September is here, and where the summer went I have no idea. We stayed
very busy throughout July & August and we are now in a position
to announce our big news from the last post. We are expanding south into
Citrus and Sumter counties starting with this edition. This is a
beautiful area of the state and that is growing leaps and bounds! If you
have never been to the area I urge you take a day trip and explore the
surroundings. Homosassa, Crystal River, Inverness, Dunedin, Hernando,
Beverly Hills, Lecanto and The Villages are all located in this area.
With this we are tripling our rack presence throughout the North Florida
area. Although we cover the seven counties of The Hidden Coast we
distribute our magazines well beyond those county lines. In fact, you
can currently find us in 15 counties, from the Gulf to the Atlantic! We
continue to have our rack at the Florida Welcome Center on I-75 and we
also have our partnership with S&S Food Stores along the I-75 and I-10
corridor. These are valuable tools to help spread the word about our
publications.
It has been a lot of work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am
blessed to have a family that pitches in whenever there is a need and I
am truly blessed to be living and working in this part of the country. I
sometimes don’t even notice the incredible scenery I drive by daily
since I have so much on my mind. I am reminded of that when I tell people
what I do for a living and their answer is always the same, “Wow, are you lucky!
What a job.”
We are excited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cedar Key
Seafood Festival on our September cover. We took part in this event last
year and plan to be back again this year. The Cedar Key Lions Club puts
on quite a show and they are a super bunch to work with. We teamed up
with the chamber in late spring and summer and worked on a couple side
projects in addition to our magazines. In return they helped us create a
two-page special section promoting strictly Cedar Key businesses.
The feed back was tremendous and both pages sold out quickly! A big
thanks for Sue and Nancy for all their time and effort.
We also have our usual advertisers and article contributors in as well.
Leslie Noel Sturmer and Savanna Barry, both from the University of
Florida IFAS program, contributed an informative article on the
Big Bend Shellfish Trail that spreads throughout the area. Jeff Cary
submitted another great article about his diving expeditions and
some of the treasures, and friends, he finds below the surface.
Toni Collins has the first of a two part series in this edition, detailing the
end of the Civil War and the collapse of the Confederate government.
Interesting piece of history, for sure, that all came to an end just up I-75
in South Georgia.
As mentioned earlier we will be at the Cedar Key Seafood Festival in
October. Please look for our tent and stop by and say hello. We will
have giveaways along with some other goodies! We will also be doing the
the VisitFLA Fall Showcase at the I-75 Welcome Center in November. Like
last year we don’t do a lot of trade shows, but these fall within 10 days of
one another again in 2019.
Finally, our 2nd big announcement. We are now selling “The Last of Old
Florida” apparel on our website! This comes in the form of shirts and
hats with much more on the horizon. We thought that tagline was perfect
when we started our magazine four years ago, and we decided to take it a
step further. Please take a moment and take a peek at what we have – and
keep checking back! The holidays are coming… hint, hint.
Thehiddencoastmag.com
Enjoy the fall and the beautiful change of season we have locally. Until the next
time… thank you for reading our little magazine.