Walton County Coastal Library is hosting “Winter Community Programs” every Tuesday through March 17, 2015, The events will be held at at 10 a.m. with each program engaging in a variety of subjects such as theater, music, local history, music and writing. All programs are designed for our adult community and families having entertaining and educational value while learning about our community and neighbors.
For more information please call (850) 267-2809, Coastal Library, 437 Greenway Trail, Santa Rosa Beach. Located behind the South Walton Government/Education Complex on HWY 331 South. Free to the public with limited seating.
Jan. 13 – Destin historian Hank C. Klein will tell the story of Leonard Destin, the founding father of Destin, FL who was from New London, Connecticut. His presentation will focus on Leonard Destin’s Civil War captivity exploring how Destin was transported from the East Pass with the Commander of the Walton Guards, William McPherson Mr. Klein invites us to discover what happened to Leonard Destin and his captor, William McPherson after the Civil War ended. Mr. Klein’s heritage extends from pioneer Destin families.
Jan. 20 – Demetrius Fuller, Music Director & Conductor, Sinfonia Gulf Coast
Innovative and energetic conductor, Demetrius Fuller is garnering critical acclaim at home and abroad. A versatile conductor, Mr. Fuller has been chosen to work with some of the world’s most prestigious conductors and orchestras. Mr. Fuller is an award recipient from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, the Werner Foundation, and the International Music Foundation. He is entering his ninth season as Music Director of Florida’s Sinfonia Gulf Coast, which he founded in 2006. He is an inventive and dynamic conductor who has gained critical acclaim at home and abroad. He has transformed the symphony experience for the Northwest Florida region offering uplifting and moving performances, while giving back to the community. www.sinfoniagulfcoast.org
Jan. 27 – Historical portrayal of General Andrew Jackson presented by local historian author, James E. Moore
In this drama presentation, the General comes alive as the First Territorial Governor of Florida. .Jackson recounts his forceful and disputed invasions of Florida that convinced the crowns of Europe continued foreign attempts to colonize Florida were no longer feasible. This resulted in a treaty transferring Florida to the United States. For over twenty years, Jim Moore has been volunteering to perform historical presentations. He has been a regular presenter for the Florida Chautauqua Assembly and The Florida League of Arts. Moore has done a study into the lives of each personality he portrays and appears in the dress appropriate for the occasion.
Feb. 3 – Drummer / Musician Ray Cyr co-founder of Studio 237 Music School with wife Lisa Cyr piano /clarinet teacher. Ray will share on his history of drumming music for the last 50+ years from a personal perspective. Ray will be speaking on how some drummers evolved to be educated for performance as skilled drummers. Various drum techniques will be introduced and some audience participation may be happening as well. Ray has been engaged in drumming for more than 50 years, starting in 1961, in a Drum and Bugle Marching Corp out of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine. Ray started in 1964 playing in various music groups on a drum set. Ray professionally performed in 18 different bands from Maine, MA, WI, CO, CA and Florida, producing three out of eight recording albums along with over 1,000 concerts in 25 states and Canada. In 1997, Ray moved to Santa Rosa Beach with his musically talented family and is now managing the studio and teaching drum lessons. Visit www.studio237musicschool.com
Feb. 10 – Historian Chick Huettel presents “Pirates and Treasure in Destin Waters”
This is a lecture and slide series originally initiated by the South Walton Coastal Heritage Association; one the oldest organizations still in existence in south Walton. Coastal Branch Library is now the home of the society and displays some local recovered artifacts. The lecture entails recorded events from the book that was researched and produced more than twenty years ago of the history of the Gulf of Mexico and our coastal waters during the turbulent buccaneer period, its facts & legends, the people involved plus where treasure has been found and thought to possibly exist. Many of the slides are old woodcut prints that represented the pirate’s characteristics plus maps of search areas for the elusive prize of stolen and lost plunder. Also, the only known local map of treasure found, unfounded speculation, and still searched for will be available for viewing. Chick Huettel is a longtime resident and local historian and the author of two local history books, a co-author of the history of the Walton County Sheriff’s Posse, plus a fiction crime novel recently published in England. He also writes for both the Walton Sun and the Defuniak Herald mostly on the past historical accounts on the county. Chick is the founder of the Cultural Arts Association and president of Coastal Heritage Society.
Feb. 17 – Florida Humanities Council sponsors Ersula Knox-Odom as Mary McLeod Bethune Road Scholar (1875-1955), the founder of Bethune-Cookman University. She served as a New Deal government official. She was one of the 20 highest level offices held by women in the administration and the highest held by an African American woman. She was founder of FDR’s “black cabinet.” She served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. She founded and served as president of the National Council of Negro Women. As we celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Brown vs Board of Education decision Dr. Bethune comes to life May 17, 1954 and shares fascinating stories of her extraordinary contribution to democracy. This program is supported by the Florida Humanities Council with funding from the FL Dept. of State, Division of Cultural Affairs.
Feb. 24 – Escape2Create, Artists in Residency sponsors Bobbie Pyron; Children’s Author. Escape 2 Create supports artists and builds community through multi-disciplinary artist residencies hosted in Seaside, FL; community service programming; and educational outreach in Walton County, FL.
Their mission is to foster the creation of art that teaches and inspires, to offer artists an inspiring and engaging residency environment, to advance art and culture as an integrated value of community life. E2C offers two month-long residency sessions every January and February. Open to emerging and established professional artists working in the literary, music, visual, inter-and trans-disciplinary arts.
March 3 – Historical fiction author; Billy Moore is a native of Florida but spent much of his youth on his grandparents’ farm near Opp, Alabama. He’s a retired college professor of history, graduate of Chipola College, Mississippi State University and Rice University where he studied novel writing and served as assistant football coach. His first novel, “Cracker’s Mule” is a boy’s coming of age story on an Alabama farm during the great polio epidemic of 1950s followed by “Little Brother Real Snake” set on the Great Plains in the 17th century. He is currently researching history on the Black Seminoles.
March 10, 10:00 am “The Sunshine State goes to War” Richard Weinstein presents “Florida in the Second World War. Few states were as directly affected militarily or economically. The modernization of Florida dates from the rapid changes and advances which occurred during the war. The Second World War had an enormous impact upon Florida. Join Professor Weinstein has he recaps the people of interest, industry, US Navy, Naval Air Stations and Military facts as we travel back to WWII in Florida.
March 17- “Florida, the Jilted Bride” Richard Weinstein will present, “The Jilted Bride” Florida in the Civil War. Richard A. Weinstein is a retired high school Social Studies teacher. He has worked as an adjunct instructor at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, The University of South Alabama in Mobile Alabama, and Northwest Florida State College, here in South Walton. A retired First Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Richard has also taught at the Marine Corps Educational Development Command and Marine Corps University where he wrote one of the current titles: “Readings in Military History” for the Staff NCO Academy professional reading list.