Ready to grub? Pensacola Seafood Festival is this weekend

Put on your bib and bring your appetite, because for the next three days, downtown Pensacola is transforming into the go-to spot to get your seafood fix.

The annual Pensacola Seafood Festival takes over Seville Square, Fountain Park and Bartram Park each fall. More than 100,000 people stroll the streets during this three-day event and enjoy delicious creations from the area’s top restaurants.

The event also hosts live cooking demonstrations, traditional festival vendors, arts and crafts and live music. A great time for the whole family awaits!

The Pensacola Seafood Festival is a free event put on by Fiesta of Five Flags Association.

The City of Pensacola is a proud sponsor. Pensacola Energy hosts Fiesta Seafood Grille where we have 10 local chefs each do an hour demonstration throughout the three-day event. All the recipes are put in a cookbook that is available for purchase. Those who buy the cookbook at the festival are entered into a raffle and can win a sample of the chef’s dish. All proceeds go to the Escambia Utility Assistance Program.

The festival runs Friday, September 28 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, September 29 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, September 30 from 11 p.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit the official website for the event.

Lynching victims remembered during ceremony at Plaza Ferdinand

Montgomery Equal Justice Initiative collects soil from locations where 20th century lynchings occurred.

Two empty glass jars sat on a table in Plaza Ferdinand during the late afternoon on September 20. Each jar was assigned a name. “David Alexander” was labeled on one jar and “Leander Shaw” on the other. On the ground next to those jars, a vase filled with flowers marked the spot where those two men took their final breath more than a century ago.

A memorial was held for the two men who were lynched in Plaza Ferdinand during the 20th century. The memorial was put on by Pensacola Race and Reconciliation and Montgomery Equal Justice Initiative. The two groups worked with University of West Florida’s Archaeology Institute to collect soil samples where the lynching’s occurred.

Excavated site in Plaza Ferdinand

A vase marks the spot where the two men were hung from a light post in Plaza Ferdinand

Ora Wills, one of the lynching victim's family member, scoops soil from the excavated site into the jars.

Leander Shaw was accused of killing Lillie Davis, a white woman. Davis' family attended the memorial on September 20 and held up her photograph during the ceremony.

Alexander and Shaw were black men who were accused of crimes, when they were forcibly removed from the jail by a mob and hung from a light post in Plaza Ferdinand.

A small area near where the lynching occurred was excavated for soil collection. During the ceremony, Ora Wills, a relative of one of the lynching victims, shoveled the soil into the jars. The jars will go to The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama to be part of their “From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration” exhibit.

The museum opened in April 2018. The building was built on the site of a former warehouse where enslaved black people were imprisoned during the slave trade. According to the museum’s website, the exhibit “is an engine for education about the legacy of racial inequality and for the truth and reconciliation that leads to real solutions to contemporary problems.”

You can read more about the museum by visiting their website.

Ready, set, go! Northwest Florida Day of Play is this Saturday

We're getting so excited for the 5210 Northwest Florida Day of Play this Saturday, September 29th! There are several new event activities this year.

Little daredevils can channel their inner warrior and try the mobile ninja-style obstacle course from Ninja Life!

New and expecting parents will want to make sure they visit the Escambia County Healthy Start Coalition's Healthy Start Row for information and activities for new moms and dads!
And kids can get a feel for the great outdoors at the archery range and fishing clinics in the Combined Insurance Services, Inc. Outdoor Adventure Area!

Come check out the many ways families get moving! On September 29, 2018 from 10 am to 2 pm, families will shut off their computers, tablets, and TVs and head outdoors for some fun!

Join us for a day of exciting activities, games, sports, contests and physical challenges for the entire family.

Learn more about our partner 5-2-1-0 NWFL and the Florida Department of Health's initiative to improve overall health in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.

Tag us in your photos at the event with the hashtag #5210dayofplay

Congratulations to our Employee of the Month!

Officer Pearce Baker of the Pensacola Police Department

Pensacola Energy competes in Dragon Boat Festival

On September 8, a group of Pensacola Energy employees competed in the 2018 Dragon Boat Festival. Their team name was "Big Gas Dragons," and they placed first in the first heat race, second in the second heat and second in the third heat race.

The festival is a charitable event to raise money for the Gulf Coast Kid's House and Junior Achievement of Northwest Florida. It takes place annually in Bayou Texar at Bayview Park and is put on by Northeast Pensacola SERTOMA. There are approximately 50 teams competing from the local community. Each team’s boat consist of 20 paddlers and 1 drummer.

Initially, Pensacola Energy joined this event to support SERTOMA's efforts to raise money for local charities. Now, Pensacola Energy employees will look forward each year to this day of team building and interaction outside of the workplace.

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We're back! New episodes of The Upside on YouTube

We are back with The Upside! It's the same team you know and love, with a new introduction and set. We plan to continue taking the show on the road to highlight a different location in the City of Pensacola each week. We hope you will tune in and enjoy!

Parks and Recreation Marketing Manager Tonya Vaden and Public Information Officer Vernon Stewart go over the material for the September 24 edition of The Upside on location at Community Maritime Park.

INSTAGRAM: Photo of the Week

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Photo Credit: @fashionandfitness92