Ellen Boukari/Alachua County Today

L-R: Lowell Garret and Reuben Hamlin handled the fish frying duties for the Newberry Main Street Organization. The fish fry was a fundraiser to support the organization’s activities.

NEWBERRY – Hungry visitors stopped by the Newberry Municipal Building, 25440 West Newberry Road, on Saturday, March 15, to help their town economically and to also fill their stomachs with a yummy fish dinner with all the trimmings.

Newberry Main Street Organization, Inc. (NMSO) produced a dine-in-or-take-out dinner of mouthwatering fried fish, coleslaw, beans, hushpuppies, grits and iced tea as one of several fundraising events planned for this year.

To top off the tasty meal, baked goods were also available for purchase for those who had a little bit of room left for a tasty treat. The Newberry High School Baseball Booster Club sold brownies, cookies, cupcakes and more as their fundraiser in an admirable attempt to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth, while earning a little money for their club.

One of the highlights of the event was a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to Gander Mountain sporting goods and clothes store in Ocala. The winning ticket was purchased by Trenton resident Greg Landingham.

“We couldn't have done it without the help of Newberry's Backyard BBQ, Visit Gainesville and the City of Newberry,” said Barbara Hendrix, NMSO Director. “The turnout was great,” she said.

NMSO's Mission Statement, “Enhancing a downtown through sound economic development that promotes our future while preserving the past,” is embodied in the events and projects undertaken each year to attract visitors to historic Newberry.

In addition to providing visitors with a Tourism Information Center, NMSO also produces the Newberry Farmer's Market on a monthly basis throughout the growing season, the Newberry Spring Fling Festival in early April, the Fall Festival in October, the Festival of Lights in December and provides a free website for others to advertise local events. All of these projects help boost tourism, increase visitors to the downtown business community and provide a central online location for residents and visitors to discover other community events.

In an attempt to balance their budget this year, the city reduced their contribution to NMSO from $40,000 to $25,000 in an across-the-board budget reduction. The funding change left NMSO with a $15,000 shortfall. “While we do fundraising every year, we are beefing up our efforts this year to help make up for those lost funds,” said Hendrix. “We want to continue to bring new people into Newberry to see what a wonderful town we have and to meet our friendly residents and business people,” she said. The NMSO Board thought this type of fundraiser would serve two functions...to bring residents a great meal and also help make up for some of the funding shortfall, she said.

In addition to the city's funds, NMSO receives revenue through memberships, donations, festivals, sales of artwork through the Newberry Firehouse Gallery and through the Farmer's Market.

NMSO has also written grants which have led to funding of some events. “Every one of those grants requires us to make reports back to the funding group to prove that the money is actually bringing people into Newberry,” said Hendrix. “It takes some time to do all of that, but it's well worth it when I hear business owners say they have made enough money in one day [in tandem with one of our events] that they were able to pay their bills for the month,” she said.

Anyone interested in becoming a member of the organization or learning more about the events and programs sponsored by NMSO, may stop by the Newberry Fire House Gallery, 25435 W. Newberry Road, call 352-472-2112 or check them out online at NewberryMainStreet.com.

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Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

GAINESVILLE – The Alachua County Youth Fair and Livestock Show kicked off last Thursday and concluded on Tuesday, March 11. Featuring a wide array of activities teaching youngsters about livestock and agriculture, the event drew in huge crowds throughout its six-day run.    

Cows, pigs, goats and other animals were paraded around the auction house, waiting to be sold off.

The fair was set up for different events to be scheduled on certain days. From morning to night, exhibitions, auctions and contests took place at the Alachua County Fairgrounds.

The youngsters attending the event generally came in two camps. Those involved in the local 4-H program, and those involved with the local Future Farmers of America, or the FFA.

The 4-H program’s division included various clubs composed of volunteers of different ages, up to the age of 19. Within the 4-H program, there were four categories which the fair’s attendees were classified into, including cloverbuds, juniors, intermediates and seniors.

The FFA division was more specific in terms of its qualifications to join, since it is a middle and high school affiliated program with an age limit of 18.

Sierra Holsbeke, a 17-year-old junior at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, has been an exhibitor ever since one of her friends introduced her to a goat that was being exhibited three years ago.

This year, she represented her club, Micanopy Friendship, in the 4-H program.

Raising livestock animals is hard work and takes a lot of time, she said.

“It’s a long-term investment,” Holsbeke said.

Holsbeke’s project consisted of auctioning off her 81-pound goat that she had taken care of since last September. The fair’s rules and regulations dictated that she had to keep up with record-keeping in terms of the goat’s weight, making sure it didn’t exceed the 110-pound limit. She had to be mindful to check on the goat regularly and feed it twice a day, every day. The fair rules also prohibit naming the goat, in order to avoid attachment.  

“It teaches responsibility and caretaker skills,” she said.

The auction drew one of the largest crowds at the event. As people flooded the area and bid on the livestock on display, the youth got to see the end result of raising an animal.

Chenoa Dixon has been involved with the Youth Fair and Livestock Show for 12 years, having been part of the executive board for six years. She has been president for the last two years now. She had been involved with the 4-H division from age 8 to 18. Dixon became so devoted to this organization that she became a volunteer after graduating high school.

She is in charge of finding sponsors and making sure the event runs smoothly. Like Holsbeke, she agrees that the fair teaches responsibility, but it also imparts business skills. She said the main goal of the show is educational.

The process of raising an animal takes about three to six months, so the youth has to learn to be patient in order to see their efforts pay off.

“The point is to show them the start and finish of the project they’re involved in,” she said.

With agriculture playing such a large part in the county’s economy, many local families like Dixon’s have grown accustomed to making this annual event a tradition. That is why she believes that this function will never die out.

“It becomes a generational thing,” she said. “They come back.”

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Email dprizontcado@

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Carol Walker/Alachua County Today

L-R: Gloria James, Greg Dirocco, Sandra Webb and Eyvonne Andrews volunteered their time to pitch in and help improve the gazebo, stage and surrounding area. The entire project was coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce.

HIGH SPRINGS – Spring cleaning came early this past weekend in High Springs. In preparation for the second anniversary celebration of the Music in the Park (MIP) Series, the High Springs Chamber of Commerce and a few High Springs residents volunteered to replace the old leaky roof over the gazebo behind City Hall on Saturday, March 15, and help clean up the area. The structure, which was built in 1983, “leaked like a sieve,” said Michael Loveday, MIP Program Organizer.

Mud Crutch, the Gainesville band that went to California and became Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was the first band to play in the gazebo said Loveday as he described a small part of the historic significance of the structure. All the sweeping and cleaning yielded another bit of historic information. The concrete steps were inscribed with the year they were built – 1938.

“We were delighted when Jim Brown from Signature Roofing, Inc. said he would donate his time, labor and shingles to help with the project,” said Chamber President Sandra Webb. The Chamber decided to take on this project as a way to thank the City of High Springs and its residents for all they do for the Chamber. Along with a contribution from Lowe's in Alachua, the Chamber purchased $700 in wood which was needed to support the shingles.

Loveday was on-hand as well, filling wheelbarrows with leaves and debris and pushing them and down the steep sinkhole embankment as part of the cleanup effort. The entire gazebo floor and everything around it was covered with leaves and branches that had fallen during the last few rainstorms. Webb and Chamber board members Eyvonne Andrews and Gloria James pitched in to help clear the debris and neaten up the entire area with help from Roy Blake, an employee with the City of High Springs Public Works Department. City Manager Ed Booth oversaw the production and made sure the volunteers lacked for nothing. Lunch was provided to all the volunteers by the Chamber and the Great Outdoors Restaurant.

Brown and Greg Dirocco, another volunteer, worked together to install the wooden structure that supports the roof. Another High Springs resident, Steve Hart, volunteered his time to install the barrier between the wood and shingles and Brown and Morgan Dall’Aqua, a Signature Roofing employee, installed shingles until dark. With 85 percent of the shingles installed that night, the gazebo was water tight for Sunday's Music in the Park concert. Each quadrant of the structure was removed and replaced separately to ensure the supporting structures maintained their stability during construction.

Construction and cleanup began at 8 a.m. and continued all day, said Webb. Brown returned on Monday to complete the last part of the shingle installation. “Just like any roof we build,”said Brown, “it should last another 20 years.”

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Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

Marc Okes, 8, who has brain cancer, had a wish to go on a motorcycle ride. When he and his mother arrived at the Harley-Davidson shop in Gainesville, a crowd of riders ande police officers were there to take them on a motorcycle ride. Pictired are Marc and his mother as they ride through Alachua on Monday,March 10.  The local Make-A-Wish foundation helped make the dream come true for Marc as he was accompanied by over 100 riders.