Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

January 14, 2025 | Sandi Kemp

The grand opening at Emerald Waterfront was awesome. I saw people I haven’t seen in 10 years or more and they recognized me – which is a good thing. Someone said they thought all of Navarre was there, but I know there were a few people I didn’t see at the event. I know there had to be at least a thousand in attendance and everyone looked like they were having a good time. I even had the opportunity to speak with the dining and outdoors writer for the Pensacola News Journal. She had a crocheted newspaper press pass badge holder which I thought was super cute. Danielle Hall of “Say I do” weddings coordinated the entire event, and she did a spectacular job – as usual. She had back-to-back events with the sold-out Navarre Krewe of Jesters party the night before. And, as usual, her husband Stevie Hall was quite the entertainer. He is very talented – singing, keyboards, and guitar. I had the opportunity to speak with the owner, Tommy, earlier today and I used to think I was the most positive and “bullish” regarding Navarre and our potential, but I think he has me beat. A long time ago, when we started seeing our second and third dollar stores coming in, I wrote in my column that Navarre was better than that, we needed to have at least $5 stores. I still feel the same way – but one $5 store and one dollar store is enough. However, that is a totally different subject.

Speaking of bullish on Navarre, I went the Destiny Worship Center two weeks ago for the 9:30 a.m. service and had to park at the back of Culver’s (and the Center already has a lot of parking) and they had to make another row of seats for quite a few of us to sit down. The first thing I thought about was that they didn’t build the campus large enough. My second thought was all of the very negative comments on Facebook a few months ago when I posted that they would be opening in December. Maybe the planners were short sighted on their growth projections, because they are already busting at the seams. I guess they can always add more services. The pastor did say that the 8 a.m. service wasn’t quite as packed and that would be a great service to switch to – if you could.

Since we own the paper in Crestview, we know about really cool things going on there. One very unique event is “Elisabeth von Trapp” in concert. She is of course, related to the von Trapp family made famous by the Sound of Music. She will be appearing at the First Presbyterian Church of Crestview located at 492 N. Ferdon Blvd, Crestview at 7 p.m. on January 25. The event is presented by Crestview Cultural Services and the First Presbyterian Church.

I had a hotel reserved in Washington D.C. for the inauguration next week, but it turned out I didn’t have tickets to the inauguration, or any events related to the inauguration, nor did I have time to hunt any down or time to go. Thankfully, I found, with the help of a good friend, a very special person to go in my stead and she is going to write a first-person account of her experience for our readers. She will have more information than I would anyway. She tentatively has an appointment set up with VP Vance and last I heard she was setting something up with Rick Scott. One of her best friends is Alveda King, a niece of Martin Luther King. Don’t expect her account next week, it will probably be written and ready for the January 30 edition.

Quote of the Week: The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. Niels Bohr Danish physicist (1885 – 1962)

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