Community Archive

It has been a year of many lost traditions, but the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce held on to a few Saturday as Santa Claus stopped by for his annual visit.

The festive fun kicked off along Presido Street with the 26th annual Navarre Community Christmas Parade. Costumed characters, dancers and riders tossing toys, candy and beads accented this year’s floats. Children and adults in festive wear lined the sides of the streets, spaced out in family groups, to wish the paraders a merry Christmas and snag a few freebies.

The second annual “Grace’s Place Family Dinner” was held outdoors the afternoon of Nov. 1 on the grounds of Covenant Community Church in Navarre.

A crowd of about 50 attended, with several participating in the featured event, a chili and soup cookoff. The winners were Wendy Justice for the best soup and Alex Ramirez for the best chili, each of whom took home a large gift basket.

When some folks think of a turkey shoot, they think of shotguns and turkeys dropping in a flurry of feathers.

Last weekend’s 13th annual American Legion Post 382 Turkey Shoot was not like that. Think pellet guns, pictures of turkeys and heading home with a frozen bird for the Thanksgiving Day table.

For 12 years, Bill Emerson has been responsible for the curriculum and instruction of tens of thousands of pre-K to 12^th-grade students across Santa Rosa County.

His job title was a mouthful: assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment. The work was even more complex, navigating changing state standards, classrooms filled to their capacity and a shifting board of elected bosses.

In Navarre, there’s always a seat at the Thanksgiving table thanks to Stripes Pub and Grill.

Owner Rob Reyes opens the restaurant annually on the holiday to offer a free meal to anyone, and this year his staff worked alongside members of Encompass Church to make the meal possible.

Santa Rosa County’s unemployment rate has reached pre-COVID-19 levels, making it the third lowest unemployment rate in the state, according to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the county dropped to 3.8% in November, the same rate that was touted with excitement back in 2019. The county got down to 2.8% before the pandemic came crashing in.  

On Friday the 13^th, Mavis Ray Fehr struggled with the probability of getting the worst news of her life – for the third time.

A two-time survivor of a particularly dangerous form of breast cancer, the 49-year-old Navarre woman had recently found a new lump. A PET scan had identified it as likely cancerous.