Category: Community

By Wendy Christian, Teacher & Matt Pitts, Principal

Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Twain might very well have been talking about Surfside Middle School. From its first day of school more than thirty years ago, Surfside has been the vessel for countless students seeking ‘New Frontiers.’ And with the guidance of a genuinely dedicated faculty, staff, and administration, the students of Surfside continue to expand their educational horizons, enthusiastically following the countless imaginative and creative currents that ripple outward in all directions.
Over the past 31 years, the school has found its direction under the supervision of great leaders like Joel Creel, Judy Vandergrift, and Dr. Sue Harrell, who served as Principal for 17 years. During this time Surfside garnished several ‘A’ school awards from the state and in 2019 was awarded the School of Excellence award from the Florida Department of Education. Surfside is the only secondary school in Bay County to earn this distinction.
Surfside Middle School stands out because of a tradition of excellence, established by the staff and students that have gone before us, creating an educational experience like no other. Here are a few examples of what set us apart:

‘Wet Week’ and ‘Bay Day’ give our students the opportunity to go out and explore the beautiful beaches and bays that surround us, with the eyes of young scientists. This truly allows the science in the classroom to come to life in the world around us.

‘Frontier Days’ take students back to the 1800’s, to have a first-hand look at how the American settlers lived, played, and survived.

Then there are the arts. We have had many accomplished music instructors over the years, but no more than the two we have right now in Jim Colvin and Fred Mullen. Under their supervision, Surfside has been awarded the Secondary Music Enrollment Award from the Florida Band Masters Association for having a least 50% of the student body enrolled in the music program. From show choir, to musical theater, band, and jazz band, we have something for everyone’s musical dreams.

If STEM is your thing, we have that also. Under the guidance of Kathy Jones, we started our STEM/Pre-engineering program in 2008. The program soon garnished the distinction of being called a ‘Model STEM Program’ by the United States Department of Education. Recently, Surfside had a team of female students compete at the international STEM competition in Boston.

Our Pre-engineering program offers students the opportunity to think in Rube Goldberg design, create water bottle rockets, drones, and use AutoCad and Autodesk Inventor for 3D printing. Last year, for the first time, we were able to offer Invention Convention. One of our young inventors, Alex Robb, placed 2nd at the International Invention Convention competition for his ‘Goofy Golf Grabber.’

In addition to our academic programs, Surfside has several championship quality sport teams for students to choose from. Whether it’s playing football, soccer, or track, on the Tommy Clemmons sports field; playing basketball in the Joel Creel Shark Tank; our County Champion volleyball team, or our award-winning cheer team, we have a way for athletes to make their mark on our tradition of athletic excellence.

Last but certainly not least, a school is an essential part of any community and Surfside takes this role very seriously. It is a genuine honor to work hand in hand with the Panama City Beach community. Community outreach and service is just as important to us as academics and Surfside has shown this during our time in the community.

For the faculty, staff, and administration of Surfside Middle School, there is no greater privilege and responsibility than providing each student with a well-rounded academic grounding that will set them on a course to any sea of their choosing.

By Heather Bennett

Covid-19 has kept us on our toes this year as we navigate and operate under unpredictable circumstances. This means we have to come up with new ways of doing old things, and organizations are getting creative. Instead of having a large gathering with dinner and music for its “Moments of Hope” fundraiser, Hope for the World Foundation hosted a telethon-style online streaming event. “We called it a stream-a-thon,” said Buddy Mullins, Hope for the World Foundation C.E.O.

For three years now, Hope for the World Foundation has hosted its Christmas fundraiser in Santa Rosa Beach to raise awareness about its work in Albania. But on Dec. 3, viewers were able to stream Moments of Hope online through YouTube, Facebook or their Hope for the World Foundation Website, watching and listening to music from the Gaither Vocal Band, videos, and stories about the foundation, testimony from organization members as well as people whose lives they’ve touched. There were hosts available throughout the 90-minute program to accept donations.

If you missed out on the live Dec. 3 event, you can still experience it on Dec. 23rd at 7 p.m. It will be streamed again on Facebook: @hopefortheworldfdn or @BuddyMullins/Hopefortheworld; on YouTube: @hope for the world foundation; Instagram: @hftwfoundation and by visiting: HFTW.org. Live hosts will be available to answer questions and viewers can visit HFTW.org/give to donate.

Hope for the World Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has brought Christianity to Albania along with helping orphans, repairing buildings, and giving food to those in need. Buddy and Kerri Mullins, Santa Rosa Beach locals, have worked in the organization full time for five years. Buddy’s parents, Roger and Cherie, have worked in the organization full time since 1994, and helped make the ministry what it is today.

lbania was once the world’s only self-proclaimed atheist county. After World War II, Albania became a communist country, which lasted for 50 years. Under Enver Hoxha’s rule, the practice of any religion was forbidden. Churches, mosques and other religious institutions were closed and converted and the properties were nationalized. Many religious members and leaders were expelled, arrested, tortured or killed. After the fall of communism in 1991, Albania faced the issue of learning to be its own independent country. Another problem it faced was thousands of orphans, children whose parents had been arrested, sent to labor camps or executed under the communist regime.

Jimmy Franks, who had just started Hope for the World, felt driven to help bring the ministry of Christianity to Albania and brought in Roger and Cherie Mullins to help. They were ready to step in with food and clothes wherever they were needed. Hope for the World met with leaders of the new government and were asked to step in and take care of the orphanages, which at the time were basic collecting houses where children in rags were being kept in dilapidated buildings, had little interaction with the overwhelmed caretakers and received no education.

Since it’s conception in 1992, Hope for the World has helped more than 10,000 orphans in four cities throughout Albania. Over the last 25 years, they have led people to Christ, fixed buildings, fed, clothed and educated the orphans. They started their own teen center to house those teens that transition out of orphanages around ages 14-16. The teen center provides them with shelter, a Christian foundation, and opportunity to learn a vocation and to study for university. Hope for the World Foundation also works with special needs orphans, has a ministry in the south for elderly and widows, and a ministry for Gypsies in the north. “It’s a real success story in Albania,” said Buddy. “We’re so grateful.”

Buddy and Kerri work on promoting Hope for the World Foundation by traveling across the country using music, videos and testimonies to show churches, organizations and individuals what the organization is doing in Albania. “We encourage people to continue to bring hope to people that are in need,” said Buddy. They also provide tours of their work across the country of Albania, called Vision Trips. “We take leaders, or those who want to get involved, on a trip through our works that span the entire country, on a 10-day vision trip, and let them see what Hope for the World is doing and let God speak to their hearts about if and where they are supposed to get involved. One thing I love is that Hope for the World has not been about trying to Americanize the country. We’ve been more about discipling the nationals of the country,” he continued. “The nationals there have done a tremendous job.”

With Covid-19, all the traveling has halted temporarily, and they are working on more creative ways to spread their testimony. Buddy and Kerri are trying to use social media and technology to increase exposure here, about the work Hope for the World Foundation is accomplishing in Albania. Streaming Moments of Hope is one of their first projects. “We were a little anxious. We’ve never done this online,” said Buddy. “Maybe once we get back to some normalcy in the U.S., we can do both. We’ll still do our Christmas event here and online as well.

To learn more about HFTW, visit www.hftw.org or BuddyMullins.com. Subscribe to the Hope for the World Foundation channel on YouTube, or find the organization on Facebook at Facebook.com/HopefortheWorldfdn or www.facebook.com/BuddyMullinsHFTW.

Daniel Pratt, founder and owner of Panama City Coffee Company, insists that what he is doing as he pedals his custom-made barista bike through the streets of Panama City Beach is not about the money. He is trying to create an experience. Not for himself, but for the curious customers he takes by surprise.

“I am first and foremost a musician. Creating an experience correlates with the creative part of me. I started a band when I was thirteen. These coffee shops had open mic nights, poetry nights, all centered around coffee. I sort of identified with that whole vibe.”

What Pratt is peddling as he pedals is not iced coffee, which is simply hot brewed coffee on ice. This is nitro cold brew, a coffee that develops its flavors and aromas from ground beans steeped in cold water for hours or even days. It is dispensed from a keg, like beer. The nitrogen charge produces a pour with a creamy head, very much like Guinness stout, but with caffeine instead of alcohol.

About this time last year Pratt was living a normal pre-pandemic life, like the rest of us. He was recording his second EP (just released), playing gigs, and working as a worship leader for his church.

When the economy shut down in the spring, he began delivering meals for DoorDash to help pay bills. The idea came to him in his sleep after a day in a particularly storm-blighted neighborhood in Panama City. “I woke up with the phrase ‘from Panama, for Panama’ in my head. It was a real God thing.”

Pratt grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, the oldest boy in a family of twelve siblings. His father’s family was originally from Panama, so he was familiar with the Central American country long before his epiphany in Florida’s namesake town.

His idea was simple. Build a successful local business to create opportunities for those still suffering from the effects Hurricane Michael. Purchase the raw ingredients for the business directly from farmers in Panama, thus dispensing with the costs of the middlemen, and help alleviate poverty in his paternal homeland.

He worked remarkably fast, given the limitations of the pandemic economy. He ordered his custom-made barista bike from a specialty craftsman in the Pacific Northwest. He received his first shipment of beans from the Boquete District, in the cool highlands of Panama near the Costa Rican border. He hit up friends to help him design a logo, set up a website, and research licensing and trade rules. He talked to other baristas and coffee shop owners. “If you want to make any money,” they warned him, “don’t start a coffee business.”

All he needed now was a roaster. It was very important that the beans be roasted locally. The idea was to create jobs and opportunities in our area. And freshness is the key to good coffee. “Most people don’t realize what a short shelf life roasted beans have. By the time you open a bag you get in the grocery store the coffee is either stale or burnt. Stale coffee has no flavor. The big producers intentionally burn their beans to at least give the stale coffee a distinctive flavor.”

The whole thing finally came together when he met Joe Thomas of Water’s Edge Coffee, a local roastmaster who had been perfecting his craft for years. Pratt briefly explained his vision to Thomas. “I have been waiting to meet someone like you,” Thomas reportedly said.
Pratt says that as soon as travel restrictions to Panama are lifted, he and Joe Thomas are heading due south to visit farmers and taste coffees. He plans to introduce new roasts and hopes to start hiring additional bicycling baristas to spread the experience up and down the Emerald Coast.

To see where his cold brew bike will appear next, search Facebook or Instagram for Panama City Coffee Company. To order bags of beans to brew yourself, visit the company’s website, panamacitycoffee.com.

If you would like to nominate someone for Faces of PCB, please contact Tracy Steely, tracysteely@gmail.com, visit www.steelygroup.com or call 850 803 9822.

Learn in the environment that best suits you.

For over three decades, Gulf Coast State College’s Continuing Education department has offered the Education Encore program which provides non-credit enrichment classes on a variety of topics for active and senior adults. The learning environment has always been fun and stress-free while offering diversity, insight, and wisdom. But now Education Encore is offering several options for students to participate in the program no matter your location.

“We are so excited to host our spring Education Encore courses for both our local and winter residents. The social aspect is a huge element of the program. We are carefully following all COVID-19 guidelines set by GCSC and the CDC to ensure the health and safety of our participants. Also, we have added some online classes for participants who are unable to attend classes on campus,” says Lara Herter, Education Encore Program Coordinator.

After the success of the Fall hybrid courses, GCSC will continue to offer both in-person and online courses for the Education Encore program. To ensure students are comfortable taking online classes, the program is offering free classes on using Zoom throughout December and January. “We feel this will allow our returning students to participate in a manner they are comfortable with and open the program up to members of our community who have not been able to participate in the past due to mobility or transportation issues. Offering free Zoom classes is an important part of our students feeling at ease with the new online options,” says Ms. Herter. The Zoom How-To training sessions will cover the benefits of using Zoom, how to join a meeting, audio and visual settings, best practices, and much more!

Long-term Education Encore Participant, Bruce Buhrow, DMD, says, “I’ve enjoyed every Education Encore class I’ve taken for over ten years. The twice a year program has always offered choices of stimulating subjects presented by smart, well-qualified, engaging teachers. But Education Encore has evolved! Now, with live, online class opportunities, there are no limitations on class size. And there is a new option to pay per class instead of paying for all four classes. For those (like my wife) who are uncomfortable using a computer to connect to GCSC, plenty of guiding help is available. Encore has always been good – now it’s great!”

Several course highlights include Drawing with Charcoal, Lost & Found: Genealogy for Beginners, Yoga, Current Foreign Policy, and The Art of Writing. There is a dynamic course offering for every type and interest of life-long learners. GCSC instructors are thoroughly equipped with years of experience in each subject, and they value building relationships with the students. Some new course highlights include Women of Influence in Florida, Archaeology and the Bible, Herstory, and many more! A complete list of classes can be found at gulfcoast.edu/Encore. The courses are held for six consecutive Fridays, January 22 – February 26, 2021. The fee for the program is $25 per 6-week course. Enjoy your holidays and join us for our Spring Education Encore! No tests! No grades! No STRESS! Just FUN!

Volunteer Line Dancing Instructor Wanted
The PCB Senior Center on Lindell Drive is looking for a volunteer line dance instructor to complement their already very active class schedule. The Center currently offers yoga, medication, wood carving, wood burning, card stitching and chair exercise classes. And in mid-December, they plan to introduce ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ Bingo to their roster activities. Seniors are encouraged to sign up today for any one or all of their classes. The Center is open daily Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

New Year’s Day Beach Clean Up
Get the new year off to a great start by joining the Keep PCB Beautiful committee for a beach cleanup staring at Russell Fields Pier at 11 a.m., Friday, January 1st.

Later in January, Keep PCB Beautiful will join with Gulf World Marine Institute and the PCB Turtle Watch to launch two documentaries; ‘Straws & Saving the Sea,’ and ‘Sea Turtles.’ Dates and times to be announced.

Big Brothers Big Sisters to Host Virtual Gala
Mark your calendars for Friday, January 15, 2021 for The Big Gala 2021 – ‘Bigger Together,’ The Big Gala is normally the charity’s biggest black-tie event of the year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Northwest Florida, will be hosting their first-ever Virtual Big Gala. The night may look different than years past, but the Committee assures us it will still be filled with many of their fun signature elements! Sponsorship opportunities are available now. To learn more, visit www.bbbsnwfl.org/events/big-gala.

Dementia Wellness Expo January 21st
Registration is now open for the 2nd annual Dementia Wellness Expo to be held virtually, Thursday, January 21st. The event offers free CEUs for nurses, CNAs, Social Workers, OTs, PTs, SLPs. The Expo opens at 8 a.m. with ‘Morning with Teepa and Senior Helpers,’ to be followed in the afternoon by the main Expo ‘Stronger Together.’

To register and to learn more about their lineup for both events visit dementiafamilypathways.com.

By Sheriff Tommy Ford

Even as the summer of 2020 slips into the rear-view mirror, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up for the busiest time of year in terms of not only keeping all Bay County safe, but caring for disadvantaged children in Bay County in two special ways. Operation ThankFULL and Project 25 will feed and provide Christmas toys for hundreds of children that might otherwise have very little for the Holidays.

Project 25 began forty years ago when a few deputies discovered a family on Christmas Eve that had been burglarized and left with no Christmas gifts for their kids. The deputies pooled their resources and purchased not only toys, but a Christmas tree for the family. In this way Project 25 was born.

Cash donations for Project 25 are collected all year but especially during the fall, as well as donations of new, unwrapped toys for children 10 years of age and younger. The names of children in need are submitted to the BCSO through the Bay County school system with the help of school guidance counselors. The BCSO will have a shopping night this year on December 8th at Walmart in Lynn Haven. Beginning at 6pm volunteers from the community and BCSO employees will spend the cash donations to purchase additional toys. Each child will get a bag of toys selected just for them to open and enjoy on Christmas morning.

2020 is the second year for Operation ThankFULL. Last year, 1,000 families received a box of food for the Holidays. This year, the program has grown, thanks to the generous contributions of many people and businesses in Bay County. The names of the families with children in need this season, will again come through the advice of Bay County Schools. Deputies will begin distributing food to homes just before Thanksgiving and the giving will continue until Christmas.

To help make Christmas possible for a family in need, please make cash donations to Operation ThankFULL and Project 25 at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at 3421 N. Hwy 77. The office is open 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. Project 25 is also accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys, and Operation ThankFULL is accepting nonperishable food donations. Your donation, no matter how humble, will make a big difference in a child’s life.

2020 will undoubtedly be a year not soon forgotten, for many stressful reasons. By working together, we will make it a memorable one in a positive way for hungry families struggling to provide Christmas for their children. Thank you, Bay County, for making a Merry Christmas a reality for so many families over the last forty years of Project 25, and now feeding them as well through Operation ThankFULL. We really do live in a special place filled with giving people!

By Heather Bennett

Every summer during your trip to the beach you probably came across a few small staked out areas that were taped off. As some of you may know, these are turtle nests. About 90% of sea turtle nesting in the US takes place in Florida, and one of the most popular species to nest here is the Loggerhead turtle, which is listed as an international endangered species, making taking care of turtle nests here a necessary duty.

We have a group of volunteers known as the Panama City Beach Turtle Watch, who monitor our beaches from St Andrews State Park to Camp Helen State Park. Since 1991, every year from May 1st to October 31st, which is turtle nesting season, these volunteers check for signs of turtles coming to shore to nest, identifying nests and marking them, looking for sigs of turtles or hatchlings in distress, and excavating nests once they have hatched.
Sea turtles will travel thousands of miles to lay eggs on the same beach every year, possibly returning to the same beach where she was born. Turtles will leave wavy tracks on the beach to and from their nesting site on dry sand. The average incubation is 63 days with the earliest hatching at 50 days. Once the eggs hatch, the hatchlings begin their journey out to sea where only 1 in 1,000 will make it to adulthood.

One of the most important things we can do to help increase successful nesting and survival rate, is to leave the beach clean, dark and flat. Turtles coming to nest, as well as hatchlings trying to find the water, can get caught in towels, blankets, chairs, toys, and anything else left behind on the beach. They also use the reflection of the moon and stars on the waves to find their way to the water. Bright lights along the beach can disorient them and cause them to go the wrong way and become lost. Turtles can also get caught in holes on the beach and exhaust themselves trying to get out. It is important to remember to pick up after yourself, fill in any holes in the sand, shut off all outdoor lights and pull the curtains shut after sunset. If you must use a light, use a red light or red filter.

A decline in Loggerhead population due to threats of pollution, getting caught in shrimp trawls and fishing gear, and climate change, has a rippling effect. Loggerheads are an important “keystone” to the survival of other species in their ecosystem that depend on them. Over 100 species can live on their shell, and the remains of the invertebrates that the Loggerheads feed on, fall to the ocean floor and become nutrients for other species. Loggerheads have been on earth for 110 million years and it’s imperative that we help this endangered species live on.

The Panama City Beach Turtle Watch works diligently to make sure as many nests are undisturbed as possible, and hatchlings have every opportunity to make it to the gulf. Unfortunately this year, some nests were washed out or flooded by tropical storms or hurricanes. While we can’t control Mother Nature, we can control what we can do to help these turtles and assist these volunteers. Always remember to keep the beach clean, dark and flat. If you notice a nesting turtle or any hatchlings, you should call the Panama City Beach Police’s non-emergency number 850-233-5000. The police will contact The Panama City Beach Turtle Watch to take care of the nest and turtles. Disturbing a nest is a federal offense.

If you are interested in volunteering or learning more about the Panama City Beach Turtle Watch, you can visit their site at turtlewatch.org.

Michael Blois (rhymes with choice) would be the first to admit that British cuisine is not known for its bold flavors. The new owner of The British Eatery – formerly known as Temperley’s – at its original location on South Arnold Road in Panama City Beach, explains that, as with British humour, it’s the subtlety that counts.

“British food is technically bland,” he says in his north London accent, “but you actually taste the ingredients.”

Blois took ownership of the restaurant earlier this year from Jeff and Stacey Temperley, who decided to remain in England after being literally trapped there for months due to pandemic-related visa restrictions. The menu, for now at least, will continue to cater to those clientele, like me, who have become addicted to it: traditional pub grub like fish & chips, battered sausage, pasties and shepherd’s pie, and big juicy burgers with names like the Winston Churchill, the Drunken Leprechaun, and Jack the Ripper.

Authenticity is paramount to Michael Blois. While doing inventory he was appalled to find German bratwurst being substituted for standard British-style sausages in the bangers and mash served at Temperley’s. So there will be tweaking of the menu in short order. He may even introduce in the near future some robust Indian curries, the antidote to hearty but understated English fare.

While the pandemic is indirectly responsible for bringing the new restauranteur to PCB, it was an earlier global calamity, the Great Recession of 2008, that brought him to the States. Blois spent his childhood in Pinner, an area of north London that is also the hometown of Sir Elton John. Prior to the recession he had grown a successful business installing sound and public address systems in commercial establishments such as Starbucks franchises. The sudden economic downturn left him with no business and no home. With his two young boys and wife Julia, who was born a Yank in Virginia, he moved in with Julia’s father at a place called Gulf Breeze, Florida.

For about ten years he made a living doing what he knew best, installing and repairing anything electronic, televisions and the like. He was making a decent living and his family was thriving on the Emerald Coast. But something was missing. There was no place to get the proper ingredients any self-respecting Englishman needs in order to produce certain necessities of life – like a full English breakfast, for example.

In 2018 Blois purchased his first Florida business establishment, the British Pedlar, in Navarre. The little shop had been around for about three decades, but the new owner revitalized its image and restocked it with authentic English, Irish and Scottish products. Out with the old and in with the tea and crumpets, the Christmas puddings, the scone mixes and Cadbury chocolates.

Blois first met Jeff Temperley when the latter stopped by the shop on his way home to PCB from Pensacola. When Temperley dropped over $500 at one go on British goods Blois knew he had met his match. Just before Thanksgiving in 2019 the British Pedlar held a grand opening extravaganza, complete with fish & chips served from Temperley’s roving food truck. It created quite a stir in Navarre and both Blois and Temperley had the best sales day ever.

Before the year 2020 changed everyone’s plans, Blois and Temperley had flirted with the idea of joining forces and possibly placing products from the British Pedlar in the PCB eatery. That all changed of course when Temperley got stranded in England, unable to obtain a business visa owing to all the embassies being under lock down. Now both businesses belong to Blois.

What’s next? The grand opening of The British Eatery took place on Thursday, the 5th of November. If this is the first you’ve heard of it, well, you just missed it. But no worries. Get down there and try the authentic fish & chips at your first opportunity. Check out the menu at www.britisheatery.com. When in Navarre, stop by www.britishpedlar.com. Cheers!

If you would like to nominate someone for Faces of PCB, please contact Tracy Steely, tracysteely@gmail.com, www.steelygroup.com or call 850 803 9822.