'Twila Love Fest' held to celebrate life of EHS graduate

The late Twila Robinson-Browder's love for everyone was honored through music, dance, and poetry at the Twila Love Fest on Saturday at T.B. McPherson Park in southeast Gainesville.

"After she passed, the Lord put it in my heart to keep her legacy alive," said Robinson-Browder's mother, Felicia Carnegie-Parker. "She had so much love. She cared for everybody on her job, at her school. She left that legacy of love. She will give the shirt off of her back."

Robinson-Browder was 44 when she died in a car accident on Interstate 75 on June 21, 2018, after being hit on the driver's side of her car that flipped twice into trees on the highway as she was on her way to UF Health Shands Hospital where she worked in the emergency room.

Robinson-Browder was born in Gainesville and raised in Williston the for majority of her life. She graduated from Eastside High School in 1990. Afterwards, she became a correctional officer at a juvenile detention center in Ocala and graduated from a braiding school in Ocala where she received a certificate for braiding.

She also worked at Tacachale for five years in Gainesville.

"After she passed, the Lord put it in my heart to keep her legacy alive," Carnegie-Parker. "She had so much love. She cared for everybody on her job, at her school. She left that legacy of love. She will give the shirt off of her back."

The event began in Williston in 2019 and last year was the first time the event was held at T.B. McPherson Park.

The biggest message Carnegie-Parker wants people to remember from the event is that, "Love has no color."

"A lot of people show love to certain people," Carnegie-Parker said. "God has no chosen person. My daughter treated everybody the same. You never know what tomorrow brings."

She also talked about how her daughter would hug people during trying times to lift their spirits up.

"It's that hug that makes someone's day," she said. "It encourages them to move further. Even when it seems like they don't need it, it makes them feel better."

One of Robinson-Browder's godsisters, Tammy Gunn, reminisced about how much she loved her and the times they spent together.

"When you see me, you see her," Gunn said. "When she needed anything, I'd always be there for her."

Gunn said Robinson-Browder's favorite things to eat where red velvet cake, sun flower seeds and lollipops, and that her favorite colors were purple, pink and silver, which were decorated throughout the park.

One of the vendors, Redeeming Faith and Anointing Church located 5619 SW 63rd Blvd., gave away free food and sold paintings by Kenneth Watts, an artist who is a member of the church.

The name of the church's food ministry is called HOPE, which is an acronym for Having Other People Eat. One of the church's pastors, Pastor Teresa Osoba, said the community event is aligned with what what their church stands for.

"We wanted to help support the vision and feed the community," Osoba said. "We believe in educating people and she offer scholarships to the community."

Ministries of Expressive Song and Dance Founder Elois Waters said she was honored to be chosen to be one of the performers at the event.

"This is a powerful event and I'm glad to see her doing it for her loved one," Waters said. "We are inspired and encouraged by the love of God."

Carnegie-Parker shared a poem about her daughter that was written by Elouise Carnegie.

It read: "Her love continues on, help us make it clear. If you only knew her, you would say she was so dear. A smile from her heart, she gave to everyone. She never met a stranger, no not one. Her life was like ours, with all its ups and downs. She kept her head up high, and her feet on the ground. Let's keep her, and whatever you do. Because if she was here, she would do the same for you."

For more information about the Twila Love Fest, contact Carnegie-Parker at 843-599-4647.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: 'Twila Love Fest' held to celebrate life of EHS graduate