Secret compartments inside of ourselves
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Secret compartments inside of ourselves

Aboard my boat “Lily,” we take folks on eco-tours up the Apalachicola River into the pristine 246,000-acre  estuarine reserve on average of some 125 times a year. We’ve operated for 13 years. My license allows us to take six folks so let’s say we average three folks per cruise. If you multiply that out, that’s…

Reenvisioning the sacred
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Reenvisioning the sacred

It’s been a labor of love, an act of providence, a modernizing and an upgrading, and at a festive celebration Sunday, attended by the bishop, St. Patrick Catholic Church put a giant exclamation point to the nearly two-year-old effort. “It’s beautiful,” said Bishop William Wack, who oversees the Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, as he enjoyed…

Getting their GLOW on: Young ladies share in a spa day
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Getting their GLOW on: Young ladies share in a spa day

It was an afternoon for Franklin County middle and high school girls to get a little tender loving care from an older sisterhood, and to leave illuminated, inspired and prettified. On June 10 at the St. George Island United Methodist Church, the women from the church hosted about a dozen girls as part of their…

Plein air ‘paint out’ captures county’s beauty
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Plein air ‘paint out’ captures county’s beauty

There were few if any pictures of working oystermen in the collection this year, as Apalachicola Bay remains closed. But that certainly didn’t mean that the vibrancy of the county’s people, young and old, and its rich legacy and future promise were captured in oil paints, watercolor and pastels. The 18th annual Forgotten Coast en…

Eastpoint artist expands egg decorating tradition
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Eastpoint artist expands egg decorating tradition

Pysanka, the Ukrainian tradition of egg decorating, will enliven the Easter holiday in the Panhandle with a special exhibit in Panama City throughout April of the works of an Eastpoint artist. Gary Carroll, a master of the art of using the wax-resistant method to inscribe folk designs on eggshells, has modernized and expanded his repertoire…

The Braxtons mark their anniversary together apart
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The Braxtons mark their anniversary together apart

On Sunday, Buddy Braxton brought flowers for his wife Betty on the occasion of their 66th wedding anniversary. When she saw him come inside to the St. James Health and Rehabilitation Center, their daughter Amy Cook said her mom “got this big smile and her eyes lit up and she put her arm around daddy.”…

How much does it mean to you?
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How much does it mean to you?

R.A. Tea Mathews | Guest Columnist All the Black men I know call one another “brothers.” In the early church, Paul referred to Christians as “brothers.” However, in my church, “brothers” mean something entirely different. Say that word and everyone knows who you mean—Mark, Merrel, and Michael, born two years apart. Older members call them…