COMMUNITY NEWS BRIEFS: Ocala Main Street awards and EMERGE launch

Ocala Main Street board member Angie Lester and Executive Director Jessica Fieldhouse are shown with Secretary of State Cord Byrd at the recent awards ceremony. [Photo courtesy Ocala Main Street]

Florida Main Street Awards

Ocala Main Street received three awards at the Secretary of State’s Florida Main Street Awards. Secretary of State Cord Byrd presented the awards during the Preservation on Main Street Conference in Fernandina Beach on July 17.

Ocala Main Street won the Telling Your Story Award for its “Downtown Guide” publication. Launched on Aug. 2, 2024, the 84-page guide, created by staff and volunteers of the Promotions Committee, celebrates local businesses, showcases district assets and highlights development projects, according to the news release.

The organization received the Landmark Preservation Project Award in recognition of the transformation of Ocala’s 1975 Fire Station into Midtown Station. The project preserved the building’s original structure, ensuring its historical integrity. Key architectural features, like the large bay doors, were included in the new design, reminding visitors of the past while welcoming them into the present. This initiative shows the importance of preservation in urban development and serves as a key driver for further growth within the Ocala Main Street district’s Midtown zone, the release noted.

Ocala Main Street also received its 40th Anniversary Award, acknowledging its foundational role as one of the first five Main Street programs established in Florida.

“We are incredibly proud and humbled to receive these three prestigious awards from the Secretary of State’s Florida Main Street program,” said Jessica Fieldhouse, Ocala Main Street’s executive director, in the release. “These awards reflect the hard work of our dedicated staff, passionate volunteers, supportive businesses and our strong partnership with the city of Ocala.”

Learn more at ocalamainstreet.org

NASA-supported EMERGE program launches

A new initiative is mobilizing libraries, educators and communities across Florida to explore environmental issues and public health through citizen science and spatial thinking.

EMERGE—Engaging Communities in Environmental Research and Geospatial Education—is a NASA-supported program that equips the public with data tools to investigate mosquito-borne disease, land cover and environmental challenges.

Through activities like land cover mapping, mosquito habitat tracking and storytelling with satellite imagery, participants gain STEM skills and support public health resilience. The curriculum is accessible to learners of all ages and experience levels and was co-developed with input from libraries, students, educators and extension professionals.

Launched in May, EMERGE is led by the University of Florida’s Geospatial Digital Informatics (GeoDI) Lab and supported by partners including Florida Community Innovation, SciStarter, Dream in Green and the Broward County Library. The core of the program is the GLOBE Observer app, which can map mosquito habitats and land cover, among other protocols.

Learn more at geoemerge.com

GLOBE Observer app [Photo courtesy EMERGE]