Alachua Chronicle

Annasemble Community Orchestra presents a free celebration concert
2026-05-09 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | University Auditorium, 333 Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States
This year, we celebrate 28 years of the Annasemble Community Orchestra. From a small group of people gathering weekly to make music together, we have grown into a vibrant music community that hosts three orchestras: the Annasemble, the Annasemble Chamber Orchestra, and the Young Annasemble. All three orchestras will perform under the direction of our retiring Music Director, Annemieke Pronker-Coron in her Final Concert with Annasemble Orchestra.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church garage sale
2026-05-16 08:00 - 13:00 | Holy Trinity Epicopal Church, 100 NE 1st St, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
Attic treasures and gifts, art and pottery, collectibles, jewelry, decorations, sports items, linens. All proceeds go to charity

Cory Durden Football Camp
2026-06-13 10:00 - 13:30 | Easton-Newberry Sports Complex, 24880 NW 16th Ave, Newberry, FL, 32669, United States

Trauma, Part II: Trauma as a Character in Writing
2026-06-14 14:30 - 16:30 | Millhopper Library, 3145 NW 43rd St, Gainesville, 32606, United States
Join the Writers Alliance of Gainesville to learn how to use traumatic events as a resource in your writing. Kathy Connor Dobronyi will share her own stories of trauma and those of her characters to help you write about trauma.
Few people reach adulthood without experiencing some painful, emotional, and traumatic events. Yet for us authors, those trying events can become a treasure of knowledge and understanding that we can use in our writing.
Come join us at the Millhopper Library at 2:30 p.m. on the second Sunday in June for a second look this year at using trauma as a resource in your writing.
WAG member Kathy Connor Dobronyi will share her personal stories of trauma and the stories of her characters to help you write about trauma.
Trauma is a word we often hear, yet its true nature is frequently misunderstood and underestimated. There are three levels of trauma: acute, chronic, and complex, a combination of the aforementioned. There is no single definition of trauma; it can be different things to different people.
Kathy has lived with complex trauma from a childhood of abuse and war. In her writing, she uses the memory of her time in Saigon, where she experienced terrorist bombings at an American theater and other facilities where Americans congregated. She also witnessed human immolation and heard the bombs and gunfire during the overthrow of the South Vietnamese President on November 1, 1963.
Kathy is not a therapist or a clinician. She is a retired high school teacher, a storyteller, and a writer. Using stories from her life and the lives of her characters, she shares the different facets of trauma and healing.
Although she wrote articles for trade journals and developed lesson plans used by the Folgers Institute, she never considered herself an author until she was asked by a local newspaper editor to write her story: Under the Wings of a Good Luck Phoenix: Memoir of an American Girl in Saigon, 1963.
2:30-4:30 PM
June 14
Millhopper Branch, Alachua County Library
3145 NW 43rd St.

MIDSUMMER'S DAY themed Contra Dance featuring live music played by Just In Time and calling by John Rogers.
2026-06-19 19:00 - 21:45 | United Church of Gainesville, 1624 NW 5th Avenue, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
Contra is a dance done with a lively, walking step. You simply walk in time to the music – one step for each beat of music. There is no fancy footwork required. There is a caller for every dance who walks the dancers through the moves before the music begins and continues to call until the dancers are confidently moving through the dance. If you can walk, you can contra dance!
Suggested Donation:
$10 (ages 26+)
$5 (ages 16-25)
Dancers ages 15 & under get in FREE when accompanied by an adult.
• Please bring your own non-alcoholic beverage.
• This is a friendly welcoming recreational activity and all are welcome.
• No partner or experience is necessary.
• Contra dancing is fun and we’ll teach you how.
• No special dress is required.
• Wear comfortable, casual attire and soft-soled non-marking shoes.

Hawaiian Hula Dance and Musical Performance by Renowned Performers Bernice & Manuel Roberto
2026-06-28 11:00 - 12:30 | Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL, 32606, United States
The community is warmly welcome to join Unity of Gainesville, Florida’s Sunday Service on Sunday, June 28 at 11 a.m. for a Hawaiian Hula Dance being performed by Kisore Hutchinson who was born and raised in Hawaii and began studying Hula Dance at an early age along with Bernice Roberto on Harp & Voice and Mnuael Roberto on Flute.

Bernice and Manuel Roberto: Lost in the moment, you realize heaven really is on earth in the presence of the remarkable musicians, Bernice and Manuel of Kailua-Kona. Bernice is an accomplished harpist, pianist, and singer; along with her other talents of playing the synthesizer and co-composing songs with Manuel, her husband who is an established poet, composer, flautist, and devoted Interfaith Minister. Discover more at facebook.com/bernice.roberto or on Instagram @berniceroberto.

Event Details:
When: Sunday, June 28
Time: 11:00 AM
Where: Unity of Gainesville, Florida – 8801 NW 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32606
Cost: Free entry (Donations encouraged)

Please see the attached flyer for information about the event and feel free to share it with your audience to help spread the word!
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to enjoy live music from talented local artists while celebrating the spirit of the season with your community.

The Writer and the Machine: Collaborating with AI
2026-07-12 14:30 - 16:00 | Millhopper Library, 3145 NW 43rd St, Gainesville, 32606, United States
AI won’t take your job. But someone who knows how to prompt it will.
In her book, The Writer and the Machine, Jaime Engle shows novelists, screenwriters, and entrepreneurs how to stay relevant and in demand by collaborating with AI—without losing their voice. Instead of fearing the future, she teaches how to prompt AI with a story-first strategy to build intellectual property (IP) that sells.
With her proven creative framework, you’ll learn to write faster, pitch smarter, and build IP that lasts—just like thousands of other creatives she has helped.
Jaimie Engle created the Engleverse stories in books, film, and TV. She wrote, sold, and produced Just Jake (2023), sold and developed a story with DreamWorks Animation Studios (2025), and was hired to write an audiobook for Fresh Produce Media (2025).
She founded Chapter Drops™ to help people with stories write and publish books, offering a Pitch Drop service that connects authors with producers. She has written and published 25+ books, earning awards such as Kirkus Choice Book of the Year (2020), Publisher’s Book Life Prize (Fiction and Non-Fiction 2020), and the Writers of the Future Award (2016).
For a deep dive into AI, check out her book, The Writer and the Machine, which will be available for purchase following her talk.
This program is free and open to the public.
2:30-4:00 PM
July 12
Millhopper Branch, Alachua County Library
3145 NW 43rd St.
Gainesville, FL 32606
352-334-1272 (venue phone)
Millhopper Branch | Alachua County Library District

INDEPENDENCE DAY-themed Contra Dance
2026-07-17 19:00 - 21:45 | United Church of Gainesville, 1624 NW 5th Avenue, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
Contra is a dance done with a lively, walking step. You simply walk in time to the music – one step for each beat of music. There is no fancy footwork required. There is a caller for every dance who walks the dancers through the moves before the music begins and continues to call until the dancers are confidently moving through the dance. If you can walk, you can contra dance!
Suggested Donation:
$10 (ages 26+)
$5 (ages 16-25)
Dancers ages 15 & under get in FREE when accompanied by an adult.
• Please bring your own non-alcoholic beverage.
• This is a friendly welcoming recreational activity and all are welcome.
• No partner or experience is necessary.
• Contra dancing is fun and we’ll teach you how.
• No special dress is required.
• Wear comfortable, casual attire and soft-soled non-marking shoes.
VISIT https://godsdance.org/event/jj-luxe-250-blues/

Metaphysical Musician Charley Thweatt
2026-07-26 11:00 - 17:00 | Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL, 32606, United States
The community is warmly welcome to join Unity of Gainesville, Florida in our Sunday Service and Workshop featuring Metaphysical Musician Charley Thweatt on Sunday, July 26, 2026. Charley brings a presence of warmth, humor, and ease to any gathering. He has been a favorite with Unity groups since the early ’80s, when he took a leap of faith from his budding architecture career into touring full-time in 15 countries on 6 continents with his inspiring talks, concerts, and workshops, plus his spiritual Italy tours. His inspirational messages will encompass The Heart of Compassion and Inner Journey Concert for Peace.
He has also been the musical opener for such luminaries as Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Tony Robbins, Ram Dass, Alan Cohen, and Louise Hay. His music has appeared on national television and radio, including such popular titles as You’re an Angel, Take Your Power Back, and Dancers in the Light.

Charley Thweatt . Inspired Acoustic Music . musicangel.com

Event Details:
When: Sunday, July 26
Time: Sunday Service – 11:00 a.m. & Workshop 1:15 p.m.
Where: Unity of Gainesville, Florida – 8801 NW 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32606
Cost: $15

See the attached flyer for information about the event or visit our web page https://www.unitygainesville.org/charley-thweatt-7-26-26.html and feel free to share it with your audience to help spread the word!

Managing stress through faith
2026-07-28 18:30 - 20:30 | Kanapaha Presbyterian Church, 6221 SW 75th Terrace, Gainesville, FL, 32608, United States
Kanapaha Presbyterian Church invites you to a free community workshop: Managing stress through faith.

This event is free, but donations are appreciated and will benefit Blessing Baskets.

Finding Unheard Voices in Public Records and Documents
2026-08-23 14:30 - 16:00 | Millhopper Library, 3145 NW 43rd St, Gainesville, 32606, United States
In this program, Finding Unheard Voices in Public Records and Documents, author Coleen DeGroff will share how she published the first book on African American enslavement in Alachua County.
She will describe her approach to creating and publishing a book using public records and historical archives, and how her discovery of long-hidden documents led her to find accounts of hundreds of enslaved people who were brought to Alachua County to labor on nearly five dozen plantations for half a century, generating a significant amount of wealth for the region.
Alachua County Black Book: Accounts of Enslaved People Discovered in Ancient Records uses bills of sale, wills, mortgages, and other records to offer a glimpse into the lives of the enslaved and the people who enslaved them between 1815 and 1865.
DeGroff hopes that this compilation of long-buried accounts from public archives will help other writers share the tales of these unheard voices so they are not forgotten.
From the time Coleen DeGroff could pick up a pen, she has been a writer. From poetry and songs in her teen years, to writing articles for newspapers and magazines (including a stint as a humor columnist for a small Colorado magazine), to a fifteen-year career as a blogger and a real estate agent, writing has always been a part of her life.
After deciding to retire from real estate, Coleen followed her dreams back to writing about subjects close to her heart. She says she didn’t set out to write the Alachua County Black Book. Instead, she believes the book found her, and she will always be grateful that it did.
More can be found about her writing career at https://www.coleendegroff.com/.
This program is free and open to the public.
