A small group of intrepid kayakers embarks on a 100-plus mile paddle trip in early October. They'll be traversing the Apalachicola River in Northwest Florida from Chattahoochee to the coastal community that bears the river's name. Some of this year's paddlers talk about it: Georgia Ackerman, Apalachicola Riverkeeper; Martha Haynes; Lee Rigby; and Rob Diaz de Villegas who is also a video producer and environmental reporter for WFSU Public Media.

On Oct. 14, Tallahassee's LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts will open an exhibit featuring giant photographs of 17 outstanding women from the local community, all 65 and older. Each photo will be accompanied by a revelatory haiku. To talk about the exhibit and its significance are: Project originator Eleanor Dietrich; Cherry Alexander, one of the portrait subjects; Powell Kreis, programming director of LeMoyne; Becki Rutta, the project's photographer; and Mary Jane Ryals who authored the portrait haikus.

A community conversation on human trafficking in the Capital City area will take place October 15-16 at St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral. To talk about that and how human sex and work trafficking in our area is such a pervasive issue are: Carolyn LeBoeuf, prime organizer of the upcoming Summit; Robin Hassler Thompson, head of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center; Wendy Strickland, executive director of Anglewing; and Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jack Campbell.

For more than two decades, Leon County voters have approved charging themselves a bit more sales tax in order to fund public infrastructure and beautification projects under the Blueprint label. Currently, 31 active projects totaling more than $515 million are underway. To talk about it: Blueprint Director Autumn Calder; Design and Construction Manager Dan Scheer; and History and Culture Trail Project Manager Tatiana Daguillard.

Three years ago, Leon County's Sabal Palm Elementary School became the area's first Community Partnership School. Under that designation, long-term partners provide a multitude of ancillary services so that a school's teachers and administrators can focus their efforts on education. To talk about how that concept has been working at Sabal Palm are: School Principal Anicia Robinson; Director of Community Partnerships Anna-Kay Hutchison; Dr. Daniel Van Durme, chief medical officer of the Florida State University College of Medicine; FAMU College of Education Dean Dr. Allyson Watson; and Gil Ziffer, now a board member with the Children's Home Society.

Even before the pandemic, America's suicide rate was rising. In Tallahassee, the 2012 suicide death of 31-year old Brook Bowers prompted her parents - Mary and Bill - to start a yearly event to raise awareness and resources for local mental health providers. To talk about this year's Labor Day happening at the Alford Greenway are: Mary and Bill Bowers; and Cindy Foster with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Florida.

Leon County has five constitutional officers as prescribed by Florida law: the sheriff, supervisor of elections, clerk of court, tax collector and property appraiser. Representatives from those last 3 offices will talk about their function and how they provide needed services to local government and residents, even during a pandemic. The guests are: Leon County Clerk of Court Gwen Marshall; Property Appraiser Akin Akinyemi; and Alethea Jackson, Chief of Tax Administration for the office of Leon County Tax Collector Doris Malloy.

The days of young offenders being treated as hardened, adult criminals may be over. But there are still too many cases in which teens are tarnished for the rest of their lives as a result of relatively minor offenses. To talk about new approaches and initiatives in the field of juvenile justice are: Tom Olk, co-founder and former CEO of DISC Village; Current DISC Village CEO John Wilson; and Christian Minor, executive director of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association.

The 15th president of Florida State University talks about his nearly 7-year tenure, including what he considers his biggest accomplishments, his hopes for the school's future and even some gentle criticism of state lawmakers' efforts to micromanage universities' political leanings and course offerings.

As circumstances change almost daily, some of Leon County's leading public and private school administrators talk about what they are doing to ensure students can have the benefits of in-person education in safety. To talk about it are: Cornerstone Learning Community Director Jason Flom; Leon District Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna; and Maclay School Head of School James Milford.