Local ceramic artist Jason Stokes will travel to Japan in April to work and study the country’s rich heritage of traditional wood-fired pottery. Stokes, 34, is one of three potters from the Gulf Coast Kiln Walk Society that have been invited to tour the country to spend time and work with Japanese artists who use traditional methods to create ceramics.
Looking across the table at Mattie and Robert Bartlett, I couldn’t resist: “Y’all quite a “pear,” I quipped.
“Yep,” drawled Butler, Ala.,-born Mattie. “Been a pair 52 years, and we had twins, so we’re a pair with a pair.”
When the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) acquired additional personnel from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) last year, its staff gained new responsibilities. Now, FWC officers patrol all of Florida’s woods and waters, including its state forests and state parks.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Park Service is observing Prescribed Fire Awareness Week from Jan. 27-Feb. 2. Prescribed fires mimic naturally occurring fires and can help prevent devastating wildfires. Park staff, guided by detailed plans called prescriptions, conduct prescribed burns as a regular and important part of their land management activities in state parks and trails. Prescribed fire is a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. Many state parks and trails will be conducting prescribed burns in the coming months.
Ricky Lee Phelps, the former lead singer of Grammy-Award winning country band Kentucky Headhunters, said he’s kept a low profile since moving to Navarre in 2001.
Navarre joins the rest of Florida with rising home sells.
“It is picking up. It’s getting busier,” said Linda Evans, a real estate agent with Southern Shores Realty Inc.
Driving along U.S. Highway 98 has long been considered a scenic drive, especially in Navarre.
However, some local residents think there are one or two blemishes along the way.
Where can you see a bullet, a shark, a Wii remote and an antique car race?
A Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, of course, and more than 150 Navarre Cub Scouts spent Jan. 19 spinning wheels.
Retired Air Force Col. Bill McCowen, 87, a native of Elmsford, New York, is tough.
Getting the interview with him was tough. Getting him to talk details of his three war combat experiences was tough to practically impossible.
