CRESTVIEW — The City Council will field residents' concerns about the Confederate battle flag during a special meeting on Thursday.

The 5:30 p.m. meeting at Warriors Hall is expected to attract representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Okaloosa County branch and Southern Strong, a growing Facebook group with 477 members from Okaloosa, Walton, Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.

Southern Strong's administrator, Tony Vance, of Pensacola, wanted "to have a group of people who wish to see the Confederate flags kept flying as a representation of history and heritage," the Facebook page states. "This is not about hate. No white supremacy groups."

Members have rallied to show their support for the rebel flag, which started disappearing from a number of public places, including Alabama and South Carolina's state Capitols, shortly after Dylann Roof, a white man, admitted to killing nine black people mid-June at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.

The city of Crestview recently removed the battle flag from Confederate Park on East First Avenue, but resurrected it following public outcry. The Crestview Lions Club established the memorial in 1958 to honor William "Bill" Lundy, whom many people believe was Florida's last surviving Confederate soldier. Some Civil War historians, citing census records, dispute the claim and say he was just 5 years old at the end of the war.

More than 180 cars on Sunday caravanned from Almarante Cemetery in Laurel Hill, to the Walton County Courthouse and then to Confederate Park in Crestview, Vance said.

The 3 p.m. Crestview gathering featured prayer and a number of guest speakers including Delano Lundy, Bill Lundy's grandson.

"Our main goal was to show support, to show the mayor and the City Council that there are people that want that flag and that monument to stay," Vance said on Tuesday.

Since 1996, the City Council has heard numerous requests — particularly from the NAACP's Okaloosa County branch — to remove the flag from public property.

Resident Mae Reatha Coleman has been among those leading the effort.

"It is a symbol of racism and hatred, and to me it is a blood flag for the black generation," Coleman said in a letter to the editor. "Honoring it is the same as honoring a swastika flag flying against Jews."

Vance understands critics' concerns but disagrees.

"The Civil War was not started over slavery, it was started over states' rights," he said. "I believe the history is not being taught like it should be … the flag was stolen by the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazi movement."

As for the NAACP, he said, "We respect their heritage, with Martin Luther King Day and anything that's their heritage. I just ask them to respect my heritage."

Southern Strong members will have more rallies, and they plan to expand on their mission with community service projects such as cleaning veterans' abandoned graves, Vance said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Southern heritage group rallies for Confederate flag

CRESTVIEW — The Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center will host Designer Purse Bingo, an Aug. 29 fundraiser. 

Doors will open 1:30 p.m. at Warriors Hall, 201 Stillwell Blvd., in Crestview. Tickets — $25 — are available at the center's Niceville or DeFuniak Springs offices, 401 McEwen Drive or 256 U.S. Highway 90 W., respectively. They will also be available at the event for raffle prizes or additional games of bingo.

In addition to food and beverages, guests will receive a chance to win a door prize and 12 games of bingo for 12 chances to win a designer purse or a gift basket.

The Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center provides services to help identify, treat and support children in abusive situations. The organization helps prevent child abuse through education, protects child victims from future abuse, and provides resources to restore the lives of the child and the child’s family.

Contact Katie Crowell, 833-9237 or email katie@eccac.org, for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Designer Purse Bingo in Crestview to benefit Children’s Advocacy Center

CRESTVIEW — Crestview Boy Scout Troop 773 members have learned about the many similarities, and differences, between their troop and scout troops in Sweden.

On Aug. 3, a Swedish boy scout,  Axel Borgdén, visited assistant senior patrol leader Christopher Schultz and his fellow scouts at their weekly troop meeting.

He and the group began to compare notes. Here's what they learned:

Both American and Swedish scouts have a love and respect for the outdoors.

One difference between the two is that Swedish scouts don’t follow U.S. and British scouts’ military-inspired rankings.

And outdoor activities in winter differ from Crestview’s troop, where few of the boys have seen snowfall as excessive as Sweden’s.

In addition, Crestview troop members may have never experienced the thrill of digging a hole in an ice-covered lake and leaping in the frigid water before dashing to the warmth of a nearby sauna.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Valkommen! Crestview scouts welcome Swedish visitor

LAUREL HILL — With a ragtag army of local militias, farmers, armed slaves and pirates, Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson’s force defeated a vastly superior, well-disciplined British force on Jan. 8, 1815, in the last fight of the War of 1812.

Jackson’s first venture through present-day Okaloosa County was a November 1814 foray on the way to the Battle of Pensacola, a prelude to that better known Battle of New Orleans.

History doesn’t say much about Jackson’s 1814 route through today’s Okaloosa County, but it details his return four years later.

BACK TO PENSACOLA

Leaving Fort Gadsden — in today’s Apalachicola National Forest — on May 7, 1818, Jackson again marched west to Pensacola; this time to subdue Seminole Indians and escaped slaves who threatened Georgia.

“The Heritage of Okaloosa County, Florida," a book available at the Baker Block Museum, states the force almost certainly followed “the perhaps centuries-old road from the Upper Creek Nation to Escambia Bay.”

A stop at David’s Lake resulted in the Florala landmark on the Florida-Alabama border being renamed Lake Jackson.

The force crossed Horseshoe Creek's upper reaches near present-day Svea and headed west toward the Yellow River, which the Spanish called Rio Almirante. It inspired the name of the Almarante community, which predates neighboring Laurel Hill.

The force probably crossed the river at Oak Grove, later called Barrow’s Ferry.

“This would have brought the army nearer, if not through, the present day Laurel Hill,” the book states.

While Jackson’s exact route through the area is uncertain, “it is certain that they followed a route that brought them nearby the site of Otahite,” a now defunct town on present-day Okaloosa County's western border.

ALMOST A WAR

Jackson’s second foray through Okaloosa County nearly caused a war with Spain, which wasn’t pleased that an American force was marching through its colony.

The mission forced a political solution negotiated by President James Monroe’s secretary of state, John Quincy Adams. He essentially told the Spanish to control their citizens or cede the territory to the U.S., knowing Spain, weakened by war with Napoleon, likely would do the latter.

Meeting with Spanish Minister Don Luis de Onís, Adams negotiated the February 1819 Treaty of Florida, also called the Onís-Adams Treaty or the Transcontinental Treaty. It gave Florida and West Florida to the U.S. and gave Spain control of Texas.

As for the absence of any “Andrew Jackson slept here” historic markers in North Okaloosa County, “The Heritage” states Jackson and his army probably did the 27-mile march in one day, meaning Old Hickory didn’t lay his famously wild mane down in our area.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: OKALOOSA CENTENNIAL: Andrew Jackson in Okaloosa County

CRESTVIEW — Take Off Pounds Sensibly has helped millions of people nationwide lose weight over the past 60-plus years.

Now, the nonprofit's Crestview Chapter 0325 has new officers who can help local members achieve their goals.

Florette Murchison, leader, Jane McConnell, co-leader, Kimberly Cook, secretary, and Grace Bratton, treasurer, will lead the group. Agnes Parker, lead, and Mary Bell, assistant, will record members' weight.

TOPS' network includes thousands of weight-loss support groups across the United States and Canada. These chapters provide a judgment-free zone where people learn how they can make life changes to responsibly shed pounds.

TOPS' two Crestview chapters meet as follows:

•TOPS FL 0325: 8 a.m. Tuesdays, First United Methodist Church, 599 8th Ave, Crestview

•TOPS FL 0504: 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall

See www.tops.org for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview weight-loss group installs new officers

As the Crestview Public Library wraps up a superhero summer, we’d like to thank our superheroes:

•Applebees and Whataburger for coupons for free food

•Henry, Viviana, Theron and Orlan Lasher for providing and serving snack at our recent Reader Awards

•Audrey Milcarek for teaching summer stories to 6- to 8-year-olds

•Meghan Hansen and Pam Pannasch for teaching art to 9- to 11-year-olds

•Ms. Jean Lewis, library director, for supporting summer programming and for her summer reading outreach at Mount Zion AME Church

•Library staffers for checking out, checking in and shelving all of those books and movies

•Volunteers for shelving, shelf reading and helping me in various duties as assigned

•Friends of the Library for providing craft supplies

•Officers Wanda Hulion, Sam Kimmons, Shawn Kriser, and Jerad Mullinix, and K9s Cody and Sonic, of the Crestview Police Department, for teaching us about keeping the community safe

•Okaloosa County Health Department and Nurse Practitioner Heather Overton for teaching us about health heroes

•City of Crestview Fire Department for teaching us about firefighter heroes and for coming when we smelled something burning

•Everyone who donated goodies throughout the year for the funny money store

Heather Nitzel is the Crestview Public Library's youth services librarian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview library thankful for summer superheroes

CRESTVIEW — Yoloni Fredericks knows why she’s at Hope House — “I had some school problems” — but she knows she’ll be back home soon and things will be better.

The 13-year-old stays at Hope House, Lutheran Services Florida's Crestview residential counseling center, which serves at-risk youths and their families.

See photos from Hope House's Christmas in July>>

The organization offers screenings and assessments, referrals, a temporary residential shelter, individual and family counseling, intervention, case management and aftercare.

But on July 28, the focus was on fun.

That's when the Salvation Army showed up and helped present Christmas in July for Hope House residents, families and affiliates.

LSF staffers and Salvation Army members provided yard games including beanbag tosses, putt-putt, lawn checkers, and “TP toss” in which rolls of toilet paper were lobbed through a toilet seat target.

As kids played games and made sidewalk chalk drawings, adult supervisors and volunteers grilled hotdogs and hamburgers and made barbecue chicken and ribs. Donated cakes, cookies, cupcakes and chips completed the feast.

SERIOUS MISSION

The festivity belied the seriousness of Hope House’s mission.

“We’re a shelter for runaway kids, truant kids, ungovernable children and if a parent needs a time-out,” dietary specialist Bea Sutton said.

“This is a safe place for kids,” she said. “They’ve been through a lot. Our focus is to take care of them.”

State agencies Children in Need of Services or Families in Need of Services, known as CINS-FINS, place many of the children who stay in the eight-bed facility, counselor Stephanie Walthour said.

Some of the 10- to 17-year-old residents survived domestic violence, but the facility also serves children who assaulted their parents. Hope House can be their last opportunity before going to the juvenile justice system.

“We’re more of a preventative program before they get to that point,” Walthour said. “But we also have kids who are just being teenagers.”

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

The sound of Christmas music interrupted the games. The rear doors of two Salvation Army vans were flung open and nearly two dozen kids flocked to receive festively packaged donated gifts.

“These are toys we collected over the year so we decided to do Christmas in July,” Salvation Army Lt. Camilo Rojas said. “This was the perfect place to do it.”

For Yoloni, the gifts and games helped make her time at Hope House better.

“It’s fun,” she said. “They take good care of me here, but I’m ready to go home.”

WHAT CAN HOPE HOUSE DO FOR YOU?

Lutheran Services Florida offers free residential and non-residential crisis counseling for troubled youths and their families.

Services provided by masters-level professionals and trained staff include:

•Screenings and assessments

•Referrals

•Temporary residential shelter

•Individual and family counseling

•Intervention

•Case management

•Aftercare/follow-up for six months

The facility also distributes food for needy residents.

Contact Hope House Youth Shelter — 5127 Eastland St., Crestview, 682-2374, www.lsfnet.org — for more information

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview at-risk kids, families and friends celebrate Christmas in July

CRESTVIEW — Trust between law enforcement agencies and the public is important when crises arise.

That was the takeaway from Tuesday's Citizens Town Hall at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church. A panel including Mayor David Cadle, Police Chief Tony Taylor and Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley addressed key points for dealing with tragedies.

In such times, trust is crucial, Ashley said.

“When the trust is lost, that’s when things break down," he said. "Do we really want to have a battle with our brothers and sisters?”

Checking the police department and sheriff's office's websites — as opposed to reading Facebook friends' accounts of an incident — is important; so is trusting authorities' information, even if all answers aren't given, Taylor and Ashley said.

"We try to be as transparent as possible, but there are some things we cannot tell you right away," Taylor said.

Residents and panel members brainstormed ways to build trust between the community and law enforcement officers.

Ideas included adopting a local National Night Out, an evening when the community can play games and have fun with police officers. Perhaps a water balloon fight with lawmen wearing everyday clothes would help strengthen residents' relationship with them, too, residents said.

Getting along well with police officers and sheriff's deputies is important in uncertain times, such as when local crime or widespread tension occurs, pastors said.

"The past six months have been quite disruptive and quite violent," said The Rev. Mark Broadhead, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Crestview. "We are concerned as a community and we hope to bridge gaps."

The Rev. Sanford Hayes asked about how local pastors could help during a tragedy, what would be the police department's first course of action and what role deputies would play if assistance were needed.

The city wants to increase more communication between citizens and law enforcement; build trust with the community; and, if tragedy arose, see pastors as an additional source of information, panel members said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview, Okaloosa officials: Strengthening relationship with lawmen crucial to weathering crises