Anyone who has read my columns in the past knows I’m not the biggest fan of the Florida High School Athletic Association.
I’ve been critical. A lot. But when it comes to the FHSAA being at fault for the chaos that has ensued with high school athletes transferring, you are looking in the wrong direction. Look over to Tallahassee instead.
My wife and I had houseguests not long ago, decades-old friends from southeast Florida that we had not seen in years. Our friends had never been to this part of Florida, so a significant part of our “catching up” conversation was dedicated to describing what life is like here on the Florida panhandle.
I’m a full-time Navarre resident. I support incorporating Navarre, and I will express it to anyone but only if they ask or complain about the seemingly unchecked development and diminishing quality of life in Navarre. Typically, I’m not a bomb-thrower, but the very fact that our county commissioners have denied Navarre residents the fundamental right to choose how they will be governed by refusing to have the issue of Navarre incorporation appear on the ballot is uncontestable evidence that Navarre residents should choose to incorporate in an upcoming independent straw vote.
You should probably get your calendars out and mark down the following local activities.
Labor Day is Monday – Sept. 2 and since most of you won’t be “laboring” you might want to consider going to Juana’s for the Navarre Krewe of Jesters Annual Labor Day Rubber Duck Derby and Mullet Toss will be held Monday, Sept. 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Juana’s Pagodas (1451 Navarre Beach Causeway) on Navarre Beach. This event is fun for the whole family and is a fundraiser for the Krewe’s scholarship fund and Mardi Gras parade.
Should Navarre incorporate?
That’s the only question voters in the Navarre incorporation area will see on the ballot on Oct. 12 in a straw poll election meant to get the consensus of the community.
Rewind for a moment to late January of 2015. Navarre’s soccer team is in a regional final on its home turf.
It’s my first week or two on the job here at the Navarre Press and my first time seeing Emily (Madril) Sams in person on the field. Sams and the Raiders were playing for the right to go to the state final four.
I have noticed a recent trend – well, a trend I call recent because I just noticed it – people thanking the universe. I first heard it a few years ago from the lips of an acquaintance, who had just come through a very dark period of depression. He emerged thanking the universe for his recovery. My initial, unspoken reaction was, “I wonder where he got that notion?” Since then, I have noticed an uptick in the number of people, celebrity and average Joe alike, thanking the universe.
Thank you to everyone that called in, texted and emailed with your thanks for my column last week. I didn’t start out writing that column about that subject but apparently it was on my mind, so I just kept typing and typing. We have a motto around here and it goes something like this, “When in doubt, keep it out.” Well, I broke that motto last week – but maybe I should break my self-imposed rules more often. After the column was at the printer, I second guessed myself – a lot. I thought to myself – that it wasn’t “nice.” But then, I thought, “Well, that was being nice.” It could have been less “nice.” A lot less.
We spent Monday morning at various schools around Santa Rosa County, taking in the sights and sounds as students walked into classrooms for the first day of the 2024-2025 school year.
Dear Santa Rosa County School District, I saw some pictures of Pine Forest’s new track and it looks beautiful.
It’s a rubberized track that will be ready to go for the spring. I wish we could say the same for schools in this county when it comes to tracks in the area.
