June 15, 2016

Archive

Reading with a ranger at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park June 20

Date/time: Monday June 20th, 9-10 a.m. Topsail Hill Preserve State park invites your little ones to Reading with a Ranger. Join the ranger to hear a story about nature as she reads The Bumblebee Queen by April Pulley Sayre. This program will take place in the clubhouse or on the grass on a pleasant day. Children will have the opportunity to ask the Ranger questions and a snack. Enter the park through the main gate and park staff will direct...

Camp Helen State Park hosting movie, food and fun on June 29

The third annual Movies & More series continues on Wed., June 29. The evening begin at 5:30 p.m. in the park’s Recreation Hall with a brief interpretive program led by a Camp Helen Park Ranger or other expert. The program will be followed by an old-fashioned campfire cookout of hot dogs and s’mores provided by the Friends of Camp Helen. Each evening will conclude with a family-oriented movie in the Recreation Hall, where seating will be provided. A parent or...

Plant hike at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park June 22

Date/time: Wednesday June 22, 9-10 a.m. Topsail Hill Preserve State Park invites you to enjoy an informational plant hike. Visitors will learn about some of the plant species here at the park. Some of these plants are truly invasive and carry with them, few, if any, of the natural controls that keep them in check in their native ranges, while some are imperiled and others can be used for medicinal purposes. The topics for the hike will vary based on...

Let the Lionfish Challenge begin; may the odds be ever in your favor

Interested in removing lionfish from Florida waters? Participate in the 2016 Lionfish Challenge or the Panhandle Pilot Program reward programs. You could be the next winner of a Neritic polespear like Richard “Tott” Thomas, a Zookeeper lionfish containment unit like Alex Page or a $100 dive tank refill like Brian Belzer, our most recent Lionfish Challenge winners. Since the kick-off on May 14, 29 divers have entered 4,338 lionfish in the statewide Lionfish Challenge, which rewards those who remove 50...

Cops on Top event at Lakewood/Britton Hill Park in Paxton June 25

On Saturday, June 25th, at 11 a.m. teams from across the country will set out to summit their state’s highest point in honor of the law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty. Whether the team is attempting to climb the tallest mountain or hike the highest hill, each team member will carry with them the memory of the tremendous sacrifice the officers made to protect and serve their respective state. The annual Summit for Heroes...

Remnants of the Captain Fritz steamboat remain in the Choctawhatchee riverbed

Low water levels expose remnants of Walton history Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s much of Walton County’s commerce was transported via water. Sown lumber, turpentine and vegetables were shipped to the mills and markets of Pensacola via steamboat and schooner. One of the major steamboats that made a regular run between Freeport, Point Washington and Pensacola was the Capt. Fritz. A stern wheel steamboat built in 1892 the Capt. Fritz started operations in the Choctawhatchee Bay. She...