Community

By Chris Balzar May this holiday season fill your home with joy, your heart with love, and your life with laughter. We will speak or receive similar sentiments this month. But for many, the holidays bring stress and not good tidings: finding the perfect gifts and wrapping them, baking the...

Some postal tips from your friendly, neighborhood mail carrier, Greta Grumbine Charlton: 1) Be patient. Y’all know it’s Christmas, the busiest time of the year. Your package might not make it on time. It might get bogged down. It happens. Before giving your mail carrier the third degree, diving into...

By Tim Norris The father of our nation knew how to throw a Christmas party. I’m talking thousands of pounds of bacon, gallons of homemade rye whiskey, a massive “great cake” and what he called an “attack of Christmas pies.” Everyone got four days off to celebrate at his Mount...

Holiday Fun Now - Dec. 31: Ice Skating at Baytowne on Ice, The Village of Baytowne Wharf, Open daily Now - Dec. 28: Horse-drawn Carriage Rides at Grand Boulevard, Fridays & Saturdays 5–8 p.m. Now - Jan. 2: 2019 Troon Goon Christmas Lightshow at Bluewater Bay, 6 p.m.–10 p.m. nightly Christmas Eve Services Destiny Worship Center, 16019...

By Sheriff Larry Ashley Being jolly is hopefully a big part of your holiday season as you celebrate family time and the season of giving. We hope the happiness flows for you during the holidays but we have to be just a touch “Grinchlike” and remind you that unfortunately this...

“I’ll be home for Christmas,” is something pets at the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) are hoping Santa will help them sing (in barks and meows). Play Santa, so they won’t sing “Blue Christmas” instead. Visit paws-shelter.org for more information.

By Chris Balzar “It’s not easy being green,” sang a very wise frog. What does “being green” mean? Being green includes many different elements: reducing, reusing and recycling, not littering, living sustainably, conserving energy and materials, going zero-waste, utilizing fair-trade and ethical production, being carbon neutral, growing organic crops, being...

Adopt-A-Family! Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center (ECCAC) is seeking donors who will purchase gifts for individual families who have been identified by the Center. Last year, the program helped 197 children in 70 families have a brighter Christmas. Sign up to Adopt-a-Family online at www.eccac.org. Or, contact Angie Harder at...

Alaqua Animal Refuge’s inaugural Animoré weekend was truly a festival to celebrate the love of animals. Showcasing two epic events — the 6th Annual 100 Point and Cult Wine Dinner and the first ever Barn Jam — the weekend took place October 18 and 19 in Freeport and raised...

Cats to watch. Cats to cuddle. Cat merchandise. Cat yoga. Cat parties. All things cat! The Panhandle Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is very excited about being offered a retail location at the Santa Rosa Mall in Mary Esther; to show off their adorable, up-for-adoption kittens and cats, and also...