NICEVILLE — The Mattie Kelly Arts Center at Northwest Florida State College promises a glorious tapestry of stage entertainment for the 2014-15 season.

Great musical events and dazzling Broadway spectacles combine on the Mainstage for a season that makes the most of NWFSC’s prime location on the Southern Tier touring show route.

Musical events include the humor and athleticism of “Recycled Percussion,” doo-wop sounds of the “Midtown Men,” familiar themes from “The Music of Marvin Hamlisch,” and the swinging big band beat of “In the Mood.”

Touring Broadway productions include the fantasy of “Camelot,” one of the Great White Way's most beloved classics, and “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a contemporary Tony winner that’s “a grown-up prequel to ‘Peter Pan.’”

For sheer variety, this is one baker’s dozen audiences won’t want to miss.

Sept. 12: Upright Citizens Brigade. The renowned New York improvisational theatre presents a night of improv comedy. $12

Oct. 6: Mike Huckabee. An evening with the Fox News chat show host, former presidential candidate, and bass guitar player, who’ll perform with the Northwest Florida State College Jazz Ensemble. Free for people age 18 and younger; $15 for adults. VIP/reception tickets, $65. Benefits NWFSC scholarships.

Oct. 10: "Camelot." The grandeur of Lerner & Loewe’s beloved musical envelopes the spectacular retelling of the tales of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot with some of Broadway’s most memorable show tunes. $47

Nov. 5: Recycled Percussion. The group, made famous on NBC's “America’s Got Talent," has been rocking the Las Vegas Strip with extreme percussion, humor and athleticism. $37

Jan. 6, 2015: "Menopause: The Musical." Never has “the change” been so funny; the show sold out when it played the Mattie Kelly Center in 2012. $47

Jan. 22, 2015: "Midtown Men." The four original Broadway cast members of “Jersey Boys” present a show of 1960s pop favorites with tight choreography and harmonies. $47

Jan. 26, 2015: "Celebration on Ice." Real ice and real skaters present spectacular precision skating and sparkling costumes. $37 adult; $22 youths.

Feb. 2, 2015: "Million Dollar Quartet." When Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins came together to make music, they also made history. This smash-hit-filled musical recreates the event. $47

Feb. 7, 2015: "One Singular Sensation: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch." Celebrate the music of the legendary Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar-winner. $37

Feb. 10, 2015: "Peter and the Starcatcher." Laughter and fantasy fill the stage in this hilarious “adult prequel to ‘Peter Pan.’" $47

Feb. 20, 2015: "In the Mood." The brassy, bold big band sounds of Glenn Miller, The Andrews Sisters, Benny Goodman and Ol’ Blue Eyes recreate the music of The Greatest Generation. $37

March 10, 2015: "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." The classic MGM movie musical, with all its boisterous romance, bursts to life. $47

March 14, 2015: Cirque de la Symphonie. Acrobats, jugglers, contortionists, equilibrists and strongmen perform to classical masterpieces performed by the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. $37

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Mattie Kelly Arts Center Broadway and Artists Season tickets

WHEN: Priority ticket sales for season holders and sponsors start Aug. 8; General public season package sales start Aug. 15; single-show online sales start Aug. 29; phone and in-person sales start Sept. 2

WHERE: Mattie Kelly Center Box Office, Northwest Florida State College, Niceville campus

NOTES: Box Office sales available at 729-6000 or www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org. Prices listed include $2 box office processing fee.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: PREVIEW: 2014-15 Mattie Kelly season offers Broadway, musical treats

North Okaloosa County Amateur Radio operators will participate in a national emergency preparedness exercise, or “Field Day,” this weekend at their club station in Dorcas Fire Department Station 42.

The public can visit the on-air operation this weekend between 1 p.m. Saturday through mid-day Sunday. NOARC members will have at least four stations set up and will talk to other Field Day locations all over the country.

This annual event is held during the last weekend in June, but this year's event is special, organizers said.  

 “This is the 100th anniversary of our national organization, the Amateur Radio Relay League," NOARC President Bob Walker, N4CU, said. 

“We are also marking the 35th anniversary of the founding of the North Okaloosa Amateur Radio Club.  We invite anyone interested in learning more about Amateur Radio to visit us this weekend."

The location is on Young Deer Creek Road about 8 miles east of Crestview, directly behind the old Mattox Store on Highway 90.  

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Amateur radio operators demonstrate emergency preparedness procedures this weekend

Fall armyworms were found this week in an Okaloosa County soybean field. They were also reported to have devastated a hayfield in the county.

You see, this pest can completely defoliate a field in about a week.

Armyworms 101

Fall armyworms' life cycle includes egg, larva, pupa and adult. Their life cycle's length, depending on the time of year, ranges from 30 days in the summer to 90 days in the winter.

Each female moth lays up to 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. Each egg mass is laid on foliage and contains 100 to 200 eggs. Eggs only take two to three days to hatch during the summer.

The larval (worm) stage is the most damaging to crops. Larvae consume a lot of foliage and grow quickly, especially in the summer months.

A mature larva's face has a light-colored inverted “Y." This stage usually lasts 14 days in the summer. Larvae then spin a loose cocoon and pupate in the soil. In about eight to nine summer days, an adult moth will emerge. The adult moth then lives about seven to 21 days, with females laying eggs on favored food sources.

Fall armyworms overwinter in southern Florida and southern Texas. The moths, or adult stage armyworms, are strong fliers that disperse long distances across the Southeastern U.S. over the summer.

The fall armyworm has two host strains: one feeds on corn, sorghum and cotton; one feeds on turf, pasture grasses and rice.

Dr. Rob Meagher, of the USDA-ARS, wants to know which strain feeds on soybeans. Samples will be taken and DNA will be obtained.

Guarding against armyworms

Scouting is in order for late planted soybeans and hay fields. 

Treatment on young soybean plants should occur when the damage reduces the stand below the recommended plant population, according to the Mississippi Soybean Insect Management Guide. 

This requires frequent walks through the fields to scout for damage and armyworms.

See http://bit.ly/1l48ltw and http://bit.ly/1yG0EUN for tips for fall armyworm control in soybeans and on hayfields. 

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: Armyworm scouting necessary for late soybean, hay and other plantings

We read novels for entertainment, but we also read to learn about life and ourselves.

Here, at last, is a delightful, witty reference book that enables us to harness that power.

“The Novel Cure” is an apothecary of both contemporary and classic literary solutions for whatever troubles you. The authors have trawled 2,000 years of literature for novels that effectively promote happiness, health and sanity.

The book is arranged alphabetically so you can look up your ailment — be it anxiety, a stubbed toe or a midlife crisis — and find the best novel to read as an antidote to your suffering.

Whatever your condition, the prescription is simple: a novel (or two) to be read at regular intervals.

Most of all, The Guardian notes, it will “reaffirm literature’s ability to distract and transport, to resonate and reassure, to change the way we see the world and our place in it.”

Ailments and prescriptions include:

•Being a Daddy’s Girl: “Emma,” by Jane Austen

•Dissatisfaction: “Cannery Row,” by John Steinbeck

•Extravagance: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” by Truman Capote

•Gluttony: “The Debt to Pleasure,” by John Lancaster

•Homesickness: “The Namesake,” by Jhumpa Lahiri

•Hypochondria: “The Secret Garden,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett

•Low Self-Esteem: “The Shipping News,” by Annie Proulx

•Miscarriage: “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” by Audrey Niffenegger

•Nameless Dread: “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” by Ray Bradbury

•Shame: “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett

•Toothache: “Anna Karenina,” by Leo Tolstoy

•Unrequited Love: “Bel Canto,” by Ann Patchett

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: STAFF PICK: 'The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You'