Crestview First United Methodist Church’s Arts and Crafts Bazaar is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 10 at Crossroads Center, 599 Eighth Ave., Crestview.
Artists and vendors should apply. Limited spaces are available. For more information, call Frankie Burgess at 586-5577 or Bobbi Burton at 758-8085.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bazaar organizers seek vendors
CRESTVIEW—Originally planned for 3-8 p.m. Oct. 27, the Fall Festival is now from 2-7 p.m. on Main Street in Crestview. All vendors, businesses, artists, churches and civic organizations are asked to help create a carnival-like atmosphere downtown.
The festival will feature live music, food, family-friendly games, bounce houses, treats for the kids and a costume contest.
Visit www.mainstreetcrestview.org for a registration form, which is due by 5 p.m. Oct. 12. Preregistration is necessary for all participants. For details, call 689-3722 or email manager@mainstreetcrestview.org.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Fall Festival hours change; pre-registration due Oct. 12
LAUREL HILL—City Council members are seeking ways to dispose of the city’s first fire engine. The truck, referred to as "Old Red" around the area, sits on one of the city volunteer fire department’s docking bays.
Council members were concerned that Old Red — which the city has used for community parades and festivals — may be taking too much space in the fire bay. The department has two engines used on calls.
Larry Hendren saidthe city officials were in talks with Crestview officials about loaning the truck to Crestview. However, Crestview officials decided not to pursue the option after reviewing their budget.
Mayor Joan Smith said that Old Red is currently uninsured and has several problems with oil leaks and brakes.
Hendren mentioned using a local car club to repair the truck to get it "up and running."
"It's a very nice vehicle and it's in very nice condition," he said.
The council will weigh its options and pursue the matter later.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill City Council questions antique fire truck's fate
CRESTVIEW—Explaining that three upcoming Crestview City Council meetings fall on holidays, City Clerk Betsy Roy requested that the council consider canceling or moving some of the meetings. State law requires city leaders to meet at least monthly, she said.
The Columbus Day observance on Oct. 8 is federal but not city holiday, Roy said. Veterans Day, observed Nov. 12, is a federal and city holiday; and city offices will close on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, the date of the scheduled second meeting of December.
Councilman Thomas Gordon moved to leave the Oct. 8 and Oct. 22 meetings as set, which was unanimously approved. Councilwoman Robyn Helt then moved to cancel the meetings on Nov. 12 and Dec. 24, which also passed unanimously.
Councilman Charles Baugh Jr. said if necessary, Mayor David Cadle could call a special meeting for November or December, which would only have one regularly scheduled meeting each.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview council alters holiday meeting schedule
CRESTVIEW — A clay shoot to benefit the Boy Scouts of America begins at 9 a.m. Nov. 10 at Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center, 3985 E. U.S. Highway 90, Crestview. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m., with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. The event, hosted by The Boy Scouts Gulf Coast Council, ends at 2 p.m.
Deadline to enter the competition is Nov. 1, with an $80 fee per person. The registration fee includes shells, clays, prizes, five practice shots, refreshments on the course and the awards lunch after the tournament. Participants must provide their own 12- or 20-gauge shotgun, eye protection and ear protections.
Sponsorship opportunities are available at several levels. Event sponsorship at the $2,000 level includes one four-person team, two sponsorship signs (one as a banner and another at registration), and promotional materials.
Award sponsorships cost $1,000, which includes one four-person team, one sponsorship sign along with banner at registration, and allowed promotional materials.
A course sponsorship, $850, includes a four-person team with signage at registration and allowed promotional materials.
Station sponsorship, $125, includes one sponsorship sign at a shooting station.
Prizes will be awarded for the top three teams and individual scores. Door prizes will be presented during lunch.
Part of the registration fee is tax deductible. The tournament will help the Boy Scouts continue to provide scouting programs for area youths.
Visit www.gulfcoastcouncil.org to sign up. For details, contact Jim Boksa at 476-6336.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Boy Scouts set Nov. 10 clay shoot
CRESTVIEW — Sultry jazz music, the aroma of gourmet foods cooking and the pop of wine bottle corks filled the air at Sunshine Aero Test Flight’s hangar at Bob Sikes Crestview Airport Saturday night. More than 200 attendees mingled around tables featuring cuisine from multiple area eateries, wines from around the world, and a variety of goodies up for silent auction.
Laurel Hill resident Edna Gella gazed around the cavernous hangar. Aircraft were festively decorated in white lights, a breeze wafted through the massive doors, and the choice of menu selections was overwhelming.
“I thought $35 was a lot to pay, but when I got here, there was a good band and so much food,” she said. “I am enjoying meeting new people, too.”
Gella’s son Dennis Mitchell, the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce’s president-elect, said one thing attendees found most appealing was the event’s unusual location.
“I would ask people, ‘Have you ever been to a wine gala in an airplane hangar before?’” Mitchell said. “When they say, ‘No,’ I tell them, ‘There’s a reason. This is the first one.’”
The first chamber-sponsored Wine Gala was set in a festively decorated tent in the chamber of commerce parking lot. Last year, the second annual gala was set in a bank lobby. Who knows where it will be in 2013, organizer Lynn Yort said, but a goal is to highlight member businesses.
Chamber President Karen Hardell drew applause when she evoked the memory of the late chamber President Foy Shaw, who was one of the body’s founders. Shaw was fond of promoting the chamber as well as its businesses in memorable ways, she said.
“Mr. Foy Shaw would’ve loved to have been here tonight,” Hardell said.
Among the night’s offerings were sautéed shrimp over smoked Gouda grits, chicken and sirloin kabobs, smoked grit cakes with braised brisket and red onion relish, barbecued pork finger sandwiches, banana pudding, brownie bites, and tender Peach Albóndigas meatballs in a sauce made of a reduction of Just Peachy, one of Yellow River Winery’s wines.
Joining 14 area culinary partners, wines at 13 tables around the hangar represented five continents, 11 countries and five U.S. states, including Yellow River’s local Florida-made wines.
Dr. Cheryl Jones and Company’s jazz rhythms had attendees cutting the rug with jazz arrangements of favorites like the 1936 Oscar-winner “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Stand by Me,” “Jambalaya on the Bayou” and “My Girl.” As a highlight, jazz musician Saundra Daggs performed her rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Yort said she and her committee members started working on this year’s gala, themed “Moonlight and Melodies,” in February. The event’s profits would benefit the chamber of commerce’s efforts to advance the Crestview area’s business community.
“Together, we can do much more than we can individually….,” Yort said.
Despite an overall crowd-pleasing experience, one component failed to cooperate: the full moon was rarely visible due to a dense cloud cover, but that didn’t stifle a good time.
“We’ll take 99 out of 100 good things tonight,” Mitchell said.
See video link in "Related Media" at left.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Chamber of Commerce's third annual wine gala a crowd pleaser (VIDEO)
CRESTVIEW — Gray squirrel season opens Oct. 13 throughout Florida on private lands. The daily bag limit is 12 gray squirrels.
In previous years, the squirrel season opened in early November. Last spring, however, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to provide squirrel hunters with another month of hunting, similar to dates in other southeastern states. The change came after the 2012-13 hunting dates had gone to the printer.
“This change means more opportunity for squirrel hunters,” Paul Scharine, FWC public hunting areas biologist, said. “The message we’re trying to get out is this change only applies to private property.”
For hunting dates on public lands, Scharine said hunters should consult the printed 2012-13 wildlife management area regulations or go online for specific area dates at MyFWC.com/Hunting and select “WMA Brochures.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Squirrel season opens Oct. 13 on private Okaloosa property
CRESTVIEW — What do Mark Twain, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Jack London and Kurt Vonnegut have in common — besides being some of literature’s most luminous names? At one time or another, their works — today considered literary classics — have been banned from American libraries, Crestview Public Library staff members said.
A display at the library, erected Friday in observance of Banned Books Week, includes stacks of books that have been banned or challenged in American libraries. To draw attention to the perceived dangers of stifling Americans’ right to read, the books on display have been wrapped in yellow police “caution” tape.
An author doesn’t have to be one of the great names of literature for their works to be challenged, Crestview librarians said. Authors also include J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien, and titles even include the Bible.
“I think this display has more books than we’ve ever put on the banned books table,” librarian Annie Whitmore said as she and Marie Garcia put finishing touches on the display. “We are just creating an awareness of our opportunity to explore literature and how some people want to keep you from doing that.”
The American Library Association and its members have observed Banned Books Week for 30 years. This year’s theme, “fREADom,” features the Statue of Liberty holding aloft her torch and reading a book she holds in her left hand. The Crestview library is distributing bookmarks bearing the graphic.
Sometimes books are banned for religious reasons, library assistant Tracey McGann said.
“Most people object to some books on religious grounds, but then they’re the ones who most want religious freedom,” McGann said.
While books are rarely challenged at the Crestview library, in 2010, a local mother demanded “manga” graphic novels, well read among teen readers, be removed or secured. The woman said her son “lost his mind when he found this,” she said, exhibiting a mature version of manga the boy had stolen from the adult graphic novels section. Her challenge was unsuccessful.
“We like people to appreciate what living in America provides for them,” Whitmore said as she placed fREADom bookmarks around the display. “It allows people the opportunity to challenge books, but it also allows people the right to choose what they want to read.”
Visitors to the library might be surprised to see books like Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” George Orwell’s “1984” or poetry by American author Maya Angelou on the table.
Librarians hope patrons will be disturbed to know that at one time or another, other citizens tried to deprive them of the opportunity to check those and many other books out of the library.
“It allows people to realize what our First Amendment rights are,” Whitmore said.
The Banned Books Week display will be up at the Crestview Public Library through Oct. 6.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Library celebrates freedom to read
CRESTVIEW—Members of the family of late city Parks and Recreation worker Nathaniel Grant requested that city officials halt a process that would have named the Twin Hills Park stadium in his memory. Grant died in the summer of 2011. At city Councilman Tim Grandberry’s recommendation, the facility was scheduled to be named Nathaniel Grant Stadium.
“While our family appreciates the gesture of naming the football stadium at Twin Hills Park after my husband, Nathaniel, we feel it best to rescind your request,” Miranda Grant wrote in an email to Public Works Director Wayne Steele.
“There are so many deserving families for this honor,” Grant’s email stated. “Maybe the stadium could be dedicated in general to all the deserving members that have passed on.”
The Crestview City Council unanimously approved Miranda Grant’s request with its approval of the consent agenda at Monday’s meeting.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Family halts stadium naming
CRESTVIEW — Tony Taylor was sworn in Monday morning as the Hub City’s police chief during a ceremony at Warrior's Hall in the George Whitehurst Municipal building. Many uniformed officers were on hand to welcome their new chief, along with many of Taylor’s family members and former colleagues.
Mayor David Cadle opened the ceremony by addressing the officers.
"This is the beginning of a new era for this department," Cadle said. Following his comments, the police chaplain Mark Broadhead gave the opening prayer.
Taylor was then sworn in by Cadle to begin his first day as police chief. Taylor addressed his officers and assured them that he believed in teamwork.
"Let me put your minds at ease," he said. "I'm going to be a part of this department, not apart from this department. I want to get to know you all."
After Taylor's remarks, City Councilman Charles Baugh spoke on behalf of the city council and welcomed Taylor and his wife of seven years, Lilia.
"It is very fitting that we have this ceremony in the Warrior's Hall, because the officers are the warriors of our city," Baugh said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview swears in new police chief
