CRESTVIEW — Margie Greene celebrated her 47th anniversary as a Crestview business owner in May. She opened Margie's Nylon and Lace Boutique in 1971 at 2014 Lacey Lane.

"In that era there was about 13 nylon and lace shops in Pensacola, one in Fort Walton," she said. "I was tired of driving up into Pensacola every time I needed something for my customers, because I had a custom dressmaking business out of my little trailer out of my house."

Greene spoke to her husband Richard about moving into a three-room building on their property.

"I convinced him to move over here and let … me move my sewing into there to keep people from coming into — like, you get off from work. You come by to try on your stuff. I'm trying to get supper for the family in the same room you have to try on your dress, you know," she said.

"I opened up with $1,500 worth of merchandise. That's all I had," she said.

Even though she had no formal business training, the self-taught seamstress was careful to reinvest profit into her growing company.

"Starting with nothing and reinvesting every dime that came in for many years to build the business wasn’t easy. I didn't take home a paycheck from the business for (20) years, but I did earn some money from dressmaking I did for customers," Greene said.

Her company also provided a way for her to stay close to home and her children, a daughter, Tammi, then age 7, and a 9-year-old son, Shawn, a special needs child. Few options were available for after-school care.

Tammi Hudson, the store's machine technician and part owner, said watching her mother build her business taught her to work very hard for what she wanted.

"You have to listen to your customers and be willing to be flexible and move your business with what the customers are looking for. For instance, we began with lingerie fabric, added t-shirt kits, moved to more fashion fabrics for garment and evening/wedding wear. Now we are focused on quilting fabrics and embroidery," Hudson said. "I hope that I can keep Margie's Sew Much Fun going for several more decades using the principles she has taught me."

The store has gone through several expansions and a name change to Margie's Sew Much Fun to encompass the variety of classes and products available. Customers take quilting, embroidery and individual project classes. There are also classes that teach sewing techniques and how to use specialty fabrics such as Kraft-Tex — made from leather — and material from corks.

A family affair

Greene said she's had too many students through the years to count.

"We have grandchildren of people she taught how to sew taking classes," Hudson said.

"In the summer, we're fixing to have our varsity and junior varsity kids' camp classes, and a lot of these kids that come are children of people that we taught. Even great-grandchildren," Greene said.

With Hudson, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"I worked in the business from the time I could stand up and cut fabric," Hudson said.

She and her mother would make Bulldog cheerleader uniforms in the summer. Hudson said she also made her own clothes since store-bought clothes rarely fit her.

"I made nearly everything I wore to school," Hudson said, "and what's really funny about that story is I thought my peers knew how poor I was because I made all my clothes. I'd come in wanting a new outfit for the dance or something tonight, and I'd make me something real quick … All that time I was in school I thought my peers all looked down on me," she said. 

A few years ago, she spoke to one of her fellow classmates, she said, who told her that her peers thought she'd actually gone to Birmingham and Atlanta and bought all her clothes.

Even when Hudson was in kindergarten, her mom said, customers would give Margie the left over fabric from their dresses to make clothes for her daughter. She also would barter with her mother-in-law for feed sack material.

"She wore a lot of feed sack dresses … to get one of Mrs. Greene's (her mother-in-law) feed sacks I had to agree to make her something out of feed sack so I could get one for Tammi," Greene said.

Hudson graduated from Crestview High School, went to college for a year, and after that began working for the distributor who introduced her mother to the Bernina sewing machine, Derrel Slaughter. She was a Bernina district manager until 1994.

The Bernina connection

Slaughter owned a company called Derrel's Sewing Center in Pensacola, with four franchises, and was a southeastern U.S. distributor for Bernina machines and supplies.

He contacted Margie one Sunday to show her a Bernina and see if she would sell them to her customers. Greene said the buttonhole and blind hem features she tried that day were what sold her on the brand.

"I've been sewing on a Bernina ever since," she said.

The staff of 10 at Margie's provides in-person, in-depth instruction for every machine they carry, whether Bernina or Janome, quilting, sewing or embroidery-related. Customers ideally leave the store knowing exactly how to use their new purchase.

Hudson said one customer looking at a 16-needle embroidery machine asked her, "What do I get with this machine?"

"I looked at her and I said, 'The most important thing you get with this machine is me,' and she said, 'Sold.' … She didn't need to know anything else, because she'd already done all the research. And I didn't know it but she'd been somewhere else and asked the same question and got the wrong answer."

The other business had given her the option of home delivery and teaching herself from online videos, according to Hudson.

When Hudson came back to Margie's, her dad was the store's technician and repair person. She has fond memories of working with him on customer's machine repairs. She had volunteered to attend all the training classes for the new machines Bernina released in 2008.

"When we had those kind of machines come in, I would do that service and my dad would kind of work with me, and when he had older machines, I would work with him on those. He passed in 2014, so now I have to do all of them," she said.

Greene, 74, and Hudson became partners in 2016 to address the continuity of the business.

Greene recognizes that she's not going to be here forever, "but I can't imagine doing anything else, so I guess I'll just be doing this," she said.

HOURS: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday

ADDRESS: 2014 Lacey Lane, Crestview

WEBSITE: www.margiessewmuchfun.com

Margie's Sew Much Fun

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'I can't imagine doing anything else'

CRESTVIEW — Families flocked to Allen Park last weekend for a day of celebration and entertainment at the 42nd annual Crestview May Day festival, hosted by the Carver Hill Memorial and Historical Society.

Mayor David Cadle was on hand to officially declare May 26 May Day in Crestview.

“The activities of the day beginning with the May Day parade provide an opportunity for families to spend time together and give recognition to those ancestors who left a legacy of overcoming adversity to provide for family and community,” Cadle said.

Crestview’s May Day festival celebrates the history of Carver-Hill School, the last segregated school in Crestview. The school closed its doors in 1969, after Okaloosa County schools were desegregated.

Despite the threat of thunderstorms and the first named storm of the season bearing down on Northwest Florida, the bad weather held off for the duration of the daytime May Day festivities.

The festivities began with a parade that ran along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and McClelland Street, ending up at the Carver-Hill Museum and Allen Park. The dedication ceremony and announcement of the May Day court was held on a stage set up on the museum grounds.

This year’s May Day Queen was Sharonnia Larkins, a retired Army veteran and Crestview resident.

“Thank God for change,” Larkins said in her acceptance speech. “We have come a mighty long way, but we still have a long way to go.”

The May Day festival in Crestview blends a celebration of the city’s African-American history with traditional European May Day activities like singing, dancing and wrapping the maypole. May Day is traditionally celebrated May 1 in other places.

For the remainder of the afternoon, the festivities included live music, food, vendors and games. Some of the games included tournaments that festivalgoers could sign up to participate in, including a three-on-three basketball tournament at neighboring Allen Park.

Many of the parade floats were put together by alumni classes from Carver-Hill. The class of 1968, one of the final upper classes to attend Carver-Hill School, won first place for best decorated float.

“If you were at the event last night, you got a good trip back into the 1960s, because that class of 1968 did an awesome job of putting that program (together),” Carver-Hill Memorial and Historical Society President David Wheeler said, referring to the Fellowship Night event held Friday evening.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Rain holds off for May Day Festival

CRESTVIEW — A group of Crestview students put on one last event before the end of the school year, offering a dinner and a show to the deaf community.

American Sign Language students at Crestview High School hosted a deaf community banquet May 23 at the school.

The banquet was followed by entertainment in the auditorium, featuring songs, skits and educational demonstrations focused on the deaf community.

Connie Salvador, who teaches American Sign Language at the school, said the banquet was intended to celebrate the deaf community and to thank them for giving the students the opportunity to be a part of that community.

“It’s our way to say thank you, that we appreciate that you let us learn your language,” Salvador said. She said it also helps fulfill one of the ASL standards her program has.

This is the first year the school has hosted an event like this, and Salvador hopes to make it an annual occurrence. Each of the students in her classes pitched in to make the event a success.

“We put it together in a month and every student had something to do with it,” Salvador said. “Every student had a talent and they all gave it, and they’re here tonight providing their talents.”

Students from the Fort Walton Beach High School ASL program took part in the entertainment program as well, performing their version of Will Smith’s theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Mark Ehrlichmann, director of the non-profit Agency for Deaf Advocacy and Services, helped with outreach for the event. Ehrlichmann, who is deaf, spread the word within the community and provided Salvador and her students with names of people to contact for the event.

“We work together professionally and collaborate ideas on how we can make a better positive impact for the deaf community,” Salvador said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview students host deaf community banquet

CRESTVIEW — The wait is finally over.

The highly-anticipated opening of Crestview’s first Chik-Fil-A restaurant officially came May 31, when new owner Kyle Schisler cut the ceremonial ribbon in front of the building.

The wait especially paid off earlier that morning for 100 lucky customers who camped out overnight in order to win free Chik-Fil-A for a year. The first 100 customers to show up May 30 were given gift cards for 52 free meals.

Chik-Fil-A fans began arriving just before 6 a.m. the day before the opening and built a tent city in the parking lot. Customers played games, enjoyed free food and drinks and bonded over their love for the fast food establishment.

“Family, friends and camaraderie; meeting new people,” Thomas Adcock said when asked why he would wait in line for 24 hours at a Chik-Fil-A opening.

Adcock played cards with a group of people including Suzanne Hartzog as they passed the time before the grand opening.

“I’ve always wanted to do one of the first 100 for a good long time,” Hartzog said. “It’s really fun. We’ve played games, we’ve had free food, and we’re playing cards.”

The restaurant will be the second location Kyle Schisler and his wife Morgan have owned. They previously owned a franchise in Omaha, Nebraska, but sold the franchise to move to the Crestview area.

“For me, it’s always felt like home,” Schisler said. His wife’s family lives in the area, and he attended college in Pensacola. “There’s just something special about it. Whether it’s the ocean air or whatever … it just feels like home, like this is where I want to live. Most people want to vacation here, and I’ve always felt like I wanted to live here.”

The new Chik-Fil-A, located at 3000 South Ferdon Boulevard, will be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Chik-Fil-A opens in Crestview

CRESTVIEW — Jennifer Jackson never expected her Facebook group to become so popular.

“It took on a life of its own. This was not expected. It was kind of a knee-jerk reaction to even start the group,” Jackson said. “Then it just took off.”

Jackson and her husband, Terry, started Crestview Citizens for Change on Facebook in 2017, along with another Crestview resident, Matt Gates. They formed the group after the 2017 municipal election, in which Joe Blocker was re-elected to the city council with fewer than 600 votes cast in the race, a 3.8 percent voter turnout.

“That was appalling,” Gates said. “So the Jacksons and I got together with this idea that we were going to spur some involvement and get people involved in the city.”

Since then, the main focus for the group has been to push to amend the city charter to allow for a city manager. The city is in the process of crafting the ballot question that will appear on the August 28 primary ballot. If approved, it would allow the city council to appoint a city manager to oversee the various city departments.

Gates thinks that would be a good thing.

“I want a qualified professional to come in and set us up for success,” Gates said. “We don’t need a politician. We need a professional.”

One problem with the current form of government, Gates said, is that things move too slowly due to the city council only meeting two or three times a month.

“These guys are expected to run a city twice a month. I can’t do my job twice a month. If I can’t do my little thing over here that only has to do with me, how can they run a city effectively twice a month?”

The city council currently holds a regular meeting the second Monday of each month and a workshop the fourth Monday. Special meetings are scheduled as needed.

Gates said a major benefit of the city manager form of government is that the city manager is appointed, so he or she can be fired by the council for poor performance without having to wait for another election. The cities of Milton and DeFuniak Springs recently fired their respective city managers, leading to some controversy among Crestview’s neighbors to the east and west.

Jackson said she hasn’t thought much about what the group will focus on after the August charter vote, but she feels the group will find some way to push solutions to the problems that appear with Crestview’s growth.

“It’s growing. There’s nothing you can do to stop it,” Jackson said. “If we’re growing population-wise, then we need to be growing to support our population.”

Jackson and Gates both hope the group has an impact on voter turnout in the August 28 election and the upcoming municipal elections in 2019. Two city council seats and the mayor’s office will be up for grabs in that election, scheduled for March.

“If this whole move results in 20 percent voter turnout, I’m going to see it as a success,” Gates said.

Editor's note: While group members see membership numbers above 1,500, due to privacy settings, non members visiting the Crestview Citizens For Change page may only see a total of approximately 1,370 members.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview activism group tops 1,500 members

CRESTVIEW — Communities across Northwest Florida will host Memorial Day observances May 28. The holiday honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.

The Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Unit 57 of Crestview will conduct a Memorial Day observance at 10 a.m. May 28 at Live Oak Park Memorial Cemetery, 112 North Ave. E, Crestview. This is also the official City of Crestview ceremony.

All local veteran and civic groups, churches and individuals are invited to place a wreath at the cemetery's memorial during this observance.

Contact Merallyn McDonald, 682-3666 to take part.

The group will also place flags on all veterans' graves at 7 a.m. May 26 at the cemetery.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Memorial Day observance

FORT WALTON BEACH — A representative of the Episcopal Church Women of St. Simon on the Sound Episcopal Church, in Fort Walton Beach made a $650 donation to Opportunity Place recently.

Cat Howton from the church presented the check to Debra McDaniel, Executive Director of the shelter for women and families. 

Opportunity Place is located at 305 Lovejoy Road in Fort Walton, a safe shelter for women and families who are homeless. For more information on the shelter visit www.opifwb.org.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Homeless shelter receives $650 donation

CRESTVIEW — City Council President J.B. Whitten on Wednesday continued his series of town hall meetings to inform city residents about the upcoming referendum on changes to Crestview’s city charter.

The May 24 meeting at Hub City Smokehouse was the second of three planned events. The first took place April 26 at Casbah Coffee, and a third event is planned for June. Whitten said his goal is to hold the meetings at different times during the day to accommodate everyone who would like to attend.

Whitten has been an outspoken proponent of amending the city charter to allow for a city manager form of government. If the referendum is successful, the city council would be able to appoint a city manager, and all department heads would report to that person. Under the current form of government, some departments report to the mayor, while others report to the council.

“Out of 412 cities in Florida, only 85 have our form of government,” Whitten said. “Of those 85, 83 of them have fewer than 1,700 people. Here we are in Crestview. We’re heading toward 25,000 people and we’re still operating the same way that smaller cities are.”

The current charter has been in place since 1965 and has been amended various times over the years. A previous attempt to change the form of government in 2012 failed. Whitten believes that was largely due to lack of voter education on the subject.

“It’s incumbent upon us in the city to reach out and educate people,” Whitten said. “That’s why we’re having these town hall meetings.”

Whitten said the benefit of having a city manager is that the position would be filled by a professional who understands budgets, finances and management. There are no requirements that city council members have those qualifications.

“I’m not even trained in the budget process,” Whitten said. “We educate ourselves, but it’s a learning curve. A city manager is going to be someone that’s already gone to school having learned about every department in the city. They’ve learned about doing budgets. They’ve learned about sunshine laws.”

In Whitten’s view, the charter change is the most important issue that voters can have a direct impact on.

“I’m asking everybody to get educated. Tell your friends and neighbors,” Whitten said. “You definitely have to come out and vote. This is the most important vote that you can have concerning the future of Crestview.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'The most important vote'

CRESTVIEW — See, touch, hear, and play a variety of instruments during the Crestview Library Instrument Petting Zoo. Doors open at 10 a.m. June 2 at 1445 Commerce Drive, Crestview.

Attendees may play instruments with their mouth, hands, and even a flip flop. Registration is not required for this free event. 

This Family Library Time is designed for ages four and up. If you bring smaller children, please keep a close eye on them. 

Summer Reading Challenge Reading Logs, including stickers and book review sheets will be available. 

Call Heather at 682-4432 with questions. Special thanks to Upbeat Music and the Pelican Pickers for sharing their instruments.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Instrument petting zoo is in June