As you might know – we have a national election going on. I’ve heard many say they don’t like politics and this time it is worse than ever so they just aren’t going to get involved. Really? You have to get involved. This is about your future, your children’s future, and the past. What about the heroes who fought and died for your right to vote? Please be an informed voter.
Early voting – is 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. from this past Monday until Saturday, November 5. For the first time, they are open on Sunday. On the south end – you can vote at the South Santa Rosa Service Center at 5841 Gulf Breeze Pkwy or the Tiger Point Community Center at 1370 Tiger Park. Really – they aren’t that far apart. And, now I’m wondering if that is necessary – but that isn’t my department.
This Friday is the opening game for the Pensacola Ice Flyers’ 2016-2017 season. The Ice Flyers will raise their championship banner and receive their 2016 championship rings. Navarre Press has tickets for our All-Access subscribers. You can call our office to subscribe and receive 2 tickets to the game.
Last week we published all the fun things to do on the Beaches to Woodlands Tour. This week we have a special story about one of those stops along the way, the Kiln Openings at Holley Hill Pottery. Don’t miss it on Page B2. It’s the next best thing to being there.
I really wanted a game board in this week’s paper that showed how to navigate all of the events that are happening this weekend. However, we had too many other special graphics in the paper for my request to move forward. So, good luck – that is all I have to say about that because it is unbelievably busy this weekend.
This weekend is the official beginning of Beaches to Woodlands, a monthlong schedule of fun things to do in Santa Rosa County. Saturday begins Fish Navarre Weekend with free admission to the pier Saturday and Sunday. And, you can purchase your annual walking or fishing pass for 10 percent off. If you already have an annual pass, you can purchase at the discount and the county will send you a new pass with your new extended expiration date. I for one, didn’t know you could buy an annual walking pass. I walked it this week to see how many steps I could get out of one lap up and back and I got more than 1200 steps. I found others on the pier that were walking for exercise on the pier as well.
I am very proud of the Navarre Press staff with the outcome of our 18 awards presented last week in Sarasota. However, the awards we received were for our work in 2015. We are much better now in 2016 because we are always getting better. We don’t have time to rest on our laurels – and what fun would that be anyway? While it is nice to be recognized, we don’t do what we do for the awards. We have a passion for informing our community and we live by our core value of “excellence is our ordinary.” Recognition is just icing on the cake. Maybe next week we will share with you some of the things we learned from our sessions. Better yet, we will show you in the weeks and months to come.
Santa Rosa County raised the percentage of voters actually voting in the 2016 primary more than 10 percent from 2014 to 2016. I’d like to say congratulations – except that is still only one in four eligible voters – voting. At least it is a step in the right direction. So in 2014, less than 15 percent of eligible voters chose the elected officials we have now. That is a sobering thought. (I will not use my circling the toilet bowl comment because someone might use it out of context like he did the last time – and continues to do so.)
