April is National Poetry Month, and whether you like poetry or think it always has to rhyme, we have events and activities for you.

We’ve put up a Magnetic Poetry board in the Reference section for your spontaneous poems, thoughts or verses.

April 30, for Poem in Your Pocket Day, we're passing out poems written by Okaloosa County poets and perennial snowbirds.

And in case you want to write poems, we’re posting four poetry starters each week on the library’s blog>>.

Of course, our big event is our 3rd annual Poetry Slam (6-9 p.m. April 14, Warriors Hall, 201 Stillwell Blvd., Crestview). 

Prizes will be awarded in two categories: middle school to high school students and college students to adults. Because last year's Poetry Slam offered standing-room only, we’ve moved the event to Warriors Hall.

So many enthusiastic sponsors have donated prizes this year that all slam participants will receive a prize, and first-, second- and third-place winners will receive some truly magical gifts.

Sponsors include the Tortoise Clinic, Mattie Kelly Arts Center, Casbah Coffee Company, Travinia Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, Café Bienville, Baron’s Tea House, Body B Healthy, L.J. Schooner’s, Ruby Tuesday, Pawsitively Scrumptious, Chill Yogurt, Dot Moxcey, Bayou Book Company, Uncle Bill’s Family Restaurant, La Rumba, Hot Dog Shoppe, Yoga Junkie, Outback Steakhouse and Pepper’s Mexican Grill.

Esther L. Hurwitz is the Crestview Public Library's clerk.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Slam tops library's National Poetry Month events

CRESTVIEW — U.S. Gold Gymnastics Academy's team members are competing at the Level 6 state championships in Coral Springs Friday through Sunday.

See the gallery here.

They're also celebrating the USA Gymnastics Jr. Olympic Florida State Championships awards younger colleagues received March 28 and 29 at the Harborside Convention Center in Fort Meyers.

GGA placed sixth in the XCEL Gold division, and these individuals won awards:

•Aniston Conlee, 9: first place all around with a score of 36.625; first place on the uneven bars, 9.25; second place on the vault, 9.075; third place on the balance beam, 9.15; and fourth place on the floor exercise, 9.15.

•Kendall Spellings, 10: third place all around with a score of 36.65; second place on the balance beam, 9.375; fourth place on the uneven bars, 9.025; and fifth place on the vault, 9.1.

•Asheley Candelario, 11: fifth place all around with a score of 36.25;  first place on the balance beam, 9.45; fifth place on the floor exercise, 9.2; sixth place on the uneven bars, 8.95; and ninth place on the vault, 8.65.

•Riley Johnston, 10: ninth place all-around with a score of 34.575; eighth place on the uneven bars, 8.8; ninth place on the vault, 8.75; ninth place on the floor exercise, 8.7; and 10th place on the balance beam, 8.325.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gymnasts bring home state awards (GALLERY)

CRESTVIEW — Two hundred Northwest Florida senior citizens will have a more cheerful Easter.

Four assisted living facilities' residents received "Baskets of Blessings" filled with goodies throughout the week.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Emerald Coast Hospice delivered the gifts to Crestview Manor and Silvercrest Manor in Crestview, Stanley House in DeFuniak Springs and Twin Cities Pavilion in Niceville.

Recipients were people like World War II veteran Michael Labick. "He had a whole case of medals…," said Shirley Perring, a senior registered tax return preparer.

Four years ago, event organizers just wanted to get assisted living residents necessities like toilet paper and walk-in tubs.

Since then, the deliveries have become a tradition, helping more people with each passing year.

"We started out with 35 (baskets) four years ago and now we’re up to 200," Perring said. "We also provide cakes from Publix for each of them."

The idea has spread to  Jackson Hewitt offices throughout Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma, Perring said.

A mix of the business' staffers and its clients contribute to the local effort.

"This year, I had 10 clients that gave money or brought in basket material. The first year I had two." Perring said.

Safe-Step added $100 for the cause.

The result was worth all the effort, Perring said.

"It was so nice just holding (the residents') hand and serving them cake," Perring said. "They just beam. They enjoy having us visit. It’s fun, it really is."

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Assisted living residents get 'Baskets of Blessings'

CRESTVIEW — As North Okaloosa County folks awakened April 8, 1979, eastbound Louisville and Nashville Railroad freight train No. 403 rumbled through Milligan.

The five-locomotive, 114-car train slowed as it crossed the Yellow River trestle. At 8 a.m., as the engineer increased speed to climb the 5-mile upgrade into Crestview, the train’s automatic emergency brakes suddenly activated.

“Looking rearward, he saw fire near the cars near the bridge,” a National Transportation Safety Board report stated.

The NTSB determined “a combination of excessive train tonnage and improper train handling” caused a tank car to dislodge the outside rail and derail. Twenty-eight more followed.

The wreck resulted in 4,500 people evacuated, $1,258,500 in property damage, 14 injuries and chemical pollution spilling into the Yellow River.

'A BIG PLUME OF SMOKE'

Ernie Martin — now a Crestview High School educator — was a CHS sophomore living in west Crestview during the train wreck. He and his family were getting ready for church.

“We heard a loud rumble roar. It sounded like thunder but this one shook the house and shook the windows,” Martin said. “We ran outside and, as we looked around, we started seeing a big plume of smoke.

“We grabbed a ladder and climbed up on the roof. That cloud started getting big. It was different colors. It wasn’t like a black cloud from smoke.”

Of 29 derailed cars, 26 were tankers carrying hazardous liquids including anhydrous ammonia, acetone, methyl alcohol, chlorine and carbolic acid.

At 8:03, a derailed ammonia tanker exploded, blowing half the car east and the other half west, and released a vapor cloud. At 8:23, another ammonia tanker blew up.

A fire fueled by leaking acetone and methyl alcohol produced “a white mushroom-type cloud several hundred feet into the air and about 100 feet in diameter,” the NTSB report stated. The fire burned about 60 hours.

WHAT’S ON FIRE?

The Crestview Fire Department met the train’s head brakeman near the Antioch Road crossing. But the engineer’s manifest he presented listed tanker contents by a company code.

Only the conductor in the caboose — a mile away across the Yellow River on the other side of the burning tankers — had the list of which chemicals firefighters would encounter.

Responding agencies also included the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Okaloosa County Civil Defense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, the U.S. Air Force, Army and Coast Guard, and the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Communication problems between local agencies and federal and state agencies led to confusion over who was in charge and problems with evacuation security,” the EPA’s report stated.  

One politician accidentally contributed to chemical-related injuries. A helicopter carrying then Sen. Lawton Chiles dropped below the safe 500-foot altitude to 250 feet and its downdraft blew venting chlorine gas toward unprotected responders.

EVACUATION

“We kept going up on the roof to see which way the cloud was blowing,” Martin said. “We were going to pre-empt the evacuation if it started shifting our way, but we were lucky and we didn’t have to evacuate.”

One person who did evacuate was now-retired Baker School teacher Roger O’Neal, who recently started his teaching career.

“I remember a lot of people had to evacuate,” O’Neal said. “Someone came by — maybe a sheriff’s posse member — saying it was going to be necessary for us to evacuate. I’m not sure what authorization this person even had.”

Martin said that had the wind shifted, given two-lane evacuation routes, things could’ve turned bad for Crestview.

“That would’ve been quite a lot of people trying to get out and get out in a hurry,” he said. “It would’ve been an adventure to say the least.”

The six-day evacuation order covered Milligan, Baker and all of Northwest Okaloosa County.

“I don’t remember anybody filled with dreaded fear,” O’Neal said. “We had to go to Fort Walton and stay there about a week. You were just inconvenienced for a few days.”

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

In all, 750 feet of track were destroyed, 1,500 feet were damaged, the trestle’s east approach was destroyed, and the trestle's east end was damaged.

“All trees and ground cover in an area extending 650 feet northwest of the derailment site were defoliated by the ammonia from the vapor cloud,” the NTSB stated.

“I remember about a month later going down to the site and looking at the devastation and seeing how the trees were just burnt to a crisp,” Martin said.

“That whole area, from the bridge back to Antioch Road, was just devoid of life. It took a long time for that area to recover. Even today, if you go down there you can see remnants of the devastation.”

“Hopefully, it was something that the rail companies could learn from to keep that from happening again,” Martin said.

Perhaps they didn’t. Seven months later, another L&N freight derailed in Molina. Again, hazardous chemicals spilled and caught fire.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Remembering the Yellow River train wreck of '79

CRESTVIEW — Duke it Out's Relay For Life team is wrapping up a Boston butt fundraiser to benefit Nathaniel Bowersox.

The Boston butts cost $30 each and can be ordered by calling Loney Whitley at 603-3500 or 537-4654.  The butts can be picked up at the Crestview Publix from 4 to 5 p.m. April 4.

Nathaniel, the son of Megan and Daniel Bowersox, was born Feb. 5 — almost a month before he was due. His second night at North Okaloosa Medical Center, nurses determined his stomach was distended and referred him to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

"He had what is called meconium ileus — basically, his first bowel movement got stuck in his small intestine, causing it to droop, twist and rupture," Megan, said.

Duke It Out's team scheduled the Boston butts fundraiser to help cover Nathaniel's treatment expenses. Megan is the 2014 and 2015 Crestview Relay For Life chairperson.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Last call for Boston butts; proceeds benefit Crestview baby

Alexis Donayre White has been named Crestview’s Junior Miss Heart of the USA. 

The scholarship program is a combination of beauty pageant, community service, and local outreach.

“This program combines hearts, heels and helping hands,” said National Pageant Director Ciera Nitkowski. “Each girl becomes a better community citizen by bringing non-perishable food donations to the pageant that are immediately donated to local food drives.”

Nitkowski’s region is north Florida and south Alabama, but the pageant is offered in other states. She said the underlying outreach for Miss Heart of the USA is an outlet to teach girls to give and truly make a local difference.

“This is a unique experience, teaching girls the importance of giving back to the places where they live,” she said. “Over 10 million non-perishable food items have been donated in the United States through Miss Heart of the USA programs. It is a pageant with a purpose.” 

Alexis is the 14 year-old daughter of Mary Osgard, Crestview. White will represent the Junior Miss age division and is already taking donations that will go to the Raymond Williams Mission Center, Crestview Pregnancy Center, and Sharing and Caring of Crestview.

White will compete at the state level in Florida’s Miss Heart of the USA in September 2015.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: White named Crestview's Junior Miss Heart of the USA

CRESTVIEW — Now that the Williford family has its third People's Choice trophy, The Little Smokehouse proprietors have their eyes on the 2016 Triple B Cookoff.

“People's Choice, that’s what we go for,” Kendall Williford said. She and her mother, Sandy, distributed samples of their award-winning oak-smoked brisket wrapped in bacon during Saturday's Blackwater, Bluegrass and Barbecue festival.

David Hobbs and his son, Austin, visiting from Niceville, were among those who voted for the family’s fare. “It’s interesting,” he said. “It’s different. Everyone else had Boston butt."

People strolled up and down Main Street under breezy, sunny skies, sampling barbecue and American festival cuisine.

“It all (smelled) so good,” Feliciano Dina said.

RECORD CROWDS

The event’s attendance easily topped last year’s 12,000, Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce President Wayne Harris said.

“I’m seeing 13- to 15,000 this year,” he said. “The crowds were really good. It was so packed, I couldn’t drive the (golf) cart through. I finally had to park and walk.”

While freshly smoked barbecue's aroma wafted blocks beyond the downtown area, vendors and exhibitors offered diverse cuisine and activities.

At Gordon Martial Arts’ exhibit, Brandon Mobley, 11, took a practice kick at a pad held by third-degree taekwondo black belt Richard Rounsaville, 19. Caitlin LaGarde, 9, practiced punches on a pad held head-high by blue belt JayLee Spicer, 13.

SELL-OUT EVENT

Up Main Street, Andrew Moore, a homeschooled Crestview 14-year-old, eagerly stroked the back of a 2- to 3-year-old alligator held by Capt. Matt Hepinstall at the U.S. Army Rangers’ reptile exhibit.

“I’m a Florida Gators fan,” Andrew said. “I had to touch it.”

The combination of favorable weather and great food made the day a success for the chamber of commerce and its participants, Harris said. The total revenue was not available as of this writing.

 “Most of the vendors who had food or had something to sell maxed out,” Harris said. “Most of the barbecuers who were selling, sold out.

“I heard nothing but good things. Everybody did very, very, very well. We had a very good day.”

—

THE WINNERS

This year’s Blackwater, Bluegrass and Barbecue Cookoff winners are:

•Grand Champion: Poverty Hill Smokers, DeFuniak Springs

•Reserve Champion: Hub City Smokehouse, Crestview

•People's Choice: The Little Smokehouse, Florala, Ala.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Triple B crowds could top 15,000 on final count

CRESTVIEW — While college students from throughout the country converged on the county’s beaches, one group eschewed booze and bikinis for hammers and paint brushes during their spring break.

From Crestview Hills, Ky., to Crestview, 21 students and four chaperones from Thomas More College descended on Booker Street to help build a Habitat for Humanity house.

Working alongside homeownerLa’Terica Clark and her daughter, the students painted walls, shingled the roof, put up siding, and installed gutters and flooring during the week of March 8-14.

“This group worked hard and, thanks to many local businesses and organizations, lunches and dinners were provided to them,” Habitat Community Outreach Director Melissa Forte Litscher said.

FEEDING THE FLOCK

Among Crestview organizations feeding the volunteers were the Crestview Whataburger, the North Okaloosa Fraternal Order of Police, and the Crestview Acentria Insurance agency.

“We did subs, chips and everybody got some cookies, and we made some peanut butter-and-jelly in case there were some non-meat eaters, which they really appreciated,” Acentria personal lines account manager Theresa Carroll said.

Carroll said her agency is trying to become more involved in the community and, after meeting Habitat for Humanity staffers at a Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce meeting, thought helping feed the student volunteers was a great fit.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but everybody was super welcoming and eager to show us their work,” Carroll said. “Everybody grabbed hands and got in a big circle and we prayed before lunch. It was cool.”

'AWESOME PROGRAM'

Carroll said she and her colleague Sommer Castille met Clark, who gave them a tour of her home and explained how Habitat for Humanity works.

“It’s a really awesome program,” Carroll said. “These are regular people who are just trying to make it.”

Carroll said with 21 students hard at work, she was amazed at how fast the home took shape. But, Litscher said, it wasn’t all work and no play. After all, it was spring break.

“The projected rain held off so that they could complete the projects and also enjoy some beach time in the afternoons when the work day was done,” she said.

 Carroll said she and the Acentria team believe they have found a great way to give back to the community.

“It was amazing,” she said. “We want to definitely work with them (Habitat) in the future.”

—

WANT TO HELP?

Habitat for Humanity welcomes volunteers to partner in constructing La'Terica Clark’s Booker Street home or other local projects. Contact 315-0025, ext 3, or volunteer@habitatfwb.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 groups feed spring breakers building Habitat house