CRESTVIEW — All Okaloosa County Tax Collector Offices will be closed on Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day.

Other Memorial Day closures include:

•Crestview News Bulletin

•Crestview Public Library

•Crestview Community Center

•CIty of Crestview offices and parks

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa Tax Collector's Offices, Crestview offices closed May 25

Come visit the Crestview Public Library for book signings with Pensacola author Daniel Barker.

Mr. Barker, who is currently in the Air Force, is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base and has been a Northwest Florida resident since 2003.

He will sign books from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, May 30 at the Robert L.F. Sikes Public Library.

His books, "Sergeant Stone, NOPD" and "Sergeant Stone, Sentinel of the Crescent City," describe the adventures of Sergeant Stone of the New Orleans Police Department. (Barker grew up in New Orleans).

Barker’s uncle, James S. Prine, created the character some years ago with a couple of stories in his own short story collection, "Tales From the Id."

Since the introduction was all too brief and readers were left wanting more, Barker decided, with his uncle’s permission, to write his own Sergeant Stone stories.

The stories — which involve elements of science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction — are available on Amazon.com.

Marie Garcia is the Crestview Public Library's assistant director.

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EYEBROW: UPCOMING

STORY TIME: 10:15 a.m. Mondays, Crestview Public Library, 1445 Commerce Drive. Children at least 3 years old can enjoy stories and activities, and make a simple craft to take home.

GENEALOGY TUTORING: Call 682-4432 to schedule one-hour appointments for one-on-one assistance in family history research on Mondays at 5, 6 or 7 p.m. Crestview Public Library card required.

CRESTVIEW WRITERS GROUP: 6 p.m. fourth Mondays in the library meeting room.Want to have your work critiqued? Submit no more than 10 pages to mgarcia@okaloosa.lib.fl.us, or hand in a hard copy with your name and contact details at the library's front desk.

LAPSIT: 10:15 a.m. Tuesdays and 11:15 a.m. Wednesdays in the Crestview Public Library's Story Room. Enjoy stories, songs and finger plays. For children under age 3 and caregivers. Check the library's calendar, www.cityofcrestview.org/library.php, for exact dates and themes.

BEGINNING COMPUTER SKILLS TRAINING: Call 682-4432 to schedule one-hour appointments at the library. Crestview Public Library card required.

brary. Crestview Public Library card required.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Eglin-based 'Sergeant Stone' author sets Crestview book signings

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Public Library's summer programs start in June. Planned events are:

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE for children ages 6 and up. Readers earn funny money, from June 12 to July 21, for every day they read at least 20 minutes.

Reading logs will be available 6:30 p.m. June 5 at Warriors Hall on Stillwell Boulevard, in front of the story room at the library or at www.cityofcrestview.org/library.php. A parent or guardian must sign the logs and turn them in by 6 p.m. July 22 at the library's front desk.

The Summer Reading Challenge Awards and Funny Money Store are 6:30-7:15 p.m. July 28 at the Crestview Community Center, 1446 Commerce Drive.

MAGICIAN BEAU BROOMALL appears 6:30-7:15 p.m. June 5 at Warriors Hall. Free; for ages 4 and up. Sponsored by the Friends of the Crestview Library.

READ TO DOZER: 10-11 a.m., first Saturday of each month, beginning June 6, and Thursday, June 18 and July 16 at the library. Children ages 4 and up can read to a Great Dane for confidence and company.

LAPSIT, for children younger than age 3 and their caregiver. Includes songs, stories and finger-plays. Sign in: 10 a.m. Tuesdays in the library's Story Room. Themes: Community Heroes, June 9 and 16; American Heroes, June 23 and 30; and Health Heroes, July 7, 14 and 21.

SUMMER STORIES, for children ages 6 and up, select days between June 16-30, and July 1-22. Tuesdays, 3:15-4 p.m., and Wednesdays, 10:15-11 a.m. in the library's Story Room. Stories and activities for first 20 sign-ins. Register: 10:15 a.m. June 10 at the Crestview Community Center.

STORYTIME, for children ages 3 and up. Sign in: Mondays at 11 a.m. and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. in the library's meeting room. Crafts available for first 35 sign-ins.

Themes: Community Heroes, June 15, 17, 22 and 24; American Heroes, June 29 and July 1; Health Heroes, July 6, 8, 13 and 15; and Animal Heroes, July 20 and 22.

ART CLUB, for children ages 9 and up, 3:15-4:15 p.m. Tuesdays, June 26 through July 21, in the library's meeting room. Sign in: 3 p.m., with no admittance after 3:15 p.m. First 20 kids signed in create art.

FIRST TUESDAY SERIES, for ages 6 through adults: 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the library.

July 7: “Square and Line Dance” with the Sand Spurs, members of the Northwest Florida Square and Round Dance Association.

Aug. 4: “Revealing the Inner Beauty of Stones," by the Playground Gem and Mineral Society.

MISCELLANEOUS

ACCELERATED READER books are available at the library.

NEED VOLUNTEER HOURS for the Bright Futures scholarship program? Contact reference librarian Sandra Dreaden, 682-4432, for details.

TEEN WII: 2-4 p.m. Fridays in the Story Room. For rising seventh- to 12th-graders.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Reading Challenge among Crestview library's summer activities

CRESTVIEW — Concerned Citizens of Crestview has scheduled a regular, free clothing giveaway at 247 Booker St. S.

The group also is giving away shoes and other accessories.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 1-3:30 p.m. Thursdays; and 9 a.m. to noon on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.

Call 683-5733, 689-1582 or 428-6997 for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Free clothing, accessories giveaway set by Crestview Concerned Citizens

CRESTVIEW — Attorney Ashley Rogers will present “Legal Corn Hole: A Fun Overview of the Court System and Basic Law Concepts” for the June 2 First Tuesday Series program at the Crestview Public Library. 

The program begins at 10:30 a.m., with coffee and cookies served at 10 a.m. 

Attendees can play law trivia using scenarios that citizens encounter every day. Overall topics will include constitutional law, property law, family law, contract law and business law.

Rogers is the managing attorney at Chesser & Barr's Crestview office. The focus of her practice is business and real estate litigation.  

The library is located at 1445 Commerce Drive behind the Post Office in north Crestview.

Call 682-4432 for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Legal Corn Hole' competition set June 2 at Crestview library

BAKER — Members of the Chessher family will meet this weekend at the Baker Recreation Center, U.S. Highway 4.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 23. Dinner is at noon. Bring a favorite meal to share with everyone.

Bring your family and friends. Photos (5" by 7") of Jesse Albert Chessher Sr. and all his sons together; and 4" by 6" photos of Sarah M., Pearlie P., Edith Rosana and Daisy will be on sale for $3 each, with funds paying for building rental, supplies and postage. Donations also accepted for that purpose.

If you'd like to play music or sing, call or text 582-0142. Bring your lawn chairs.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 58th annual Chessher family reunion set in Baker

CRESTVIEW — Chayne Sparagowski is the Gulf Coast's new emergency management coordinator, working with the National Weather Service's National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program.

It's a significant responsibility for the 2008 Crestview High School graduate, but if his childhood dream came true, it may never have happened.

"All the way through elementary school and middle school, my career goal was to be a school bus driver," the Chayne said. "But I always had kind of an interest in meteorology."

"We're so proud of him," his mom said. "I told him, 'You waited your whole life for this. Well, except for the first 12 years when you wanted to be a school bus driver.'"

As NWS Gulf Coast representative, Chayne said, "I am going to be working with a science representative who also represents the Gulf Coast. He's out of Texas A&M University in Galveston.

"Basically, what I am doing is working with the science lead in developing products for the emergency management field for tsunami mitigation and education.

Here, he discusses more about his new position.

Is this a new program?

It's relatively new, especially for the Gulf Coast states. It was primarily a program on the West Coast, where the greatest threat is. In the Gulf Coast, it's been around but it hasn't been very active, so there's been a bigger push to get it active again.

What are some of your responsibilities?

Provide tools to emergency management for tsunami risks and mitigation practices, and also provide an emergency management oversight, letting the science representative who's working on the actual development of the tools know what we need in the emergency management field.

Every other month they have conference calls with the entire program, which is a total of 28 states and territories. I represent the five Gulf Coast states.

There's also a national meeting in July in San Diego that I'll be attending.

So now, the really important question: Is there a tsunami threat in our area?

There is a risk in the Gulf of Mexico. There are three shelves in the Gulf that, if they were to collapse, they would cause a tsunami. There's one off the coast of Florida, one off the coast of Louisiana and one off the coast of Texas.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Is there a tsunami threat? Crestview High grad has the answer

CRESTVIEW — Experience the magic of Beau Broomall. This mysterious, delightful and professional entertainment begins 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 5 at Warriors Hall.

The event, which lasts about 45 minutes, is part of Evening Library Time, which is designed for ages 4 and up.

Registration is not required, and admission is free for you thanks to our generous Friends of the Crestview Library!

Please visit www.beaubroomall.com for more information about the magician, or call me at 682-4432 with questions.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NITZEL: Magic show set June 5 in Crestview

CRESTVIEW — When Robert  Hansford and Mildred Whaley met about 50 years ago, it didn't take long for them to realize they were meant for each another.

Mildred was working in a café in Trenton, a town about the size of Baker. Robert was a tree surgeon, and his work group would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the café.

He asked her out, and they  started dating. 

Mildred had an idea how Robert felt about her, as he would pick love songs whenever they would "match quarters" for the café jukebox at the café. That is, they'd flip a coin, call heads or tails, and whoever picked the right side got to choose the next song to be played.

Three weeks after they started dating, Mildred accepted Robert's marriage proposal. "He left and went home back to his parents' (in Alpha) for that Easter," Mildred said, "and (when he came back) he asked me to marry him."

The Hansfords married on May 15, 1965 at her parents' house. They have four children, two boys and two girls; 15 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. A ninth great-grandchild is expected in July.

The couple will celebrate their golden anniversary at 3 p.m. May 16 at Auburn Pentecostal Church, 6144 Highway 85 N., Crestview.

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We love telling love stories! Share yours if you've recently gotten engaged, are having a wedding or are celebrating a major anniversary.

The News Bulletin publishes North Okaloosa County residents' “Special Occasions” — birth, centenarian, engagement, wedding and significant anniversary announcements — at no charge. We may edit submissions for length and style.

Call 682-6524 or send us an email for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: They married after 3 weeks of dating. That was 50 years ago.