Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

April 4, 2019 | Sandi Kemp

This week’s deadline was a little earlier in the day so our production manager, Dickie Williams, could leave early to get ready for his gig. It’s not just any gig – they are opening Bands on the Beach with his Beatles Tribute band, “Not Quite Fab.” But as you will see, we didn’t skimp on coverage. Our sports coverage is over the top. Kudos to Brian Lester, Dickie Williams, John Richardson and Stuart Camp for all contributing to our sports coverage. Someone told me they liked to read sports because it is always positive coverage. Even if a team loses, there is something positive to be learned from the experience. Not to leave out the news coverage – we appreciate Jamie Gentry, Brian Lester, Drew Drohan, Michael Bannon, Gail Acosta and the team that supports all our writers. This includes the graphics team that designs the ads, Jodi Kane and Thomas Kulesa. And the ones that like to remain in the background, our bookkeeper Cheryl Middleton and our circulation coordinator and traffic controller, April Pearson. I don’t want to forget (because I couldn’t if I wanted to) our distribution coordinator, Jesse Stewart who has been having to drive to Panama City to pick up our Lowe’s inserts for the past two weeks and drive them to Mobile, Alabama where our paper is printed. Phew, I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. I would mention our sales team, but you are looking at her. Gail helps her in her spare time which is scarce. Hopefully I’ll find more people that want to have as much fun as I am having helping other businesses succeed through effective print and online advertising. First, I must have time to look at all the resumes I have.

We had a lot of fun events to cover this past weekend with the first ever craft beer festival at Ye Olde Brothers Brewery and “Seas the Day” at the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center. Both events were very well attended and thankfully it was a beautiful day.

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos have their home opener of their eighth season this Wednesday, April 10. I can’t imagine that there is anyone reading this paper that hasn’t gone to a game yet. However, if you haven’t – you need to go. You should also plan on having dinner there. It is more than a baseball game, it is an experience. The Wahoos are rated the #2 attraction in Pensacola, second only to the Naval Aviation Museum. Another tidbit of information, they use to be a feeder team for the Cincinnati Reds but now they are a Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins with a two-year agreement that began October 2018. If that sounds familiar – you probably read about it in Navarre Press. The entire regular season schedule is included in this issue. You may want to save it for future reference. Buy your tickets early for the games you would like to go to because they have been known to sell out. They have packages for everyone’s schedule. If you have children, they have a package for 10 Sunday afternoons and the children get to run the bases after the game and families will have access to the field to play catch in the outfield. We are very blessed to have this opportunity in our community.

And, yes, Pensacola is part of our community. You will notice that we have the opening of the Pensacola Children’s Hospital on the cover. Santa Rosa County doesn’t have a children’s hospital and thankfully they don’t check driver’s licenses at the door to make sure you live in Pensacola to use their facility. Gratefully, we are part of a larger community as is evident by the traffic we are experiencing every morning and afternoon and lately – even in the middle of the day. People are going places around here. We always need to remember our local businesses but the last time I checked, we don’t have a children’s hospital – yet.

Quote of the Week: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. Helen Keller, US blind & deaf educator (1880 – 1968)

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