The FWB Snowbirds are celebrating 50 years of friendship and fun in Fort Walton Beach in 2026, welcoming seasonal and full-time residents to join their active social club. This year’s milestone event is a 50th Anniversary Valentine’s Day Celebration set for Saturday, Feb. 14, at VFW Post 7674, 213 Carol Ave. NW, Fort Walton Beach, beginning at 7 p.m. The evening includes music by DJ Anthony Ryan, an open hors d’oeuvres buffet and bar, door prizes, giveaways and entertainment by the Emerald Coast Men’s Barbershop Chorus.
2026 membership registration and activity sign-ups will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Jan. 12, and Tuesday, Feb. 3 and Feb. 10, at the Fort Walton Beach Recreation Center, 132 Jet Dr. Membership dues are $15 per person. General meetings take place Jan. 15 and Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church on First St., with registration from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and local vendors on site from 9 to 10 a.m.
Additional upcoming events include a Dinner Social on Sunday, Jan. 17, at The Crab Trap, a Casino Trip on Feb. 18, and a Dinner Social on Feb. 22 at The Shack, along with weekly games, crafts and activities.
Upcoming Citizens’ Police Academy
The Fort Walton Beach Police Department will host its next Citizens’ Police Academy beginning Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. This free, eight-week program offers residents an inside look at local law enforcement, designed to promote understanding, transparency and partnership in public safety. Participants will learn about police training, crime scene investigations, DUI procedures, community policing, patrol operations, K-9 units, traffic homicide investigations and more. Attendees are also encouraged to participate in a ride-along with an officer during a patrol shift. The academy meets from 6 to 8 p.m. each Thursday from Feb. 5 through March 26, 2026. It is open to those who live or work in Okaloosa County and are at least 18 years old. Space is limited. For more information or to apply, contact Master Police Officer Marcus Montgomery at mmontgomery@fwb.org.
Eglin AFB Awarded $1.87 Billion Contract Through 2036
Eglin Air Force Base will remain a cornerstone of national defense and the Emerald Coast economy following the award of a nearly $1.87 billion operations and maintenance contract by the U.S. Air Force. The competitively awarded contract was issued to Strategic Test Solutions LLC, a Huntsville, Alabama-based engineering services firm, to support the Eglin Test and Training Complex and major ground test facilities. The agreement extends through March 2036 and ensures continued maintenance of the infrastructure that supports Eglin’s extensive weapons testing and evaluation mission.
Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base and across its vast test and training complex in Northwest Florida. Services include range operations, facility maintenance, engineering support and mission systems critical to sustaining advanced testing capabilities.
The contract was awarded by the Air Force Test Center at Eglin following a competitive process that received three offers. Initial fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funding was obligated at the time of award.
For the Fort Walton Beach area and surrounding communities, the long-term contract reinforces Eglin’s role as one of the region’s largest employers and a key driver of economic stability, while positioning the base to support future Air Force modernization efforts well into the next decade.
Stagecrafters Celebrates 53 Seasons
Stagecrafters will celebrate a year of memorable performances during its 2025 Season Showcase Celebration, formerly known as the Awards Banquet, on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at the Fort Walton Beach Civic Auditorium. The event honors highlights from Stagecrafters’ 53rd season as the area’s all-volunteer community theatre.
This year’s celebration features a refreshed, community-friendly format. To keep costs down for members, Stagecrafters has eliminated the traditional banquet and opened the event to the public free of charge, with no tickets required. Doors open at 7 p.m., and attendees will also get an exclusive sneak peek at the theatre’s 54th season of shows for 2026. Family, friends and theatre supporters are encouraged to attend and celebrate together.
FWB Native Eric Rushford Honored on 2026 Donate Life Rose Parade Float
Fort Walton Beach native Eric Rushford was honored on one of the world’s most visible stages on New Year’s Day when OneLegacy featured his legacy on the 2026 Donate Life Rose Parade® Float in Pasadena, California.
Rushford, a 22-year-old remembered by family and friends as a kind and generous young man who loved playing soccer and mentoring young athletes, saved and healed multiple lives through organ and tissue donation. His life and legacy were commemorated through a floral portrait, known as a floragraph, displayed on the 2026 float, Treasure Every Moment Together, during the iconic Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
Rushford was one of 14 cornea and tissue donors honored, alongside a young tissue recipient whose life was restored through donation. Together, the donors recognized this year helped heal the lives of more than 1,000 children and adults across the country, highlighting the profound impact of organ, eye and tissue donation.
Nationally, a single tissue donor can improve the lives of more than 75 people through donations that include heart valves, bone grafts, skin for burn survivors, and ligaments and nerves that restore mobility. Each year, approximately 60,000 tissue donors provide lifesaving and life-enhancing transplants, with an estimated 2.5 million tissue transplants performed annually.
Now in its 23rd year, the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade Float remains the world’s most visible campaign promoting organ, eye and tissue donation. Watched by millions worldwide, the float delivered a powerful reminder that donation saves lives and allows generosity, like Rushford’s, to live on.
First Tee Gulf Coast Wins Back-to-Back National Title
Local junior golfers from Fort Walton Beach and Niceville brought home a national championship as First Tee Gulf Coast captured first place at the First Tee Greater New Orleans National Tournament, presented by Insperity Dec. 21–23 at Chateau Golf & Country Club in New Orleans. Team members Michelle Burt, Jasmine Nguyen, Tenley Sharron and Mason Dean Hampton, all local junior golfers from the Fort Walton Beach and Niceville area, rose to the top against elite competition from across the country. The victory marked a back-to-back national championship for First Tee Gulf Coast, as the team successfully defended its 2024 title.
The national tournament brings together top First Tee participants for two days of high-level competition, teamwork and leadership development, showcasing not only golf skills but the core values emphasized by the First Tee program nationwide.
For more information about First Tee Gulf Coast or its youth programs, contact ty@firstteegulfcoast.org or sharron@firstteegulfcoast.org.
Ray LeBlanc Wins the Men’s Club Championship at Shalimar Pointe Golf Club
By Barbara Palmgren
Over the last two years, I introduced readers to each of our outstanding golf courses in the community. With fascinating stories of golf course layouts and the managers who organize and provide golf to members, community, and visitors, it’s no wonder Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa counties are a golf mecca for the Florida Panhandle.
Some courses are private, but the majority are semi-private with members and open to public play. Important to each course is to develop opportunities for youth and members to compete. I have featured several civic and non-profit tournaments as well as tournaments for our young golfers whose ages range from seven to eighteen.
With golf being an outdoor sport, often weather is not cooperative. Still, if lightning is not eminent, rain gear and umbrellas protect the golfer who is sure that the next drive will hit the center of the fairway.
Each year at most clubs, the golf rivalry reaches its peak with the Men’s Club Championship and the Women’s Club Championship. Looking at these competitions, we meet and honor the winners. This month, we meet Ray LeBlanc, a man who rose to the challenge of posting the lowest score in the 2025 Men’s Club Championship.
Ray LeBlanc, a Chief Master Sergeant of the US Air Force with over 20 years of service, works to guide the enlisted force’s welfare, readiness and morale. Off duty, Ray heads to Shalimar Pointe Golf Course to enjoy a sport he was introduced to by his uncle when Ray was seven years old.
Growing up in Sierra Vista, Arizona, Ray helped his high school golf team achieve second place in the state championship. Ray also credits his mother and her unwavering support. At a time when finances were a challenge for the family, she bought him his first set of fitted clubs, Snake Eyes. That sacrifice and so many others were part of the foundation to mold this young man into the man who serves his family and nation with pride. Family support continues with Ray’s wife, Lauren, cheering him on as their family enjoys living in the Shalimar community.
Of course, as fate allowed, his daughter Madison, age seven, now tees up her ball as a member of the First Tee golf program to continue the golf legacy. So, special thanks, Ray’s uncle… your gift and love of the game are alive and well. Both Ray and Madison began playing golf at age seven. What goes around, comes around…and the golf world is better for it!
