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Gary Miller's Outdoor Truths Ministry, Nov. 3, 2025
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Dock Street visit
shows demolition in action

Once a two-story cornerstone restaurant on Dock Street, with different names over the years, this building is not occupied right now.

Story and Photos By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 6, 2025 at 8 p.m.
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     CEDAR KEY – Recovering from a blazing inferno and significant damage from hurricanes, Dock Street business locations adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico are recovering.
      The demolition of one side of that set of structures that burned continues, which reduces the number of parking spaces there to make them even fewer than before the fire and storms.
    Still there are methods for parking, walking and enjoying this part of the island now, even beyond angling for filets.

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The Tipsy Cow Bar & Grill on the second story and Liam & Madi’s Beer Wine Spirits on the first floor are seen Wednesday morning with some construction material in front. 


The 'Frog’s Merding Rest & Grill' structure – formerly Frog’s Landing Restaurant and then Steamer’s Clam Bar & Grill – is not rebuilt yet as whatever it is destined to become. Steamer’s is active on Second Street now with the Second Street Café. The big retail and tourist-oriented store that was on the first floor of this structure no longer exists there.


Looking toward the Gulf of Mexico, demolition of the structure to the right of the former Steamer’s, where the fire destroyed a closed restaurant and a bait shot, shows some of the equipment used Wednesday as demolition of that part of the structures is happening.


The view with the big cement dock to the photographer’s back and the Sun over the Gulf shows the area of the structure being removed.


The (perhaps Halloween decoration) skeleton at The Tipsy Cow Bar & Grill, a sailboat on the Gulf of Mexico, the American flag and part of a structure that may take some time for restoration or removal create quite a view on Wednesday morning.

     Yes, Virginia, the big cement dock is accessible now, as noted, and fishermen are taking bounty from the Gulf there.
     There are active shops along Dock Street like the Dilly Dally Gally, 390 Dock St., which offer apparel, accessories, books and keepsakes. 
     Cedar Key Harbour Master Suites on Dock Street offers rooms for rent close to the big cement dock.
     The Tipsy Cow Bar & Grill of Dock Street sells drinks and food with an island atmosphere that includes the new ambiance of the scene.
    Liam & Madi’s Beer Wine Spirits, Dock Street Dips, Cedar Key Island Arts and the Sip & Sea Cedar Key are other enterprises to check out. Before launching a vehicle to roll, float or fly onto the island, check the hours for the businesses.
     And visitors are reminded to see Second Street -- home of the Cedar Key Arts Center, as well as Second Street Café, Steamer’s, the Cedar Key Bakery, the Island Hotel and Restaurant, the Cedar Key Historical Society & Museum the Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce and more.
     In addition to the two buildings comprising the Cedar Key Historical Museum, there is the Cedar Key Museum State Park.
     And for the airplane pilots, there is an airstrip.
     Visitors are reminded to perform research prior to visiting places -- to know the hours of operation. Still, even if a plan goes awry, then there can be options beyond an original itinerary. 
     The demolition and removal of debris is happening, and new or restored business invite visitors to Cedar Key – one of the current destinations to check out in Levy County. 

Levy County Government Center
ADA ramp payment approved

This is a photo of the graphic representation from what was on display by the county staff at the Nov. 4 meeting to show what the future front ramp will look like.

Story and Photo By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 6, 2025 at 8 a.m.
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     BRONSON – The Levy County Government Center’s main front structure on School Street is destined to become ADA compliant with the modification of the current steps and ramp leading to the front door of that building.
     The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 by the United States federal government to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities and to ensure equal access to public spaces and services. ADA compliance means that organizations must meet specific standards to make their facilities, services and digital content accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.
     By a 3-0 vote on Nov. 4 from Levy County Commission Chair Desiree Mills, Vice Chair Tim Hodge and County Commissioner Charlie Kennedy the project is now approved for funding.
     Absent from that regular twice-monthly meeting were commissioners Johnny Hiers and Rock Meeks.
     The $113,758 project bid was awarded to Payne Construction Group, per the recommendation of Levy County Manager Mary-Ellen Harper. Commission Chair Mills gave some background information about how the County Commission’s previous plans had been revised to cut costs dramatically from the first version of the ADA improvements needed there.
     Among the cost-cutting measures were to leave the original steps as a foundation for the new steps, which saves the expense from demolition of those older steps that used to lead to the administration building and auditorium of the former Bronson High School, which campus was abandoned when the current Bronson Middle High School Building became functional.

Woman shares SNAP facts

Kristine Switt uses her three minutes during the ‘Public Comments’ part of the Nov. 4 Levy County Commission meeting to share facts about SNAP.

Story and Photo By Jeff M. Hardison © Nov. 5, 2025 at 3 p.m.
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     BRONSON – Kristine Switt told the three members of the five-member Levy County Board of County Commissioners present for the regular twice-monthly meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 4) facts about SNAP.     Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is not completely stopped in Florida, but benefits have been impacted by the federal government shutdown and are only being partially funded. The government has stated it will provide partial funding for November benefits after federal judges ordered emergency funds to be released, though it is unclear if payments will be full or partial.
     Switt said the almost 2.9 million Floridians on SNAP lost those benefits on Nov. 1 as a result of the shutdown.
     In Levy County, there are about 8,100 SNAP recipients, she said, and this equals about 19 percent of the residents in this county.
     She told Levy County Commission Chair Desiree Mills, Vice Chair Tim Hodge and Commissioner Charlie Kennedy who the Levy County SNAP recipients are and how communities benefit from SNAP. Commissioners Johnny Hiers and Rock Meeks were absent from the regular twice-monthly meeting.
     SNAP recipients are “Your neighbors, your employees, people you see and interact with every day,” she said.
      Nearly one in eight Americans and one in five Levy County residents depend on SNAP, she noted. The United States Department of agriculture data shows that almost 90 percent of SNAP recipients are American born citizens, 1.1 percent of recipients are refugees, and 3.3 percent are other qualified non-citizens, she reported.
     SNAP Funds flow through 248,000 retailers nationwide. Every $5 in SNAP benefits generates $9.20 in local community spending. Stopping snap will be a shock to the nation's economy. Food banks and state funds cannot make up the difference, she said.
     As for some people who say fraud, waste and inefficiency are part of the snap program, the United States Department of agriculture program is a model of efficiency. It recently reported that the program had achieved a 95 to 96% payment reimbursement accuracy rate and a 98 to 99% eligibility accuracy rate regarding people being qualified for the program.
     A former USDA official said that he feels threatening millions of children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, parents and workers with hunger, rather than taking all legal steps available to provide food assistance to people who need it is unacceptable.
     Sweet urged commissioners to contribute on behalf of Levy County, if possible, to all of the established food banks in Levy County to help feed the people of the community.
     She also encourages other county residents, businesses and organizations to contribute or donate food to the best of their ability.
     “The (federal g0vernment) budget and billionaires’ tax breaks versus the people may be a partisan policy issue,” Switt said, “but our response to our neighbors’ needs should not be. Action speaks louder than words.”

Project Alvan --
Restoring the Vision of 1884 starts
Movie, author, raffle
and more are at Astrofest 2025

Story, Videos and Photos By Jeff M. Hardison © Oct. 24, 2025 at 8:30 p.m.
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     LEVY COUNTY – Wow!
     Sometimes, a person will say “Wow!” because they are flabbergasted by something that is terrible. For the participants at Astrofest 2025, the expressions of “Wow” happened every day.
     There are already a couple of stories on the daily news website to go with this relatively large story, photos and videos.
     While it was not on the first night or even the first of two programs on Oct. 18, the hope for a special telescope being restored in Levy County is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that has come to bear.
     Dr. Richard Hennig, curator and director of the Chiefland Astronomy Heritage Museum, presented the second program on Oct. 18.


Dr. Richard Hennig (left) and Mike Toomey are seen in the Chiefland Astronomy Museum during Astrofest 2025.

Some of the parts of the future telescope and its base are seen here. When it is restored, there will be some realignment needed in the base since it was built to be in a different place than Levy County, and that perspective from the Earth will be different than from when it was placed years ago elsewhere.

     Project Alvan – Restoring the Vision of 1884 is an effort to restore a 10-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope that was built in 1884 and placed for decades at Haverford College.
     Mike Toomey, president of the Asterion Foundation, donated the telescope to the museum in the summer of 2025 after he bought it in 2003.
     The handcrafted Alvan Clark telescopes are like the almost extinct saola antelope, which is known as the “Asian unicorn.” There are fewer than 100 of those individual creatures remaining in the wild. Dr. Hennig intimated that the Alvan Clark telescopes are like those antelopes as he spoke about these scientific wonders of yesteryear.
     These handcrafted telescopes are from the Golden Age of Discovery, and like that antelope, they are almost extinct, Dr. Hennig said.
     Fewer than 50 Alvan Clark telescopes are in existence today, Hennig said. Fewer than 10 of them are able to be used by the public to use for viewing in the United States, he added.
     And there are zero of these telescopes in this area of Florida, Hennig said.
     Remember, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore an 1884 10-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope. This is thanks to the donation by Toomey, Hennig said.
     To restore the telescope, the base and the dome observatory, it will cost at least $24,000.
     A raffle with more than $23,000 of donated items produced funds that will be put 100 percent toward the project.


Dr. Richard Hennig explains Project Alvan, where there is a plan to restore a 10-inch Alvan Clark refractor telescope that was made in 1884. He starts by comparing Alvan Clark telescopes to some of the antelopes in the wild. They are exceedingly rare. He speaks about Mike Toomey donating the telescope to the Chiefland Astronomy Museum and more. In this video, he takes the viewers back in time. Going back in time is not possibly yet. In his narrative, the presenter tells about a vision of Earth from back then, as well as sharing some details of astronomers of the era. He also takes listeners to Haverford College, and where the telescope was no longer used -- and it was not discarded. In the second part of the clip, which resulted due to battery failure of the camera at the event and a replacement battery being added. The story continues when, in 2003, Toomey bought the telescope. The story continues to 2025, when parts were moved from the University of Florida Paleontology storage area to the museum in the museum in Levy County. The project will cost at least $24,000. Click on the PHOTO to see and hear the video.

Raffle

Dr. Richard Hennig and Austin Peters help people know the numbers called for prizes during the raffle. There were three other children who helped in the awarding of the 60-plus prizes worth more than $23,000 total.


Matthew Peters brings a large celestial photograph he took and that was then etched into glass by a company in Gainesville that was among the donors up to the front, where it was won by a raffle participant.

Some of the raffle participants are seen here.

     A full-fledged raffle on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 29) included in excess of $23,000 worth of equipment and other things donated to help raise funds for Project Alvan – Restoring The Vision of 1884, as noted during the second of the two presentations on Oct. 18.
     The long list of donors and items for this raffle would fill a telephone directory. Among the many items were a Celestron StarSense Explorer 8-inch Dobsonian Model #22470 Telescope; a special film to build a filter to observe the sun through a telescope; and a Starry Night Pro 8 program. 
     More than 60 prizes included telescopes, eyepieces, cameras, filters, mounts, accessories, at least one hat, trips to astronomical events and more.

Don’t Look Up 
     During the rainstorm on Monday night (Oct. 20), people watched the movie Don't Look Up, which is a 2021 American political satire science-fiction film written, co-produced, and directed by Adam McKay from a story he co-wrote with David Sirota. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep. 
     The film shows the story of two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization. The impact event is an allegory for climate change, and the film is a satire of government, political, celebrity, and media indifference to the climate crisis.

Eyepieces and telescopes are among a number of items on display in the museum.

Science Fiction
     Speaking of science fiction, this year, at least one renowned science fiction author who has visited Astrofest for many years was present for Astrofest 2025.
     Joe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author and former college professor. He is best known for his novel The Forever War, which was inspired by his experiences as a combat soldier in the Vietnam War. The 82-year-old man was joined at the event this year again by his graceful and kind wife Gay Haldeman, whom he married in 1965.
     This novel earned the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Presentations


Andy Howell of the Alachua Astronomy Club presented two programs during the week of Astrofest 2025. Here he is seen immediately after his first presentation.

     In addition to the presentation of stars, comets and other objects viewed visually through telescopes or seen after digital equipment gathered photons to create photographs, were presentations people enjoyed at night on the grounds.
     As noted, so far in coverage in HardisonInk.com, there was the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope presentation by Dr. John Planek of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Project Alvan – Restoring the Vision of 1884 by Dr. Richard Hennig.
     Another presenter was Dr. J. Andreas “Andy” Howell of the Alachua Astronomy Club who presented – From Pixels to Light Curves: Using Seestar to Observe Eclipsing Binaries – and How to use free software to analyze the light curve of a binary star.
     Other programs were from Tom Field, founder and president of Field Tested Systems – You can almost touch the stars – An Introduction to Astronomical Spectroscopy; and from Dr. Anthony Gonzalez, a professor in the University of Florida Astronomy Department – Next Generation Very Large Array, which is about designing instruments to reveal the universe that has been previously beyond human perception.
     Please remember that the light from a star seen by people on Earth was produced an exceedingly long time ago.
     The length of time light from other stars needs to travel to reach the Earth varies greatly. While it takes light from the sun just over eight minutes to reach Earth, light from the farthest known galaxy has to travel for 13.3 billion years. The light from the closest star takes more than four years to reach Earth.

In this video, presenter Alex Curry, co-founder of Telescope Live, answers the question of what he sees for the future of his enterprise. The title of his presentation was Capture the Cosmos – Even If You Know Nothing About Astrophotography. He was speaking via ZOOM from Italy, where it was about 11 p.m. when he finished the presentation to people who were watching it on Monday (Oct. 20) from 4 p.m. to about 5 p.m.
Click on the PHOTO to see and hear the video.

     The 100-plus people at Astrofest 2025 enjoyed dinner on Friday evening as well as meals that were provided on the grounds when they RSVP’d and paid for them. Many people brought their own food and drink. There were cookies galore in the museum during presentations.
     Among the many places the astronomers saw to visit on information that was handed out was Cedar Key. Among the many nearby places listed to dine was Treasure Camp on the Suwannee.
 

First Published Feb. 1, 2011 at 8 a.m.
     On Feb. 1, 2011, HardisonInk.com came into existence on the Internet. On All Saints Day - Nov. 1, 2011, The Christian Press section on The Life Page of HardisonInk.com started, which was about nine months after the start of the daily news website. The name "The Christian Press" was derived from an encounter a decade earlier in 2001 in St. Petersburg, when and where a man mentioned to a journalist that this particular journalist must work for "The Christian Press." Although the presumption by the man about that journalist was incorrect and misplaced, the name sounded good. And the journalist said that if he could work for The Christian Press, then that certainly would be the publication to serve.
     Since Nov. 1, 2011, The Christian Press section of this page has run daily devotionals from several individuals who contributed over the past years. There were two days in 2018 when the daily devotional did not run due to a journalist requiring emergency orthopedic surgery on broken bones in his left arm and wrist. That surgically added metal, though, makes that part of that arm even more able to withstand forces. Many daily devotionals are pulled from Strength for Service to God and Country (Whitmore & Stone © 1942; Renewed 1969 by Norman E. Nygaard; Second revised edition © 2002 Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, Providence House Publishers). The journalist who is the sole proprietor and owner of HardisonInk.com (Jeff M. Hardison) notes his appreciation for the use of those devotionals from that now-defunct publishing company, and for the many other contributors who have helped people over the past decade-plus now. Strength for Service to God and Country's daily devotionals include many from a time when the United States of America was a partner in a World War, both WWI and WWII. This journalist welcomes contributions of daily devotionals. Daily devotional authors are asked to please send only their original works to hardisonink@gmail.com. Americans are reminded that all religions, having no religion and or being a person who endorses anti-religion are all protected as part of the freedoms from government intervention, as are other benefits from being an American.
 

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025 at 5:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

AN AID TO PEACE OF MIND

Read Psalm 91

     Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
-- Genesis 18:14 (KJV) 

     God has made a promise to Abraham, which seemed to be contrary to nature and therefore impossible of fulfillment. Abraham took this promise in the mighty stride of his truly great faith and had no trouble with it. Experience had taught him that God is dependable. His promises might seem impossible, but they were reliable and came true.
     Sarah, Abraham’s wife, did not share his assurance. Abraham looked to Almighty God and said: “He can do it, and He will.” Sarah looked upon the human agencies where the promise was to be fulfilled, and she said: “It cannot be.” She laughed at the promise of God. And God said: “Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for Jehovah?”
     This question contains a thought good for constant use, especially in times of trouble. Let us pause and ponder it. Is anything too hard for Jehovah? Every instrument which advances science brings new evidence of the wisdom and power of God revealed in our universe. The Bible is a history of God’s powerful intervention in the lives of His people. Can anything be too hard for Him?
     Jesus gave the definite answer to this question when He said: “With God nothing shall be impossible!” Let us firmly believe that, and apply it to all situations of life.
     OUR GOD AND FATHER, we know that our doubts and fears are not justified by any lack or failure in Thee, but came as a result of our slowness of heart. We often face problems and tasks beyond our power. Make us very sure that they are not beyond Thy power and that Thou wilt rightly care for everything that we give into Thy keeping. In this assurance, let us find courage and strength, peace and rest. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Rev. Otto G.A. Eyrich
St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church
Lincoln, Nebraska
Strength for Service to God and Country
(Whitmore & Stone © 1942; Renewed 1969 by Norman E. Nygaard; Second revised edition © 2002 Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, Providence House Publishers)
 

Outdoor Truths Ministry
By Gary Miller © Nov. 3, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time