Before every performance, Pamela Strecker made one final walk.
She moved through the backstage area from one side to the other, checking on every actor, calling out final cues, making sure nothing had been missed. Then, just before heading up to the booth, she would turn around, look out at the cast and raise a hand in the air.
“Be brilliant.”
It caught on. Cast members started saying it to each other.
Strecker,61, who served as stage manager and eight-year president of Stage Crafters Community Theater in Fort Walton Beach, died earlier this month after a battle with cancer. She had been part of the organization for more than two decades, arriving as a shy backstage helper in 1999 and becoming the heartbeat of one of Northwest Florida’s most beloved volunteer arts organizations.

While heavy rain may have forced event organizers to change the venue to the Gracey Community Center on Memorial Day, the City of Milton still showed up to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.