Community Archive

Before every performance, Pamela Strecker made one final walk.
She moved through the backstage area from one side to the other, checking on every actor, calling out final cues, making sure nothing had been missed. Then, just before heading up to the booth, she would turn around, look out at the cast and raise a hand in the air.
“Be brilliant.”
It caught on. Cast members started saying it to each other.
Strecker,61, who served as stage manager and eight-year president of Stage Crafters Community Theater in Fort Walton Beach, died earlier this month after a battle with cancer. She had been part of the organization for more than two decades, arriving as a shy backstage helper in 1999 and becoming the heartbeat of one of Northwest Florida’s most beloved volunteer arts organizations.

This past Thursday, Okaloosa County held their annual Hurricane Exercise/Simulation in preparation for the upcoming hurricane season.


Varying departments met at the Okaloosa County Emergency Operations Center at Northwest Florida State College to simulate their responses if a hurricane were to hit the Florida panhandle.

The Okaloosa County Big of the Year is an award that recognizes a mentor who has made a lasting impact through consistent support, strong connection, and a meaningful commitment to a young person’s growth.


It is a high honor that has now been bestowed upon Jessica Valek.

Last Friday, members from around the Crestview community met at Twin Hills Park to help bring awareness to mental health.


It was a cloudy morning, but that didn’t prevent people from supporting the cause of walking in unity to support those with mental health disorders.

For years, dogs have been referred to as “man’s best friend”. Temple Fitness owner, Cory Schroeder, got to experience what that truly meant with his late English Bulldog, Mr. Muscles.


Schroeder now honors his best friend with the “Muscles in May” Dog Wash Fundraiser.

The Crestview football team has gotten creative when it comes to raising money for the program.


On Friday, May 15, the football team found a way to incorporate “fun” into fundraising with their annual golf tournament at Blackwater Golf Course.

The Friends of the Crestview Public Library will stop hosting their semiannual book sale and plan to revitalize the nonprofit through new “purpose-driven fundraising,” President Paul Farnsworth said.

A proposed cleaning and staining project for sidewalks along Main Street in Crestview has been scrapped following discussion at a recent Crestview Community Redevelopment Agency meeting.

The Crestview Resource Center recently hosted its second annual open house, highlighting the outreach groups it partners with to assist underprivileged residents.

The Okaloosa County School District is participating in the America 250 celebration along with Okaloosa County and the City of Crestview. It’s first official spotlight on the event was a proclamation declaring April 27 “America 250 Celebration Day.”