Union County TimesUnion County Times USPS 648-200 — Lake Butler, Florida Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015 103rd Year — 35th Issue — 75 CENTS

Deadline Monday 5 p.m. before publication • Phone 386-496-2261 • Cell 352-283-6312 • Fax 386-496-2858

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LAKE BUTLER—-The eighth annual Christmas Extravaganza at Lake Butler Hospital on Dec. 18 provided another year of Christmas fun and gifts for the community.

Over 700 attended and more than 400 kids received a gift after visitingand having their picture taken with Santa. The grand prize winners were Ayden Adkins-$200 Toys R Us gift certificate, Summer Bridges-RCA tablet and Google Play card, Carsyn Dukes-bicycle, Phillip Locks-Scooter, and Logan Elixson-Weeble Farm.

There was fun and entertainment for all ages. Everyone enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies as Justine Rogers, Christine Wight and Ryan Perez sang Christmas carols. There were a number of crafts and games, as well as a train ride for the kids and cookie decorating.

The LBH Employee Door Decorating contest winner was decided with the help of votes from the attendees. The Candy Land door won first place.

“It was a great time for kids and

See ROTARY, 3ASee HOSPITAL, 2A

See UCS0, 4A

BY LT. LYN WILLIAMSSpecial to the Times

LAKE BUTLER — The Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce, in partnership with the Union County School Board and the U.C. Sheriff’s Offi ce – Division of Emergency Management, participated in a realistic Active Shooter Training Exercise at the Union County High School on Thursday, Dec. 17.

Over the past fi ve months personnel from each agency met

to reinforce current procedures in place for response to intruders on the campuses of our schools.

Through a state funded grant, the Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce and the U.C.S.O. Offi ce of Emergency Management brought in The Management Experts, from Tallahassee. They are a premium law enforcement and fi rst responder training company that employs experts in

“Ye shall fi nd the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

Active Shooter: UCSO Train ForDeadly Scenarios

Union County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesUnion County TimesMerry Christmas

Reverend Dan Search (left), LB Rotary President, and Steve Wellhausen, Rotary Vice President, induct Shane Collins (right) into the club.

Left to right: Deputy Todd Hanlon, Deputy Robert Fipps, Investigator Billy Townsend and School Resource Offi cer Jason Lepanto participated in the realistic Active Shooter Training Exercise at UCHS.

Christmas came early for fi ve-year-old Taylor Lesch, who told Santa all she wanted for

Christmas was for her big brother to come home safe from the Army. PV2 Nathan Lesch surprised

Taylor after being gone more than 10 months.

By Ted BarberLAKE BUTLER —

Rotarians and their guests enjoyed a Christmas Luncheon with outstanding entertainment by the “Four Guys” Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015.

Ronnie Keller, Gary Whitten, Mitch Brannen, and John Roberts provided an outstanding program of music that concluded with a standing ovation from everyone present. Union County is blessed to

Lake Butler Hospital Christmas Extravaganza

have so many talented singers, musicians, and just plain good people. This group of four men enjoys making music on a regular “jam-session” basis and told me that they really don’t have an official name for their group.

In making the announcement for the Christmas Luncheon, I decided to call their group “The Four Guys” and John Roberts, who was sitting across the table

Lake Butler Rotary Club Enjoys Christmas Luncheon

Members of Morningstar

Baptist Church produced an

authentic“Live Nativity” tableau for the

communityLeft: Two live camels provided authenticity and supervision until they went to sleep.

Right: (l-r) Morgan Worrell, Rachael Ray and Earnest Coleman enact Mary and Joseph being visited in the manger by a heavenly angel.

MORE PHOTOS: 4A

UC Historical Museum Announces Holiday Hours

The Union County Historical Museum will be closed for the holidays on Monday, Dec. 28. It will reopen on Monday, Jan. 4 and resume its usual hours.

UCSWC Looking for New Members

The Union County Soil and Water Conservation group, which meets monthly to discuss water issues, is looking for a few new members. There are no require-ments for the position except Union County residency and an interest in the future water needs of Union County and the State of Florida. Call (386) 496-4709, Pete, for more information.

Learn to be aSubstitute Teacher

Union County School District announces that its next training for substitute teachers will be held on Jan. 7, 2016 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Outpost. Please contact Pam Pittman at (386) 496-2045 or at pittmanp@union.k12.fl.us for more information.

VFW hosts bingo every Thursday

VFW Post 10082 hosts bingo every Thursday at 7 p.m. The VFW Post is off of County Road 231. For more info, call Barbara Fischer at 904-263-0647.

UC Tobacco-Free Partnership needs you

The Union County Tobac-co-Free Partnership and the Union County Health Department needs you.

They are a group of dedicated community members who: Iden-tify community needs, encourage community collaboration, inform others about tobacco issues, ad-vocate for policy change, support youth prevention and work to-gether towards building a tobacco free Union County.

They invite anyone who has an interest in helping us fulfill our mission. To get involved please call Cindy Kent at 386-496-3211 ext. 2606.

2A Union County Times • Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015

members and vendors and individuals in the community. Toys included dolls, lego sets, puzzles and trucks, along with eight new bicycles.

The parade had a number of beautiful and creative fl oats, but only three could win a mention in the judging. These were: Lake Butler Hospital – First Place, First Baptist Church – Second Place, and Lake Butler Rotary Club – Third Place.

Local donors who made contributions to make the parade possible were Village Doctors, Swift Creek Realty, Dustin Himes at AAA Bail Bonds, Sandra Tyre, Easy Work, NAPA, Tru Blue Pools, Archer Funeral Home, Badcock, RMC and ECT.

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Merry Christmas

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620 East Main StreetLake Butler, FL 32054

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uctimes@windstream.net386-496-2261 • fax 396-496-2858

John M. Miller, Publisher

Interim Editor: Tracy Lee TateSports Editor: Cliff SmelleyAdvertising: Kevin Miller

Darlene DouglassTypesetting: Tracy Lee Tate Advertising andNewspaper Prod. C. HurstonClassified Adv. Heather PadgettBookkeeping: Mary Johnson

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Wishing you a veryMerry

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BY TRACY LEE TATETimes Interim Editor

LAKE BUTLER – The 2015 Lake Butler Christmas Parade is in the books and from comments heard around the community it was a rousing success.

This year’s parade, expressing the theme of a “Wild West Christmas,” brought out many residents to watch the show and over 100 children to meet Santa and sit on his knee, receiving special Christmas bags containing candy, fruit, crayons, and small toys. A few of these gift bags also contained tickets that could be redeemed at City Hall for toys or a bicycle.

This year, gifts were provided by city hall staff, the city council

LB Christmas Parade Ends on High NoteDonors helped make event a success

HOSPITALContinued from 1A

Above: Carsyn Dukes won a bicycle.

Below: Grand prize winner, Ayden Adkins, with the $200 Toys-R-Us gift card.

Above: Florida Forestry Queen, Ashley Harris (right) helps Jacob Dick pick out a toy after visiting with Santa.

adults,” said Jennifer Thomas, LBH COO. “Thanks to our sponsors and the generosity of our employees and community members, we were once again able to provide a fun-filled night for many in our community.”

Special thanks to the sponsors: Lake Butler Hospital, Willows Café, TD Bank, Roundtree Moore, USSSA Softball, B&M Equipment, Swift Creek Realty, Acorn Clinic, Spires IGA, Trinzy Bows, Dependable Cemetery Services, Lake Butler, FL Community Facebook Page, Woodman Life, Mainstream DJs, and the others that helped make the event possible – Tanya Consaul Graphic Design & Photography, Lake Butler Woman’s Club, United Church of Gainesville, Justine Rogers, Christine Wight, Ryan Perez, UCHS JROTC, Strawberry Queen Ashley Osteen, UCHS Homecoming Queen Valerie Seay, Florida Forestry Queen Ashley Harris, UCHS Beta Club, UCHS student volunteers, Union County Sheriff’s Office and the great staff at Lake Butler Hospital.

Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015 • Union County Times 3A

at the luncheon asked me, “Why didn’t you call us the Four Old Men.”

This “tongue in cheek” addition of the word, “Old” was his way of saying, I hope, that he liked the name, “The Four Guys.”

President Dan Search and President-Elect Steve Wellhausen presented Shawn Collins with his New Member Rotary Club Packet and Rotary International Pin. Shawn is taking Preacher Art Peterson’s place at the First Christian Church of Lake Butler in 2016 when Preacher Peterson officially retires from full-time ministry. Shawn Collins is a fantastic addition to Union County , the Union County Promise Keepers, and the Lake Butler Rotary Club.

ROTARYContinued from 1A

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Among those in attendance at the LB Rotary Christmas Luncheon were: Kellie Connell, Carlton Faulk, Brad Whitehead, Lila Barber, Janice Peterson, Art Peterson, Vince Brown, Tommy Spires, Bill McGill (speaker), Loedith McGill, Bill Foister, Shane Collins (standing, far right), Gary Whitten, Tracy Worrell and Dave Mecusker.

Above: Sabrina Barnes shows everyone how it’s done. The bounce house and slide were provided by Moon Walk Entertainment.

Below: Buddy Guynn and Nita Elixson cooked up some hot dogs and burgers at the City of Worthington Springs Concession BBQ.

Above (l-r): Shauna Shilts, Heaven Smith and Casey Haris create artworks at the free craft table.

Below: Ashley Smith and Melissa Johns show off their holiday arts and crafts, also available on Etsy.com through Rustic South Boutique.

Above: Landscape painter, John Gomez, moved to Worthington Springs three years ago from Lake City.

Christmas in the Park in Worthington Springs

4A Union County Times • Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015

this subject matter to work with local law enforcement to bring “real world” scenarios to life in a controlled environment.

Last Thursday, during a school’s early release day, the UCSO responded to a staged exercise of two heavily armed intruders on the campus of Union County High School.

There were 27 actors (not students) throughout the campus for realism. Teachers from all three schools and school staff were able to hear the sounds and see portions of the scenario and reacted as if it was realistic.

Sheriff Brad Whitehead stated, “I can’t stress the urgency of high quality realistic training. We respond to emergencies as we train. We continually train in our agency to be better prepared for any emergency. Our responding deputies entered the scenario Thursday only knowing the basic information given through 911 calls to our Communication Center.

“The independent graders on-site gave our agency high marks for the successful completion of the exercise. Afterward our agency continued training on armed intruder emergency response. We do this to make our schools and entire community safer.”

Numerous agencies participated in this exercise hosted by UCSO and UCSO-OEM, to include Union County Fire/Rescue, Alachua County Fire/Rescue, Florida Department of Corrections and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Offi ce. Any questions on this or any other issue, please feel free to contact the Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce at 386-496-2501.

NOTICELake Butler Mini Storage will be hold-ing an auction on Saturday, Decem-ber 26, 2015. We have three units that we will be auctioning a 5x5, a 5x10, and a 10x10. We are located at 1015 SW 3rd St, Hwy 121, Lake Butler, Fl 32054.

12/17 2tchg 12/24-UCTREQUESTS FOR BID

TOWN OF WORTHINGTON SPRINGS request for Qualifi cations From Grant Specialists interested in serving as “Professional Grant Spe-cialists” to the Town of Worthington Springs For a period of January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. Please contact Town Clerk, Pat Harrell at 386-496-1006 or 352-316-6776 For qualifi cations, criteria and require-ments.

12/17 2tchg 12/24-UCTIN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE

EIGHTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR UNION COUNTY, FLORIDA,

CIVIL ACTIONCASE NO.: 14000001CAAXMX

SPECIALIZED LOAN SERVICING LLC,PlaintiffUNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF JULIE WATSON, et al.Defendant(s)

NOTICE OF SALENotice is hereby given that, pursuant to a Final Judgment dated Decem-ber 14, 2015, entered in Civil Case Number 14000001CAAXMX, in the Circuit Court for Union County, Flor-ida, wherein SPECIALIZED LOAN SERVICING LLC is the Plaintiff, and UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF JULIE WATSON, et al., are the Defendants, Union County Clerk of Court will sell the property situated in Union County, Florida, described as:LOT 35, OF SADDLE BROOK ES-TATES, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF, AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 1, AT PAGES 32 AND 33, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF UNION COUNTY, FLORIDA.at public sale, to the highest bidder, for cash, in Room 103, at the Union County Courthouse, 55 West Main Street, Lake Butler, FL 32054 at 11:00 AM, on the 25th day of Feb-ruary, 2016. Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from the sale, if any, other than the property owner as of the date of the lis pendens must fi le a claim within 60 days after the sale.

Dated: December 16, 2015.Union County Clerk of Court

CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURTBy: Crystal Norman

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Legalsparticipate should call Jan Phillips, ADA Coordinator, Alachua County Courthouse, 201 E. University Ave., Gainesville, FL 32601 at (352) 337-6237 within two (2) working days of your receipt of this notice; if you are hearing impaired call (800) 955-8771; if you are voice impaired, call (800) 955-8770.

12/24 2tchg 12/31-UCTNOTICE OF INTENTION TO

REGISTER FICTITIOUS NAMEPursuant to Section 865.09, Florida Statutes, notice is hereby given that the undersigned, Joyce Whidden, 8688 SE 166 Place, Lake Butler, FL 32054, sole owner, doing business under the fi rm name of: Threads on Treads, 8688 SE 166 Place, Lake Butler, FL 32054, intends to register said fi ctitious name under the afore-said statute. Dated this 21 day of De-cember, 2015, in Union County.

12/24 1tchg-BCTADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS CITY

OF LAKE BUTLER, FLORIDARESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL

COLLECTION, DISPOSAL OF SOL-ID WASTE AND YARD TRASH

Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received at Lake Butler City Hall until 3:00 PM on January 8th, 2016. City Hall is located at 200 SW 1st Street, Lake Butler, Flori-da 32054. The bids will be opened and read aloud to the Public shortly thereafter. The City is seeking bids for Solid Waste Collection Services within the service area of Lake But-ler. Residential household waste and yard trash (consisting of leaves, limbs, yard trimmings or grass clip-pings, trimmings and limbs must be no greater in length than 4’ and weigh less than 40-lbs) is collected curbside twice weekly on Monday and Thurs-day of each week. Approximately 720 residential homes and approximately 50 business accounts are served by hand pickup and must be container-ized in cans or sealed plastic bags. In this category, no business shall have more that 4 cans serviced twice weekly. Commercial service of approximately 22 larger business accounts is by dumpster containers of 2-yd., 4-yd., 6-yd. and 8 yard ca-pacity. Bidders shall submit 5-copies of the bid. Bids may be obtained from City Hall 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. For bid documents or questions regarding this information please contact City Hall Procurement Offi ce at (386) 496-3401 or colbpur-chase@gmail.com The City of Lake Butler reserves the right to reject any or all bids.

12/24 2tchg 12/31-UCT

UCSOContinued from 1A

NATIVITYContinued from 1A

Above, angel and shepherds tend their fl ock (l-r): Christina Coffman,Terri Mabbitt, Bryan Kitchens, Debbie Adams, Tim Dillon.

Above: L.M. Saucherman realistically portrayed a Roman Centurion.

Right: Pastor Mike Divine of Morningstar Baptist Church shared a holy message at the manger.

Below (l-r): A.J. Owen is a Roman guard, Steve Adams is the Tax Collector, accompanied by Lillyann Coffman.

Wishing a Very Merry

Christmasto

Marjorie Driggersfrom the Union

County Times!

Ms. Driggers is

the offi cial Union County Historian

and a 74-year

UCT subscriber.

There are those who keep track of Christmas gift-giving costs by pricing the gifts described in the carol “The 12 Days of Christmas.” The financial services firm, PNC Wealth Management, has been doing it for 32 years. This year the firm had some good news-the 12 gifts cost only $34,130.99, just .6% more this year than they did in 2014, says the Association of Mature American Citizens.

Breaking it down, PNC reports that the partridge in a pear tree will set you back just $214.99. The two turtle doves cost $290 and the six geese-a-laying have a price tag of $360. The price for seven swans-a-swimming, the costs for eight maids-a-milking and the nine ladies dancing remained the same this

year, $13,125 for the swans, $58 for the maids and $7,552.84 for the ladies. The price tag on ten lords-a-leaping is up three percent at $5,508.70. The fees for eleven pipers piping held steady at $2,635.20 as did those for the 12 drummers drumming at $2,854.80.

The 12 Days of Christmas Valued at tens of thousands in today’s dollars