Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

April 2, 2025 | Sandi Kemp

Happy Birthday, Navarre! Last week was Navarre’s 100-year birthday according to county records and plat maps. The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce held a birthday party last week complete with birthday cake and blowing out the candles. Thankfully there were only three candles, a 1, and two zeroes. I felt privileged to be able to blow out one of the zeroes. Cindy Davidson with Centennial Bank blew out the number 1 – which is very appropriate since the bank is Centennial, and we are celebrating 100 years. Her company also is a sponsor – also very appropriate. Frankie Gibbs, who has been working on the centennial for more than two years also blew out a zero. We have some exciting plans for the paper in the coming months leading up to the Gala on June 21. Can’t wait to hear when the tickets are going to be on sale. You will definitely see an announcement in Navarre Press.

Pensacola’s Saenger Theatre is also celebrating 100 years – later this week.

The bricks are in the process of being replaced in Navarre Park and a new dock is in the works. It has been a long time to wait, but at least we are finally seeing progress.

As you can see from the front cover, East Bay Boulevard has been compromised again. There is a smaller information box on 2A that lets everyone know that this weekend, East Bay Boulevard will be closed Saturday at 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday. Traffic traveling west on East Bay Boulevard will be detoured onto Bergren Road and those traveling east on East Bay Boulevard should plan to use 98 to Bergren Road to detour around the closure. Those that don’t know and are traveling east are in for a big disruption in their travels.

This Saturday is “Seas-the-Day” at the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center. This is a community “shellabration” in honor of Autism Acceptance, Month of the Military Child, and Child Abuse Awareness Month. Visitors will enjoy special guests, crafts, a sensory friendly planting activity and facepainting.

It is April and there will be a lot of Easter Egg Hunts in and around Navarre. Keep your eye on our Local Happenings page and our events page at navarrepress.com/local-happenings or navarrebeach.com/events. Looking at them – it is almost as if you need both to know what is going on around here. I’m going to talk to the team that does both of them and see if we can just have one big glorious all-encompassing calendar. Wouldn’t that be nice! Stay tuned!

We also need an all-encompassing calendar of the Back Yard Bible Schools and Vacation Bible Schools for the area. My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and she knew where all the Vacation Bible Schools were during the summer and I’m sure moms today would like to know a safe place to drop off their young children for a few hours almost every week this summer. I hope someone on my team is taking notes because I’m going to get busy and forget to mention these ideas to the right people that can make it happen.

Quote of the Week: Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices – just recognize them. Edward R. Murrow, (1908 – 1965) US broadcast journalist and newscaster

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