SHALIMAR A children’s park in Bluewater Bay to honor a boy who died in an early 2019 accident could be ready to open to the public in April.
Twelve-year-old Abram Sitcer died April 28, 2019, when his bicycle was struck by a car at the roundabout intersection of Bluewater Boulevard and Southwind Drive in Bluewater Bay.
In remembrance of Abram, the owners of the Bluewater Bay Golf Course have donated a 1-acre parcel on Southwind Drive, about a quarter-mile south of the accident scene, for the park, to be called Abram Park.
The golf course owners partnered with Okaloosa County, the Bluewater Bay Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU) and the nonprofit Friends of Bluewater Bay to establish the park.
“I want to thank everyone who made donations,” said Jeff Werner, proprietor of the show. “Your amazing generosity shattered every previous donation record that we had. This is your donation, not mine, and I’m proud of how much you’ve helped C.A.L.M. to do their mission.”
C.A.L.M. is an all-volunteer organization with the stated mission to “break the generational bonds of poverty for single moms and their children in Northwest Florida.”
The organization operates a transitional home in Niceville, where eligible moms go through a five-month course to learn how to live independently, and then transition into a new life.
“It’s geek magic,” he responds with a smile.
His glib response belies the creativity, time and effort that goes into producing the animated light show that he puts on every year in his yard at the corner of Antiqua Way and Bluewater Boulevard in Niceville. Werner has been a software engineer for more than 35 years and is the Daily News columnist advising readers on computer problems. Werner clearly knows his tech.
Now in its 13th year, the 25-minute-long show features about 110,000 lights, individually controlled and mixed with music. Interwoven into the light and music show is a personal message from Werner about the meaning of Christmas.