WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011 – 6:00 P.M.
MEDIA CENTER – MADISON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
Attention, Attention calling all Madison County Residents
We are in need of volunteers, snacks, drinks, and door prizes to help make Project Graduation a success.
Project Graduation is June 3 so please come help us out if you can.
If there are any questions please feel free to call:
Geneva Thomas @850-673-1673-cell 850-973-4912-home.
The Madison County High School Cowboys’ football team takes to the gridiron this Friday, May 27, to play the Jefferson County High School Tigers in the spring game. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Boot Hill.
The Cowboy Nights give their final performance for the school year at the 39ers Club. Left to right: Back to camera, director Jeff Hill. Percussion section (far corner), Aaron Pitt, Jay Wallace, Tamarick Bruton and Tommy Langford. Back row (trumpets): Jorge Tojiero, Lindsay Pinkard, Zet Primm, Blake Webb, Michael McCool and Hunter Elliot. Middle row (trombones): Joshua Stafford, Ryan Quiros, Cullen Gudz and Tyler Belinski. Front row (saxophones): Dylan Welch, Jacob Robinson, Kristi Ferrell, Lyric Davis and Toby Fox.
By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
At the final meeting of the 39ers Club (before their summer break), the Cowboy Nights Jazz Band of Madison County High School, under the direction of Jeff Hill, gave their final performance of the school year, filling the room with the smooth sounds of bossa nova and the lively beat of Latin numbers, along with selections from other musical genres, including Swing, Big Band, and even a contemporary number, Taylor Swift’s “You Belong to Me.”
Jan Ledsome and Thelma Dehart had dressed the stage and set the mood with music-note-themed table decorations for the concert, and director Hill had words of high praise for the high school students who formed the ensemble. “I took the best of all the other musical groups and formed this group,” he said. “I teach what I call ‘my select.’ They’re diligent, they’re dedicated, they’re hard-working and they play with real emotion.”
The band treated the Club members to “The Girl From Ipanema,” a popular, worldwide hit from the early sixties, and the Latin beat of “Baja,” as Hill took time between numbers to talk about the group and introduce individual members. On percussion: Abigail Blanton (piano), Tommy Langford and Tamarick Bruton (drums), Aaron Pitt (lead rhythm guitar) and Jay Wallace (acoustic). Trumpets: Jorge Tojiero, Lindsey Pinkard, Zet Primm, Blake Webb, Michael McCool and Hunter Elliot. Trombones: Joshua Stafford, Ryan Quiros, Cullen Gudz and Tyler Belinski. Saxophones: Dylan Welch, Jacob Robinson, Kristi Ferrell, Lyric Davis and Toby Fox.
Hill also talked about the importance of musical education in a young person’s life, urging those present to support the music education programs in the local schools. “Music completes the person,” he said. “Music is wonderful.”
On the bittersweet side, he added that this was the last time these particular young people would be playing together as a group. Four of the band members, Zet Primm, Aaron Pitt, Ryan Quiros and Hunter Elliot, are graduating seniors who won’t be returning in the fall, but will be heading off to college and other new pursuits. Club member John Hopwood then spoke briefly to the four, urging them not to give up their instruments once they left school and moved into professional life, even though the tendency was for most people to do just that. “Keep playing,” he said. “Don’t give up your talent.”
The band serenaded the 39ers with a final selection, a Big Band number “from your era,” Hill grinned.”
“Who are you calling old?” asked an audience member amid general laughter. “There’s no one here over 39 years of age.”
“Ahh, Glenn Miller,” sighed another as the band played “String of Pearls.”
After the band concluded to loud applause and everyone meandered out to the parking lot, perhaps the sky seemed a little bluer and the heart not quite so heavy, as they considered the wonder that is music and wondered where on earth we’d be without it.
2011 is now nearly six months underway. This means that by now, more than half of those who made a new year’s resolution have all but forgotten their promises. Those who planned to diet may be back to eating their unhealthy foods. Those who planned to workout more are back to relaxing on the couch; when they could be doing crunches. The list goes on. However, why not begin again; the year is halfway over, so it can be called a mid-year resolution.
This means getting back to where you were mid-January, before life got in the way. Everyone has hectic schedules and busy workdays. The trick to maintaining your resolution is to not allow any excuses. It is far too simple to say, “I can’t today, but I will start back tomorrow. What can it hurt?” The truth is it can hurt a lot more than we believe and the way to avoid that mindset is to not allow it to happen.
Keeping oneself motivated is the most important part of any resolution. Whether you want to lose weight, eat healthier, spend more time with your family or keep a cleaner house, the most important step to accomplishing this is to making it happen the first time. Every time you do it after that will simply be building habit. If we do something enough, eventually it becomes part of our every day life.
Setting up a schedule is another great way to kick off your mid-year resolution. If you are eating healthier, then planning out each meal and doing a calorie count for each meal will help.
There are several websites that allow you to calculate a meals total fat count. If you’re planning to work out more, then set aside time each day to work out. For even better results, set aside two times that could work, that way if you miss one, you have a second option.
To make spending time with your family easier, set aside one night each week to be “family night.” On that night, play board games, card games or charades. It is important to make sure that everyone is entertained, so if you have several children, rotate weeks. One week let one child pick a game the next let another, until everyone has had a turn. Also, make sure that when you eat supper that night, that the entire family joins around the table.
Some other good ideas of resolutions would be to clean your life up. Don’t let simple things throw off your entire day. If something goes wrong, look at the ways that you can make it positive instead of focusing on the negative. Do not let arguments blow up into huge battles, simpley agree to disagree and let it go. Talk about things that bother you instead of holding it inside. This will help you to not get stressed out over small simple things, and in the long run makes you a happier person.
You could also begin a new tradition of sharing household chores. If the mom in the house normally does most of the chores, let the children take over a few nights, as well as dad. By trading off chores it allows mom more free time and no one person is stuck with all of the responsibility. This will take a lot of stress from your home and allow more to get accomplished in less time.
While it is hard to maintain a resolution for the entire year, perhaps breaking it up into six-month increments will help make it easier to accomplish your goals. During the summer there are a lot more free evenings and the days are even longer, which gives you more time to be awake and focused.
Don’t let yourself stray from your final goal, especially for health resolutions. It is never too late to work on making your life healthier.
Brandon Pursley is seen above showing off his artwork.
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Brandon Pursley has been bestowed an honor that many artists can only dream of. His work is being published on the cover of a national magazine. The magazine that will feature his artwork is for the United States Department of Labor, Office of Disabilities.
Brandon is a senior at Madison County High School and a member of the High School/High Tech club. It is through this club that Brandon got the opportunity to compete for this prestigious honor. Brandon said of his artwork, “It took me one night to draw the final draft. But I did five rough drafts before that.”
Artwork is not only a passion of Brandon’s; he hopes to make it a career. He told this reporter, “I want to be a graphic designer or something like that. I would really like to work for Disney.”
Not only will Brandon’s work be featured on the cover of the magazine, Brandon also got a monetary award; a check for $500.
The magazine featuring Brandon’s drawing will be released in Fall 2011.
Madison County High School has spent the last nine months preparing their students for the next chapter of their lives. While the graduating class of 2011 has learned all that the school has to offer, the classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014 have a little while left. MCHS is the final steppingstone for many of Madison’s teenagers as they transition from childhood into adulthood.
MCHS has spent this year attempting to keep their students on the right path and leading them in a positive direction towards the future. There have been several sports teams represent MCHS proudly this year, whether its football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball or softball.
There was a Talent Show at MCHS on May 20, where students got to show off their wide array of skills. There have been field days and field trips that allowed students to forget testing for a while and focus on fun. There have been several club meetings and banquets throughout the year. The upperclassmen got to participate in the prom, which was themed “P.S. I Love You.” They also recently has a field day to honor the class who had the least absences and referrals; the sophomore class won the field day.
The MCHS Varsity Cowboys had their annual Maroon and Silver game on May 19 and will have their kick off Spring Game on May 27.
The staff at MCHS has also stayed busy trying to help as many of the seniors as possible to be able to walk across that stage on June 3. They have been teaching students day in and day out, how to succeed not only in the classroom but also in life.
Evelyn Chancy, who has been a longtime staff member at MCHS and is currently the schools secretary stated, “All in all it has been a good year.”
The class of 2011 will be graduating on June 3 at 8 p.m. at Boothill Stadium. The entire community is invited to join in this celebration.
Joan Beck recently returned to the Madison Senior Citizens Center after a four-year hiatus. She’s back in her former position, Older American Act Coordinator, which she held for over a decade.
“I love my seniors,” said Beck. She’s had the opportunity to meet many new congregants at the Senior Center’s new 10,000 square foot building at 1161 SW Harvey Greene Drive as well.
The Older American Act Program (OAA) gives seniors age 60 and over the opportunity to receive transportation to the Senior Center for a wide variety of activities, recreation and health support.
“Anyone can sign up for activities here at the Senior Center,” said Beck. “You can be signed up the same day you come in.”
This week she is putting together the finishing touches on the free Madison County Community Health Fair this Tuesday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Madison Senior Citizens Center. The event and speakers will be provided in cooperation with the Area Agency on Aging in Tallahassee.
In addition to health education speakers and doctors, Dr. Vincent Crump will provide free podiatry screenings. Vision screenings will be completed by Southeast Eye Specialists and health information will be provided by the Madison County Health Department, along with blood pressure checks. The North Florida Community College Allied Health Department will have an excellent health display and information. Music will be compliments of Ken Methvin and Danny Graves.
Community donors are spicing up this Community Health Fair by donating funds for food from subs to snacks. Beck is also pleased with donated door prizes from area businesses. Some lucky participants will win the door prizes this Tuesday during the Community Fair. The public is invited to attend.
Other services provided by the Older American Act program are providing eligible congregants with hot meals and nutrition education; and for homebound senior citizens there are many helpful services from personal care in the home, cleaning and meals provided to prevent premature institutionalization.
For further information, contact the Madison Senior Citizens Center at (850) 973-4241.
By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
William Sircy has begun work as a full-time Madison County Sheriff’s Office investigator for the western part of the county with his office located in Greenville at the Tri-County Electric building on US 90.
After graduating from Madison County High School in 1988, Sircy entered the United States Navy where he served for four years. Upon getting out of the Navy, he attend the Law Enforcement Academy at North Florida Junior College, where he was taught by Jimmy Bunting and Sandra Ebberson.
After working for the Madison Police Department for almost two years under Chief Randy White, Sircy was hired by Sheriff Joe Peavy and later worked under Sheriff Pete Bucher. After suffering a stroke, he left law enforcement for six years. During those years, he attended the Baptist College of Florida and was ordained as a minister in February 2004. He served as a youth minister at Brewer Lake Baptist Church in Lafayette County from 2006-2010.
Sircy went back to work full-time with the Sheriff’s Office in 2009 and said that he was having to work sometimes on Sundays and Wednesdays. It didn’t feel right to keep taking the church’s money when he could not dedicate as much time to the youth as before.
“They wanted me to stay, but I felt that I had to move on,” he said.
Sircy said that with his new position, he had done every job in the Sheriff’s Office except for School Resource Officer.
He began his duties as an investigator on May 2 and said that he feels comfortable in the position.
“I oversee investigations in the western part of the county,” he said.
Sircy said that the Sheriff’s Office had been trying to get a presence in Greenville for quite a while.
Sircy said that he has been able to clear up some investigations and he is still working on solving others.
“I like a challenge,” Sircy said of his job as investigator. “I like being able to take little or no evidence and find out who did it and why he did it.”
