Eglin Federal Credit Union was one of five credit unions nationwide to earn the Designation of Savings Excellence (DOSE) Award for its efforts during Veteran Saves Week 2025. The DOSE Award is an industry-respected annual honor that recognizes financial institutions that actively and effectively promote saving strategies during Veteran Saves Week, which took place Nov. 4–7, 2025.
At their January 27 meeting, the Walton County Board of Commissioners addressed a range of projects affecting residents, public spaces, and local infrastructure. Eastern Lake was a major topic. More than 60 residents and stakeholders attended a public workshop to oppose new amenities, including restrooms and dune walkovers. Commissioners voted to table the project, keeping the lake area undeveloped for the time being.
There are places where history doesn’t sit behind glass. It walks the sidewalk at dusk. It waits on shaded porches. It gathers—still—when given the right invitation.
Lake DeFuniak has always been one of those places.
Nearly perfectly round and improbably calm, the lake has long served as both compass and common ground for DeFuniak Springs. In the late nineteenth century, it drew educators, thinkers, musicians and families from across the country for the Florida Chautauqua—an ambitious experiment in lifelong learning that once placed this small Panhandle town at the center of a national cultural movement.
Two seats on the Walton County Board of County Commissioners will be on the ballot in 2026: District 2 and District 4. The Primary Election, if required, is scheduled for August 18, 2026, followed by the General Election on November 3, 2026.
Summit on the Circle returns to Lake DeFuniak April 23–26, 2026, for a spring weekend shaped by music, conversation, and the stories that connect us to place and one another. Set within the Lake DeFuniak Historic District, the second annual gathering offers thoughtfully curated experiences rooted in Southern hospitality, culture, and community—inviting guests to slow down, linger, and listen.
A film that marks the first chapter in a series that uses DeFuniak Springs as a lens on small-town America—its landscapes, its rhythms, and the community organizations that shape them.
