Happy new year! Although we had a great Christmas season I am very happy it is behind us. The holiday season wreaks havoc on the printing industry and as hard as we tried to get our books out, it wasn’t to be. Lights, presents, parties, family, shopping, sweets, more family and realizing the reason for the season took over. Kudos to a wonderful season and great 2018 and we look forward to the new year with much excitement. We have a second new magazine, new racks, and larger distribution as we move into 2019 and our production schedule went from 6 to 18 overnight. We are a little nervous but we are looking forward to promoting the great region of Florida from the Gulf to the Atlantic!
The new year kicks off with several great festivals planned for the area. We have the Fiddler Crab Festival, The Quilt Festival, the Spring Art Festival and the Brew Fest all happening within the first three months of this year! Lots to do and lots to see and you can read all about them in our magazine. Please make plans to attend at least one of these fun events!
We have some new advertisers in this edition; The Island Hotel and Restaurant, Cedar Inn and Cheek Drugs. We also have some old favorites back in with us; Good Times Marina, Ken’s Kettle Corn, Piddler’s Pointe, and Old Florida Celebration of the Arts. We also say goodbye to one of the biggest supporters, The Salty Needle in Cedar Key. Owner Beth Davis has decided to retire and spend more time with her family. We wish Beth all the best and thank her for all the loyalty and support she has shown us over the years.
Finally, we have some great reading for this issue. Salt Addiction Charters discusses “Steinhatchee Fishing”, Toni Collins brings us “The Caboose” and “Florida Pioneer Spirit”, Bev Ringenberg brings us a preview of the “Old Florida Celebration of the Arts” festival, Dr. Stefanie Gazda brings us an update on “Cedar Key Dolphin Project” and very unique fundraiser they are having, and finally Jeff Carey gives us another in-depth article on one of the many waterways in the area, “Manatee Springs, a Different Perspective.” History, entertainment, outdoors and wildlife. We have a little bit of everything for this edition and we hope you enjoy it.
Finally, we start our third year of The Hidden Coast Magazine in 2019 and we are very proud of how our little magazine continues to grow. We enjoyed meeting several of our readers at two events in the fall and look forward to seeing more of you this year. Happy New Year!