For the second time, the Navarre Community Emergency Response Team is holding what it calls “The Amazing Chase,” this time on Jan. 22, 2011. Teams of two-to-four individuals over the age 12 — one must have a driver’s license — will compete for prizes in an event similar to television’s “Amazing Race.”

Each team will be given clues; the answer to each clue is a local business. Teams solve the clue, drive to the business and pick up a card. Once all businesses have been visited, teams head to the final destination, the Navarre Elks Lodge. The Amazing Chase begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Holley Navarre

Senior Center, 8476 Gordon Goodin Lane, Navarre.

The team with every card that finishes in the least time wins $500. The remaining team with all cards and the best mileage wins $200. A third prize of $100 will be awarded to the remaining team with the most cards and the second best mileage.

“This is our major fund raiser and we need your help to make it a huge success,” explained Ray Yantch of Navarre C.E.R.T. “Come join the fun.”

He added there will be an “Amazing” awards party following the Chase at the Elks Lodge, which will include more prizes, a 50/50 raffle, live music by Steve Hall and discount food and drinks. The Elks Lodge is located at 2002 Elks Way in Navarre.

The cost is $10 per team member if registered by Jan. 8, and $15 per person after that. Registration forms are available online at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by contacting Bill Crouch at 791-3886.

Last week, Santa Rosa County announced the locations of five recycling sites where residents can dispose of their live Christmas trees. The trees must be taken to the site by Monday, Feb. 28. Residents are asked to place trees in the designated area identified by signage and not in front of the recycling containers. The sites include:

• Tiger Point recreation area in Gulf Breeze, east of WalMart
• Quintette recycle area at the Five Points Intersection
• Gulf Power recycle area on East Spencer Field Road
• Clean Community System on Park Avenue
• Jay Transfer Station on Transfer Station Road

The trees will be chipped and offered as free mulch at Clean Community System in Milton at a later date to be announced.

In addition to announcing the sites for tree disposal, county officials urged residents to not cut up and burn their trees in a home fireplace, as burning evergreens release tar and creosol, which can ignite and cause a chimney fire.

Residents are reminded that recycle areas are not disposal areas for furniture or household garbage that is not sorted recyclable material. Santa Rosa County recycle sites accept glass, metal, plastic containers, paper and cardboard. A list of all of Santa Rosa County’s recycling points and accepted materials can be found online at www.santarosa.fl.gov/recycle.

Navarre may be almost a continent away from Hollywood, but that doesn’t mean that the movie-making industry doesn’t have roots in the sandy shores of Santa Rosa Sound.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has announced that the harvest of blue crabs from traps will not be allowed from Jan. 5 through Jan. 14 in all waters from Franklin County west to the Florida-Alabama border, except the waters of the Ochlockonee River and Ochlockonee Bay. These areas are being closed to allow authorized groups the opportunity to identify and retrieve lost and abandoned blue crab traps from the coastal and inland waters in the area.

All commercial and recreational blue crab traps within three nautical miles from shore and in the inland waters of the affected areas must be removed before the start of the 10-day closed period.

The harvest of blue crabs by other gear, such as dip nets and fold-up traps, will still be permitted during the 10-day closure. Blue crab harvesters may also use standard blue crab traps if the traps are attached to private property.

For more information regarding the trap-retrieval program, closure dates, regulations and how volunteers can participate in cleanup events, visit MyFWC.com/Rules (click on “Fishing – Saltwater”), or contact the FWC trap-retrieval coordinator Kyle Miller at 850-487-0554.

Thanks to the volunteers at the Holley Navarre Senior Center for their help preparing the Navarre Press for distribution in 2010!

Fireplaces are fixtures in many Northwest Florida homes, but go without notice until temperatures start dropping. Thoughts of warm nights by the fire and the ambience a fire creates are inviting. However, homeowners may want to think twice before striking that match if they have not had their fireplaces inspected by a qualified inspector. Santa Rosa County has already had one fire this month that was directly related to a hole or crack in the fireplace chimney flue.

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