HOLT — For more than two years, Baker School sixth-grader Jordyn Barnes has corresponded — the good old-fashioned way, through the mail — with Lilly Fischer, a German girl.

On Oct. 18, the girls at last met in person.

Lilly, 12, and her dad, Tilman Fischer, traveled from Berlin to Crestview, where he is visiting a college friend.

When the girls met Saturday, Lilly’s apprehension over her limited English skills instantly vanished as Jordyn presented her with a puppet she made to welcome her friend.

Both girls said meeting her friend surpassed expectations.

“It was amazing meeting her! She’s even better in person!” Jordyn, 11, said.

“She is not what I expected: She is even better!” Lilly said, her dad assisting with translations. “She is very friendly, and her family has great pets.”

In Berlin, the Fischers, including Lilly’s mom Sabine and older brother, Jonah, live in a 1920s apartment complex. Pets are limited to Lilly’s turtles, who live in the family’s courtyard garden plot.

FUN AND GAMES

With the assistance of “Speak & Translate,” a translation app her parents, Dawn and Chris Barnes, loaded on Jordyn’s iPhone, the girls instantly leapt any communications barriers and discovered even more similarities than they’d discussed through their letters.

“Jordyn likes to play roll-playing games like me,” Lilly said. “She doesn’t just sit in the house. She has imagination to make up new games.”

“We’ve been playing soccer, swimming the pond and playing in our trailer,” Jordyn said, referring to a utility trailer in the family’s backyard. “We pretended it was a plane, then a car and then it was a taxi.”

“It was also a bus, and the dog was the driver,” Lilly added. “Then he became a police dog, sniffing for clues. We threw down popcorn so he would sniff.”

TWO SISTERS

Having another girl in the house has had unexpected benefits for Jordyn’s little brother, Zack, 9.

“He’s been having so much fun,” Jordyn said. “We actually got him to go outside now that Lilly’s here. He usually sits inside with his computer or the TV.”

“It feels like I have two sisters now,” Zack said.

The girls’ parents share their daughters’ excitement, and appreciate the opportunity to broaden the girls’ cultural experiences.

“I think it’s really amazing how it is expanding her horizons,” Til Fischer said. “It is so cool for her to live in a similar but so different culture.”

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Dawn Barnes said. “Jordyn is learning a lot about Germany and picking up some German words.”

That will come in handy. The girls are already planning their next reunion, which they hope will be in Germany.

“I wish to visit Berlin someday to see Lilly at home and see what her family acts like,” Jordyn said.

LILLY’S IMPRESSIONS

After her first week in America, Lilly Fischer formed several impressions:

•“The food is fantastic! There many things that taste very good that we don’t have in Germany. Desi’s was so cool!”

•“The drinks are bigger.”

•“The cars are bigger.”

•“The school bus is cool and it is amazing that cars have to stop for the buses.”

•“The parents don’t get on your nerves as often as in Germany.”

• “Kids wake themselves up in the morning. They get up when the alarm goes off. The parents don’t have to come in and wake them.”

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Dear Lilly, Dear Jordyn: Pen pals hold Crestview rendezvous (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — Nearly 240 volunteers came to Crestview in order to give back in helping the Okaloosa County Habitat for Humanity organization build a residential home.

PHOTOS: See 17 photos from the 'Blitz Build' in Crestview >>

 While bringing their table saw, North Carolina residents Bob and Dottie Birch visited Crestview for the weekend.

 The retired couple regularly travels across the country in order to help Habitat for Humanity affiliates construct homes –from the concrete slab to sheetrock in just three days –as part of the organization’s ‘Road Trip Crazies.’

Melissa Litscher, the organization’s community outreach director estimated that about 40 people came from out of state to volunteer. 

The couple said they enjoy traveling, while volunteering for a great cause.

“We enjoy doing this as a way to give back,” Dottie said.

“You get more out of it then you put in,” Bob said.

While many regularly volunteer in building Habitat for Humanity homes, it was a first for others, including Fort Walton Beach resident Cortney Evans.

“It’s something different,” he said. “It’s interesting to see to see how fast they can build a house.”

Evans, who works on Hurlburt Field with the United States Air Force, has never been involved in building a home. However, since building this home was for a good cause, Evans wanted to participate.

“I thought it would be pretty cool to say that I helped out,” he said.

The house is being built for Stephanie Deese and her two sons. Deese was also on hand to help out throughout the weekend.

“I’ve helped put the plywood on the side (of the home) and they had me picking up nails…whatever they tell me to do,” she said.

After meeting all of the volunteers −including the Road Trip Crazies – Deese said she is interested in paying it forward in the future.

“It’s pretty neat to hear (the volunteers) stories about coming and they get all excited (about volunteering),” she said. “Hopefully, I will get to go do it with them someday.”

  Litscher estimates that the Deese household will take another six weeks to complete. The Savage Street home is just one of four homes currently under construction in Crestview with the Habitat for Humanity organization.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Volunteers travel to Crestview for ‘Blitz Build’ with Habitat for Humanity (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Tina Camacho’s life changed forever the day she learned her only grandchild, Valerie, had been hit by a truck while jogging in Crestview.

“It destroyed my heart,” she said. “It killed my heart.”

Valerie Camacho, who was 17, died Thursday, Sept. 18, two days after she was struck while running before sunrise along Antioch Road.

Tina Camacho said she took another blow late last week, when the State Attorney’s Office told her it had accepted the Crestview Police Department’s recommendation that Michael Stanfill, the man who hit Valerie, not face criminal charges.

“To me Valerie didn’t get any justice,” Tina Camacho said.

For more information, click here>>

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Criminal charges won't be filed after runner's death

BAKER – Panhandle Animal Welfare Society rescued 11 dogs that were reportedly underweight and anemic Sunday and Monday at a Baker residence that may have been abandoned.

Dee Thompson, executive director at PAWS, said the organization received an anonymous call about the pets at the Jack Stokes Road residence.

More about the incident>>

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 651-7400 or PAWS at 244-0196.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pit bulls, dachshunds rescued from Baker home

The Republican Women of Okaloosa Federated will meet Nov. 5 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel on Okaloosa Island.  Socializing is at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch at noon.

The guest speaker is Janet Huckabee, wife of former 2008 Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Attendees are encouraged to bring instant microwaveable meals and bottled water supplies for the USO. Empty ink cartridges are also being collected.

Lunch costs$16 for members and $18 for guests. To make a reservation, contact Donna Pattison, 850-651-5416 or donnapattison@cox.net, by 12 p.m. Oct. 31.

For more information about RWOF, visit www.rwof.org

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Republican Women's meeting features Janet Huckabee; RSVP ends 12 p.m. Oct. 31

BAKER — Attending the annual Baker School homecoming parade is a tradition for many residents and their families.

PHOTOS: See 50 photos from the 2014 Baker School homecoming parade>>

Holt resident Hannah Cobb, who brought her three children to the parade, said they “are all about the hometown.”

“We come out to this every year,” she said.

Cobb said her family usually gathers along the parade route for the school’s annual event. Her children were anxiously awaiting to catch candy.

Many families come to see their children, grandchildren, neices or nephews participate in the school parade.

Baker School alumnus and Crestview resident Josh Kolmetz regularly attends the parade with his family; his three children currently attend the school.

After graduating from Baker School in 1997, Kolmetz said he still enjoys Baker’s small town atmosphere.

“There is a hometown feeling here, which is nice,” he said. “A lot of things are new (at Baker School) since I was here, but for the most part I can still find my way around here pretty easy.”

John Ensor served as this year’s grand marshal for the parade. Ensor, a Brooksville resident, previously coached football and served as a school administrator.

“This is a neat honor, I’m real excited,” Ensor said of serving as grand marshal.  

During his tenure, Ensor said he coached several of the school’s current administrators –including Principal Mike Martello, Athletic Director Matt Brunson and Dean of Students Brian Wagner.

“I still have a lot of connections here,” he said.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Former administrator, students attend annual Baker School homecoming parade (PHOTOS)

CRESTVIEW — Residents joined local, county and state officials in an affectionate farewell to Navy veteran and former Mayor George Whitehurst Wednesday afternoon.

As firemen stood at attention, Whitehurst’s funeral procession passed beneath a giant American flag strung from Crestview Fire Department’s ladder truck and a truck from the North Bay Fire Department, which offered its services.

The Crestview Police Department Honor Guard flanked the Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery driveway.

Residents James and Mary Harrison offered their respects at the cemetery to Crestview's longest serving mayor. Whitehurst, who died Sunday at age 88, served 24 years in office, from 1961-62, 1967-76 and 1995-2007.

“He was a good mayor,” James said. “He was a good man. Anything he could do for you to help you, he’d do it. There’s going to be a lot of people who’ll miss that man.”

“He was a good man” was a theme echoed by mourners including retired state senator Dr. Durell Peaden and the Rev. Bill McGraw, retired pastor of Pyron Chapel Baptist Church in Baker, who presided over the graveside service.

“A good name is not just something you choose for yourself,” McGraw said. “It’s something you earn by a lifetime of work. Everybody felt like (Whitehurst) was their special friend.”

Condolences came from as far away as Crestview’s sister city in France, where Dr. Marie-Thérèse Reed, a former vice president of the Noirmoutier Sister City Committee remembered Whitehurst as “a good friend to us and to our relationship with Crestview.”

Retired state law enforcement colonel Graham Fountain said Whitehurst was an old family friend, and that he worked with Whitehurst on several projects over the years.

“He was a classy guy,” Fountain said. “He would say, ‘I’m going to take care of it,’ and no matter what it was, he would.”

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Community says farewell to George Whitehurst, 'a good man' (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — Mayor David Cadle said Gov. Rick Scott granted the city’s request to lower flags to half-staff today in memory of former mayor and community leader George Whitehurst.

Whitehurst died Sunday evening after a lengthy illness. A celebration of his life will be 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Crestview. Family visitation is noon to 2 p.m.

Burial at Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery will follow the funeral.

Whitehurst served 24 years as mayor over several terms in office. Among his accomplishments was securing land for Twin Hills Park and Industrial Drive. The Whitehurst Municipal Building, which houses Warriors Hall and the Crestview Police Department, was named in his honor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Flags at half-staff for former Mayor George Whitehurst

Most young children love Max and Ruby, and this one is a fun one I’ve shared in Story Time.

Ruby takes Max on a shopping trip to get Grandmother a birthday gift with the money she’s saved. You visually watch the money in Ruby’s wallet disappear…usually because of Max’s antics. Will they have anything left for Grandmother’s present and the bus fare home?

I love how this book teaches the idea of children giving to a grandparent.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Public Library Staff Pick: “Bunny Money” by Rosemary Wells

Kids and money and…books? Blog authors at The Simple Dollar website posted “Five Children’s Books That Teach Useful Money Tactics.”

Teaching kids to love books and to be wise with money are two of the greatest gifts we can give them. Blog authors at www.thesimpledollar.com have lots of great ideas to help teach your children about money.

The five books they suggest are

•“Lemonade in Winter” by Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas

•“Bunny Money” by Rosemary Wells

•“Joseph Had a Little Overcoat” by Simms Tabeck

•“Annie’s Adventures” by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

•“The Lemonade War” by Jacqueline Davies.

Our library and other member libraries in our cooperative hold copies of these titles, which gently introduce ideas like entrepreneurship, budgeting, and frugality. The purpose of these books is not to pass on financial wisdom, but the lessons are tucked into good stories!

Dave Ramsey, author and financial guru, is also a good source. He has written books for children and adults which are intentional about passing financial fitness and peace. Many are available in our library and cooperative.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CHECK IT OUT: Books that help teach children how to handle their money