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By Gueary Clendenning Christmas is just around the corner. After Thanksgiving, the pace quickens toward the big day! We’ll find ourselves in a big rush, always pursuing one more thing we need to get accomplished. We look for the nearest parking spot in the crowded mall, searching for the perfect...

By Lori Leath Smith For many years, our piece of Paradise has ignited the holiday spirit in each of us and allowed the season to come to life for the young and young at heart. With a unique blend of theatrical storytelling, musical notes, hot Christmas flavored-coffee and cocoa, and...

Welcome the Holidays Through Times Past By Margaret Zonia Morrison Our neighboring county, Walton, 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...

By Lori Leath Smith Anyone can be a Hometown 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 Will Estell If you’re a fan of the arts—whether visually, musically or through their power of healing, and if you live anywhere in Okaloosa, Walton or Bay Counties, then you’re likely already familiar with Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation (MKAF)—the outreach and events this organization has been bringing to Northwest...

By Kenneth Books Recovery from addiction is hard. Resources are limited and the lure of drugs and alcohol can be overwhelming. But there is a resource in our area that helps women break the cycle of addiction, get and stay sober and create a normal, fulfilling life for those who...

Destin Seafood Festival Oct. 6-8 | Friday 4-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. By Cali Hlavac One of the locals’ favorite times of year is the Destin Seafood Festival, back for its 45th year! So popular is this exciting, delicious, delectable event that more than 60,000 locals and...

By Barbara Palmgren Some people have a vision of success that turns their dream into a legend for the ages. Did Peter Bos envision that his dream of a community built with one of the finest golf courses in the country would become just that…legendary? His company, Legendary, Inc., began...

By Tamara L. Young, PhD, City of Destin Public Information Manager It was 2006, the year of the Sago Mine disaster, the Enron trial and Italy scored a penalty shot to win the World Cup. In Destin, the chatter amongst City Council was about a park that would serve as 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 unwittingly intertwined with a drug kingpin. This captivating narrative chronicles...