November 7 and 8 2019, 1,555 students from Monroe, Baldwin, Clark, Conecuh, Escambia, Washington and Wilcox counties attended a two-day event at Rikard’s Mill in Beatrice, Alabama. The students experienced living history demonstrations and saw how rural Alabamians lived many years ago. They observed a working gristmill, blacksmith shop, cane syrup making, candle making, a potter making vessels at his wheel and other demonstrations. The demonstrators were all dressed in period clothing and the students were able to see first-hand what pioneer life was like.
Washington
FAWN (Forestry Awareness Week Now)
FAWN was held April 30 & May 1, 2019 at the Forestry Commission office. In the two-day event, 196 sixth grade students from Chatom, Fruitdale, Leroy, McIntosh and Millry schools visited seven stations where they learned about wildlife habitat, forest management, forest history, soils, Project Wild, tree identification and forest products. Each station has a presentation that lasts roughly 20 minutes in which local volunteers, industry and state/forestry agency personnel teach the students. Students are divided into groups and given different colored FAWN t-shirts to keep each group distinct. Students are rotated through each station set up along a trail to provide a hands-on, interactive learning experience.
Quarry Lake Stock and Management
The Quarry Lake at the St. Stephens Historical Park is one of the few public lakes in Washington County. For the past few years, park visitors have remarked that fishing in our lake is not as plentiful as it once was. The lake needed to be stocked to increase our guests’ recreational fishing pleasure which should then generate increased revenue for the park.
In June 2018, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources completed a study of our lake indicated that our pond is healthy for mixed-use. it has deep, clear, unproductive (not covered with plankton) water and is suited to fishing and swimming. The seine test revealed that the bass and bream stock are at adequate levels. The catfish population is significantly understocked.
The recommendation for stocking the lake was to introduce 6″-8″ catfish into the pond. This is the recommended size so that the existing bass fish will not eat the catfish prior to maturity. Mr. Norman Green was the recommended supplier.
Scoreboard
We have removed our old baseball scoreboard and replaced it with a modern one. It is a wireless scoreboard which should make it less likely to have any trouble from cut lines or bad connections.
Fruitdale Youth Football Sports Safety and Awareness
The project is to decrease the number of youth sports related injuries among youth participating in the Fruitdale Youth Football while increasing youth sports safety and awareness. This will be implemented by the providing youth with the necessary safety equipment and gear, while also providing training to youth football coaches and providing parents with safety facts sheets. The training will consist of implementing the CDC (Center of Disease Control) HEADS UP for Youth Sports. The CDC provides training materials for coaches and customizable safety fact sheets to distribute to participating youth parents. As it relates to safety equipment and gear the CDC HEADS UP recommends 10 and out, which recommends football helmets meet NOCSAE (National Operating on Standards for Athletic Equipment) standards and should be replaced no later then 10 years from the date of manufacture. Many of the helmets in the Fruitdale Youth Football inventory will be at the 10 year mark and will need to be replaced. Unfortunately, many are not labeled to know if they meet any safety standards. In addition to helmets, the necessary shoulder pads, pants (thigh, knee, and hip) pads, chin straps and mouth pieces are needed for the safety of the Fruitdale Football Youth. It is through the volunteers in this community the youth football is offered. Fruitdale Youth Football has been and will be supported by the community for years to come. Fruitdale Youth Football is part of the Washington County Youth Football Association and is not limited to only the Fruitdale community.