The celebration will take place at the Crestview Community Center, 1446 Commerce Drive. Admission is free, though donations will be accepted.
“We’re expecting a large turnout,” Augusta Whittle, the library’s adult services librarian, said today.
Other giveaways leading up to NERDCon have included this CGC Gem Mint Japanese Pikachu VMAX trading card. (Photo courtesy of the Crestview Public Library)
She said NERDCon will include three panels, a costume contest, appearances by several authors and a local production company, and various vendor booths and food trucks.
Here is the panel lineup:
11 a.m.: “How to turn your fandom into profit or a business”
1 p.m.: “Screen acting or voice acting”
3 p.m.: “What is cosplay: From design to participation.”
Vendors will include GameMasters Guild and two comic books shops, “basically any kind of nerd fandom,” Whittle said. “We’ve tried to run the gamut on that.”
Items available for purchase will include pens, trading cards, plushies, and Pokémon and Dungeons & Dragons items. Food and beverages will be sold by about half a dozen food trucks parked outside of the community center.
The Crestview Community Center, left, stands adjacent to the Crestview Public Library. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Guests should have multiple forms of payment to make purchases from the vendor booths and food trucks.
Whittle said NERDCon attendees “are encouraged to cosplay,” or dress up as their favorite characters, “but it’s not a requirement by any means.”
Their Gulf Coast Media bookstore, which contains thousands of free used books in various genres, as well as many rock-bottom-priced used DVDs and CDs, opened shortly before last Christmas at American Self Storage, 1501 E. James Lee Blvd. (U.S. Highway 90). The bookstore is open from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
American Self Storage stands across U.S. Highway 90 from the National Guard Armory and about half a mile east of Twin Hills Park. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
On a typical Sunday, about 25 to 40 bookworms visit the store.
“All of the books are free,” Roy said today. “It’s $1 for a DVD, and two CDs for $1: it’s just to make a little bit of revenue and help pay the (storage units’ rental) bill. Even one day when we have an actual brick-and-mortar bookstore, and that’s obviously the eventual goal, children’s books will always be free, no matter what.”
The couple’s current bookstore has a “soft limit” of 10 free books per household on each Sunday.
The overall bookstore operation is housed in five 300-square-foot storage units: one contains children’s books, another contains fiction books, one houses nonfiction books, and a mix of media that awaits a turn on the store’s bookshelves is stored in two other units.
“The middle unit is our fiction section,” Darlene said. “I like to call it ‘the mom room’ because it’s adult fiction. Everything on the bookshelf going all the way around is alphabetized by the last name of the author. If you have a favorite author, you can come find it easily.”
She said the bookstore has continued to grow in popularity since it first opened.
“On Sundays from 12 to 4, this entire row is just full of cars,” Roy said of the paved lane next to the first group of storage units. “I mean, it’s elbow room inside (the bookstore), and the heat doesn’t seem to be bothering anybody other than us, because we’re usually here for like four hours before it opens and an hour or two afterward cleaning it up.”
Saved from the landfill
In their day jobs, Roy and Darlene serve as the owners of Crestview-based Shot In Focus Schools & Sports Photography and SIF Real Estate Photography.
Roy, who recently served 1 1/2 years as chairman of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, said he and his wife obtain the books and other types of media for their bookstore in various ways.
“One thing is, people bring in donations,” Roy said. “A lot of people bring in the books that they’re done reading or movies they’re done watching.”
The bookstore also includes leftover items from regional estate sales.
This storage unit houses a wide variety of fiction books for the bookstore. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
In addition, “I offer book pickups, basically from Panama City to Pensacola,” Roy said. “Because of our day jobs, we’re able to get around a lot. So, it’s nothing for me, when I’m in Pensacola for a day or two, I’ll go around and pick up donations there. I do purchase some items as well. We offer bulk purchasing: so, if somebody is about to move out and they have a whole house full of books, we do pay by the pound. We don’t pay by the book, we just pay by the pound.”
He added that about the top 10% of all items acquired for the bookstore are re-sold online.
“But while a book might have a lot of value to you and me, by the time you pay for listing fees and shipping fees and stuff, there’s not enough margin left in it to really sell it online, but there’s still a lot of value left in this book,” Roy said. “So that’s where all (the bookstore in the storage units) is: these are all books that would end up in a landfill or who knows where if we didn’t put them on a shelf out here.”
He and Darlene said most of the visitors to the bookstore are Crestview residents. They also see residents of Laurel Hill, DeFuniak Springs, Florala, Alabama, and other towns. The mix of visitors includes many teachers and homeschooled students.
“One lady from Laurel Hill told me, ‘Don’t ever close! You’re the closest place for me to find books,’” Darlene said.
A full-time bookstore
Roy and Darlene have been looking around Crestview for a place to open a full-time bookstore that would include used books, the online sales of newer and higher value used books, and a coffee shop/cafe.
“Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of inventory in Crestview that suits our needs, because we need more than the retail space of a bookstore,” Roy said. “Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of revenue in used books. People are not going to want to pay full price for a used book, so you can’t really run a bookstore just off of used books. So, we would be doing media sales as well: DVDs, CDs, vinyl, you name it. But we also want to bring the coffee, some place to have a meeting or entertainment.”
Darlene Estes shows one of her folded book art pieces. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
He said he and his wife are looking for at least 2,000 square feet of commercial space, which would contain the bookstore’s retail operation and its warehouse. The lease rates at several places the couple have looked at in Crestview, however, are way too high, Roy said.
There are locations in cities such as Niceville and Freeport that would meet the couple’s needs, he said.
“But if we can’t do this in Crestview, we’re not going to do it,” Roy said.
To learn more about the Gulf Coast Media bookstore, visit https://www.facebook.com/estesmediallc.
Early bird admission is $2 per family on Friday, when the sale runs from 2-6 p.m.
Admission is free on Saturday, when the sale runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Numerous books in different genres will be available for purchase at the cash-only sale. Hardcover books will cost $1 each, and paperbacks will be two for $1.
The overall event will include a bake sale. Proceeds from the book and bake sales will benefit the Crestview Public Library.
At this juncture, your feet will feel the coldness of the creek water seep through your kayak and replace the warmth of Rocky Bayou’s H2O. On the morning of Sunday, Aug. 3, I enjoyed this moment as much as I have on many prior trips to the creek, which contains the decades-old wreckage of an Air Force plane, as well as a wooden fort and the remnants of a military training bridge.
I arrived at the mouth of the creek after paddling for about 20 minutes from my usual departure point of Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, next to Niceville and Bluewater Bay. The park charges a $4 fee for a single-occupant vehicle.
Heading to Rocky Creek from Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
A few personal watercrafts jetted around the bayou while I paddled northeast to the creek on this mostly cloudy morning. Cool breezes greeted me following a rain shower, and not long after entering the creek, I passed swamp lilies, fragrant water lilies, and pickerelweed, the latter featuring purple flower spikes.
A fragrant water lily. (Photo by Tony Judnich)A swamp lily and a cypress knee. (Photo by Tony Judnich)Approaching the State Road 293 Bridge. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Rocky Creek runs through a section of the Eglin Air Force Base reservation, and kayakers and other paddlers must have an Eglin recreation permit to explore the river. An annual permit costs $30 and can be purchased online at eglin.isportsman.net.
Here is a description of the creek by Eglin AFB officials: “Rising deep within restricted areas, Rocky Creek is a blackwater stream that winds through some of the Eglin’s reservation’s most pristine hardwood forests. Rocky Creek experiences some of the highest gradients on Eglin, making for a very fast current.”
This view, from a Delta flight heading from the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport to Atlanta, shows Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Rocky Bayou, and some of the hardwood forests that Rocky Creek cuts through. (Photo by Tony Judnich)An aquatic wall of green on Rocky Creek. (Photo by Tony Judnich)A giant cypress tree. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Paddling upstream on this river is definitely a great workout, and besides all the colorful flora, hopefully you’ll see some wild animals along the way.
On my latest journey, a foot-long fish that darted downstream was the first creature I spotted. The next one was a great blue heron, which I followed upstream and disrupted from resting spots several times. There was also a belted kingfisher that expertly avoided webs spun across the creek by golden silk spiders. On a previous trip, I saw two large wild boars running along a bank on the creek’s east side.
Rocky Creek also is home to some manmade marvels, or at least the remains of them.
For example, after passing underneath the State Road 293 bridge and going around a few creek bends, you’ll see some wreckage of an Air Force Convair F-102 Delta Dagger that crashed on April 5, 1958. This military interceptor plane crashed and was destroyed after a technical malfunction, but the pilot, Capt. Robert J. Welch, ejected safely.
A Convair F-102 Delta Dagger. (Photo courtesy of alchetron.com)
A helicopter later recovered the plane’s engine, but sections of the Delta Dagger remain on both sides of Rocky Creek.
Plane wreckage on one side of the creek. (Photo by Tony Judnich)Plane wreckage on the other side of the creek. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Farther upstream, and past a log I call the “Snake Log” because it often contains a snoozing banded water snake, stands a two-story wooden fort that juts over the water. Someone began building this structure several years ago. It’s an ideal place for a snack break.
The fort. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Even farther upstream, and a little past the creek’s halfway point between the SR 293 bridge and Reservation Road 219, hang the remnants of an old, metal, 1 1/2-foot-wide military training bridge. I pictured military members running across the bridge in its glory days.
The site of the old training bridge.Dangling sections of the old training bridge. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
What missions did they go on? What were their hopes and dreams? What were their fears?
Sections of the bridge now dangle from cables that resemble thick vines. The cables still cling to a line that’s attached to trees, including a cypress tree that rises from the east bank and is so big it looks fake. The decaying bridge and cables smell like a rusting tractor in a field.
A training bridge remnant on the east bank. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
On my return trip to the state park, while approaching some fallen trees that blocked most of the creek, I spotted the right hind leg of an alligator resting on one of the now-horizontal trees. After rounding a bend, I saw the approximately 6-foot-long gator swimming on my left. It raised its left front leg, apparently to avoid a submerged stump but maybe to wave at me (Aug. 3 was international “Friendship Day,” after all) before submerging.
The ‘waving’ gator. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
I made it back to the park shortly after 3 p.m. My round trip took five hours.
I’m already looking forward to another Rocky Creek adventure.
Copies of Collins’ book and many other books were sold, and free lemonade was enjoyed, at the event. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of Collins’ books went to the nonprofit history museum, which is in the Bush House at 198 S. Wilson St.
“Mystery at Green Pond” chronicles the events that led to the shooting and killing of a Confederate Army veteran and his wife in Okaloosa County in 1917.
A copy of “Mystery at Green Pond.” (Photo by Tony Judnich)
A jury later convicted brothers Will and Bob Blackwell and a third man, Will Boyd, for the murders. Bob Blackwell was hanged next to the County Courthouse in Crestview in 1920. It was the first hanging in the county.
Bob Blackwell, the third person from the left, on the day he was hanged. A framed copy of this photo hangs on a wall at the Crestview History Museum. (Photo courtesy of floridamemory.com)
Will Blackwell died in prison in 1919 before he could be hanged. Boyd was sentenced to life in prison in 1920 but was released in 1929 with a full pardon.
Some of the other books sold during the “Books on the Porch” event. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Copies of Collins’ book are not available for purchase at the Crestview History Museum but are available at the Baker Block Museum, 1307B Georgia Ave., Baker.
The book costs $39 plus tax. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of “Mystery at Green Pond” at the Baker Block Museum benefit this nonprofit museum.
His is the first and only comprehensive book about the March 21, 1917, double murder that shook the Crestview area.
Collins will visit the Crestview History Museum on Saturday for “Books on the Porch,” a celebration of all things literary, where he will sign copies of his exhaustively researched history of the robbery gone wrong, which led to Crestview’s first public hanging. The museum is housed in the historic Bush House on South Wilson Street.
“Books on the Porch” will also offer lovingly read books to plop down and read during your visit and for sale by the bag. Proceeds benefit the non-profit Crestview Historic Preservation Board.
Readers of all ages are invited to bring the book in which they’re currently engrossed or feel free to select one they’ll find around the museum. Then settle down on the porch or in the parlor (if it’s too hot on the porch) and enjoy a nice glass of free cold lemonade as they delve into the delights of book reading.
Pull up a rocker or relax on the Bush House porch swing with a good book during “Books on the Porch” on Saturday, featuring author and historian Ronald Collins. (Photo by Brian Hughes)
During Collins’s remarks, visitors will learn that researching “Mystery at Green Pond” was sometimes arduous.
“I walked the railroad tracks from Milton to Crestview taking photos along the way,” he said. “I used maps, a compass (yes, I’m a stubborn old Marine) and satellite imagery to traverse swamps and thick forest growth to capture some of the photos included in this book.”
Collins drew an overflow crowd to his recent book signing at the Baker Block Museum and his “Mystery at Green Pond” is thrilling readers throughout the area. At the book signing, copies were flying off the table.
“Books on the Porch” is another great opportunity to buy a copy before they’re sold out. The hardcover book costs $39 plus tax.
“Books on the Porch” is the Crestview History Museum’s Second Saturday event for August and runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Collins will visit from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will offer remarks around 11:30 a.m. Admission is free. The History Museum is at 198 S. Wilson St.
Editor’s note: Brian Hughes is the city of Crestview’s cultural services specialist.
Located off State Road 189, about eight miles north of Baker and two miles south of Blackman, Karick Lake is a 65-acre artificial impoundment created by an earthen dam built across Deadfall Creek, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The FWC built the lake in 1965. To provide sportfishing opportunities, the lake is stocked with fish such as largemouth bass.
Karick Lake stands about two miles south of Blackman.
I wrote about a project to remove muck from Karick Lake in 2019 but, until this past Sunday, had never hiked the 3.8-mile Karick Lake Loop Trail.
A brown rabbit was the first animal I saw on my latest visit. It scurried across North Karick Lake Road after I crossed a one-vehicle-wide bridge on the way to the trailhead.
One of the two narrow bridges on North Karick Lake Road. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
After enjoying views of fragrant water lilies and many small fish from the pier next to the rec area’s north campground, I hit the white-blazed trail. Mourning-dove coos and the drilling sound from a woodpecker’s beak filled the humid air. Dew on the grassy path wet my shoes and cooled my ankles beneath towering longleaf pines.
A fragrant water lily on Karick Lake (Photo by Tony Judnich)Sunshine breaking through. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
After an hour of hiking, filled with pauses to photograph wildflowers, I stopped for a swig of water at 9:30 a.m. The scent of drying pine needles rose from the forest floor, and the plastic lid of my metal water bottle squeaked when I opened it. I remember hoping the sound could somehow attract a deer, or at least not bother one that might be nearby.
Pale meadow beauties. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
After walking around a few bends in the trail, I came to a slope and saw the tail and rear-end of a deer about 50 feet ahead of me, on the left. Yes!
Shrubs and trees blocked the view of the rest of the deer. I moved closer, trying not to step on any sticks, and raised my camera.
I fired a few camera shots while inching closer. The deer finally realized my presence, turned to the right, sprung forward and then bailed into the woods to the left of the trail. It issued a series of startled screams as it quickly disappeared.
A startled deer along the trail. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
I continued past another one of the several benches lining the trail. The path also includes several boardwalks over streams and wetlands. Squadrons of dragonflies hung around these waters but, unfortunately, I didn’t spot any snakes.
One of the boardwalks along the trail. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
While I didn’t rest on any of the benches, I did stop for several minutes to watch two black-morph female Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies dance around and snack on a sweet pepperbush.
A black-morph female Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
The cries of a red-shouldered hawk filled the air near the 2.2-mile mark, where the Karick Lake Loop Trail meets the Jackson Trail. I never saw the noisy hawk.
Moments later, I was hiking on a grassy strip along the shore of the lake, then briefly back in the woods before crossing the dam over Deadfall Creek and returning to the starting point.
A primrose willow. (Photo by Tony Judnich)A Gulf fritillary butterfly. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Gasoline-powered boats are not permitted on the lake and, because of alligators, swimming is not allowed there.
I look forward to hiking some of the Jackson Trail and camping at either the south or north campground next to Karick Lake.
Want to hike on the Karick Lake Loop Trail? The required $2 Florida State Forest day-use pass can be purchased at floridastateforests.reserveamerica.com.
The center, which is operated by the Okaloosa County Tourism Development Department, opened in the spring of 2024. The facility stands in a 6,260-square-foot former bank building at 5131 S. Ferdon Blvd., on the east side of the P.J. Adams Parkway-Ferdon Boulevard intersection.
The center’s atrium. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
This afternoon, Kelly Carrico, a visitor information specialist at the center, showed a guest the various types of marine life living in the facility’s two 300-gallon aquariums. Besides different kinds of fish species, the saltwater creatures include a spiny lobster, a slipper lobster, a hermit crab, an eel, a decorator crab, and five highly invasive lionfish – all of which were caught in Gulf waters.
“When he climbs up the rock, he’s hard to see,” Carrico said of the decorator crab.
A decorator crab explores an aquarium it shares with other marine life at the center. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
Carrico, 61, grew up in Okaloosa County, explored much of it as a Boy Scout and continues to enjoy the area’s many outdoor adventure opportunities. He was a Florida Highway Patrol trooper for 34 years and also worked for the Niceville Police Department. He and his wife live in Crestview.
“My inside knowledge of the area gives me an edge” while assisting guests at the Welcome and Adventure Center, Carrico said.
Kelly Carrico, a visitor information specialist at the center, stands next to the facility’s interactive fishing rodeo display. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
A big part of his job is sharing information on adventure spots, the best places to go for food and drinks, and countywide attractions. The center also is a good spot for beachbound visitors to receive updates on Mid-Bay Bridge traffic and check the status of their rental vacation units.
All visitors to the center are welcome to pick up a fishing rod at the facility’s interactive fishing rodeo display that mimics the feel and action from the Okaloosa Island Pier, located 25 miles south of the center. The species of saltwater fish they can “catch” consist of a tarpon, a sailfish, a marlin and a mako shark, each of which is shown in accompanying video footage.
“Reeling in” a marlin at the interactive fishing rodeo display. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
At an adjacent interactive display, guests can use crayons to color a drawing of a fish and scan it in before seeing it swim with other marine life above a depiction of one of the county’s actual artificial reefs. They also can color and scan in a drawing of a diver and then help the diver spear cool-looking but invasive lionfish.
One of the lionfish at the center. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
To further boost the fun vibe at the center, county officials plan to convert a room off the center’s atrium into a 360-degree panoramic room. While the concept for this room has not been finalized, it will provide “an immersive experience” that “brings the destination to life,” according to county TDD officials.
The 360-degree panoramic room could be unveiled sometime next summer.
The Crestview Welcome and Adventure Center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
The center stands at 5131 S. Ferdon Blvd. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
After stepping outside to wash the ice cream shop’s windows, Shutt was almost hit by an e-bike that was whizzing by. Shutt recently told the Crestview News Bulletin that he was able to avoid a collision, but he’s concerned about the safety of his customers.
“We’ve had some complaints about that,” Crestview Police Chief Steve McCosker said on Tuesday about e-bikes being ridden on Main Street’s recently widened sidewalks.
McCosker
Many of the street’s sidewalks were broadened during the city’s nearly $5.7 million Main Street renovation project that was completed this past spring. The overall renovated area spans a six-block portion of Main, generally between Industrial Drive and U.S. Highway 90, and includes parts of adjacent streets.
E-bikes, which have an electric motor that assists with pedaling, have “definitely increased in popularity” in Crestview in recent months, McCosker said.
An electric bicycle that costs $379 at Walmart.com. (Photo courtesy of Walmart)
When asked whether some e-bike drivers had lost their license to drive a car because of a DUI, the chief said, “I don’t know, but I would not rule that out.”
With increased safety in mind, McCosker said he is working with city staff to develop a proposed ordinance that, with City Council approval, would limit the use of e-bikes on Main Street and elsewhere.
Florida Senate Bill 462, which allows cities and counties to set their own rules on regulating e-bikes, took effect on July 1 as a new state law. It allows local governments to set a minimum age for e-bike riders, require riders to carry a government-issued ID, and offer or require safety training classes.
Amy Koger, who is the executive director of the nonprofit Main Street Crestview Association and the owner of Baby and Me Boutique on Main, said today that she has seen standard bicycles being ridden on Main Street sidewalks but has not seen, or heard any complaints about, e-bikes being ridden on them.
Newton is a retired longtime plumber who has lived in Crestview for about a decade. For a brief part of each of the past five or six summers, he has sold large Jubilee watermelons from his truck that’s shaded by trees and is parked off of Industrial Drive, east of the Hammock Road-State Road 85 intersection and kitty-corner to Little Caesars in north Crestview.
Newton’s roadside spot on Industrial Drive. (Photo by Tony Judnich)
“See those black spots?” Newton asked a customer while pointing to a watermelon. “Those are sugar spots: They’ll be good and sweet.”
He added that his load of melons “just came out of the field yesterday.”
The field Newton was referring to belongs to a buddy of his in Grand Ridge, which stands in Jackson County and is about 100 miles east of downtown Crestview.
A Jubilee watermelon reportedly is known for its sweet, bright red flesh and large size, typically weighing between 20 to 50 pounds. Each of Newton’s truckloads contains more than 80 melons. He charges $10 per watermelon and accepts payment by cash or via Cash App.
“I probably set up here a couple of times a week,” he said of his roadside spot in Crestview. “I start selling them usually just before July begins. This might be my last time for the season, I’m not sure. I might have some more toward the end of the week.”
His work shift typically runs from about 6:30-7 a.m. until around 1-2 p.m.
“I can’t sit at home,” Newton said. “I have to do something.”
