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People may drive by the old middle school on Liles Boulevard, but seeing a building doesn’t provide many clues about what’s going on inside.
The John L. Fisher board shares an update of what’s happening at the Community Center.
Every Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., seniors gather to fellowship, play Bingo and eat a meal. Their celebrations for various holidays are legendary– costumes of all kinds.
One Saturday a month, Marcus Hall, meets with STEM students. Anyone can come. The kids (and maybe some parents too) have learned coding, built robots and taken numerous field trips. Their next project will involve a competition to test their robots.
The Rev. Anthony Thames has a mentoring program (PROS) for adolescent boys and they meet often. He also gathers with a senior citizen group for education and prayer.
An organization from Mobile, Insight, comes monthly to hold recovery classes.
Several weeks ago, a rededication of the large pavilion was held to celebrate the life of Christopher Guthrie, who had the vision to build the pavilion as his Eagle Scout project. He raised the funds and organized the volunteers. That pavilion is used for birthday parties, family reunions, parents who are watching their kids play on the splash pad or the playground and so many other things.
The Caring Hearts of Pensacola operates a food pantry at the Center that distributes food several times a month.
Additionally, several other non-profits have hosted lunch giveaways for seniors during the year and for families during the summer.
With the help of a grant from Resource Conservation & Development Council, there is also a community garden on the property that was created by volunteers. They are growing fresh flowers, spices and vegetables. The garden is not fully planted so if anyone has plants they would like to add, there is room. Volunteers are welcome.
For the second year, the John L. Fisher Community Center has partnered with the YMCA to offer free swim lessons at the City Pool in the month of June. (Last year 100 children learned to swim.) Lessons are for preschoolers as well as older children. They will be held on Monday and Wednesday or Tue and Thursdays and will began June 5. Anyone interested in registering needs to bring proof of Medicaid/All-Kids Insurance or Child Care South.
Several months ago, the Community Center held its first fundraiser for the new scholarship named in honor of Homer Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton was an educator with the Brewton City School system as well as a City Councilman who gave so generously of himself to his students during the school year and over the summer. The first recipient was chosen in April and fundraising will always continue so that scholarship can be offered annually. If enough funds are raised, the plan is to offer this scholarship to one senior at T.R. Miller and one senior at W.S. Neal. Anyone interested in supporting this scholarship can send a check to P.O. Box 681, Brewton, AL 36427.
The following list is a sampling of other functions that have taken place at the Community Center over the last year.
Youth football, mini-mite cheerleaders and youth baseball regularly used the fields at the Center for practice.
Various health events have been held — blood drives, diabetes trainings, health screenings and COVID testing.
The Housing Authority and other non-profits have hosted various Back to School events for the neighborhood children.
Since the Sportsman’s Club was damaged last summer, they moved their Fourth of July events to the center.
The police officers held a basketball camp for children.
Brewton Middle School and Neal Middle School both used the Center to host scholar’s bowl matches.
The NAACP held its Martin Luther King Day celebration there after the annual parade finished at the site. T
hese groups used the facility at no charge or for a minimal donation because they were providing a service to our community. On any given weekend, there are also individuals renting the building at a reasonable rate for birthdays, baby showers, wedding showers, church gatherings, funeral lunches, family reunions, retirement parties, etc.
So much is going on. Connect with the Facebook page to keep up with the latest details.