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.
Unless you just fell off the proverbial turnip truck, you are aware of the controversy surrounding the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Thomas Jolly, the artistic director, presented a tableau of DaVinci’s Last Supper that featured drag queens and dancers in the role of the apostles, and DJ Barbara Butch, an LGBTQ+ icon, playing the Christ figure.
We have an article in this week’s issue about how much our county commissioners are being paid for part-time work – north of $70,000 a year. Some of our commissioners would say they are working full-time, but it isn’t a requirement to clock in, so we will just have to believe them, or not. There is at least one that I hope isn’t working full time – but probably is. His entire identity is based on being a county commissioner, and that is James Calkins. And, if county commissioners are elected for two terms, they receive retirement for serving eight years as an elected official. For instance, if James Calkins is re-elected, he has retirement pay of 3% of the average of his highest paid eight years in office. One dollar would be too much.
Congratulations to the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). It had its “useful as a lifeguard at the Olympics” moment a couple of weeks ago when it officially approved Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) for high school athletes.
“If in doubt, sing louder!” I told the volunteer church choir at a rehearsal. The look on their faces said, “Oh, really? Why would I do that?” They knew that I had been a professional musician, but they also knew that I had zero choir-directing experience. I explained, “If in doubt, you hold back, even if you are singing your part correctly, it will sound wrong. So, if you are going to make a mistake, make it a good one, and we’ll fix it!”
