I was recently reminded of a lesson that I was taught since childhood. Sometimes we have to wait a lifetime to see the reason we are going through a particular hardship but in my case last week, it just lasted three days.

Ever wonder what Navarre was like five years ago, or even 10 or 20?

Now you won’t have to wonder. Linda Murchison, who has collected and studied local history for decades, will be telling readers each week what the top stories were in the Navarre Press over the last 20 years.

This week I went to Tallahassee to speak against Senate Bill 402 which, until Friday, was a bill designed to take public notices out of local newspapers and to put them on government websites.

The water issue may be temporarily off the table, but Jerry Couey is going to make sure citizens are keeping an eye for what’s best for Santa Rosa County.

He made a presentation at the March 9 Board of County Commissioners meeting to announce a new water protection group.

It’s hard to believe in that in less than four years, Navarre will celebrate its centennial as Navarre. We are still doing some research on the exact date.

We know from historical papers and maps that we wrote about in 2015 that Navarre was called Eagan in 1885.

The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce continues to fulfill its mission while celebrating the successes of the last 12 months.

Although the annual gala last week looked a lot more like the breakfast it turned into, it was great to see so many business owners and chamber members in the same room.

This will be a big week for those who have been keeping a close eye on Santa Rosa’s battles over water.

Thursday night is when the Santa Rosa County Commissioners are expected to lay their Dec. 10 vote to rest, by voting against that plan to repeal some wellfield protections.

We all knew that new commissioner, James Calkins, is a proud supporter of former president Donald Trump, but we were amused to find out that the voicemail on his phone identifies him as Trump himself.

“Hi, this is Donald Trump,” it begins, with the last part of Trump’s last name swallowed by another message.

For two months, officials and citizens have been asking for county commissioners to reconsider the proposed repeal of some key wellfield protections.

These same concerned folks were hoping agencies like the Department of Environmental Protection of the Northwest Florida Water Management District would review the proposal and nix it.

Although my editor just shared with me that a recent survey indicated that each Floridians drank an average of 813 alcoholic beverages in 2020, this week’s Navarre Press has a lot more to do with drinking water.

However, it is related because we need good drinking water to make alcoholic beverages.