CRESTVIEW — The Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast’s after-school program has found a new home in Allen Park following unanimous approval by the Crestview City Council.

The program begins with Monday’s start of the new school year and will operate 2 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Daylong programs will be available on school holidays and teacher work days.

The Boys and Girls Club assumed the Walker Elementary School program upon the failure of the Emerald Coast YMCA. It has been operating out of the Church of the Epiphany since its Walker contract expired Aug. 1.

“Our mission is to inspire and empower all young people to reach their full potential,” Club Chief Executive officer Shervin Rassa said. “We’re not a swim-and-gym. We’re not a glorified babysitting program. We’re a youth development organization.”

The program expects to serve as many as 50 children in Allen Park once it’s up and running, Rassa said, and hopes to accept as many as 100 or more in the future.

SLIDING FEE SCHEDULE

Rassa said the BGC, as it’s familiarly known, accepts children from families of all financial backgrounds. A sliding scale determines monthly program fees, and typically ranges from $20 to $70, he said.

“Our program is open to every child,” Rassa said. “We have some nominal fees, but money is never an issue. We will never turn away a family.”

The Boys and Girls Club receives most of its funding from state and federal grants, fundraising, special events and dividends from its $5-6 million endowment.

Though the BGC owns a Duggan Avenue facility, upkeep and monthly operational expenses can top $400,000 a year, Rassa said, while a site-based program like Allen Park’s costs half that.

Rassa said the BGC is considering selling the Duggan Avenue property and creating an endowment with the proceeds specifically to operate a Crestview program.

‘A GREAT PROGRAM’

Assistant Public Works director Carlos Jones said his department, which oversees Parks and Recreation, supports the BGC proposal which would free up the part-time employee who runs the Allen Park youth recreation center.

“They (BGC) offer a great program,” Jones said. “It would help us out if our employee didn't have to be there all the time. We could use that employee to help us out with other sports programs.”

While the councilmen were generally receptive to Rassa’s proposal, Councilman JB Whitten specified in his motion to approve the program that non-BGC-member residents would not be precluded from using the youth recreation center during program hours.

Upon Rassa’s assurance that the BGC would seek a way to comply with Whitten’s concern, the council voted unanimously to allow the club to operate from Allen Park at no cost to the city.

WANT TO GO?

The Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast plans to open its Crestview after-school program Monday at the youth recreation center in Allen Park on McClelland Street. For program and membership information, call 862-1616

AT-RISK IN CRESTVIEW

“Every child is at risk because there are so many negative stressers out there,” Emerald Coast Boys and Girls Club Chief Executive officer Shervin Rassa said.

Rassa provided this data:

700 Crestview children do not have an after-school program

1 out of 4 U.S. kids won't graduate high school.

50 percent of black and Latino kids won't graduate high school.

3-7 p.m. juvenile crime rate peaks

3 out of 10 kids will grow up obese or overweight

75 percent of BGC kids graduate on time and stay out of trouble

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Boys & Girls Club after-school program starts Monday (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — The North Okaloosa Republican Club's new officers — Jeremiah Hubbard, president, Crestview; John Marshall Sr., vice president, Baker; and Joe Loria, treasurer, Crestview — have plans for next year's elections.

"The club will now focus the attention on helping the county Republican Party's outreach program and get back to the basics of grassroots efforts," said Marshall, who, with the other men, was elected during a special meeting last month. "Okaloosa County is very important to 2016 elections, both in the state of Florida and presidential. There's lots of work to do, and we'll need a lot more people."

"It's an honor to be elected president of the North Okaloosa Republican Club," Hubbard said. "I look forward to serving North Okaloosa County and the Republican Party. I believe that we can make a difference."

The group meets at 6 p.m. the second Tuesday each month at Hideaway Pizza, 623 N. Main St., Crestview. "We welcome anyone that is interested in joining the Republican Party or to learn the truth about Republicans to stop in, no reservations needed," Loria said.

See the group's Facebook page, http://on.fb.me/1IU285H, for meeting times, events and other information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa Republicans eye '16 elections

TALLAHASSEE — Next week, Florida State University's Masters of Applied American Politics and Policy program will host father-and-son legislators Sen. Don Gaetz and Rep. Matt Gaetz in a discussion of special sessions, lawmaking and the intersection of family and politics.

The discussion is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 5 at Historic Capitol, Senate Side, Tallahassee.

FSU's Masters of Applied American Politics and Policy program is designed for those interested in a career in politics. Students receive training targeted toward careers in political and governmental organizations that relate to public policy and active politics in such fields as lobbying, campaign management and grassroots organization.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gaetzes to speak on the state, family and politics at Florida State University

CRESTVIEW — The rebel flag is fluttering once more above Confederate Park.

City councilmen Joe Blocker and JB Whitten on Monday voted in favor of raising the rebel flag below the American flag.

The flags were hoisted Wednesday morning under that configuration with multiple generations of descendants of William A. “Uncle Bill” Lundy in attendance.

Lundy, who died in 1957, was purportedly the last surviving Civil War veteran in Florida, although some people, citing federal census records, question his record.

The Crestview Lions Club established the memorial in 1958. Since 1996, the City Council has heard numerous requests — particularly from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Okaloosa County branch — to have the flag removed from public property. 

“This is the Confederate Park,” Lundy’s great-grandson, Greg Lundy, said. “It is not the William Lundy Confederate Park. It’s for all Confederate soldiers. It’s not just for my great-granddaddy.”

“I don’t know who it is that’s causing this whole shebang,” William Lundy’s grandson, Dell Lundy, said, referring to the current controversy over the flag flying above city property. “This is a piece of history that doesn’t need to be destroyed. Our granddaddy just happened to be one of the last three Confederate States veterans. He represents a whole group. This is just something we need to keep in our history books.”

Greg Lundy said their ancestor was honored by both the state of Florida and the 82nd U.S. Congress under President Dwight Eisenhower for his purported wartime service.

—

WANT TO GO?

The Crestview City Council will hold a public meeting to discuss Confederate Park at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at Warriors Hall in the Whitehurst Memorial Building. Residents wishing to address the council should complete a speaker’s card and present it to City Clerk Betsy Roy before the meeting. Speakers will each have three minutes. A group may be represented by one spokesperson who will have 10 minutes to speak. A council policy making and legislative session will follow public comments.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's Confederate battle flag flies again

CRESTVIEW — The city will temporarily reinstall the Confederate battle flag at the William "Bill" Lundy Memorial.

The City Council on Monday voted 2-1 to raise the flag at its former East First Avenue location. Councilmen Joe Blocker and JB Whitten voted yes on the motion; Bill Cox voted no.

In addition, the council unanimously set an Aug. 6 special meeting to discuss the monument and rebel flag. The Crestview Lions Club established the memorial in 1958 to honor Bill Lundy, whom many people believe was Florida's last surviving Confederate soldier. However, some people, citing census records, dispute the claim and say he was just 5 years old at the end of the Civil War.

LUNDY FAMILY MEMBERS SPEAK

A packed Council Chamber included a number of Lundy's descendants; some expressed concern for the process that led city workers to abruptly remove the flag, without properly folding it, July 9.

They also questioned whether the flag's removal signaled a similar fate for the monument.

Delano Lundy, one of Bill Lundy's grandsons, said the monument should remain on public display. It is a part of Florida, not just Lundy, history, he said.

"That thing was put there for a reason early on, years ago, and people have gotten together … to show their appreciation for what our ancestors have done — not just the Lundy ancestors," he said.

Greg Lundy, Bill's great-grandson, agreed.

"That memorial doesn't just represent Granddaddy; it represents all the Confederate veterans," he said. "This was handled in a very unorthodox way, as far as I'm concerned."

'DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS'

Mayor David Cadle said he authorized replacing the rebel flag with the American flag after Foy Lundy, another of Bill's grandsons, approached him and the city's Public Services director.

When Foy Lundy proposed moving the monument and flag to private property, it seemed like a sensible solution, Cadle said. However, "I thought he was speaking for a great number of people, but as I found out later, he wasn't."

"Mr. Foy Lundy, he was very passionate when he came to meet with me and Mr. (Wayne) Steele," Cadle said. "… He felt his grandfather was being dragged through the mud every other year about this issue."

Since 1996, the City Council has heard numerous requests — particularly from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Okaloosa County branch — to have the flag removed from public property. The challenge, Cadle said, was, "How do we address this situation that polarizes our city every other year? There's no end in sight to it, as everybody knows."

The monument's proposed location — which wasn't mentioned — "was not in a good place," Cadle said. "That monument needs to be represented well; it does not need to be disrespected," he said.

As for Cadle's decision to remove the flag through the Public Services Department, Councilman JB Whitten said he felt the mayor "dealt in good faith with what he was doing."

"The biggest criticism I heard was that, regardless of the good intentions, it was all done behind closed doors," Whitten said.

SETTING A PUBLIC MEETING

Ray Nelson, president of NAACP's Okaloosa branch, said his position on the flag hasn't changed, but he understands and respects the idea of raising the flag where it once fluttered and properly lowering it and folding it one last time.

At one point during the meeting, there was a motion to not just set a public meeting on the monument, but also raise the flag and lower it properly.

"That's convoluted," Councilman Bill Cox said.

Raising the flag just to lower it again would be "counterproductive," Dexter Lundy said.

Instead, Councilmen Joe Blocker, Cox and Whitten unanimously voted to just set the special meeting for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at a location to be announced.

Later, Blocker motioned to raise the Confederate flag and let it flutter beneath the American flag — if only until the council takes formal action on its fate after hearing from the public next week.

He and Whitten voted yes; Cox voted no.

Email News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview resurrects Confederate flag — for now