Features

Have you got the best mom on the planet?  Has your mother sacrificed for you, loved and supported you, and now you want to find a special way to say thanks?

Here’s your chance.

The Gadsden County Times is holding a Mother of the Year contest, and is seeking entries. Tell us, in 25 words or less, what makes your mom so special. Contest entries will be accepted via e-mail (editor@gadcotimes.com), dropped off at our office at 15 S. Madison St. in Quincy, or by mail at 15 S. Madison St., Quincy, FL 32351. All entries must be submitted by 3 p.m. on April 28.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp paid a visit to Chattahoochee Elementary School last Wednesday, and found himself a little caught off-guard.

Kottcamp was on hand to present two microscopes to the school, along with dictionaries. After handing out the dictionaries, he sat down next to two little girls, and asked them what word they’d like to look up.

“Specious,” was the reply. Kottcamp was visibly surprised, but encouraged the young ladies to look up the word and read him the meaning.

We’re looking for information on local summer camps and day programs for children and teens in and around Gadsden County. Know of one? Part of one? Give us a call at 627-7649 or send us the information via e-mail to editor@gadcotimes.com. We’ll help you get the word out!

Some camps we’ve heard of in the area that you may be interested in are:

Alpha UPKUDO Martial Arts & Fitness

Summer Fit Camp

1412 Florida-Georgia Hwy. in Havana

If you drop by the Stewart Street  Elementary classroom of Gadsden County’s Rookie Teacher of the Year, Nicole Dixon, you might find her students at the Smart Board teaching each other. You may find them eagerly raising their hands to answer a question from their teacher. You might even find them dancing.

But what you’ll definitely find is a teacher who is passionate about helping her students become passionate about learning.

Family has always been important to Shirley Vickers. But now that she’s had to face some of her worst fears, her family – and her life – have gained new meaning.

Vickers went in for a regularly scheduled mammogram last October, and was called in for a second one. Then she received a call asking her to come in for a sonogram. The day after that, her doctor called again, asking her to come in to the office.

Mary McLeod Bethune, a woman who received international recognition for her contributions as a educator, politician and civil rights leader, was much more than that, according to her grandson Albert McLeod Bethune Jr., a Quincy resident.

"I would refer to her as a social entrepreneur. She was an extraordinary woman who was driven by her intellect and business savvy," said Bethune, who grew with his grandmother in Daytona Beach.

Mike and Debbie Waters of Quincy, along with Terry and Gloria Tillman of Jacksonville, are pleased to announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their children, Staci Michelle Waters and Jeffery Wayne Tillman.

The bride-elect is a 2006 graduate of North Florida Christian School. She will graduate in August 2010 from FAU in Delray Beach, with a bachelor's degree in social sciences and a minor in sociology.

I hope that you are having a relatively stress-free week readers.  I certainly hope so; you  deserve it with the trying times we are living in.

I’m afraid I might be like many of you and certainly have been having my share of anxious moments.  But, then, most all of us have lived long enough to have learned that life was not meant to be lived as a carefree one.

If you watch or read the news often enough you have probably found it to be a rather depressing experience with little or no good news thrown into the mix.

Carol Lavin of Old Town, along with Annelle Soponis of Reading, Pa. and Gwynn Kidd of Quincy, are pleased to announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their children, Allison Sandy Lavin and David Mento Kidd.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Ester C. Lavin of Reisterstown, Md., and is a graduate of Dixie County High School and Florida State University, where she double-majored in business management and human resource management. She is employed with Ideal Image as a guest service consultant.