Susan Smiley-Height

1 month ago | ocalagazette.com | Susan Smiley-Height

From numerous vendors offering lush green plants to those representing such entities as Horse Farms Forever and the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, the annual Farmland Preservation Festival was all about what makes Marion County a beautiful place to live. The event, which took place at the Stirrups ‘n Strides Therapeutic Riding Center at […] To access this entire article, you must Become an Ocala Gazette Member or . Already a member?

1 month ago | ocalagazette.com | Susan Smiley-Height

According to Sam Singleton of Scrubland Farmz Nursery, Scrubfest Homegrown 2025 will be a “food forest expo made up of local to North Central Florida businesses discussing the importance of also learning local.”The plant festival will focus on edible, medicinal and native plants with a dozen presentations, plants for sale, food trucks, an artisan market and a kids’ zone.

1 month ago | ocalagazette.com | Susan Smiley-Height

Graduating high school seniors who paint, tap dance, play the flugelhorn or write sonnets are encouraged to apply for two $1,500 scholarships from Rainbow Springs Art in Dunnellon. “The nonprofit gallery is sponsoring scholarships for area students who want to study the creative arts in college, including visual art, music, dance, writing, theater or even such things as culinary arts,” said Margo Wilson.

1 month ago | ocalagazette.com | Susan Smiley-Height

The 17th annual Farmland Preservation Festival will take place April 12 at the Stirrups ‘n Strides Therapeutic Riding Center at 4246 W Highway 318, between Orange Lake and Citra. The event is organized by the nonprofit Save Our Rural Areas group, or SORA. It will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will include family-friendly fun, cottage and traditional farm crafts, farm animals, tractors and farm equipment, food vendors, live music and plants for sale.

1 month ago | ocalagazette.com | Susan Smiley-Height

One of Marion County’s most remarkable women, Capt. Virginia Ferguson, has passed away. Ferguson was born Sept. 11, 1941, in Donaldsonville, Georgia, and grew up in Homestead, Florida. Her family later moved to Ocala to join other family members who were already here. She died March 25, 2025, in Ocala. Ferguson was the first female and first Black woman to hold a United States Coast Guard captain’s license in Florida and the first female glass-bottom boat captain at the Silver Springs Attraction.