LAUREL HILL — Despite its near cancellation, the annual Hobo Festival went on as planned Saturday at Gene Clary Park. About 600 people attended the event, and organizers said they anticipate future festivals based on attendance. 

“For the most part, vendors are saying they are going to come back next year,” Elgin “Trae” Duley said of the event that reportedly netted $300 for various community projects. General admission was free, but each vendor paid $25 or $20, respectively, for a spot with or without electricity.

Vendors — including ceramic artisans, clothiers and bric-a-brac peddlers — lined a paved walkway in front of the main stage that featured local country music artists David Lyle, The River Chase Band and Robert Wayne. Marvin Williford, the band’s lead singer, helped auction off several items including bottles of wine, gift cards and movie passes. 

Artisans displayed their wares to earn some extra income and Laurel Hill School’s K-12 students ran two booths to raise money for upcoming school functions.

The junior class sold cups of sweet iced tea, with proceeds benefiting the school’s April 6 prom. The Minority Council had a booth where attendees could throw a pie at a student’s face for $1. Proceeds will benefit a springtime field trip to Florida State University in Tallahassee, according to club sponsor and Laurel Hill English teacher Neisha Williams.

Collectively, both groups of students raised nearly $150 for their efforts, according to Williams. She said she doesn’t know the amount needed for the trip, but she believes that the sophomore class will make its goal for the school prom in the next few months.

Children’s activities included a giant inflatable slide and a dunking booth. In addition, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Posse members allowed kids to get in the saddle and take their horses for a guided ride.

Volunteer fire Chiefs Kevin Kendrick of Laurel Hill and Charles Carroll of Almarante, along with the festival hobo, Rev. Mike McVay, were among those dunked. McVay, of First Baptist Church of Laurel Hill, reprised his role as the festival’s iconic hobo, which honors the city’s railroad history. After the Civil War, soldiers-turned-migrant-workers traveled the railroads and gave labor to local farms during pit stops.

Florala resident David Fowler, who attended the festival with his family, seemed surprised by the crowd.

“I’ve been to this festival the last couple of years,” he said. “This is the biggest turnout that I have seen so far.”

Laurel Hill residents Jeneane and Herschell Williams brought their grandson Colton Steele, 2.

“We figured this would be the perfect place for him to come and blow off some steam,” Herschell Williams said.

His wife seemed pleased by the weather.

“It’s a perfect day for this festival,” she said.

Children could get their face painted and paint faces on small pumpkins at Darlene and Jeri Garrett’s booth.

“We actually had had over a hundred kids come by….,” Darlene Garret said, adding that she enjoys coming to the festival in Laurel Hill.

“It’s real “tight-knit” community out here,” Garrett said.

Still, the festival almost didn’t happen.

Earlier this year, low volunteer participation reportedly threatened the event’s occurrence.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Hobo Festival attendance up

CRESTVIEW—Taylor Nelson achieved one of his lifelong goals when he graduated with the Crestview High School Class of 2012. Less than a week later, he died of complications of several diseases, including cystic fibrosis. The Nov. 3 local Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 5K run/walk fundraiser commemorates Taylor.

This year, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s nationwide annual Great Strides effort joins the local Race for Lace fundraiser, named for Baker student Lacey Adams — who has cystic fibrosis — and moves to downtown Crestview.

“We’re expecting 500 people or more,” said event co-chair Laurie Hutchison, whose 4-year-old daughter Meagan also has the disease. “It’s pretty exciting, especially for downtown Main Street. It’s a big deal for Crestview.”

The 5-kilometer (3-mile) race has several components, broadening its appeal to people of varying physical capability, according to Hutchison, co-chairperson Kristy Kolmetz and Lindsay Adams, Lacey’s mother.

“We are excited to be able to bring people to Crestview for a 5K and find a cure for CF at the same time,” the organizers stated in a news release. “This year, we have running, walking, team and stroller divisions. There will also be a kids’ fun run.”

Claudia Werner, senior development director for the North Florida regional Cystic Fibrosis Foundation office in Jacksonville, said Taylor’s mother, Jennifer Nelson, asked to help with fundraising efforts.

“I was just blown away that this woman has just lost her son and she was considering fundraising for our cause,” Werner said. “I asked her if this is what she wanted to do and she replied, ‘I just can’t let another child die.’”

Werner said she had gotten to know Taylor during his illness and, like many others, found him inspirational. Although he was wheelchair-bound and used oxygen, Taylor returned to Crestview from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital for his senior prom, and again a few weeks later for First Baptist Church’s senior dinner and his graduation.

“I came to see Taylor graduate and then to lose him days later, this is an opportunity to make a huge difference,” Werner said. “I’m like Jenn: We can’t let another kiddo go this way. We are so close to finding a cure for this disease.”

“This year alone, a new drug entered the market that shows great promise to those living with CF,” Adams said in an email. “That is one reason the Race for Lace has now teamed up with Great Strides, the nationwide campaign to raise money and awareness of CF.”

Adams said the Nov. 3 events would include games and a slide for registered kids, an after-run breakfast and live music, including a performance by the Crestview High School jazz band. Awards will be presented for age groups with five-year increments and for teams, costumes and stroller categories. Boston butts will be available for $30.

Door prizes include a beach-view condo vacation, a New Orleans vacation, Okaloosa Island Pier fishing passes, a Destin fishing trip for two, a Lewis & Company diamond necklace and local gift cards, organizers said.

The chairpersons said this year’s goal is to raise $30,000, of which more than $12,000 in sponsorships is pledged.

“While having all this fun, we are finding a cure for children and adults living with cystic fibrosis,” Adams said.

Want to go?

The Race for Lace/Great Strides 5K run is Nov. 3, with check-in at 8 a.m., race at 9 a.m. and walk at 9:05 a.m.

Breakfast, live entertainment and activities are 9:30 to noon.

Registration costs $25, $10 for the kids’ fun run, payable at www.active.com. Discounted registration of $20 ends Oct. 21. The first 300 to sign up before Oct. 20 get a free T-shirt. Check-in is at Main Street Medical, 369 N. Main St.

Contact Lindsay Adams, 537-9298, Kristy Kolmetz, 826-3706, or Laurie Hutchison, 582-4738, for more details.

Visit www.cff.org for more information about cystic fibrosis.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Race for Lace to honor Taylor Nelson

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE — The Haul Road gate will close after Nov. 4.   

The gate, off State Road 189, was built to accommodate construction at the 33rd Fighter Wing’s Joint Strike Fighter Training Center complex. 

All commercial traffic must proceed through the North Gate for entrance to Eglin. The North Gate is on Highway 85, north of Northwest Florida Regional Airport.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Eglin's Haul Road gate closing in November

CRESTVIEW — In honor of our local military veterans, a field of flags will rise before Crestview High School in time for Veterans Day. The Crestview Exchange Club’s annual project presents individual flags that each commemorate a certain veteran.

Attached to the flags are tags bearing the veterans’ names, branches of service, and additional information including military units, years of service, conflicts the honorees served in, and personal messages. Anyone may donate $25 to the local Exchange Club to purchase a tag for his or her honoree.

The display will fly the week of Nov. 10-17, including Veterans Day, Nov. 11. A brief dedication ceremony is set for Nov. 10 after the city’s Veterans Day parade. The dedication time has not yet been set. At the display’s conclusion, the Exchange Club will present each tag to the person who purchased it.

The Exchange Club was founded in 1911 as a forum for community leaders to exchange ideas on ways of improving their towns. Its national project is the prevention of child abuse. Carolyn Knudsen, the local club’s Americanism chairperson, said the project’s proceeds would benefit local students.

“Our particular aim for this project is to fund our scholarships,” she said. “We give two scholarships in the spring to Crestview High School seniors.”

To purchase a tag, contact Knudsen at 496-4842.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Exchange Club sponsors Veterans Day flag display

CRESTVIEW — Joan Williamson and Barbara Barton know much about Alzheimer’s effects.

Both residents became close friends after attending Alzheimer's Family Services’ monthly support group meetings at Covenant Hospice in Crestview. The women bonded after their husbands received a positive diagnosis of the incurable disease — and have leaned on each other ever since.

"We often make it a point to have lunch afterwards," Williamson said. “I call (Barton) every morning to make sure she is all right."

Alzheimer’s — a progressive, irreversible neurological disorder — usually affects victims when they are 65 or older, but it can strike in the 40s or 50s. According to the Alzheimer's Association’s website, alz.org, 5.4 million Americans have the disease.

Dealing with Alzheimer’s can be challenging, the women said.

"It's a terrible, terrible disease," Williamson said. "It's like watching your loved one die a little each day."

Williamson had to put Donald, her husband of 55 years, in the Crestview Rehab facility more than a year ago. She was his sole caregiver when he was diagnosed with the disease 14 years ago. Williamson said the 79-year-old is in Alzheimer's’ final stage and barely speaks. While the first of seven stages often shows no symptoms, indications of cognitive decline increase with later stages. 

"I honestly don't think he recognizes me,” Williamson said.

That doesn’t deter her from daily visiting him and feeding him lunch.

Douglas, Barton’s husband of 37 years, was diagnosed at age 68 with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. He died six years after his diagnosis.

"It will be three years ago (that he died); this past June," Barton said. "He went through the stages very quickly before he died."

Alzheimer's Family Services, a non-profit organization, has given assistance and support for families with loved ones who have Alzheimer's. AFS, a Covenant Hospice affiliate, also runs meetings in Escambia and Walton, among other Florida Panhandle counties. 

"The emotional help they take away from the meetings is the biggest thing," said Susy Baker, the group’s leader for the past four years.

Meetings’ intimate nature help foster an environment for forging long-lasting bonds, said Baker, who worked with Alzheimer's patients as a licensed nurse for 36 years.

"This is definitely a tight-knit group here," she said. "There are usually no more than 10 people at each meeting."

AFS offers various services — namely, education, counseling and free memory screenings with an appointment. It also participates in the Project Lifesaver program, which, in conjunction with local law enforcement, fire and EMS teams, safely locates and returns missing Alzheimer's patients.

Williamson and Barton said they found Project Lifesaver bracelets helpful. Williamson said she deadbolted all her home’s doors after neighbors found Donald wondering outside in the middle of the night.

"It made me have patience," Barton said, referring to witnessing her husband's experience with Alzheimer's.

Both women said such experiences make them thankful for the support group.

"It's a great place for us to come and vent," Williamson said. "The meetings are so important to us."  

The Alzheimer’s Family Services support group meets at 10 a.m. the second Tuesdays at Covenant Hospice, 370 Redstone Drive. For more information on the AFS program, contact the AFS Pensacola office at 850-478-7790 or see www.alzfamserv.org.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Two women among those who cope in Alzheimer's support group

CRESTVIEW — Wesley Academy's pre-kindergarten class was the first group of students to visit a pumpkin patch at St. Mark United Methodist Church on Wednesday.

This is the third year that the church — which gets its pumpkins from New Mexico — has presented a pumpkin patch, according to student minister April Hight.

The event annually attracts North Okaloosa schools.

"We are expecting to have several area schools, including Antioch and Northwood (Elementary), visit in the next couple of weeks," Hight said. "We are expecting to have around 750 students."

 Children ages 2 through 4, from Wesley Academy's pre-kindergarten class, were the first to visit the patch. The academy, part of St. Mark church, started the morning in the arts and crafts room coloring paper-scarecrow puppets. Kids also played games outside. The activities included a kid's-size bowling area and a large metal container for little ones to throw balls into.

After the games, students gathered under a large oak tree near the church and listened to story time and live music from church members Eli Willis and Miranda Gomez. Gomez fittingly read Liz Curtis Higgs’ book, "The Pumpkin Patch Parable." Willis played his guitar and encouraged kids to sing along to the classic children's songs "Old MacDonald " and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

Students also decorated a cookie and picked out a small pumpkin with their parents’ help.

The pumpkins are for sale; prices vary depending on their size. Smaller pumpkins cost $1 and larger pumpkins can cost up to $30. Proceeds will go to the church's student ministries and fund mission projects in the community, according to Hight.

The patch is open 1-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. The final week of October (Oct. 22 through 30), the hours will change to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. On Wednesday, Oct. 31, the patch will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

"On the last two Saturdays of the month, we will have the children's activities along with concession stands for the public," Hight said.

She also said that on those two Saturdays, the church will show family-friendly movies and light up the church fire pit so people can roast marshmallows or make chocolate s'mores.     

From 5-7 p.m. Oct. 31, the church will present trunk or treat, during which vehicles will gather in the parking lot and pass out candy to children. Owners are encouraged to decorate their trunks or tailgates.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview church features pumpkin patch running through Oct. 31

NICEVILLE — The Kiwanis Key Club of Niceville-Valparaiso helped clean the Children in Crisis Children’s Neighborhood on a recent Saturday. Maintenance and improvement workdays at the neighborhood are every Saturday morning, and several times each year the club's students do their part.

Ken Hair, CIC president and CEO, said, “The Niceville-Valparaiso Kiwanis Key Club has a wonderful membership that’s always ready and willing to roll up their sleeves and support a worthy cause. It’s all about the kids!”

CIC provides homes for abused, neglected, and abandoned children of our area. To learn more, call 864-4242.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Niceville Kiwanis workday benefits Children in Crisis organization

CRESTVIEW — Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux said he sympathizes with voters befuddled by summaries for 11 proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution that appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

“If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance — and we’ll just kind of leave that where it is,” Lux said as he began his address to the Oct. 10 meeting of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Government Issues Committee.

The ballot summaries’ lengths for each amendment resulted in election supervisors having to issue four-page, legal-sized ballots.

“All those amendments were put there by the Florida Legislature,” Lux said. “The legislature is not restricted by the law that says amendment descriptions have to be 75 words or less.”

Lux presented a brief summary of each amendment.

• Amendment 1:“Health Care Services” would prohibit compelling residents to buy health insurance. However, Lux said, no matter the vote on this amendment, directed against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, “the U.S. Supreme Court has already decided the issue is constitutional (residents may be compelled to buy health insurance),” so any state amendment, by federal law, is moot.

• Amendment 2:“Veterans disabled due to combat injury” relaxes eligibility requirements for an existing property tax exemption for veterans disabled due to a combat injury.

“What this would do is throw (a) door pretty wide open that says any veteran in the state of Florida has this exemption,” Lux said. “If this happens, you can bet on a decrease in ad valorem taxes.”

• Amendment 3: “State government revenue limitation” would change the current revenue cap based on personal income to a more restrictive formula based on population growth and inflation rates.

• Amendment 4: “Property tax limitations.”

“This takes an entire column on a 14-inch ballot card,” Lux said. “I’d say that’s a little over 75 words. It’s actually just shy of 600.

“This would prevent the assessed value of your home, if you’re protected under Save Our Homes, from increasing when market values decline. It would repeal the ‘recapture’ rule.”

The amendment would also reduce the increase cap on non-homestead property from 10 percent to 5 percent, and provides an additional discount for first-time homebuyers.

• Amendment 5: “State courts.”

The amendment would grant the senate power to confirm the governor’s appointment of justices to the Florida Supreme Court, would let lawmakers repeal court rules with a majority instead of a two-thirds vote, and give House members access to confidential information about judges.

• Amendment 6: “Prohibition on public funding of abortions.”

“This one is no surprise in getting a lot of attention,” Lux said. “Basically, this is nothing more than a reinforcement of federal law and Florida law …. It also removes the broad use of the privacy clause in the Constitution.”

• Amendment 8: “Religious freedom.”

“This would repeal restrictions in Florida’s Constitution that prohibits taxpayer funding of religious institutions.”

Lux said the amendment’s passage would probably result in the school voucher program’s expansion.

“It doesn’t mean it’s exclusively about schools,” Lux said. “That’s why they use that broad term ‘institutions,’ but mostly this is about religiously affiliated schools.”

• Amendment 9: “Homestead property tax exemption for surviving spouse of military veteran or first responder.”

“This is already in law (for veterans’ spouses) and has been since 1997,” Lux said. “Right now, there’s nothing out there for first-responders.”

The benefit would apply retroactively to the year the recipient’s spouse was killed.

• Amendment 10: “Tangible personal property tax exemption,” would double the exemption for tangible personal property from $25,000 to $50,000.

“This is mostly a tax on business people” on furniture, fixtures, machinery, tools, signs and equipment, Lux said. “It shouldn’t come as any surprise that something like this is going to lower tax revenue.”

• Amendment 11: “Additional homestead exemption; low-income seniors.”

“This would eliminate the entire property tax bill if you are age 65 or older,” Lux said.

The senior would have to have an income less than $27,030, the home’s market value must be less than $250,000, “so you can’t have a big, fat condo on the beach,” and the senior must have lived there 25 years or more.

“You have to have a vote by local governments to put it in place,” Lux said.

• Amendment 12: “Appointment of student body president to Board of Governors.”

Lux said this amendment would create a new Council of Student Body Presidents from state colleges, the president of which would be one of 17 members of the Statewide Board of Governors of state schools. Florida State University does not participate in the current student body presidents’ group.

“I almost like this one as much as the dog track one in Miami a few years ago,” Lux said. “It’s not as good as pregnant pigs, though,” he said, referencing an amendment that once sought to protect expectant sows.

To expedite voting and to avoid delaying polling place lines, Lux encouraged voters to familiarize themselves with the candidates, amendments and the proposed new Crestview city charter, the ballot’s last item. The proposed charter would replace the current city charter with a city administrator form of government.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Elections supervisor offers synopses of constitutional amendments

CRESTVIEW — After several years of false starts and setbacks, construction on a downtown parking lot is underway. Having cleared the land, earlier this week, a crew from DeFuniak Springs-based Utilities Solutions Group busily constructed the lot’s underground drainage components.

“It’s essentially an underground storm water retention system,” Public Works engineer Fred Cook said of a large swath of gravel covering a membrane in an excavated hole beneath the future parking lot.

Originally planned for land behind Desi’s restaurant, a new location for the parking lot had to be found when the landowner withdrew his offer to sell the property to the city. The Community Redevelopment Agency, funding the project through a community block development grant, settled on the current site on Wilson Street just north of the county Elder Services office.

City officials said that since the CRA board gave its approval, the project has proceeded ahead of schedule.

“We gave them 90 days to complete the project, but they said they are aiming for 45 to 60 days,” Crestview Public Works Director Wayne Steele said, adding favorable weather conditions likely contributed to the expedited project.

The project will encompass a tree-lined lot that formerly held a residence and a dirt parking lot behind Elder Services and in front of the Sharing and Caring food bank. During construction, Okaloosa County Transit buses that typically stage from behind Elder Services will park at City Hall’s south parking lot.

“This will make a good back-up lot for City Hall,” Assistant Public Works Director Carlos Jones said.

Jones said that because CSX Corp. owns the property used as the City Hall south parking lot, if the railroad ever needed to reclaim its land, the new parking lot, just over the train tracks, could provide parking for city employees and citizens.

“They (CSX) own all that property practically right up to the mayor’s door,” Jones said.

The new parking lot will also be close to the Florida A&M University Rural Diversity Healthcare Center now open in the historic Alatex Building. When the center’s pharmacy school population reaches its anticipated 120 students, more parking in the vicinity will be needed.

However, the new parking lot is not as convenient to Main Street businesses as some people would like.

“I don’t see why they put it way over there,” Crestview resident Mary Reynolds said. “We like to meet friends at Desi’s for lunch. We’re not going to walk all that way. It doesn’t help Main Street customers at all.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Downtown parking lot expected to be finished ahead of schedule

CRESTVIEW — Free Medicare counseling and information are available to adults age 65 and up at Crestview Public Library, 1445 Commerce Drive, and Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 603 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

Call 306-2240 or 1-866-531-8011 to make an appointment.

A trained SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) counselor will assist participants with choosing a supplemental policy, selecting a prescription drug plan or receiving financial help to pay for Medicare premiums and prescription drugs.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview counselors providing free Medicare information by appointment