CRESTVIEW — The ninth annual Military Appreciation Recognition Day is May 21, national Armed Forces Day, in Crestview.

The free event is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Old Spanish Trail Park, Crestview. Parking opens at 10 a.m. and the ceremony starts at 11 a.m.

Free entertainment, displays, music, food and games will be available to military members and their families.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Military Appreciation Recognition Day is May 21

During Pawsitively Scrumptious's May 7 Catterday event, My Safe Place Cat Rescue brought several cats for adoption, at least one of which found a new home. “Cats are so much harder to adopt than dogs,” boutique owner April Meier said. “But we had three cats that came in to shop.” Those cats received a goodie bag with samples of cat food, snacks and toys. Cat owners received free samples of food and treats for their feline friends, and one lucky cat owner won a year’s supply of cat food during the cats-only event.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's cat day afternoon (VIDEO)

PENSACOLA — The Panhandle Pilot Program will focus on lionfish removal efforts off Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties, where lionfish can be found in high densities.

For every 100 lionfish checked in from this seven-county region between May 2016 and May 2017, the harvester will be eligible to receive a tag allowing them to take a legal-sized red grouper or a legal-sized cobia that is over the bag limit from state waters.

The state will issue 100 red grouper and 30 cobia tags to successful participants. In addition, the first 10 persons or groups who check in 500 or more lionfish during this one-year period will earn the opportunity to name an artificial reef.

To qualify for this program, tails of any lionfish harvested must be brought to an approved FWC checkpoint (list coming soon to MyFWC.com/Lionfish by clicking on “Lionfish Challenge and Panhandle Pilot Program”).

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Panhandle Pilot Program champions lionfish removal efforts

Need something to do this week? Check out these fun events:

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 3 things to do this week in Northwest Florida

PENSACOLA — Naval Air Station Whiting Field will receive a national-level award.

The Association of Defense Communities honored NAS Whiting Field with its Installation Excellence Award for 2015. This recognizes the command’s continuing emphasis on strengthening relationships with Northwestern Florida and Southeastern Alabama localities.

ADC presents awards to individuals and organizations that support enhanced ties between military and the area in which the military bases reside. The organization reviews Department of Defense installations from any military branch that has successfully built strong partnerships with communities, regions and/or states to “enhance community-military collaboration; promote installation efficiency and innovation; advance DoD energy efficiency goals; and/or serve as a national model for community-military partnerships.”

To be eligible for the award, an ACD member must nominate an installation.  Jim Brightenfield, the Tri-County Defense Support Initiative’s manager, submitted NAS Whiting Field’s nomination.

“I have seen firsthand the outstanding work done at NAS Whiting Field, training our future aviators. The commitment Whiting makes to its students, staff and the community are without parallel,” he said. “Whiting Field has, over the past few years, received numerous unit and installation awards. The ADC award representing Installation Excellence brings together all the work and awards and commitment under the appropriate banner that signifies true installation excellence.”

NAS Whiting Field’s nomination package detailed aspects of the installation’s relationship with the community. Specific items included the base’s land-buffering initiatives with the county, the renewable energy project at Holley Field in Navarre, a proposed land-swap concept with Escambia County and volunteerism within the community.

NAS Whiting Field Commanding Officer Capt. Todd Bahlau was pleased with the recognition, but emphasized that the key word for the ADC award was partnership.

“The team here at NAS Whiting Field continues to set the standard by working tirelessly to be good neighbors in the community,” Bahlau stated.  “The residents and businesses of Santa Rosa County likewise take care of our team in a way that I have not seen before in my 25 years of service. I am truly fortunate to be part of such a tremendous relationship.”

Bahlau will receive the award during ADC’s annual symposium June 21 in Washington D.C.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NAS Whiting Field recognized as Top Shore Installation

PENSACOLA — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s second annual Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day is Saturday, May 14.

The occasion raises awareness about lionfish, a nonnative, invasive species that has a potentially negative impact on native species and habitat. The second annual Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day Festival — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 14-15 at Plaza de Luna, 900 S. Palafox St., Pensacola — will include celebrity chef and fillet demonstrations, lionfish tastings, family-friendly activities such as games and a fountain to play in, and more than 40 art, diving and conservation vendors.

Among festivities is the Lionfish Challenge kickoff: remove 50 or more lionfish between Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day (May 14) and the end of September and get entered in the FWC’s Lionfish Challenge. 

Rewards include:

●A commemorative coin to mark membership

●An event T-shirt

●Lionfish Hall of Fame recognition on MyFWC.com

●Be entered in drawings to win prizes including fishing licenses, lionfish harvesting equipment, fuel cards and dive-tank refills

●If qualified before the relevant harvest season starts, the opportunity to take an additional spiny lobster per day during the 2016 mini-season (July 27-28)

●Whoever checks in the most lionfish will be crowned Florida’s Lionfish King or Queen and will receive a lifetime saltwater fishing license, have his or her photograph featured on the cover of the FWC’s January 2017 Saltwater Regulations publication, be prominently featured on MyFWC.com’s Lionfish Hall of Fame, and be recognized at the November 2016 FWC Commission meeting.

To enter the program, email photos of your first 50 qualifying lionfish to Lionfish@MyFWC.com. Include the harvester’s name, the date harvested and your signature in the photo (written on a piece of paper beside the fish for example) and your mailing address in the email.

To qualify for additional prizes and a chance to win Lionfish King or Queen, bring the tails of any lionfish harvested in excess of the initial 50 to an FWC-approved checkpoint (list coming soon to MyFWC.com/Lionfish by clicking on “Lionfish Challenge and Panhandle Pilot Program”).

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day Festival set May 14-15

 MILTON — CrossFit SRC will raise money for Marine Special Operations Command personnel’s families while remembering 11 service members who died last year during Black Hawk training on the Santa Rosa Sound.

CrossFit’s second annual MOJO 69 Memorial Throwdown is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 14. ‘MOJO 69’ refers to the designated call sign of the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter, which crashed while transporting seven U.S. Marines and four U.S. National Guard soldiers.

Pace resident Tyler Bennett, CrossFit SRC’s head coach, who also is a flight paramedic for the Lifeguard Ambulance Service, said the workout is a way to honor the fallen men while allowing participants to get in a WOD, or Workout of the Day.

“We call them hero workouts, just to memorialize the men and women perished in combat or, like in this case, a training exercise,” Bennett said. “It’s just exercising with a little higher intensity.”

That means:

• 69 air squats
• Four rounds of a 400-meter run
• 11 dead lifts
• 11 cleans
• 11 strict pull-ups

Barry Brinker, a manager at Anytime Fitness in Milton, said the workout can be adjusted for participants in need.

“We scale the workouts,” Brinker said. “If someone has a knee problem or they can’t run for whatever reason, we can always give them a different option. We don’t want anyone to injure themselves … it should always be your workout at your level.”

Several sponsors will provide refreshments, mist fans and provide trophies and medals. All proceeds will benefit Raising Raiders, a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization that helps MARSOC families in need. 

Last year’s event raised almost $8,000, Brinker said.

“With this event we just hope to be able to give a little something back to the men and women who serve, and show our appreciation for all that they do; and we greatly appreciate all the local businesses who have donated their money, time, and services to help us make this event great,” Brinker said.

“We couldn't have done it without them.”

—

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: 2^nd Annual MOJO 69 Memorial Throwdown

WHEN: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 14^th

WHERE: CrossFit SRC, 6568 Caroline St., Milton

NOTES: Competition will include Rx and Scaled divisions for the 18-39 and 40-and-older age groups. There will also be teen, ages 14-17, and adaptive athlete divisions.

ONLINE: Register at http://bit.ly/1SN6kHq

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Memorial Throwdown to honor fallen service members May 14 in Milton

CRESTVIEW — A local biking group will ride for a cause on May 18.

The Ride of Silence — a national event that honors bicyclists killed by motorists — promotes sharing the road and bicycling safety awareness, according to www.rideofsilence.org. The Crestview Community Cycling Club will participate in the local event.

Members will meet 6:30 p.m. May 18 at the Crestview Community Center. At 7 p.m., they will ride about 6 miles from the center, down Industrial Drive, to Twin Hills Park and back.

Riders must wear helmets and have reflectors in the front and back on their bikes.

Event sponsors are Chained Concepts, CCB Bank, Days Tire and Wal-Mart.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview club to participate in May 18 Ride of Silence

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Marcelle A. Moorer graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.

The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills. Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

Moorer is the son of Earline McMillian, grandson of Angunetta Patterson, and nephew of Latoya and Nate Moorer, and Rusty Moorer, all of Crestview.

He is a 2015 graduate of Crestview High School, Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview man completes US Air Force basic training

LAUREL HILL — There's a problem in Laurel Hill.

In a message to the Crestview News Bulletin May 5, area resident Kathy Busbee said some of her family's headstones — and one other for a Gavin family member — in Almarante Cemetery have been vandalized, and several items have been stolen from the gravesite.

"Almost every angel statuette, crystal figurines, sentimental trinkets, a small mailbox, praying hands….almost everything we'd put there is gone," Busbee said. "Not valuable really to others but sentimental none the less."

Busbee, who found out about the headstones when she went to place flowers on her parents' graves, said six generations of her family are buried at Almarante.

This includes the Birges, her grandparents and great-grandparents, and Busbees, her mother and father. 

She hasn't visited the cemetery for six months and she believes the incident occurred between today and Thanksgiving 2015. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DESECRATED: Laurel Hill gravesites disturbed, woman says