This past Saturday a group of volunteers from the Florida Trail Association (FTA), along with local volunteers, spent the day putting some finishing touches on the extensive trail system that has been developed at Hinson Conservation and Recreation Area. The development of the trail system has been an on going process that has included planning, design and construction. The effort has been a partnership that was initiated by the City of Marianna along with the Chipola Greenway Volunteers and the FTA.

I ran into Mark Hebb last week and as usual our conversation quickly turned to the Hinson Conservation and Recreation Area, or Hinson Park as I call it. I commented to him that I sure had been enjoying the new trails that were constructed by the Florida Trail Association (FTA) and local volunteers.

Mark mentioned that a group of volunteers from the FTA and Marianna would be gathering Saturday to do some touch up work on the trails. (See related story on page B3). I thought it might be an opportunity to pitch in, and a morning of touch up work didn't sound too difficult.

This week's Yesteryear is the seventh in a nine week series of the City of Marianna 1972 Dixie Youth baseball teams. This week's featured team is the Jaycees. These photos were included in program published in 1972 and recently provided to The Times by John Hamilton.

Quite a few of the team members still reside in the Marianna / Jackson County area including Charles and Robert Reiff, Stuart and Bryan Wiggins, Ron Mathis, Walter Caldwell, Kevin Johnson, Charles Paramore and Russell Seay. Edwin Carroll lives in Bonifay. Coach Walter Wiggins lives in Marianna and was the longtime operator/owner of Quality Hardware in downtown Marianna.

Eleven Chipola Indians were named to the Panhandle All-Conference Baseball Team.

Andrew Toles was named Conference Player of the Year. Toles leads the Indians in hitting with a .367 batting average and is fourth in the state in stolen bases with 29 steals in 36 attempts.

Robby Coles was selected as the Conference Pitcher of the Year. Coles, who has signed with Florida State, has a 9-0 record with a 2.957 ERA.

The Chipola Indians baseball squad started the 2012 FCSAA State Baseball Tournament in Lakeland just like they finished up the Panhandle Conference season. Chipola won their final 12 conference games to capture the conference championship and they opened up play in Lakeland with two wins. But the Indians stumbled in game three and then got shelled in their fourth outing, which eliminated them from the tournament. With that elimination the Indians hopes of repeating as the state champions dashed.

Jackson County sent three teams into the FHSAA Baseball playoffs, with one starting play last Thursday and the other two beginning their playoffs on Tuesday. That's the good news. The bad news is that all three teams lost in action on Tuesday night

The Marianna Bulldogs captured the Class 4A District One tournament with a monumental win over the Crusaders of Pensacola Catholic and in doing so played host to Florida High last Thursday in the Class 4A Regional quarter-finals. The Bulldogs sent left handed ace Michael Mader to the mound and got another stellar performance en route to an 8-3 victory.

This week's Yesteryear is the sixth in a nine week series of the City of Marianna 1972 Dixie Youth baseball teams. This week's featured team is the Braves. These photos were included in the program published in 1972 and recently provided to The Times by John Hamilton.

A few of the team members still reside in the Marianna / Jackson County area including Monroe Rhynes and Dalton Hendrick. Coach Jimmy Standland is retired and lives in Marianna as well.

My family and I took a little trip out of the country this past weekend. We went to Miami. The purpose of the trip was to visit with my wife's Nicaraguan relatives and attend the celebration of her cousin's daughter going through her first communion. For those steeped in Protestantism, first communion is a big day in the child's life and it's also a big day in the family's life.

The celebration included a catered dinner, plenty of refreshments and a DJ. Kin folks from both the States and Nicaragua showed up and were ready for a festive occasion. The evening featured an excellent meal, lots of dancing (salsa style) and enough conversations in Spanish to make it seem like we were back in the home country of Nicaragua.

Malone High School Senior, Ms. Olivia Daniel, had the honor of playing on April 7, on the Freedom All-Star Classic Basketball East team at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida. The East team beat the West All-Star team 69-65. Olivia also had the honor of also playing in the Florida Panhandle Shootout All Star game the following week, on April 13. In that contest the East All-Star team took that victory as well by a score of 69-63. Olivia was proud to be the only young lady on the squad representing the Malone Lady Tigers. Olivia also is an outstanding scholar-athlete, maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

The Chipola Indians baseball squad begins play in the FCSAA State Baseball Tournament on Thursday at 3 pm against Indian River State College. Chipola has now strung together a twelve winning streak and are currently ranked # 4 in the Florida polls. They improved to 37-15 overall and 16-4 in conference play. Indian River will enter the tournament ranked #8 in the Florida polls. Northwest Florida State finished as the Panhandle Conference runner up and will play on Thursday at 9 am against #1 ranked Polk State.