On May 7, 2021 at 6:30pm CDT, the 66th Annual Krewe of Bowlegs Coronation Pageant took place the the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Soon a Bowlegs TV website will be up and past & present krewe members will be able to view past coronation videos. Stay Tune!
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Inaugural ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion 2022
On October 22, 2022, the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted the Inaugural ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds. Ted Corcoran, CEO of the FWB Chamber, was Master of Ceremony.
Below is a replay video of the event. If you have a Smart TV, search for and install the VidFlow app to watch this video on your big screen TV. This video player also also you to select chapter points to specific speakers and presentations.
Ten of the original 12 members of ODA 595 were in attendance for this inaugural reunion event.
Captain Mark Nutsch – Detachment Commander
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bob Pennington – Assistant Detachment Commander
Master Sergeant Paul Evans – Team and Operations Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Andy Marchal – Intelligence Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Steve Kofron. – Weapons Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Mike Elmore – Weapons Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Chad Jacklet– Engineer Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Steve Bleigh—Medical Sergeant
Sergeant First Class Vince Makela – Communications Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Will Summers– Communications Sergeant
Not in Attendance:
- Staff Sergeant USAF Steve E. Tomat – Tactical Air Control Party (TACP)
- Staff Sergeant USAF Joseph Matt Lienhard– Air Force Special Operations Combat Controller from Special Tactics Squadron
Several prominent guest speakers included Florida House District #4 representative Patt Maney, former CIA Directorate of Operations officer Alex Hernandez, former USAF Chief of Staff for a Theater Special, retired Col Glenn Thomas, and the son of Doolittle Raiders Col Dick Cole, Richard Cole.
A special commemorative canteen cup was created by the Bohlin Company and presented to each member of ODA 595 in honor and recognition of their heroic actions in America’s first response against the Taliban after the 911 attack.
This event was made possible through the support of several local community sponsors.
If you are interested in learning more about ODA 595 as well as other stories about America’s 1st response to the 911 attacks, check out these sources:
First Casualty by Toby Harnden
Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
Swords of Lightning – Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America’s Response to 911
12 Strong – The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers
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Emerald Coast Sing Off 2013 – Highlights
On April 14, 2013, fourteen finalists battled it out to determine who would be this year’s Emerald Coast Sing Off champion. Watch a highlights video of the entire event.
Congratulations to Seventeen year old Brittany Weeks, from Niceville, FL – the Emerald Coast Sing Off 2013 – WINNER, with Head Judge, Geoff McBride.
To capture the title Brittany stole the hearts, and the votes of the judges and the fans, when she sang an original song she wrote called “Beautiful Soul”, and followed that up in the final round with “Feeling Good” by Michael Buble. And both songs were sang A Capella.
Also, congratulations to 16 year old Jennifer Johnson for coming in second,
Meghan Erlacher for winning third place,
Jonny Shidemantle 4th and
CJ Peake 5th.
And congrats to all 14 finalists who competed against 200 awesome singers from three states that auditioned, and were chosen to advance to the elimination round of 35, and then sang again and were chosen to compete in the finals round of 14. Therefore, all 14 singers in the finals were multiple winners who had to put in many hours of hard work to get to the finals, – and they are all champions.
* For more information about this event, go to the website at www.EmeraldCoastSingOff.com.
** If you are interested in a DVD of this event or a specific performer, contact us.
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Official 2018 Billy Bowlegs Torchlight Parade
The 63rd Billy Bowlegs Festival closes it’s celebration with it’s Torchlight Parade on Monday night on Eglin Parkway in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The parade took place on June 4, 2018.
It is hosted by the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce (Ted Corcoran) and this year’s parade sponsor, Step One Automotive (Maureen Bierman).
This 90 minute video airs on ox Cable Channel 6 at various times and dates throughout the month of June. It was produced by EmeraldCoastTV.com .
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Billy Bowlegs Torchlight Parade! Here are the 1st Place winners in each category:
Float
1st Place: Emerald Coast Krewe of Airship PiratesKrewe
1st Place: Krewe of BowlegsMarching/Walking
1st Place: Liza Jackson Prep Lion Pride BandTruck/Car/Van
1st Place: The Salty Dogs of Community BroadcastersAlso check out a highlights video of our roving pirate reporter, David Seering, as he talks to spectators and parade participants.
