rItC PAG ...------ --- -----, America's best and brightest students and teachers recognized in Who's Who Educational Communica- tions, Inc. (ECI), a publisher of honor and recognition publications in the academ- ic and educational fields, has announced the hon- orees for each of its 2005- 2006 editions. The honorees were published in the annu- al editions of Who's Who Among American High School Students, Who's Who Among American High School Students - Sports Edition, The Nation- al Dean's List, and Who's Who Among America's Teachers. . The annual publications' purpose is to publicly rec- ognize outstanding high school students, student- athletes, college students, and teachers for their dis- tinctive achievements and participation in extra-cur- ricular and community ac- tivities. Carol Lynn Martens, Pub- lisher at ECI states "We're pleased to present this year's honorees and con- gratulate each of them on their exemplary achieve- ments. These honorees from your community represent the top 5% students and teachers and educators in this country. They are the best and the brightest in the nation and deserve the recognition, which is a di- rect result of hard work, dedication and high stan- dards." The following students 7-Day Cruise on NCL's Star and a 7-Day Tour from $1748* I Departs May through Sept. 2007 from Seattle. Ask for specials on early May Dates. Cruise Alaska's Inside Passage. Visit Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. See . Sawyer Glacier and Prince Rupert, BC. Travel rough the Pacific Northwest to Portland, Lake Tahoe. and San l Francisco. *PPDO. Includes hotels, baggage handling, sightseeing, the Alaska cruise, tax service/gov't./state fees. Add $550 r/t air ,.---.. from Jacksonville and $650 r/t air from g " SGainesville, FL. Seasonal charges mayapply. '. yMT SYMT Vacations 1-800-922-9000 America's First Choice --- Call for brochure days a week: for affordable travel since 1967! p-104391 Serving Great Pizza From Our Family I Pizza I Pizza e 2nd Pizza1 I 29 $ 43 6 Only 7 Only FByadHukOnly $_4 m $ 0o0 | $700 | $ OO We are conveniently located at ddub Raceway #845 -y'-, Cheee To I 8246 St Rd 6 West I .... s9 SI Jasper, FL 32052 1 S$ 39 386-792-3800 ... +', _j2599 and teachers from Hamilton County were recognized for their achievements: Who's Who Among American High School Stu- dents recognizes students who have achieved a "B" grade point average or bet- ter, and who have demon- strated leadership in acade- mics, athletics or extracur- ricular activities: Liz B Beal Echols Coun- ty High School Brianna L Bennett - Hamilton County High School Kali L Carter Hamilton County High School. Tyler Dowling Corinth Christian Academy Matthew N Henderson - Hamilton County High School Jahquan Ingram Hamil- ton County High School Eric C Jackson Hamilton County High School Shakiera J Jones Melody Christian Academy Jermesa Lee Hamilton County High School Katie D Ostrom Hamil- ton County High School Ajay G Thakor Hamilton County High School Brittany V Turner School Applied Individual Learn- ing Who's Who Among American High School Stu- dents Sports Edition was developed using similar cri- teria with the added com- ponent of athletic accom- plishments. Tay M Casey Hamilton County High School Robert L Davis Hamil- ton County High School Jameson C Deneus - Hamilton County High School Rebekah Fry Home School Student Registered Joseph L Gandy '- Hami- ton County High School Philip A Lee Hamilton County High School 'j" Justin E Taylor Hamil- ton County High School The National Dean's List recognizes college students who have earned "Dean's List" honors or comparable academic and leadership achievements: Lisa Burnham Saint Leo University Amy Crider Valdosta State University Alexandrea D Hitson - North Florida Community College Jesse V Mitchell North Florida Community College Edelnys Rodriguez - North Florida Community College Who's Who Among America's Teachers include the nation's best and most respected educators in the country: Erin Driggers North Hamilton Elementary Cheryl D McCall North Hamilton Elementary School Judy P Steedley Teacher math Susan A Taylor Central Hamilton Elementary ECI's objective has re- mained unchanged for over 40 years to provide posi- tive affirmation of student achievement, support high- er education, and "Honor- ing Tomorrow's Leaders Today." ECI works with countless recognized and respected youth and com- munity organizations, in- cluding Phi Theta Kappa, American Legion, Presiden- tial Classroom, Future Farmers of America, Busi- ness Professionals of Amer- ica, and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America among many oth- ers. For more information 'about the 2005-2006 Who's n"Who publications, visit www.honoring.com Pricing for Profit - a marketing workshop The UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Edu- cation Center-Suwannee Valley (NFREC-SV).is hold- ing a marketing workshop, Pricing for Profit, on Tues- day, Feb..20, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn first hand from Dr. Al Wysocki with the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Eco- nomics Department, how to answer important mar- keting questions. NFREC-SV serves the di- verse agricultural interests in the region including vegetables, fruit crops, pro- tected culture, forestry, to- bacco and other forage crops. The registration fee is $10, which includes materi- als and a light dinner. The registration deadline is Fri- day, Feb. 16, at 5 p.m. Visit nfrec-sv.ifas.ufl.edu to reg- ister, e-mail Karen Han- cock at khancock@ufl.edu or call 386-362-1725 for more information. Miss Suwannee River Valley Pageant, March 24 Would you like to be the next Miss America? Come join in the fun as Suwannee River Valley of North Flori- da Pageants, Inc. hosts the First Miss Suwannee River Valley Scholarship Pageant in Branford. This event is open to young women 17 to 24 years who reside in the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Suwannee, Tay- lor and Union. The pageant is affiliated with the Miss Florida and Miss America Scholarship programs. The pageant will be held March 24, at 7 p.m. at the Branford High School Au- ditorium. Contact Diane Walker- Saunders, Co-Executive Di- rector at 386-935-6380 or 386-208-9426, or Kellie Curl, Co-Executive Direc- tor at 386-935-6280 or 386- 688-7447 for more informa- tion. Deadline for entry is March 10. Basic blacksmithing classes Learn the basics of work- ing with iron on a coal-fired forge in a series of beginner blacksmithing classes held every Friday until Feb. 23, at Stephen Foster Folk Cul- ture Center State Park. The classes will be taught by blacksmith Roy Balthaz- ard from 9 a.m. until .12 noon Students must be at least 18 years old. All par- ticipants are asked to bring safety glasses, and to wear a cotton shirt and closed- toe shoes. Gloves and an apron are optional. The cost for the class is $10 and does not include park admission. Space is limited to two students per class. For more informa- tion, call Craft Square at 397-1920 or visit www.StephenFosterCSO.0 rg. Admission to the park is $4 for a vetiicle ith ,up to eight passengers. Inn Business Pension Fund Develops Upscale Hotels Across State 3 months of the Jasper News Hurry, you must call and ask for the "Sweetheart of a Deal" by Wednesday, 5 p.m. February 14th. * ,'sn. *,rri F r,,ru.,, 4 ,," , 31 a er s c- 105 2nd Avenue, Jasper, FL 32052 b386-792-2487 By Phillip Rawls Associated Press Writer Forget Hilton or Holiday Inn. With half a billion dollars in investments, Alabama's state pension fund has become the largest hotel developer in the state, with a string of upscale .destinations that are changing Alabama's image as much as the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail did. The eight hotels, stretching from the Tennessee River to Mobile Bay, are next to or a short drive from the golf trail. Both were developed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama for two purposes - making money and ending Alabama's image as a place to drive through on the way to the beach. "The golf courses give people a fresh and compelling reason to come to the state. Then the accommodations' seal the deal as far as the image of our state," state tourism director Lee Sentell said. Retirement Systems CEO David Bronner, a blunt-talking, cigar- chomping Minnesota native, took over Alabama's pension funds for public employees in 1973. For years, he made traditional investments, but in the late 1980s, he took an unusual path that raised plenty of eyebrows. Bronner decided to start building golf courses and lured famed designer Robert Trent Jones Sr. by promising to make them his legacy. By the time the construction ended in 2005, there were 432 holes at 10 locations across the state. The courses started off slow, but soon were drawing praise from golf magazines throughout the world. Today, they're a hit, drawing about 500,000 visitors a year -- most from outside Alabama. But Bronner soon saw a problem with the golf trail's success, particularly among business executives using it to entertain clients. "A lot of people liked the trail; but we didn't have first-class housing to bring in clients," Bronner said. His answer: Buying historic hotels and renovating them and building new ones -- all on or near the golf courses in Point Clear, Mobile, Prattville, Montgomery, Opelika, Birmingham and Florence. The high-end hotels "catapult Alabama to the next level as far as being a tourism destination," said Liz Bittner, executive director of the tourism promotion group Travel South USA. The Retirement Systems' hotel arm, PCH Hotels and Resorts, is currently operating 1,464 rooms and will add 587 more next year when the restoration of the historic Battle House Hotel is complete in Mobile and construction ends on the new Montgomery Convention Center Hotel and Spa. The hotels operate under the Marriott brand or its more upscale Renaissance label, and their prices can approach $300 per night. But finding an open room at some locations -- particularly the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa in Birmingham -- can be difficult at times. "People want first-class facilities," Bronner said. In the capital city of Montgomery, Bronner has worked with local officials to build a convention hotel and spa that is part of a riverfront development project including an expanded convention center, a Broadway-style theater, a minor league ballpark, an amphitheater, and a riverside park. "This is the linchpin," Mayor Bobby Bright said as he stood inside the hotel scheduled to open in late 2007. Fooisite at the mag ficenm tKoss sBrage Gof tIesorr ana Spa in Birmingham, AL. Sentell, whose office is a few blocks away, said it's amazing to see the change along Montgomery's riverfront. "This will bring a lot of people to Montgomery who've just driven down I- 65 to the beach," he said. At the Florence-Lauderdale Tourism Bureau, executive director Debbie Wilson said the opening of the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa on the Tennessee River in 2005 made the northwest corner of Alabama a destination for regional conventions for the first time. "We've never been able to host a meeting of that size," she said. The success is proven by local lodging tax collections, which were up 52 percent for the first nine months of the year, she said. The Retirement Systems' hotels and a new office tower added to the Battle House in Mobile represent more than $500 million in investments. The Retirement Systems uses other investments in TV stations and newspapers across the country to get several million dollars in free advertising each year to promote its golf courses and hotels. It's a freebie other resort developers can't match. But not all has gone according to Bronner's plan. Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 closed the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort in Point Clear for a year and delayed renovation on the Battle House across the bay in Mobile. Because of that, the hotels lost $5 million in fiscal 2006 because of the shutdown of the Grand Hotel and skyrocketing insurance rates that followed the hurricane. The pension fund is forecasting a $5.5 million profit this year. , Bronner said he never expected a quick return. "A convention hotel runs negative for two or three years until you get in the convention cycle," he said. Praise, however, has been quick for Bronner. "Dr. Bronner is the most significant developer in Alabama's tourism industry ever," Sentell said. If you go The Retirement Systems' hotels, range for room rates, and phone numbers: * Grand Hotel Marriott Point Clear Resort and Spa, Point Clear, $169-$279, 251-928-9201 * Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa, Florence, $109-$169,256-246-3600 * Montgomery-Prattville Hotel and Conference Center at Capitol Hill, Prattville, $129-$189, with the presidential cottage, including personal chef and butler for $5,000,334-290-1235 * Marriott Auburn-Opelika Hotel arid Conference Center at Grand National, Opelika, $109-$159, 334-741-9292 * Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, Birmingham, $179-$249, with suites up to $1,500, 205-916-7677 * Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, Mobile, $129-$189, 251-438-4000 * The Battle House, Mobile, $149-$209, 251-415-3086 (opening April 2007) * Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa, Montgomery (opening late 2007). On the Net: * Hotels: pchresorts.com * Golf: rtjgolf.com Advertisement THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2007 THE JASPER NEWS, Jasper, FL rDA f: A Q"