Talk of the Town
Students run GB City Hall

Gulf Breeze Middle School students who are active in student government recently participated in Youth Appreciation Day and acted as city officials and council members for a day on Monday, Dec. 3. The Optimists met at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church on Friday, Dec. 1, to see students matched with their adult counterparts. The students spent Monday learning and experiencing the mechanics, challenges and responsibilities of city government officials and council. Monday evening, the students conducted a city council meeting with the support of adult council members.

City Manager Buzz Eddy praised the program, noting the enthusiasm among Gulf Breeze government personnel for their student participation and its future importance in recruiting qualified government personnel.

Kamila Abdukarimova replaced Mayor Lane Gilchrist. On city council, Julianne Lewis substituted for Beverly Zimmern; Brandon Harper substituted for J. B. Sluter; Brett Bernal substituted for Carl Hoffman and Kayla Smith substituted for Dick Fulford. Shelby Andrews was city manager in lieu of Buzz Eddy. Nick Flores took over for city attorney, Matt Danheiser. Hunter Byrne replaced Marita Rhodes as city clerk and Olivia Wise filled in for Assistant City Manager Dave Syzmanski. Tori Gray substituted as director of finance for Nancy Millay. Blake Meredith replaced Vernon Prather and D. J. Skitt had Ron Pulley's coveted position as director of parks and recreation.

James Mozur was community services director for Shane Carmichael and John Bennet was responsible as chief of police for Peter Paulding. Sara Shell was fire chief for Shane Carmichael. Allison Carter served as natural gas department head and Michael DeMahy as solid waste manager for Steve Milford. Devan Ellis was Assistant Director of Public Service.

Mystic Maids adopt board for 2007 and 2008

The Mardi Gras Crew of Mystic Maids held its annual new member social at the beach home of Sherie Snider to introduce the new members and board for 2007 and 2008. The new Mystic Maid Members are Christie Baker, Laura Behr, Nikki Morette Bell, London Bounds, Melinda Braxton, Lu Brown, Ali Brown Broxson, Susan Buttell, Kate Appleyard Caldwell, Stephanie Carrell, Catlin Cibula, Sara Daniel, Wendi Fairchild, Tamara Floyd, Shauna Greene, Traci Hart, Phyllis Johnson, Julie M. Jones, Christy Klemm, Meegan Lane, Laura Lee, Michelle Lee, Catherine Louy, Courtney Lurton, Karen Mansfield, Jennifer Marshall, Laura McAuley, Annemarie McGahagan, Heather Middleton, Rainer Daniels Minard, Amy Nelson, Heather O'Brien, Bethany Penfold, Catherine Penzone, Gigi Peterson, Amy Rambo, Molly Rice, Ella Scarborough, Tanya Shaffer, Lisa Stack, Tricia Stafford, Sue Tracey and Tiffany Woodward. The new board members are Cathy Butler, president; Liz Hamrick and Shannon Scheufler, vice presidents; Angela Colley, treasurer; Becky Bray, secretary; Christy Cabassa, Lisa Fabbro, Caroline Hartnett, Michelle Henghold , Jennifer Russell, Shana Thomas and Bernadette Wolff.

Navarre Garden Club delivers Christmas wreaths

Gulf Breeze Middle School students took over operations at Gulf Breeze City Hall on Monday, Dec. 3.

From left to right: Joe Parnell, Susan Medlin and Darren Meldin deliver Christmas wreaths.

The Navarre Garden Club spent a good part of Saturday morning in the

 

 

Parking lot of Baptist Medical Center in Navarre, delivering beautiful Christmas wreaths and poinsettias.

People who ordered the greenery got a great deal. The wreaths will decorate their front doors for only $25 each, much below the cost in local stores. The lovely one-gallon poinsettias are locally grown and should live for many years.

The Garden Club holds its greenery sale every year to raise funds for the many community beautification projects and scholarship endeavors that the club sponsors.

Membership in the Navarre Garden Club is open to men and women who are interested in gardening and floral arrangements. The club sponsors many community projects and workshops, as well as many seminars and classes of interest to gardeners. Dues are only $20 annually.

The club is currently in the planning stages for a Navarre Garden Center to house a center for the club, meeting rooms that would be available to the community and gardens of many types including a wetland area.

Dye

Contributions are currently being sought to fund this project. The club is also planning an auction, tentatively scheduled for May 2008, to fund the proposed center. Club member Linda Henderson said the organizations needs high-end donations and reminded potential donors that the club is a designated 501-(c)3 corporation. All proceeds from the auction will go toward the cost of the center.

Call Henderson at 850-936- 4950 for more information.

Driftwood Garden Club

The Driftwood Garden Club met on Nov. 15 for their monthly meeting at New World Landing in Pensacola with club Vice President Kathy Cannon presiding. Barbara Laugel and Betty Allen hosted the meeting and decorated two dining tables with the last of the season's mums. The pair also and placed cornucopias and reminders that Thanksgiving was near on either side of the podium.

Treasurer Emogene Presley reported a Balance on Hand in November as $1,951.30. The treasurer invited every one to pay for their Christmas dinner, to be held Dec. 13 at Skopelos in Pensacola. The menu will include a choice of three entrees: shrimp scampi Skopelos, chicken archduke, or London broil; salad and three choices of dessert.

The Executive Board of the Driftwood Garden Club recommends that a picnic table be placed in the Shoreline North Park to be dedicated on Arbor Day. The recommendation was discussed and approved by the club members.

Mona reported that the bench would be purchased and placed near the table that the club has already given and placed near the library. City officials recommended that the club donate a red maple tree to be planted on Arbor Day. The dedication of the park bench and Arbor Day will be held on Jan. 17. Anne Hunt reported that she is beginning to plan the ceremony for Arbor Day and would welcome any suggestions from the group.

Bettie Kahn reported that the butterfly season seems to have lasted longer this year.

Pat Trachy related some the program that she planned last year. Betty Allen suggested that she might call Lt. Col. Keith Wise to see if he wanted to use the Gulf Breeze High School ROTC for the presentation of colors. Last year's program was delightful and well attended by the club members. In Pat Landfair's absence, Betty Allen reported that she had sent a press release to Donna Freckmann and published last month's meeting in Gulf Breeze News.

At the completion of the business meeting Kathy Cannon introduced the Speaker Dr. Linda Dye whose topic was planting and pruning trees. Dr. Dye retired from the University of West Florida as vice president for student affairs in 2003. She was named vice president emeritus and an honorary alumnus as well. She became a Santa Rosa Master Gardener in 2006 and serves as coordinator of its speakers bureau.

Dye's talk centered on the loss of trees in Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties during Ivan. As all good teachers do, Dr. Dye gave the group a pretest before beginning her talk and a posttest at the end to determine if any learning had taken place.

Trees are a valuable asset to homes and communities. Trees in the backyard can be home to many different types of wildlife. Trees can also reduce home heating and cooling costs, help clean the air, add beauty and color provide shelter from the wind and the sun and add resale value to a home.

Dye stated that Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties lost 25 percent of urban trees in Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

She said, "We can restore them but we need to select the right tree for the right place and plant trees that will survive. The laurel and water oaks were the most vulnerable in Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, while the live and sand oaks, the magnolia and sweet gums survived," Dye said. She added that the red maple mainly lost limbs. "So you don't want to replace the lost trees with those that won't survive."

Tree survival during hurricanes is related to root systems, age of tree and whether trees are planted in wet soil or dry soil. One should choose a tree that will survive and plant it 18 feet from concreted areas. Before planting, consider the tree's ultimate size. When the tree nears maturity it may be too near your house or other structures. Trees can be planted almost any time of the year as long as the ground is not frozen. The fall is the optimum time to plant trees in most areas because the tree will be more dormant and all the energy goes to develop the roots. To plant, dig a hole twice as wide as the width of the tree. Plant the tree high and leave the soil solid. Do not fluff.

Remember the saying: "Plant it low and it won't grow; plant it high and it won't die."

Don't fertilize or amend the soil when you plant the tree; wait about six weeks to fertilize and then apply two applications of fertilizer in the spring. Dye said that water is vital to the survival of a tree. Water your trees thoroughly after planting using two to four gallons per two-inch tree. Trees absorb water primarily through their roots. They evaporate water through openings in their leaves in a process called transpiration. As with human respiration, trees tend to transpire more with increased temperatures, sunlight intensity, water supply, and size. When it gets too hot, though, transpiration will shut down.

This program was excellent. Following the program the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. and lunch was served.