep part of her son alive in memory. Jackson put her energy into organizations to help other deployed soldiers. Jackson works tirelessly with various veterans’ organizations including The Military Support Group of Alachua County (MSGFAC). The group sends monthly care packages to deployed soldiers to provide items they can’t find in the field to make their lives a little easier and remind them of home.

This past Saturday the MSGFAC met at Evergreen Cemetery to place 1,000 flags on veteran’s graves, then to Publix to distribute 'Poppy's for the Fallen” with the local American Legion Auxiliary ladies. These tributes are to remind people what this day is about.

“We owe our freedom in America to these heroes that are willing to risk their lives to defend people they do not even know, but are fellow Americans. Our current troops are all volunteers, who give up their civilian life to serve their country. What we do is a small way to say thank you, said Jackson. “They are all heroes and all that I do is in the name of my son, to honor his memory and help the other soldiers who still serve.”

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NEWBERRY - The Newberry Watermelon Festival was back with juicy, red watermelon Saturday, May 15 at Country Way Town Square, just south of Newberry High School.  The annual festival brought out thousands who enjoyed picture perfect weather, dozens of vendors, refreshing watermelon, games and activities for the young and not-so-young alike, and entertainment.  Not to be forgotten were the contests, which included “dress your dog,” golf car decorating, seed spitting, and of course, the Watermelon Queen Pageants.  Newberry has been home to the annual festival since 1946.

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