Tonight is the first free concert in the Tunes by the Dunes concert series at Navarre Beach Park’s Sand Crab Pavilion, just east of the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier. The concert series is Co-hosted by Okaloosa Gas District, Navarre Press, Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office, Navarre Beach Area Chamber and Cat Country 98.7. The summer concert series will offer an exciting line-up of 14 FREE outdoor concerts every Thursday (7-9 p.m.), from May 31 to Aug. 30.
Happy Anniversary! This is the first paper of our 18th year. Thanks for joining us on this journey of chronicling today’s news on the road toward tomorrow’s history.
This Sunday is Mother’s Day and a subscription to Navarre Press would be a perfect gift. Call 939-8040 and April will be happy to set up your gift subscription. You could also take her to Windjammers on the Pier for brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and treat her to awesome food and live music. Bella Luna Italian Bistro is taking reservations for Mother’s Day as well. They open at noon on Sunday. Call 396-5090 for reservations.
Congratulations to Juana’s Pagodas for being in the Top 10 Best Florida Beach Bar competition for 2018. They won last year – and we are proud they are in the Top 10 this year. The Rudzkis do so much for our community and they really are the best beach bar. I know this – there isn’t a better place anywhere to see a spectacular sunset on Navarre Beach than Juana’s.
This Saturday at 9 a.m. is the sixth annual Autism OdysSea at the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station. There will be many activities for the children. Visit NavarreScienceStation.org for more information.
The Holley Navarre Seniors Center has tickets available for Fun with Flowers, an event to make your own fresh flower May Basket. See their ad for more details.
Our core values at Navarre Press include, “The truth is our currency.” We deal in the truth, and that is a huge responsibility that we do not take lightly. Our entire business model is built on the truth. And, it can be a dangerous business because there are people that do not like their truth. Sometimes, I don’t like mine and I don’t get angry about it, I just resolve in myself that I’m going to do what it takes to change. That is what makes life interesting. We are constantly changing. Last week we had two problems with two different ads that were brought to my attention before the paper ever hit the streets. My first thought was that I was so embarrassed, my second was, maybe they won’t notice, and then my third was, of course they are going to notice because we are a newspaper and it is our business to make people notice – that is why we sell ads in the first place – duh. I’m normal. I have all the normal flight or fight reactions to bad situations. I called the decisionmakers for both and told them what our mistake was, and then I told them how we were going to make it up to them. I also put the systems in place where we could minimize the probability of the mistakes ever happening again. Both of them were very gracious and were very happy with the proposed plan to make it up to them. But, it could have gone very differently, and I was prepared for that too. Stuff happens, and it happens here too. There are a lot of moving parts to putting this paper together each weeks and mistakes happen. I want to be the one to bring the mistakes up – before they are casually found by others. But, if you find a mistake – please let us know. I’ll immediately want to turn back time so that it will have never happened, but quickly, I’ll deal with the reality at hand.
Downtown Cinema Plus in Fort Walton Beach, owned by Navarre entrepreneur, James Coleman, is showing “12 Strong” at 7 p.m. for a week beginning tomorrow, Friday, March 30. “12 Strong” tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11. A lot of our local airmen were there before and after this team was in Afghanistan and either met or worked alongside or in support of these brave men. It is an awesome movie and Downtown Cinema Plus is a fun place to go see movie and have dinner at the same time. Also, you can affordably rent the movie theater for birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties and more. Check out their website at www.downtowncinemaplus.com.
Congratulations to Navarre High School’s boys weightlifting team. They are Regional Champions! You can read about it in the sports section and you can also watch the videos of their lifts on Navarre Press Sports Facebook page (and Navarre Press Facebook page, too).
