By the time you read this it will officially be spring and our legislators will have been in session for a little more than two weeks. Appropriate enough – Leo Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina that, “Spring is the time of plans and projects.”
Daylight savings starts Sunday morning and that means Spring is here. Navarre Beach will start to get college spring-breakers. The University of Florida is out for Spring Break this week. Next week, Florida State, Troy, Auburn, University of West Florida, Duke, University of North Carolina, University of Georgia and Emory are out for spring break.
It is official, Panera Bread will have a location in Gulf Breeze by the end of the year. On March 15, 2012 – almost a year ago – I wrote in my column that I was at the Fort Walton Beach Panera and spoke with a manager-type. I mentioned that the Panera truck has to drive through Navarre every day from Pensacola to Fort Walton and that it should have a stop in Navarre. He mentioned then that they were looking at a location in Gulf Breeze. I proceed to email Panera corporate to let them know that they should be looking at Navarre as well. Today, when I spoke with the regional marketing manager, I said the same. By the time I was finished with her she was sure they were looking at Navarre next and said, “Let us get this one (Gulf Breeze) open first.” I think I wore her down. She works out of the Jacksonville area and has never visited us on the far western side of Florida, but I believe she will now. She is also getting a package of materials from us promoting Navarre, including the 2013 Navarre Chamber Guide that we completed last month and a Visitor Guide.
An announcement is expected to be made this week regarding OfficeMax and Office Depot joining forces. Boca Raton-based Office Depot has 1,675 stores and Office Max, based in Illinois, has 900 stores. If there is a merger, the plan would be to close stores that compete with each other which will reduce costs overall.
In case you forgot, today is Valentine’s Day. I’m sure there are cards and candy still available at local retail outlets. Valentine’s is at the top of my list of holidays. I know guys hate it because there is a lot of pressure – supposedly.
We were a few reporters down this week and our news editor left for the hills of North Carolina last week, so I did what I had to do and I enjoyed every minute of it. Saturday, the Krewe of Jesters allowed me on top of their float to take pictures of the Mardi Gras parade. I really enjoyed it and it was from a perspective that I have not had in my 12 years of covering the parade. I had originally asked to be on top of the ladder of the fire truck but I was politely told that was against the rules.
The Mardi Gras Parade is this Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Navarre Beach Causeway going over to the beach will be shutting down around 12:30 p.m. Last year, they had both lanes coming off of the bridge after the parade. The Navarre Krewe of Jesters float will lead the parade and they are excited to show it off because they won first place Jan. 19 in the Abita Mardi Gras Parade on Okaloosa Island. Krewe of Lafitte from Pensacola will also be joining the parade with their float, “The Sword.”
Navarre Chamber’s Annual Health & Business Expo is this Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon at Navarre High School. The theme of this year’s Expo is “Showcasing the Heartbeat of Navarre.” There will be free health screenings with interactive booths and activities from local health care providers and local businesses, included Navarre Press. We will be writing prescriptions for “Acluism.” Of course, a subscription to Navarre Press is the right prescription for that dreaded disease. There has been a new feature added this year. There will be a Physician Q&A panel. To see the information on the panel, open up the Health and Business Expo guide enclosed in this issue.
If you usually skip the sports page – don’t. We have a story about Nadia Fingall, a 6-foot 2-inch Navarre High School Freshman basketball player that we will be hearing more about in the years to come.
