The Fort Walton Beach Woman’s Club 2023 calendar is for sale! Created by 1st vice president Linda Evanchyk, a popular retired teacher in the Okaloosa County School System, as well as an active School Board member, and Eric Finn, a former student who took photos of the local area and captured the local beauty of our area. What a great Christmas gift for us locals and visitors alike. The cost is $10 each and all profit from the calendar sales benefits those in need in our community and community service projects, including school supplies and toiletry for students at nine local schools. Purchase by emailing fwbwomansclub@yahoo.com.
The Fort Walton Beach Fire Department is collecting new unwrapped toys and clothing for their annual Santa’s “Firehouse Cruz Thru Toy Drive” on Dec. 10th and 17th. Make your donations now and bring holiday cheer to those in need. Email jfreudenberg@fwb.org for more info.
The Republican Women of Okaloosa Federated held its 4th Annual Veterans Appreciation Luncheon on November 2nd at the Wyndham Gardens on Okaloosa Island with 155 guests in attendance. Flags from all services were provided by the Shalimar United Methodist Church and made a beautiful backdrop for the ceremony. Thanks to Scott Newbold and Pat Brantley for making this happen. Retired 4-star General Charles Horner was the special guest speaker. The Emerald Coast Chorus, led by Kevin Wilson, sang all the service anthems, patriotic and songs from the past. Corlene Ziegler, with the American Legion, presented the VietNam Era veterans and veteran’s widows in attendance with commemorative pins and certificates. As in previous years, the program was coordinated and emceed by Immediate Past President Maddie McNeal.
The downtown Bluewater Zoo building was deeded to the City of Fort Walton Beach by the Chris Gibson estate back in 2020. After evaluation, it was determined that the building should be demolished. The plans are to replace it with a new 2-story Museum that will feature a large gift shop, offices, and meeting rooms for school groups. Demolition should start in the next month.
Boy Scouts of America Gulf Coast Council is partnering with several sponsors to hold its first-ever Gulf Coast Council Legendary Roast in December. The goal is to make this an annual event that recognizes and honors legendary leaders in the community for going above and beyond to give back to the Emerald Coast. The inaugural event will honor Bernard Johnson, Regional Manager of Florida Power & Light, former Cub Scout, and huge supporter of Scouting to this day. Event leadership says he was chosen because his contributions to the community align with the values of Scouting’s Oath and Law. The Gulf Coast Council Legendary Roast will be held at 5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1, at WaterVue at Brooks Street in Fort Walton Beach. Individual tickets cost $75 and will include a buffet-style dinner and drinks. The event will also feature a silent auction and a “roast” of Bernard Johnson. Visit gulfcoastcouncil.org to register email greg.voyzey@scouting.org for event sponsorship opportunities.
Hilton Garden Inn Fort Walton Beach was recently named one of 12 Businesses Honored as Exceptional Employers in the state of Florida by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD), Blind Services and Vocational Rehabilitation. The Exceptional Employer Award is presented to companies that exhibit a strong commitment to employing and retaining people with unique abilities. Hilton Garden Inn has partnered with Vocational Rehabilitation since 2019 offering on- the-job training opportunities to young people. This employer hired five individuals when they completed the VR program, with two full-time employees continuing to be employed. Additionally, they employ two more people with unique abilities. The hotel invites past VR participants back to work during the busy season since they already know the ropes. On August 11, the Hilton Garden Inn became the host site for Project Search in Okaloosa County with six students enrolled in the program.
The Choctawhatchee Audubon invites you to “Birding with Noah Stryker” in Utah and a quick stop at High Island Thursday, Dec. 1st in Room 800 on the 2nd floor of the Chandler Center (NW door of 519 Helms St.) at the Crosspoint Church in Niceville. Socializing with refreshments begins at 6:30 PM, and the program begins at 7:00. Admission is free and open to the public. Hear Donna Cronwell who was fortunate to go birding for three days in northern and central Utah with Noah Styrcker, a renowned world birder. On the flight back home to Florida, she and her husband, Dale Cronwell, were able to stop over in Houston and visit High Island during bird migration. During their trip to Utah and Texas, they recorded a total of 185 species of birds. For more information, email choctawhatcheeaudubon@gmail.com.
There will be a Christmas Bird Count coordinated by Malcolm Swan, on Sat., Dec. 17. To participate, contact Malcolm at 210-452-4899 so that he can configure birding assignment areas.
Step One Automotive Group and Subaru Fort Walton Beach have announced OCSO Sheriff’s Star Charity and Healing Hoof Steps Equine Assisted Mental Health Counseling and Therapeutic Riding as their hometown charities for the 2022 Subaru Share the Love® Event. Through Jan. 3, anyone who buys or leases a new Subaru can select OCSO Sheriff’s Star Charity, Healing Hoofsteps, or one of four national charities to receive a $250 donation from Subaru of America, Inc. For more information, visit www.subaru.com/share.
Vertex Solutions, a leading developer of high-fidelity learning technology, including extended reality (XR) training, was selected by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a reconfigurable Multi-Place Mixed Reality (MPMR) flight simulator. The MPMR flight simulator will replace the currently fielded Weapon Systems Trainers (WSTs) and save several times their initial fielding, modification and sustainment costs, all while providing greater access to pilot training for students. This is exciting news for the USAF, who will be able to train more pilots effectively, at a lower cost, to help address the pilot shortage! Vertex Solutions’ Immersive Training Devices are a great example of dual-use technology that benefits both the military and commercial industry. This technology not only satisfies U.S. DoD pilot training needs, but is directly applicable to commercial aviation training in passenger and cargo flight operations.
