Story By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Photos By GERALD BROWN

Wakulla STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), held its first Maker Derby on Saturday, July 18 at the livestock pavilion at the extension office.

The derby cars, made from a block of wood, are fitted with plastic wheels and metal axles, and decorated with paint, decals, or other creative details.
To emphasize creativity and individuality, some contestants personalized their cars to resemble sharks, ketchup bottles, a block of cheese, a pink flamingo – even an America 250! car was created.

With adult guidance, contestants cut, carved, and shaped the wood, then painted and decorated the car. Additional modifications such as adding weights to optimize speed or adjusting wheel alignment were made for the competitive racing.
The car must meet specific size and weight limits, not to exceed 5 ounces, as well as conform to restrictions in length of 2 ¾ inches, a width of 3/8 inches, and a height of 3 inches.

The races are friendly competitions that teach kids about physics, engineering, and sportsmanship, as well as factors like weight distribution, friction, and aerodynamics, and how they affect a car’s performance.
With a pinewood derby track borrowed from the Wakulla County Boy Scouts Pack 5, more than 50 cars raced, competing for trophies designed and printed by STEAM event organizer, Tyson Folsom.
Derby cars were placed into youth, teen, adult and outlaw categories. Cars that exceeded the strict requirements for racing were placed in the outlaw category, and competed against each other exclusively.
Each car raced on the track four separate times, with the slowest time being dropped, and then averaging the remaining three times together for the time.
Within the Youth category, Asa Havird took home first place with a time of 2.5253 seconds followed by Tyler Fortenberry with a time of 2.5727 seconds, and third place went to Asa’s sister, Emily Havird with a time of 2.6900 seconds.
First place in the teen category went to Jackson Lovel, with a time of 2.6350 seconds; Fisher Lovel took home the second-place with a 2.6847 second score, and Jace Perez took third place with a time of 2.7310 seconds.
Adults competed, and Christa Bingel took home first place with a time of 2.4483 seconds. Kyle Barnes took second place with 2.5107 seconds, and Karen Zak won third place with 2.5380 seconds.
The outlaw category went to Robbie Baker with 2.4540 seconds, following close behind was Erik Barns with 2.4797 seconds and Christa Bingel, again, took another win with her third place time of 2.4900 seconds.
A computer software program called “Grand Prix Manager” was used to record times. During the event, David Pienta, event emcee, said, “If these cars were normal cars, the derby cars would be running about 180 miles per hour or more.”
Community partners such as the Wakulla County Public Library, Wakulla 4-H, Wakulla Boy Scouts Pack 5, as well as the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, local businesses, and many volunteers, pulled together to make this event a huge success.
Folsom, of Wakulla STEAM said, “We learned a lot today, and we’re already looking forward to making next year’s event even bigger and better. Thank you, Wakulla County, for reminding us of what a wonderful community we have.
“Thank you to every participant and family who joined us,” Folsom added. “Your creativity, sportsmanship, and excitement made the very first Wakulla Maker Derby something truly special.”
Dr. Rachel Pienta, of Wakulla 4-H said, “This is my first derby and I learned a lot, it was great to see the community together to make this event happen, and this here, says a lot about our community.”

By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Correspondent

Noreen Britt is the face of the Wakulla County’s rec park. After 34 years as Wakulla’s trusted “go to” for all recreational athletic related programs, Britt is retiring.
Alongside her duties at the rec park, Britt has also been dually employed with the Wakulla School Board. “I worked 37 hours a week at the school board alongside the rec park for 35 hours a week – for a 72 hour every week – for 22 years. I worked weekends too, but it is something that I love. The personal satisfaction is simply great.”

Outside coaching, Britt has filled many roles in the school system. In 2004, she worked at Wakulla High School making copies. A semester later, she was the attendance guru. She also worked under the assistant principal and in the guidance department.
“I coached girls’ tennis at Wakulla High School for 16 years and went to state a couple of times, which was a big accomplishment for me.”
The rec park is where Britt laid her foundation in Wakulla County. “I started working the summer camp program in 2006 with Jamie Lay, keeping kids in order. Then Brian Roddenberry wanted me to run the sports program. I helped with concession stands during football season at night and I became full time.
“I worked weekends too, doing tackle football, soccer, T-ball, more soccer, flag football,” she says. “I did scheduling, helped coaches with teams and schedules, and helped with uniforms.”
Britt has instilled good sportsmanship in athletes by stressing sharing.
“We are here at the rec park to have fun, and win or lose, we don’t care, this is recreation, not World Cup soccer,” she says. “I understand folks are passionate about sports, we are out here to have fun.”
Looking back, Britt said, “I made a lot of friends working for Wakulla County in both jobs. At the rec park, I worked with a lot of diverse backgrounds; I was unbiased about everything, and we played games by the rules. Our main goal is to coach these children in sports and to have fun playing.”
Britt adds: “It was many years and many hours I have worked, but I enjoyed doing it, and that is why I kept doing it for so long. Now, I have four grandchildren and although I’ll still be at the rec park, I’ll be able to be there watching and enjoying them.
“I also have an Alaska trip booked with my daughter Kaycee Britt,” she says. “We enjoy cruises because they are relaxing and fun. I may start taking two cruises a year now!”
She says thank you to Wakulla County for all the many years of fun, good sportsmanship, learning all the ins and outs of education and meeting great people.

Story by LINDA ANN McDONALD/Correspondent
Photos by GERALD BROWN

Wakulla Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary Post 4538 hosted the 3rd annual A Salute To Our Veterans event at the Wakulla County Community Center on Friday and Saturday, June 26-27th.

The free event provided information and resources connecting veterans and their families to useful resources such as medical and VA services including financial services, counseling support, Career Source and Hospice’s Valor Program.
Wakulla Animal Group was present at the event promoting animal support opportunities and adoptions, as well as FSU Health, and First Florida Credit Union.
Officials from the office of U.S. Senator Ashley Moody and Congresman Neal Dunn were on hand, as well as County Commissioners Ralph Thomas and Fred Nichols, both of whom are veterans, were present to support the event.
Event founder Sean Golder of the VFW, a retired veteran, said, “I participated in Tallahassee’s Stand Down events and I wanted to take a piece and make it my own, here in Wakulla.
“We want to take the concept of ‘Call to Action’ when local service providers provide free provision of actual services,” he said. “We believe in this event because we want to bring the services to them. For example, the counseling provided by A Time to Change Counseling, the point of meeting at this event is to get at least the first face-to-face meeting here, and they can move forward.
“It is not mystery why you are here, come talk to a counselor, get any type of help you need here, it’s all here in one place,” Golder said.
“Also, our veterans enjoy the comradery. We just want everyone to know this is a safe place. This is for people like me, my brothers and sisters who need help getting through the red tape. We are not here to hand walk anyone, we are here to ask you as soon as you walk in the door ‘What is it you think you need?’ and offer the reassurance that they don’t have to navigate this all on their own.

“From veterans, we also get a lot of, ‘I don’t know what I need.’ From there, we ask, ‘Are you enrolled?’ and we take it from there, we take them and introduce them to the area of assistance they need and get them connected.”
Speaking of his passion, Golder said, “Several of us are retired and changed from active duty to retired, but I still have the same passion as I did back then. Our mission is, if we help one veteran with the services they earned, this event is a success. When we get a call from a veteran widower, we are here to talk about last wishes or finding documents, and this is the family piece of our event.”
Golder added: “I remember I worked with a couple looking for house remodeling services, and there was a lot of road blocks to get them connected. That is why we are here today, to help people who don’t know how to navigate the system and then, that’s the piece of where a veteran helps a veteran.”
Ryan Adkins of the VFW was working as an event check-in volunteer at the event. “I like giving back to all who were deployed, who deployed for us. We helped about 70 veterans last night and we hope to help even more with today’s event.”
Bobby Mills, a volunteer who took off from work to offer his help at the event, said, “I served 21 years active duty and have been deployed numerous times, I am now retired and this is a wonderful event to help veterans.”
Walter Harris of the Veteran’s Services assists with claims for benefits with the VA.
“We are a conduit between the VA and the vet, and we help with claims and benefits and help navigate the process. It is a tremendous feeling to help veterans, and this is something I wanted to do, to give back to the community.”
Golder is in the process of creating another event for dental and vision service provision with the help of PanCare.
“The assistance for Veterans does not stop with this weekend, we are here everyday to help any veteran and their family,” he said.

The City of St. Marks was invited by the Florida Institute for Build Environment Resilience (FIBER) to and attended the Urban Futures Workshop on May 7 in Gainesville.
City Manager Katherine Gatewood and City Clerk Paula Bell attended the workshop to collaborate with other Florida municipalities, UF’s College of Design, Construction and Planning, and the Duke Energy Foundation.

FIBER is interdisciplinary research institute within the University of Florida’s College of Design, Construction and Panning dedicated to advancing research, design, and planning strategies that help communities address environmental, economic, and development challenges.
The initiative focuses on small Florida communities located within Duke Energy’s service territory that include designated Opportunity Zones, as well as other depressed areas that may benefit from strategic design and urban development concept ideas. The program aims to foster collaboration between local leaders, university researchers, and design experts to explore strategies that can support community revitalization and long-term resilience.
Participants engaged with faculty from UF and invited experts. The workshop included presentations, discussions, and roundtable sessions designed to exchange knowledge, identify local priorities, and explore potential strategies to support the future development of participating communities.
At no cost to the city, the initiative was made possible through the support of the Duke Energy Foundation, whose commitment to strengthening communities across Florida helps make efforts like this possible.
With coastal resilience the focus of Gatewood’s presentation, resilience problems identified included: historic tidal and stormwater flooding, FEMA AE/VE flood zones, aging drainage infrastructure, and businesses hesitate to invest.
Gatewood pointed out challenges such as financial constraints, deferred maintenance, limited staff capacity, no stormwater master plan and barriers to competitive funding despite being in a Rual Area of Opportunity as to reasons why the city’s resilience problems have not been solved.
A “cycle” was acknowledged and identifies with flooding risk yields investment discouragement, less investment yields limited revenue, followed by limited revenue proves no infrastructure upgrades, and finally, no upgrades equal continued flooding.
Gatewood illuminated opportunities for St. Marks by sharing that stormwater mitigation reduces risk, builds investor confidence, supports downtown redevelopment, and proved stormwater equals economic development.
After collaboration with workshop participants, a Case Study Focus was created highlighting a downtown stormwater mitigation plan, drainage improvements, potential green infrastructure, and flood mitigation strategies.

By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Correspondent

Keep Wakulla County Beautiful held the Greatest American Cleanup Community Celebration on Saturday, June 13, with games, vendors, raffle tickets, food and information from environmentally friendly and health groups at Hudson Park.

In effort to “Let’s Make America Shine for America’s 250th Birthday,” participants were challenged to help pick up 250 pieces of litter, adopt 50 more miles of roads to reach a 250-mile goal, and plant trees to meet a goal of 250 planted trees, all in effort to make Wakulla County cleaner and more beautiful.
Adding to the fun filled day, a hazardous waste relay race was held, providing a ton of laughs for onlookers. With funny tasks to complete such as racing to open a sealed 55-gallon drum to find a full hazmat suit, groups of four had to suit up and run as part of the fun. The event was led by Kalli Hiemier, of Keep Florida Beautiful. First Place was awarded to the Bad Bozeman Bunnies, Second Place went to the Trash Getters and the Green Goblins took home Third Place.
Visitors to the event had the opportunity to soak Wakulla County Commissioners Fed Nichols, Josh Lawhon, and Quincee Messersmith, along with Clerk of Court Greg James, in a dunk tank to help raise funds for the event. ,
“It’s cold water,” Nichols said, “but it feels good and it’s for a good cause.”
Rachell Mathis of KWCB said, “We are here to honor 250 years of history, and we want to help Wakulla County shine.”
Five-dollar hot dog lunches were available to hungry participants who wanted to help the cause.
KWCB wants to thank all road adopters, volunteers, cleanup participants, raffle ticket purchasers and everyone for their participation and smiles, laughter, and splashes that made for great memories. A special thanks to Christina Sanabria for organizing the event.
Speaking about the impact KWCB has on the county, Rotarian Andy Riddle said, “I’ve been with Rotary for 7 years of service and working the litter event on Arran Road every year; this year we picked up the least amount of trash. KWCB is making a huge difference.”
Participating groups included Wakulla Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention, and Wakulla 4-H, Sarracenia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, Wakulla Garden Club, Wakulla Animal Shelter, Florida Wild Mammal Association, Tallahassee Region Environmental Group, Wakulla Environmental Institute and Wakulla County Christian Coalition.

By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Correspondent

Wakulla County’s Matthew Mathis is a 14-year-old young man with autism who had the opportunity to complete the Florida House of Representative’s House Page and Messenger Program in Tallahassee, February 16 through February 20, 2026.

Fully aware of Matthew’s disabilities, he was sponsored by Representative Gallop Franklin II, of Leon and Gadsden counties.
Describing the experience, Matthew said, “It felt good to work with Representative Franklin; he reminds me of myself. He is a black man who also worked his way up through challenges in school, but he made himself a pharmacist and he is able to help the community, I like that.
“I am proud to be a Page and a part of the State of Florida Legislature. I was a little scared at first, but I like to be where all the action is. After this experience here, I learned how legislature works and is brought back into the community. It was amazing and if I had the chance to do it again, I will do it; I am already asking to do it again next year.”
Matthew’s adoptive parents are David and Deana Morris, and he is a great grandson to the late Buster and Myra Mathis of Sopchoppy.
Deana Morris said, “He had a blast serving his representatives! His sponsoring representative was Gallop Franklin, of Leon and Gadsden counties who signed for him to serve knowing that he has disabilities. This allowed him to participate and learn and for him to not be defined or limited by his disabilities.”
Pages and Messengers are students who come to the Capitol and work one week during the 60-day Regular Session. Each of our 120 Representatives may sponsor one Page and one Messenger. Pages and Messengers assist Representatives and their staff during the Capitol’s busiest time of year while observing state government in action.
The Page & Messenger Program is a long-standing tradition in the Florida House of Representatives. Our historic journals include mention of them as far back as 1865. Each student who serves as a Page or Messenger will have his or her name appear in the Journal of the House. This will be an official record of their time spent in the Florida House to one day show their children and grandchildren.
While performing their duties, Pages and Messengers have the opportunity to observe lawmakers, lobbyists, staff, and constituents working together in the legislative process. Opportunities will include committee meetings, House sessions in the Chamber, and occasionally press conferences with notable people or celebrities.

The Red Hills Quail Hunting Club made a $1,500 donation last week to allow 4-H Shotgun Club members Emiliano Cadena and Parker Smith to travel to Nebraska to compete in the National 4-H Shooting Sports Championships. The check presentation was made Thursday at Bryker Body Care.

By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Correspondent

Wakulla County Coalition for Youth partnered with FSU Health Community Engagement in hosting a Champions for Change Brunch by hosting an extraordinary brunch and recognition awards ceremony for their volunteer efforts in Wakulla County.

The individuals and organizations were honored for their time, dedication and passion for serving youth and our community. The event is a way to say thank you to those who make a difference every day in the Wakulla community.
The first time Champions for Change Brunch was held at the Wakulla Community Center on Saturday, May 2.
Caden Gruebel was awarded the Youth Volunteer of the Year. “It feels good to earn this award and I am really shocked I won because of all the tough competition. I am graduating this year, but I am not going to stop volunteering and being active in my community,” said Gruebel. Emily Zak and John Alex Edwards were also nominated for the award.
Taking home the Friend of WCCY was Wakulla County Public Library. Director Linda Oaks said, “It feels great to know we are able to give back to the community. We pride ourselves in such a way that we let Wakulla know the library is a fun, welcoming place for all the community to enjoy.” FRESH and Wakulla County 4-H were also nominated for the award.
Board Member of the Year was awarded to Keep Wakulla County Beautiful’s Tammie Nason. Tammie said, “I was surprised, we have such great Board members in Wakulla, but to actually be nominated and win, I still just can’t believe it.” JoAnn Daniels of Wakulla Coastal Optimist Club and Novella Franklin of the 4-H Advisory Board were fellow nominees.
Kenny Manning of Wakulla County Christian Coalition won the Adult Volunteer of the Year award and said, “It’s an honor to win, but you really don’t think about when you do it (volunteer) from your heart. When you do it from your heart, that’s all you need.”
Also recognized were Hiroshi Yoshioka and Riley Schaefer for making a difference in Wakulla County with the “Rising Star Award.” These young community members are instrumental in creating change through volunteering at events with Wakulla 4-H. Yoshioka has helped raise $400 for the Wakulla Animal Shelter by designing and selling his homemade dog chew toys made from T-shirts.
WCCY Secretary Karen Zak said, “We have a need to recognize our volunteers who give so much to our community, and this is a great way to do it. Bonnie Werfenberger and I wanted to make the volunteers and Board members feel appreciated, and we are hoping to make this an annual event.”

By LINDA ANN McDONALD
Correspeondent

Wakulla Springs Lodge was transformed into a magical night of friends, fun, dancing, and Joy as JOY-Filled Journeys Corp held their annual Night of Joy Prom on Saturday, May 2.

The sensory-friendly event is held in a quiet, low-key environment, such as Wakulla Springs Lodge, in an effort to provide the ideal environment for special needs guests to enjoy a magical night planned especially for them with conditions like autism, epilepsy, ADHD, etc.
Elizabeth Goble, who visited JOY-Filled Journey’s Easter event in April and picked out a beautiful red prom dress to wear to this year’s prom, was unable to wear her dress due to lack of finding a seamstress to fit her dress in time. Instead, she wore her “Plan B” dress, which was a sequined, dark purple colored dress.
Mary Wallace, Director of the nonprofit organization said, “I hope these kids are having a fun time; I hope it gives them joy. This event is not about me; it’s not about anything else except these kids receiving joy.
“I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, to all those who helped, volunteered and made this night such a wonderful success,” Wallace said. “This event is about community love for our kids.”

By LINDA ANN
McDONALD
Correspondent

At Legacy Café at Wakulla Institute, special needs students are learning work skills by brewing up a well-loved beverage among schoolteachers and staff: Coffee.

Under the direction of teacher Sean Simmons and some help from Wild Ox Coffee, Legacy Café at Wakulla Institute serves both classic and specialty coffee drinks for Wakulla County School Board staff. Wild Ox coffee is a local coffee business known for its specialty coffee, espresso and latte drinks.
As a recipient of a $10,000 grant from Project Ten, the Institute was afforded the ability to purchase new appliances for the Institute such as a fridge, stove and an espresso machine and grinder.
“Dave from Wild Ox was gracious with his time and supplies, he provided us with a variety of syrups, a scale for weighing coffee and a lot of pointers,” says Simmons. “He has come up to the Institute several times to show us how to make coffee and share his recipes, he has done so much for us and he has not charged us; when things are not working right at the Institute for some reason, he comes and helps and he is there every step of the way. The scale he kindly gave us is used for making espresso; the coffee needs to be weighed to be perfect.”
On the Institute’s menu are the same flavors Wild Ox offers, such as dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and coconut.
Dave from Wild Ox got involved by means of two dedicated coffee customers, Tyler Jarvis and Tiffany Spears, who work for Wakulla School system.
“They go everyday to Wild Ox to get coffee, and they talked to Dave about helping,” says Simmons. “He came and was happy to help us and the rest is history; I am glad he came,” said Simmons.
It has been proven that special needs individuals develop strong, reliable work skills over time when given the right structure and support.
Simmons keeps tasks with a baseline with no variations so there is no confusion. “There are exactly four pumps of product for each order. If a customer wants a blend of two flavors, we will use two pumps of each flavor, that is the extent of it,” sys Simmons.
Wakulla Institute educates seven special needs students. “I alternate tasks with the students like grinding beans, pumping syrups and rinsing espresso shot cups; they do everything involved in making coffee except steaming the milk.
“Delegating tasks gets the team excited. They get a group text of orders from the teachers, principals and the district fffice; we then deliver coffee to the schools,” says Simmons.
“Working gives the students a feeling of accomplishment,” he says. “I enjoy the process and the kids are excited to make coffee and deliver to our teachers. It’s the customers’ happiness that makes the students feel great. I love to work every day, and I have not missed one day because of the experience with the students. We have fun, we joke and laugh but we put in a true workday, although we take time to enjoy the process.”
“Our goal in the future is to re-open to the public and provide the sit-down service with the students serving our food,” says Simmons. “We are considering catering events too.”
Simmons shares that “Vicki Tillman, Institute Coordinator, is the reason we can provide espresso. She pushed the idea and we collaborated on it for a while, and now it’s all come together.
“When we get quicker with our technique next year, hopefully we will be open more days.”