CRESTVIEW — The city's cultural "livability" is one of its most attractive assets in luring major businesses to the area, Nathan Sparks, the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council's new president, has said.

Looking back on 2013, the Crestview area can rightfully bask in these artistic and cultural accomplishments that enhance and enrich residents' lives. They are, in no particular order, as follows:

COMMUNITY THEATRE

View From the Stage, Crestview's community theatre troupe, presented two full productions in 2013.

Its spring comedy, "See How They Run," brought lots of laughs, mistaken identities, slamming doors and all the fun of British farce to the Warriors Hall Stage.

Just weeks ago, the community paused from frantic Christmas preparations to enjoy a delightful musical version of "A Christmas Carol" presented by the company.

The Florida Chautauqua Theatre in nearby DeFuniak Springs fills a niche with spring, summer and fall Music and More theatre arts courses and youth productions.

STUDENT THEATRE

Crestview High School's drama program and student chapter of the International Thespian Society's annual spring and fall plays, "Sleepy Hollow" and "Dear Ruth," respectively, were enjoyable, enthusiastic productions.

The Thespians' "Bulldog Idol" spring competition for a second year showcased the vocal talents of students who were winnowed down to five final competitors. Michelle Bryant was declared the winner.

New last year was the fall "Crestview's Got Talent," a Thespian-produced student talent show.

SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAMS

Attendees of the Crestview High School band's two annual concerts packed the Pearl Tyner Auditorium. In addition, band members, in a variety of ensembles including the four-piece Sax to the Max quartet — appeared in local festivals and venues.

With 120 voices, the Crestview High chorus, under director Kevin Lusk, performed spring and Christmas choral music concerts featuring songs in a variety of genres performed by show and traditional choirs.

School choral and band music concerts, including Baker School and middle school groups, were welcome additions to the community cultural calendar.

COMMUNITY CHOIRS

Adult choral music resounded throughout the region from the accomplished Schola Cantorum and Okaloosa Chamber Singers community choirs.

Directed by Northwest Florida State College music professor Dr. John Leatherwood and retired former Crestview High choral music teacher Dr. Marilyn Overturf, respectively, the ensembles' spring and Christmas concerts were delightful, professional experiences.

FRED ASTAIRE DANCE STUDIO

David Colón and Erika Moreno, the Main Street dance studio's owners, are stalwart supporters of community arts and charitable organizations and host the Crestview High ballroom dance club.

Studio dancers are fixtures at a variety of community and school events. Dance for Life, their annual late-winter showcase, displayednational and local talents while raising funds for Covenant Hospice.

SISTER CITY PROGRAM

Crestview strengthened its nearly 20-year Sister Cities International relationship with Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, France, through cultural, educational and economic exchanges and community presentations.

In May, 30 student performers with the Northwest Florida State College Soundsations and Madrigals choirs performed in Noirmoutier.

In June, a 22-member delegation helped commemorate America's role in France's World War II liberation and toured an Airbus plant producing components for planes to be assembled in Mobile.

Two University of Nantes students served three-month summer internships at the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce, while Crestview High French Club members and girls' soccer players began fundraising for summer 2014 visits to Noirmoutier.

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Organizers in area schools presented a gala celebrating the many cultures and nationalities that make up northern Okaloosa County.

More than two dozen countries representing five continents presented cultural displays and performances in Shoal River Middle School's gymnasium in a colorful evening of fun and festivity.

Students from Shoal River Middle School and the school district's English for Speakers of Other Languages program contributed research and set-up assistance as they learned about other cultures.

CRESTVIEW PUBLIC LIBRARY

Masterpieces from area artists — some exhibiting for the first time — filled lobby display cases and covered the library's exhibit wall.

Programs including monthly First Tuesday lectures, special presentations and crafts instruction for children enriched the community's cultural life.

Music at the Library, now in its third year, enhanced weekday evenings with performances by small ensembles and individual musicians.

The library is also headquarters for community cultural groups including Friends of the Arts and the Crestview Sister City Program.

NORTHWOOD ARTS & SCIENCE ACADEMY

Under new Principal Dr. Donna Goode, the school blossomed with regular weekly instruction in visual and performing arts. Students experienced monthly theatrical or music performances, with some produced by the students themselves.

November's reopening of the school's library led to a morning art club where kids draw and peruse art books selected by librarian Kristal Petruzzi.

Educators say that students who participate in the arts excel in "core" subjects including mathematics and science over students who don't.

BAKER BLOCK MUSEUM

Baker Block Museum continued its role in collecting and preserving the north county's heritage in a fun, eclectic repository for artifacts from glass insulators to a backwoods still.

The facility, operated by the North Okaloosa Heritage Society, includes a regional genealogy and research library and archives, and the adjacent Heritage Park collection of historic buildings.

The museum and park were the site of the annual Baker Heritage Festival, a bustling, family-friendly celebration of area folk arts and folkways.

Contact News Bulletin Arts & Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 2013 in art and culture: Organizations, events enhance area livability

While people often define hay quality by its palatability, they also need to consider digestibility and nutritional value. To evaluate hay on these parameters, you need to sample and test your hay.

It's easy to take a hay sample. Wesample each hay lot separately at the extension office. A hay lot is hay from the same field and same cutting that is harvested under the same environmental conditions and has the same forage composition.

You can take hay samples with a hay probe. Next, send the sample to a lab, such as our University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Forage Extension Laboratory, or a private lab, such as Waters Lab in Georgia.

Sample results at least should include crude protein and total digestible nutrients, and should be reported on a dry-matter basis. Dry matter refers to the portion of the forage after water is excluded.

Reporting on a dry matter basis allows us to compare different forages. Crude protein, or CP, is the nitrogen and amino acids in feeds. Total digestible nutrients, or TDN, represents the energy value of feeds, which is the sum of digestible fibers, starch, sugars, protein and fats in the forages.

Knowing CP and TDN, along with evaluating the palatability, will allow you to determine how much to feed to maintain body conditioning for your livestock.

Bahiagrass hay seems to be less palatable sometimes, but this is more of a management issue. Bahiagrass is often cut after peak palatability. Generally, good bahiagrass hay will provide appropriate nutrients for livestock if palatability is high.

Bermudagrass, which seems to be more palatable to picky eaters, contains adequate nutrients for most livestock.

Call me at 689-5850 or email heady@ufl.edu to learn more about hay sampling or to have your hay sampled.

Jennifer Bearden is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EXTENSION CONNECTION: Hay testing is important to livestock owners

Florida residents can get 10 free flowering trees by joining the Arbor Day Foundation during January.

New members will receive two Sargent crabapple, three American redbuds, two Washington hawthorns and three white flowering dogwoods.

Click here to request membership online.

"These beautiful trees will give your home in Florida lovely flowers with pink, yellow and white colors," said John Rosenow, the Arbor Day Foundation's founder and chief executive. "These trees are perfect for large and small spaces, and they will provide food and habitat for songbirds."

The free trees are part of the foundation's Trees for America campaign.

The trees will be shipped postpaid at the ideal time for planting, between Feb. 1 and May 31, with enclosed planting instructions. The 6- to 12-inch-tall trees are guaranteed to grow or they will be replaced free of charge.

Members will also receive a subscription to the Foundation's bimonthly publication, Arbor Day, and The Tree Book, which includes information about tree planting and care.

UPCOMING

The local Arbor Day 2014 observance is Jan. 16 at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension office on Airport Road in Crestview. The time will be announced later.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 10 free flowering trees available for new Arbor Day members

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering dividing the state’s Hunting Zone D — from Pensacola to Tallahassee — into two deer management units.

Proposals would require that bucks harvested north of I-10 in Hunting Zone D have antlers with at least three points on one side, and each point must be 1 inch long. South of I-10 in Zone D, the minimum antler requirement would be two points on one side.

See more details on proposed changes to deer hunting regulations>>

The proposal includes an exception to antler requirements in both units; youths 15 years old and younger may continue to harvest bucks with at least one antler 5 inches or longer.

The FWC also is considering rescheduling antlerless deer season — “doe days” — on private lands within Zone D. Currently in that zone, the season to take deer of either sex, except spotted fawns, runs Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.

In proposed rules, dates north of I-10 would change to eight days distributed across four weekends: Saturday through Sunday after Thanksgiving; the first weekend of muzzle-loading gun season; the third weekend of general gun season; and the weekend after Christmas.

South of I-10, in Zone D, the proposal would change antlerless season to four days, the weekends after Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The purpose of modifying the antlerless deer season is to spread out the hunting opportunity, so that more hunters may be able to participate without substantially reducing deer populations, an FWC spokesperson said.

Proposals for Zone D, if passed in April, would take effect during the 2014-15 hunting season.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: New deer hunting regulations proposed for northwest Florida

Citrus canker is a serious disease of citrus trees that was recently confirmed for the first time in southern Santa Rosa County. Because of questions I’m getting from the public, I’d like to share the following article written by Blake Thaxton and Mary Derrick, with University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Santa Rosa County, and Mikaela Anderson, with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Plant Industry.

Canker is caused by the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri. Citrus canker has been a major pest in south and central Florida. It is economically damaging to the citrus industry and is also problematic to homeowners because it causes premature fruit drop and discolored fruit. Eventually infected trees become unproductive.

Canker was first introduced in 1912 into Florida and was declared eradicated in 1933. The disease was found again in the Tampa area in 1986. It was declared eradicated in 1994, but once again was found in 1995 in Miami. This time, the disease was not successfully eradicated, in part because hurricanes made the disease too widespread to control.

Despite its prevalence in south and central Florida, this disease has not been known in the Panhandle. The University of Florida and FDACS/DPI will be assessing the extent of the disease in Santa Rosa County.

How might you know if your citrus is infected by canker? One of the best indicators of canker is the presence of lesions, diseased spots, on the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves. The lesions are raised and have a rough surface and are surrounded by yellow halos. Similar lesions may be present on the fruit and stems as well.

If you suspect that your trees may have citrus canker, contact the DPI helpline at 1-888-397-1517 before taking any action, to reduce accidental spread of this disease.

Canker is highly contagious to citrus only and spreads rapidly due to wind, rain its presence on people's hands, clothes and tools.

Do not transport plant material that shows canker symptoms. Decontamination practices should be used when going from one citrus tree to the next. Hand washing with soap and water for 20 seconds or more to eliminate bacterium on the skin should be practiced, as well as using alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Pruning tools that come into contact with citrus should be disinfected by a fresh solution of one ounce of household bleach to one gallon of water.

Do not move a plant infected with citrus canker. Please call your local extension office for further instructions.

For more information on citrus canker, see The Homeowner Fact Sheet PDF or the citrus canker pathology website.

Larry Williams is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EXTENSION CONNECTION: Citrus canker found in Northwest Florida