CRESTVIEW — The Guardian Ad Litem in Crestview on Sunday remembered needy, unrepresented children with a ceremony at Twin Hills Park.

Guardian Ad Litem is a government-assisted, volunteer-based organization that speaks for children moved from their homes due to courtroom intervention. These children, who have been abused, neglected or abandoned, are often removed from a toxic environment and placed into care of others.

Carita Smith, the Crestview Guardian Ad Litem program’s volunteer coordinator, hosted the event.

The goal was to encourage more people to volunteer for the program.

"We have lots of volunteers and I appreciate them," Smith said during the ceremony. "But right now, we have over 200 (children) without Guardian Ad Litem. So that means those children get up and have nobody to speak on their behalf and have nobody to visit them and nobody to make sure they are not hurt, harmed or endangered again.”

A basket with 201 flowers was placed inside a lookout pavilion overlooking a pond at the park. Following the service, attendees tossed flowers into the pond in remembrance of children without representation.  

Additionally, area judges and program directors spoke and there were performances from the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church children's choir, Jeilani Champion and Dr. Linda Smith.  

‘Doing from my heart’

Crestview resident Malcolm Parker said Sunday’s event taught him a lot about the issue.

"It opened my eyes a little bit," he said. "You don't always pay attention to what's going on with the children in the community."

Parker said he’s considering volunteering and wants to help spread the word. 

Tammy Hillsman, who has worked with Guardian for the past eight months, said she enjoys speaking on the children’s behalf.

"I just want to be there because whatever situation we step in to, it's a tragedy from the very beginning," she said. "I'm basically there to help them get through it."

 Hillsman said she is working on two cases involving four children. On average, she handles two cases at a time, she said.

The workload is never a burden, she said.

"They try not to overwhelm you; they start you off slow" Hillsman said.

And it’s fulfilling, she said.

"I'm doing from my heart — I don't want to get paid for it," Hillsman said. "I'm just doing it for those children."

Want to volunteer?

Prospective Crestview Guardian Ad Litem volunteers can call 689-5060. Learn more about the program at guardianadlitem.org.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Guardian Ad Litem remembers needy children with ceremony

CRESTVIEW — Relay for Life teams “rocked out cancer,” in accord with this year’s theme, during last weekend’s annual fundraiser that benefits the American Cancer Society.

From Beach Boys to Kiss, rock music received representation from several team tents Friday and Saturday at Old Spanish Trail Park. The fun was part of a concerted effort to raise money for cancer research.

Several teams raised money to walk the track and participate in other activities to symbolically fight cancer. An opening ceremony preceded a traditional first lap for cancer survivors. Later in the evening, the track was cleared for a luminaria ceremony. Candle lit paper bags, each featuring the name of someone with cancer, lined the track.

"When I see the community coming to do this … it's just overwhelming," Crestview resident Stephanie Rousset said. "It gets me going as a (breast) cancer survivor."

Rousset has been cancer free for the past four years and has known friends and family members with the disease. Some have survived; others died.

Crestview resident Ida Faye Powell — who is receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer diagnosed in 2011 — walked in the relay and raised $1,500 for the ACS. She had reached out to friends and former employers for donations.

"I told them about my situation and asked for their support," Powell said. "Having had family members that have had cancer, it's important that that one day a cure will be found." 

Powell was part of the Bob Sikes Elementary School relay team. She was a teacher at the school for 30 years before retiring.

Other area schools, including Davidson Middle School and Riverside Elementary School, were just some of the teams lining the track. Area churches, businesses and other organizations also participated.

Over the past year, teams have raised $148,500 for cancer research; last weekend's event netted $17,000, according to event organizer Krystal Jackson. She credited Crestview in helping Okaloosa become the No. 1 county in the country in raising money per capita for the ACS.   

"It's because of Crestview that we are number one, which is huge," Jackson said.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview teams raise $148,500 in Relay for Life (GALLERY)

CRESTVIEW — It took 31 years, but the triangular park at the south foot of Main Street has at last been dedicated to garden club members who created it and those who maintain it.

Garden Park — created in 1982 by the now disbanded Crestview Garden Club — was dedicated the morning of April 25 by city officials and Dogwood Garden Club members who continue the park founders' efforts.

Event organizer Thea Duhaime presented the park's new red cedar sign, crafted by woodworker Bill Walton, a 1999 Crestview High School graduate, as a gift to the city and a way "to give back to the community," he said.

The club recognized retired forester John McMahon, founder of the city's McMahon Environmental Center, as a Viva Florida 500 "Noteworthy Person” and for "encouraging people to recognize the value of our environment," Dogwood president Sarah Petty said.

"Even here in this beautiful place, we see the contrast with nature and the risk of pollution," McMahon said, indicating passing S.R. 85 traffic.

The Dogwood Garden Club will maintain Garden Park in conjunction with the city Public Works Department. It plans to work with city staffers on a master plan for the park.

"Our hope is that residents and visitors to our city will discover the park as a place to have their lunch, a cup of coffee or just sit and watch the day for awhile," Duhaime said.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Garden Park in Crestview dedicated 31 years after its creation

CRESTVIEW — An untended garden in the corner of Riverside Elementary School’s playground sprouted Daisies Thursday afternoon: not flowers, but the youngest Girl Scouts.

Six- and 7-year-old girls of Troop 687 prepared a butterfly garden to commemorate children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December.

Troop leader Tisha Davies said the conversation with the young girls was "very difficult," but the girls understood the Sandy Hook children were now in heaven, and wanted to do something to memorialize them in Crestview.

The girls, wielding rakes, hoes and shovels, were under the supervision of two dads, two moms and Joel Carden of Crestview landscaping company 7C's Services. Charlee Becker of the Crestview Kiwanis club assisted them.

Kiwanis members donated a blue birdbath and an oval polished stone marker dedicating the butterfly garden to Sandy Hook victims. Carden donated mulch for the garden's flowers and shrubs.

Pitching in were Daisy Taylor Davies' twin older brothers, Alexander and Christopher, 7.

The girls took their work seriously. Azlin Dowling periodically proudly displayed a clump of weeds she'd pulled up, while Shuntay Douglass needed the playground fence’s support to get a good jump onto her shovel to dig in around a weed.

Daisy Molly Keller's dad, James Keller, will build and donate a cypress butterfly house for the garden.

Riverside Principal Marline Van Dyke and Assistant Principal Kelli Sanders stopped by to observe the progress.

"It's beautiful!" Van Dyke said. "We love it."

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Daisies plant butterfly garden at Riverside Elementary

CRESTVIEW — Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies stationed at Wal-Mart on Saturday will collect unwanted or unused medications, no questions asked. The OCSO and Drug Enforcement Agency’s Drug Take Back aims to prevent drug abuse.

"We have had a great response to the organized events, which allow people to just drive up to the tent and get rid of the drugs," OCSO public information officer Michele Nicholson said in an email. "All the inventory is then destroyed per federal DEA guidelines."

Residents unable to attend Saturday’s event can drop off medication weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Judge Joe N. Livingston Jr. office on the corner of U.S. Highway 90 and State Road 85. Housebound residents can request an officer to collect unwanted prescription drugs.

Dropping off unused medication is officials’ preferred method for its disposal. Flushing it down a toilet or throwing it in the trash can present safety and health hazards, according to an OCSO news release.

Want to go?

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office drug take-back runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Crestview Wal-Mart. 

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Unused prescription drug collection is Saturday at Wal-Mart

FORT WALTON BEACH — Four parks may have potentially hazardous bathing water, the Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County stated this week.

Garniers Park of Fort Walton Beach, Marler Park of Okaloosa Island, Henderson Beach of Destin and Rocky Bayou State Park of Niceville have received advisories for enteric bacteria presence. This indicates fecal pollution, which may come from stormwater runoff, pets, wildlife and human sewage.

Current water quality ratings are listed below by sight name, advisory level, and water quality, with bold print for easier reading.

Liza Jackson Park, Fort Walton Beach; Pass; Good.

GarniersPark, Fort Walton Beach; Fail; Poor.

MarlerPark, Okaloosa Island; Fail; Poor.

WaysidePark, Okaloosa Island; Pass; Moderate.

PoquitoPark, Shalimar; Pass; Moderate.

Gulf Islands National Seashore, Okaloosa Island; Pass; Moderate.

East Pass, Okaloosa Island; Pass; Moderate.

Lincoln Park, Valparaiso; Pass; Moderate.

Henderson Beach, Destin; Fail; Poor.

Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, Niceville; Fail; Poor.

James Lee Park, Destin; Pass; Moderate.

Emerald Promenade, Okaloosa Island; Pass; Moderate.

Clement E. Taylor Park, Destin; Pass; Moderate.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Four parks receive advisories for fecal matter