North Florida Herald now offers variety of free videos

Newspapers are called the first rough draft of history, and for 57 years, The North Florida Herald has captured history in words and pictures.

Now we add video to that list.

Under the guidance of Lindsay Smith, The Herald’s first videographer, the news company now offers a variety of online videos that are free to view and even download. And these videos touch on so many different aspects of life in the Crescent Communities.

Listed below are links to the online stories featuring videos. As you go to each story, simply scroll down and look for the bold type that links you to the video. Please note that these are downloadable videos, meaning they may take as long as two minutes to load or buffer in your media player.

Here are the links:

• Debut Of Alachua Transit System -- Watch as the city of Alachua debuts its very first city-only bus that will visit key areas throughout the city. Alachua is the smallest city in Alachua County to have its own bus system.
  
  
• Stone Age Fair in Alachua -- What do you get when amateur and professional archaeologists get together to show off their collections of arrowheads, fossilized bones and historic pottery? You get the Stone Age Fair in Alachua, an event that organizers said shows off more material than can be seen at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
  
  
• Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Alachua -- See highlights from the annual event in Alachua that honors Martin Luther King Jr. and helps bring a community together.
  
  
• Soaring Over High Springs – See what it’s like to fly 2,000 feet over High Springs and the Santa Fe River in an experimental aircraft with no walls and no floor.

• Honoring A Public Servant – James Lewis was first elected to the Alachua City Commission in the late 1960s and then never lost an election for more than four decades. The City Hall Chambers are named in his honor in this somewhat emotional ceremony.
  
  
• Cane Grinding Day – Every year, Dudley Farm Historic State Park takes the sugar cane that has been grown on the 1800s-era farm, grinds it up using a horse pulling gears, then boils the sugar to make a very special syrup that sells out the day it is made. See the people, the farm and the process in this video.
  
  
• A Dairy Farm of Distinction – Let’s face it. Dairy farms are usually quite smelly places. But this dairy, despite having thousands of cows, is known for its absence of smell and for its environmentally friendly practices. The state named it as one of the best dairies in Florida.
  
  
• Saving A Police Horse – When a police horse finished its tour of duty, it was sent to a farm to “retire” and spend out the rest of its life. But that farm ended up nearly killing the horse, and the horse now has a new life at the Mill Creek Farm in Alachua. See the story of the horse and of the farm known as the Retirement Home for Horses.
  
  
• Two Top-Ranking Veterans Have A Chat – We took a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a retired lt. colonel, both of whom live in Newberry, put them together and asked them to reminisce and talk about the world we live in. They talk about being at the forefront of key world issues for years. And they also talk about funny run-ins with some pretty famous people.
  
  
• Opening of the Archery Center – The city of Newberry changed when the Easton-Newberry Sports Complex and Archery Center opened. The city for years has been planning for this center, which is expected to attract competitors worldwide and set Newberry on the path to more businesses, particularly hotels.
  
  
• When A Bishop Visits – When St. Madeleine Catholic Church opened its new Family Life Center, a visiting bishop who came to bless the center said he was so impressed that he would gladly be the church’s leader if he was ever asked.
  
  
• Finding Fossils – Watch as people of all ages, from college students to senior citizens, dig into ancient sinkholes and find animals that roamed Florida long before humans arrived.
  
  
• Saying Goodbye to Clovis Watson Jr. – After serving for years during some of Alachua’s most controversial times and its greatest growth spurt, City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. steps down to pursue politics. His friends speak about his impact on the city during this special ceremony.
  
  
• One-armed pianist -- See one-armed pianist Mary Grace Gellekanao perform at the High Springs Seventh day Adventist Church.

• Giant sinkholes -- See video of new sinkholes in High Springs – sinkholes that are a few stories wide and almost as deep as a 10-story high building.
  
  
• Public baptisms -- See people gather at Ichetucknee Springs to be publicly baptized in the very cold waters.
  
  
• Walking Across The World -- See the brothers who are quite literally walking across the world. They stopped here in High Springs.
  
  
• Canterbury Equestrian Showplace -- The world-renowned Canterbury Equestrian Showplace is now feeling the pressure of development closing in around it. Will it stay open?
  
  
• Love Thy Neighbor Festival -- Each year, the Hare Krishna community in Alachua holds its annual “Love Thy Neighbor” festival. Learn more about this diverse area of the Crescent Communities.
  
  
• Green fire station -- Learn why this new fire station in Jonesville is being heralded as a “green” station to be copied by others.
  
  
• Aggie the police dog -- High Springs’ latest police dog is a bit unusual. It’s a Golden Retriever with keen sense of smell. And yes, she’s very friendly.
  
  
• Sgt. Martha Hines -- High Springs Police Sgt. Martha Hines was in the fight of her life when a suspect sucker-punched her, then repeatedly beat her as he tried to take her gun. Hear about the incident in Hines’ own words.
  
  
• Newberry Watermelon Queen -- Meet Brandi Harrison, the newest Newberry Watermelon Queen.