More than 150 community leaders gathered Jan. 14 to formally open the newest location of Northwest Florida State College, the NWFSC South Walton Center located off of U.S. 331 South, near South Walton High School. The college also dedicated the Allyn C. Donaldson Entrepreneurial Institute, which is housed at the center and named in honor of Donaldson, a Santa Rosa Beach resident and long-time supporter of the college’s educational and cultural programs.
    The South Walton Center becomes NWFSC’s seventh instructional location in the two-county region and its second center in Walton County, where the college also operates the Chautauqua Center in DeFuniak Springs. Other NWFSC educational centers are located in Crestview, Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field, as well as campus locations in Niceville and Fort Walton Beach.
    The NWFSC South Walton Center has been in the works for more than 15 years from planning to completion. The college’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Wesley Wilkerson of DeFuniak Springs, and interim president Dr. Tom Delaino recognized various individuals who played a key role in the vision and planning for the center including the late James King, former Walton County School District Superintendent, and Van Ness Butler, a former Walton County Commissioner. Also cited were former college Walton County trustees Sally Merrifield, Elizabeth Campbell, Janet Campbell and Allyn Donaldson for their role in the project as well as numerous other former and current college trustees, governmental officials and community leaders. “Suffice it to say, this educational center for South Walton has been the goal and dream of many in the community and we thank all who had a part of bringing this dream to reality,” said Delaino….
    Read the full story in the Jan. 21, 2010 edition of the Herald Breeze.