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Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news By Anna Fisher, Associate Artistic Director, ECTC Raise your hand if you’ve ever come upon an open grassy field and spread your arms out while twirling and singing, “The hills are alive, with the sound of music?” No one? Just me? Okay even if you ignored that impulse, I know you wanted to breathe in the fresh spring air and twirl with abandon as you embodied one of your favorite moments from “Sound of Music.” We all have our favorite memories from this beautiful Rodgers and Hammerstein classic stage play and movie. Everyone learned to sing the notes along to “doe, a deer, a female deer” and find our dreams when we “climb every mountain.” I am so excited to bring this beautiful, based-on-true-events story to life this spring at Emerald Coast Theatre Company. We have a cast of extremely talented adult and child actors who are already working hard in rehearsals to bring this gorgeous musical to our stage. One of the greatest challenges of casting is finding the right actress to play Maria. She has to not only be able to sing like an angel, but to also be angelic in her demeanor. We have to believe that she would come to love a group of children as her own and embrace a life that she did not plan for herself. If you have met Anna Joy Powell, you know that she is the perfect actress to tell this story... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news With his final novel, Time’s Orphan, officially launched this month, Niceville local award-winning author Hayley Reese Chow now offers the complete Odriel’s Heirs series, a fast-paced, young adult fantasy adventure. The Odriel’s Heirs series tells the story of a world in which the powers of fire, invisibility and healing are passed down to three Heirs to protect their land from a demon necromancer and his armies of undead. Spanning decades and generations, the Odriel’s Heirs series features three stand-alone novels connected by two bridge novellas to comprise a darkly epic saga across a new world both extraordinary and perilous. Walking in the footsteps of Sabriel, Graceling, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, Odriel’s Heirs features strong female protagonists, slow burn romance and high stakes fantasy in a new world of magic, monsters and the undead, where the lives of all depend on the strength of three. Hayley Reese Chow is an Air Force veteran, reservist, engineer, ex-ultramarathoner, retired fencer, mother of two and up-and-coming author, publishing seven books in the last three years. Her books have won the Florida Author Project, a Literary Titan Gold Award, a Book Reader’s Appreciation Group Medallion, and have been finalists in the Book Blogger Novel of the Year Awards and the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. For more information, visit hayleyreeschow.com. The post Local Author Bookshelf: Author Project Winner Launches Fantasy Series appeared first on South Walton Life | 30A News, Events and Community Information.  Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news By Michelle Ruschman In this ongoing series, What Teens Want Us to Know, we asked the question, “What “adulting” skills do you want to be taught before you leave home? (Consider what you might want to know in the areas of physical and emotional health, relationship building, professional success, lifestyle, creativity, practical skills, and education.)” At school, there’s a focus on social, academic, and extracurricular activities, but what about what they want to know…need to know… as they prepare to launch into life beyond graduation? In the busyness of working jobs, getting kids from one activity to another, church life, etc it’s hard to know what our kids don’t know. One mom mentioned, “My college-age son called me the other day and asked me how to make a grilled cheese sandwich! I didn’t know he didn’t know how to do that until that moment!” It’s easy for a modern family to miss the things that we, as parents and grandparents, took for granted growing up. Back then, there was time to learn how to cook together, we assisted our dads in the workshop or garage, and families lived closer together so elders could pass on what they knew to the younger ones. Kids still need this training and mentorship but there don’t seem to be the same opportunities. When our teens answered, there were clear themes they wanted to learn most: Financial Literacy – How to pay for different expenses, how to... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news By Pastor David Holland The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37 How can we know we are truly a Christian? Being born into a Christian family doesn’t make you a believer any more than sitting in a McDonald’s makes you a hamburger. Nor can you simply be a good person and earn your way into heaven. Jesus reveals the test of tangible Christian faith through the parable of the Good Samaritan. A young religious lawyer approached Christ asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks the lawyer about what he believes, and the man shares remarkable insight as he says, “Love God” and “Love others.” These two great commandments are not only a summary of the entire Old Testament, but are the guiding principles of successful living. The lawyer questions Jesus further. “Who is my neighbor?” It’s as if he were saying, “How do I know the kind of love and faith God requires?” Christ answers with a story aimed at challenging the man while assuring him of salvation. The parable begins with a man robbed, beaten and left for dead. The priest walking by is unwilling to get involved with this messy situation. So, he avoids the man in need. Ironically, he was en route to the temple to serve people in need while a man lies suffering right in front of him.... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news By Sean Dietrich She was trash. At least that’s how she was treated. She was found wandering a rural Mississippi highway. Beneath the stars. It was a wonder the girl hadn’t been hit. This was a busy highway. The kind with transfer trucks. The dog was walking in the center of the road. On the yellow line. Clearly there was something wrong with her. Animals don’t walk open highways. But the black-and-tan dog was moving by feel. Because she is blind. All she knew was that she liked open highway because the surface was smooth, and there were no obstructions. And when you’re blind, no obstructions is a good thing. She was a skeleton. Every rib visible. Every spinal disc showed. There were scars all over her, as though she’d been involved in a host of dog fights. A scar on her face. A scar on her chest. One behind her ear. On her side. Another on her right forelimb. Probably, she had been caged with other hunting dogs. The dogs were probably mistreated and hungry. Hunger makes dogs mean. Nobody knows how the blindness happened. But it didn’t take a rocket engineer to figure it out. “Someone hit this animal with a blunt object,” the veterinarian later said, choking back tears. “Someone beat this poor dog. Maybe with the butt of a rifle. Maybe with rebar.” People say that dogs use smell above all other senses. That’s a lie. A dog... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news By Susan Benton New Orleans has been on my mind quite a bit lately, especially with Mardi Gras still in the rearview this month. When recently invited to create a recipe for Stonewall Kitchen using one of their mustards, I chose the horseradish as I knew it would make a delicious Shrimp Remoulade. There are two types of Remoulade sauces in Louisiana. One sauce is white and mayonnaise based, similar to the French classic, Celeriac Remoulade. The other is a red version made with ketchup (below), and I love both! Shrimp Remoulade (pronounced ruma-lahd) is simple to prepare, and when served on elegant china, it is an impressive dish for entertaining. The fresh Gulf shrimp tossed in the spicy sauce, served on a bed of crisp lettuce ribbons is a delight to savor as a full meal, or as an appetizer. I live on the Gulf Coast, so I’m partial to our local seafood, but you just need to look for the best and freshest wild caught shrimp in your local area for this recipe. Remoulade Recipe: Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups heavy-duty mayonnaise like Blue Plate, Duke’s or Hellman’ 1/4 cup Heinz ketchup 1/2 cup Stonewall Kitchen Horseradish Mustard 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp hot pepper sauce such as Tabasco 1/2 cup finely diced green onions 1/4 cup finely diced celery 2 tbsp minced garlic 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley 1/2 tbsp lemon juice salt and cracked black pepper to taste... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news Visit Panama City Beach invites visitors and residents to the destination’s premier two-day culinary festival, UNwineD presented by Publix. Taking place March 31 – April 1, 2023, at Aaron Bessant Park, the seventh annual event will showcase the best craft beer, wine, and spirits from around the world. Additionally, the event will offer delectable cuisine from renowned area chefs, live entertainment, and a variety of vendors and artisans.“We are thrilled to welcome locals and visitors to Panama City Beach for the seventh annual UNwineD presented by Publix,” says Visit Panama City Beach President and CEO Dan Rowe. “We look forward to another year partnering with ‘Southern Living’ to host an unforgettable celebration showcasing the best cuisine, craft beer, wine, and spirits of our region.” The gourmet gathering begins on Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m. with a one-of-a-kind kickoff party hosted by ‘Southern Living’ and Visit Panama City Beach. The exclusive preview event includes custom cocktails, delicious bites, live music, and much more. Now available for purchase at a limited supply, VIP tickets are $185 per person and include early entry into Saturday’s event and a gift bag with commemorative UNwineD glasses. Ticket holders must be 21 and over. Saturday’s festivities begin with the Grand Afternoon Tasting on April 1 at 1:00 p.m. Guests can wander from booth to booth and stop by the Publix tent while sipping and savoring craft beer, wine, spirits, and culinary creations from leading chefs in the... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach is a one-of-a-kind projection art festival where artists from across the globe use the latest digital technologies to project their original works onto the iconic white walls of Alys Beach, and it returns for its 16th Sometimes referred to as “Photon Bombing,” “Guerilla Projection” or “Urban Projection,” underground artists around the globe have been using the latest design, animation and projection technologies for many years to cast dynamic images onto skyscrapers and other urban structures as a means of artistic expression. Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach is a festival geared towards bringing these artists together in one place to celebrate and showcase their unique talents.   Each year, the festival attracts digital artists, filmmakers, musicians, interactive designers, photographers, VJs, producers, celebrities, agency executives and fans of art, technology and architecture. Thousands of dollars in cash prizes are awarded to artists, with digital submissions being received from as far away as Israel, Austria, Canada, Germany, London, India, France, Italy and China. Staged against the elegant white walls of Alys Beach, Digital Graffiti provides a large-scale blank canvas for artists to explore the visual intersection of art and architecture. The engagement between the art, architecture, and audience is transformative, creating an immersive and interactive art projection experience that is entirely unique to the Digital Graffiti festival, named as one of the top “24 Unconventional Art Destinations Around the World” by National Geographic. Artists, designers, photographers, and architects are invited... Read More

Please use the SHARE buttons to forward this news  The post COUPONS March 2023 appeared first on South Walton Life | 30A News, Events and Community Information.  Read More