Gabberts celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary
Gene and Brenda Gabbert will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 21, 2010.
They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church, Panama City, Florida on August 21, 1960. Brenda had just graduated from Bay High School that June, and Gene was in the Air Force, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, Florida. Gene is from Howard Lake, Minnesota.
Gene and Brenda lived in Minnesota for about ten months, after getting out of the Air Force and working for General Dynamics for a few months, and then for a private telephone company for a while in Minnesota.
The job Gene was waiting for opened up for him in Pensacola, Western Electric. He made supervisor within a few years. He then went to work for Southern Bell and made supervisor.
Gene and Brenda had two children, Amanda (Mandy) Lynn and Melissa Caroline, who is deceased.
After living in Cantonment for a little over three years, working for Southern Bell and farming, Gene decided to become a John Deere Dealer. Gene and Brenda opened up Jay Farm Equipment, Jay, Florida in August, 1975, and a John Deere Lawn & Garden Dealership in Milton in 1984. Both dealerships became Jay Tractor Inc.
The dealerships were lost due to the illness of their daughter, Melissa Caroline Gabbert, in 1986. Melissa died of complications of cancer on March 13, 1990. The Peanut Festival has been held in her memory since October 1990, and every first weekend in October since then.
This year will be the 21st annual Peanut Festival on the Gabbert Farm, October 2 – 3, 2010.
