BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Linda Alday and Don Hardy, who 35 and 30 years, respectively, to the Bradford County School District, were honored by the Bradford County Education Foundation at its annual Leave a Legacy event, which was held Aug. 18 at Madison Street Baptist Church in Starke.
Leave a Legacy, which recognizes those who’ve impacted Bradford schools and the community, is a fundraiser for BCEF, an all-volunteer organization created in 1990 to raise funds for Bradford public schools.
“We do all of this because we care about kids and education,” BCEF President Cheryl Canova said. “Last year alone, we donated over $70,000 to our Bradford public schools.”
Superintendent of Schools Will Hartley said, “I can tell you that during my time, since I’ve been here, everything we have asked of them, we have gotten. They’re all about the kids. They do an amazing job.”
Prior to the spotlight being placed on the night’s honorees, an auction consisting of four cakes made by Virginia Autry was held, raising more than $900 for BCEF. A welcome sign made by Bradford Transition Academy students was auctioned off for an additional $100.
Auctioneer Kevin Kerr donated an auction item to provide funds to BCEF as well — a knife that sold for $130.
Alday and Hardy were each featured in video presentations, talking about their careers as well as their lives in retirement. Both joined Bradford County Judge Tatum Davis for a question-and-answer session as well.
Linda Alday
Alday, who was born and raised in Starke, attended Starke Elementary, Bradford Middle and Bradford High schools. She married her high-school sweetheart, Dwayne, and will celebrate her 54th anniversary this month. They have two sons, who graduated from BHS, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
“Life is good,” Alday said. “We are so blessed.”
It was a call from her sister, Josie Williams, that led to her start in the school district. Alday said her sister told her that Jim Duncan was hiring for a position at Lawtey Elementary. She was hired as a paraprofessional.
Alday also worked as a paraprofessional at Southside and Starke elementary schools and served as a substitute teacher as well.
Subbing was a job she loved.
“I just loved the challenge,” Alday said. “One day, you might be in kindergarten. The next day, you might in the high school.”
During the question-and-answer session, Alday described how one thing a substitute teacher did a lot was running off copies of assignments for students. She said the students would all sniff the copies.
“They got the biggest high off the ditto machine,” Alday said, which prompted Davis to say, “Who knew we had such a population of ditto-machine snorters in the community?”
Before the laughter could even die down, Hardy said, “I was high on ditto ink for the first two years of my teaching.”
Alday recalled how she once substituted for her fellow Leave a Legacy honoree, Hardy, who was the chorus teacher at BHS.
“Did I know anything about singing? No. I was just told to go there,” Alday said, adding, “Of course, there are really no lesson plans when you go in there. They sang. I just sat there.”
It was still a fun experience, Alday said. Her most memorable substitute opportunity occurred in kindergarten when one of her sons was in the class. He, of course, called her “Mommy.” Following his lead, so did every other student.
“I was ‘Mommy’ to about 20 head of kindergarteners that day,” Alday said. “They did not call me ‘Ms. Alday.’ It was ‘Mommy.’ That’s one of my fondest memories.”
Alday also worked in the purchasing and finance departments during her time in the school system.
During some her summers, Alday worked in the Starke Recreation Department alongside Canova, who was its director.
Alday made memorable appearances at several BCEF events. She participated in the organization’s adult spelling bees, dressing up as one of the Things from “The Cat in the Hat” and two Johnny Depp characters: Jack Sparrow and the Mad Hatter from “Alice in Wonderland.”
During one of the spelling bees, Alday and her teammate were disqualified when Alday misspelled “tow.” She thought the pronouncer was asking her to spell “toe.”
“I did not let them forget that,” Alday said.
Alday and her husband were also participants in one of the BCEF Fall in Love event, which was like television’s “The Newlywed Game.”
“He wasn’t too good at it,” Alday said of Dwayne. “My answers were good. He said stuff, and I would turn around, and I’d say, ‘What? Where did you get that from?’”
Alday said her husband would begin to say, “Well, I thought,” before she interrupted him and said, “Well, don’t think anymore.”
If those events proved anything, it’s that Alday has a sense of humor.
“Anything I can do to have fun in life and share my humor — it just fills my heart,” she said.
Davis prompted Alday to talk about the mask project she was involved in after the onset of Covid. She received a call from her church — First United Methodist of Starke — asking if she could make masks. As one who enjoys crafts, she figured she could, especially with the help of YouTube.
Word got out that she was making masks, so she was contacted by local nursing homes asking if she could make some for them.
“I wound up making 780-something masks,” said Alday, who also made masks for UF Health Shands doctors, nurses and patients when she received a call from Chad Rhoden, who works in the lung-transplant department. She also made masks for her daughter-in-law and her colleagues at St. Vincent’s.
Alday didn’t charge for the masks, which she’d leave outside her home for people to pick up.
“I felt like a drug dealer,” Alday joked, adding, “I had so many people coming to my house, I didn’t even know who they were.”
In all seriousness, Alday said, “During Covid, I was so blessed that God gave me a talent to help others. Really, that’s what life’s about, helping others.”
Alday said during her time working with children, she made it a point to listen to them as well as showing them that she cared about them.
“Teachers, subs, educators — they need to know what the student thinks,” she said. “It’s not all about you. It’s about them.”
At the close of her video interview, Alday said, “Children always have a place with me. They make me feel young. That’s what life is. That’s what life’s all about.”
Don Hardy
Hardy was born June 12, 1951, the son of Charles and Juanita McGauley Hardy. He was the fourth of five children. Hardy grew up in Starke, attending Starke Elementary, Bradford Middle and Bradford High schools.
“I graduated in 1969 — magna cum barely,” Hardy joked.
Davis asked Hardy what it was like growing up in a small town. Hardy cracked, “Well, it takes the same number of years to grow up in a small town as it does in a large town.”
Hardy later added, “It was a great place to grow up. It was wonderful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I cherish my childhood memories and love the town of Starke.”
An important person came into Hardy’s life when William “Bill” T. George was hired as music minister at First Baptist Church of Starke. Hardy, who sang in the church’s youth choir at George’s behest, said he could spend all night talking about how much George meant to him.
“Over the years, he was my mentor,” Hardy said. “I learned from him that I had musical skills that I never would’ve known about had he not brought them out in me. That’s one of the things you try to do when you teach students — let them discover the abilities they have that they did not know they had.”
Hardy earned his AA degree at Santa Fe College. When his friend Bill McRae suggested they go back to school, they both applied for and were accepted to the University of Florida School of Music.
“They wanted to know who our choral directors were in high school,” Hardy said. “We said, ‘We didn’t have choral director in high school because we were not in chorus.’ All we had was Mr. George, who we called ‘Big G.’ The professors at the university said, “You learned all you learned from a youth choir program at church?” When Hardy and McRae confirmed that, the professors said George must have been quite the teacher.
“We said, ‘Oh, yeah. You have no idea.’ He was great,” Hardy said.
Hardy recalled when he first saw Esther Julia Romero, who walked past him and McRae one day. He said McRae asked, “What was that?” Hardy replied, “If you don’t what that was, you’re in big trouble, buddy.’”
That’s how Hardy met the woman who would become his wife. He and Esther married on July 18, 1975. Their first son, Donald, was born in 1977. Their second son, Adam, was born in 1983. He passed away in 1987 due to cancer.
Hardy, who graduated from UF’s School of Music in 1976, first worked as minister of music and youth at Gainesville’s Westside Baptist Church. He was offered jobs at Gainesville’s Buchholz High School and Orange Park High School, but Hardy said, “I realized working in Bradford County, for me, was the best place I could be.”
He began teaching at BHS in 1978. He remained there for 30 years until his retirement. During that time, he also taught additionally at BMS for nine years.
Hardy’s students amassed more than 150 Superior ratings at solo, ensemble and choir festivals.
“We had a tremendous reputation, especially in our district, for being very good singers, very good musicians,” Hardy said. “I thank my students for that.”
He said he took six choral groups to the district festival in 1995, with all six earning Superior ratings. They’d go on to do the same at the state festival as well.
“They all received straight Superior ratings, which, at that point in time, had not been done by any school,” Hardy said. “I don’t know if it’s been done since.”
Hardy took groups of BHS students to New York City to perform as part of the Florida Youth Chorale at Carnegie Hall in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Participation in the chorale was by invitation only.
One year, 12 of the 24 members were BHS students.
“That was a pretty good moment for me,” Hardy said.
Hardy was asked by Davis if he had any specific students who stood out. He joked that Hartley was one after hearing the superintendent tell the crowd earlier that as a seventh-grader, he chose chorus as an elective because it meant he could ride a bus to the high school and back. He figured that’d be 10 minutes he didn’t have to spend in class.
Hartley said what Hardy discovered was he had a student in his class who wouldn’t sing, so Hardy eventually called his mother and said, “If you want him to pass in my class, you better just get him out because he’s not going to do it.’”
“I don’t even remember that, Will,” Hardy said. “I don’t even know if that’s a true story. Really? I think he made it up.”
In all seriousness, Hardy said he couldn’t single out any students, saying, “I referred to all of my students as, ‘My favorite student.’ In many respects, that’s true. I loved them. I think they knew I did.”
Many of those students were present at Leave a Legacy, with approximately 60 being directed by Hardy during a musical performance at the event’s conclusion.
When given the opportunity to say something to those who want to become educators, Hardy said, “If I could give one little piece of advice, it’s treat your students with love, kindness, discipline and praise. You have to do that to be successful, in my opinion.”
Hardy also added, “Be the teacher about who the principal will say, ‘If I had 100 of that person, boy, my life would be great.’ Try to be that teacher.”
