CRESTVIEW — Crestview has a new surgeon and a familiar face all in one person.

Dr. Daran Mason made his return to Crestview over a month ago. He was born in Fort Walton Beach but lived in Crestview after his birth.

Mason, a former Bulldog, participated in a gifted program offered at Crestview High School, where he chose a profession and had the opportunity to shadow someone in the field.

"I actually shadowed (Dr. Dennis Stewart) in the fall of '91, and I thought that was something I wanted to do," Mason said.

Mason returned to Dr. Stewart, a general surgery specialist in Crestview, and stayed with him for a year.

It wasn't until Mason graduated from Crestview High School in 1992 that he moved out of the area. He attended the University of Florida for its accelerated program but decided he wanted to travel outside of Florida for medical school.

After graduating in 2003 from medical school at The American University of the Caribbean, Mason moved to Mobile, where he completed his general surgery residency at the University of South Alabama.

Part of Mason's decision to come back to the area involved his 9-year-old son, Jennings, who is autistic. He said his family saved money by moving to Florida because of the state's special-needs benefits that Alabama does not have. Mason, his wife, and their two sons currently reside in Fort Walton Beach, where Jennings attends a special-needs school.

Although he does not live in the city, Mason said he wanted to work in Crestview because it's a "better fit" than Fort Walton Beach.

"It's exciting to be able to see some people and communicate with them on a different level of more familiarity other than just helping them with their medical problems," he said.

Dr. Mason's practice manager, Darlene Pourcillie, said that in the first week of opening his office, Dr. Mason had members of the community that have known him for years stop by and say hello.

"It was really good to see the community come and welcome him," Pourcillie said

Mason brings a unique aspect to our community, the da Vinci Surgical System. This system uses robotic technology, which keeps the surgeon from having to directly touch the patient.

"As a physician, the robot doesn't do anything. It's not on auto pilot," Mason said. "I do everything. It's like my puppet."

The benefit of the robotic technology is the surgeon's ability to be more precise and accurate during a surgery, which has proven to reduce patient's pain, Mason said.

Mason's office is located at the North Okaloosa Medical Center at 550 W. Redstone Ave.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Once a Bulldog, now a general surgeon

The buzz of a possible visit by Russian President, Vladimir Putin has died down.

Different reasons have been cited from safety to timing to other things going on right now for President Trump and Putin. 

I said on more than one occasion when Obama was President that he should invite Putin to the White House for dinner. I also said that about Kim Jong-un. 

Putin nor Jong-un are not beloved by the American people. Americans, or our President are not beloved by the North Koreans or the people of Russia. I don't necessarily know this as gospel fact but I watch the media and read other articles and columns. I suspect it's true. 

Diplomacy is always a good move to try from any side of the aisle. I do hope our President will have Putin in the White House for dinner, play checkers, pitch horseshoes and treat him to a tour of the White House grounds or something like that. 

On the other hand, I am sure that CNN, NBC and the New York Times would have great fear over what the two men might talk about. Maybe, they would talk about how our two countries could work together to make our world a safer and better place? Maybe they might talk about world peace? Maybe they would talk about global energy issues, food shortages and helping all people around the globe to have happy productive lives? Who knows what world leaders try to talk about for sure? Maybe Putin would disclose to the President how much his Facebook advertisement budget would be for the next election?

The way Facebook stock has fallen this week interested persons should keep an eye on Mark Zuckerberg. He may be meeting with Putin himself to rev up advertising accounts.

When it comes to advertising, most media ventures seem to sell to anybody that wants to buy any kind of an advertisement for or against anybody. I have not noticed any television stations in any town in American refraining from running any kind of political advertisement that anyone wants to buy.

Some political advertisements are ridiculous and should not be aired on television. The claims against opponents get more outlandish every year. Can you imagine what the advertisements are going to look like against Trump this next time? 

What if a group from Haiti wanted to buy Facebook ads for or against a candidate? Or what if someone from France wanted to get involved in buying Facebook or other media advertisements? The media groups would sell them the space because they are all desperate to turn dollars.

It's a free country, at this point. I'm sure there are groups who might not sell an advertisement to the Pope if he wanted to buy one against Trump but who would that be? 

Okay, back to Putin's lunch at the White House.

Invite him to come and see how it goes. He's not going to stay here. Bring Kim Jong-un and shoot some basketball with him.  This will also mean an invite to Dennis Rodman to the White House. And why not? We are talking about peace and trying to get this world together in harmony before we destroy it and that's reason enough.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

What’s your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Putin To The White House – Reason Enough

CRESTVIEW — History becomes personal once a month at the Crestview Library.

The Family History Club is an open forum where people interested in researching their individual genealogy can receive guidance from Cindy Barber, a member of the Genealogy Society in Okaloosa County. Barber said she has been researching genealogy since 1980 and is starting a program in the fall called the ProGenStudy Group, which will enable her to become a certified genealogist.

“For a lot of people, it goes back to finding your roots, finding out where you came from,” Barber said. "For me, I like the research…I never liked history in school, but because of doing family history and things like genealogy, it brings your personal history to life."

Emily Knie, adult services librarian, contacted the genealogy society asking for someone to do something with genealogy in Crestview because there had been interest from some residents and Barber volunteered, Knie said.

“It's really nice to be able to provide the opportunity for the people of Crestview to get some professional experience in the field of searching for personal genealogies,” Knie said.

The club started their first meeting three months ago, and eight people attended the first meeting. Barber said it is hard to get things going in the summertime because of everyone’s busy schedule.

“We figure we really won’t get anything going probably until fall or winter,” Barber said.

Crestview’s library features a small genealogy section that has reference materials like past yearbooks and old newspapers.

Every meeting at the club is different, and the subjects are discussed and chosen by the group a month in advance. At the first meeting, Barber said the club discussed where each participant stood on their family history research and goals moving forward.

The club meets at 10 a.m. on the third Thursday every month in the Crestview Library’s meeting room  Topics for the upcoming meeting will include old diseases that can be found on death certificates.

Information about the club can be found on the library’s website: http://www.cityofcrestview.org/178/Library.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Finding your roots'

LAUREL HILL — McDonald Campbell, Laurel Hill’s oldest resident, turns 104 on Friday.

In 1914, her story began in a little white two-bedroom house on the corner of 1st Ave. and 4th St., where she currently resides. She was born in the front bedroom, now the living room.

Campbell knew Laurel Hill when it was a like a “village” with plenty of shopping, places to eat, and a train that came through the town. Her father owned a grocery store called the Campbell Store for 50 years in the heart of Laurel Hill. It was well known throughout the community for many years, and Campbell’s caretaker said it was one of those grocery stores that sold everything from hardware to ham.

She attended Laurel Hill School from a youth to graduation.

It wasn’t until her father passed away at the age of 52 that Campbell moved back into her childhood home. She wanted to be with her mother, who didn't care to be alone at night, she said.

After graduating from Laurel Hill, Campbell went to college at Florida State University in Tallahassee where she earned a bachelor and masters degree in education.

Campbell dedicated 35 years of her life “or a little more" to teaching. She taught one year at Crestview High School, two years at Marianna High School, and spent many years teaching at Laurel Hill School.

Around Christmas time in the 50s, when Campbell was teaching at Crestview, she stayed late after school hanging Christmas décor and went home. Later that night, another teacher called to tell her the school had burned down.

“She called me and said, ‘You have no job.’ I said, ‘No job? You don’t get fired at night,'” Campbell said.

But, that wasn’t the only time Campbell experienced a school-consuming fire.

When Campbell was teaching at Laurel Hill School, a major storm passed through and lightning struck the building multiple times causing the building to burn down, she said.

“We all cried,” Patricia Gilley, Campbell’s caretaker, said.

Campbell continued to work at the new school building after the fire, which is the location of Laurel Hill School today.

Laurel Hill has been Campbell’s home for many years, but in ’92, she and her cousin from Georgia decided they wanted to travel. Campbell then spent the coming years touring parts of the United States and traveling outside the country to places like Germany, Austria, the Philippines, England, and Japan.

“We took off for a splurge,” Campbell said. “…We had a great time.”

Many of Campbell’s friends, family and some of her students are, as she says, “in the grave.” She never married nor had children. She had two sisters, one that died in childbirth and the other passed at age 11.

Campbell has many close friends around Laurel Hill and at her church, Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church. She has remained a faithful member of the church her entire life.

“I went every Sunday except the last three Sundays,” Campbell said.

Last week, Campbell had pneumonia.

“We thought the Lord was going to call her home then,” Gilley said. “And, when she woke up, she wanted a hot cup of coffee.”

Campbell enjoys spending time with her cat, Yellow Boy. She’s had Yellow Boy since he showed up on her front porch as a kitten eight years ago.

Sitting in her wheelchair in the room where she was born, Campbell recalls good memories like the little girl down the street she once played with in the front yard as a child and when an old neighbor mowed the lawn for her and her mother soon after her father passed. She doesn’t know any of her current neighbor’s names.

Gilley, her caretaker of over 4 years, asked what has helped her live a long life.

“God,” Miss Campbell said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill resident celebrates 104 years of life Friday

CRESTVIEW — Nonprofit organizations can now apply to serve alcohol at events on Main Street after the city council unanimously approved the application during Monday's special meeting.

City Clerk Elizabeth Roy said in the meeting that the application is only for events taking place in the Main Street area Commercial Business District.

The application includes the event form, Main Street alcohol permit, requests for police services and an insurance agreement.

“This has actually been in place for two years, but now we have the applications,” Roy said.

Nonprofit organizations can begin the application process as soon as they are up on the city website, but each requirement must be complete three weeks before the next council meeting, according to city officials. The requirements include presenting a map of the event's location to the council for approval. Also stated in the application, the organization will be required to give out arm bands to anyone consuming alcohol.

Roy said the council, police department, fire department, and parks and recreation must approve the application before the event takes place.

The council unanimously approved the documents with two members, Joe Blocker and Shannon Hayes, absent from the meeting.

City council meetings are held at city hall, 198 Wilson St. every month on the second and fourth Monday.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview city council approves alcohol application for nonprofits

CRESTVIEW — After watching his daughter play volleyball in Crestview for several years, Joe Faulk, founder of the Okaloosa-Walton Volleyball Academy (OWVA), envisioned the potential reach a volleyball program would have in our community.

"We're talking about 10,000 children that could be underserved, and we just thought it was a great opportunity," Faulk said.

Faulk—a financial planner by trade—said the process to start this program was like planning a small business. The difficulty came when he had to find staff that could mirror his enthusiasm.

Not wanting to coach himself, Faulk said he put together a team of coaches by reaching out to roughly 80 candidates and telling them about his vision.

“I was in a very simple position to recognize a need and know how to find smart people to make things happen for me because I can’t make that part happen,” Faulk said.

The club currently has five coaches in charge of five teams and is looking to have nine players per team.

Mini Maestas, the coach for the 17-year-old age group, enjoys coaching travel teams and wants every girl on her team to receive a college scholarship.

“It’s a lot of time, but to me, I love the sense of camaraderie," she said. "You become a family with these other girls on your team."

The coach for the 15-year-old team, Jessika Jackson, was born in Crestview but moved to Freeport as a youth. She said she was the first girl from Freeport High School to receive a college volleyball scholarship to what is now Pensacola State College.

Born and raised in a small community, Jackson believes travel volleyball is important for girls wanting to play in college.

"It’s these small-town girls that need an opportunity to see that there’s a whole world out there," Jackson said. “Volleyball exists everywhere you go, different atmospheres, different coaches, and different styles. But, at the end of the day, we all play the same way.”

Part of Faulk’s vision is to have a program that reaches more children in the community like special needs children.

"Once we have established the volleyball program as a reliable entity here, we could expand into basketball, softball, indoor soccer, field hockey…and that should not be limited to the most gifted athletes that we have in this city," Faulk said.

Before beginning a special needs program, Faulk wants to find the right coach for this particular group of kids and said he has reached out to a few candidates that could be a good fit for this position.

“The timing of that program will really depend on getting the right person to lead that group,” Faulk said.

OWVA plans to host open gyms in August and have tryouts in October.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Volleyball exists everywhere you go'

CRESTVIEW — Locals of Crestview gathered with their canine companions Monday at Twin Hills Park where the city’s first dog park will be located.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Bark Park began with a quick word from Mayor David Cadle and then, from the woman behind it all, April Meier.

Meier said she got involved with the process a few years ago after she found out the city couldn't pay for the dog park.

“I asked if we could raise funds for it, and we started getting funds coming in,” Meier said. “So, here we are today getting ready to break ground.”

Along with raising money, Meier also works with the Crestview’s Community Redevelopment Agency in designing the layout of the dog park, researching about other dog parks in Florida and other states, and finding companies that will donate work time.

The dog park will feature a fenced-in area with sections for small and large dog breeds as well as lighting for people who want to bring their dogs to the park in the evening, Meier said. The fence will remain locked with swipe-card access only, which will be available for purchase on the city's website or at Meier's store, Pawsitively Scrumptious, on James Lee Boulevard. Currently, the annual fee for the card will be $25 for city residents and $35 for non-residents.

“Our community has been waiting for this for years, and it’s really not a park about the dogs. It’s more about people with a unique bond who have pets,” Meier said.

Wayne Steele, public services director, said the city currently does not have a date set for the completion of the park because the funding is contingent on donations. But if all goes as planned, it could be completed in two to three months.

Bernadine Grooms was among the locals who brought their furry friends to the ceremony and is looking forward to having a dog park near by where she can bring her shiny, brown Rhodesian Ridgeback named Chelsea.

“There’s just not a lot of really great places that you can take your animals and let them just run loose and be free, be themselves, and interact and socialize with other dogs without a drive somewhere,” Grooms said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview celebrates first 'Bark Park' at groundbreaking ceremony

CRESTVIEW — The speed limit now is higher on U.S. Highway 90 in Crestview between Lee Farm Boulevard and State Road 4.

The limit rose from 45 to 55 mph after an area resident contacted the The Florida Department of Transpiration with concerns, according to FDOT Public Information Specialist Tanya Branton.

Larry Woolley, owner of Woolley Consignments and Surplus on West James Lee Boulevard, has watched the changes made on U.S. 90 since 1985.

“It was 55 out here for years and years…it’s really hard to drive 45 out there,” Woolley said.

FDOT changed the speed limit after completing a speed study in the area and made recommendations. Branton said the study looked at different factors like crashes and road features.

Another factor observed during this study was the 85th percentile speed. This part of the study looked at the speed that 85 percent of vehicles traveled at or under, which gave the department an idea of what the speed limit should be.

“All of these factors were considered in the decision to raise the speed to 55 mph making it more consistent and predictable throughout SR10/US90,” Branton said in an email.

The new speed limits signs already have been placed alongside the highway.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Speed limit raised on portion of U.S. Highway 90

CRESTVIEW — In downtown Crestview, the construction phase for the new courthouse is expected to be finished by the end of July after weather delays.

The Okaloosa County Courthouse on Main Street is set to be completed by July 31, according to Christopher Saul, the Okaloosa County Public Information Officer.

Ajax Building Corporation has been heading up the construction of the courthouse. Saul said landscaping and irrigation are the current focal point.

Rain caused delays during construction, which pushed back the completion date from the beginning of July to the end.

Although construction may be finished by the end of July, Saul said that it will be October before the courthouse is fully operational.

Between now and then, public works will address a list of damages that took place during construction and finalize items like plumbing and electrical work. Administration is expected to be moved into the building by October, according to Saul.

The courthouse, 50 percent larger than the original, is not alone on Main Street. Businesses line the road around the building.

Kareca Wright, who owns Standard Hair Salon, can watch the construction happening right across the street as she works.

“It looks a whole lot better than what was there before,” Wright said. “I feel good about it. It’s going to look good down on this end.”

One door down, Lorine Johnson, owner of Granny’s Attic, sits down in front of her sewing machine and layers of polka dotted fabric. She isn’t bothered by the construction happening directly in front of her business.

“It makes no difference whatever to me….I keep my back to it most of the time anyhow because I’m sitting at a machine,” Johnson said.

Along with the retail and food businesses on Main Street, the area houses several law firms, whose staff has been driving to the Courthouse Annex Extension in Fort Walton Beach during the construction.

Brian Corlew, an attorney at Chesser and Barr, looks forward to a short walk down the road and the possibility of more clientele seeing his office.

“Really, convenience is the key word for me,” Corlew said. “After that, it comes down to the travel and everything else. It’ll help the clients as well with some cost.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ‘Convenience is key’

CRESTVIEW — The Emerald Coast Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) will host their seventh annual Hunting Heritage Banquet to raise money for projects that conserve wildlife and preserve Florida’s hunting heritage.

The dinner starts at 7 p.m. July 26 at the Crestview Community Center, but arrive at 6 p.m. to enjoy a social hour before it begins. 

Families can play games and enter raffles to win guns and other NWTF items. There also will be silent and live auctions for exclusive framed art, guns, collectibles, sculptures home furnishings and more.

Corporate sponsor tables that seat six people cost $500 and include a corporate sponsor gift. Tickets for couples are $75 and single tickets are $55. All ticket prices include admission, a barbecue dinner and a single one-year NWTF membership.

Purchase tickets and sponsorships at https://events.nwtf.org/90740-2018.

Local and state NWTF chapters host thousands of similar events nationwide each year to raise funds that help conserve wildlife and habitat, and introduce new people to the outdoors. Many families enjoy hunting together and pass traditions on from one generation to another. Hunting also is important for the health of our nation’s wildlife and habitat because hunters fund conservation.

Contact Matt Wilkins, 334-405-5452 or mwilkins@mwtf.net, for more information about the banquet.

Visit www.NWTF.org for more information about the National Wild Turkey Federation.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Tickets available for local National Wild Turkey Federation Banquet