Story by: Johnathan White

Main entrance to the festival, while being greeted by friendly horses. Photo by Johnathan White 

A large collective of parents, students and distinguished guests of the program, crowded the walkway all a buzz with excitement for the activities of the day. The weather permitted full go on outside enjoyment, with a wide selection of food and beverage.  

When the band got goin for the Concert on the Farm, everybody really started to move. It was evident that many individuals who had a significant hand in planning this festival, breathed a sigh of relief to see how smoothly things were operating.   

All tables for the Dinner on the Farm see care in their presentation. The seating chart is carefully arranged to fit every organization or group in attendance.  That is dedication from the entire staff for this Weekend Festival 

Televisions were put in place to ensure every inch of tables could view the activities on stage. Special thanks to the production team that handled sound and camera operations. It can be hard to hear or see somebody fully from 100 yards away, especially for the older generation present for the festival.  

Once dinner was served, table by table grew quiet and dug into the delectable dishes distributed by Black Sheep Restaurant Group. Those men and women were working round the clock on this day to ensure their part was handled and then some. It was all a smash hit to say the least. 

Story by: Grae Barron

As part of the University of North Florida’s Recreation and Wellness department, Eco Adventure serves the entire Jacksonville community.  

Many groups from companies, schools, and other clubs pop over to try their hands at the ropes course. The ropes course is a test of teamwork and trust, but nothing can get going without the direction of the staff. 

The staff at Eco Adventure are trained in all sorts of safety techniques needed in other sports like rock climbing to make sure that each and every participant is safe when harnessed 20 feet in the air. 

Ropes course at Eco Adventure. Photo by Grae Barron 

Amy Costa, the Assistant Director of Eco Adventure, said that the staff is certified in different safety programs and teambuilding activities before taking groups up to the course.  

“We do a lot of extensive training with them because they obviously have to have a lot of hard skills and soft skills to take people up on the ropes course,” she said. “They go through literally, like, a whole semester of learning the skills and then they get ACCT certified.” 

The ACCT is the Association of Challenge Course Technology, which brings safety courses and certification to most ropes courses in the world. With these certifications, the staff is trained in rock climbing techniques, different knots, and safe ways to get back onto the course.  

The employees at Eco Adventure are mostly UNF students with little experience going in, but by the time they are able to bring groups through the course, they are equipped with the knowledge and skills required to keep everyone safe while having a good time.  

The challenge course is available for the Jacksonville community as many different teams work on trust skills through the program. 

Story by: Giana Mercado

Dressed in pink feathers and sequins, Barbie T, welcomed expecting military families at Operation Shower held at TPC Sawgrass. Operation Shower is a non-profit that hosts baby showers for military moms-to-be to help ease the stress of deployment. This year, they invited radio host Barbie T to emcee the event. 

Barbie T emceeing Operation Shower. Photo by Giana Mercado. 

“Hosting these types of events are a lot of fun,” said Barbie. “It gets me in the face of the community, and you really get to see who is listening to my show every morning. Giving back to them is just really what I have to do, it’s my mission.”  

At the baby shower, Barbie entertained the moms and their families by hosting games such as bingo and trivia. She also handed out 95.1 WAPE stuffed animal gorillas to the families as gift. 

95.1 WAPE gorilla. Photo by Giana Mercado. 

Barbie is new to Jacksonville from Greenville, South Carolina. She relocated a month ago to the First Coast so her and her radio partner’s show, Dex and Barbie T Morning Show could take over 95.1 WAPE.  

“I absolutely love it. Dreams come true for sure,” said Barbie.  

The radio show provides fun and real content by having an interactive format. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are days listeners can call into the show to share anonymous secrets or ask for advice. Tuesday and Thursday is their Ghosted days where Dex and Barbie will call the listener’s partner that ghosted them. Ghosting is when someone cuts off communication without explanation. 

“We’ll call them up and be like ‘so why did you ghost my girl’ and they give you a reason why,” said Barbie. “Now use it at your own discretion because your business will be aired out.” 

Barbie also expressed excitement for True Crime Tuesdays where people call into the show and share their own personal experience with true crime.  

Although moving states can be scary, for Barbie T, it was just a step for her dreams and passions for radio.