FORT WALTON BEACH — In light of recent before and after-school program services being affected by the closure announcement from the YMCA of Florida’s Emerald Coast, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast Board of Directors has decided to expand services in Okaloosa County.

BGCEM Chief Executive Officer Shervin Rassa said, “As youth development professionals, we felt it was necessary to expand our programming to assist those families and youth of Okaloosa County affected by the recent suspension of before and after-school services.”

The organization will reinstate services in the Crestview area by offering before and after-school programming at Walker Elementary School and expand their youth development services in Fort Walton Beach by offering before and after-school programming at Kenwood Elementary. BGCEM is working closely with Okaloosa County School District, school principals and administrators throughout this process.

For more information on its programs, visit www.bgcec.com. Updates will posted as more information is available.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Boys & Girls Clubs expands services to meet gaps caused by YMCA closures

CRESTVIEW — A Christ-centered program created as an alternative to Boy Scouts of America hasn't affected local BSA membership, officials said.

Trail Life USA Troop 77 — formed in May and chartered to Woodlawn Baptist Church — now has about 25 Woodland Trails members, the equivalent of Cub Scouts, and eight Navigators and Adventurers, similar to Boy Scouts, troop master Rob Rankin said.

The group “spawned from recent decisions made by the Boy Scouts,” Rankin said, referring to a May 2013 BSA membership standards revision allowing gay boys to join scouting.

OPEN TO ALL FAITHS

“We’re not by any stretch trying to besmirch Boy Scouts,” Rankin said. “We want to honor Boy Scouts but ratchet up the moral standards.”

Rankin, an Eagle Scout, said Troop 77 is open to “all religions and all boys,” with a focus, like Boy Scouts, on character and leadership and “to guide young men to honor God.”

However, Trailmen, as its members are called, don’t recognize homosexuality, Rankin said.

“We don’t put labels on a boy,” he said. “These types of labels don’t belong on young men.” 

While Trail Life USA is faith-based, “it’s not a Bible study,” Rankin said. “It’s a masculine, outdoor program. The vision of our organization is to be the premier, national organization for young men that produces Godly husbands, fathers and leaders.”

Boy Scout merit badges and ranks transfer to Trailmen, he said, adding, “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

CO-EXISTING OUTDOOR PROGRAMS

Local BSA leaders said they've noticed no loss of scouts to the Trail Life troop, and noted scouts already serve alongside faith-based boys’ outdoor programs. 

“We have coexisted with the Royal Rangers for years and years with no problems,” Boy Scouts Unit Commissioner Rae Schwartz said, referring to the small-group activity ministry with outposts, or troops, in Crestview, Baker and Milligan. 

“We are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient and cheerful, so I think if we follow all that we can get along well with the newcomers,” Schwartz said, paraphrasing the Scout Law.

“Obviously it’s competition for kids, but we wish them well in their mission,” Boy Scouts Gulf Council Executive Director Spencer Page said. “They will certainly fill a niche for folks who don’t think scouting meets their needs. It’s another choice that parents have in a community." 

Still, there is a misunderstanding about Boy Scouting’s membership changes, Page said. 

“I think a lot of people have a misconception about what our position is,” he said. “Sexual orientation and sexual behavior and sexual discussions have no place in scouting. We leave sexual discussions to church and family.”

‘IT WAS NEVER AN ISSUE’

Being gay and attaining Boy Scouts of America's highest rank before membership standards changed — to formally allow homosexual boys in May 2013 — was no concern for one Crestview Eagle Scout.

“It was never even an issue,” the Eagle, who requested anonymity, said. “We were just friends. We were just hanging out and having a good time. The only time it got awkward is when other guys started talking about their girlfriends, and you couldn’t really say much.”

However, the Eagle Scout said, he would have liked to have been more open with fellow scouts. 

“It would’ve been nice,” he said. “But it’s one of those Catch-22s. You come out and people start treating you different. If they don’t know, they treat you the same way they always do.”

While being gay didn’t affect his success as a Boy Scout, it would work against him if he wanted to continue in scouting as an adult leader. Gay men aren’t allowed to serve in advisory roles. 

“Being an adult now, I can’t really participate anymore because there’s an issue there, but what I do in my personal life wouldn’t carry over to scouts,” the Eagle said.

Fallout after the change in Boy Scouts membership standards is "pretty silly," he said. 

“It is one of those things where people say, ‘Oh the youth are vulnerable,’ but we’re at a point now where youth have grown up with gay friends and it’s normal,” the Eagle said. “Now kids are like, ‘Oh, you’re gay? So what.’”

INTERESTED? 

Crestview’s Trail Life USA Troop 0077 meets 6-7:30 p.m. Fridays at Woodlawn Baptist Church Life Center, 824 Ferdon Boulevard N. Call 682-2924 for more details.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Boy Scout, Trail Life leaders: Groups can co-exist despite different membership standards

CRESTVIEW — Officials in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach have expressed interest in being allowed to operate their YMCAs independently from the YMCA of Florida’s Emerald Coast.

However, the Emerald Coast association must turn in its charter to the YMCA of the USA before anyone can contemplate independent operations, according to Jessica Wylie, a YMCA USA spokesperson.

“The Emerald Coast association’s board of directors is the decision-making authority for the association,” she said in an email. “The board’s decision to cease operations means all three branches must cease operations as YMCAs. The branches cannot continue independently.”

All YMCA offices in Okaloosa County permanently closed on Friday.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast committed to take over two after-school programs that stood to be affected by the closing of Okaloosa County’s YMCAs.

The decision prevents parents of about 100 children at Walker Elementary in Crestview and Kenwood Elementary in Fort Walton Beach from worrying about the after-school program's future.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: National YMCA weighs in on closures

PENSACOLA — The West Florida Regional Planning Council is celebrating 50 years of providing professional planning, coordinating and advisory services.

An open house will be held from 2-3:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at council offices, 4081 E. Olive Road, Ste. A in Pensacola. Guests can learn more about the council during a free tour; call 332-7976 to RSVP. The council's board meeting will be held on-site immediately following festivities.

While serving as staffers to local transportation planning organizations, the council has been involved in a variety of planning projects over the years. Examples include economic development; land use studies; brownfields assessment, clean-up and reuse; resource management; hurricane studies; ride-sharing, bicycle and pedestrian programs; air quality; block grants; housing assistance; hazardous materials and hazardous waste programs; and preparation of comprehensive plans.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Regional planners celebrate 50 years with open house

CRESTVIEW — Anyone age 4 and up can paint pumpkins Oct. 28 at the Crestview Community Center.

Attendees should register before the event at the Crestview Public Library's front desk. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. The event ends by 7:15 p.m.

"When you visit the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect pumpkin, keep in mind that it will be wet with paint when you leave," an event spokesperson said, adding that guests should wear old clothes that can take spills. "We recommend a small pie pumpkin because they are cost-effective and easier to handle, especially when wet."

Friends of the Library provided funds for the paint.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pumpkin painting scheduled in Crestview

CRESTVIEW — A coat drive to benefit Crestview residents is being planned by the Concerned Citizens Group of Crestview.

The group is collecting clean, reusable coats throughout the month of October.

To contribute, drop off extra coats at 405 Benjamin Street in Crestview.

Call Pearl Bess, 682-5733 for details. Coats will be distributed to the community Nov. 15.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Concerned Citizens group hosts coat drive

CRESTVIEW — YMCA members and staffers are coming to terms with the downtown facility's unexpected closure.

'WE ARE A FAMILY'

 “We were all shocked and saddened … we heard the words, but we couldn’t process it,” Susan Hill, a YMCA fitness instructor, said.

Exercising while socializing with friends was a part of Hill’s daily routine.

“This is what we do; we come here every day and we work out,” Hill said. “We are a family in every way; we support each other on a lot of levels.”

Laura Wellborn, who also worked part-time at the Crestview location, said working out with friends was therapeutic.  

“I came out of emotional and medical conditions because of (the Crestview YMCA),” she said. “It’s my home away from home.”

YMCA member Louis Richard, who learned about declining membership in a recent club meeting, said the announcement was expected, but not so soon.

“(Club officials) talked about the possibility of closing in the future," he said. "I didn’t think it would happen a week later."

OPERATING IN DEFICIT

The YMCA of Florida's Emerald Coast earlier this week decided to close all of Okaloosa County's YMCA locations and programs. Friday was all locations' last day.

The decision stems from “a lack of financial resources,” an Emerald Coast YMCA news release stated.

The Emerald Coast YMCA has operated in a financial deficit since 2007, when the Destin YMCA was built, according to the news release.

Tom Moody, a former executive director for Crestview's YMCA, credited Emerald Coast YMCA President and CEO Rudy Wright for his efforts in trying to correct the debt issue. 

Still, it wasn't enough.

“I don’t know how corporate arrived at shutting everything down, but I can understand why they did it … because the money is not coming in,” he said.

'WE WERE STAYING EVEN'

With an estimated 1,200 members at the Crestview YMCA, Moody believed the local YMCA could sustain itself.

“There is no mortgage on our YMCA,” he said. “Our YMCA wasn’t making a lot of money, but we were staying even. In some cases, depending on the month, we were making money.”

Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce President Wayne Harris also said he was confident that the Hub City's location was breaking even.

Colleen Mahn, chairman of the board for the YMCA of the Emerald Coast, said she thought Harris’s calculations might be “outdated,” though she would not further discuss corporation finances.

More than 30 percent of the Crestview location’s income went toward the Emerald Coast YMCA’s deficit, Moody said.  

He supported the Crestview location by organizing two fundraisers at his private ranch, raising nearly $28,000.

Moody said he reached out to Wright about having Crestview's YMCA become financially independent. However, Wright said it would not be possible, Moody said.

Harris, for one, said he thinks maybe the YMCA of Northwest Florida would be willing to absorb a single self-sustaining facility like the one Crestview could offer.

HELPING OUT

Walker Elementary in Crestview, Florosa Elementary and Kenwood Elementary contract with the YMCA for before- and after-school care at their respective facilities.

As of Friday, those services – which serve about 105 students – ended.

For the next two weeks, the Okaloosa County School District will step in and provide interim care at no cost to the families.

Northwest Florida Daily News Staff Writers Tom McLaughlin and Kari C. Barlow contributed to this report.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'SHOCKED AND SADDENED': YMCA's closure stuns staffers, members

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Public Library’s next monthly open-mic for poets and musicians to read, perform, improvise and play together is 6 p.m. Oct. 14, at 1445 Commerce Drive, Crestview.

The group's November poetry performance is Nov. 18, since the library will be closed Nov. 11 due to Veteran's Day.

Everyone is welcome to attend the free event, even if you don't write poetry or play music.

For details, contact Esther Hurwitz, 850-682-4432 or ehurwitz@okaloosa.lib.fl.us; or Rick Sanders, 850-585-6399.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview library hosts monthly poetry and music jam