The Okaloosa County America 250 Commission is gearing up for two of its biggest events of the year — the May 9 Grand Parade in Crestview and the June 12 gala dinner and drone show in Fort Walton Beach — as part of a yearlong slate of activities celebrating the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

• Commission Chairman Graham W. Fountain and Vice Chair Mitzie Henley said the commission, formed by the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners in January, was created in response to executive orders from the President and the Governor calling on communities to honor the country’s founding and the patriots who fought for independence.

“It’s our year,” Fountain said, adding that the county joined other Florida counties and cities in standing up a local commission.

The commission includes 18 appointed members and now has roughly 75 to 80 volunteers working with it across multiple teams, Fountain said. The makeup was designed to represent a cross-section of the community, including representatives of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the military, business leaders, the Krewe of Billy Bowlegs and the Okaloosa County School District.

“Our nation has the America 250 theme that the President claimed, and then every state in the country has then initiated their own America 250 and challenged their communities to find ways to celebrate,” Henley said. “We have so many volunteers doing so much just because they love our county and love our country and are very excited about this event.”

May 9 Grand Parade in Crestview

The May 9 event in downtown Crestview will begin with a morning ceremony on the courthouse steps recognizing Crestview native and Olympic bronze medalist Mia Manganello, who will serve as a grand marshal. The pre-parade celebration starts at 1 p.m., with the Grand Parade stepping off at 4 p.m. on Main Street.

The pre-parade celebration will feature student musicians, a choral group from Northwest Florida State College, a combined community orchestra, ceremonial reenactments and honor guards from military and civilian law enforcement units. Country music artist Coffey Anderson, whose May 9 appearance was previously announced, will headline the entertainment.

Fountain said the parade will mark the first time in more than 35 years that all Okaloosa County high school bands are participating, and the first time in more than 40 years that all local military units are taking part.

• “That’s one of the most significant things that I think our community can really celebrate, because we don’t get to see that often at all,” Henley said.

The block of marching scouts in the parade is now over 100, Fountain said. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Scouts will also participate, either marching or riding, and may assist with parking.

Following the parade, the commission will gather attendees at the courthouse lawn for the planting of a Liberty Tree and the dedication of a Revolutionary War America 250 bench at the Okaloosa County Veterans Memorial. The laurel oak tree is being donated by Crestview Nurseries.

Henley said the Liberty Tree tradition was started by the DAR and has been adopted by other organizations, recalling that the original patriots used trees as meeting markers when planning their break from the Crown.

• “It’s a symbolism of the bravery and independence it took for them to maneuver in making plans,” Henley said.

The bench is part of a national and state Sons of the American Revolution initiative honoring patriot ancestors during the 250th anniversary year. It will be the second such bench placed in Okaloosa County, following one installed at the Women Veterans Park.

Fountain said the combined membership of the local SAR and DAR chapters has identified close to 500 patriot ancestors who lived in the county.

June 12 gala and drone show

The commission will host an evening of remembrance and celebration on June 12 at the Rigdon Center in Fort Walton Beach, capped by a public drone show at 8:45 p.m. at the back of the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds.

The gala portion is a paid-ticket event that will feature a reenactment of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with 56 local representatives in colonial costume portraying the 56 men who signed the document. Henley said the reenactors will sign in order by colony, just as the originals did, and will wear special name tags identifying which signer they represent. Current military members in dress uniform will also be saluted during the program.

The evening will transition musically from period strings, including violins and cellos, to a full performance by the band Clench 46.

• “You walk in and you feel like you’re in 1776, and then throughout the night we will transition to 2026,” Henley said.

Attire for the gala is colonial or cocktail. The event will include a six-tier America 250 birthday cake from Just Think Cakes and red, white and blue gelato from G.S. Gelato, both donated.

“We’ve got so much talent right here in Okaloosa County,” Henley said. “We are celebrating Okaloosa County.”

The drone show at 8:45 p.m. will be open to the public. Henley said the drones serve as a marker of the technology of the current era and a symbol of how that technology will shape the future. 

Henley credited the City of Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa County for committing resources early so the commission could book the drone show months in advance and secure the date.

Schools, scouts and the rest of the year

The commission is working closely with the Okaloosa County School District, which Fountain said has gone “all out” on America 250 programming. 

• Plans for the fall semester include school assemblies, ROTC events, essay contests, oratory contests and possible debates centered on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The SAR recently presented America 250 medals to local ROTC students, including one student in band and ROTC who was recognized for an essay and speech.

Scouting America is planning a regional encampment at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds in early September, Henley said, with a colonial-era reenactment village. Fountain said scouts are expected to travel from as far as Jacksonville, Pensacola and South Alabama, with a public day and night planned alongside scout-only programming.

Other events on the calendar include the Gate to Gate America 250 Run, a faith-based event, and a Patriots and Heroes concert in November honoring first responders and military members. 

The commission is also co-sponsoring the Northwest Florida State College orchestra’s November concert, which will be themed around America 250.

Fountain said the commission is also adopting and helping promote a wide range of smaller community events that are not signature commission events but fit the celebration.

“There’ll probably be hundreds of things that go on over the whole year,” Fountain said.

Military participation and the broader vision

Fountain said the level of military participation in this year’s events is unlike anything he has seen in the past 30 to 40 years, with leadership from Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field committing hardware, marching units, specialty vehicles and general officers to the May 9 parade.

Henley said the commission has tried to broaden the definition of who counts as a patriot, pointing to the civilians who funded the Revolution alongside those who fought it.

• “As long as we are striving for freedom, then we’re a patriot,” Henley said. “That’s what we want to encourage even in our youth — that even if you don’t go serve in the military, you are a patriot by supporting your community and your country. That’s what it takes to keep freedom.”

Fountain, who has documented 21 patriot ancestors in his own family, said the year is a chance to remember how unlikely the American experiment once seemed.

“All the kingdoms of the world, they all called us the great experiment, and they didn’t think it would last,” Fountain said. “And that we made it 250 years when they didn’t think we’d last, I think it’s a tremendous thing.”

Henley said her hope is that residents find an event that resonates with them.

“I want our community to take away that they found something that they enjoy doing and they found a way to experience it in America 250, something that they won’t forget,” she said. “It’ll be another 50 years before we have another celebration. Some people will only have this type of celebration once in their lifetime.”

The commission will operate through Jan. 31, 2027. A full schedule of countywide America 250 events is available at GetTheCoast.com/America250. For more information, contact the commission at America250@myokaloosa.com or 850-830-0002.