Children’s Volunteer Health Network (CVHN) will host its fifth annual Hurricane Party on Friday, November 13, from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. The bay-front party will be held at “Bentley’s on the Bay,” and feature the rootsy, funky, jazzy, Latin dance music of Jose Conde (www.olafresca.com).

CVHN is a local faith-based non-profit organization that provides free medical, dental and mental health care for uninsured and underinsured children in Okaloosa and Walton counties.

“We are changing the Hurricane Party up this year with an old style Havana Cuban theme,” said CVHN board member Reynolds Henderson. “This is going to be a very unique music experience for the people of South Walton, and the bay-front venue at Bentley’s is just perfect for this kind of party.”

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The Village of Baytowne Wharf at Sandestin® Golf and Beach Resort is the only place on Florida’s Gulf Coast where ghosts and goblins can get a long list of treats and can be found gliding across an outdoor ice rink this Halloween.

Plan now for The Village of Baytowne Wharf’s festive Halloween celebration which includes:

- Trick or Treat Street from 6-7:30 p.m. at which time children are invited to dress up and visit Village merchants for free goodies and treats. 
- Abrakadoodle will be the featured children’s entertainment at the events plaza, providing materials for children to decorate guitars so they can rock out with the DJ that will be playing on stage from 6-8 p.m.
- Magician Rick Moore will perform a magic show featuring a Houdini Escape at 7:30 p.m. on the Events Plaza Stage.
- To celebrate this Halloween, The Village of Baytowne Wharf will sponsor a special fireworks display at 8 p.m.
- The season’s debut of the Village’s outdoor ice skating rink will take place 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Admission to the rink is $8 and skate rental is $2.  Bring a coat for “Coats for Kids” and buy one ticket and get one free for the ice rink.
- In the evening hours, The Village of Baytowne Wharf is the local place to be with a festive atmosphere, eateries, entertainment and more for adults.

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Next Wednesday, check out the launch of the expanded Sinfonia season program the bravo! beat. Enjoy the free concert featuring the Silverwood String Quartet (you will recognize several of the members from their moonlighting role in the Irish group Mithril.) Bring your blankets and take advantage of the wine specials from Lumpy’s. Enter to win VIP tickets to Pink Martini and a bottle of Silver Palm Cabernet.

Chef Phillip McDonald of Table Five, who contributed a beautiful and mouthwatering article in the fall issue of VIE, is preparing a sumptuous spread for “Flavors of the Fall” at La Botana on October 29, 2009. The delicious menu will be paired with exclusive wines from California’s prestigious J Vineyards with live music by Bill Cole. Tickets are going fast so be sure to call 850.231.0716 if you don’t want to miss out on this great opportunity.

[Photo by Kay Phelan]

Today the Northwest Florida Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) held their October professional development luncheon at Marlin Grill in Baytowne Wharf. Organizers for this monthly event decided to switch things up a bit  and host a conversational panel of experts on a hot topic these days: Social Media. Tracy Louthain from the Beaches of South Walton moderated the panel and VIE’s publisher Lisa Burwell had the distinct honor of presenting as one of the panelists along with Stacey Brady from Grand Boulevard, Lori Ceier of Walton Outdoors and Adam Shiland of Shiland Creative Group. We had a lively discussion and a few funny moments as panelists divulged personal stories and opinions about the good, bad and the ugly of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Everyone seemed to walk away armed with new information and fresh ideas about how to move forward in this fast-paced burgeoning realm of the industry.