Crestview CRA approves Centennial event calendar

CRESTVIEW — The Community Redevelopment Agency Board unanimously approved a calendar of events for next year's Crestview Centennial celebration.

City Clerk Betsy Roy, a Centennial Committee member, presented the slate of events, which kicks off in January 2016 with a history presentation in the Community Center.

Other events include a February Mardi Gras parade, events marking the April 16 anniversary of the city's founding, and an old-fashioned family picnic for Independence Day

Some Centennial events will piggyback on existing events such as the Triple B barbecue festival, Military Appreciation Recognition ceremony, and the city's Veterans Day and Christmas parades.

Roy reported the committee agreed to become a subcommittee of the Main Street Crestview Association to take advantage of the group's event insurance, saving some of the $30,000 CRA-funded Centennial budget money.

The committee decided to skip programming events for June and August, the latter because "because everybody's going to be worn out and it's going to be hot," Roy said.

"I recommend we really try to do something in June," board member JB Whitten said. "It would be nice to have something almost every month, though I understand about the August heat."

Board President Shannon Hayes encouraged the committee to include youth-oriented events. Committee member Rae Schwartz, president of the Friends of the Arts, said discussions are already taking place to produce a February concert by the Crestview High School jazz ensemble.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview CRA approves Centennial event calendar