We are proud of the five Navarre High School students who received military academy nominations from U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. Benjamin Johnson, Gennaro Smith, Jee Lee, Brenner Mavity and Katelynn Johnson were the Navarre students selected. You can read about it on page 2A.
Let the record reflect, Jay High School in north Santa Rosa County does not have a wrestling team. The district’s county commissioner, James Calkins, shared a post over the weekend on social media and congratulated Jay’s wrestling team – Jay, Oklahoma. He later blamed it on a staff member and removed the post. It is just a suggestion, but if you follow the Santa Rosa Press Gazette sports page on Facebook, and X, you wouldn’t make that mistake. Also, we are sure if our Jay High School had a wrestling team, they would be worthy of congratulations. When you are unsure about your sports teams, just ask Brian Lester – our Santa Rosa County sports reporter. He is the expert on Navarre, Milton, Pace and Jay sports.
The Mardi Gras Parade will be here before you know it. You may have forgotten, but last year’s was cancelled due to the weather. The weather has rained on a lot of parades lately. The Navarre Christmas Parade was cancelled due to rain this year and Crestview’s was also cancelled, rescheduled, and then cancelled again due to bad weather the following weekend.
As I’m typing this column we are posting about the storm and deciding on whether or not to send people home early and then delaying our start time tomorrow. As I came down the stairs at my office and looked around, I thought out loud that if a tornado hit our building, we would have papers all over Navarre. Gail chimed in and said, well, we say we have Navarre covered…we literally would.
Happy 2024! We are looking forward to the new year. We have two additional team members joining us within the first eight days of the new year, and we interviewed a very good candidate for Crestview today. One of our new team members will be “newsworthy” because of her history with Santa Rosa Press Gazette. You can “read all about it” next week. Can you tell I’m excited about having more help? The week between Christmas and New Year’s we have been getting computers and offices ready for our new team, clearing out a storage unit – one of three. Yes, we are the culprits keeping all the storage units in business.
I recently heard a sermon from my home church, First Baptist Orlando, that 100% inspired this column. I love Christmas for many reasons, but first and foremost because we are celebrating and recognizing the significance of the birth of Jesus. How does the world celebrate Christmas? By giving gifts and acts of kindness to one another to demonstrate our love for others.
If you are still looking for that perfect Christmas gift, you should check out all our photos at www.yourcommunityphotos.com. We have tons of photos that covered sports, local events, naturalization ceremonies and beautiful shots of Navarre, the beach, and sunsets. All of them are frame-worthy. You can order the photo on metal, canvas or print.
Last Saturday was a complete washout for many of the events scheduled across Northwest Florida with very heavy rain across the area, but all was not lost. The Merry Market went on as scheduled with a change of venue to get it out of the rain. The Navarre Christmas Parade, “Cheers to 50 years” was cancelled with no rain date scheduled. And the Navarre Jingle Bell Run was able to be rescheduled to this Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8 a.m. same location (Holley Navarre Fire District Station 45 behind McDonalds).
If you miss an issue of Navarre Press, you miss a lot. This week is no exception. We have a story on the Mariott Residence at the foot of the Navarre Beach Bridge where Tommy Sno Balls is located now – only in a larger footprint. There is a fundraiser gala scheduled for January 26, 2024, for Set Free Refuge. Read all about it on page 3A.
Sometimes we focus on what we don’t have, or situations we aren’t in, and we lose sight of what we do have and where we are. I know I have a lot to be thankful for – at all times – even when I’m wrapped up in the day-to-day busy-ness of life. I gathered these versus to remind me of what true thanksgiving is and what my gratitude should be focused on. I hope you enjoy them during this time that we take a break from our routines and focus on being thankful for all of our many blessings – or as we set out to purposefully be a blessing to others.
