GIVING BACK

Preston Hood Chevrolet donates SUV to Fort Walton Beach Athletic Complex

On Wednesday, May 1, Preston Hood Chevrolet donated a new white 2024 Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the Fort Walton Beach Preston Hood Athletic Complex.

• The vehicle will be used by athletic complex staff to deliver equipment and supplies throughout the facility and in their community outreach efforts.

“We’re honored to donate this new Chevy Equinox to help support operations at the Fort Walton Beach Preston Hood Athletic Complex,” said Preston Hood Chevrolet Dealer Taylor Hood. “This SUV is the perfect vehicle to help on the complex grounds and across the community.” 

The Preston Hood Athletic Complex, established in 2015 with Preston Hood’s $250,000 donation, is located directly across from the dealership at 132 Jet Drive NW in Fort Walton Beach. 

• The facility is a premier location to host youth sports, featuring seven baseball/softball fields, four beach volleyball courts, three soccer fields, several multi-use fields, a one-mile walking path, a skate park, and room for future expansion.

Each year, Preston Hood Chevrolet contributes to the city’s youth athletic programs by sponsoring various spring and fall sports teams and donating new equipment to the City of Fort Walton Beach for its community complex, with the help of the Chevy Youth Baseball/Softball Program.

City Manager Jeff Peters expressed his gratitude for the ongoing support from the Preston Hood family. “Preston Hood wrote an initial check for $250,000 right before the athletic complex was built. Taylor and the family wanted to follow up with that, and they donated an SUV for the Recreation staff to use for the recreation operations,” Peters said.

Peters recalled a conversation with Preston Hood in 2015, before the complex was built, where Hood expressed his belief that the complex would be the greatest project for the community after he and his wife had driven through the property when it was just dirt. 

• “Even though he is no longer with us, I know it’ll make him proud when we continue to add onto that complex across the street from the dealership,” Peters added. 

As the complex has grown not only for city recreation, but also tournaments, Peters says the Hood family and staff still believe in the athletic complex and its staff.

“The city of Fort Walton Beach just really appreciates the ongoing and continued support that the Preston Hood family has continued to give towards the city and the recreation department as a whole,” he said.

SCHOOL

Art program at Destin Elementary School undergoing transformation, not elimination

Concerns were raised on social media earlier this week regarding the potential elimination of the Art Program at Destin Elementary School due to recent “budget cuts” in the Okaloosa County School District. 

• However, the district has clarified that there is no pullback in Arts programs and that Destin Elementary will continue to offer art education, albeit in a different form.

Deputy Superintendent Steve Horton explained that for the past ten years, the district’s staffing pattern for elementary schools has included Physical Education and one elective offering, Music or Art, as selected by each school.

Some schools, including Destin Elementary, were grandfathered in and allowed to maintain both Music and Art until one of the positions was vacated.

“There is no district pullback in the Arts programs, far from it. In fact, more funding has gone to K-12 Arts programs over the past four years than ever before,” Horton said in an interview. 

Horton further explained that 3 elementary schools (Bluewater Bay, Destin, and Northwood) offered both Music and Art at the time the staffing pattern was initiated and were approved to continue with both electives (grandfathered) until one of the positions was vacated.

• “When an elective teacher at Destin Elementary left prior to the 2023-2024 school year, the school should have returned to P.E. and one elective, but Superintendent Chambers recommended that a second elective program be extended for the year,” Horton said.

Destin Elementary, along with the two other schools, was made aware at the beginning of the year that this would be the last year for the grandfathered second elective, and that 2024-2025 staffing would match the other fifteen elementary schools in the district, according to Horton.

The school’s Principal, Amy Meyer, is currently developing plans to ensure that Art continues at Destin Elementary, even if not in the exact same form. 

• “We are currently looking into the Oval Art program where volunteers come into classrooms to do art activities and the school purchases the materials,” Meyer said. “We are also looking to contract with individuals who have an art background to come in quarterly for 2 weeks at a time to rotate classes through an art block during their specials rotation.”

Meyer also noted that students participate in many creative art projects within their own classrooms related to curriculum, celebrations, and holidays. 

“In the current year, Destin Elementary students have had Art two times a month. I believe that standard can be maintained going forward to where students won’t notice much of a difference,” she added.

Horton emphasized that the district has been allocating more funding to K-12 Arts programs over the past four years than ever before. This not only includes art in elementary schools, but also band instrument replacement, chorus, and even funds for drama programs that never had funds in the past. 

Horton says he is confident that Principal Meyer will roll out a plan for next fall that meets the needs of Destin Elementary students despite the sunset of the grandfathered position.

THINGS TO DO

‘Concerts at the Landing’ is back this Friday in Downtown Fort Walton Beach

The 2024 Spring Series “Concerts at The Landing” is set to return to The Landing Park in Downtown Fort Walton Beach starting Friday, May 3, 2024.

• The concert series will take place every Friday night from 6-8 p.m. for five consecutive weeks, with a special performance planned for the Fourth of July.

The lineup for the series features a diverse range of musical genres, including country, rock, blues, pop, and dance.

• May 3: Jarred McConnell & High Aces – Country/Rock
• May 10: Miles Flatt – Country/Party Rock
• May 17: The Midnight Shepherds – Classic Rock/Blues
• May 24: Thin Ice – Rock
• May 31: Bad Charlotte – Pop/Rock/Dance
• July 4: Scratch 2020 – Pop/Rock/Dance

The “Concerts at The Landing” series provides an opportunity for residents and visitors to enjoy live music in the heart of Downtown Fort Walton Beach.

EVENTS

Destin History & Fishing Museum to celebrate 90th birthday of original Post Office

The Destin History & Fishing Museum is set to host a celebration for the 90th birthday of the original Destin Post Office on Saturday, May 4, 2024. The event, which will take place from 1pm to 3pm, will feature cake, free admission to the museum, and a commemorative postcard.

The original post office, now an outdoor exhibit at the museum, has a rich history dating back to 1896 when William T. Marler began handling mail for the community from his home’s parlor.

• Marler would sail to Camp Walton (now Fort Walton Beach) three times a week to collect mail, sometimes making the ten-mile journey for only one or two letters.

As the community grew, Marler built a small store building on his property, dedicating one corner to the post office. The fishing village residents would stop by to check their mail, which was delivered by boat from Fort Walton until the completion of the bridge in 1936.

The original post office building, constructed by Marler on his Calhoun Avenue property in 1934, served as a social center for the community until 1951 when the post office relocated to a building on Highway 98. The Marler family served as postmasters from 1896 to 1972.

In the early 1980s, the building, complete with its handmade interior cabinets and counters, was moved to its current location at the Destin History & Fishing Museum, where it stands as an outdoor exhibit.

The museum, located at 108 Stahlman Ave, invites the public to join in celebrating this significant piece of the city’s history.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Niceville Police conclude “Operation Save the Day” speed enforcement initiative

The Niceville Police Department recently concluded a three-day speed enforcement initiative called “Operation Save the Day” on Friday, April 26, 2024.

• The campaign aimed to combat speeding and promote safe driving on State Road 20 between Rocky Bayou Dr and Government Ave, with increased enforcement hours between 1 and 5 pm.

During the initiative, a total of 77 traffic citations were issued, including 67 citations for speeding. In the 20 MPH speed limit zone, which is a school zone on Partin Drive, three citations were issued for speeding, with the average speed being 18 mph over the limit.

• The lowest speed of a vehicle stopped in this zone was 37 MPH, while the fastest was 41 MPH.

In the 35 MPH speed limit zone, 57 citations were issued for speeding, with the average speed being 18 mph over the limit. The lowest speeding vehicle stopped in this zone was traveling at 45 MPH, while the fastest was clocked at 62 MPH.

Four citations were issued for speeding in the 45 MPH speed limit zone, with the average speed being 17 mph over the limit. The lowest speeding vehicle stopped in this zone was traveling at 60 MPH, and the fastest was recorded at 65 MPH.

• Of the total citations issued for speeding, 61 were written for speeds 9 mph over the limit, 2 for speeds 10 mph over the limit, and 1 for a speed 14 mph over the limit.

The campaign saw a 40% reduction in traffic citations issued over the course of the three days, according to the Niceville PD.

COASTAL RESOURCES

Destin-Fort Walton Beach gears up for world’s largest lionfish tournament in 2024

The Emerald Coast Open (ECO), the world’s largest lionfish tournament, is preparing for its 2024 event in Destin, Florida. 

• Building upon the success of the 2023 tournament, which saw 144 participants remove 24,699 lionfish, including 19,560 in just two days, organizers are excited for another record-breaking year. Last year’s event awarded $55,000 in cash prizes and over $40,000 in gear prizes.

Alex Fogg, Coastal Resources Manager for Okaloosa County and event organizer, explains that the 2024 ECO will feature several components, including a pre-tournament, main event, restaurant week, and a festival. 

“The pre-tournament kicked off back on February 1,” Fogg said. “It allows divers to go out on their own time, whenever the weather’s good, and harvest lionfish. But in order for those lionfish to count, they actually have to donate them to the event itself.”

Participants in the pre-tournament receive raffle tickets for each fish turned in, giving them a chance to win prizes from a table valued at over $50,000. “Dive gear, vacation packages, BOTE boards, all sorts of different things up for grabs. The more lionfish you shoot, the more raffle tickets you get and the higher the odds are of you getting a pretty awesome prize,” Fogg explained.

The main tournament will take place from May 17-19, with divers competing to harvest the most, largest and smallest lionfish. Teams of up to four can participate, with the final weigh-in on Sunday, May 19. 

• “Divers can start harvesting lionfish at sunrise and must be out of the water by sunset,” Fogg said. “Those fish can be turned in on either Saturday or Sunday but those fish have to be turned in for processing. We count them, measure them, collect some information for science and tally up the team’s totals. It wraps up with the award ceremony on Sunday afternoon.”

Restaurant Week, a collaboration with local restaurants, showcases lionfish dishes and educates customers about the impact of this invasive species. 

“We provide participating restaurants with about 30 pounds of lionfish filets, which produces about 100 dishes,” Fogg said. “They can produce an appetizer or a main course and prepare it any way that they want. But there is a competition associated with this. These restaurants are not being ranked on the dish. They’re actually being judged on the information that they’re providing to the guests.”

The Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Festival, held at HarborWalk Village, will feature conservation vendors, lionfish jewelry and art, and activities for kids and families. The festival is free to attend, while the “Conservation and Cocktails” event offers food and beverage samples for a fee. 

Fogg emphasizes the importance of the tournament in giving the native ecosystem a break from the invasive lionfish population. 

“We recognize that we’re not going to get rid of lionfish. Lionfish are always going to be in our system but hosting events like this certainly gives it a break, especially leading into the season,” he said. “It’s awesome to see that people still come out and compete. I think the major prizes that we have is probably the encouragement that these divers need to get out there.”

The event also aims to raise awareness about the impact of lionfish on the local ecosystem and tourism. Over the years, lionfish has gone from a simple talking point to being a major part of the Visit Destin-Fort Walton Beach brand. From stickers, to murals and even traveling to convention shows with live lionfish, this species is a huge part of the destination.

• “Every time we have this event, it’s eye opening to see how many people don’t know about lionfish. Some think that you can’t eat them, or have no idea how big of a problem they are or how many lionfish are out there,” Fogg said. “And each year, we get to reach more people and educate them on this invasive species.”

The success of the Emerald Coast Open relies heavily on the support of sponsors, which allows the event to offer substantial prizes and attract more participants. “We used to only pay out to sixth place, but with the additional funds and sponsors that we’ve been getting, we’re able to pay out the 10th place. It gives divers the ability to get in the money, get a trophy and have a good time,” Fogg explained.

As Destin prepares for the 2024 Emerald Coast Open, organizers and participants look forward to another record-breaking year in the fight against invasive lionfish while promoting conservation, education, and dive tourism in the region. 

“Lionfish are part of Destin-Fort Walton Beach and we even travel with lionfish all over the world,” Fogg said. “It’s been neat to see how this has developed and I’m excited to see how it continues to develop in the years ahead.”

For more information on the event, head to emeraldcoastopen.com