Community

By Doug Stauffer Imagine a world where every night brings the uncertainty of finding a safe place to sleep, where danger can be right around any corner, and feelings of fear, demoralization and alienation are constant companions. This isn’t a hypothetical scenario for many; it’s the everyday reality for those...

By Lori Leath Smith Anyone can be a Holiday Hero when they help those in need in our community. As always during the holiday season, there is an ongoing need for giving or volunteering. Many children don’t have enough food to eat over a weekend, much less over Thanksgiving or...

By Ellen Fannon Her motto is, “Just one more child.” This is what the shoebox lady, Elaine Lauderdale, has on her mind when she encourages everyone to participate in Operation Christmas Child at Rosemont Baptist Church in Niceville. Rosemont, a small church with an average attendance of approximately 50 people, has...

Welcome the Holidays Through Times Past By Margaret Zonia Morrison Walton County will celebrate its bicentennial in 2024. Commemorations like this call to mind history and tradition. Both the stately Wesley House, located at Eden Gardens State Park in Walton County, and the Christmas celebration that has become a welcome herald of the holiday...

By Barbara Palmgren, Bay Life Reporter and Author, “Saving A Golf Course” I’ve come to realize that sometimes in life we are fortunate to have opportunities to step up in times of adversity, to be one more person to say, “Let’s roll. Let’s do...

By Kenneth Books The average human body contains about 60 percent water. And we die after about three days without ingesting liquids. Yet, most of us take water, the most crucial element in the world, for granted. The...

Resilience and Courage Define One Hopeful Place’s Sherry Jones By Doug Stauffer This story began four decades ago and details the extraordinary journey of a local girl who, at the tender age of 18 and fresh out of high school, found herself...

By Barbara Palmgren When I think about the beauty of the golf course at Bluewater Bay, and look at its blue and white logo with boat sails and golf clubs, I have to borrow a few lines from Roy Orbison’s famous song and change the lyrics: I’m going back someday, Come what...

By Christopher Manson In January 2022, a partnership between Okaloosa Island’s Gulfarium and the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Tourism Department was launched. “C.A.R.E.”ing for Turtles takes place at the Gulfarium every Wednesday through the end of July; then every other Wednesday in August. The hour-long program is $15 for ages eight...

By Doug Stauffer For the first time in its 80-year history, the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at Kings Point, N.Y., will witness an extraordinary accomplishment: three students from Niceville High School’s Class of 2019 will graduate together. Christopher Loffer, Gavin Wilson and Samuel Scholl will make history on...