.evycountyjournaL AROUND LEVY COUNTY THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2006 Page 17 Oldest living BHS grad is thrilled with new schoo BY JEFF M. HARDISON Starr WRITER A 95-year-old man who graduated from Bronson High School ‘received a special guided tour of the new BHS campus April 21 by Superintendent df Schools Clifton Norris. Other school officials were on this tour, but the grand marshal of the small parade possesses the most history with the high school. Dogan Cobb was in the BHS Class of 1929. He was impressed by this new campus, which sits on 80 acres of school board property and includes 118,000 square feet of space within its various buildings. “It’s tremendous,” Cobb said during his tour last Friday morning. “It’s just extra nice.” This is the third BHS since Cobb attended high school, he said. The currently occupied structure is on the same land as the very first BHS, but this second BHS is a new building in comparison: to the one Cobb used about 80 years ago. Norris mentioned that this man is the oldest living BHS graduate in Levy County. Cobb is not just the oldest BHS graduate alive. On Jan. 1, 1941, he took office as the Journal photo by Jeff M. Hardison DOGAN COBB sits on a bleacher in the brand new Bronson High School. This 95-year-old man is the oldest living graduate of BHS in Levy County. This office is known now as county property’ appraiser. elected post before retiring. After retirement, he went Levy. County Tax Assessor. Cobb served 32 years in that into banking as an employee » A VIEW OF the gym, cafetorium a . open on Aug. 8. | NOW EMPTY of books, the BHS media center will be filled. with media from the current shelves. a Gai THE SERVING area in the new BHS cafetetorium. Sus nd Photos by | Jeff M. Hardison THE GIRLS’ gymnasium. of First Federal Savings & Loan of Bronson. The new high school is fully built, although there is. a sewer line issue that needs resolution. Assistant Superintendent Jeff Davis said the school will be open Aug. 8, given this dilemma is overcome, which Davis said he has every reason to believe will be. A walk-through of the entire facility shows many reasons for parents, students, teachers and administrators to be very pleased. Davis is happy. “It’s going to be a great addition to our community,” he said. ““A school is one of the central pieces to a community. This new addition is something we can all be proud of.” Everything. is new. The gymnasium floor has a glasslike sheen on: it. The bleachers fold in when they are not in use. One side says -“BHS”.and the other side says “Eagles” when they are closed. The school colors of orange and blue can be found tastefully placed throughout the facility. This school, which is for, students in grades 6 through 12,isamodification ofanother school that had already been built. It. was modified to suit the needs of Levy County, STALLS FOR welding stand postioned near a ‘big garage door in one of the two huge labs for vocational education. i>: lockers room next to the new BHS Davis said. It has various wings and buildings. There is the gymnasium, with a weight room, lockers, showers and’ everything else needed for physical education. It also has a lobby, an area for concession preparation and sales, and bathrooms to accommodate guests during games. The cafetorium includes a full stage and dressing rooms for the student actors. The kitchen and _ serving area are complete with new cooking equipment. There is a media center, a high school wing and an adminstration wing. The middle school and Exceptional Student Education wing are combined. There are science labs in both the middle school and high school wings. There is a vocational education wing that includes two huge labs, one for carpentry and one for Future Farmers of America. A band room and a business lab are also part of this fully- ° built high school. Davis said there — are currently about 650 BHS students. This school is. built for 797, giving it a little room for growth in the population. The old high school will become the new home for Hill Top Alternative School... The current alternative school will become a maintenance @ Harris 7 Continued from front among the majority who voted against it. “He even voted . against Judge (Samuel) Alito (Jr.),” Harris said, as she made reference to the judge who was appointed as the newest justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. “You need to share with your friends and neighbors, Bill Nelson’s voting record does not align with the values of Floridians today,” Harris said. Harris promised to make income tax reform her top priority if elected. After the meeting, when asked about what she would doinregard to rising insurance fees for homeowners, Harris said the country needs a “national catastrophic fund.” “That’s going to be first and foremost,” Harris said. “And, other states have to have the same building codes that we have (in Florida) that are the best in the nation.” « Harris believes funding should be put aside before a disaster, because the nation knows a disaster will occur. This fund would lessen the impact. on the insurance industry, which has passed its losses on to homeowners. Of course, just as cutting taxes keeps the national debt at its highest point in the history of the nation, the addition of a new fund would be another burden for taxpayers. In regard to the war in Iraq, - Harris said soldiers have told her that they do not want to return home until after they defeat Al Qaeda. If they came home before that point, Harris said, they would feel as if their 2,300-plus American brethren had died in vain. There have -been 2,586 coalition deaths. This includes 2,379 Americans, one’ Australian, 104: Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 26 Ttalians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of April 20, according to CNN. The candidate was speaking to Yankeetown-Inglis Republican Club members and guests who numbered between 80 and 90 that night. Club President Bill Cox said her visit had brought more people to the meeting than usual, because there are only 40 members. Vice President Eunice - Johnson was the. chief cook of the spaghetti dinner, although she noted that other club officers contributed to creating a sauce from three combined recipes. Scotty Zimmerly is club secretary and Edith McCrimmon is treasurer. McCrimmon is among the founders of the club, which began in 1980. Serving of the meal did not start until after Harris arrived, which was at least 30 minutes after the planned starting time. Harris spoke . until 8:30 p.m. and then she took questions from individuals on a one-on-one basis. Not everyone at the meal was thrilled with Harris or today’s voters. “People are not voting on the issues any more,” said David. Robinson of Homosassa. “They are voting on who they want to be like. It’s almost a class issue.” Medicare Part D enrollment period ends May 15; sign up now SHINE. (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders), a volunteer program with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, will be available at the sites below to provide information and help to. enroll in the Medicare Part D: Prescription Drug Plan. Wednesday, May 3 Williston Public Library 1:30-3:30 10 a.m.-noon Bronson Public Library Thursday, May 4 10 a.m.-2 p.m Community Health Fair, Dixie County Library Wednesday, May 10 10 a.m.-noon Chiefland Senior Center 2-4 p.m. Cedar Key Public Library Thursday, May 11 10 a.m.-2 p.m Williston Area AARP Health Fair First United Methodist Church, Williston Bring your Medicare Card and either a list of your prescriptions with dosages and quantities or the bottles. After May 15, there will be a penalty of 1 percent per month on the plan premium when you do choose to enroll. The next time you will be able to enroll or change plans is Nov. 15-Dec. 31, 2006, the annual enrollment period. For more information, addresses or if you cannot come to a site call SHINE at the Elder Help Line 1-800-262-2243. ©