June 9, 2015

Archive

Panhandle Watermelon Festival in Chipley June 26 – 27

The 59th Annual Panhandle Watermelon Festival will be Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27th in Chipley, FL. Friday night entertainment will be at Pal’s Park. Gates will open at 5 p.m. and show will begin at 6 p.m. Entertainers will be Daryle Singletary, Exile and Mark Wills. Saturday will kick off with a 5K run, then a parade at 10 a.m. Vendors and kids rides at the Ag Center on Hwy. 90. A watermelon auction and antique car show...

Coastal Dune Lakes film showing at Camp Helen State Park June 19

The Friends of Camp Helen State Park and Lake Powell Community Alliance will show a film about coastal dune lakes at 6:30 p.m. on June 19, 2015, at the Park’s Lodge. The film “Coastal Dune Lakes: Jewels of Florida’s Emerald Coast” by Elam Stoltzfus and the Live Oak Production Group focuses on the dune lakes of Northwest Florida, a project for which Stoltzfus spent the last year and a half. The event is free and open to the public. State...

Four license-free fishing days in June

Four license-free fishing days in June for Florida residents and visitors. The license-free fishing weekends are: Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, saltwater recreational fishing license requirement will be waived. Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14, freshwater recreational fishing license requirement will be waived. The four days in June are a part of the eight total license-free fishing days the FWC offers each year. All bag limits, seasons and size restrictions apply on these dates. To learn more about license-free fishing days,...

Learn about blue crabs at Grayton Beach State Park June 17

Date/time: Wednesday June 17th at 2 p.m. Join Park Ranger Chad for a program on blue crabs. The program will cover the biology, identification, and methods of catching crabs. Sunscreen, drinking water, appropriate clothing, and hat are suggested. This program will take approximately 1 hour. Directions: Grayton Beach State Park is located South of U.S. 98 approximately halfway between Panama City Beach and Destin. Take County Road 283 south of U.S. 98, turn left at the stop sign on 30A....

Estuary program workshop in South Walton June 10

Date/time: June 10, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) invites you to attend an Estuary Program Workshop on June 10th, hosted by TNC and Walton County.  The workshop will be held on Wed., June 10, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the South Walton Annex Building, joint conference room, 31 Coastal Centre Blvd., Santa Rosa Beach. The purpose of the workshop is to learn about the proposal EPA proposal submitted for RESTORE Council ‘Bucket 2’ to...

Movie, food, and fun at Camp Helen State Park June 17

Date/time: June 17, 5:30 p.m. Camp Helen State Park is offering a summer full of movies, food and fun with a series of family-oriented movies, interpretive programs, and old-fashioned campfire cookouts. On Wednesday, June 17, the film “A Bug’s Life” will be shown. This film features Flik, an inventive and trouble-causing ant who searches for warriors when his latest mishap causes bullying grasshoppers to threaten his colony. He finds a group of bugs (bumbling circus performers) that he thinks will...

Man catches state-record blue catfish during tournament

It’s official! Bill Stewart, 66, of Weeki Wachee, caught a 69-pound, 8-ounce blue catfish on the Choctawhatchee River, near Ebro, during the Choctawhatchee Catfish Roundup tournament on May 30. He beat the previous state record by 5 pounds. Stewart had landed four flatheads and a nice channel catfish before he put the head from a skipjack herring, which he had caught earlier, on a big circle hook. Fortunately, his reel was loaded with 100-pound line because the blue catfish that...