CRESTVIEW — The strains of Frédéric Chopin and Giacomo Puccini mingle with the tomes of William Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald at the Crestview Public Library many Monday and Tuesday evenings.

The library expands its scope of services with programs such as the Music at the Library concert series, which has grown in attendance.

Tuesday evening, Crestview cellist Montavius Diamond performed a program of classical and American folk music.

Some library patrons pulled up chairs to listen to the concert while others continued to work or read. Many applauded after each number.

The concerts provide patrons a cultural opportunity or just simply pleasant background music while they study, read or do research, library staffers say.

CLASSICAL PREFERED

“They appreciate especially the calmer, classical instrumental type music,” reference librarian Sandra Dreaden said. “Someone stopped at my desk while Montavius was playing and said, ‘This is just marvelous,’ and wanted to know if we have it regularly.”

Past performers have included violinist Meagan Jackson, a Crestview High School student saxophone quartet and a local dulcimer band. 

Dreaden, who coordinates the Music at the Library performances and art or cultural exhibits, said the more mellow performances are most popular.

“When we had a louder, vocal performance, that was not appreciated,” she said. “We do have patrons who are trying to get work done on the computers.”

“I like it,” Rocky Bayou Christian School rising senior Ian Kampert said. “A lot of people use the library as a place to study and music helps people remember what they studied.”

PLEASANT SURPRISE

Some patrons attend the concerts specifically to hear a performer or to enjoy a particular instrument, Dreaden said.

“People are also just pleasantly surprised in the evening when they walk in and hear the music,” she said.

One was Justin Thompson, a rising Crestview High senior who was looking for books on a particular subject.

“I enjoy the music,” Justin said, saying it was the first time he heard one of the performances. “It adds dramatic effect to book searching.”

For younger or amateur musicians seeking performance opportunities and exposure, Music at the Library is an excellent experience, Dreaden said.

“I like seeing a young guy just starting out who’s trying to get his name out there have a chance like this,” patron Alan Pinker said while using a public computer as Diamond played in the background.

Dreaden said any area musician or small group interested in performing may contact her. If the performer donates a CD of their music, the library will catalog it and add it to its collection, she said.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Music at the Library performances

WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday nights, as scheduled:

July 28, Aug. 25: Viola performance by Diego Castellanos

Aug. 26: Cello performance by Montavius Diamond

WHERE: Crestview Public Library

NOTES: Free concerts. Contact reference librarian Sandra Dreaden, 682-4432, to perform

Email News Bulletin Arts Editor Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Weekly Crestview concerts please patrons, expose up-and-coming musicians

Projects that will help restore native longleaf pine and help protected wildlife are receiving Gulf Power-supported grants under the Longleaf Stewardship Fund.

Gulf Power’s parent company, Southern Company, joined the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to announce $3.38 million in grants aimed at protecting and restoring the diminishing longleaf pine ecosystem, including seven projects within the Southern Company service area in Northwest Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. The announcement was made Tuesday as part of a five-year anniversary celebration for America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative held in Washington, D.C.

The two projects in Northwest Florida spur restoration in Apalachicola National Forest and Blackwater River State Forest.

In Apalachicola National Forest and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, The Nature Conservancy of Florida and its partners will establish 1,700 acres of longleaf pine and enhance more than 26,000 acres of existing longleaf habitat with prescribed fire, hardwood treatment and invasive species removal. The project will benefit the gopher tortoise, protect native wildlife and support the natural resource and encroachment protection goals of Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City.

Continuing restoration efforts at Blackwater River State Forest, the Longleaf Alliance and partners will prescribe fire on 20,000 acres, control invasive species on 350 acres, treat 1,100 acres of hardwoods and restore 330 acres of longleaf pine. The project also will support the natural resource and encroachment protection goals of Eglin Air Force Base by expanding potential off-base habitat for protected species, including the flatwoods salamander.

“These projects are helping restore critical native habitat that our area has lost,” said Natalie Smith, Gulf Power spokesperson. “It will take time, but we and our partners are committed to the long-term success of these restoration efforts. These projects throughout Northwest Florida and the Southeast all are working toward the same goal: restoring our legacy of longleaf pine and the native wildlife it supports.”

The Longleaf Stewardship Fund stems from the success of the Longleaf Legacy program, a partnership between Southern Company and NFWF from 2004-2011 that invested $8.7 million in projects expected to restore 82,000 acres of longleaf pine forest and the native species that rely on it. Additionally, another 20,000 acres were restored through the company’s closely aligned Power of Flight program with NFWF.

The majestic longleaf pine ecosystem once covered more than 90 million acres across nine states from Virginia to Texas, but dropped to only 3 percent of its original acreage. With the diverse public-private commitment to longleaf pine restoration in recent years, longleaf pine forest has increased from roughly 3 million acres to an estimated 4.4 million acres, halting and reversing a century-long decline, benefiting many threatened and endangered species dependent on the habitat.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Longleaf pine making comeback in Northwest Florida

Brides-to-be have long checklists for planning their big day. Dress, flowers, venue, vows, will there be a sit-down dinner or hors d’oeuvres and crudités? Who will be in the wedding party?

“Every bride wants her wedding to be perfect and by that, many mean that they want the event itself and themselves to be absolutely beautiful,” says Eric Gulbrandson, a wedding photographer and author of the new book, “Dream Wedding Secrets: The All Important G.S.F."

“But a perfect wedding is also one that people remember months and years later as a wonderful event where they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Think about it – no bride wants her wedding remembered as a disaster!”

The secret is to put a high priority on what Gulbrandson calls the G.S.F. – Guest Satisfaction Factor.

“It’s how others perceive your wedding,” he says. “Most brides do want their guests to be able to enjoy their wedding, but they overlook the G.S.F. because all the advice is geared toward beauty and budgets.”

Gulbrandson interviewed hundreds of wedding guests and compiled more than 200 do’s and don’ts for brides-to-be for ensuring a high G.S.F. Among them:

•  If you invite children, arrange a supervised activity area for them. Couples often include children on their guest list because they contribute to the family atmosphere and celebration, but weddings are not child-centered events. Kids get bored; the wedding day is often a long one with extended periods of sitting quietly and an abundance of adults consuming alcohol. Help parents and children enjoy the event by arranging for a supervised activity area on the outskirts of the reception. A couple of teenaged relatives may appreciate earning some money for overseeing arts and crafts projects and games.  Hiring relatives for this job will help keep the costs reasonable.

•  Don’t make costumes a requirement for your themed wedding. Whether you’ve got your heart set on a Renaissance faire or zombie nuptials, don’t require your guests to shell out money buying or renting costumes! Yes, you can ease any financial burden by requesting they wear costumes in lieu of buying gifts, but that doesn’t address the potential for physical and emotional discomfort. Sure, all your friends may be LARPers, but if Uncle Howard and Aunt Betty are not, they may not enjoy wearing capes and carrying swords to your ceremony.

•  Don’t plan your wedding for a holiday weekend. Occasionally, brides plan their wedding for a three-day holiday weekend thinking it will help out-of-towners who want to attend. However, it also boosts the odds of local guests being out of town! Given that most working people have only two guaranteed three-day weekends a year, many plan ahead for them. Additionally, hotel and rental car prices tend to go up during holidays, and traffic doubles. Play it safe by avoiding calendar holidays and, of course, Super Bowl Sunday.

•  With food and drink, if you have to choose between quantity and quality, choose quantity. Nobody will mind if the chicken skewers aren’t the best they ever had, but they will if you run out of them! While taste and presentation are important, having enough food and drink available throughout the event is more important than a glamorous presentation. If you have children at your wedding, you can keep costs down — and make them happy — by planning a separate menu of, say, chicken nuggets and macaroni-and-cheese.

•  When it’s all said and done, don’t ruin your perfect wedding by failing to follow through with that time-honored (for good reason) custom of sending thank-you notes. “Technically, accepted protocol allows guests a year after the wedding to send a gift, so you may be on the receiving end for quite some time!” Gulbrandson says. “Keep a list and send handwritten thank-you’s as quickly as you can. Most guests and experts agree that one to three months after the wedding is fine, but my advice is to get on it quickly!”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 4 ways to make your wedding guests happy

When I say the word drone, you probably think about military missions or snooping activists — but I bet you don’t think about agriculture! 

Drones — unmanned aircraft or remotely guided ships — may be the wave of the future for farmers. They provide an aerial view of crops so farmers don't have to leave the ground themselves. 

This provides extremely useful data to the farmer.

Ordinary overhead pictures or video of the fields can help farmers find weeds, diseases or even insect damage before they become widespread. 

Other new technology allows farmers to capture images with near infrared cameras mounted on drones and use computer software to evaluate the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI for short). Plants with healthy chlorophyll reflect near infrared light and plants with damaged chlorophyll absorb it. NDVI, which picks up this difference, can quickly alert the farmer to problem areas in the field.

All this extra data helps farmers target the fields' areas that need attention. Farmers can target any pesticide or fertilizer applications to only on the area in need. This decreases the amount of unnecessary chemicals on the crops and thus in the environment. 

Right now, the FAA is not sure how to regulate the use of drones in agriculture. Most commercially available models are not sturdy enough to meet the demand for scouting crops on a regular basis. This technology's cost varies greatly depending on the type of drone and camera used.

A few companies make drones specifically for agricultural use, and some farmers and crop consultants use these machines to scout their fields. 

Will drones become the next big thing on farms? 

Only time will tell.

Jennifer Bearden is an agent at the University of Florida's Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EXTENSION CONNECTION: New technology provides helpful farming data