by Kerri Parker | Sep 30, 2025 | Podcast, Walton & Beyond
In this episode of the HWY 331 podcast, host Kerri Parker speaks with Megan Harrison, President and CEO of the Walton County Area Chamber of Commerce. They discuss the importance of leadership, community growth, and the challenges faced by small businesses in Walton County. Megan shares her journey in chamber leadership, the upcoming ‘Next Big Thing’ event, and the need for collaboration within the community. They also touch on the significance of mentorship and the infrastructure challenges that impact local businesses. The conversation emphasizes the chamber’s role in connecting businesses and fostering a thriving community.
by Kerri Parker | Sep 15, 2025 | Businesses, Communities, DeFuniak Springs, Freeport, Podcast, Walton & Beyond
What if a theater could do more than entertain—what if it could connect an entire community? That’s exactly what Anna Fisher, Associate Artistic Director of the Emerald Coast Theatre Company, is doing in Walton County. Since 2012, Anna has helped grow ECTC from a small after-school program into a thriving professional theatre that now spans Walton County—from their headquarters in Miramar Beach at Grand Boulevard, to the historic theater in DeFuniak Springs, and most recently, to Freeport.
by Kerri Parker | Aug 25, 2025 | Communities, Podcast, Walton & Beyond
In this episode, Kerri Parker speaks with Cecilia Canut about the initiatives of Keep Walton Beautiful, a program dedicated to enhancing the environment of Walton County through community engagement, litter prevention, and sustainability efforts.
by Kerri Parker | Jul 31, 2025 | Podcast
In this episode we connect you with Christian Wagley, a science-rooted environmental advocate working with Healthy Gulf organization. Christian brings a deeply personal connection to this work, sharing a childhood memory fishing with his grandfather —when he first witnessed the loss of a thriving yellow perch population to pollution. That early experience ignited a lifelong commitment to protecting water and communities. In this conversation, we explore what it means to pursue science-driven advocacy and how that expertise is rooted in place.
by Kerri Parker | May 26, 2025 | Businesses, Communities, DeFuniak Springs, Podcast, Walton & Beyond
What if the most profound detour of your beach vacation… was a perfect circle? Not metaphorically. A literal, spring-fed, mathematically rare, perfectly round lake…hidden just off HWY 331.
by Kerri Parker | Apr 14, 2025 | Businesses, Communities, Podcast, Walton & Beyond
This episode is all about the power of coming together—about what can happen when business owners stop seeing each other as competition and start seeing each other as community. At the heart of that mission in Freeport, Florida, is the Freeport Merchant Association—and at the heart of that is today’s guest, William “Bill” Blanken.
