Ormond Beach Observer 11-27-25

ORMOND BEACH

NEWS BRIEFS

Volusia OKs $2.6 million in opioid settlement funds

To strengthen the local response to the opioid epidemic, the Volusia County Council approved $2.6 million in opioid abatement settlement funds during its Nov. 18 meeting to expand prevention, treatment, emergency response, and long-term recovery services across the community. The funding comes from the Opioid Regional Settlement Fund, which consists of dollars the county receives through statewide legal settlements with opioid manufacturers, distributors, and related companies.

This marks the fourth round of opioid settlement awards approved by the County Council. In previous rounds, the council approved more than $7.4 million, bringing the total to over $10 million.

COPS CORNER

NOV. 1

DEFLATED

9:24 a.m. — First block of South Orchard Street, Ormond Beach Vandalism. An Ormond Beach woman called police after five of her inflatable Halloween decorations were punctured by a sharp object. According to an incident report, the woman had two other inflatables previously punctured on Oct. 20, which she also reported to police. As a new resident to the neighborhood, she told police she didn’t know why anyone would

FOCUS ON FAITH

Calvary Church feeds familes

Calvary Church of Palm Coast’s Thanksgiving: Grocery Giveaway initiative collected nonperishable food items from Oct. 26 through Nov. 11 and distributed the food on Sunday, Nov. 16, after their church service.

Three churches unite to serve

Three local churches in Ormond Beach joined together to help benefit the Alpha Women’s Center. On Friday, Nov. 7, The Chapel, Lifecoast, and Tomoka Christian churches celebrated the sanctity of life with music, a silent auction, and food, with all proceeds going to the Alpha Women’s Center. The center provides counseling and information to women who are facing an unexpected pregnancy and is completely run by donations.

want to destroy her inflatables. The damage was estimated at almost $700 for all five inflatables.

NOV. 19

TREADING LIGHTLY

12:02 a.m. — 600 block of Highway U.S. 1, Bunnell DUI. Two police officers were finishing a traffic stop when they heard a passing car that sounded as though it was dragging something. Looking up, they found a white SUV speeding north on U.S. 1 with the driver’s side front tire completely shredded off the rim. One officer immediately followed the SUV and pulled over the driver, a Palm Coast woman, according to an arrest report. The woman told the officer

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Church and Boy Scouts join forces

Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Ormond Beach joined with Boy Scouts of America Troop 403 and Pack 74 to bring in 550 bags of food for the pantry that serves local families in need. Also, the church, through its Facebook page, put a spotlight on two volunteers: Both Barbara Van Rhee and Kathy Blais have been a part of giving back to their community since the founding of the church over 50 years ago.

Epic Church gives service to veterans Veterans Day morning, volunteers from Epic Church of Palm Coast delivered hand-

she was coming from Ormond Beach, but also said she was “headed home to Ormond Beach,” though her license said her home address was in Palm Coast. It was clear to the officer that the woman did not know where she was at the time and appeared inebriated. She denied having anything to drink and agreed to a field sobriety test — where she promptly failed. A breathalyzer test revealed the suspect had a blood-alcohol level of 0.172, more than twice the legal limit. She was taken to jail.

NOV. 19

FAMILY FEUD

7:24 p.m. — 100 block of Red Mill Drive, Palm Coast Battery. A 22-year-old Palm

made gifts to veterans and widows of veterans at Grand Villa Assisted Living, made by the fourth- and fifth-grade Epic Kids. The veterans received pieces engraved by wood burning, and the widows of veterans received flowers and cards. A Facebook post stated, “Our kids learned what it means to honor those who’ve sacrificed so much.”

Coast man was arrested after he allegedly punched both his brothers in the face over French fries.

When a Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived on scene at the home the two victims — the suspect’s adult brothers — told the deputy that an argument broke out with their brother over food. For seemingly no other reason, the suspect then hit both men in the face, according to his arrest report.

The suspect denied hitting either of his brothers, but witnesses said he did. The suspect was taken to jail.

NOV. 19

PROMISED JACKPOT

3:05 p.m. — 1600 block of North U.S. 1, Ormond Beach

Palm Coast Scout Troop opens tree lot at Trinity Presbyterian Scout Troop 281 opened its “Christmas tree farm,” selling fresh cut trees, on Nov. 15 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 156 Florida Park Drive, Palm Coast. The tree lot is open Monday-Friday, 5-9 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving); Saturdays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; and Sundays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Prices vary depending on

Theft. A 34-year-old semi truck driver from Michigan was tricked out of $600 when an unknown man knocked on the cab of his truck while he was sleeping.

The suspect told the man that there were people at the local truck stop who were trying to show appreciation for drivers, alleging there was a $300,000 jackpot, and that whatever amount of money the driver showed them would be matched and gifted to him, according to an incident report.

The driver went inside the gas station and withdrew $600 from an ATM. When he came back out, he showed the cash to one of the men and they began throwing playing cards on the ground.

Within a few seconds, another man grabbed the money from the driver’s hand and told him he’d lost. The driver was confused and said he hadn’t been aware they were gambling. He started yelling, at which point one of the men pulled him aside and told him to speak to a woman on the other side of the lot. When he turned to locate her, everyone was gone, the report states. Upon seeing one of the men again, the driver got into a verbal altercation, during which one of the other men emerged from the gas station and slapped the driver’s phone out of his hand. The men departed in a white Chevy Impala with an Ohio plate.

Stephenson, Wilcox and Associates

Barbara Van Rhee and Kathy Blais. Courtesy photos

Troop 281 opened its Christmas tree lot Nov. 15, in Palm Coast

Trump County? Taxing authority is at stake

SIERRA

WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

A Hammock resident has launched an initiative to create a new county in Florida named after President Donald Trump.

Jen Herold and her husband, Rob Jarowski, Flagler County residents who live in The Hammock, launched the petition initiative on Nov. 18 to create a 68th county in Florida. For now, it is a grassroots effort to gauge interest, but Herold said they are completely serious about the endeavor.

“I don’t think anything is out of left field these days,” she said. “You just have to be willing to take chances. And things may fail, things may take off. You just never know.”

leave Flagler County?

Primarily, the county’s beach management plan and a special taxing district for The Hammock that would help fund beach management, Herold said. Many residents in The Hammock, she said, don’t agree with the proposed MSBU.

“We were just looking at different ways to kind of solve this problem and how we can have a long-term solution,” she said.

The proposed Trump County would encompass parts of the barrier island in St. Johns County and Volusia County and all of the barrier island in Flagler County. It would include the barrier island portion of the following areas: Anastasia Island, St. Augustine Beach, Butler Beach, Crescent Beach, Marineland, The Hammock , Painters Hill, Beverly Beach, Flagler Beach, Ormond-bythe-Sea, Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Wilbur-by-the-Sea and Ponce Inlet. But what led to the desire to

Over the course of the last two years, since Flagler County began its beach management program in earnest, many members of the public have found criticism for Flagler County’s ideas to fund the plan. Hammock residents in particular do not want to front the majority of costs while residents west of Interstate 95 have spoken out against the implementation of a half-cent sales tax to support it.

Throughout it all, misinformation and confusion has also abounded. According to the Flagler County Commis-

‘We’re very serious about it,’ Hammock resident Jen Herold said. ‘You just have to be willing to take chances.’

sion meeting documents and beach management plan, the beach management plan will be funded though a variety of combined revenue sources.

One is the proposed MSBU, which was established in December 2024, and encompasses the unincorporated Flagler County area on the barrier island. No tax has been levied yet, as the county is still completing a study that would designate how the tax should be apportioned in the area.

As well, revenue from the MSBU could only be used to work on beach management in The Hammock area, not the entirety of Flagler County’s 18-mile shoreline. But Hammock residents turned out in force at a Sept. 11 Flagler County Commission meeting to demand no tax be levied at all.

And, Herold said, it is more than just the beach management that concerns residents.

The main goals of the new county would be to prevent an increase in taxes, to increase economic activity in the area

Turkeys from Jewish Federation are ‘a blessing’

‘Each one of the people that come here represents a family,’ said Marvin Miller, president of the group.

SIERRA

WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

Marvin Miller, 90, and president of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties, said he has been working with the Federation for about 30 years.

In all that time, the Jerry Doliner Food Bank has never missed a Wednesday distribution of groceries to those in need. And at Thanksgiving, he said, the Federation is able to help an additional 400 families secure a holiday dinner. “It’s a blessing all around,”

Miller said.

Every year the Federation distributes 400 turkeys and “all the fixings,” Miller said, needed to make a Thanksgiving dinner. On Nov. 19, the nonprofit was able to hand out all 400 turkey dinners, as well as groceries for an additional 126 families.

Typically during the weekly distribution of groceries, Miller said, the food bank hands out 125-150 bags of groceries. When the government shut down in October, that number began increasing immediately by almost 80%, putting a strain on the Federation’s financial and volunteer resources.

“Each one of the people that come here represents a family,” he said. “It could have two or three in [the family], it could have five in the family or more.”

But in turn, the community has responded. Miller said they have received donations from businesses and organizations across the local communities.

And the federation’s efforts have truly become an example of interfaith community support. About 98% of the food bank recipients are Christians, he said, and many of the volunteers are also of the Christian faith.

“It’s not just a religious thing, it’s interfaith, and we’re serving our community,” he said. “We love doing it. It’s been just a wonderful [thing] happening here that we’re able to do this and continue doing it.”

Jewish Federation Rabbi Rob Lennick said over text message that it was a privilege to be able to help their neighbors. One life event can

impact an entire family, he wrote, and it could happen to anyone.

“That’s why we are most of all purveyors of compassion,” Lennick wrote. “Thanksgiving is both about gratitude and especially so about giving. Our motto is: Kindness changes everything.”

The Federation will again be distributing turkeys and hams closer to “Christmaskkah,” as Miller calls it, a combination of the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays. As with the Thanksgiving distribution, Miller expects the 400 birds to go fast.

But none of the federation’s efforts would be possible without the federation’s volunteers and supporters, he said, calling them all “miracle workers.” Most of the core volunteers are older, he said, but they also get volunteers

A history of Thanksgiving traditions in Florida

Aligator, fish, turkey were all included in feasts in the mid1700s, shared by Spanish, Seminoles.

RANDY JAYE GUEST WRITER

Thanksgiving celebrations, in what is now the United States, have roots as far back as Sept. 8, 1565, when Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and his 800 settlers celebrated their arrival in St. Augustine, Florida, with a Catholic mass followed by a feast with the local Timucua people (a once a large group of indigenous peoples who were mostly eradicated by European introduced diseases, enslavement and warfare).

By the mid-to-late 1700s, the distinct Timucuan culture vanished and the few survivors assimilated into other tribes including the Seminoles.

The food shared at this feast reportedly included cocido madrileño (a slow-cooked stew prepared with various vegetables and meats), red wine, sea biscuits, and salted pork contributed by the Spanish; and alligator, fish, turkey and venison contributed by the Timucua people.

On Dec. 4, 1619, English settlers led by Captain John Woodlief at what is now the Berkeley Plantation on the James River in Virginia held a religious ceremony to give thanks for the group’s safe arrival in the new world. This

celebration is often referred to as the first English Thanksgiving in North America even though it did not include a feast.

The basis for the modern Thanksgiving holiday (which is what most people were taught in school) occurred in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts in the autumn of 1621 (56 years after the first Thanksgiving celebration in St. Augustine). Plymouth colonists (Pilgrims) and the Wampanoag people (Indigenous people known as the “People of the First Light,” who survive today and have two federally recognized tribes and continue to maintain and teach their culture and history) shared a threeday harvest feast.

This Plymouth celebration featured food shared by the English Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people which included corn, seafood, venison and wild fowl. Interestingly, the food items we typically consider to be traditional Thanksgiving dishes today which include cranberries in sauce, pumpkin pie, stuffing and turkey were not served in the Plymouth celebration.

In 1789, President George Washington proclaimed the first national day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The day of the celebration was Nov. 26. For more than 70 years after 1789, the nation did not consistently observe the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving was mostly celebrated in New England, and

was virtually unrecognized in the southern states.

The states that did celebrate the holiday mostly scheduled dates at different times. Some celebrations were held early in October and others in January.

QUEST FOR A

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

The American activist, editor and writer, Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), is oftentimes credited as the main person responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday and is known as the “Mother of Thanksgiving.” Her quest began in 1846 and spanned 17 years as she contacted five U.S. presidents advocating Thanksgiving to be celebrated as a national holiday. Finally, in 1863, she convinced President Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday as a way to unify the nation during the American Civil War.

In Sarah Josepha Hale’s book, “Northwood: Or, a Tale of New England” (originally published in 1827), she described the many dishes and drinks that are appropriate for a Thanksgiving feast. The dishes include cakes, chicken pie, gravy and savory stuffing, pickles, pumpkin pie and roasted turkey. Drinks include cider, currant wine and ginger beer.

THANKSGIVING IN FLORIDA

Florida’s Thanksgiving activities include communityfocused events, such as food drives and holiday runs. Other celebrations include holiday parades, themed holiday din-

and to fortify the area’s infrastructure, Herold said.

Since Herold launched the Trump County idea a week ago, she wrote in an email to the Observer that she has been ridiculed for her efforts because people can’t get past the headline and the name “Trump.”

A new county has not been established in Florida for 100 years: Gilchrist, Gulf, Indian River and Martin Counties were all founded in 1925. But Herold’s initiative is not the first time in recent history residents have attempted to create a 68th county.

In 2021, residents of Siesta Key, Florida, a barrier island of just 2.5 square miles, proposed seceding from Sarasota County. Another 2020 effort proposed splitting Alachua County in two. Both efforts ultimately failed.

According to Florida state statutes, creating a new county would take an act of law by the state Legislature and a referendum from voters in the affected area. The setup for a

new county would also require elected county commissioners and “a sheriff, a tax collector, a property appraiser, a supervisor of elections, and a clerk of the circuit court.” Then there is the matter of funding. Herold said it is still in the very early stages of planning, but the barrier islands have a built-in revenue source in tourism tax dollars to the beaches.

Naming the county after Trump is also not just a way to honor Trump as Florida’s first president, but also would be a draw for revenue, too, for the name recognition.

Regardless of what some may think, this is not a stunt, Herold wrote in her email. She welcomes other ideas to meet the citizens’ needs, but “what we’re doing today flat out isn’t working.” And she isn’t going to stop, she wrote.

“We’re not satisfied with the status quo, but we’re just trying to think outside the box,” Herold said. “Even if it’s totally off the wall.”

from a variety of other organizations who come by and help out.

For those who want to donate, Miller said food donations are welcome, but he would recommend a financial donation: the federation is able to buy directly from Second Harvest foodbank at wholesale prices, allowing their dollar to stretch and cover more food.

Miller said being a part of the federation “has just been a joy of my life.” Even at 90 years old and after 30 years, he said, he is still having fun with it all.

“The joy never stops,” he said. “It kind of becomes a way of life here. You just look forward to it. And it’s just nothing but pleasure being here and helping out.”

ners at clubs, restaurants and theme parks and various outdoor events such as holiday light displays and turkey trots. Parades, events and festivals around the state include: The Clearwater 5K Turkey Trot. The Holiday Fantasy of Lights at Tradewinds Park & Stables in Coconut Creek, which is a large-scale holiday light display. Luminosa! Festival of Lights at the Miami Friends of the Japanese Garden, which is a festival of lights to celebrate the holiday season. Miami Beach Winternational Thanksgiving Parade, which is a large annual Thanksgiving parade in Miami Beach. Universal Orlando’s holiday parades, which are large holiday parades held throughout the Thanksgiving season.

LOCAL THANKSGIVING

ACTIVITIES Activities in Palm Coast include the Feet to Feast 5K Run/Walk, which is held on Thanksgiving Day at the Daytona State College Flagler/ Palm Coast Campus, and is one of the city’s the largest Thanksgiving events. The Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa hosts a “Turkey Trot” which is followed by Thanksgiving holiday dining.

Activities in Daytona include the annual Daytona Beach Turkey Trot which will be held on Thanksgiving day and features a beautiful beach run, and the annual Daytona Turkey Run event at the speedway. Several Ormond Beach restaurants will be open for Thanksgiving dinner including Halifax Plan-

tation Golf Club Restaurant, Iron Horse Saloon, Rose Villa Southern Table & Bar and Stonewood Grill & Tavern. “Gobble til you wobble.” Happy Thanksgiving! Randy Jaye has recently researched and nominated five properties that have been successfully added onto the National Register of Historic Places, and is the author of five history books. He also writes articles for historical journals, local newspapers, magazines, online publications, and has appeared on several radio shows and PBS documentaries. He earned both a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree from California State University.

A Thanksgiving postcard from circa 1910. Courtesy of Randy Jaye

The Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties distributed 400 turkey dinners though its food bank Nov. 19. Courtesy photo

A Hammock resident wants to turn the barrier island across three counties into its own county, named after President Donald Trump. Photo courtesy of the White House

Volusia County tables Charlie Kirk Highway proposal amid public outcry

The County Council directed staff to prepare guidelines for future road dedications.

JARLEENE ALMENAS

MANAGING EDITOR

A proposal by Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower to name a local road after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was indefinitely tabled on Tuesday, Nov. 18, after dozens of residents voiced their opposition, citing Kirk as a polarizing figure who pushed what they described as divisive, racist and homophobic statements.

Last month, Brower suggested dedicating a street in the county as a memorial highway for Kirk, who was killed in September at a Utah university. Initially, he had proposed dedicating a portion of the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail for the “Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway,” but the option brought before the council for consideration was for a portion of Maytown Road from Oak Drive to Gob-

NEWS BRIEFS

Volusia woman reunited with cat she bottle-fed as a kitten

Jessica Buchanan first met Precious when Precious was a tiny kitten in need of care.

Buchanan initially planned only to foster her, bottle-feeding her through those early weeks, but she quickly grew

blers Lodge Road in Osteen. The proposal led to nearly three hours of public comment and council discussion.

“Naming a public road or any kind of signage is not just a symbolic act,” resident Sylvia Strother said. “It is an endorsement of the values and legacy of the individual being honored. Mr. Kirk’s public record quotes have been deeply divisive and inconsistent with the values, respect, equality and community that Volusia County should strive to uphold.”

As the co-founder of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that advocates for conservative politics among young people, Kirk “was known for promoting civil discourse and engaging with students through campus debates and his podcast,” the county agenda item stated.

Before speaking about his proposal, Brower played a video paying tribute to Kirk, which was interrupted as the chamber erupted in boos and heckles.

“What I was suggesting — what I’m hoping for — with this memorial is that it will remind us of the necessi -

attached and adopted her. About a year later, the indoor cat disappeared. Despite months of searching, she eventually accepted that her companion was gone. The path back home began when a resident, who had been feeding a friendly outdoor cat visiting her property, brought the animal to Volusia County Animal Services earlier this week to participate in the division’s Trap-NeuterRelease (TNR) program. As with every unclaimed animal entering the shelter, Animal Services staff conducted a

ty to treat each other civilly and to be able to talk with one another,” Brower said.

In addition to the portion of Maytown Road, Brower also suggested dedicating County Road 3 in DeLeon Springs or naming the amphitheater in Deltona after Kirk as alternatives.

But the majority of speakers from the public denounced naming anything after Kirk. Aside from statements he made, Kirk has no ties to Volusia County, many argued.

“Memorializing a person with no ties or contributions to the area takes away the opportunity to honor local heroes who deserve recognition,” DeLand resident Marguerite Ardito said.

There were a handful of residents who spoke in favor of dedicating a road after Kirk. Ormond Beach resident Elena Krafft said the dedication goes beyond honoring a man.

“It is about honoring the values that he stood for, values that are non-partisan and foundational,” she said. “Values like faith, freedom and love for this country.”

Speaking on behalf of the

local Turning Point chapters at Chapel of Faith in Port Orange and Daytona State College, Markala Oman said that, while Kirk was not a Volusia resident, he made a local impact.

“Over the past several years, he has influenced an entire generation of young people right here in Volusia County to become more involved in civic life,” said Oman, who organized the Ormond Beach vigil for Kirk after his death.

“... A road dedication is a symbolic gesture and it is an important one. It sends the message that Volusia County values civic engagement, values youth participation and values the people who encourage the next generation to step forward.”

Lake and Collier counties have both recently designated memorial highways for Kirk. A Florida House Bill has also been filed requiring state universities and colleges to rename roads after the conservative activist; if the bill passes, Daytona State College would need to rename Pinecrest Avenue to Charlie James Kirk Avenue.

Ultimately, the council

voted 6-0 to table Brower’s proposal indefinitely, directing staff to bring back new guidelines for future road dedications for their consideration, a motion made by Councilman David Santiago about an hour into public comments. Councilman Matt Reinhart was absent from the meeting.

“It’s clear that this is a divisive issue for our community, and I feel that the best path going forward would be to have a clear policy that we would debate and make a decision on in the future,”

Santiago said.

At first, his motion narrowed road dedications to only Volusia County residents, but some councilmen expressed concern at it being too restrictive, using Martin Luther King Jr. as an example.

“Dr. Martin Luther has over 900 streets in America named after him,” Councilman Troy Kent said. “And if every community made the decision with the motion that you just made ... maybe five or 10 streets would be able to be named for him, if they implemented something like that. I think that’s a danger-

routine microchip scan. When the scanner beeped, staff knew they had found a lead. The microchip revealed Buchanan’s contact information.

Staff contacted Buchanan, and, after more than four years of wondering and hoping, she finally had the answer she never expected: Precious was alive and well. On Nov. 20, Buchanan traveled to the Volusia County Animal Shelter to be reunited with Precious and take her home.

ous precedent to set to try to calm down the people that are in front of us right now.”

The motion was then amended to remove that clause.

After all of the people from the public had spoken, Brower said he wanted them to know that he would have never placed the item on the agenda if he believed Kirk “hated Black people.”

“I can see the pain that you brought in here today, because you have had different experiences,” Brower said. “My goal, and it’s not going to stop today, is that we do love more and we do forgive one another a little easier, and that we do accept one another.”

Councilman Don Dempsey came to Brower’s defense, saying that Brower’s heart was “in the right place.”

“I don’t take what his proposal is as being racist or anything like that, and it took a lot of courage for him to do it,” Dempsey said. “I don’t know if I’m in support of this now because of the divide in the community. I think we need to take a step back and reevaluate how we name roads.”

Adams Cameron hosts toy drive Adams, Cameron and Co. Realtors are hosting a toy drive for the Volusia Sheriff’s Youth Foundation, 5-7 p.m. Dec. 3, at 759 W. Granada Blvd. Adams, Cameron and Co. is asking for donations of unwrapped toys to help fill the VCSO bearcat. Toy donations can be dropped off in advance of the event. Monetary donations are also accepted. Appetizers provided.

A screenshot of video of the happy reunion, supplied by Volusia County.

‘Complete’: 8 Flagler, Volusia children adopted on National Adoption Day

One parent called the process ‘a completion of what God has promised us.’

Eight children from Volusia and Flagler counties were legally joined to their forever families at a National Adop-

tion Day celebration at the Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach on Nov. 21. The event was hosted by Community Partnership for Children, and all eight children were in the local foster care system. Five Circuit Court judges presided over the event: Christopher France, Joan Anthony, Robert Pickens III, Lauren P. Blocker, and Randall A. Daugustinis. The kids adopted on Nov. 22

ranged in age from an infant to a teenager. Parent Jeremiah Moore said adopting Cairo was “not just an adoption, this is a completion of what God has promised us.”

CPC is the lead nonprofit that cares for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Volusia, Flagler, and Putnam counties. CEO Karin Flositz said 52 children in the Circuit Court are in need of forever homes, and the CPC also needs volunteers.

“The purpose of today is to not only celebrate the families that have chosen adoption and find their forever families,” Flositz said, “but also to highlight the fact that there are 52 children out there who need a permanent adoptive family of their own.”

The CPC does its best to reunite children with their biological parents, but, Flositz said, it’s not always possible. In those cases, CPC moves

forward with terminating parental rights and finding foster homes, and then adoptive families, for the children.

At least one of the children was adopted by their biological aunt at the event, but the others were adopted by foster parents.

“There is an urgent need for more foster and adoptive parents to care for our wonderful

children, teens and groups of siblings,” Flositz said. “You can make a difference for a lifetime.”

To learn more about foster care and adoption, visit CommunityPartnershipFor Children.org or call CPC at 386- 238-4900.

Anyone can become a foster parent, she said, as long as that person is over 21, can manage a household and does not have a criminal background.

“Your relationship status, your job, none of that really matters,” Flositz said, “as long as your heart is open to care for kids who need you.”

“Kids come into our system every day,” Flositz said. “So it’s a constant moving target about the number of families that we need.”

Baby Bryan was adopted by Allison and Benjamin Tackett. Photos by Sierra Williams

The Hanley family adopted Leo.

The Moore family and Judge Randall Daugustinis celebrate the adoption of baby Canaan Moore.

Judge Joan Anthony with the Jackson family and newlyadopted baby Alia Jackson.

Catalina was adopted by her great aunt, Lucy Goodwin.

Corey (center) agrees to be adopted and become Corey Thomas.

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Daytona Beach has offered Ormond $2.3 million for the Avalon Park utility service rights. Ormond has yet to review the offer.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

Daytona Beach’s $2.3 million settlement offer to Ormond Beach will expire on Dec. 3, as the two cities prepare to go to trial in their lawsuit against the Avalon Park Daytona Beach development.

The two cities and Avalon Park are scheduled to go for jury selection on Dec. 3.

Daytona Beach City Attorney Benjamin Gross said on Nov. 19 the litigation council had hoped the Ormond Beach Commission would review the settlement offer at its Nov. 18 meeting, to no avail.

But a shade meeting — a meeting between elected officials that is held out of the public eye to discuss active litigation — to discuss Avalon Park has since been scheduled alongside the Ormond Beach Commission’s regular Dec. 2 meeting, Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie said in a phone interview with the Observer on Nov. 24.

The plan, he said, is to hold the regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m., convene the shade meeting, and then reconvene with the regularly scheduled meeting. Presumably, he said, a resolution will be ready to be voted on after the shade meeting in the regular meeting agenda.

The cities and Avalon Park are running out of time to set-

tle the lawsuit before it goes to court. Gross said Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Avalon Park had jointly filed a motion with the judge earlier on Nov. 19 to delay the trial, but the judge had denied the motion “to keep pressure” on the parties to settle.

But the denial puts both cities on a clock when it comes to attorney costs.

“Our litigation council is now in a position where they’re going to have to gear up and start engaging in substantial costs to prepare for the trial,” Gross said.

In an attempt to avoid those “substantial costs,” Gross prepared a resolution that would allow City Manager Deric Feacher to approve or withdraw a settlement offer to Ormond Beach of up to $2.3 million through Dec. 3.

The commission approved the resolution 4-2 on Nov. 19.

The settlement offer would buy out Ormond Beach’s rights to water and wastewater services to Avalon Park, which is what the lawsuit is about. In 2006, the two cities entered into water and wastewater service agreements that, in part, say the area around Avalon Park is in Ormond Beach’s service area.

Ormond Beach, per the agreements, has the right to service the area and then sell the utility services wholesale to Daytona Beach, as well as charge Daytona impact fees for providing the services and some of the related line extension costs.

Daytona Beach then can sell the utility service at retail price to Avalon Park. If Ormond is unwilling or unable to service the development, Daytona has the right to do so instead. But the utility service rights

are, functionally, Ormond Beach’s only way to have a say in how large Avalon Park gets. Originally, the 3,000-acre development, located within Daytona Beach city limits, had proposed 10,000 new homes. That has since decreased to just under 8,000 homes, but would regardless have an impact on Ormond Beach’s neighboring infrastructure.

Avalon Park sued both cities in 2024, accusing Ormond Beach of failing to provide necessary information for the development to move forward with infrastructure designs. The three parties have been in mediation since June and are scheduled to go to trial on Dec. 8.

Daytona Beach’s settlement offer can not be accepted without first being approved by the Ormond Beach Commission.

“We believe that this is the best way to help encourage what would hopefully be an amicable settlement,” Gross said.

At the Nov. 18 meeting, Ormond Beach Commissioner Travis Sargent requested, with commission consensus, that the city manager and attorney schedule a shade meeting to discuss the settlement and lawsuit.

Leslie said staff has had individual meetings with commissioners.

“My decision is going to be based on what’s what’s best for the community,” he said. “Not just today, not just tomorrow, but also long term.” Email sierra@observerlocal news.com.

How Flagler navigates school choice

State audit finds a lack of oversight; School Choice Specialist

Susan Kennedy helps families with options.

BRENT WORONOFF

EDITOR

ASSOCIATE

Flagler County School District School Choice Specialist Susan Kennedy had been working in a similar position in Volusia County Schools for about six months, when she thought, “I’m never going to understand this. It’s never going to make sense.”

Now, she’s an expert in a very complicated system, one that hasn’t received enough state scrutiny, according to a review.

A recent state audit of Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship found millions in overspending and a lack of oversight. The audit was presented to state lawmakers last week.

Sen. Don Gaetz said, “The amount of money we cannot account for as being in the right place at the right time exceeds $270 million on any given day.”

Earlier this month, the state released about $47 million to public school districts to address the shortfall from the 2024-25 year caused by paying funds to scholarship students who were actually enrolled in public school.

Amid this climate, Flagler Schools enhanced a vacant position in Student Services to hire Kennedy, who works alongside School Choice Coordinator Andrea McIntyre.

Student Services Director John Fanelli said some Flagler families who received a scholarship, still had their student a district school.

“We had to contact them and say you have (your student) coming to public school full time, but you’re receiving the funding,” Fanelli said. “So we’ve got to reconcile that. Either you’ve got to pay us for educating your child, or you have to look at other educational options.”

The scholarships were rolled out before all of the procedures were put in place, Fanelli said.

Wading through the options, details, eligibility and allowable expenditures are cumbersome.

There are six different scholarship programs. The

major ones are the Family Empowerment Scholarship Education Options (FES-EO), the Family Empowerment Scholarship Unique Abilities (FES-UA) and the Personalized Education Program (PEP).

There are also two scholarship funding organizations — Step Up For Students and AAA Scholarships — which are like banks that handle the families’ scholarship money. The audit found that the Florida Department of Education didn’t cross check students receiving money from AAA to make sure students weren’t attending public school.

According to the audit summary, education funding for the 2024-25 school year “was met with a myriad of accountability challenges that left a statewide funding shortfall and a system where funding did not follow the child.”

PART-TIME SERVICES

Explaining procedures and options to families are part of Kennedy’s job description. She has been on the job since late August. Kennedy had previously been working with school choice and scholarship programs in Volusia County since 2020.

Every single year, the programs have grown.

“It’s hard to keep up with all the changes,” she said. “But that’s our job.”

She said she and McIntyre spent a “good portion of the start of the school year,” calling parents to confirm that they applied for and received the PEP Scholarship, “so that we knew that we had to withdraw them from Flagler County Schools, that they couldn’t be enrolled as a home education student with us and then directing them towards whoever their scholarship organization was.”

Flagler Schools has been working for the past two years to provide contracted services to provide specific courses, exams and extracurricular activities for students not enrolled in public schools. Kennedy has expanded the initiative, putting prices on individual courses and programs or an Advanced Placement exam and working with individual schools to make it happen.

Fanelli estimates that about 50 scholarship families are now taking at least one course or program with the district.

“I know Susan is working with families every day to help them with a partial schedule,”

Daytona Beach City Commission to prioritize audit for purchasing cards

However, Mayor Henry said an audit did not need to be prioritized, saying ‘overreaction’ contributes to chaos.

SIERRA WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER

Daytona Beach will be making auditing the city’s usage of purchasing cards a priority after two weeks of backlash.

he said. “It’s really customized to what the needs of the family are. There are families that want to educate their child in the home, but when it comes to the higher level math and sciences, they say that’s beyond their capacity to educate. Or it’s a special area like band. I think as the word gets out, the numbers will grow and grow.”

Fanelli said most districts are working on partial enrollment models. Flagler has already put its model into practice.

With the amount of tax dollars going to scholarships, providing different options is a necessity, Fanelli said.

The most expensive students to educate, Kennedy said, are in kindergarten to third grade because there is more curriculum instruction, learning foundations.

“If you applied for the FESEO or the (Florida Tax Credit Scholarship) or the PEP and your child is in second grade, then you would receive $8,139 to educate your student,” she said.

Add an Individualized Education Program (IEP) at the highest level of need, Kennedy said, and you would receive $34,700.

“Our superintendent (LaShakia Moore) has been very forward thinking,” Fanelli said. “We started these conversations last year. How do we become and maintain being the best choice for our families in Flagler County, and some of that is by giving them the ability to choose how and where they want to be educated, because, at the end of the day, our job is to prepare our students for life beyond the classroom. It’s different than it was 10, 20, 50 years ago, so we need to continue to grow and change to better meet the needs of our future workforce.”

Annual Gobble Event feeds families

Flagler Schools support staff distributes 75 Thanksgiving dinners to families in need.

BRENT WORONOFF ASSOCIATE EDITOR

A record 75 Thanksgiving dinners were distributed to Flagler Schools support staff, students and community members at the fourth annual Gobble Event on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Flagler County Government Services Building. The event was created in 2021 by school district bus driver Lakisha Ayers-White as a Flagler Educational Support

Professionals Association endeavor. The event was not held last year because AyersWhite was on union leave.

This year, Ayers-White expanded the eligibility beyond FESPA members to include families in need.

“We opened it up to students and even community members, because people are going through hard times right now,” Ayers-White said.

The meals included a turkey, drink, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corned bread, fresh vegetables, plastic plates and utensils and homemade cookies. Three televisions were donated with the coupons put in three meal bags at random. Epic Church, the Flagler County Educators Association, the Flagler County

Education Foundation and No Borders for Hope helped sponsor the event. Small businesses, Flagler Schools employees and parents and community members also provided donations, AyersWhie said. Five Star Pizza provided pizza for the volunteers.

Sweet Melissa’s Homemade Ice Cream provided sweet treats at the site for recipients and volunteers.

Volunteers who helped fill and distribute the meal bags included FTC cosmetology teacher Adrienne Harvey and students, members of the Flagler Palm Coast Starlets and Flagler Schools staff members Mitzi Martinez, Nicole Chavannes-Parris, Joe Schneider and Doug Gesek.

Zone 4 Commissioner Stacy Cantu motioned for the item to be a priority audit at the Nov. 19 commission meeting, clarifying that the city auditor — Abinet Belachew, hired in September — should begin work on it immediately after finishing his current project. Cantu said that project should finish on Friday, Nov. 21.

Some of the commissioners felt the matter could have been brought to the city’s attention in a different manner, so as not to create “a narrative” when one didn’t exist.

Cantu said she does not work for her fellow commissioners or city staff.

“I’m gonna sit and watch the taxpayers’s dollar,” she said. “I’m going to sit up here and do my job and I’m going to watch what the employees or anybody in this place is spending because it’s not our money to spend.”

The commission voted 5-2 to prioritize the P-card audit, with Mayor Derrick Henry and Zone 2 Commissioner Ken Strickland voting against prioritizing the audit. The two did agree to an audit for P-cards at the Nov. 5 meeting.

The city has been under fire about the usage of its P-card system for the last two weeks after Cantu initially brought up the issue in the Nov. 5 City Commission meeting. Cantu originally requested the cards be made a priority then, but Mayor Derrick Henry said at the time, and again on Nov. 19, that he did not see this as “a chaotic situation.”

“You cannot allow a narrative to run amuck in your city,” he said. “Staff having to overreact to all of this is a part of what creates chaos when this is not a chaotic situation.”

Henry said it was “a matter of opinion” whether or not an audit on the P-cards should be prioritized. While he agreed the P-cards policy and usage needs to be reviewed, he did not feel the audit needed to rise above other audits already on the list.

Over the previous two weeks, he said, Daytona Beach has received around a thousand public record requests regarding the P-cards. If Daytona Beach had “done something that was so radically

wrong,” he said, investigative journalists would have found it.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of anything that has risen to a level that makes me want to run in a hole and hide or assume that we’re full of corruption,” Henry said.

CITY LEAKS PRIVATE

INFORMATION

The P-cards have since been cancelled — but not because of the recent inquiry.

Instead, some card numbers were accidentally leaked alongside users’ names and social security numbers on a city website created to answer some of the recent accusations about the cards, according to statements made by City Manager Deric Feacher.

The city’s IT department accidentally posted the personal information in P-card billing statements on the website, Chief Information Officer Hossam Reziqa said. The department took it down as soon as it realized the information was not redacted.

But how was the information missed in the redaction process?

Reziqa said in “the window that we had to work with, we immediately put everything out” in response to a request from the commission and from “some of the public pressure, as well, to make sure we put everything out and are being transparent.”

The IT staff is undergoing training as to what information is necessary to be included in posted information and what should not be.

Typically, a records request is redacted by the originating department, City Clerk Letitia LaMagna said. Staff city-wide will review what is appropriate to release, she said.

“I think a lot of times they’re afraid to not provide everything,” she said.

Feacher said the city was already reaching out to anyone whose information may have been compromised with the leak. The city has also ordered new P-cards from the bank.

The website answers basic

questions about P-cards and their approved uses. P-cards, or purchasing cards, are cityissued cards that can be used for approved “commodities and services” that do not exceed a $3,000 limit for a single transaction, according to the website. They also have a monthly credit limit of $25,000.

The 2024 and 2025 card statements were posted for transparency, Feacher said. Because of the breach in personal information, the statements have been removed while they are reviewed.

Feacher said the statements should return to the site by Dec. 8.

CONTEXT IS KEY

The city’s website addresses some of the purchases drawing the public eye, including a $12,851 purchase at SeaWorld. The SeaWorld purchase was for an end-of-year trip for children enrolled in a city summer camp. The campers paid the city $40 each for tickets, which was deposited in the department’s expenditure budget to offset the cost of the trip, the website said.

That totaled $10,626.51 and another $1,281 from the Neighborhood Services department helped sponsor low-income students who would otherwise be unable to participate and the remaining $907.90 covered trip expenses for Park & Recreation staff chaperoning the trip. The context surrounding the purchases is important, Zone 5 Commissioner Dannette Henry said.

“When you don’t have context,” she said, “you have journalists and different people that make it seem like — if you’ve ever read the book ‘Henny Penny’ — ‘the sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling.’”

In an organization as large as Daytona Beach, the P-card system is more efficient, she said.

Using the example of the SeaWorld trips, Henry pointed out it would be inefficient for the city to have individually paid for the tickets using the cash received from the students instead of purchasing them from the budget and refunding that purchase with the money from the campers.

Taking the purchases out of context can also spread misinformation, she said.

“That’s what a lot of people are doing right now because they didn’t understand the context first,” Henry said. “They took the story and ran with it.”

Volusia OKs higher teacher salaries

The agreement raises base salaries to $50,000 and includes a 2% cost-of-living adjustment.

JARLEENE ALMENAS MANAGING EDITOR

The Volusia County School Board ratified an agreement with the teacher’s union, Volusia United Educators, at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The agreement will raise the base teacher salary to $50,000 and includes a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for teachers that have been with Volusia County Schools for at least one year. The contract also contained a 0.65% salary increase through state-funded Teacher Salary Increase Allocation dollars, two days

of paid bereavement leave and an increase of $2 in the retention supplement multiplier for each year of service.

VCS teachers, both union members and non-members, voted 79% to approve the new contract. VUE President Elizabeth Albert said that’s one of the lowest ratifications she’s ever seen.

“In four of our schools, it was not ratified,” Albert said. “So I think there are some messages in the data. We always look at the data, and so we will continue to push forward and we hope that we’ll continue the good work that we’ve done for prioritizing fixing the compression.”

Compression refers to the decreasing salary differences between new and veteran teachers.

The district and VUE came to an impasse in October, a little over a month after beginning bargaining. VUE had

initially asked for a 4% costof-living increase for all, as well as increased paid maternity leave, three bereavement days and a higher retention supplement for veteran teachers. An agreement was reached a couple of weeks after declaring impasse. It was ratified by VUE on Nov. 13. Teachers will see the increase in their base salary by Jan. 31, said Stephanie Workman, executive director of Human Resources for VCS. However, the district will pay out retention bonuses before then, in a separate payment from their base checks. Longevity bonuses will follow a similar process, Workman added. The contract with VUE support is set to be ratified on Dec. 4. If ratified, it will come before the School Board on Dec. 9.

Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry. Photo by Sierra Williams

Flagler Schools’ volunteers at the fourth annual Gobble Event pose among the Thanksgiving meals that were distributed on Nov. 21 at the Flagler County Government Services Building. Photo by Brent Woronoff

Flagler Schools’ Susan Kennedy has been busy helping families navigate school choice. Photo by Brent Woronoff

Four decades of bad building decisions by Flagler County

A pattern of missteps on multiple buildings hurts the taxpayers.

JIM MANFRE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As the county continues to grow, overwhelmingly it seems, its history seems to be buried, one lot clearing at a time. I have had a front row seat for almost 30 years to poor county decisions on the buildings it’s built, from county offices, courthouses, emergency and sheriff’s operations centers. I am reminded of these costly mistakes every year when the tax bill shows up in my mailbox.

The story behind each of these blunders would take a book to describe, but I will

NEWS BRIEFS

Volusia School Board selects Ruben Colon as new chair

District 5 School Board member Ruben Colon was selected as the new chair for the next year during an organizational

provide a timeline of these events so that the public can share my frustration with the questionable decisions of county commissions past that haunt our pocket books today.

1992: The Sheriff’s Office operations center was located behind the water tower in Bunnell for many years and had outgrown its usefulness. Its location across the street from the county offices and Emergency Operations Center, which were in double wides near the present county building and within a mile of the courthouse down the street, was workable. The county decided to build the new larger Sheriff’s Operations Center five miles west down a long and winding road in a swamp. Completely inconvenient to the public, county government and law enforcement operations.

2002: The county decides to build a new county center, courthouse, board of education center and sheriff’s operation center at a cost of over $70 million. They changed their plans and built a large, lightly used Emergency Operations Center

meeting held on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

Colon succeeds District 1 representative Jamie Haynes, who took over as chair in January after District 3 Board member Jessie Thompson resigned from the position. In total, this year marked Hayne’s third term as chair. She nominated Colon to the position, and it passed unanimously. Colon last served in the position, which rotates annually, in 2022.

instead of a desperately needed Sheriff’s Operations Center. The School Board already had a large building in Palm Coast, which they eventually demolished for no apparent reason. The courthouse and clerk’s office were wildly overbuilt. The county center was poorly space-planned and there was inadequate parking requiring a multi-million dollar fix 15 years later.

2012: The county decides to finally build a new Sheriff’s Operation Center and jail and floats a 30-year, $30 million bond to pay for the buildings. Their options for the new operation center were to renovate the old courthouse, convert the lightly used Emergency Operations Center, build a new wing onto the courthouse or build a new building across the street from the courthouse where the dilapidated old Sheriff’s Office stood.

Originally, they decided to build a new building across the street from the county center. In a last minute deal, they voted to purchase the old Flagler Hospital which

had been sitting unused for a decade and which the county had previously decided 10 years before was too expensive to renovate as a county center. The building cost $1.5 million to buy and $6 million to rebuild, equip and furnish. To add on to this bad decision, the county decided not to demolish the adjacent patient wings, which were packed with rotting contaminants. The building was built and occupied without any air quality control issues.

In 2017, two years after the completion of the building, the county decided to demolish the patient wings without the required DEP permits and without wetting the building down so contaminants would not go airborne. Several months later, personnel started reporting health issues. Instead of remediating the building, they moved the sheriff’s operation into the clerk’s office. They decided to build an even larger operations center, costing over $20 million. They sold the previous building for $750,000, incurring a $7 million loss, while continuing to pay for the building in the 30-year

Haynes also nominated District 2 School Board member Krista Goodrich to serve as vice mayor. The motion passed unanimously.

Tax prices jump

Average gasoline prices in Florida jumped 18 cents during the past week, as millions of people prepared to take to the roads for the Thanksgiving holiday period. Florida motorists paid an average of $3.10 a gallon for regular un-

bond. The building was sold for in excess of $3 million to the buyer with an air quality survey showing no issues.

2018-2022: The county decides that the sheriff’s Palm Coast district office’s lease in City Market Place was too expensive. They subsequently bought the old Sears building for close to $1 million without adequate due diligence, only to find that, due to a leak in the roof, the building could not be occupied.

Even though the county owned 15 acres around the library which could easily house a new building in a prime location, they purchased an old bank building on Old Kings Road in a difficult location for most of the city to access for over a million dollars and spent a million plus dollars to renovate it into a sheriff’s office.

Any of these decisions should be cause for alarm, but, collectively, they show a pattern of disregard for the taxpayers’ money and common sense.

Jim Manfre was Flagler County’s sheriff 2001-2004 and 2013-2016.

leaded gas Monday, up from $2.92 a week earlier, according to the AAA auto club.

AAA attributed the increase to price cycling, which involves brief spikes in prices after retailers periodically lower prices against competitors. AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins called the increase “a familiar trend” of prices rising after declines.

The national average price Monday was $3.07 a gallon, the same as a week earlier. At this time last year, the Florida

average price was $3.12 a gallon, while the national average was $3.06, according to AAA.

Send news tips to jarleene@ observerlocalnews.com.

Correction

In the Nov. 20 edition of the Palm Coast Observer, a story titled “‘Continuum of care’: New crisis center in Flagler” on 6A incorrectly spelled SMA Healthcare CEO Ivan Cosimi’s name.

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Ruben Colon Photo by Jarleene Almenas

YOUR NEIGHBORS

‘Extra Extraordinaire’

Ormond Beach woman appears in Hallmark Channel’s ‘Rekindled for Christmas’

JARLEENE ALMENAS

EDITOR

MANAGING

For 30 years, Ormond Beach

resident Leesa Marie Benz has been bringing Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe to life, performing at local events and parties.

But now, it’s her turn on the big screen.

Benz is part of the cast of the new Hallmark Channel Christmas movie “Rekindled for Christmas,” a film written and directed by Ranelle Golden which premiered on Amazon Prime on Nov. 15. Starring Grace Field, Chelsea Gilson and Chris Mulkey in the leading roles, the movie tells the story of a woman who brings home a fake fiancé — which happens to be her sister’s ex — for Christmas. Benz appears in the film’s party scene as an extra.

“I call myself now, ‘Extra Extraordinaire,’” Benz said. The opportunity to appear in the film came through connections Benz made with

fashion designer Elizabeth Novais, who has used her in past fashion shows. The pair met a few years ago, when Benz was cast for “The Real Housewives of Orlando,” a show which never came to fruition.

Benz drove to Orlando in March to be part of “Rekindled for Christmas.” It was a long day of filming, she said, but she found it all “very fascinating and fun.”

“I am always looking at opportunities,” she said. “It was just a great opportunity for me because you never know what will transpire from it. Someone might see me and say, ‘Hey, we can use her in this movie.’ Even if I am an extra, I’m willing, because just to be a part of something like that, it’s just real.”

For Benz, her career in entertainment was kickstarted by a local postman. It was 1995 and she was working as a receptionist for a company in Daytona Beach. He would always call her Norma Jeane, which was Monroe’s birth name.

Then one day, he told Benz about a Monroe look-alike contest happening in recognition of the U.S. Postal Service’s new Monroe stamp.

Benz won the contest and she’s been a tribute artist ever since.

“What I had to do was study her,” Benz said. “So this is back when the DVDs were around, and I would literally study her and try to get her moves down, and try to get her look down. Of course, I have to always to put on, when I perform as Marilyn, the infamous mole.”

Benz has performed for local figures such as the late Ron Rice for his 60th birthday, County Councilman Danny Robins and Sen. Tom Wright. She also competed in pageants and won Mrs. Ormond Beach in 1999 and Mrs. Daytona Beach in 2000.

On Nov. 15, she attended a premiere of “Rekindled for Christmas” at the Regal Waterford Lakes in Orlando. That was another fun experience, she said, and she got to see all of the film’s actors again.

Since the movie has aired, she’s received texts from friends who have seen her in the film. She’s hoping that it helps lead to more roles in the future.

“Hopefully,” she said with a flourish.

YOUR TOWN

Salty Grass Band to perform holiday program at Ormond library

A local and will perform at the Ormond Beach Regional Library auditorium at 2 p.m. on Dec. 14.

The Salty Grass Band is known for their traditional bluegrass, Americana standards and gospel music, according to a press release, and their last performance at the library was standing-room only.

The band will perform a program titled, “A Bluegrass Christmas,” which will include holiday songs and Christmasoriented bluegrass songs like “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” by Bill Monroe and “Bluegrass White Snow” by Patty Loveless.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ormond Beach Library. It’s free and open to the public.

Meet OMAM’s featured art night family for November 2025

The Tolland family was selected as Ormond Memorial Art Museum’s featured family from the museum’s Nov. 7 Free Family Art Night event.

According to a statement from the museum, Chris and Brooke Tolland, of Ormond Beach, and their two daughters — 6-year-old Caroline and 5-year-old Madison — started attending the event after being introduced to it by girls’ “Oma,” City Commissioner Lori Tolland. Caroline and Madison “live to paint and draw,” the museum said.

“It has now become an added bonus for us to enjoy a family oriented art activity for quality time together and the girls always love to run into friends and teachers,” Brooke Tolland said.

Lori Tolland has been a member of OMAM since the family move to Ormond Beach in 1989, becoming involved with the museum and gardens soon after.

OMAM’s Family Art Night takes place from 5:30-7 p.m. on most first Fridays of the month. All art supplies are provided. The next event will be held on Dec. 5.

Security First helps feed families through company contest

Security First Insurance’s annual Giving Thanks Decorating Contest this year saw an increase in participation from its employees — with a total of 152 taking part, a press release announced.

The contest, which is part of the company’s Security First CAREs program, consisted of creatively decorated displays full of nonperishable food, pantry stables and grocery gift cards. Thanks to their efforts, the press release states, 26 local families will receive full Thanksgiving meals in partnership with the Volusia Basket Brigade.

“Our employees love working together to help our community,” said Melissa Burt DeVriese, President of Security First Insurance. “I’m so proud of what they do to support nonprofits, feed local families and ensure children have a joyous holiday.” This year’s winning teams: „ First place: Turkeyzilla (Claims Administration)

„ Second place: Grinch & Her Gang (Underwriting)

„ Third place: Gobbler of Fire (Human Resources)

Additionally, earlier this fall, Security First employees participated in three community walks, supporting suicide prevention, breast cancer research and Alzheimer’s care. Those who couldn’t walk contributed through fundraising, donations and volunteer support.

Security First employees are also collecting toys for the company’s annual Easterseals holiday drive, with all donations set to be delivered in December.

A HEARTFELT THANKS FOR

WELCOMING US INTO YOUR COMMUNITY

We’re grateful for your trust, your referrals, and the chance to be part of your life’s big moves. Here’s to building deeper connections and a strong year ahead.

If you’re planning for an exceptional real estate journey, we’re here to help you get there. Let’s make your 2026 real estate goals happen!

Leesa Marie Benz holds up a poster for “Rekindled for Christmas.” Photo by Jarleene Almenas

The Tolland Family: Lori, Brooke, Caroline and Madison. They’re pictured with art instructor Linda King (right). Courtesy photo

The Security First Human Resources Department

A total of 152 Security First employees participated in this year’s Giving Thanks decorating contest.

Courtesy photos

LOCAL EVENTS

THURSDAY, NOV. 27

FEET TO FEAST

THANKSGIVING 5K

RUN/WALK

When: 7:45-10 a.m.

Where: Daytona State College Palm Coast campus, 3000 Palm Coast Parkway SE, Palm Coast

Details: Kick off turkey day with a 5K, sponsored by AdventHealth Palm Coast.

The race starts at 7:45 a.m. Registration costs $35; student registration is $20. Visit https://runsignup.com/ Race/FL/PalmCoast/FeettoFeast5k.

FRIDAY, NOV. 28

BEACHSIDE ORMOND

GARAGE OPEN HOUSE

When: 4-7 p.m.

Where: Birthplace of Speed Park, 21 Ocean Shore Blvd., Ormond Beach Details: Attend this open house, hosted by the Motor Racing Heritage Association. Volunteers will be on hand for tours and information. This will take place before the annual Gaslight Parade.

67TH ANNUAL

GASLIGHT PARADE

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Corner of East Granada Boulevard and Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: Join the Volusia

Region Antique Automobile Club of America for its annual antique car parade, featuring vehicles from 2000 and older. The parade will begin at The Casements and will run east on Granada Boulevard, then south on A1A to Harvard Drive.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME/ YOUR CHOICE

GALLERY EVENT

When: 5-8 p.m.

Where: Baliker Gallery, 5928 N. Oceanshore Blvd., Palm

Coast

Details: See the works of wood sculptor Paul Baliker, wildlife artist Lorraine Millspaugh and glass artist Rob Stern, all who will be demonstrating their talents. The gallery will contribute 10% of the night's profits to The Ocean Conservancy.

SATURDAY, NOV. 29

BIRTHPLACE OF SPEED ANTIQUE CAR SHOW

When: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Where: Fortunato Park, 2 John Anderson Drive, Ormond

Beach

Details: See the Volusia Region Antique Automobile Club of America's annual antique car show. The award presentation will be held at 3 p.m.

HOLIDAY MARKET

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Flagler County Fairgrounds, 150 Sawgrass Road, Bunnell

Details: Shop over 100 local vendors and food trucks.

Santa will be onsite. Free entry.

SHOP SMALL SATURDAY

When: 11 a.m.

Where: Downtown Ormond Beach, Granada Boulevard, between A1A and Orchard

Street

Details: Support small businesses by shopping local during this Ormond MainStreet event. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be making appearances around town. Enjoy live music, treats, giveaways and more.

PALM COAST TREE

LIGHTING CEREMONY

When: 6-9 p.m.

Where: Central Park at Town Center, 975 Central Ave., Palm Coast

Details: Celebrate the start of the holiday season with the city's tree lighting ceremony and kick off for the Rotary Club of Flagler County's 20th annual Fantasy Lights Festival. Santa Claus will be in attendance, and there will be food trucks, a letters to Santa station, Santa's Village and kid's crafts.

MONDAY, DEC. 1

HALIFAX HEALTH

EDUCATIONAL SERIES: AROMATHERAPY

When: 1 p.m.

Where: Ormond Beach

Regional Library, 30 S. Beach St., Ormond Beach

Details: Halifax Health educator Annette Tracy, a registered nurse, will discuss aromatherapy and how it can relieve

pain, improve mood, and promote a sense of relaxation.

TUESDAY, DEC. 2

KAYAK TOURS OF CENTRAL PARK

When: 10 a.m. to noon

Where: Ormond Beach Environmental Discovery Center, 601 Division Ave.

Details: Take part in this free guided tour, open to ages 18 and up. Single kayaks available, or bring your own. Space is limited. Registration restrictions apply. Call 386-6100615 to reserve your spot.

FILM SCREENING: 'SAVING JAWS'

When: 6 p.m.

Where: Southeast Museum of Photography, Madorsky Theater, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach

Details: See this 2019 documentary following marine biologist Ocean Ramsey she travels the globe for 12 months to research sharks and advocate for their conservation. Free and open to the public.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3

'OUR GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY' HOLIDAY SHOWCASE

When: 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 3 and 4

Where: News-Journal Center, 221 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach

Details: See the Daytona Beach Symphonic Band perform holiday favorites. Free.

THURSDAY, DEC. 4

GLASS SUNCATCHER

WORKSHOP

When: 1-3 p.m.

Where: Ormond Memorial Art Museum, 78 E. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach

Details: Glass artists LC and Tommy Tobey will introduce the process of kiln formed glass and guide the creation of distinctive suncatchers. Open to all skill levels. Workshop costs $50 for members and $60 for non-members. Visit ormondartmuseum.org/ classes-programs.

RECIPES AND READS

CULINARY LAB: THE CULTURE AND HISTORY OF FOOD — AFTERNOON TEA

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Ormond Beach

Regional Library, 30 S. Beach St., Ormond Beach

Details: Enjoy mint tea while learning more about the history of teas, presented by library staff.

NIGHTS OF LIGHTS

When: 6-9 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from Dec. 4-20

Where: Green Heritage Nursery, 22 Bimini Lane, Bunnell

Details: Enjoy Florida snow, write letters to Santa, take photos with him and make s'mores by the fire. Free admission.

FRIDAY, DEC. 5

HOLIDAY SALE

When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 5; and 8 a.m. to 3

p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6

Where: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ormond Beach, 56 N. Halifax Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: Browse through this annual holiday sale featuring ornaments, décor, jewelry, gifts, crafts and more. Proceeds benefit outreach programs serving the homeless population. Visit uuormond. info.

THE CASEMENTS 47TH

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GALA

When: 5-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5; 12-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6-7

Where: The Casements, 25 Riverside Drive, Ormond

Beach

Details: Celebrate the start of the holiday season with the annual tree lighting in Rockefeller Gardens at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5. There will e live entertainment, food trucks, train rides, handmade crafts, a tree gallery and more.

FREE FAMILY ART NIGHT When: 5:30-7 p.m.

Where: Ormond Memorial Art Museum, 78 E. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach

Details: Bring your family for a fun art project. All art supplies are provided. No art experience needed. All ages are welcome. Free program.

PAR-TEE AFTER DARK When: 6-9 p.m.

Where: Palm Harbor Golf Club, 20 Palm Harbor Drive, Palm Coast

Details: Join the city of Palm Coast for a family-friendly glow-in-the-dark golf experience. Registration is available at ParksandRec.fun. The cost is $30 dollars for individuals or $100 for teams of four. Each golfer receives a commemorative glow-in-the-dark golf ball. A total of 84 spots are open, with tee times assigned upon registration.

'FROZEN JR.' When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5; 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6; and 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7 Where: Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center, 399 N. U.S. 1, Ormond Beach

Details: Children's Musical Theatre Workshop is celebrating their 44th year, and their fall show is Disney's "Frozen Jr.," based on the 2018 Broadway musical. Tickets cost $15. Children 3 and under free with a paid ticket. Visit ormondbeachperformingartscenter.csstix.com.

FOR MORE, SEE PAGE 4D

How a paper clip and a katana figured into Daytona Toyota’s ribbon cutting BUSINESS

In a logistical feat, the dealership remained open during the 12-month, $14 million renovation.

BRIAN MCMILLAN PUBLISHER

About 10 minutes after the applause had ended at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the $14 million renovations to his Daytona Toyota dealership, General Manager Gib Dannehower Jr. was doing a much less glamorous task: finding a paperclip for customer.

Going out of his way to help a customer is always worth it, he said later.

“Between these walls, if somebody needs something — and I don't care what it is — I'll either help them, or, if I can't, I'll figure out a way,” he said.

On Friday, Nov. 21, at 451 N. Nova Road, Dannehower and his father, Gib Sr., each

spoke to the crowd, comprising customers, Southeast Toyota Distributors leadership, and members of at least three chambers of commerce (Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach and Port Orange), before the ribbon cutting.

Gib Dannehower Sr. said he has been selling Toyotas for 40 years, the first 10 of which were in the New York region.

Dannehower Jr. praised the employees at the dealership.

Several people have worked for the dealership for over 20 years, and 80 people out of the approximately 100 employees have worked there for at least five years. The woman who answers the phone today is the same person who answered the phones when he called the dealership when he was in middle school, trying to reach his dad at work. He said that as a kid, he worked at the dealership by helping to pick up cigarette butts.

Among the sales staff is Seymour Small, who said that he has sold cars to four gen-

Gib

erations in a single family. He has 30 years of sales experience, including 18 at Daytona Toyota, and has many repeat customers.

The sales team, led by Palm Coast resident Naiym Sherman, kept up morale despite having to deal with interruptions in air conditioning and a water leak during the construction.

"It was a nice little adventure, from when it went down to watching it get built back up to this," Sherman said.

Dannehower Jr. praised Jim Kowalak, director of operations, a “logistical mastermind,” for helping keep the dealership open throughout the renovation. During the 12-month project, as many as 150 construction workers were on task at the same

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COMMERCIAL OFFICE - 386-253-8565

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time, according to Coleman Goodemote Vice President Robbie Coleman, who was on the site three days a week as project manager. Coleman said in a separate interview that, while his company has done a wide variety of projects, including manufacturing facilities, they had never renovated a car dealership. But, Dannehower wanted to hire local.

Dannehower Jr. played baseball with Coleman as a young man and they have been friends ever since.

“He married my wife and I last May,” Dannehower Jr. said. “So he made that marriage, and now this marriage. … Anything that we needed, he was on it.” “We're down the street in Daytona,” Coleman said. “In turn, basically all of the subcontractors that we used were local subs. And so the money that was generated from this project all stays here in Daytona Beach.”

Coleman also praised the efforts of superintendent Will Koontz and Brittany Perkins for their efforts. To conclude the ribbon cutting ceremony, Southeast Toyota Distributors President Brent Sergot presented the Dannehowers with a samurai katana sword, which symbolizes strength, quality and integrity, he said. Dannehower Sr. was elated and quipped that if he knew he would get such a nice gift for renovating the dealership, “We would have done this years ago.” Email brian@observer localnews.com.

Daytona Toyota Sales Manager Naiym Sherman, of Palm Coast; with sales team members Michael Sequeira, Faron Gallon, Seymour Small and Ryan King. Photos by Brian McMillan

ID Automotive founder Michael Kubinski, Barbara and Coleman Goodemote President Chuck Coleman and Vice President Robbie Colman.

Dannehower Sr. and Gib Dannehower Jr. are presented with a katana, by Southeast Toyota President Brent Sergot, to signify the completed renovations at Daytona Toyota.

F

ice Realt

Halifax Humane Society purchases Latitude Margaritaville sales office

The $2.9 million sales office will become the Halifax Humane Society Community Veterinary Hospital.

OBSERVER STAFF

Halifax Humane Society has bought the Latitude Margaritaville sales office at 2400 LPGA Blvd., with plans to transform the building into a state-of-the-art community veterinary hospital.

HHS announced the $2.9 million purchase of the 8,152-square-foot facility and 3-acre parcel on Wednesday, Nov. 19, stating in a press release that it marks a “major milestone in the organization’s long-term strategy to expand access to affordable, compassionate veterinary care for pets and the people who love them.”

“This year, the number of owner-surrendered dogs and cats entering the animal shelter has more than tripled,” said Sean Hawkins, chief executive officer of HHS, in the press release. “The biggest reason

BIZ BUZZ

AdventHealth has a new urogynecologist

Women in Flagler County now have expanded access to advanced pelvic health and reconstructive care with Advent-Health Medical Group

people are giving up their beloved pets is because they can no longer afford to care for them. The national veterinary shortage, rising costs, and economic pressures are making even basic veterinary care out of reach for many pet owners.”

The HHS Community Veterinary Hospital will provide comprehensive medical care to dogs and cats. It was made possible through the estate of an anonymous donor, who designated her legacy gift for capital projects to directly benefit the shelter’s animals.

“We intend to provide veterinary care at affordable prices for pet owners who

bringing Dr. Earle M. Pescatore Jr. to Palm Coast.

AdventHealth Medical Group is a team of more than 450 providers representing 30 specialties. A board-certified urogynecologist specializing in urogynecology and reconstructive surgery, Pescatore brings more than two decades of experience caring for women with pelvic floor disorders — conditions that are both common and often underdiagnosed.

“For many women, finding

cannot take their animals to a private practice veterinarian,” Hawkins said. “An emergency fund supported entirely by donations will cover costs for pet owners without any financial resources at all.”

Jeff Sweet, of Korey Sweet McKinnon & Simpson, also donated his legal services for the real estate transaction. HHS also recognized CTO Realty Growth Inc.’s original donation of land for the HHS headquarters at 2364 LPGA Blvd.

“Many caring people and corporations were behind making this purchase a reality,” Hawkins said. “We’re deeply grateful for the generosity and partnership that made this dream achievable.” Hawkins said in the press release that remodeling and equipping the veterinary hospital will cost over $2 million, bringing a need to raise operating funds for support. One of the fundraising opportunities is naming rights for specific program areas. Construction is expected to take about 10 months. HHS hopes to open the veterinary hospital in late 2026.

the right care for urogynecology and reconstructive surgery can mean the difference between living with discomfort and returning to the activities that matter most to them,” Pescatore said. “My goal is to make that level of care accessible, right here in Palm Coast.” Pescatore is now seeing patients at AdventHealth Medical Group Urogynecology, 61 Memorial Medical Parkway, Suite 3807, Palm Coast. Call 386-231-5386.

The Latitude Margaritaville sales office. File photo

REAL ESTATE

Plantation Bay pool home sells for $1.32M

Ahouse in Plantation Bay at 1208 Castlehawk Lane was the top real estate transaction in Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea for the week of Nov. 1-7. The house sold on Nov. 7, for $1,320,000. Built in 2016, the house is a 3/3 and has a fireplace, a pool, an outdoor kitchen and 2,998 square feet. It last sold in 2022 for $1,150,000.

JARLEENE ALMENAS

MANAGING EDITOR

ORMOND BEACH

Brookwood

The house at 27 Brookwood Drive sold on Nov. 6, for $310,000. Built in 1971, the house is a 3/2 and has a fireplace and 1,484 square feet. It last sold in 2019 for $223,000.

Coquina Pointe

The house at 3 Sandpoint Circle sold on Nov. 4, for $399,000. Built in 1994, the house is a 3/2 and has a fireplace and 2,163 square feet. It last sold in 2000 for $171,000.

WEST DAYTONA BEACH

Latitude Margaritaville

The house at 306 Coral Reef Way sold on Nov. 4, for $445,000. Built in 2018, the house is a 2/2 and has a pool and 1,509 square feet. It last sold in 2022 for $565,000.

The house at 479 Good Life Way sold on Nov. 6, for $600,000. Built in 2021, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,922 square feet. It last sold in 2021 for $396,100.

LPGA The house at 1261 Champions Drive sold on Nov. 4, for $358,000. Built in 2025, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,793 square feet.

Fiesta Heights The house at 128 Pinion Circle sold on Nov. 3, for $322,250. Built in 1977, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,338 square feet. It last sold in March 2025 for $315,000.

Halifax Plantation

The house at 1207 Kaleen Drive sold on Nov. 5, for $849,000. Built in 2000, the house is a 4/3 and has a pool and 3,823 square feet. It last sold in 2014 for $532,000.

Ormond Terrace

The house at 17 Putnam Ave. sold on Nov. 5, for $225,000. Built in 1961, the house is a 2/2 and has a fireplace and 1,134 square feet. It last sold in 1994 for $65,000.

Ridgehaven

The house at 185 Parkhaven Drive sold on Nov. 3, for $317,000. Built in 2025, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,572 square feet. It last sold in 2002 for $150,000.

Saddlers Run

The house at 18 Sounders Trail Circle sold on Nov. 6, for $300,000. Built in 1998, the house is a 3/2 and has 1,952 square feet.

The Trails

The townhome at 150 Pine Cone Trail sold on Nov. 7, for $210,000. Built in 1977, the townhome is a 2/2.5 and has 1,664 square feet. It last sold in 2021 for $168,500.

Trails North Forty

The townhome at 195 Deer Lake Circle sold on Nov. 3, for $262,500. Built in 1984, the townhome is a 2/2 and has a fireplace and 1,475 square feet. It last sold in 2010 for $170,000.

Twin River Estates The house at 32 Twin River Drive sold on Nov. 4, for $410,000. Built in 1974, the house is a 2/2.5 and has a fireplace, a pool, a boat dock, a boat house, a boat lift and 1,721 square feet. It last sold in 2021 for $338,000.

ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA

Barrier Isle

The house at 131 Barrier Isle Drive sold on Nov. 4, for $510,000. Built in 1992, the house is a 4/3 and has 2,763 square feet. It last sold in 2022 for $599,000.

Ormond Beach Plaza

The house at 34 Dolphin Ave. sold on Nov. 3, for $410,000. Built in 1962, the house is a 3/2 and has a pool and 1,365 square feet. It last sold in 1984 for $79,900.

John Adams, of Adams, Cameron & Co. Realtors, contributed to this report.

ORMOND BEACH

The house at 1208 Castlehawk Lane sold on Nov. 7, for $1,320,000.

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Kargar/Venture Development Realty

Breakaway Trails, Ormond Beach

LPGA

ROAD WARRIORS

Mainland heads to Ponte Vedra after 36-31 win over Mosley

MICHELE MEYERS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Mainland is moving on to the Region 1-5A championship game after beating Lynn Haven Mosley 36-31 on Friday, Nov. 21, at Daytona Stadium in a semifinal battle that persisted until the final two minutes. The Ponte Vedra Sharks will host the Bucs on Friday, Nov. 28.

No. 1 seed Ponte Vedra imroved to 10-2 after beating Beachside 38-3 in its semifinal. No. 2 seed Mainland is now 9-2.

“It’s about surviving to advance,” Mainland head coach Jerrime “Squatty” Bell said. “We’re road warriors. We’re going to play Ponte Vedra. When we travel on the road, we walk in a little different. We’ve got to have a great week of practice before going to see Ponte Vedra. Ultimately, the number one goal at Mainland is to continue practicing

on Thanksgiving — we’ll be practicing on Thanksgiving.”

Mainland ventured into “Groundhog Day” territory in the semifinal when Mosley’s Holden Hinson rushed for the first touchdown. Middleburg also scored first the previous week in round one of the playoffs.

“We beat ourselves in a couple fourth downs,” Bell said.

“We dropped the snap, then we had miscommunication on one. It was crazy chaotic. But like I said, it is what it is. They got hot and it was hard to stop, but we made enough stops to win a football game.”

Minutes after Hinson’s touchdown, running back Braylyn Simmons scored. Wide receiver Kadin Flores then grabbed a pass, broke multiple tackles and switched back for a 32-yard sprint into the end zone, giving the Bucs a 13-7 lead.

Quarterback Sebastian Johnson amped up the second quarter with a long pass

to Flores who took it to the Dolphins’ 1-yard line. Johnson finished it off with a keeper for a touchdown. Defensive backs Theo Bryant, Jhavin Westbrook and Marcus Day all had interceptions. Bryant returned his 97 yards for a touchdown.

Mosley finished the quarter with a 47-yard touchdown run by Khalil Lauderdale and a 37-yard field goal by Talan Moore.

As the leader of Mainland’s defense, senior linebacker Dennis King III said it was necessary to keep his team motivated and encourage them to keep their heads throughout the entire game.

“We can’t let anybody come

back from a lead like that,” he said. “Executing and winning are the things we worry about the most. (Going to Ponte Vedra), we have to keep bases with each other and stay a team — family. We have to keep our heads on and get ready for the next round.”

Mainland finished with a 24-yard field goal by David Aponte and a rushing touchdown by Simmons. Mosley wrapped it up with two touchdowns by running back Sammy Chisolm.

“Mosley is a championship level ball club,” Bell said. “The’ve got a great offense line, receiver core and linebackers. They’re a great football team with a great coaching staff, and they coached their butts off tonight. That was Lane Kiffinesque coaching — they schemed so much stuff open. I’ve got to take my hat off to him (coach Tommy Joe Whiddon). But we made one more play than they did and we survived.”

With less than two minutes left on the clock, Mosley’s drive to a possible game-winning touchdown was thwarted by linebacker King when he intercepted a pass that ricocheted off of the intended receiver.

“It’s my second interception this season so I’m happy about that,” King said. “We are looking very good, right now. It’s exciting to see my guys out here play ball.”

Mainland athletic director Terrence Anthony said the team utilized what they learned from last year’s experiences to continue advancing in the playoffs this year.

“Coach Squatty stated at the beginning of the season the he wanted to get back to a world tour,” Anthony said. “This was a real fault game between

two quality pro grams. I think us being battletested with some of the games that we played this year put us in the right mind frame to finish this off. Hats off to them.

But we ever stay the course and we’re still moving on. It’s the thing with Mainland High School — our goal is to always be practic ing on Thanksgiving and we’re doing that, so the road continues.”

Mainland quarterback Sebastian Johnson (10) passes.

Mainland defensive back Theo Bryant (center) sprints downfield for a touchdown after intercepting the ball on the 3-yard line.

Mosley’s Kane Colbert (right) pulls down Mainland wide receiver Christian Cooper (4).

Mainland team captains Dennis “Tank” King III (1), Sebastian Johnson (10), Chevin Davis Jr. (55), and Christian Cooper (4) take the field before the Region 1-5A semifinal game against Mosley on Friday, Nov. 14 at Daytona Stadium. Photos by Michele Meyers

Mainland wide receiver Kadin Flores (15) runs in for a touchdown.

FPC’s Slaughter and Seth and Matanzas’ Cerasi

The Matanzas cross country boys team placed ninth in 3A.

BRENT WORONOFF

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Flagler Palm Coast’s Arianna Slaughter and Douglas Seth and Matanzas’ Peyton Cerasi each finished among the top 15 in their races to win AllState medals at the state cross country championships Saturday, Nov. 22, at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

Slaughter finished 10th in the Class 4A girls race with a time of 18:40.4. Cerasi placed 11th in the Class 3A girls race in 19:00.4. And Seth placed 13th in the 4A boys race in 16:01.1.

The Matanzas boys team

placed among the top 10 in the Class 3A team standings with a ninth-place finish. The Pirates were led by three runners who finished among the top 45 — Blaine Vogel, 25th in 16:21.9; freshman Dylan Ciardi 29th in 16:26.7; and Brant Tarsitano 44th in 16:41.9.

Slaughter’s senior season also included a school record time of 18:17.3 at regionals.

“She’s had an amazing season,” FPC coach David Halliday said. “Her goal has been to be an All-State medalist. She put the time in, and she got it done. It was a great way for her to close out her (cross country) career.”

Cerasi, a sophomore, is a state cross country medalist for the second time. She placed seventh for FPC in the Class 4A race last year. Seth, a freshman, is the

Bulldogs’ first boys state medalist since Braedyn Wormeck finished 11th in 2023.

“Douglas was supposed to be 32nd,” Halliday said. “He beat a ton of really amazing runners. He is a really tough competitor.”

Seth dove at the finish line to finish ahead of Largo’s Isaiah Howdeshell by one-tenth of a second.

The Matanzas boys’ goal all season was to place in the top 10 at state, coach Katie Hoover said.

“It’s nice to see all the hard work pay off. The boys were ranked 10th pretty much the whole last month. The girls were ranked 18th and they came in 16th, so they both overachieved,” Hoover said. “The girls were fighting all season as underdogs. No one was looking at us as a team

that would even make states. We were fifth at regionals, and we were shooting for eighth.”

Ciardi, a freshman, broke his personal record of 16:31.2, which he set on the same course at the Pre-State meet on Oct. 25.

“He had an injury mid-sea-

Special message from France

Former FPC cross country and track state champ Justin Harbor, who now lives in France, has been keeping up with the Bulldogs online, coach David Halliday said. Before the state meet, Harbor sent a video to freshman Douglas Seth, wishing him good luck.

“That meant a lot to Douglas,” Halliday said.

“Justin told him, ‘It doesn’t matter what the watch

son, and coming back to finish second on the team at state is incredible,” Hoover said.

says, it’s who you beat.’” Harbor won the state cross country championship 20 years ago. He finished his FPC career with two state cross country championships and three state track championships. He went on to run cross country and track for Oregon and Florida State. Seth knew all about Harbor’s career, Halliday said.

“Douglas is a student of the sport,” Halliday said.

“For him, getting that video from Justin was special.”

The FPC girls placed 20th in 4A. Everyone on the team is coming back next

than Slaughter.

finishing 95th in 17:26.8.

Mixed results for FPC, Seabreeze; Matanzas, Mainland start with wins

Bulldogs, Sandcrabs each win one during the first week of action. Pirates have hot start at 2-0.

BRENT WORONOFF

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Flagler Palm Coast boys basketball coach Greg Shirley was pleased with his team’s defensive performance in the Bulldogs’ 50-38 season-opening victory against Seabreeze on Nov. 18. After two more games, the Bulldogs’ defense continued to be ahead of their offense.

FPC suffered consecutive losses to Spruce Creek at home (52-43) on Nov. 20 and Jacksonville Atlantic Coast on the road (45-40) on Nov. 22.

“Their length bothered us,” Shirley said of Spruce Creek. “When we started attacking the basket (in the second half), we were getting better looks.”

The Bulldogs trailed the Hawks by 13 entering the fourth quarter (44-31) but closed the gap to nine in the final minute. Creek went to the free throw line 32 times, converting 18, while FPC was more efficient in half as many trips to the line, hitting 11 of 16. After three games, Nate Perry and Anthony Hampton were leading the Bulldogs in scoring with 14.0 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. Six-foot-6 center Siah Sanders is averaging 8.0 points and 10.7 rebounds.

FPC continued its busy early-season schedule with games against Orlando Colonial and Lake Mary at a tournament at Father Lopez on Nov. 24-25. The Bulldogs then host St. Johns Creekside on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Seabreeze evened its record to 1-1 with a 45-41 home win against Titusville Astronaut on Nov. 20. The Sandcrabs had two more tough games scheduled in the next week in Wekiva on the road Nov. 25 and Matanzas at home on Monday, Dec. 1. Matanzas opened its season with consecutive victories against Deltona (75-69) and Menendez (65-57). The Pirates were led by three sophomores against Deltona — Jayden McCoy (23 points),

Jemel Guerrero (20 points) and CJ Giles (15 points).

Mainland, 1-0 after a 90-39 rout of Palm Bay Bayside on Nov. 19, has tournament games against Ocoee on Nov. 26 and Wildwood on Nov. 29.

First-year Matanzas girls basketball coach Cory Curtis got his first high school coaching victory with a 49-5 trouncing of Crescent City on Nov. 21 to even the Pirates’ record at 1-1. Paiden Hickman and Katelynn Smith each scored 11 points against the Raiders. Matanzas hosts Atlantic at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and hosts Seabreeze (1-2) at 6 p.m. on Dec. 4. In other upcoming girls games, FPC opens its season on Dec. 2 at University and then faces rival Matanzas in its home opener at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5. Mainland (0-2) visits New Smyrna Beach on Dec. 2.

year other

Hunter Shuler led the Seabreeze boys to 29th in 3A,

FPC’s Siah Sanders dunks the ball against the Sandcrabs. Photos by Keishia McLendon

Douglas Seth and Arianna Slaughter each earned All-State medals. Courtesy photo

Seabreeze’s Jordan Anthony shoots over Nate Perry.

Seabreeze’s Christian Simmons (13) hangs in the air for a shot.

FPC’s Anthony Hampton drives to the basket.

SIDELINES

Locals shine at pickleball championships

Two Palm Coast teams from the Northeast Florida Team Pickleball League won national titles at the American Team Pickleball League National Championships held Nov. 6-9 in El Mirage, Arizona.

Teams from Oregon, California, Arizona, and Florida participated in the event, which marked the firstever national competition for the ATPL.

Five teams represented Palm Coast at the event, with four teams winning medals.

“Sorry Not Sorry,” with Ken Schwamb as serving team captain, won the gold medal in the Men’s Doubled 50+ 4.0 Division. “Pickle Posse,” with Larry Mackey as team captain, won the gold medal in the Mixed Doubles 50+ 4.0 Division.

The national championship banners earned by each team will be displayed at the Southern Recreation Center in Palm Coast.

The other local teams to win medals were “Palm Coast Power,” with Steve Thomas as captain, which won the silver medal in the Men’s Doubles 14+ Men’s Division, and “Troubled Doubles,” with Robert Edgar as captain, which won the bonze medal

in the Mixed Doubles 65+ 3.0 Division.

“Relentless,” with Julie Buffington and Julie Claude serving as captains, won honorable mention in the Women’s Doubles 50+ 4.0 Division.

The next NE Florida Team Pickleball League season begins Jan. 10, 2026. Registration opened on Nov. 15. Teams or players interested in competing can learn more at https://ftpli. org/.

Flagler Palm Coast, Seabreeze play to 2-2 girls soccer draw

Flagler Palm Coast’s girls soccer team suffered the first blemish to its record with a 2-2 tie against Seabreeze on Nov. 21 at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.

Olivia Chase scored both goals for the Sandcrabs (4-11). The senior striker now has 13 goals in six games and 58 goals in her career. Isabella Kummernes and Taci Cook scored for the Bulldogs. FPC (6-0-1) still hasn’t lost a game. Coach Pete Hald is two wins away from No. 550. The Bulldogs travel to New Smyrna Beach on Dec. 2 for a 7:45 p.m. game. The Sandcrabs host Mainland at 6

p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1.

The FPC boys soccer team won its first two home games last week, defeating Crescent City 3-0 on Thursday, Nov. 20, and topping Father Lopez 1-0 on Nov. 21. Rami Amiri scored the only goal against the Green Wave.

The Bulldogs (4-2) played their first four games on the road. They have two more home games next week — Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. against Taylor and Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. against Sandalwood.

The Seabreeze boys team played to its third tie of the season, 2-2 at University on Nov. 21. The Sandcrabs (1-33) host Matanzas (3-2-1) on Dec. 2 at 7:15 p.m.

DSC

women’s soccer team wins national title with shootout victory

The Daytona State College women’s soccer team won the NJCAA Division I national championship on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Enid, Oklahoma, defeating Arizona Western College of Yuma, Arizona, in a shootout.

After a 0-0 game through two overtimes, DSC won the shootout, 5-4. The Falcons finished the season undefeated with a 20-0 record.

The DSC men also played for the national championship on Saturday, hosting Indian

Hills Community College of Ottumwa, Iowa. Indian Hills scored the game’s only goal at 48:32 to win 1-0. The Falcons finished with a 15-3-2 record.

The DSC men defeated Mohave College of Colorado City, Arizona, 3-1, in the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 20. The DSC women defeated Cowley College of Arkansas City, Kansas, 2-1 in overtime on Nov. 20 to advance to the final.

12U Ormond Beach Rays go undefeated in fall baseball season

The 12U Rays, sponsored by Calvary Church, went 11-0 in the Ormond Beach Youth Baseball & Softball Association fall season. The only time they were tested was in the first game of the season when they trailed 5-0

after the first inning and came back to win. All 12 players played multiple positions. The Rays used nine pitchers and four catchers. All of the players had an on-base percentage of at least .400. The team included Colton Sagardia, Trenton Kenny, Jensen

Warren, Espn Haines, Jude Woods, Jeremiah Brown, Ben Vitello, Ali Stephens, Ayden Assayag, B.J. Reid, Lucas Neal and Ronan Patel-Flening. The team’s head coach was Ronnie Woods. Send sports news to brent@ observerlocalnews.com.

Palm Coast’s Pickle Posse team won the Mixed Doubles 50+ 4.0 Division at the American Team Pickleball League National Championships in El Mirage, Arizona. Courtesy photo

The 12U Rays went 11-0 in the Ormond Beach Youth Baseball & Softball Association fall league. Front row: Colton Sagardia, Trenton Kenny, Jensen Warren, Espn Haines, Jude Woods. Back row: Jeremiah Brown, Ben Vitello, Ali Stephens, Ayden Assayag, B.J. Reid, Lucas Neal. Not pictured: Ronan Patel-Flening. Courtesy photo

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FIRST INSERTION

VIOLET FLORENCE DAUGHTREY BARRS, DECEASED, et. al., Defendants. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to an Order or Final Judgment entered in Case No. 2024 10474 CICI of the Circuit Court of the 7th Judicial Circuit in and for Volusia County, Florida, wherein, CELINK, Plaintiff, and UNKNOWN SPOUSE, HEIRS, DEVISEES, GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, LIENORS, CREDITORS, TRUSTEES AND ALL OTHER PARTIES CLAIMING AN INTEREST BY, THROUGH, UNDER OR AGAINST THE ESTATE OF VIOLET D. BARRS AKA VIOLET DAUGHTREY BARRS AKA VIOLET FLORENCE DAUGHTREY BARRS, DECEASED, et. al., are Defendants, Clerk of Circuit Court, Laura E. Roth will sell to the highest bidder for cash at www.volusia.realforeclose.com, on January 9, 2026 at 11:00 AM, the following described property: LOT 6, BLOCK H, HARRIET L. HIGBEE`S ADDITION TO DAYTONA BEACH, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF, AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 2, PAGE 199, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA. Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from the sale, if any, must file a claim per the requirements set forth in FL Stat. 45.302. IMPORTANT If you are a person with a disability who needs an accommodation in order to access court facilities or participate in a court proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. To request such an accommodation, please contact Court Administration in advance of the date the service is needed: Court Administration, 125 E. Orange Ave., Ste. 300, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, (386) 257-6096. Hearing or voice impaired, please call 711. DATED this 20 day of November, 2025. GREENSPOON MARDER, LLP 100 W. Cypress Creek Road, Suite 700 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 Telephone: (954) 491-1120 Hearing Line: (888) 491-1120 Facsimile: (954) 343-6982 Email: gmforeclosure@gmlaw.com Email: Michele.Clancy@gmlaw.com By: /s/ Michele R. Clancy Michele R. Clancy, Esq. Florida Bar No. 498661 23-000628-01 / 34407.1999 / Jean Schwartz Nov. 27; Dec. 4, 2025 25-00589I

NOTICE OF ACTION –

CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO: 2025 10343 CICI AVAIL 1 LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Plaintiff, vs. THE HEIRS AND OR DEVISEES OF DONALD RAIMONDI; ROBERT J. RAIMONDI; DOLORES R. LOPAT; JERALD RAIMONDI A/K/A SKIPPY RAIMONDI; RICHARD RAIMONDI; AND ALL HEIRS, DEVISEE, GRANTEES, ASSIGNEES, LIENORS, CREDITORS, TRUSTEES AND ALL OTHER PARTIES CLAIMING AN INTEREST BY, THROUGH, UNDER OR AGAINST THE ALL OTHER PERSONS CLAIMING BY, THROUGH OR UNDER ANY OF THE NAMED DEFENDANT AND ANY OTHER PERSONS CLAIMING AN INTEREST IN THE REAL PROPERTY WHICH IS THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS ACTION BY AND THROUGH OR UNDER OR AGAINST THE NAMED DEFENDANTS HEREIN, Defendant(s). To the following Defendant(s): ROBERT J. RAIMONDI: Last Known Address: 5848 McCowans Ferry Road, Versailles, KY 40383 YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that an action to foreclose a mortgage on the following described property located in Volusia County, Florida: Lot 51, KINGSTON HILLS, According To The Plat Thereof As Recorded In Map Book 11, Page 244, Of The Public Records Of Volusia County, Florida. With a street address at: 1312 North Street, Daytona Beach, Florida

FIRST INSERTION NOTICE OF ACTION IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA IN AND FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY CASE NO. 2025 12298 CIDL LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC, Plaintiff, vs. RONALD REI RAMOS, et al., Defendant. To the following Defendant(s): ANY AND ALL UNKNOWN PARTIES CLAIMING BY, THROUGH, UNDER, AND AGAINST ESTATE OF RONALD RAMOS, WHETHER SAID UNKNOWN PARTIES MAY CLAIM AN INTEREST AS SPOUSES, HEIRS, DEVISEES, GRANTEES, OR OTHER CLAIMANTS LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: UNKNOWN YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for Foreclosure of Mortgage on the following described property: LOT 5, BLOCK 163, DELTONA LAKES UNIT 8, ACCORDING TO THE MAP OR PLAT THEREOF, AS RECORDED IN PLAT BOOK 25, PAGE(S) 165 THROUGH 177, INCLUSIVE, OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF VOLUSIA COUNTY,

32114. has been filed against you, and you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to this action, on Ritter, Zaretsky, Lieber & Jaime, LLP, Attorneys for Plaintiff, whose address is 2800 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 500, Miami, Florida 33137, Attn: Vivian A. Jaime, Esq.,: WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE in The Palm Coast Observer and the original with the Clerk of this Court either before service on Plaintiff’s attorney or immediately thereafter; otherwise a default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint. “IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS ANY ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCEEDING, YOU ARE ENTITLED, AT NO COST TO YOU, TO THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT LAURA E. ROTH, CLERK OF THE COURT, 101 N. ALABAMA AVENUE, DELAND, FLORIDA, (386) 736-5915, WITHIN 2 WORKING DAYS OF YOUR RECEIPT OF THIS NOTICE OF ACTION; IF YOU ARE HEARING OR VOICE IMPAIRED, CALL 1-800-955-8771.”

Dated: November 20, 2025 LAURA E. ROTH As Clerk of the Court (SEA:) BY: /s/ Jennifer Vazquez Deputy Clerk

Submitted by/return to: Vivian A. Jaime, Esq. Ritter, Zaretsky, Lieber & Jaime, LLP FBN 714771 2800 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 500 Miami, Florida 33137

Email: Vivian@rzllaw.com and Denise@rzllaw.com Telephone: 305-372-0933 Nov. 27; Dec. 4, 2025 25-00592I

FLORIDA. has been filed against you and you are required to serve a copy of you written defenses, if

FIRST INSERTION NOTICE OF SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL DIVISION Case No.: 2025-11296-CICI

KENNETH D. ULLMAN Plaintiff, vs. STEPHEN J. HONCZARENKO, et al., Defendants. Notice is hereby given pursuant to a Final Judgment of foreclosure filed the 17th day of November, 2025, and entered in case No. 2025-11296-CICI in the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit in and for Volusia County, Florida, wherein KENNETH D. ULLMAN is the Plaintiff and STEPHEN J. HONCZARENKO , THE UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF STEPHEN J. HONCZARENKO, SPRUCE CREEK PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., SPRUCE CREEK GOLF VILLAS, INC., ALFINITI, INC., ENCORE WIRE CORPORATION, BEL AIRE FINANCIAL, LLC formerly known as SWIFT FINANCIAL, LLC, and THE UNKNOWN TENANT(S)/ OCCUPANT(S) IN POSSESSION now known as DOUGLAS BARON and LAURA SOLANO are the Defendants. That I will sell to the highest and best bidder for cash beginning at 11:00 AM at www.volusia. realforeclose.com in accordance with Chapter 45, Florida Statutes, on JANUARY 7, 2026 the following described property as set forth in said Final Summary Judgment of Foreclosure, to-wit: Unit 1, Spruce Creek Golf Villas, a Condominium, according to the Declaration of Condominium thereof, as recorded in Official Records Book 2198, Page 1755, and all amendments thereto, of the Public Records of Volusia County, Florida, together with an undivided interest in the common elements appurtenant thereto Property Address: 1876 Silver Fern Drive, Port Orange, Florida 32128 Any person claiming an interest in the surplus from the sale, if any, other than the property owner as of the date of the Lis Pendens must file a claim in accordance with Florida Statutes, Section 45.031 before the Clerk reports the surplus as unclaimed. Dated on this 19 day of

HOLIDAY GUIDE

SUITE DREAMS

‘The Nutracker’ brings local talent together, at The Peabody PAGES 2D-3D

Holiday events in Flagler and Volusia counties PAGES 4D-7D

We have complete

– Dr. Pam Carbiener, daughter-in-

At Paradise Pointe, families trust our dedicated caregivers to provide the highest level of care, compassion, and vigilance every single day – giving families the comfort of knowing their loved one is never alone.

“The same people are still here from when we arrived two years ago. The nurses have the education and experience to understand when something’s outside the norm. That gives us such peace of mind.”

That continuity matters. Our licensed nurses are onsite 24/7, ensuring that any changes in health or behavior are recognized and addressed right away. And because our staff truly know each resident –their routines, personalities, and preferences – care here feels personal, not clinical.

“It’s more like a family than people just doing shift work. They take time to color with her, do word searches, or just sit and talk. That’s what gives us comfort.”

Adelyn Childers as Sugar Plum in the Family Series narrated show.

Photo courtesy of Michael Cairns

NUTCRACKER MAGIC RETURNS

This year, the Volusia Civic Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker has a cast of 91 dancers, featuring 10-year-old Palm Coast girl Emery Crooke as Clara.

Volusia Civic Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’

Showtimes

„ 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

6 (Family Series without guest artists)

„ 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

6 (full two-act show with guest artists)

„ 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7 (full two-act show with guest artists)

Children’s Sugar Plum

Tea (show ticket required)

12:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6

its tickets. Tea tickets must be purchased separately. Visit peabodyauditorium.org.

JARLEENE ALMENAS MANAGING EDITOR

The Volusia Civic Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” at the Peabody Auditorium is an annual holiday staple for the community. The theatre’s lobby is transformed into a Candyland, with a decorated Christmas tree and a “Drosselmeyer Toy Shop” adding to the festive ambiance. On stage, audiences are transported to Christmas Eve as they experience the story of Clara, a young girl who receives a magical Nutcracker doll.

znin, president of the Volusia Civic Ballet.

“You walk in, and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, the holidays have begun,’” said Nelly Dro-

This year, the Civic Ballet will tell that story on Dec. 6 and 7 with a cast of 91 dancers, featuring one of the youngest Claras they’ve ever cast: Emery Crooke, a 10-year-old from Palm Coast.

“She is a beautifully gifted dancer,” said Daniel Walker,

assistant artistic director for the Civic Ballet. “I cannot wait for the audience to see her, because I feel like she’s just going to light up that stage.”

“I feel like everyone in the room looked at each other and we all were on the same page that she had that, as corny as it sounds, Christmas twinkle in her eye,” Walker said.

While they honor the traditional choreography of Tchai-

The role of Clara carries the ballet by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and that’s a tough role, Walker said. But they knew Emery would make the perfect Clara as soon as she walked into the audition in August.

Emery Crooke as Clara, with (left to right) Emma Thomas as Mouse Queen, Gabriella Palmer as Snow Queen and Ralph Medley as Mouse King. Photos courtesy of Michael Cairns

Emma Thomas as Nanny and Ralph Medley as Butler

“You walk in, and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, the holidays have begun.’”

kovsky’s famed ballet, each year’s show is an opportunity to look at it from a different lens, he said. A younger Clara allowed them to focus the story on her and her brother Fritz, who is played by Jayden Dawson, a 13-year-old also from Palm Coast.

“It’s creatively satisfying and I think it’s enjoying for the audience who comes year after year to see a different take every year,” Walker said.

This year’s guest artists are Skylar Brandt and Sung Woo Han, from the Ameri -

can Ballet Theater. Brandt will perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Han will play the Cavalier.

“We’re very excited,” Droznin said. “Every year we try to bring professional dancers from some other company, so our dancers and the audiences are exposed to [art] outside of our local area, to learn something new and to be inspired.”

The Civic Ballet brings together dancers from studios across the Central Florida area. After auditions in August, the cast works with choreographers every Sunday starting in September until the December shows. Droznin said she admires the children who take part in the ballet year after year. Often times, they’re already dancing six days a week with their studios.

“Yet, they come back,” Dro-

znin said. “They come back on Sunday because, like I like to say, ‘Once bitten by the Nutcracker bug, you’re infected forever.’ You look forward to the next season.”

This year’s cast also features seven graduating seniors, including Juliane

“It really is a wonderful experience to be involved with something that might spark the interest of someone for live theater.”

DANIEL WALKER

Carpio, Emma Thomas and Kelan Halloran. That makes this year’s performances special, Droznin said.

“We’ll have to say goodbye to some of them that have been with us for a very long time, and there’s some that have this on their bucket list and they’re doing it for the first time,” she said.

Walker said “The Nutcracker” is one of his favorite shows to do because it’s an opportunity to collaborate with different studios and be part of a longstanding tradition for people in the community, he said.

“It really is a wonderful experience to be involved with something that might spark the interest of someone for live theater, which is always a good thing for us performers,” Walker said.

Droznin often hears stories of several generations of families coming to the Peabody for the ballet — of people whose mothers used to be in the show, or whose grandmothers used to take them as kids, and now they’re doing the same.

One story in particular comes to her mind — a photo of a dancer who took a photo with Clara during a Sugar Plum tea several years ago. Three years after that photo was taken, that dancer was assigned the same costume Clara was wearing in the photo for her role in “The Nutcracker” as a party girl.

“To them, that was so special,” Droznin said. “I think it’s stories like that you hear that make it such a transformative experience in the lives of the community. It’s the

magic. Truly, it’s a Nutcracker bug.”

Nutcracker

Guest artist Skylar Brandt from the American Ballet Theater will perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy during the full two-act Nutcracker show. Courtesy photo

Front: Emery Crooke as Clara and Jayden Dawson as Clara’s brother Fritz. Middle: Gabriella Palmer as Snow Queen, Juliane Carpio as North Star, Amelia Palmer as Dew Drop. Back: Emma Thomas as Mouse Queen, Kelan Halloran as Nutcracker/Prince and Ralph Medley as Mouse King.

NELLY DROZNIN, president of the Volusia Civic Ballet

HOLIDAY EVENTS

THURSDAY, NOV. 27

DAYTONA TURKEY RUN

When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 27, 28 and 29; and 8 a.m. to 2

p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30

Where: Daytona International Speedway, 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach

Details: The 52nd Daytona Turkey Run will bring over 7,000 classic cars to the speedway. There will be a swap meet, a beer festival, vendors, entertainment and more. Tickets cost $20 Thursday through Saturday. Sunday tickets are $15. Kids 11 and under are free. Visit turkeyrun.com.

FRIDAY, NOV. 28

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER AND HOLIDAY LIGHTS

When: 6-9 p.m. Nov. 28 to Jan. 5

Where: Riverfront Esplanade, 249 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach

Details: Celebrate the holidays with an array of activities at Riverfront Esplanade, including a holiday bazaar, Santa sightings, live music, a pet parade and more. For a list of specific events and dates, visit https://www. riverfrontesplanade.com/visitfortheholidays.

67TH ANNUAL

GASLIGHT PARADE

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Corner of East Granada Boulevard and Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: Join the Volusia Region Antique Automobile Club of America for its annual antique car parade, featur-

ing vehicles from 2000 and older. The parade will begin at The Casements and will run east on Granada Boulevard, then south on A1A to Harvard Drive.

SATURDAY, NOV. 29

BIRTHPLACE OF SPEED ANTIQUE CAR SHOW

When: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Fortunato Park, 2 John Anderson Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: See the Volusia Region Antique Automobile Club of America's annual antique car show. The award presentation will be held at 3 p.m.

HOLIDAY MARKET

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Flagler County Fairgrounds, 150 Sawgrass Road, Bunnell

Details: Shop over 100 local vendors and food trucks. Santa will be onsite. Free entry.

SHOP SMALL SATURDAY When: 11 a.m.

Where: Downtown Ormond Beach, Granada Boulevard, between A1A and Orchard Street

Details: Support small businesses by shopping local during this Ormond MainStreet event. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be making appearances around town. Enjoy live music, treats, giveaways and more.

PALM COAST TREE

LIGHTING CEREMONY

When: 6-9 p.m.

Where: Central Park at Town Center, 975 Central Ave., Palm Coast

Details: Celebrate the start of the holiday season with the city's tree lighting ceremony and kick off for the Rotary Club of Flagler County's 20th annual Fantasy Lights Festival. Santa Claus will be in

attendance, and there will be food trucks, a letters to Santa station, Santa's Village and kid's crafts.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 3

DSC PRESENTS 'OUR GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY'

HOLIDAY SHOWCASE

When: 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 3 and 4

Where: News-Journal Center, 221 N. Beach St., Daytona Beach

Details: See the Daytona Beach Symphonic Band perform holiday favorites. Free.

THURSDAY, DEC. 4

NIGHTS OF LIGHTS

When: 6-9 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from Dec. 4-20

Where: Green Heritage Nursery, 22 Bimini Lane, Bunnell Details: Enjoy Florida snow, write letters to Santa, take photos with him and make s'mores by the fire. Free admission.

FRIDAY, DEC. 5

HOLIDAY SALE

When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 5; and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6

Where: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ormond Beach, 56 N. Halifax Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: Featuring ornaments, décor, jewelry, gifts, crafts and more. Proceeds benefit outreach programs serving the homeless population. Visit uuormond.info.

FLAGLER FREE CLINIC’S

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

When: 4-7 p.m.

Where: 703 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell

Details: Celebrate the holidays with the Free Clinic community. Entertainment by A.J. Belletto. Refreshments.

THE CASEMENTS 47TH

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GALA

When: 5-9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5; 12-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6-7

Where: The Casements, 25 Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach

Details: Celebrate the start of the holiday season with the annual tree lighting in Rockefeller Gardens at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5. There will e live entertainment, food trucks, train rides, handmade crafts, a tree gallery and more.

CHRISTMAS WITH COMMUNITY HEROES

When: 5:30 p.m.

Where: Walmart, 174 Cypress Point Parkway, Palm Coast

Details: Formerly known as Christmas with a Deputy, this Flagler County event will

take 100 children on a $150 holiday shopping spree. To donate, visit https://www. paypal.biz/cwchflagler. To volunteer as a community hero, or for more information, visit CWCHFlagler@gmail.com.

HOLIDAY CONCERTS WITH THE COMMUNITY CHORUS OF PALM COAST

When: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, and Sunday, Dec. 7

Where: Trinity Presbyterian Church, 156 Florida Park Drive N., Palm Coast

Details: Music performed by the Community Chorus

CRT PRESENTS 'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE'

When: 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 5, 6, 12 and 13; and 3 p.m. Sundays, Dec. 7 and 14

Where: City Repertory Theatre, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, B-207, Palm Coast

Details: City Repertory Theatre is putting on "It's a Wonderful Life," a holiday classic reimagined as a 1940s radio broadcast that tells the story of George Bailey on Christmas Eve. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students. Visit https://crtpalmcoast. com.

SATURDAY, DEC. 6

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA When: 8-10 a.m.

Where: Captain's BBQ, 5862 N. Oceanshore Blvd., Palm Coast Details: The Seawolf Privateers will host a breakfast with Santa. All sales will go toward toys and gifts for local foster and displaced children this holiday. Tickets cost $10 for adults; $6 for children under 12. Visit seawolfprivateers.org/fundraisers.

HOLIDAY AT THE BEACH

PARADE

When: 1-2 p.m.

Where: A1A, North 6th Street to South 6th Street Flagler Beach Details: Head to Flagler Beach to watch a community parade with festive floats, marching bands, classic cars, first responders and more. Hosted by the Rotary Club and the City of Flagler Beach.

VOLUSIA CIVIC BALLET'S 'THE NUTCRACKER' When: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7 Where: Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., Daytona Beach Details: Tickets to the show start at $35.60. The tea tickets are $25 per child as an add-on. Visit civicballetvc.org. STARLIGHT PARADE When: 4-9 p.m.

Santa in the Starlight Parade. Courtesy photo

Amanda’s Dance Center dancers perform at a previous Home for the Holidays parade. Photo by Michele Meyers

Where: Central Park at Town Center, 975 Central Ave., Palm Coast

Details: Watch the Starlight Parade light up Central Park with holiday floats, marching band and Christmas spirit. The pre-parade event starts at 4 p.m. with food vendors and entertainment. The parade will start at 6 p.m.

HEAVEN AND NATURE SING

When: 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 and Sunday, Dec. 7

Where: Central Baptist Church, 152 Fairview Ave., Daytona Beach (Dec. 6); and St. James Episcopal Church, 44 S. Halifax Drive, Ormond Beach (Dec. 7)

Details: The Bel Canto Singers of Daytona Beach will perform Christmas standards and melodies, along with solos. Tickets cost $20 in advance; $25 at the door. Visit belcantodaytona.org.

JINGLE & JAMMIES

SLUMBER PARTY

When: 7 p.m. to midnight

Where: Palm Coast Lanes, 11 Old Kings Road N., Palm Coast

Details: Sip & Bowl and Live

Like Cameron are teaming up for a slumber party with Santa. Dance to your favorite

sing-alongs, party hits and Christmas classics with DJ Big Mike Brown. Palm Coast Lanes is also a toy drive dropoff location.

SUNDAY, DEC. 7 A KINDA WACKY CHRISTMAS CONCERT

When: 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Where: Ormond Beach Presbyterian Church, 105 Amsden Road, Ormond Beach

Detals: The Daytona Beach Choral Society will perform this silly concert featuring songs about ugly sweaters, funny family dynamics and phone-focused gatherings. There will also be a carol singalong to close the concert. Holiday attire encouraged. A free reception with refreshments, karaoke and a photo booth will follow.

HANDEL'S 'MESSIAH'

When: 4 p.m.

Where: Palm Coast United Methodist Church, 6500 Belle Terre Parkway, Palm Coast

Details: See the Christmas portion of Handel's "Messiah" performed live with the Hallelujah Chorus, accompanied by the Chamber Players of Palm Coast. Directed by Paige Dashner Long.

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY

MARKET

When: 5-9 p.m.

Where: Serendipity Marketplace, 5 Commercial Court, Palm Coast

Details: Shop local and celebrate the holiday season with over 60 local vendors.

21ST ANNUAL MEMORIAL

TREE LIGHTING

When: 6 p.m.

Where: The Garden of Memory Mausoleum, 511 Old Kings Road S., Flagler Beach

Details: Flagler Palms Memorial Garden invites the community to attend its memorial tree lighting. Please bring a favorite ornament in remembrance of your loved one. Bring a chair.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10

DINNER WITH SANTA

When: 5:30-7 p.m.

Where: Flagler Palm Coast High School, 5500 E. Highway 100, Palm Coast

Details: Meet Santa Claus and enjoy a pasta dinner. All proceeds benefit local families in need. Hosted by FPC SGA. Tickets are $5.

LIVING NATIVITY

When: 6-9 p.m. Dec. 10-13

Where: Parkview Church, 5435 Belle Terre Parkway, Palm Coast

Details: Walk-through experience depicting the birth of Christ. The event will also include live animals, a petting zoo, photo opportunities, and food for sale.

THURSDAY, DEC. 11

BINGO FUNDRAISER FOR TOYS FOR TOTS

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Flagler County Association of Realtors, 4101 E. Moody Blvd., Bunnell

Details: The Flagler County Association of Realtors and the Women's Council of Realtors are hosting this fundraiser. Bring a new unwrapped toy to be entered in a prize drawing. Entry includes $25 and includes five bingo cards plus a meal ticket. All proceeds will benefit Flagler County Toys for Tots.

CHRISTMAS AT THE OPRY: A NASHVILLE FAMILY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., Daytona Beach

Details: Enjoy a festive evening with timeless classics and the sounds of fiddle and steel guitar. Before the show, there will be a photo opportunity with Santa, his elf and a cup of hot cocoa. Tickets start at $47.72. Visit www.peabodyauditorium.org.

FRIDAY, DEC. 12

BUNNELL CHRISTMAS

When: 5-9 p.m.

Where: JB King Park, 300 Citrus St., Bunnell

Details: Celebrate Christmas with music, games, crafts, an obstacle course, the Grinch, Santa and Mrs. Claus and more. Free.

DSC THEATER PRESENTS 'HOLIDAZZLE: A YEAR WITH FROG & TOAD'

When: 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12; 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13; and 1 p.m.

Rotary Club celebrates 20th anniversary of Fantasy Lights

What began as a little girl’s dream two decades ago has become a treasured community tradition. This year, the Rotary Club of Flagler County Foundation is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Fantasy Lights, a holiday event bringing families together, lighting up Central Park in Town Center in Palm Coast and fundraising for local nonprofits.

Since its inception, the event has generated more than $375,000 in support for the local community, powered by an incredible 36,000 volunteer hours.

Fantasy Lights began in 2006 when Rotary member Bill Butler, former City of Palm Coast landscape architect, brought his daughter Tiffany’s vision of a holiday light show to life in Flagler County. Tiffany, who passed away from a heart condition, had imagined such an event.

“Each year, I think about how far we’ve come and how it all started with Tiffany’s imagination,” said Butler, co-chair of Fantasy Lights. “This 20th anniversary means everything to us. What began with 16 light displays and a few thousand attendees has turned into something extraordinary. I know Tiffany

would be proud.”

Over the years, the event has grown to feature 57 light displays, a miniature train, food trucks, Santa’s Village, snow nights and the annual Taste of the Holidays.

“Our club pours heart and soul into Fantasy Lights every year, but this 20th anniversary milestone makes it even more special,” said Michelle Bartlome, president of the Rotary Club of Flagler County. “This event is about community, service and continuing a legacy that brings joy and purpose to the season.”

Fantasy Lights will take place Nov. 29 to Dec. 30, nightly from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Opening night will coincide with the City of Palm Coast’s tree lighting ceremony and include food trucks, hot cocoa and marshmallow roasting in Santa’s Village.

There will be a special 20th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 6:30 p.m., honoring the legacy of this event and the community that made it thrive. The club will also host the Holiday Market on Dec. 20. Palm Coast will host the Starlight Parade on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 6 p.m. in Central Park. Festivities include photos with Santa starting at 4 p.m. and food trucks from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Pine Trail Elementary shows off a candy-filled float and elven walkers in the 33rd annual Home for the Holidays parade. Photo by Michele Meyers

The 2024 Fantasy Lights Festival kicked off with Palm Coast’s annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.

File photo by Sierra Williams

HOLIDAY BOAT PARADE

SATURDAY,

EAT,

HOLIDAY IN THE GARDENS

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, 6400 N. Oceanshore Blvd., Palm Coast

breakfast voucher.

ANNUAL HOLIDAY TOUR OF HOMES

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Anderson-Price Memorial Building, 42 North Beach St., Ormond Beach

Details: The Ormond Beach Historical Society presents

Details: Enjoy music, art, craft vendors, food trucks and kids activities. Santa will be in attendance. The state park will be collecting donations of non-perishable food and toys for local families. Entry fee is $5 per vehicle.

available agency.

its annual Holiday Tour of Homes, a mix of historic and modern homes. The tour begins at the Anderson-Price Memorial Building. Complimentary buses will run throughout the day. Tickets cost $50 in advance; $60 at the door. Visit www.ormondhistory.org/tour-of-homes.

WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA

When: 11:45 a.m.

Where: Flagler Palm Coast Memorial Gardens, at 511 Old Kings Road S., Flagler Beach; and Volusia Memorial Park, 550 N. Nova Road, Ormond Beach

Details: Volunteer or attend. The event’s mission: remember the fallen, honor those that serve and their families, and teach our children the value of freedom.

34TH ANNUAL HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS PARADE

When: 6 p.m.

Where: West Granada Boulevard, between Ridgewood Avenue and Beach Street, Ormond Beach

Details: This year's theme is "A County Christmas." The parade will include walkers, vehicles and floats and will start at Division Avenue and Ridgewood Avenue, go north until turning east at West Granada Boulevard. The parade will then turn south on Beach Street and end in front of City Hall.

When: 6 p.m.

Where: Cimmaron Basin south to Grand Haven gazebo, Palm Coast

Details: See Palm Coast's holiday boat parade, which begins at the Cimmaron Basin and proceeds south on the Intracoastal Waterway, under the Hammock Dunes bridge to the Grand Haven Gazebo. Ideal viewing spots include Waterfront Park, St. Joe’s Walkway and Canopy Walk. Free. Palm Coast Ford will offer complimentary shuttle service from the European Village and the Daytona State College Palm Coast Campus parking lot from 4-9 p.m.

JINGLE LASER ROCK When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., Daytona Beach

Details: This is a holiday rock spectacle, a laser light show choreographed to Christmas and holiday favorites. Tickets start at $61.92. Visit peabodyauditorium.org.

SUNDAY, DEC. 14

ORMOND BALLET PRESENTS 'UNDER THE MISTLETOE & NUTCRACKER'

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center, 399 N. U.S. 1, Ormond Beach

Details: See Ormond Ballet perform jazz, ballet and contemporary numbers,

Flagler Beach Holiday Parade, Dec. 7, 2024. Photo by Brian McMillan

including excerpts from "The Nutcracker," a Christmas ballet exhibition and a holiday showcase. Tickets cost $35. Visit https://ormondbeachperformingartscenter.csstix. com/.

THURSDAY, DEC. 18

MOAA ANNUAL

CHRISTMAS GALA

When: 5 p.m.

Where: Halifax River Yacht Club, 331 S. Beach St., Daytona Beach

Flagler Cares launches second annual ‘Keep the Holiday Lights on’ Flagler Cares, a one-stop health and social care organization, has launched its Second Annual “Keep the Holiday Lights On” campaign.

This initiative encourages neighbors to help neighbors by sponsoring homes to ensure struggling families can keep their lights on through December. The goal is to sponsor 100 homes at $100 per home, covering one month’s electric bill for families who might otherwise face utility cut-offs during the holidays, a Flagler Cares press release said.

Donations can be made now through the end of the year on the “Keep the Holiday Lights On” webpage at www.flaglercares.org/holiday. Check donations may also be mailed or dropped off at Flagler Cares, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B302, Palm Coast, FL 32164.

Supporters are welcome to contribute any amount to help brighten the season for their fellow residents.

Details: The Halifax Area Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America will hold its annual Christmas gala and silent auction, where 100% of the auction's proceeds go to scholarships and programs benefitting local cadets and community partners. Tickets cost $75 per person and include dinner. Reservations required by Dec. 11. Visit halifaxchaptermoaa.com.

Flagler Cares Chief Executive Officer Carrie Baird said at Flagler Cares, they hear firsthand about the challenges facing their neighbors.

“With this campaign, we want to make sure families and seniors don’t have to choose between paying their electric bill and celebrating the holidays,” Baird said. “It’s a simple but powerful way for our community to extend a hand — neighbors helping neighbors with most basic needs.”

As homes are sponsored, donors can watch the campaign’s progress online as homes on the page light up — a symbol of the community’s shared compassion and care, the press release said.

Families in need may apply for assistance beginning Dec. 1 through the same webpage. Flagler Cares will review applications based on financial need, reported hardship, and on a first-come, firstserved basis.

In addition to bill assistance, any client who applies for help will be connected with Flagler Cares’ wrap-around services, the press release said. For more information or to sponsor a home, visit www.flaglercares.org/holiday or call (386) 319-9483 ext. 7.

DINNER WITH SANTA When: 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Where: Metro Diner, 110 Palm Coast Parkway, Palm Coast

Details: Stop and get your photo with Santa, make a holiday craft, and enjoy holiday food specials.

FRIDAY, DEC. 19

HANDBELLS FOR THE

HOLIDAYS When: 4-5 p.m.

Where: Ormond Memorial Art Museum, 78 E. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach

Details: See the St. James Ringers Handbell Choir perform holiday music in the garden gazebo. All ages welcome.

HALIFAX REPERTORY

THEATRE PRESENTS

'JINGLES & JAMMIES'

When: 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21

Where: Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center, 399 N. U.S. 1, Ormond Beach

Details: Join HRT for a fundraiser featuring singers performing Christmas favorites in holiday pajamas. Wear your favorite Christmas jammies or holiday sweater. Tickets cost $35. https://ormondbeachperformingartscenter. csstix.com.

SATURDAY, DEC. 20

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA When: 8-10 a.m.

Where: Serendipity Marketplace, 5 Commercial Court, Palm Coast

Details: Enjoy a breakfast and share a visit with Santa. Tickets cost $15 for one child. Additional children are $12. Parent's breakfast is $8. Visit https://breakfast-with-santa-46899.cheddarup.com.

CHRISTMAS BINGO AT THE MARKETPLACE When: 1:30-4 p.m.

Where: Serendipity Marketplace, 5 Commercial Court, Palm Coast Details: Attend a jolly after-

noon of Christmas bingo.

Tickets cost $25 in advance; $30 per person at the door. Visit https://my.cheddarup. com/c/christmas-bingo-atthe-marketplace/items.

TUESDAY, DEC. 30

FAMILY TALES: NOON

YEAR'S EVE

When: 11:30 a.m.

Where: Ormond Beach

Regional Library, 30 S. Beach St., Ormond Beach

Details: Families will enjoy counting rhymes and stories in preparation to celebrate

the countdown to noon. A New Year’s Eve craft will accompany the storytime. Free program.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31

NEW YEARS 2025 SURFBOARD DROP

When: 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Where: Veterans Park, 105 S. 2nd St., Flagler Beach

Details: Celebrate the New Year with a surfboard drop at midnight. There will be games, music, food and fireworks.

ONGOING 'MAGIC OF LIGHTS' When: 6-10 p.m. daily through Jan. 3

Where: Daytona International Speedway Details: "Magic of Lights" will transforms Daytona International Speedway into a drive-through holiday-themed light display for the eighth annual year. Over 2 million LED lights. Tickets start at $27.95. Visit MagicOfLights.com/ Dsaytona.

the fallen those that gave all

Old Kings

Scenes from the Palm Coast Holiday Boat Parade. Photo by Danny Broadhurst