Community Archive

Whitmire Cemetery is the resting place for many respectable, Pensacola families and their loved ones and is located near Olive Baptist Church. According to Jacquelyn Wilson, a local historian of the area and Archivist/Historian for the University of West Florida Historic Trust, “Whitmire cemetery is a public cemetery on Whitmire Road in the Ferry Pass area of Pensacola. This cemetery was set up in the early 1900s by a local family so that there would be a community burial ground.”

If you’ve ever gone trick-or-treating, you have also probably had your parents inspect your Halloween candy. It was the time you dreaded as a kid during Halloween. It was the perfect opportunity for your parents, under the guise of safety, to pick out or “confiscate” their favorite candy bar from your sugary haul; but of course, it was for your safety. Good parents have to be safe, right? What few parents actually realize, however, is that poisoned/tampered Halloween candy is an urban legend; mostly propagated by one man, Ronald Clark O’ Bryan, the man who killed Halloween.

As Halloween approaches, Navarre Press would like to share with you some of the best local haunts and their stories.  NOTE: Not all of these locations are open to the public. Trespassing on private grounds is a crime punishable by law. Furthermore, vandalism of any kind is also a crime. Destroying or defacing a cemetery is considered a felony, and conviction of such crimes can carry fines in the range of $5000 and/or five years in jail. Before visiting any of these sites, check to make sure they are open to the public. If they are not, obtain permission and notify the authorities before visiting.

In modern times, serial killers have been a popular focus for psychological fascination, public terror, and (most often) crime-related television shows. Sadly, the innermost demons of human nature which motivate these kinds of murderous acts have no apparent end in sight. While Florida isn’t especially known for such killers, Milton is able to claim Martha J. Seabrook Beck, aka one of the “Lonely Hearts Killers,” as one of its own natives.

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area a local women’s philanthropy group, has awarded more than $1 million to 10 nonprofit organizations in the areas of Arts & Culture; Education; Environment; Recreation & Preservation; Family and Health & Wellness.  The 10 will each receive $106,000, which will bring IMPACT 100’s grants total to $7,236,000.The 2015 grant recipients are:

After sailing more than 40,000 nautical miles and visiting dozens of countries, EL GALEON, a Colonial-era Spanish galleon replica, will sail into Pensacola Bay on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and dock at Plaza de Luna in Downtown Pensacola.  The historic two-masted tall ship is owned and operated by the Nao Victoria Foundation, a Spanish nonprofit organization.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Rich Aloy has seen first-hand how teen drivers put themselves and others on the road at risk. He was nearly hit by one on the way to work Friday morning.

Medically retired Army Cpl. Camden Babcock is well aware of the bureaucratic red tape that can delay military benefits, but he’s surprised at the VA’s balking over blueprints for handicapped-access remodeling of a bathroom in his Holley by the Sea house.

The fourth full weekend of the Beaches to Woodlands Tour of Santa Rosa County will feature ghostly adventures, haunted hayrides, three mazes, hikes, historical lectures, fabulous pottery at a kiln opening and more.

The fifth annual Boo at the Zoo combines scare-free trick-or-treating and children’s activities with all of the Gulf Breeze Zoo’s usual animal exhibits for a wild day of Halloween fun.