CRESTVIEW — The Crestview News Bulletin is moving into its new office, 638 N. Ferdon Blvd., on Friday and the staff would like the yellow newspaper rack outside the office to reflect North Okaloosa's spirit.

The winning artist will receive a $100 commission, bragging rights, and their work published in the News Bulletin.

Staffers have identified two leading candidates among submissions received, although newspaper management reserves the right to use no submitted concept unless it's right fit. 

“North Okaloosa County's spirit includes a love of our military and our nation; the area's bountiful natural resources; hometown pride — whether you root for Crestview's Bulldogs and enjoy the Big Red Machine, Baker's Gators or the Laurel Hill Hoboes — and a rich history of railroad commerce; not to mention signature local events like the Triple B Festival," News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni said. "But what does it mean to you, the artist? And how can our newspaper rack display that hometown pride? That's the point of this design contest."

A mural-style design is preferred.

Email submissions to News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni by July 31 to enter.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Redesign the Rack contest deadline extended

Fort Walton Beach author Catherin Elizabet Belle announces the nationwide release of her new thriller novel, “The Cabin,” where she tells the story of a young girl, orphaned by violence, who turns to the only other family she has: the Mescalero Apache.

The story introduces readers to Catherin Cahill, who has spent her life on Bar C riding the range with her father and is considered to be a drover fit to “ride the trail with.” She also spent a large portion of her time living with the Mescalero Apache, where she trained with the young warriors

After the slaughter of her parents, she returns to the Mescalero Apache Reservation for a time of healing and reflection. The mystery of who killed her parents and for what reason haunts her mind like the thorn of a cactus stuck in the saddle riles the horse.

Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book is available through bookstores nationwide, from the publisher's website, or by visiting barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.

Belle spent her youth on the family farm and ranch near the German community of Rowena, Texas. Spending her adult life in the corporate world, she maintains her heart and soul is still mired in the land and the animals that inhabit it. She attended numerous educational facilities, but she insists that her best education came from the “School of Hard Knocks.

Her professional career has been a kaleidoscope of experiences in varied career fields, leaving her well versed on a variety of topics and with a strong curiosity in others. In 2005, she closed the doors on her desktop publishing business. Retiring, she embarked on a new career with a new challenge: writing.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NW Florida author releases thriller novel nationwide

Many parents assume their children will shun whole grains because they think they don’t like them, a University of Florida researcher says, but a new UF study may start to debunk that idea.

If whole grains are offered, kids eat them, according to a new study by researchers at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Specifically, former graduate student Allyson Radford and two faculty members found children ate whole- and refined-grain foods in equal amounts.

“We tried to choose foods we thought kids would enjoy, such as cereal bars, macaroni and cheese and SunChips and found that they ate the ready-to-eat snack foods the most,” said Radford, one of the study’s authors. “We were interested to see if they would eat the whole-grain foods as much as the refined-grain foods, and so we were pleasantly surprised that they would eat the same amount whether the food was whole or refined.”

Radford co-wrote the paper with assistant professor Wendy Dahl and professor Bobbi Langkamp-Henken, all of whom are in the food science and human nutrition department. The study was published online last week by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Eating whole grains, combined with a healthy diet, may reduce the risk of heart disease and help with weight management, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Examples of whole-grain foods include popcorn, oats, whole wheat bread and brown rice. Refined grains, enriched and fortified with nutrients, include foods such as white rice and white bread.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans call for at least half the grain consumers eat to be whole grains, and they urge adolescents to consume 5  to 7 ounces of grains daily with at least half being whole grains. National surveys suggest adolescents consume far less: about 1 ounce, or the grain contained in one slice of bread.

Federal dietary guidelines for the 2012-13 school year increased the whole grain required in school lunches. Starting this fall, schools must offer only whole-grain rich products.

The new rules requiring more whole grains in school lunches should result in adolescents eating more of them, Dahl said, but many parents believe their kids won’t eat whole grains.

General Mills funded a broad study on the impact of whole grains on immunity. As part of the study, Radford wanted to know if children could meet the 2010 dietary guidelines for whole grains. For the study, 83 students in a Florida middle school were randomly assigned to receive either whole- or refined-grain foods over a six-week period in 2010. Of those, 42 students were in the refined grain group, while 41 were in the whole-grain group.

Participants and their families were given refined-grain or whole-grain pasta, rice, bread and other foods to eat at home. And they were given whole- and refined-grain snack foods to eat at school.

Researchers interviewed students weekly to see what fruits, vegetables and grains they ate in the previous 24 hours. Before the study, participants were eating about one ounce of whole grain per day. During the study, students in both groups reported eating more than 6 ounces of grains each day, and those given whole grains reported more than half their grain intake came from whole grains, meeting the 2010 dietary guidelines.

Snacks served at school were the most popular grain foods the kids ate.

“Encouraging consumption of whole-grain foods that require little to no preparation may be the most effective means of increasing whole grain intake at home,” said Radford, now a UF research study coordinator in food science and human nutrition.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Offer kids whole grains; they’ll eat them, study shows

GAINESVILLE ─ Parents sometimes link the Internet to negative social behavior, but some children use the Web to learn about their communities, a new University of Florida study shows.

While most research on young people’s media use focuses on negative effects, UF Professor Rosemary Barnett sees it as a good thing.

“Two key factors to consider are the nature of the content and how it is used,” said Barnett, who teaches in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, part of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “The ability to tap into a phenomenal amount of information so easily and quickly on a variety of topics has allowed the Internet to enhance education for children.”

After a 12-year-old Lakeland girl who endured cyber-bullying committed suicide in September 2013, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed its media exposure policy. The group now recommends children use media for entertainment no more than two hours each night. They make an exception for online homework.

While the UF/IFAS study gave clues to children’s general Internet use, it focused on how students use the Internet to learn about their communities.

In the study, 133 children with an average age of 13 went to after-school programs at community centers in Volusia and Seminole counties. The children, all of whom qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, did not have computers at home and had never used the Internet outside of school.

Children used the Internet for about 30 minutes to an hour each day, Barnett said. They were taught to search for certain topics and shown approved web pages.

The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Youth Development, showed children knew more about their community, based on their use of the Internet and other media at the community centers.

Researchers surveyed students at the end of each of the study’s three years. Students answered questions about “community connectedness.” They answered the questions on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 meaning you strongly disagree and 5 meaning you strongly agree.

Children’s responses to the community connectedness questions increased from an average 2.95 after the first year to 3.42 after the third, a statistically significant increase, said Caroline Payne-Purvis, state coordinator for UF’s Children, Youth and Families at Risk program.

Researchers also measured community knowledge on the same scale, asking the students their sources of information.

Children said they learned community issues from several media sources, but their Internet-use score rose from 3.52 to 4.04. Of particular interest to Barnett was the fact that kids read newspapers and magazines more – their score on that question going up from 2.78 after the first year to 3.46 after the third.

These finding encourage Barnett.

By increasing at-risk children’s exposure to various community-based websites, Facebook pages and other social media, she said, they learn to use the Internet in a positive way.

Besides Barnett and Payne-Purvis, the research team included Gerald Culen, an associate professor in family, youth and community sciences at UF and Jeffrey Neely, a former UF graduate student and now assistant professor of journalism at the University of Tampa.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Kids’ ‘community’ knowledge from Internet leaves researcher hopeful

An actor must know how to act before he or she can successfully act goofy.

And if it’s a musical comedy, that actor better be able to sing and, as needed, dance while acting goofy.

Fortunately for local audiences, “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” opening tonight on the Mattie Kelly Arts Center Mainstage, features actors who can do all three, and do it well.

I must confess a bit of prejudice before I get into the details. I’ve been a Monty Python fan since Dean Martin introduced some of the group's earliest sketches on his mid-1970s summer variety show.

Being a fan of the British comedy troupe also gives me a critical eye toward anyone performing their material, so I was prepared to cast aspersions at any “Spamalot” bits not done well.

But there weren’t any.

It’s a hoot and a howl from opening to closing curtain.

Like the Flying Circus, “Spamalot” is essentially a collection of comedy sketches, wrapped, in this case, around the legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail.

HOLY GRAIL, BATMAN!

Crestview actor Nick Trolian excels as Arthur, King of the Britains, playing the role with delightful pomposity while remaining seemingly oblivious to the lunacy surrounding him.

“Spamalot” puts considerable emphasis on The Lady of the Lake, a character missing both from some tellings of the legend as well as “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” the film that inspired the stage musical.

As The Lady, Meghan Erlacher’s extraordinary pipes steal the show on numbers including “Come With Me,” “The Song That Goes Like This” and “The Diva’s Lament.” Her voice is stunning; her comedic timing is superb.

As Arthur’s faithful servant Patsy, Stephen Shouse packs a backpack full of impish, youthful enthusiasm.

Another standout is Sean Royal as Sir Lancelot, a knight with a secret. Lancelot gets to dance a lot. During “His Name is Lancelot,” Royal’s costume comes with — I’m making an assumption here — enviable augmentation.

As fellow knights Sir Robin, Sir Galahad and Sir Bedevere, Javonte Coleman, Donovan Black and David Simmons admirably complete Arthur's crew, each getting an opportunity to do a fun bit of his shtick.

FAST-PACED FRIVOLITY

A comedy with cruddy timing falls flatter than plague victim Not Dead Fred  — a fun role well played by Sivu Schlegel, who also delighted as Prince Herbert.

To everyone’s delight, NWFSC’s “Spamalot” gallops along at a merry clip, barely giving the audience a chance to catch its collective breath before the next bit of tomfoolery.

As director Joe Taylor observed before the opening curtain, “The show the audience sees is actually a quarter of what’s going on backstage.”

You needn’t have seen “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” beforehand, but it does make a good primer — or refresher.

Those who, like me, have been Pythonized will giddily catch subtle homages to several favorite Flying Circus sketches, and be pleased to be in on the jokes.

A standing ovation is due the college’s Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts Division, the cast and crew for livening up our summer with sheer, enjoyable silliness.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT:“Monty Python’s Spamalot,” Northwest Florida State College’s summer musical comedy

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. July 16-19

WHERE: Mattie Kelly Performing Arts Center Mainstage

COST: $27 adults; $22 youths 18 and under

NOTES: Purchase advance tickets at the Box Office, 729-6000 or www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org. Day-of-show tickets available at the door if available.

Email News Bulletin Arts Editor Brian Hughes, brianh@crestviewbulletin.com, follow him on Twitter, @cnbBrian, or call 682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Spamalot' brings inspired medieval lunacy to Niceville

CRESTVIEW — Retiring from his civil service job at the Eglin Air Force Base hospital gave Crestview actor Joe Perna the opportunity to pursue his real love: The theatre.

Thursday, “Soulmate Central,” the play he is directing, opens at the Panhandle Community Theatre in Pace.

The comedy by Rick Ready is particularly special to Perna: Ready wrote it as a wedding gift for the director and his former wife, Bonnie Marks.

“Years ago I was doing a show and I was in the process of getting married, and I was kidding around and said, “Why don’t you write something for Bonnie and me?’” Perna said.

The two remain friends, and Marks is Perna’s assistant director for his third time directing “Soulmate Central” at PCT.

Primarily associated with the Stagecrafters theatre troupe in Fort Walton Beach, “I go through periods where I take a break and I branch out,” Perna said.

Last year he directed Neil Simon’s “Jake’s Woman” for Northwest Florida State College, and he would like a chance to work with Crestview’s View From the Stage community troupe.

Perna said he loves community theatre.

“It’s a lot of work; you don’t get paid,” Perna said. “The adulation is great, and I’m at the point where I really love doing it. Getting paid would be nice, but that’s another story.

His two favorite shows to direct are dramatically different.

“I directed ‘The Seven Year Itch’ and ‘Frankenstein,’” he said. “Those two I really loved. With ‘Frankenstein,” I added a lot of special effects that weren’t in the script because I like to think outside the box. It was a good experience.”

“I like the classics,” Perna said.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Panhandle Community Theatre’s production of Rick Ready’s “Soulmate Central”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. July 17-19 and 24-26; 2:30 p.m. July 20 and 27

WHERE: Woodbine Theatre, 4646 Woodbine Road, Pace

TICKETS: $12; July 17 and 24 shows, $9. Reservations: 850-221-7599 or panhandle_community_theatre@yahoo.com.

NOTES: Contains adult subject matter. No one under 13 may be admitted.

Email News Bulletin Staff Arts Editor Brian Hughes at brianh@crestviewbulletin.com, follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview theatre buff takes director's chair in Pace production